She covers her mouth with a hand. Sometimes, she just can't hold back her mouth. Now, she needs to talk to a stranger—the worst nightmare for her introverted ass. Louise is not even sure if it's just a product of introversion or she got to the point of her life where she chooses to avoid people.

"I kind of figured out the trick for a long time now. They don't have plans to change it to a new one," he shrugs. He pauses for a moment, seeing the beverage he got. "Hey, this is beer." He raises his brows, looking like he had just picked up evidence from a crime scene.

"Yeah, it is," she agrees in her fake polite tone, stealthily studying him from head to toe. Her judgement on him will decide whether she'll flee or just get along.

He's wearing a jersey jacket and sweatpants, like most people she has seen walking around the rink.

Hmmm, looks harmless.

"You must be a regular here," she puts on her best smile keeping her voice angelic and saintly.

He gives her a strange look. It is quick, and she thinks maybe he has seen through her act. But he quickly shifts into a polite expression.

"Yeah, I... I skate here." he says with a quick shrug.

"Oh..." she nods, pretending to understand. "Good for you. It's not like I'm going to meet you again anyway." She makes a face and waves her hand at him. "Give me that!" she snaps, grabbing the can from his hand, startling him.

Her sweet, delicate sound shifts drastically to her thick accented voice.

She opens the can with a quick click, and takes a swig.

"Aaahh." She whistles in satisfaction. "This is the only legal drug that gives me therapy!" She crosses her leg, exposing her black tights, making the stranger's eye widen in shock.

Louise sneezes wildly again, making the stranger flinch in surprise.

"For the love of God, this country is making me sick!" She whines.

The guy glances left and right, not sure what to do.

"Anyway, you said that you're a skater, right? You must have heard about this..." she flips through the papers she's holding. "...Ojiro Korishima guy. Do you know him? I'm from Fantasy Motion Pictures, by the way, and they sent me to interview him." She offers her hand to shake.

"Oh... that guy." He eyes her hand hesitantly but still; he moves his hand to accept her hand for a shake.

She drops her hand away. "Too slow!"

The guy almost jumps, hearing her thick accented voice that sounds like a growl.

"Anyway, yeah, that guy. Whoever he is, I really don't care. I just want some brief information. You know what I mean? Just something that will make me look like I did my research because ...ugh, I really don't know how to put it." She rolls her eyes, sighing in defeat.  "My seniors gave me this job at the last minute. And that's not even my job! Can you believe that?"

He looks at her with the eye of judgement, like she's going crazy but Louise goes on, letting her frustrations out, gesturing with her hand while holding her beer, raising it up and down.

"So, you're one of those guys? The one who draws the frames and makes the characters move? Sugoi ne! That's great!" He finally says.

"Sugoi, right?" She huffs proudly. "Yeah, I'm one of those sleep-deprived humans who draws every goddamn frame."

The amusement on his face vanishes.

"You know what? Forget it. Whether I'll get through this interview or not, I don't care anymore. I'm really done. My team leader likes how I draw my male characters, so he asked me to draw him like those skaters who lift one foot up their heads... whatever they call that—"

"You mean, the pancake spin?"

She put her hands on her hips.

How dare he cut me off in the middle of my sentence?

"Yeah, that one. Whatever that means. Anyway, they gave me that part, and I am supposed to be working on it today, but the forces of evil never leave me alone!" She shoots up on her feet, making him step back. "Damn, I just miss doing my job." She sighs, slumping again on the chair.

"Bad day at work, huh?" He nods to her.

She turns her head toward him. "How about you? Same, same?"

"Just a normal day," he chortles, shaking his head. But his smile vanishes as he punches some buttons on the vending machine.

For a second, Louise felt bad for blabbering too much. Looking at him, she thinks he looks a bit down, and that maybe he's overworked too, just like her. Or maybe someone has yelled at him for bringing the wrong drink.

She doesn't know how exactly it works for him, but maybe he's also going through something too.

A childhood trauma, perhaps? or maybe he had been traumatized by what he had witnessed just now. She doesn't know.

She stands and shoves him away from the machine.

"Come on, lemme buy you a drink," she punches the buttons and clicks enter. The drink got stuck again. This time, she copies his kick with her Mexican power. The can falls easily now.

"Here you go," she hands him the beer.

"This is alcohol," he points out again with a disapproving look.

She rolls her eyes at him. "Oh, come on, just drink it. What's holding you back? A diet? Your boss?" she throws him a look, both brows going up. "Look, no one's around. It's just the two of us. There is no rule that says this is forbidden. Just drink it. Don't think too much about that diet. Just don't think too much. We're all going to die anyway."

He puts that into thought, then suddenly lets out a bitter laugh. He pulls on the tab and sighs. "Fine."

"Good mijo. Let's raise our fine liquors to the sky. Now, repeat after me."

He looks at her in slight horror.

"Just do it," she commands.

He does what she says, not sure what he's getting into.

"I pray to God and to the Dark Lords!" she declares, making him jump. "We need to pray to both sides. We need stronger forces to keep us sane in this world," she explains to him with a softer voice.

She continues rumbling what she calls a prayer with her dark, exaggerated words, making him burst out laughing in the middle of her sentence.

"How dare you." she muttered flatly.

"Y-You're making it difficult to concentrate!" he chortles.

"Ay! No excuses! From the start!" She repeats the prayer again, but this time, he can't help but laugh even louder.

"There's no helping it. You're incurable. Well, anyway, don't worry, I'm still worse than you, so that's fine." She brings her beer down and takes another swig. He drinks it aggressively, which makes Louise throwing him a look of surprise.

"Dios mios, my God. You must really have it tough, huh?"

Poor guy.

"Kuso! Fuck! " He curses, throwing the can into the trash bin, making Louise the one to jump now in return.

Louise imitates him, cursing in Spanish and shooting hers after him. They scream on top of their lungs in their own languages, cursing whoever or whatever made their life a living hell.

"Whoa..." he sighs, calmer now. "That was better."

"I'm glad you let it out. Good Lord, don't be a ticking bomb. There's a lot of ways to unwind. Have a cerveza or two. Beer is legal drug."

He nods, although he still disagrees about the alcohol.

"Thank you." He mumbles.

He's smiling now: a real, genuine smile.

Now that Louise looks closely, she realizes that he has those delicate Japanese features. The standard Shoujo manga protagonist. Shiny raven hair, pale complexion, striking, sharp eyes, and a slim body. He was actually kind of good-looking.

She gasped in Spanish, realizing something. "My God, he's hot!"

"What's your name?" He looks at her

"L-Louisia... Maria... Loui... I mean. Just call me Louise."

She curses herself for stuttering and mentioning her ugly first name, which everyone in Mexico uses to call her.

"Thank you, Louise." He bows. She does too and they bid each other goodbye before they part ways in the hallway. For a moment, she thinks that maybe this is not really a bad day after all.

--

Do you have bad days at work too? Share on the comments!

Your comments and votes are so much appreciated<3

-IkomaSensei