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Mai came into work in a very cheerful mood today, and almost everyone at work noticed this. Some of the waitresses gave her off-handed looks but not even they could ruin her mood. Yes, she was a bit tired, but she couldn’t complain as she had almost spent the whole night talking to Derek. They both fell asleep on the phone and the next morning all she was able to hear were the soft noises of his breathing as he slept.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoajfWsSDeS
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyQfZ35eMx
Besides that fact, she was pretty glad she wasn’t coming into work to be mocked, envied or bullied like she was from the waitresses. Even if she was still cautious coming into work, it was better than it previously was. She walked into the staff room with a bounce to her walk and immediately noticed some of the other workers sitting, talking or just lounging around. She greeted some of the opening cooks as they smiled and greeted her back, and both Mackie and Lea were present as she waved at them too. Towards the end of the room was Mike, who was slouched on the couch with his hat covering his face.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOZb4xhf80
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3kPsDktch
“So what’s the plan for today?” she loudly asked as he jolted from his spot. He glared up at the young woman, clearly able to identify her voice the instant she spoke. He adjusted his hat and sat down properly with his legs apart as he rested his elbows on them. He gave out a big yawn that made Mai question if he had enough sleep last night, but she shrugged it off and waited for him to go over today’s agenda.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7uF9AGBt5
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAEljR8mdcm
“Let’s go a look around. Make sure nothing is out of place and shit,” he said. She nodded and the two walked around the restaurant, making sure everything was in place and nothing out of the ordinary was present. Mike noticed the cheery air that Mai exuberated and wondered about it. “How the hell are you so happy this time of day?”276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMCuVehOfM
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrqyyO5sSk
She just giggled, which made Mike think she was turning crazy or something, but she eventually told him that she woke up in the best of moods. He didn’t know what she meant by that, probably something to do with her personal life, but he couldn’t have cared less. It bothered him how everyone else out in the world was having the greatest times of their lives yet here he was, living a miserable existence inside of a hellhole. His parents weren’t around, he had no siblings, and he sure as hell had no girlfriend to even humor him. All he had was a shitty job—the only good thing was that he didn’t have any debt.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBLHi5cwlP
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ019BM27dlh
Mai looked up at the man and noticed through the moments he turned around that he had severe bags underneath his eyes, only made noticeable when they were in bright light. The staff room didn’t really show a lot but now she was able to tell that he really needed sleep. She felt kind of bad being in a good mood while he looked like he wanted to murder someone, but she really couldn’t help it—she felt like she was in a good place right now. Good job with… okay pay, a roof over her head, a loving boyfriend, supportive parents… she had it all and she was happy.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAorQuS6Hh1
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP8p8pyrEPf
After she and Mike checked all around the place, they headed back towards the entrance of the restaurant and Mike explained that they then needed to turn on any of the lights that were still turned off. Mai asked about the animatronics, but he just told her that the technician came every day to check on them—it wasn’t part of anyone’s job to check up on the damned things except for the technician. Other than that, they pretty much had time to relax, and Mai smiled as they headed for the staff room. One thing she appreciated about the morning shift was that there was always freshly brewed coffee, and it tasted amazing. She noticed that Mike took a swig of coffee and slammed the cup on the table.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRiVNFx7EaG
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzlXols5hR
“Why don’t you drink tea?” she asked him. He turned around and raised his eyebrow at the young woman, but she continued. “Coffee will just make you jittery, whereas tea will help your nerves and get you some good sleep.”276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7jOEfZ7p5K
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFpmaFyJLxA
He looked away—he didn’t think it would be that obvious that he was lacking sleep. In all honesty, he couldn’t help it. The nightshifts he used to do, and sometimes still does, gave him horrible nightmares that he couldn’t get rid of. He and Jeremy would talk about it some of the time, but for the most part he just kept it to himself. He was surprised that she was acting somewhat nice to him, but he figured that was probably due to her good mood.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYC3c046wE
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2npjx5ep2T
It was noon now, and Mai recognized that there was always another security guard who came in at this time. However, she wasn’t really happy to see Vincent walk through those doors, and a slight shiver crept up her back.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6H0S0AwOc
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHj8i41C2Cy
“Well, this is a surprise…” his eyes landed on her shoes as they slowly slid up to look at her slender legs, her slightly hipped waist, all the way towards her small but perky chest. He took and savored the sight before him, licking his lips along the way. Both Mike and Mai stared at him, one with such disgust and the other with a slight fear that he was undressing her with his eyes. Vincent chuckled. “So delicious looking…”276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8WWrTEgUC
