Hasty Feisty

Chapter 10 | A FOREIGN FRIEND

I entered the office-looking room, and everyone's attention turn to me as I entered.

"Ah, is she the new girl, something?" One man asked.

"Hi," I mumbled.

I entered the area, which appeared to be an office, huge and spacious, with each cubicle containing at least five to seven people.

But what stands out the most is that they were all wearing a mask. No, not a medical mask, but a mask that covered their entire faces for a reason that I don't know.

Weird. I thought.

The mask was black, with just their eyes visible, yet it was still difficult to see due to the thickness of the mask, which covered their entire faces.

"Yeah, that's what the boss told us." One man said as he motioned me to come near him. "Come here, we'll be guiding you."

"Okay..."

"So, we'll first start on how you do this. Our bosses love this specific drink and serve—"

"Yeah, I already know how to do it. I've been doing this before." I said as I grabbed the items from the table.

I poured the drink mixtures swiftly, skillfully mixing them before pouring them into another cup, and putting a piece of ice into each glass.

The men paused, looking at me as I put both hands on my hip, standing proudly. "See?"

"Wow, well then, I guess we should skip this part and go teach you the paperwork parts." He said.

"Right," I answered as I walked to another table.

"You're learning kind of quick."

"Ah, thank you." I thanked the man that was helping me with my work. Hours passed, and I'm still learning these skills, remembering each of them.

"I'm impressed." The man replied with black mullet hair that had been training me since a while ago. He's wearing a mask that covers his whole face. I'm just sitting beside him in his cubicle while I'm helping him with the paperwork.

"Hey, may I ask what your name is? We've been talking for quite some minutes now, and you know my name... so?" I asked cautiously as I faced him.

The man paused for a moment, looking around as he sighed. "I'm truly sorry, but I can't tell you my name. It's a policy here."

"What? Oh, well okay." I blinked for a while, then slowly nodded, focusing back on my work.

"But you can call me friend." He smiled, trying to cheer me up. I scrunched my nose from that.

"Ouch," you joked. "Joking, well okay then, kind of weird, but nice to meet you."

"Friend kind of sounds lame, so I'll call you Mask Man instead." I said sarcastically.

"That sounds more lame but okay." He said.

"Damn," I gasped, muttering words under my breath. "Did we somehow stumbled upon each other? You know, acquaintances?"

"Once in a million. That's impossible. We're both new here." He laughed.

"Well, whatever, nice to meet you, Mask." I reached my hand out to make a handshake. He hesitated a bit but then returned it as well.

"Nice to meet you, too."

"I want to know more about you," I said. "Why did you employ here?"

"Oh well, I just did, plus I have a connection with Regio so yeah."

Raising my brows in suspicion, I nodded.

"Don't worry, I don't do crimes like them. I just simply do the paperwork and serve them."

"Sure?"

"You can trust me, I swear." He raised his hands.

"You kind of remind me of someone." I laughed, shaking my head as I went to focus back on my paperwork.

"Who?"

"...Also a friend back then." I hesitated.

"Oh? Tell me about him." I heard him chuckle amusedly under the mask.

"I feel kind of embarrassed telling him about you. Something happened." I laughed.

"He's your ex? Crush something?"

"Let's put it in a way where we didn't get to be together officially, but like, I had fee—" I paused. "Actually you do the math. I'm embarrassed."

"I get what you're trying to say." He said.

"You know what, I have a hunch that you'll be my favorite person here. I don't want to go out and come back to your so-called bosses." I said.

"Oh really? That's interesting." His tone sounded playful.

"When we get out of here, I want to see how you look under that mask." I bantered.

"Okay then, I'll promise I'll take my mask off."

"Alright. Tho' anyway, do I also need to wear those masks-?" I asked.

"What are you doing?" Suddenly, I was cut off as someone entered the room.

"Boss," Mask stood up as he bowed.

"Dominic," I whispered in annoyance as if his name is a curse.

"Hi, Allura! Lorenzo told me that your shift is done. I'll be guiding you to your room." He waved to me as I stood up and walked to him.

He grabbed my wrist as we both went out of the office, but before the door closed, I looked back and waved goodbye to Mask.

"Bye-bye," I mouthed, not saying it out loud, of course.

And there, he also waved goodbye from the office.

"How's your first day?" Dominic asked as we're both inside the elevator.

Feeling my face heat, remembering what happened to me and Lorenzo this morning as this scenario with Dominic reminded me of it.

"It's fine."

"Did you make friends?" Dominic asked, holding back a laugh. Who asks this anyway?

"Stop treating it as if I just went on my first day of school in kindergarten." I retorted.

"Goddamn," Dominic just scratched his head at my aggressive demeanor toward him.

"Pft," I rolled my eyes as I sighed.

"Just make sure only friends." I felt him narrow his eyes from behind.

I didn't answer, hoping the elevator would ding so that I can escape his suffocating presence.

Ding

I sighed in relief, quickly walking out of the elevator.

"Goodnight, Allura." I looked back, and I saw him waving at me.

"Night," I briefly muttered.

"Make sure you'll sleep well. You'll be spending more time with me after your work tomorrow." Dominic said, my lips pursed in question.

"What—?"

"Night night." He winked as he cuts me off, then the elevator doors closed behind him.

I went inside my room and sat on the bed.

I sighed, wishing I had at least a phone. During my days here, I have almost everything but a phone and my independence. I wish I could at least contact my stepmother, friends (if you have one), or maybe even Azazel.

Sighing, I reached for a book from my shelf. Fortunately, they at least provided some.

I lay down on the bed, exhausted, but I couldn't sleep because I couldn't stop thinking about Mask.

Was he really a new friend?

Or someone I knew from before? The way he talked, his aura, and his presence were all familiar.

Nonetheless, at least I met someone already.

A new, harmless, and foreign friend.