disassembly required. (ignore the pic pls •^•)

1 - Arrival

Oh. My. Goldfish.

It really was a middle school cafeteria, with its rectagular tables, and long assembly line of different foods served by cafeteria workers. The cafeteria held a certain elegance to it, which I assumed was only because of its cleanliness, a trait middle school cafeteria's could never have.

I noticed a group of people behind the assembly line of food. They all had hairnets on, and white aprons. One of them looked at me, a bit surprised. "Is it already lunch?" He asks, adjusting the chef's hat on his unruly red hair.

I shake my head. "Um, I work here..."

His face lights up and he waves me over. I walk over to him and the group of other workers. He smiles. "Follow me!" He begins walking down the assembly line. I follow him, looking at the food options as I did. He stops in front of one station, and points at a door behind me. "This is the kitchen, where you'll be half of the time," He pointed at the small station. "And this is where you'll start. Just serve some food to whoever comes to your station, k?"

I nod. There was a small ring, and the other cafeteria workers immediately scrambled to their stations, their backs straight. One of them looked anxious. Another looked downright terrified. The man in the chef's hat hands me some gloves, and a hairnet.

I look over at him as I put on my new accessories, a bit confused. "Um," I say, quietly. "What's going on..?" He looked down at me, a dark expression on his face.

"Its....lunchtime."

The doors swung open, and the man ran to his station, leaving me on my own. A wave of business suits and formal dresses swarmed towards us, each with a bored or tired expression. I straighten up instinctively, as the swarm lined up to be served. I served what seemed to be a gray mush (Oatmeal? Gravy?) which the workers avoided. I stood there, a ladle in hand, as I waited for someone to stop at my station. A few minutes passed, and as the swarm died down, the anxiety from the cafeteria workers seemed to lower slightly. I boredly held the ladle in my hand, scooping up mush, and dropping it back in. I sigh a bit.

"Mm." Someone grunts.

I look up. And look up some more. It was a man, with deep green eyes and black hair, looking down at me. His business suit was as dark as his hair, his red tie a bit crooked.

I gulp, staring up at him. It hadn't even been a minute, and my neck hurt from looking up. He held out his empty plate, glancing down at the mush. I quickly pick up the ladle again, scooping up a hefty amount of mush, and plop it onto his plate. He hummed softly and nodded, walking away. My body was still tense, but my heart was doing somersaults.

That can't be...was that the moody and brooding boss of this company, that most likely has a soft side that he only shows to certain people?!

I go on my tip-toes, looking around for him, but he was hidden in the crowd of office workers. I sigh, a bit disappointed, when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I jump, holding a spoonful of mush in front of me, as if it would protect me. I mean, it might as well be radioactive...

"Woah, put the slop down," It was the guy in the chef hat, laughing a bit nervously, holding his hands up in surrender. "I was just tryna see how you were doing, no need to give me radioactive poisoning." Chef Hat chuckled slightly, and I put the ladle back in its pot.

"So, how was it?"

"Nobody came. Except for one." I say, quietly.

Chef Hat nods. "Ah, that was probably the boss." He chuckled a bit when I looked at him, my eyes shining. Ha, one point for Mira.

"Yeah, he's the only guy who likes that. That's really the only reason we bother to still have it. Why do you look so happy?"

I shake my head, deciding to keep the reason to myself.

Chef Hat stares at me for a moment, before stretching a hand out to me. "The name's Ricardo." He grins. "Never really asked, but what's your name?"

I stare at the hand, before placing mine on his. I shake it. "Miralia."

He nods, his sky-blue eyes shimmering. "That's a very pretty name...hey, can I call you Mira?"

I nod almost immediately. He grins widely. "Great. You can call me Rio, if you want."

"Ok...Rio." I say, quietly.

Rio grins widely again. If he smiled even wider, his face would stretch. I hear a soft grunt behind me, and my heart skips. I turn around.

It's the boss again, holding a now empty plate. I quickly serve another scoop. He nods, grunting slightly. He walks away. I hear a laugh behind me.

"He must really like you, huh?" Rico says, his eyes following the boss as he sat down.

I spin around. "HUH?" I say, a bit loudly. Rio laughs. "I mean, he never comes back for seconds. Like, ever." Rio grins, and looks over at me. I look over at the boss, who eats his food slowly. This is really happening...my mom really wasn't lying when she said I was special!

I smile a bit. "And it looks like you might be fond of him too, huh?" Rico teased. He poked my shoulder, and I jumped a bit. "I'm not fond of him... I barely know him..." Rico smirks and nudges his head back to the tables. My gaze drifts over to where he's motioning, and my heart almost stops.

The boss was staring at me, his cheek full of mush. HIs emerald eyes examine me seriously, before he gulps down the mush. It seems like an eternity, his green eyes staring into my amber eyes. He blinks, and seems to realize that he was staring. He looks around and decides to focus on his food again. I look at Rio, who waggles his eyebrows at me. "Look at that. You've only been here for less than an hour, and you already caught the attention of the boss. Lucky you." He grins. A small ding similar to the one from earlier rang throughout the cafeteria, and the workers stood up, getting ready for work again. I catch the boss staring one last time, before blending in with crowd.

And almost as fast as they came, the workers had left, leaving a peaceful silence. Rico grinned, and a few cafeteria workers let out a heavy sigh.

"Good work, guys!" Rico says, looking over at the workers. "Now, we wash dishes!"

There was a few groans of protest from this, but the workers began picking up dishes that had been left behind on tables. Rico turned to me. I gulp. "You can clean up the leftovers, Mira. It's your first day, so take it easy." He flashed me a grin, before disappearing into the kitchen, leaving me alone with the leftover food and a pile of unidentified mush.

- - - - - -

I walk home, the dim street lights creating a faint shadow around me. I smile a bit. Maybe work will be what I thought it was... I arrive at my small house, a replica of the rest in the neighborhood. I fiddle with my keys, before finally opening it. I flick on the lights and kick off my shoes. In the safety of my home, I could finally take off my mask...and be myself...

Deep breath in...

All composure from earlier was lost as I exhaled. I jump up and down, spinning. I jump onto the couch, laughing happily. "Life is freakin' awesome!" I laugh and nuzzle my face into one of the couch cushions. My mind drifts back to my relatively calm work day: meeting new people, learning my job, and most importantly...the boss.

I stand up from the couch, smling widely. "Geez, he's exactly how the mangas predicted..." I make my way to a small bookshelf dedicated to my favorite mangas, the romance ones. I pulled out one, and on the cover was the generic male lead: black hair, dark eyes, cold stare, and businessman. I smile a bit, and spin around, holding the manga above me. "This must be a dream..." I put away the manga and sigh. I flop back onto the couch, and stare up at the ceiling. I close my eyes and inhale deeply. "I hope that this day won't be the last fun day..." I drift off to sleep, a lopsided grin on my face.

Author's note:

Oh my skittles, guys. I did it. I wrote something. It probably sucks right now, but I swear on my sleep schedule that it's gonna get better. Trust. Anyways, if there's any feedback, or any comments, feel free to give me some (^o^). And if there's any ideas that you'd be feeling to share, feel free to comment that too! It might make it to a future chapter (hopefully...fingers crossed) If the story is a bit choppy or doesnt make sense in some parts, its cause I was listening to my glorious king natori :D. cant help it if i get distracted... anyways love ya guys, and thanks so much for reading!!

-nata the pata <3