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYxTrZbPSd
“Uh, hi, Vincent…” she said as she brought her hands to her front trying to cover herself up with the way he was looking at her. She gave the smile that a waitress like her knew best. “We’ll be working together, so I hope I don’t get in your way.”276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFVTbCwXsj
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZevpVOY8X
She was trying her best to be cordial about it, but she really didn’t want to see him at all, and wondered why he wasn’t doing nightshifts until what Joanna said came to mind. He and Scott were the oldest working security guards around here, so they probably had first picks compared to the newer members, and she wondered if she was going to be doing night shifts anytime soon. Vincent walked up to the young woman and placed a firm hand on her shoulder, squeezing it for a bit as his eyes squinted when he smiled.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ00VtVlZmRy
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3poWQEXDHn
“Oh, please, get in my way. I’d like that,” he whispered. She felt completely nervous now, and Mike watched as Vincent tried getting closer. He glared at the dark, purpled striped haired man, and walked up as he grabbed Mai’s arm.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIXAYCdcvRu
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7QlelMM5s
“We’ve got work to do,” he said as he dragged himself and Mai out from the entrance and towards the stage show, where kids alike where playing around and listening to Freddy and the gang sing their songs. “We’re gonna stay here and keep an eye out.”276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhzK4PY74v
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4mDO3DuqxW
“Uh, sure,” she said, noticing that the air around Mike grew dark very fast. There was no doubt in her mind that he did not get along with Vincent. There was such a tension between the two that she almost wanted to hide. Regardless, she kept watch of the kids and made sure they weren’t doing anything bad, with Mike coming in every so often to make sure she was doing her job. He would look around, as if making sure a certain someone didn’t come into the room, and felt relieved when the coast was clear.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5pNQ7hLIQ
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDFXDfv6yuS
It wasn’t such a tough job to keep the kids in check, and Mai was finding this easier by the minute. She looked over to Mike, who had his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall with his hat covering his face, and then towards the dining room—where Vincent was supposedly keeping guard. She heard a child giggling from somewhere, and when she turned her head she saw a young male child walking towards the stage, presumably to touch the animatronics. Mai lowered her eyes and quickly made her way towards the child, who was now an inch away from the animatronics before him.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxhi0Mo2lm
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Z3QqkN7lE
“Hey there, little guy! I know Freddy and the gang are amazing, but you gotta remember to keep your distance!” she said as she smiled down at the kid. He smiled back up at her, noticing that he was missing his two front teeth. She laughed at the sight, and the two stood just an inch away from Freddy as they laughed. From across the room, Mike yawned and decided to look up to check up on Mai, only to find that she and a child were right in front of Freddy. He flinched, finding that his breathing was becoming irregular when he noticed that Freddy’s hand was reaching out abnormally, like he wanted to grab Mai and the kid.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJv0WmcN1Ei
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1rnTviou4
Mike ran across the room with top speed, and before anyone could really see, grabbed both Mai and the child as far away from Freddy as he could. He bent down and checked out the kid, asking if he was alright and if the animatronics did anything funny, but the child just smiled and told them both that he was fine. Mike sighed out of relief and sent the kid on his way, but not before getting up to look down at Mai with such an intense glare.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcl6iO7lBbd
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0bgCJiHWpE
“What are you, stupid!?” he shouted, but not loud enough for the shouting kids to hear. Mai just stood there, a bit dumbstruck at what was going on, but when she composed herself she raised an eyebrow at Mike.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJlR7lvcn6
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“What are you talking about?”276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsF0KQvxPjQ
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“Why the fuck were you so close to that thing!?” he said, putting such venom when he said the word thing, clearly referring to Freddy. Mai blinked a couple of times before giving a slight smile, telling him that she had it under control, that the kid was almost about the touch Freddy, and how she stopped him from doing so. This, however, didn’t calm Mike down. “So then why the fuck didn’t you move to a safer location? That fucking bear almost grabbed you!”276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgtg3YT5isJ
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG62blSvg3F
Her eyes widened and she looked towards the bear, who was turning side to side as he sang into his microphone. She turned back to Mike and raised another eyebrow at him, wondering if he was going crazy or not. He gave out a frustrated sigh and grabbed his head—seriously, it wasn’t such a big deal, and Mai thought he was overreacting way too much. He scratched his head and told Mai to stay put somewhere where he could see her, and she glared at Mike thinking that he had no trust in her. She stood by the entrance of the stage show, and Mike was able to keep an eye on both her and the kids.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgnc13PnpGq
