Chapter Text
So a Business Man walks Into a Bar….
Chapter one
Castiel stared at the amber color liquid that sat in the glass before him. The ice slowly melting, as the music thumped proudly in the background (most of it classic rock but occasionally someone would get ahold of the jukebox and something more… modern would play) People were laughing, cheering, singing, and dancing in the background and yet… Castiel was fucking miserable. The ice clinked in his glass, he wished he just went home. It was a time of celebration, their office finally closing the big deal and getting that long hard work for the commission they were promised at the beginning of the year.
“Come on, Cas!” Meg shouted at him over the music. She was dressed in black, looking more like someone who would run a bike shop rather than sit in a cubicle seven days a week. “Let’s dance!” She shouted her hair bouncing as she swayed. She was… probably a little drunk.
“No thanks.” He responded drinking on the first drink that he ordered about thirty minutes ago.
She stuck out her tongue. “Why not?”
“You know I don’t dance.”
She sighed dramatically. “Clarance, I wanted you to come with us to have fun,” She gestured at him saddled up at the bar. “And here you are drinking at the bar like some sad loser who just lost his girl. Get your ass on the dance floor and dance.”
He rolled his eyes. He and Meg had known each other before joining Grace Inc. They were best friends and to the outsider looking in if they just knew them as co-workers then they would get the wrong idea about Meg. “Why don’t you go dance with Garth?” He pointed out Garth the skinny assistant accountant who was swinging his arms wildly on the dance floor.
She sat beside him at the bar. “Ew, no, that’s not dancing, plus he’s with that one chick… that Beth, Bessy, Barbie, whatever her name is and I don’t mess with taken men.”
He snickered. “Alright, Meg,”
She snatched up her drink. “But I do see Hannah out there and she’s going to need a wing-woman if she’s looking to pick up a date.” She leaped off the barstool. “See you later.”
He watched her fade into the crowd her dark hair bouncing out of sight. He rolled his eyes again. Meg was something else. Most wouldn’t believe she was his friend. Ever the wet blanket that’s what Castiel was. He had been told by many he was about as fun as paint drying. He hated going out. Being in large crowds made him nervous, he couldn’t mingle worth a shit and wasn’t very tolerant of small talk. He had no business being in sales. He had known that since he was a teenager but no… he had to listen to his mother. Go to business school, get a degree, work at the family business, and work his way up the ladder. He downed his drink slamming the glass on the bar louder than he meant to. He should never have listened to his mother. He could be doing something he loved, like managing a bookstore, or being a beekeeper… or going into yoga. That would piss her off good. He could see it now at the next family dinner telling her he was going to be a yoga instructor and wearing the world’s tightest pants. She would have a field day with that.
He studied the empty glass. He had two choices, he could wander out in the crowd and tell Meg and Uriel (the other member of the have some fun club) that he was going to go home or he could drink so more and drown his troubles. He licked his lips. He could go for another drink then go from there.
The bartender hadn’t wandered his way in a while now. He looked around not seeing the blond woman. He groaned in frustration ready to just get up, head home, and drink the bottle of wine in his fridge.
“What can I do for ya?”
He almost fell out of his seat when suddenly a tall man with honey-colored hair was standing behind the bar. “I uh,” Words… he used to know words. But he lacked the words, he lacked everything as all his brain focused on the man before him. To say he was attractive was an understatement. He had green eyes, full pouty lips, and freckles. Castiel couldn’t recall the last time he saw a man this attractive. “You’re not the bartender I had earlier.” That was all he managed to say. Smooth, Cas, real smooth. He wanted to slide out of the stool go home and never come back out.
The bartender shrugged. “Jo’s on the floor. I just came in a few minutes ago.” He looked at the glass then glanced back at Castiel’s face as he licking his lips in such a way that Castiel wondered if the bartender was on the menu. “So what do you want to drink?” He picked up the drink. “Or what were you drinking?”
His mind froze as he stared at the bartender. Brain work damn it! “I uh, rum and Coke…” he stumbled over his words as if he hadn’t spoken before.
The man nodded. He plopped the glass in the sink getting a fresh one off the rack. He got the rum and coke pouring them both in the glass with such grace. “There ya go.” He slid the glass to him.
