บท 3: Ch.3 The Flanders and First Day at Work

Leo awoke to the loud beeping of an alarm clock.

"God, I hate that sound," he groaned, rolled over, and slammed down on the snooze button. Rubbing his eyes, he caught a glimpse of the time that was displayed on the clock. 6:00 AM, it read.

The bedsheets began to rustle as Leo reluctantly pulled himself out of bed. He was almost completely up when his movements suddenly paused, stopping at the sound of a woman's drowsy voice.

"Why are you up so early?"

Leo looked over. It was Cookie, the real estate agent who had helped him find a house. She was lying down, completely covered in blankets with only her face visible.

"Because I left my car at the real estate agency, remember? All the stuff I need for work plus the gifts for my new neighbors are in it. I have to leave early if I want to get it and still be on time for work." He explained to her.

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot," she mumbled, turning back around and further burrowing herself in blankets.

Leo rolled his eyes at her actions. "Which means…you also have to get up. There's only one car here. If I go alone, who's going to take you to work?"

She groaned. "But your bed is so comfortable. Let me sleep a little longer…pleaseee?"

Cookie's pleas fell on deaf ears. Leo reached over and ripped the blankets off the stubborn woman, exposing a glistening body to the cold air.

"Hey!!" She yelped in surprise. "What was that for?!"

"It was to wake you up." Leo walked away, heading towards the shower.

Ten minutes later, Leo was beside the dresser, getting changed. Cookie, who had finally managed to get up, had just entered the now vacant bathroom.

*DING DONG*

The sound of a doorbell filled his house.

Leo was puzzled. Who was ringing his doorbell and why so early?

He quickly finished putting on his shirt and then walked to his entrance door. Swinging it open, he found the answer to his question.

It was a family. A man, a woman, and two little boys.

In front, and closest to the door, stood the man. He had big round glasses, brown hair, and wore a green sweater. He would have looked normal if not for the large thick mustache that filled up his face.

Next to him, stood a woman who Leo assumed was his wife. She had ginger hair and was dolled up with blue eyeshadow and bright pink lipstick. She was an alluring woman with a charming face who was overall very pleasant to the eye. On top of a light pink dress shirt, she wore a pink sweater, and to Leo's amazement, despite wearing two layers of clothes, her chest was still eye-catching. Her two assets were large, well, at least bigger than Cookie's. He guessed they were at least D cups, not that it mattered at the moment. Moving down, she wore a long skirt that covered most of her legs. Pink high heels encased her feet.

Leo pegged her as one of those prim and proper housewives. One who was completely devoted to only her husband and God. She probably used all her free time either doing house chores or reading the Bible.

His eyes moved to the next individuals. The two small little boys.

They each had curly hair in some shade of brown. They were dressed up nice, wearing polos and pants. Their faces annoyed Leo for some inexplicable reason.

"Howdily-doodily there, new neighbor! I'd like to welcome you on behalf of the Neighborhood Association! I'm Ned Flanders and this is Maude, Rod, and Todd." Ned pointed at each individual in his family.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Flanders. You have such a nice family I feel very welcomed." Leo responded.

It was a little scary that they found out he moved in so quickly but at the same time impressive.

Leo then shook the man's hand, "I'm Leonardo Depp, but you can just call me Leo." He introduced himself.

"Well, Leo, it's a real pleasure to meet ya. It's always great to have new neighbors, livening up the neighborhood around here. When we heard the news of someone moving in, we rushed over here the first moment we could."

Leo faked a laugh. "Yeah, I was really surprised! I was actually planning to give you neighbors a visit later to drop off some gifts, but you guys beat me to it and came here first."

"Gifts?! You've outdone yourself, neighbor! I can't wait to see what you brought us."

"Ah, well not to ruin your excitement, but there is a slight problem. Do you see that car over there?" Leo pointed at the agency car—the same one he and Cookie arrived in yesterday.

"I diddly doodily do."