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILNXQ2sMm7
By the end of their shift, both Mike and Mai reported in with Boss, telling him that a child was almost close to Freddy. Boss felt a bit perturbed by this, but ultimately let it go and had them both go their merrily little ways. Mai quickly left the room and headed towards the staff room, and Mike figured she was mad at him for yelling at her, but he had his reasons. He decided to leave the restaurant quietly, not even saying goodbye to Scott or waiting for Jeremy to show up, and as he stepped outside into the now cold air he heard footsteps running towards him. He turned his head and noticed Mai carefully running along towards the entrance with a cup in her hand. Once she was outside of the restaurant, she shivered a bit at the cold air, but quickly spotted Mike standing and staring at her.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOnQektCe13
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡytxQmqIIB2
“Here,” she said as she stopped in front of him with a cup in her hand. She bent down to catch her breath a bit, and Mike noticed how much of a rush she was in to get to him. He looked at the cup that she was holding, and when he didn’t take it right away she looked up at him. “it’s chamomile tea… it’ll help you relax and hopefully make you sleep.”276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOp0p8SHkR
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy3a4GRZACM
He still eyed the cup for a bit, but hesitantly grabbed it off her hands and stirred it around before taking a sip. It tasted a bit weird but it wasn’t anything unbearable. Personally, Mai felt bad that he lashed out the way he did, and she felt like it was her fault for being incapable. She honestly didn’t want to be hated on again like with the waitresses, and as much as she disliked Mike for being a prick half the time, she could really do without him yelling at her. Mike took another swig of the tea he had in his possession, and in a couple minutes was completely done drinking it. It wasn’t as bad as he had originally thought, and he looked down at the smiling woman, who felt a small sense of pride as he gulped the thing down.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1OmJ4UgCh
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYercOY3fPh
“Now you should be okay for tonight!” she told him. She gave him one last look before leaving to find her car, but Mike quickly called out to her. She turned around and gave him a questioning look, and he just smirked.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxK4OfvKlv1
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvd1ylpExGX
“Thanks for the tea… My Valentine.” The look on her face was a mixture of horror and disgust as he laid out that pun, but he really couldn’t help himself, and he felt bad that she had such a shitty name. Still, Mai couldn’t help but chuckle, not because it was funny, but because he was still very much a…276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzEs7gSSVNj
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XVBRJChbI
“Prick,” she whispered to herself. Yes, no matter how she saw it he was still that. She walked away from him and found her car, drove out of the parking lot and headed back towards home. Mike did the same, and once he reached his own complex, which wasn’t the best place to live, he sat down on his couch. He watched a couple of shows of whatever was on, and at about 10pm he was already feeling drowsy. He gave out a big yawn, deciding it was time to call it a night, tuned off his T.V and headed off into bed.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ73Vma1eoHx
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To his surprise, he quickly fell right as soon as his head hit the pillow, and he couldn’t remember much of what happened that night, because he had actually fallen asleep. Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Mai was talking on the phone with her parents and letting them know that she was doing just fine with her job and had almost saved up enough for next month’s rent. They were really proud knowing that Mai was acting like the ever responsible adult that they taught her to be, and she was feeling an even greater sense of pride now that she heard it from them. She hung up after a couple more minutes of chatting, and she happily jumped on her bed as she drifted off into sleep.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhp7creTBUN
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr7xFj9Y1Ms
The next morning, Mike woke up feeling like he was one in a million, noticing that he hadn’t gotten any nightmares. He got up to stretch, did his daily rituals of getting ready, and soon headed towards the kitchen to eat some breakfast. It wasn’t the best kind of breakfast—just some basic cereal, but he couldn’t complain. The fact that he had a good night’s sleep overpowered the shitty cereal he was eating. He checked the time, noticing he still had a couple of more minutes to spare, but decided against it and headed straight for work.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcen4BSZEH
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3okYX93C38
After he parked his car and entered the restaurant, he walked around and noticed the usual happenings during the morning shift. He walked into the staff room, where Mai and the day host were talking, and wanted to actually thank Mai for the tea (But wasn’t going to)—who knew something like that could knock him out. He heard a couple of giggles coming out of her mouth and he wondered what the two were talking about. Mai noticed Mike walking towards her general direction, and she told Mackie that she was starting her shift soon. He smiled and left to go and check up on his host stand, and Mai got up and walked over to Mike.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeNKUzX8pOw
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXIgcg1LoBt
“How was the tea?” she immediately asked. He rubbed his neck and told her that it helped, leaving out that he had the best sleep in his life. She smiled and hummed in pleasant surprise, and the two did the usual morning checkup around the place. Mike noticed that she was still in a good mood, not as good as she was yesterday, but something must be going well in her life to let it pass on to the next day.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZuIxkwQZK
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncxKRGoKgb
“What’s got you so happy?” he asked. She looked up from the floor and up towards him, who looked down at her with a slight scowl on his face. She noticed he looked a bit more refreshed compared to yesterday.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUv11tisIV
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7tzkgVhqGU
“Can’t I just be happy?” she shot back, not trying to be rude about it, but really, was there a problem with being happy? Mike shot her a look and decided to leave it alone, but then the thought of her and her boyfriend came to mind, and he figured that was where her happiness lied.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohgQpvL5y3
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAIJxhqs7oI
“Happy about being the breadwinner or something?” he looked back down at her but she raised her eyebrow at him, wondering what he meant. He gave out a sigh and stopped walking as he looked at her. “You know, you and your boyfriend, you guys live together right?”276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUgTNUU3VqH
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRDSJfmur9
“Oohhh, that’s what you meant—no, we don’t live together,” she said as she stopped along with him. Mike wondered why they weren’t living together, but she voiced his questioning. “See, I’m from the countryside, about an hour from here, so we’re pretty much long-distance at the moment.”276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ669JfqY1ps
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ59j0ikuTXT
“Shit, which… explains a lot.” He scratched his head again but Mai wanted to know why he thought that. “Why you’re so loud and annoying and stubborn.”276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hEOb5W6jj
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgO14NO81I
“Wow, rude!” she shouted back as she placed her hands on her hips. Mike told her that she was also a bomb, ticking off whenever someone made an off-comment about her. She just harrumphed and told him that he was the same way, but he just scoffed.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFs7ywqbzsi
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaDllUHPZwm
“Hey, I have a rea—“he immediately stopped himself before continuing, ‘—son for why I lash out,’ was what he was going to say. Mai looked at him and shook her head, telling him he was just a firecracker. This made him snort at the comparison, and made fun of her for using such hick words. She glared at him, and he found it amusing that she was so quick to anger—she was definitely a feisty one and he wondered if it was due to her living out in the countryside.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3R4h4qUDl
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgcFAw9DSnj
They finished their morning routine and reached back towards the entrance to keep a lookout, but all Mai could ever think was the idea of living together with Derek. Honestly, it was something she really wanted with the male—dating and marrying her best friend appealed to her so much that she wanted it to happen. She was going to finish her schooling and the two would be able to live out their lives the way they wanted to.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlFSl2XCFv
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At least that’s what she wanted to happen.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8BVo8DbKu
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Mike took a glance at Mai, who was spaced out thinking of her perfect future, and rolled his eyes at how often she did that. He left for a moment to do a round around the restaurant and when he returned she was still spaced out. He sighed in frustration and flicked her forehead with his fingers, which greatly caused the young woman to snap at him. “You prick!” she shouted, until she realized she had been spacing out, to which she blushed a bit and started leaving to do her job.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJPSUdlynsu
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnV1yH4Q8ap
Scott came in at around noon, greeted both Mike and Mai, and left to do his part of guarding. Other than that, nothing really big happened that day. Mai had a sense of what was expected during the day shift, and honestly, this was a lot easier and calmer than being a waitress. Even so, it wasn’t a job that she wanted to keep while being at school, because she knew she could make way more waitressing. The other waitresses had completely ignored her at this point, even though she was no longer making more than them, and thought it was funny how they still made horrible tips.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUIYT6f6zma
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYP8AUjH0AB
At around 6pm Mai and Mike were done for the night, and the former was ready to head off home and talk with Derek. When they were both outside she noticed how chilly the air had become and wrapped her arms around her to keep warm—Mike noticed this and watched as she puffed her cheeks and slowly let the air come out of her mouth. He couldn’t help but think she looked funny doing so, but more so cute. He shook his head and found it his cue to leave, hoping he was sleep deprived if he was thinking someone as obnoxious as Mai was cute. She, on the other hand, watched as he left the area in a rushed manner, and felt a bit disappointed and angry that he didn’t say goodbye—even after the little conversation they managed to conjure out.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9iQX2Q5DUx
276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVKimMl3LSK
She just pursed her lips, irritated at the thought of being sad that someone like Mike didn’t say goodbye to her. She walked over to her car and headed straight home, happy to hear Derek’s voice and all of the work he did today.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxmgaoGRCH
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