He sipped it. It was good, not too much of either drink.
“So what’s eating you?” he asked as he wiped the counter in front of him.
“What?” He almost spilled his drink. He wasn’t expecting this man to talk to him after his display of… awkwardness. Though the conversation was still young, the man could easily leave at any time.
“When you’ve worked a bar as long as I have you tend to be able to tell when someone is troubled.” He tossed the towel over his shoulder. “And you, my friend, are troubled.”
“I uh,”
“Sorry I didn’t mean to intrude. I’ll go back to work,”
“No, don’t leave!” he shouted. The man froze in his tracks. Castiel’s face heated up. Good lord, he shouldn’t have shouted like that. He could hear his mom’s voice in his head. Never draw attention to yourself. Be quiet. “I’m thinking about work…”
“Hmmm,” He pursed his lips. “Trouble at the job huh?”
“Well, no,” He swirled his drink. “I’m actually here celebrating.”
The man frowned. “Some celebration, you look miserable as hell.”
He stared at the man who shrugged as if he stated the obvious. Which he did honestly. “I… I don’t like things like this.” He gestured around him. “I’m a stay at home kind of guy.”
He smiled. “Then why come to this loud bar if you’d rather be at home with your feet up watching Netflix?”
He nodded to the dance floor. “Those are my co-workers. We closed a huge deal today, they insisted I come with them, and by them I mean my two friends there who say I don’t get out enough. So here I sit… ‘getting out’.”
He laughed. “You poor son of a bitch.” He laughed again. “So which hot chick conned you into leaving your house? Was it the burnet I saw talking to you?”
“You got the wrong idea.” On many levels. “Me and her are friends,”
“Friends, pfft, sorry you got friendzoned.”
He thought about telling the bartender off. He sighed heavily. “She isn’t my type, and I don’t date co-workers.” With his mom being the current head of Grace Inc. It wasn’t appropriate to date co-workers. He also kept the fact that Naomi Novak was his mother quiet. Co-workers liked to use the word ‘nepotism’ when they learn that. Though they are correct. If not for his mother, Castiel would still be working at Roman Enterprises. People outside the company, he didn’t announce it either. Always it seemed to lead to the wrong ideas. People thought they could latch themselves on a rich boy and have caviar for breakfast. While Castiel was a far cry from being poor, he wasn’t rich either. His mother wanted her children to work and earn on their own. She would provide if he needed help but she wasn’t an ATM, her words not his.
“Isn’t your type?” He raised an eyebrow. “So what is your type?” He smirked drying off a glass or at least pretending to.
He looked at the man sighing. “I… I’m gay.” He expected the man to run off. His gaydar didn’t exist so he usually put himself out there to the wrong men. Very seldomly he was right, but he often just let the men come to him. It was better that way less embarrassment.
The bartender was still standing there smiling. Castiel was confused did he not hear him? He opened his mouth to repeat himself. The bartender winked at him. “Listen, I got to go but,” he took a napkin and wrote down a number. “Here’s my number, you uh, you know want to leave your house again sometime this decade then give me a call. I know this great burger joint and food is wonderful I’d love to take you out sometime.” He slid the napkin towards him. “My name is Dean by the way.” He said with a wink.
Castiel stared at the napkin. “I am Castiel.” He stared at the number in shock.
“Nice to meet you, Cas, I got to go work but you call me later.” He walked towards the other end of the bar making more drinks.
No way… there is no way he got some hot guy’s number. He looked at the number. He couldn’t believe he got his number. He wasn’t even trying to get a number. He stared at it sack jawed when Meg ran up to him.
“Hey, Clarance, we got to go!” She swayed and regained her balance. She sat her drink on the table. “I called a ride for the others they were wasted. Anna is,” She pointed as the petite redhead walked towards them. “The only one who hasn’t drunk anything.”
Anna frowned. “I did drink, but it was a small glass of wine.” She looked at Castiel’s half-drunk rum and coke. “Since you got your second drink of choice I’m guessing you’ve had two already.”
He nodded. “Well, one and a half,”
She shook her head. “Point is, we are the only ones left not shitfaced.”
