Cycle 3

Neh, piercings?!

I silenced that shrill beeping with a thwack of my hand. Irritated by the pain, I pulled myself out of bed. God damn the man that invented this retarded creation. Daily care taken care of, I threw open the cabinet.

Hope you like Lilac~

I sighed heavily, as heavily as I could to alleviate the annoyance. I hate smelling like a fresh flower field, I’m not sure why my roommate doesn’t get that. It’s probably just a joke, but still. It gets obnoxious after a while. I lazily slipped on my uniform and examined myself in the mirror. Ugh, I look ridiculous. Like a bell hop or something. I’ve got “whip me” written all over this idiotic ensemble.

The counter clerk came, as usual. I took the tray from her with a fake smile and shooed her away. Something about her seemed off, her makeup was toned down, but I don’t really care. It’s just something I noticed anyways. I ate my food in thirty minutes, giving me twenty to get to the mart. Plenty of time. On the way out, I checked myself in the mirror. Nice hair. Lip rings in place. Lookin’ good.

I strolled into the building, early for my shift. “Piercings” My boss called.

“I got it, I got it.” I whined, removing them reluctantly.

My foul mood was interrupted by Daniel slamming his hand onto my shoulder, “Mornin’, buddy!” My arm twitched and the rings slipped from my grasp, colliding with the floor with a light sound of metal clanking. It echoed in my ears.

I was paralyzed. ...How did I get to work? Why am I staring at my shoes? “Um, you okay, Josh?” I heard behind me. I turned to face him, “Your shoelace untied?”

I shook my head slowly, “No...no, nothing like that.” I glanced at my hands then back to him, “Hey...am I late?”

“Hm? No, you’re early, just like always.” His brow furrowed. “And why do you smell like flowers?”

“Oh, that.” I looked away, then back, “The lady at the front desk put on way too much perfume. I wish I hadn’t needed breakfast, I could have avoided it.” I lied.

“Really?” He shook his head, “That sucks, man.” I nervously flicked my eyes at him and noticed a growing grin, “Sucks you can’t lie! Is it her? Huh? Huh?”

“Is what her? And...who is her?” I questioned.

“Good morning!” The doorbell tinged, giving me my answer.

“Ah, there she is! Good morning, you!” Daniel laughed.

“Good morning, Daniel!” Sang the voice of the beautiful young woman with sandy peach hair and navy blue eyes.

“H-!” I started, but the thought was lost. The two looked at me with confusion, but I was just as lost as they were. What was I saying? “H-...Ha-...” Then it struck me, “H-...Hana?” They kept staring, wonder in their eyes. Wondering if I had my head on straight, I assume. “Yeah, Hana. That’s your name. Hana.”

“Um...yeah.” She answered, head cocked to the side.

“Dude.” Daniel’s eyes fell on me with disappointment, “You don’t even remember your own girlfriend’s name?”

“My…” I stopped, “...what?” I just met this woman last night...right? I hadn’t known her before hand. I  remember she fell off the balcony of that cafe, I caught her, we walked home and talked about…

Why is everything black after that? I don’t even remember getting up this morning. Daniel and Hana leaned together and began whispering to each other as I tried to figure everything out. “What a bummer, that you decided to date this dip.”

“Oh no, I just want to know if he’s okay…”

“I don’t know. Then again, he’s been pretty absent minded since he first came back.”

“Oh, has he? My poor bae…”

“...I can hear you two, you know…” I intervened. Daniel laughed at me, pushing Hana and I together and saying something along the lines of “lovebirds” and “getting my mack on.” I swear, he is such an idiot sometimes.

“So...have you been feeling okay?” Hana, concern lacing her voice, asked me. She huddled close to my chest and stared up into my eyes, causing me to blush.

“Oh, I, uh…” I started.

She sighed, “I told you that I could move in with you.” Her mouth formed into a pout, “We’re dating anyways, it’s not a big deal. And we could always talk whenever we wanted...it’d be so much fun.”

“I don’t know, Hana…” I rubbed the back of my neck. I couldn’t let my alleged girlfriend sleep on the floor and I didn’t want to toss her aside in the chair. The thought of us together in the same bed made me uncomfortable, especially since I don’t really own any PJs.

“Oh, come on! Please!” She begged, clasping her hands together. Her fingernails were painted pink...how cute.

Staring into her puppy dog eyes made me want to give in, but the manager got onto me for standing around and not working, so I’ll have to make my decision another time, “I’m sorry, Hana. Can we discuss this later?

Her shoulders slumped in disappointment, “Ugh, fine. Tonight okay?” I nodded. “Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some grocery shopping to do. I’ll pick a few things up for you too!” Before I could protest, she skipped off into the store and I was drug by the collar to do inventory in the back storage. So much for seeing Hana out the door.

