Bad day or Good Day

"Damn it damn it damn IT….just Damn IT ALL!" I can't help but scream at the top of my lungs while I stand out front of my college. People stare at me as the walk by or try to avoid making eye contact, "First I'm late to my first class then I'm late for the sub way…I flunked my exam…and now I don't have enough money for a ride home…" I take a deep breath. "But that doesn't mean the afternoon won't be better right? At least I have the weekend to look forward to now with all my classes done and over with today. Ok…I at least have my wallet I can always use my card to get a cab ride home…the subway is just cheaper…" with my spirits renewed I decide to head into town.

"Hey Miri (Me-Ree)!" I turn to see a few of my friends form class. "We're all planning on going to dinner tonight are you planning on coming."

"Dinner sounds great!...except I have no money…" and I need to save what's left on my debit card for my ride home…

"Oh…well that's ok maybe next time." Jerks! The least you could have done was suggest you pay for my bill tonight and I would have paid you back! I can't help but glare at their backs as they walk off leaving me with absolutely no plans tonight. A huge sigh escapes me as I start walking along hoping to at least life my spirits with some window sopping. The town is alive with people either getting off work at 3 in the afternoon or something else. Others seem to be going around on dates as I notice younger teen couples skipping high school. Looking around I decide to pull my iphone out from my backpack and listen to some music as I walk along. The music starts to put me in a good mood as I find myself walking along with a skip in my step. Across the street I find a store I think I would like to look into and press the button to cross the street. As I wait others stop behind or by me waiting for the sign to say walk. I close my eyes as I listen to the music continuing on to a new song. A few seconds later

"ACK!" I suddenly feel wet and cold; a car passes by in the distance before the light changes red for him. Looking down I find a rippling puddle of water. "…A puddle…did it have to be a puddle?" my shirt is totally soaked along with my hair and now ruined ear buds; and instead of seeing if I'm ok the crowd just walks on past me as if I don't exist. Trying not to let my bad luck get the best of me I take a few deep breaths,

"Are you ok?" I continue to take a few deep breaths as the person talks to me, "Miss?"

"I'm fine, just trying not to let this ruin my day…along with everything else that has happened today…!" I say through gritted teeth. I will not let this beat me I will not let this beat me…!

"You're soaking wet though…" I turn to the one angel out of the sea of monsters that spoke to me. His eyes are kind as they entrance me deeper into those brown pools. His Japanese is very good considering that just by looking at him he's a foreigner perhaps from America. His skin is dark yet it's not ruined by any kind of blemish that I can see. He's clearly older than be but by how much I'm not really able to say. He looks young enough to be in his late twenties early thirties but in his eyes it almost seems as though he's older than that.

"Oh um yeah...I guess I did get a bit wet." Looking down at my shirt I start to feel a bit red in the face. He…everyone can see my bra… I try to cover myself up with my arms but it does no good. Ok this is bad…what am I going to do…I don't the money to go buy a new shirt right now! Suddenly I feel a jacket drape over my shoulders,

"Here use this." the stranger pulls the jacket he was wearing closed around me hiding me from peeping eyes.

"Th-Thanks but this is yours isn't it?" out of no where he suddenly kisses my forehead making my mind go blank, "Wah…!" he smiles at me making me feel as though my heart will leap right out of my chest,

"It's fine; try to stay warm ok?"

"Ah…But…" he walks away back into the crowd before I'm able to stop him, disappearing into the crowd. I tug a little bit on the jacket pulling it a bit closer. "Wow…who was that guy?" while still thinking that I put on the oversized jacket to hide my wet clothes underneath.