"Well, that's actually the real estate company's car. There was a mix-up, and my own car is over there, not here. And it's my own car that has the gifts. I was just about to go get it, actually. But since you came here first, how about I drop by later and give them to you then. Is that ok?"

"Oh, that's no problem at all! We'll just wait till then, Neighborino. In fact, we have something for you, too. I guess we'll just give it to you then as well."

"Yeah, that sounds good." Leo gave them a thumbs up.

He was ready to end the conversation and head back inside, but someone started to talk.

"What brought you to Springfield, Leo?" Ned's big-breasted wife raised her hand and asked a question.

Leo, who had been observing the couple throughout the conversation and took note of they're dynamics, began to smile internally, as if he came up with a sinister plan.

"Work was one reason, but the main reason…was to get closer to the Lord."

Leo watched the whole family's eyes widen in surprise, with a visible hint of joy.

'Got 'em,' thought Leo.

"What do you mean, Leo?" Ned asked, wanting to hear him elaborate.

"Well, I heard Springfield wasn't the most religious city out there. Citizens don't read the Bible. They don't forgive others. Sometimes, they don't even follow the ten commandments! Even now, I heard it's only getting worse. As a devout follower of the Lord, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to strengthen my relationship with him. I would spread the wonder that is the words of the Bible. Spreading it to those who need the most help. I like to picture it as a holy crusade, my moral mission."

"Golly Gee, Leo, you're bringing a tear to my eye," Ned lightly joked but really was praising him. "Those are some wonderful ideas and a good thing to hear, right, Maude?"

The woman nodded, with a big smile on her face. "Maybe you should join us in some Bible study sessions, Leo. There are not that many people here in Springfield who would gladly partake in one with us." She proposed.

"Sure, I'd love to discuss the Bible with you, even right now…," Leo kept his eyes locked with Maude as he said that, "...but I start work soon, so how about you and your family have dinner with me tomorrow at my house. Just a simple welcoming one. We'll continue this conversation and then we can discuss the Bible on later dates."

"We sure would diddly doddily love that!" Ned nodded. "I'll write it on my calendar. And since you have to go to work, we'll head on out now. We don't want to get in your way."

"Perfect! I'll see you Flanders later, then!" Leo waved goodbye to them all.

Honestly, Leo did not want to have a Bible study at all. He wasn't even religious. But he could picture something in the future and the chance of that made him say yes. Besides, getting on your neighbor's good side never hurts.

Leo went back inside and searched for Cookie.

He found the woman sitting on the velvet seat in the corner of his room.

She looked at him with an eyebrow raised, looking slightly annoyed. "You made me get up early and we're only leaving now?"

Leo, who was confused, looked at the clock in the corner of his room. The time surprised him.

It was already 7:30 and it was way past the time he had initially planned to leave by.

The conversation with the Flanders lasted way longer than it seemed.

'I'll just drop off the gifts to the neighbors after work, I suppose.' Leo's plans for the morning changed.

Together, both Cookie and Leo walked outside and got into the car. But that was only after Leo had apologized enough times for Cookie to forgive him for making her get up early for no reason.

…

Finally, in his own car, Leo pulled into the nuclear power plant parking lot. He found a spot, parked, and then walked through the large sliding glass doors that served as the entrance to the main building.

Leo looked around, expecting some type of welcome or at least a simple greeting from a receptionist, but he received nothing whatsoever.

It was then that he realized there were no security guards present at all. There wasn't even a reception desk either. There was just a single worker, about fifteen feet away, who was looking out through a window with a blank look on his face.

Leo walked up to him.

"Excuse me, do you know where I can find the owner of the plant?"

The worker didn't look away from the window, he simply responded with, "Plant?"

"Yes, the nuclear power plant."

"Is that what this place is? I never knew." He responded with eyes never moving while talking with a blank stare.