Castiel tried not to snicker. Anna was his straight-laced cousin. She followed the rules, to a letter, always the perfect example of what to do right, and hearing her cuss was strange and humorous.
“I called us a ride so we don’t end up covered in vomit.” Meg laughed. “Let that poor taxi guy deal with the drunk tank.”
Anna glanced at her. “And you’re sober?”
“I didn’t puke on my shoes so that’s a step up from Garth.”
“The ride will be here soon,” Anna said
Castiel stood up from the bar. The three of them walked outside the bitter cold air whipped around them and he wished he wore something thicker than his tan coat.
“So you just sat at the bar like a loser the whole time?” Meg asked
“Even I got out on the dance floor,” Anna said
“She even got hit on by a guy.” Meg pointed out
Castiel rolled his eyes as cars drove down the road. “I didn’t sit there like a loser for your information. I also got ‘hit on’.”
“Ick don’t say it like that, Clarance, it ruins the moment,” Meg said
“Who hit on you?” Anna asked
“The bartender.”
They both looked at him with raised eyebrows.
He sighed. “The guy bartender.”
“Oh, the tall one with the green eyes?” Anna asked
“He was hot,” Meg said
“He was hot.” Castiel smiled. “He gave me his number… oh shit! I left it at the bar!” He turned to the club to run in
“Our car is here.” Anna pointed out
“Stall him, I’ll be back.” Castiel ran into the bar as if his life depended on it. It could very well have for all he knew. He ran back to where he was sitting. His glass and Meg’s was gone. How could he forget it? He gasped. Meg sat her drink on it. It was a bar napkin… she didn’t realize it had a number on it. He looked around for the bartender he didn’t see him. He scanned the area he spotted the blond girl. He ran up to her. “Excuse me, miss!” He shouted
She turned around to look at him. She was busy bussing a table. “Yeah? You want a drink?” She asked rudely
“No, I was looking for the bartender that was here earlier…”
She frowned at him. “I served you, are you that drunk you forgot who took your order?”
“No,” He huffed in frustration. “There was a male bartender, his name was Dean. He gave me his number and I lost it. I just want his number and,” He realized he probably sounded like a crazy person. “Maybe you could give me his number.”
Her frown deepened into a death glare. He picked the wrong choice of words. “Look, buddy, I don’t know you from Adam and I ain’t giving you his phone number. You take yourself out of here, or I’ll call the damn cops for harassment.”
He blinked. “No, I didn’t mean any harm I uh,”
“Yo, we got to go or we got to call another Uber!” Meg shouted from the door
He looked at Meg then back at the female bartender. “I uh, please, I,”
She crossed her arms. “Look, buddy, I’m not giving you his number. Now go, get out of here!”
Defeated he headed out the door with Meg.
“So…” Meg asked
“The napkin got tossed and she wouldn’t give me his number.”
“Do you blame her? They are bartenders, they probably get harassed by drunks all the time.” She patted his shoulder. “She was looking out for her friend and you know you would do the same thing for one of yours.”
He sighed. She was right. If he was in her shoes he wouldn’t give out someone’s number to a random person. For all, she knew he was some stalker or something.
“How about we come back tomorrow, or whenever and see if you catch the guy there?”
“Okay.” He still felt defeated as he got into the back of the car.
Anna was on her phone. “I was doing recon.” She showed Castiel her phone. “Is that the guy?”
He looked at the photo. Anna got on the bar’s Facebook page and was looking at the pics. “Yeah, that’s him!”
The Uber driver shot them a dirty look from the review mirror. Meg gave the driver an address and they started driving.
Anna nodded. “Good, they don’t have many pictures of their staff on here. Just mostly, pics from parties and contests, or adds.” She clicked on the picture. “Let’s see if this Dean Winchester has his own profile.” She clicked a few things her low lip sucked between her teeth. “Ah, there we go.” She handed him the phone.
He looked at his page. There wasn’t much on there, a few tagged pictures. Either his profile was private or he didn’t have much. He swallowed. “What should I do?”
