"Speaking"
Thoughts or stressed words
Narration
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Ai's POV - The Next Morning
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"And on to more interesting news, hero Leo has announced that his and Shadow's relationship is getting exciting.

Though, I'm personally excited about how far they go, millions of girls are left heartbroken. Maybe we have our new super cou-"

I switched channels and was met with the same thing of people talking about Leo's and Shadow's 'relationship'.

I finally turned the tv off after the fifth try and couldn't find anything actually entertaining.

Just as I turned it off, I heard a knock on my door. I sighed and reluctantly got from my very comfortable spot on the couch.

The second I opened the door, it revealed a guy with a raised fist as if he was about to knock again. Impatient, aren't we?

"Yes?"

He lowered his fist then moved it to his neck and awkwardly rubbed it while giving me a toothless smile.

"Hi, I guess. I just moved next door and I wanted to say hey. I'm Alex."

He held out his hand and I reached out to take it. I don't like meeting new people but I don't see any reason to be rude to someone who appears kind.

That also means if I find you to be a bitch, I will turn into the finest grade A bitch right back.

"I'm Ai."

After letting go, he leaned back and rested his hand on his waist.

It seemed that he was about to say something else until one of the movers called out to him and asked him where he wanted his nightstand.

"Aw, it seems I have to go right now. I'm disappointed that I have to leave such a pretty girl but we can always talk later. See you later, Beautiful~."

He then gave me a wink and left. Yeah...let's stay away from that. I shut the door without another thought and plopped onto the couch again.

My phone started to go off and I found it to be my boss, Ren, calling. I picked it up and was immediately met with his monotone voice.

"Oi, Ai, I need you to come in. I know it's your day off but it's an emergency."

"...Fine...You owe me."

I hung up immediately and sighed. People just keep fucking up my life. I got up and got dressed for work.

We don't have uniforms so I changed into a pair of white jeans and a black shirt. Over the shirt was a black and white Jordan letterman style jacket and there were black and white high tops on my feet.

I exited my apartment without wasting another second and made it to the elevator. Once on the first floor, I stopped at the front desk for a hot second.

The lobbyist, Mitsuki, looked up from his paperwork and gave me a smile after giving me a bow while holding his fedora.

"Afternoon, Miss. How are you doing today?"

"Okay. I would be a lot happier if I didn't need to leave today but you know...what can you do. You?"

"I'm good. Of course, I'm feeling even better now that I've seen you."

I gave him a ghost of a smile and turned to leave.

"I'll see you later, Mitsuki."

"I look forward to it. Be careful, Miss."

And with that, I left. With casual steps, I made my way down the street towards the place I called work. I worked at an underground place called Spectre.

It was a virtual reality gaming place where you could play any game you chose in this giant room that recreated the game around as if you were there.

Usually, I'm the repair person when things got fucked up somehow. The job is a pain in the ass but the pay makes it completely worth it.

I entered the one story building that was supposedly an antique shop and headed to the back after waving to the lady that watches over it.

In the storage closet, there was another door made completely of metal.

A scanner was embedded into the wall that allowed access into the elevator. I placed my hand over it and the door soundlessly opened up.

"Welcome back, Ai."

I climbed in and the doors immediately closed. The elevator descended underground and didn't stop until half a minute had passed.

The doors opened and revealed to me the familiar layout of Spectre.

I walked a little bit until I was at Ren's office. It had a sensor, so it slid open the second I was in front of it.

He was sitting at his desk while typing away with a focused expression which was odd for him. He looked up once he heard the door but went back immediately to his screen.

"Come over here. I need you to look at this."

I walked behind his desk and took a look at the monitor. On it was a layout of the simulation rooms system log but this time there were many errors printed on top of some.

"What the hell happened?"

"Don't know. That's what I called you for."

"...Thanks for that. I'll see what I can do, I guess, but this will take me a little while since so many things are wrong."

I began to walk away but a sudden grasp on my hand prevented me to do so further. I turned back and gave Ren a pointed look before he chuckled in response.

"Ease up, Princess. I just wanted you to know that a new guy will be coming in and that he will be assigned to help with this issue."

"I can do it on my own. No need for someone to get in my way and slow me down."

"Would you still stay that if you knew how good he is?"

"...We'll see."

I left and got to work. About half an hour had passed when I heard footsteps creeping up behind me. Must be the new guy. I spoke to him without looking away from the computer.

"Ren should've told you what your job is today. Don't get in my way and we'll get along well enough."

"And here I thought I'd get an enthusiastic welcome from you, Beautiful~."

Oh, Jesus. I stopped working from my thoughts and let out a huff.

"Just get to work."

He gave a light chuckle and dropped into the chair next to me.

"Whatever you say."

I was thoroughly surprised by his work ethic. The entire time he stayed focused.

Of course, he put in a comment here and there but didn't waste time in the process which was all I cared about.

We finished about another hour after he had arrived, and I was logging off my monitor ready to be done with the day while Alex was leaning back in his chair with his feet up on the desk.

"Hey, Beautiful, now that we're free, why don't we go somewhere fun?"

"Nah, I'm good."

"Oh, come on. I promise you won't regret it."

"That's a promise that I know you can't keep, nor do I care even if you were able to."

My screen finally shut off and I stood up to report to Ren that we were finally done without another thought about Alex.

Ren was still typing away in his dim room but this time a lot less stressed.

"It's done."

"Great. Thanks again for coming in. You can leave now. Tell Alex I said thanks for me on your way out please."

I gave him a slight nod and left. Guess who was standing outside the elevator. Alex was leaning against the panel so I would have no choice but to encounter him.

"Ren said thanks and I say move."

"Now, now. Beautiful. Maybe if you ask nicely I'll move for you. Or we could just skip the talking and jump straight to the fun part."

Let's not. I shoved him out the way and pressed the up button. There's no need for a print scanner since only those approved should be down here to begin with.

The doors slid open and I stepped in. Unsurprisingly, Alex stepped in as well just as they shut.

He gave me a smirk but oddly remained silent the whole time. We stopped moving as we were back on ground level.

I exited the shop and began to head home. Footsteps followed close behind me for a whole minute before I stopped walking and the person ran into me. He needs a life.

I turned around and was met with Alex's so called innocent smile.

"What?"

"I'm just walking home. Is that a crime?"

"No, but being so close to me should be."

"If wanting to be near you is a crime, than I guess I'm guilty, Beautiful~."

"Well, don't."

I continued on for a bit more until an arm wrapped itself around my shoulders.

"Hey, Beautiful. Wanna know something?"

"No. Get off."

"Aww, don't be so cold. I'm just trying to get to know you better."

"Okay, listen. I have unfortunately known you for less than a day and that's already way too many hours. So, I'll say this once and one time only. Leave me alone.

Published 4/11/17
1,532 Words