“Alright, you know the drill. Take inventory, count everything...you know.” My manager sounded exhausted. Didn’t make me any less annoyed with him.

“Yes sir.” I replied as composed as I could.

He was about to take his leave, when he began to sniff the air, “Um...Joshua?”

“Yes sir?” I felt my body tighten into a cringe, not ready for what he was about to say about the smell of my uniform. I could tell him Hana did it, or I could use the clerk excuse again. I’m not sure it would matter though, considering I’m apparently not a good liar.

“Son...why do you smell like a field of flowers?” One of his brows lowered.

“Well, sir...I…”

“Is that...lilac?” He eyed me suspiciously, “Is there something you want to tell me?”

“Yes sir, you see...I, uh…”

He waved a hand to the side, “You know, I’m a very open person. I accept all kinds of people in my store.” Once I realized where he was taking this conversation, I nearly fainted of embarrassment. “If you...like other men, you know, that’s okay. I know you’re a good, hard worker, so it’s not a big deal.”

I put a hand up to stop him, “Please sir, it’s not-”

“No no no, you don’t need to hide it. I, uh...I get it, these things happen. I’m not used to it, but I understand. If you, uh...if you want to wear the ladies’ uniform, I don’t mind.” His voice trailed into a whisper.

I placed a hand on my forehead, my skin growing burning hot. I couldn’t even imagine how red I am right now, “Sir...please…”

He shrugged, “Is there anything you’d like to talk to me about? Work-wise?”

“Sir, please.” I racked my brain until I remembered what I was going to ask him. “I really need your help with something.”

“Oh, well…” His gaze shifted uncomfortably to the floor, then back to me, “If you need somewhere to start, Daniel’s a nice fellow, but I don’t think he, uh…”

I slapped both my hands to my face, completely humiliated. Not knowing what to say to not make it worse on myself, I just finished our conversation with a, “Thank you sir….” and he wandered off back into the main part of the store. Moral of the story: I need to learn how to lie....

When work was over, I got the heck out of that building before I ran into the manager or Daniel, in fear of having a “conversation” again. I just hope Daniel doesn’t hear, he’ll never let me hear the end of it. And even worse, he’d tell Hana, and she especially wouldn’t let me hear the end of it.

Oh yeah...Hana. She was supposed to meet me tonight so we could discuss her moving in with me. Despite my fear of her mocking me of today’s incident, I was so relieved to see her again. I guess she was too, seeing as she ran up and glomped me. She rushed at me too hard though, pushing me onto my heels and causing me to fall on my back. It didn’t hurt that much, but I still wanted to get out of that position. However, her giggling and cuddling into my neck made the pain go away. “So, are you ready to talk now?”

I chuckled, “Yeah. Let’s head inside the room.” I led her into my apartment room, and she danced in excitement.

She threw herself into my bed after examining the room for a minute, “I love it, it’s so much better than mine!”

“Oh...is it?” I sat beside her.

“Yup.” She rolled over onto her back, “I kinda live in the ghetto, so, y’know.”

“Oh...I’m so sorry…” I turned away from her.

I felt her crawl up into my lap and hug me closely, “It’s okay, but that’s kinda why I want to move in. There’s a high crime rate there and it scares me to even sleep in that area.”

I hugged her back. I had no idea she was living in such a dangerous location. I gave it some thought then pushed her off my chest to look into her eyes, “...Alright. I don’t want you to be near dangerous people, so I’ll let you move in with me.”

Her eyes lit up and her mouth sprouted into an excited smile, “Yay!” She tackled into me again, “Thank you thank you!” Suddenly she back away from me and gasped, “I wonder when I should start moving? Maybe tomorrow? Oh, but you never get any days off…”

“I could ask my boss for one for the day after.” Though I’m not too sure about that….

“I don’t know...” Hana said, slithering out of my lap, “How did asking for a raise go?”

“Oh.” I smiled, “Swimmingly.”

She returned my smirk, “So, you’re not getting it?”

“Not likely.” I shook my head, my eyes shifting to my alarm clock.

She took a moment to pace the room, “Then just leave me your room key. I don’t need to move any furniture anyways, you’ve got enough here. I just need to get my clothes and things.”

I pulled the key out of my pocket, “Alright, just be careful.” I handed it to her and she took it without hesitation,

“Don’t worry, I will! Promise!” She skittered out of the room to prepare her things at home, locking my door on her way out. I ran a hand through my hair, smiling to myself. I couldn’t wait to have her here with me. The thought still fresh on my mind, I headed to the bathroom to do my nightly duties then headed to bed, eager to start the day tomorrow. I hoped I had sweet dreams of Hana and I together….

Author's Note

Again with the weird Joshua trippin' thing. It will hopefully work itself out by the end :)