“Send him a friend request.” Anna shrugged
“Or you could message him, be like ‘hey hot guy’ I stalked you on Facebook because I lost your phone number,” Meg said
“Technically Anna was the stalker.” He pointed out. He got out his phone and searched for Dean. He found him. He sucked in a breath and sent a friend request. “I sent a friend request.” He felt like a creeper after that. Maybe he should have left well enough alone.
Anna took her phone back. “Good, because you need a date.”
He frowned at his cousin. “Stay out of my love life, Anna.”
“What? I can barely remember the last time you’ve had a date. You never go out, you just sit at home with your cats all night like it’s normal.”
“You don’t exactly have a bustling social life either.” He pointed out
She shrugged. “But I do go out more than you, I go to church every Sunday, I have dinner with mom and dad, I even date. But you, the only time you leave the house is for work.”
“I like my space.”
“I get the space thing, truly I do, but, Cas, no man is an island. You should get out there and see someone… maybe go wild and have… sex.” She hesitated on the last word frowning at the fact she just told her cousin he needed to get laid.
“Anna,”
“She’s right you know,” Meg interjected from the other side of Anna. “When was the last time you had a date? Or better yet a steady relationship?”
He frowned. He hated to admit it but they were right. He rarely dated, when he did manage to find someone they always were the ‘let’s go out and party’ type. Currently, his longest-lasting relationship (unless he counted his right hand) was that of a whole four months before they got tired of him and broke up. “Just because I go on a date with this guy doesn’t mean we are going to have a steady relationship. Hell, the guy could want to get his rocks off.”.
“Hey, Anna is the one saying you need to go steady with the guy, I say take him to a motel room get off and call him for a booty call,” Meg said
Anna scoffed. “Sex without a relationship is hollow.”
Meg rolled her eyes. “Look I’m saying he needs to get some that’s all.”
Anna and Meg were two completely different people. The only reason they even knew each other was because of Castiel. He doubted they would be friends if not for him. He knows they don’t hang around each other when he isn’t around. Anna is the ‘go find your soulmate, there’s someone for everyone’ type and Meg is the ‘ride them hard and hang them up wet’ type. He likes to think of them as the angel and demon on his shoulder respectively.
“We’re here.” The Uber drive announced as they pulled up to Castiel’s place. The driver looked in the rearview mirror his face saying ‘Thank God’
Castiel considered going into the gory details of his sex life around strangers a social no-no. He thought about apologizing but decided not to. He was who he was, if it bothered that guy that was his problem.
They got out of the car heading into the house. Anytime, they would go out to the bar they would always return to Castiel’s place. The girls had left their cars at his place before going out, they were both too drunk to drive home. Well, mostly Meg but he’d rather Anna stay here than risk getting a DUI. A glass of wine wouldn't make her drunk but it wasn’t worth the risk.
Meg headed right for his kitchen announcing she was going to raid his fridge. He rolled his eyes, she was far too familiar with his home.
Anna sat on the couch. “Castiel,” She started as he was taking off his coat. “I am sorry if I was too bold earlier.”
“It’s okay,” he hung up his coat. “You meant no harm.”
“I… only want what’s best for you.” She rubbed her arm in thought. “I worry about you. I want you to be happy.”
He sighed. “Happiness isn’t found in relationships, Anna. There are many things out there that can make a person happy.” He kicked off his boots. “I got to feed the cats.”
He walked into the kitchen he heard his TV come to life as he left the room. Anna meant well, but he wanted to find his own happiness. He didn’t want to be like Anna and hang her life on the soul mate idea. He looked at Meg who was chomping on a sandwich while leaning against the counter. He also didn’t want to be like Meg who slept around instead of making connections.
“The cat wants something.” She said with a mouthful of food
Mr. Cat meowed at her.
“I’m not sharing my food with you.” She informed the cat
Castiel laughed. He got the cat kibble out of the cabinet. He filled Mr. Cat’s bowl and placed it in front of him. Mr. Cat was a basic tabby cat. He was rather scruffy when Castiel took him in. The cat had been left behind by his former neighbors when they moved out. The poor thing sat on the porch and cried for days. He put food out for the cat until it finally ventured onto his porch. He took the cat in and never looked back. He had worried about someone calling animal control on the cat before he got it in but he got lucky. He didn’t name the cat he had heard the neighbor’s little girl call the cat that and well, it stuck. Plus he tried to change the cat’s name and the cat wouldn’t listen.