Leo resisted the urge to facepalm in annoyance, maybe also in disbelief, but not wanting to further waste his time and be late, he walked away. Something was obviously wrong with the man but he shrugged it off. It wasn't his problem to deal with. He already heard beforehand that the owner, Mr. Burns, could be found on the top floor. He had only asked the worker to ensure what he had heard was true. But since the worker was useless, Leo just went with what he already knew.

He began searching around for an elevator. When he found one, he entered it and selected the button with the highest floor number.

When Leo reached the top, he was met with a large waiting room. It was completely empty minus the two lone chairs that sat against the wall.

Since once again there was no receptionist nor signs, Leo simply knocked then opened the large door and walked in.

'What a large office,' was his first thought.

On one side, bookshelves completely covered the wall, while on the other side, a large stuffed bear stood tall next to a self-portrait. Directly in front of Leo was the largest desk he had ever seen. It was purple and relatively empty, being completely illuminated by the sunlight that came in from a large window on the back wall. Sitting in a large red chair behind the purple desk, sat a sickly man who looked ready to die at any moment. Leo assumed he was Mr. Burns.

Mr. Burns noticed his entrance and looked at him.

"Which employee are you—Smithers!"

Leo was not even given a chance to answer the question. Mr. Burns had immediately called out to another man the instant after he asked the question.

"Yes, sir?" The man, identified as Smithers, answered him. He wore a purple bow tie, glasses, and had neatly cut brown hair.

"Smithers, who is this that walked into my office?"

"That's….actually…I-I'm not sure, sir."

Leo spoke up before the situation spiraled out of control.

"Oh, I'm not an actual employee, Mr. Burns. I'm Leonardo Depp from the Eldian Manufacturing group. My company was contracted to install new machines here."

"Smithers, have you heard of this?"

"Ah, I recall now, sir. Remember how we usually bribe the government regulator inspectors?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"Well, last time when the government sent their top of the line, you weren't here and—"

"Why was I not here?!"

Smithers leaned in next to Mr. Burns' ear and whispered something inaudible.

After Smithers finished whispering, Mr. Burns clicked his teeth in annoyance.

"And as I was saying, Sir, because of that, we never got the chance to bribe them. They reported back to the government and after that, we were forced to hire a company to install new machines to get us up to code. I assume Mr. Depp, here, is from the company that was hired."

The sheer audacity to admire them in front of him left Leo speechless for a moment.

'There is no way they are real' he questioned himself.

They continued without sparing him a glance.

"Bah, those government fiends! How much are they going to take from me until they're satisfied?! Smithers, how does this sound? I drop our little friend here into the eels and if the government asks for our progress we'll say that they're still working on it."

"Uhhh…Sir, that—"

"Wait, wait, hold on a second." Leo interrupted Smithers.

Mr. Burns seemed to be the embodiment of corporate greed. A billionaire that was always seeking more wealth, using whatever means necessary.

And it only took a single glance at Smithers to notice the eyes of affection he had when he stared at Mr. Burns. He was probably willing to go along with Mr. Burns' plans in order to gain his affection, even if it was morally wrong.

"I know it sounds like I'm a government dog sent to steal your money, but that's not it at all! I'm actually here to give you more money! Mr. Burns, I'm sure you've had a problem with bad employees not doing their jobs, right?"

Leo wasn't completely sure if his last statement was completely true, as his only experience was with one employee, but he needed to take a gamble in order to gain his attention.

"You…know?"

Burns response gave him relief and confidence.

"Yes, Mr.Burns. I also hate those scoundrels just as much as you. Always wasting precious money and air to breathe. Luckily, that's where my company comes in. The machines we were sent here to install are the solution to the problem! These machines are so intuitive that they could do the jobs themselves. Do you know what that means, Mr. Burns? It means you no longer have to pay those good-for-nothing workers. Imagine how much money that will stay in your pockets! You'll become so much richer!"

The machines were not even close to actually being able to do that, but Leo didn't care. He would lie and Mr. Burns would most likely take the bait and by the time all the machines were installed his job was finished.

