Marianna slept soundly for the majority of the night, however, as her mind began to fall into a deeper sleep–she began to dream about a man she had never met before in her life. She couldn’t quite see his face, but his presence seemed so surreal, frightening even. She wanted nothing more than to distance herself from the stranger, but it seemed no matter how hard she tried he was one step ahead and had grabbed ahold of her. She felt chills as he grabbed her by the chin and gave her a slight grin. In her dream turned nightmare, she felt trapped, haunted by the echoes of the man’s taunting laughter.
However, this nightmare seemed to have passed as her dream began to brighten, and somehow transitioned to memories of her father when she and her sisters were younger. Her father was teaching the twins how to play piano, and MJ was gleefully enjoying the show. Warm. Her body soon relaxed as she was unknowingly comforted and readjusted in a more comfortable sleeping position due to the kindness of Anahera.
The following morning, MJ sat up, and began stretching out her arms, reaching out for the ceiling and letting out a soft yawn, releasing the tension from her body from the night on the old couch. She rubbed her eyes, trying to clean the sleeping sand from her eyes. “Anahera?” She yawned, as she turned her head to look for her roommate. She noticed he was arranging a vase of flowers, the sweet scent from the floral decoration was occupied by the bitter but savory sweet smell of what to be… “Coffee~” Her eyes light up with excitement at the smell. Last night had been a bit chilly due to the poor installation within their apartment, but that was just one of the many other problems they were left to deal with when they bought the apartment. “Did you get breakfast?” She questioned with surprise and a hint of guilt. “You didn’t have to do that..” She stated softly, feeling slightly guilty that she slept so long and he had spent his money to get her something to eat. Although he insisted that it was no problem, she still wore a slight guilty look and promised to make up for it.
She spent the morning eating and enjoying the breakfast he had bought, which was plenty considering it seemed he didn’t know what her likes and dislikes were. She couldn’t help but giggle at his flustered face as he tried to explain himself on the difference and quantity of the types of food and coffee he had bought. “I really do appreciate it.” She gave Anahera a smile before taking a sip of her coffee–nearly sipping it out when she realized the time. “Oh my god! I’m late for work!” MJ quickly threw off her blanket from her lap and hurried into the bathroom to get herself ready for work; brushing her teeth and brushing her hair, throwing it in as neat of a low ponytail as her curly hair would allow her. “C’mon Anahera! This is technically your first day too!” She stated, as she put on her uniform and threw her street clothes for afterwards in a bag, hopping to put on her shoes and race out the door.
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She felt breathless as she reached the restaurant. “S-Sorry I’m late.” She said with a huff, trying to catch her breath as she clocked herself in. Some of her co-workers gave her a hard time, “Goodness, Mari, what are we gonna do with you?” “Good thing the boss likes you so much.”
Marianna simply shook her head as she gestured to Anahera to follow her, so she could show him where his uniform would be and to get the work day started. She couldn’t help but notice a few of the female staff eyeballing Anahera head-to-toe like they did when he had previously entered the building the other day. She gave him a tour of the building, following protocol to show him every safety location incase of emergencies, fires, ect… She began to introduce the menu to him and couldn’t help but notice his slight confusion with some words. She couldn’t help but smile at his willingness to learn, which was refreshing to her. She was more than happy to explain things in more detail.
“For now, I think it would be a good start to have you start in the kitchen, so you can learn the different types of foods we have and what sides go with what and such.” She explained kindly, hoping to make him feel more reassured. “I’m going to go take this table real quick and leave you here in the kitchen, okay?”
She soon turned and went to complete her job and take care of her tables, moving quickly and efficiently, making sure the guests had a good experience. She was beginning to grab food from the cooks to bring to some of her customers when one of her coworkers gave out a rather rude remark, “Make sure not to purposely drop it on the guy this time Marianna.” “Yeah, if you wanna hook up with a dude that bad, there are better ways than throwing hot food at him.” The two goons both laughed, causing the poor girl's cheeks to flush. She held her head up high and continued to do her job. She couldn’t help but notice again as several groups of girls were eyeballing the kitchen where the window would sometimes show a cook, more importantly, Anahera.