He made another bowl for Sugar. He walked upstairs to his bedroom. Sugar hated visitors. If it wasn’t Castiel she wasn’t interested. Sugar was a white Noergien Forest cat who wasn’t a fan of strangers. His last boyfriend that came into the house tried to pet Sugar and she rearranged his hand. Needless to say when the boyfriend told him that it was either him or the cat Castiel became delightfully single again. “Sugar,” He called to the cat. There was a nasal meow from under the bed. “I got food.” He sat the bowel down
She slid out from under the bed. She eyed him harshly as she started to eat the food.
“I know, I know you don’t like it when people come over.” He petted her and she glared at him. She didn’t like being petted when she was eating either. He sighed. “Well, enjoy it.” He headed back downstairs
Anna looked at him as he joined her on the couch. Meg eventually wandered out of the kitchen with a glass of water. They watched TV in silence. He checked his phone, he still hadn’t heard anything from Dean. He was probably busy though. The night went on. Eventually, Castiel went to bed. He laid there for a long time with Sugar on his chest while he stared at the ceiling as he played out what had happened that day.
**
Castiel woke up the next day feeling exhausted. He grumbled as he rolled over causing Sugar to fall off his chest. The white cat shot him a dirty look as she leaped on the floor and stormed out of the room her tail high and proud in the air. “Sorry.” He mumbled. He looked at the clock. It was nine in the morning. He slept in but then again he usually slept in if he was out the night before. He sat up and stretched. It was the weekend and thankfully his mother only had the business open Monday through Friday. People need time to see their families. She had said. He was grateful for it. In his old job, he was up at the ass crack of dawn almost every day trying to get to work on time. He shuddered he needed to put his time at Roman behind him.
He got out of bed and retrieved his phone from its charger. There weren’t any new messages. He sighed. Maybe this Dean person didn’t get on Facebook much. Maybe he was like his uncle and only got on Facebook when he was on his computer. He frowned to himself as he collected fresh clothes. He headed into the bathroom taking off his current clothes. He tossed them in the hamper making note that he needed to do laundry. He washed up and got dressed.
He made his way downstairs. He didn’t expect Anna or Meg to be there when he got up and he was correct. There was a note on his coffee table from Anna.
Castiel,
Me and Meg headed home. I got your coffee pot ready. I’ll text you when I get home,
Love,
Anna
He crumpled the note tossing it in the trash. His phone went off at that time. He knew it was Anna. He headed into the kitchen. Mr. Cat was on the floor studying his bowl. “Morning,” He greeted the cat. Mr. Cat meowed at him. He turned on the coffee pot, then retrieved the cat food. He poured some in Mr. Cat’s bowl and Sugar seemed to appear out of nowhere.
He poured his first cup of coffee. He got his phone and checked his texts. Anna had sent one
Made it home. Did you hear from that guy?
No
Maybe you should go back to the bar ;)
Perhaps Anna was right? He frowned as he scrolled through his e-mails absentmindedly. He checked his e-mails several times a day in case something important would come through. He wasn’t paying attention though his mind wandering back to Dean. He got on Facebook. He stared at the search bar. He heaved a sigh as he clicked on the search and entered Dean Winchester. He hit the search a guilty jolt going through him. Here he was stalking. Like some desperate teenager. He found Dean. He clicked on it and looked over his profile. There wasn’t much there on Dean. He was living in Texas then moved to Kanas a few years ago. He had two brothers listed and one job at Roadhouse. No schools were listed. Maybe Dean didn’t use Facebook much or at all. He wasn’t learning much. He went to click on one of the brother’s profiles when his phone came to life.
He almost screamed feeling like he got caught snooping on someone. He regained his composure seeing that it was his mother. “Hello, mother.” He answered
“Castiel, how was your party last night?”
“How did you?”
She laughed. “I am your mother,” Then she paused and sighed. “Michael told me about the celebration. I am frankly, shocked you went.”
He sighed. “Yes, I went out mother. It happens.”
“Not from what I’ve been hearing.” She snipped. “It’s nice to hear about you going out once in a while.”