"I do like the sound of that. We could cut operating costs by fifty percent."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll double your wealth, Mr. Burns. Doesn't that sound grand?"

"Hmmm," Burns brought his hands close to his chin, deep in contemplation.

"Smithers…see that this man gets an office in the executives building immediately. I want the man to start right away."

"Sure thing, sir"

Leo, although happy with the turn of events, was in disbelief. He had belief in himself to turn the situation around, but he didn't think he would be able to to so easily secure such a high status and office after just a quick explanation.

He wondered if Mr. Burns wasn't completely there mind wise because he switched from one extreme to another as if he was bipolar and had the whims of a child.

'Well, as long as it works out for me. I won't have to see him again as long as I avoid him while doing my work.'

Leo was satisfied with that thought then began thinking about what the executives office that he would be "given" would be like.

While thinking and contemplating, he was prompted by Smithers to follow him out the room and into the elevator. Leo just followed along.

As they rode the elevator down, he asked Smithers a question.

"Hey, you don't mind if I take a look around, do you?"

"Do you really need to, Mr. Depp? Mr. Burns said he wanted you to start immediately. Shouldn't you start the machinery installation instead?"

"Oh, but Mr. Smithers, this is important to start. If I look around first, I could probably speed up installations by twofold."

"Hmm…if that's the case, then it'll be alright."

…

'I should have never taken this job'

Leo couldn't even sit at his own desk relaxed.

The tour and inspection of machinery had proved fatal to his wellbeing and mental health. He found out the plant was one pebble drop away from blowing up and killing everyone. Seriously, how had it not done so already?

Employees who didn't even know what their own job was, exposed live wires, on the loose giant animals, non-functioning equipment, poisonous air. Room after room Leo was given a surprise that made him want to leave the nuclear power plant immediately. He had seen it all.

Now he understood why the articles and papers called the residents dumb. Every single worker he had met today had child-like intelligence, not even close to the level needed to be able to work in a nuclear power plant.

There was only one good thing he had come across, and that was the executives' building. The same building where his office was located. It featured a bowling alley, open bar, and even maids. 'Why couldn't they spend just a little bit of the budget from here on other parts of the plant?' Leo would ask himself.

He rubbed his temples.

"Is everything alright, Mr. D?" A woman who was sitting on top of the desk asked him a question, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Yes, Dottie, everything's fine. Just thinking about something."

As of thirty minutes ago, Dottie was his personal secretary. Everyone who worked inside the executive building was assigned one. It would have been nice if it wasn't for the fact Leo had his own company with his own secretary already. He wasn't too sure what to do with Dottie.

He stared at her.

She wore a skin-tight light-purple dress that revealed her petite frame. She had very healthy-looking brown hair that was styled fashionably. She wore pearl earrings and eyeshadow which matched the color of her dress. Leo would guess her cup size was on the smaller end of B cups.

'If the plant does end up exploding, at least I can die next to a smoking hot woman. I think that's fourteenth on my list of things I would want to die next to.'

Leo sighed and began to put his pen and papers away.

"It's turning late, Dottie. Let's call it a day and start first thing Monday morning."

"Sure thing, Mr. D."

She walked out of the room, clipboard in hand. Leo let his thoughts stray again while his eyes followed Dottie's swaying hips which moved further and further away from him.

'Should I just give up on this ticking time bomb? No, wait, why am I even stressing? I'm the boss. I have my own company. I'm just subcontracted and not a real employee of burns. It'll be my employees doing most of the work, not me. I don't even need to be here. Yes, that's it! It's decided then. Every once in a while I'll only come here to check up on progress and enjoy some perks of the executive buildings and the rest of the time, I can be doing whatever I want.'

Leo smiled.

'Maybe it won't be as bad as I thought.'

[A/N]: God damn, I'm bad at staying near 2k words. I re-read this chapter and I was like damn that whole situation with burns was so quick and extreme it seems so unrealistic but then I watched an episode and that's really how they are.