He rolled his eyes. Once he hit his thirties his mother doubled down on him ‘finding a significant other’. He knew she meant well, but he was tired of hearing about it. “Is there a reason you called?”
“A mother can’t call her son to chat?” He heard a noise on her end of the phone as she sighed. “I was hoping we can have dinner Sunday. Have a proper celebration of closing the deal with Crowley industries.”
“I guess we can.”
“You guess? What on Earth are you doing that’s so important? Whatever you are reading, or game you are playing will be there when you get home. I know you don’t have plans so don’t give me that crap and I will see you on Sunday.”
The phone hung up after that. He rolled his eyes. His mother was such a drama queen. He returned to his stalk. He could just back out and let it go but maybe he could learn something. He clicked on the brother’s profile. The man’s picture was him in a suit, the background was a skyline of Lawrence. He scrolled on down. This brother’s name was Sam and he was a lawyer at Leahy, McLoud, and Kline. Sam was a young lawyer having just started out on his own. He scrolled through the rest of the stuff and didn’t learn much other than Sam had links to the law firm page.
Giving up, Castiel closed out the app. He poured himself a bowl of cereal and his second cup of coffee. He headed into the living room and turned on Hulu. He was very slowly making his way through his backlog of TV. He picked a show and turned it on as he ate in silence.
He continued his routine. He ate, he watched TV, he worked some on his novel, then he played the game he had been playing for about a month now. He checked his phone every once in a while. There was still nothing from Dean but there was a message from Meg demanding he go back to the bar and find Dean. The next thing he knew, he was agreeing to go back tonight with her. Son of a bitch. He thought. He agreed to no drinking. They would go in, see if he was there then go. He wasn’t going to be out all night. He spent the rest of the afternoon trying to decide what to wear.
**
“I feel like an idiot.” He said as he pulled his car into the lot. He knew with him driving he had a better chance of escaping. If Meg decided she would rather crawl in a drink or pick up a guy she was on her own. He wasn’t going to sit there for five hours and wait on her.
“Why?” She asked as she reapplied her lipstick
“Because if I hadn’t lost his number none of this would have happened.”
“He should have put it on something other than a cocktail napkin.”
The two of them headed in. There was already a small crowd forming. It was Saturday night, a good time for all the young college students and working people to get out. Castiel headed right to the bar with Meg beside him. He frowned the same hateful blond woman was there again.
The blond woman looked up. She glared at him. This time he saw her name tag. Her name was Jo. “What now?”
He sighed nervously. “I was hoping I could catch Dean here tonight.”
She glared at him and crossed her arms. “Stalking him?”
“No,” He started
Meg stopped him. “Listen here, sweetheart,” Her tone dripping in sarcasm. “My buddy here is just a sad sap of a man, okay? He doesn’t want to hurt this Dean guy he just wants his number so he can get laid.”
“Meg for the love of!” Castiel shouted
Jo snorted. “Dean isn’t some ass for sale.”
“Ignore her, he really did give me his number and I did lose it. Please, would you please let me know if he is here?” He pleaded
Her hateful glare softened. Perhaps she was realizing he didn’t mean any harm to Dean. She sighed. “He’s not here.” She responded tossing her towel on the counter. “Today is his day off. I still don’t feel comfortable giving you his number but,”
“How about I give you mine? Will you give it to him? My name is Castiel, he should remember that.” He wrote his number down and handed it to her.
She stared at it. “I guess I can.” She put it in his pocket. “Now are you drinking or are you just in here to pick up my bartender?”
“I’ll have,” Meg started
“We are going.” He took Meg by the shoulder and lead her away.
“You’re no fun.” She mumbled
“I agreed to going and seeing if he was here. He wasn’t so we are going.”
“Yeah, alright.”
They got in the car. “She is a bitch though.” Meg pointed out. “Like I can understand where she is coming from but damn.”
“She has no reason to trust me.” He pointed out as he started the car
“Think she will actually give him your number?”
“I guess we will see.”
He dropped Meg back off at her place and headed home. He returned to the book he was reading waiting to hear anything from Dean. The night went on and he heard nothing. He eventually fell asleep on the couch with the book on his face wondering if he would ever hear from Dean.
**
Dinner with his mother was always interesting, he thought as he pulled into her driveway. Naomi was born into the business. Their company had been around since the twenties, and his mom was the first woman to ever run it. His uncle was meant to run it but he turned it down. He couldn’t blame Chuck he wouldn’t want the job either. He wondered if she invited Chuck to dinner. He doubted it, he was kind of glad he didn’t need two adults telling him how to live his life. He walked past his brother Michael’s sleek black Escalade. It was far fancier than anyone truly needed.
He knocked on the door. Michael opened the door with a wine glass in his hand. “Castiel, how are you?” He asked as he let him in.
“I am fine I guess.” He walked into the large home. There are times he can barely believe he grew up in this home. It was a large brick home that was also passed down through the family. He was never sure how his mother got it. She came from a decent sized family but was the youngest of the four siblings. Castiel had always assumed his Grandfather pitied them, maybe that’s how they got the home.
He headed towards the dining room as Michael said something about Gabriel coming. “Gabriel is?” He was surprised since Gabriel didn’t work at Grace Inc.
Their mother walked out of the kitchen and hugged Castiel. “It’s good to see you.”
“Nice to see you too.” Despite working in the same company they rarely saw one another throughout the week.
“Dinner is almost done so go ahead and take a seat.” She said.
He sat down and watched her return to the kitchen. She had enough money to probably hire her own cook but Naomi wasn’t that type of woman. She wanted to take care of her family even that meant cooking for them.
He heard voices as Michael walked in with Gabriel in tow. “Cas!” Gabriel exclaimed taking him into a hug. “How have you been?”
“Good. How about you?”
“I’m great.” He smiled as he sat down.
“How’s your candy store?”
“It is great.” He chuckled. “How’s work?” He smirked
“We managed to land a big deal with Crowley Industries,” Michael said as he poured another glass of wine. “It was hard-fought. If not for Cas we wouldn’t have gotten it.”
He blushed. He didn’t like taking credit for it. “It was a team effort.” He stated
Naomi walked into the room with a tray of food. “Boys, dinner is ready.”
“Smells good, mom,” Gabriel said
“You could have let me help,” Michael said as he got a helping of food.
“I’ve been cooking for you three for years.” She stated as she sat down. “And I’ll be doing it for years to come. Now eat up.” She smiled at Gabriel. “Did you hear about Castiel helping us with the deal?”
Castiel blushed again. “It was nothing.” He reminded her. He enjoyed receiving praise but he had difficulty taking credit for work he didn’t do. It was a team effort he just happened to be on the team that the deal settled.
“Don’t be so modest, Cas.” She said as she drank her wine. “You were a large part of the team.”
He sighed. He wasn’t. He was a low man on the totem pole. He knows it, his mom knows it, and so does Michael. She was trying to put Castiel up on a pedestal to make him feel better about himself.
The dinner continued quietly for the most part. Michael talked at length about his wedding plans with Tiffany, Gabriel talked about the new treats he was concocting for his ship, Castiel just listened to them not contributing much.
“Well, Castiel,” Naomi started. “Anything interesting happen to you?”
“I uh, no, not really.” He stumbled. He could tell them about Dean but he didn’t want to field twenty questions from his mother.
She nodded and they continued eating. When dinner was done they washed and put away dishes. Castiel decided to head home after that.
He walked out to his car and Gabriel was behind him. “It was good to see you, Gabe.”
“Likewise,” His brother said as he stopped by his bright yellow Jeep. “You’d see me more often if you stopped by the store and got something to snack on once in a while.”
“I know and I’m sorry.”
Gabriel glanced back at the house then frowned. “I don’t suppose you won’t join me for some coffee this evening and catch up.”
Castiel agreed. He wanted to talk to him about what to do about Dean, plus it looked like Gabriel had some questions for him that he didn’t want to ask at dinner. He got in his car and followed behind Gabriel which was an easy task considering he was driving a neon yellow vehicle. Eventually, they stopped at a little coffee shop that was across the street from the sweet shop. He got out of the car. His brother was waiting for him by the door.
“I do all my best thinking here,” Gabriel said with a laugh. He walked in the door Castiel followed behind him. “Kali,” Gabriel called out to the woman behind the counter
She looked up at him with an expression of disinterest. “You again?” She teased
“Oh, yeah, I’ll take the usual and I’m going to take the booth in the back, make sure no one comes around.” He nodded at Castiel. “My brother is very shy.”
“I’m not,” Castiel started
She looked at Castiel. “Which brother is this?”
“Castiel,” He flung his arm around Castiel’s shoulders which was no easy feat considering Castiel was way taller than him.
She nodded. “Okay, I’ll bring the coffee back in a minute. What do you want?”
“I’ll take whatever it is he is having,” Castiel said. She nodded again and started working the steaming equipment behind the counter. His brother led him away to the back of the store. “How often do you come here that she knows you by name?”
“Oh, about once or twice a day.” He chuckled. “Me and her got a little rivalry going on.” He said with a wink
“So you are trying to get in her pants?” He huffed
“What no,” He said feigning shock. “She’s trying to get in mine.”
“Okay, whatever.” He laughed
They sat at a booth. Kali appeared shortly with two cups of coffee and a pastry. “Pastry is on the house. You two enjoy.” She walked away
Gabriel stirred his coffee then inhaled the aroma. “So, Cassie, how about you tell me about this deal you got with Crowley Industries.”
He sighed. “I had nothing to do with it, honestly, they approached us wanting to distribute our wheat products. It was a good deal so we took it. I was just part of the team that got it. We had been trying for a while to get them to work for us in distribution and they finally did it.” He siped his coffee. “Mom is just giving me credit where it isn’t due. I had nothing to do with it.” He ran his hand through his hair. “It’s been like that since I started there.”
He chuckled. “She’s just trying to give you a confidence boost.”
“She’s trying too hard.” He chewed on his pastry. “This is good.”
“You know you can come work for me.”
“Is that why you brought me out here? To solicit me to work for you?”
“No, I was legit curious about this deal that you got. But the offer still stands.”
He sighed. “Let’s talk about something else,”
“Got something in mind?”
“Yeah, uh,” He chuckled. “I need advice, something that only you can help with. So the team went to a bar on Friday night to celebrate the closing of the deal, while I was there I met a guy,”
“Oooh, did you have a one night stand, Cassie?” he grinned. “Because that would be amazing.”
“No, no, he gave me his number, and, well, I lost it.”
“You lost the number?” he laughed. “Good lord, Cas, you bring shame upon our family.” He teased
“Oh, it gets better, I tried to get it again but got blocked by this super aggressive bartender. Then Anna found him on Facebook, I sent him a message.”
“Okay, why do I feel like there is more to this?”
He finished off his pastry. “I didn’t hear anything, so… I went back to the bar.”
“Cassie,”
“I’m not done, I gave her my number to give to him and I still haven’t heard from him. What should I do?”
He laughed. “Coming off a little desperate there, Cas.” He finished his coffee. “First of all, give the person time to contact you. You don’t know what he’s doing. He could be in college or have a sick aunt to take care of you don’t know. So, give him a few more days and see if he contacts if not then move on. Plenty of fish out there.”
He frowned. “There may be but none of the fish are all that interested in me.”
“Bull,” He shook his head. “Have you seen yourself? You’re hot, bet you could get any guy you wanted.”
“Looks aren’t everything.” He sighed
“True you are about as bland as a dishtowel. I guess that’s why God gave you all the looks.” He laughed
“Gabe,”
“Sorry, so yeah, advice from your big brother, give the man a minute if he doesn't contact you then don’t worry about it.”
“Okay, Gabe.”
“Promise me that you won’t worry about it.”
“I promise.” Which was a lie and he knew it. He was going to worry about it. He was worried about it now. He was going to lay there at night and stare at the ceiling wondering about the mysterious Dean Winchester and if there was anything there or was Dean just messing with him.
The two of them parted ways, he worried about it all the way home. Gabriel telling him not to worry about it made him worry even more. He got home fed the cats and spaced out in front of the TV thinking about Dean and checking his phone every ten minutes looking for missed texts. Castiel at some point fell asleep on the couch with his phone within grabbing distance.