Although meeting the guy only proves to be my highlight of the day. After that it's all just gone down hill from there. I'm about to give up on optimism… how did I get mistaken for being a thief? If the real thing hadn't shown up I would have taken the blame for it… not to mention how did they mistake me for a GUY? I'm a girl last time I checked. Then I get food thrown all over me…this stain is never going to come out of this shirt! Good thing I put away that guy's jacket before hand…it would have gotten stained instead. Speaking of which I wonder who he was? Does he work somewhere near by in the city? It was nice of him to let me use his jacket but…I need to find out where he works so I can give it back. He was wearing casual clothes so…was he on a day off or was he passing the time while waiting for his shift? Hm…it was strange though, I'm sure everyone had already crossed the road but he seemed to just appear out of nowhere. He was really mysterious too…and what was with that kiss on the forehead too? It was really unexpected…well I can always try to find out later… pulling my phone out I see that it's getting to be around 9 p.m. pulling up my contacts I dial the number for the cab number thanking good planning for having the number ready in my phone. There's a dial tone when, "He-Yah!?" someone knocks me over as they pass by and doesn't even stop to see if I'm alright. They look a bit shady too. As he runs I notice something in his in his hand. "Hey my backpack!" I shout as I pick myself up and chase after the person, "Stop thief!" his pace picks up as he realizes I'm hot on his tail. "Give me back my bag you coward!" I can only run for so much longer as the shady man gets further and further away, "S-Stop Thief! Somebody stop him!" out of nowhere someone new comes and kneels down kicking the thief causing them to trip. The thief nearly flips in the air before landing on his side. In an instant the person who stopped the thief has retrieved my bag for me and has one of the thief's arms locked behind their back. When I finally reach the scene I take a moment to catch my breath. "T-thank…y-you…" I heave.

"Don't worry about it; here you go." Leaving the now unconscious thief alone my rescuer stands and hands over my backpack but we both seem to freeze at who it is.

"You…!" I can't help but point a finger at him.

"You…?"

"What are you doing here?" again we're shocked at the fact that we asked the same question at the same time. He's dressed completely differently from before. His clothes are really stylish now and seem to be a bit more professional. He was good looking in his normal clothes but this is…kind of better.

"Here you go." With a smile he hands over my backpack and immediately check to see if everything is in it. Thankfully nothing seems to be missing and I breathe a sigh of relief. The thief now waking up grumbles looking to see where he is. Something in me snaps and,

"You piece of trash!"

"Whoa, hold on now!" the strange man holds me back from ripping into the thief who stares at me in fear,

"I oughta rip your eyes out and make you eat them! do you even know the kind of day I've been through?! And who the HELL attacks a helpless girl! Hey where do you think you're going?!" the thief obviously afraid that he angered the wrong person dashes off into the night leaving my rescuer to hold me back as I shout angrily.

"Please calm down miss…" he gently says in my ear and for some reason it snaps me back to my senses. Seeing that I've calmed down he lets me go.

"Damn it…" finally all my optimism has been used up and I collapse to the ground. it takes a lot to push me to tears yet some how I'm managing to hold them back, "this day has been the worst EVER…! What next? Am I going to get shot?!"

"That's not really something you should joke about…"

"With the bad luck I've had today…I WISH I was joking…"

"H-hey now don't talk like that!"

"Sorry…I didn't mean to dump my problems on you…" another huge sigh escapes me, "man what a nightmare of a day…" I stand, "well I guess I should just call the cab and…" as if to just push my buttons even more as I try to dial the cab the battery runs out and the screen goes black. "SON OF A- MMMMMMGH!" I use every curse word I can as I let all my frustration out right in front of this strange man and any other passerby daring enough to stare at me. After a bout a minute of continuously cussing it's nearly impossible for me to hold back my tears, "Damn it…sniff…this is the worst day…now how am I supposed to get home…I can't even call the stupid cab…sniff…" still holding my dead phone I furiously try to wipe away my tears as more and more stream down my face.

"Here…" he holds out a handkerchief to me allowing me to use it. As I wipe my tears he pets my head trying to console me. "It sounds like you need someone to listen to you vent right now…" as I finish wiping my face off I stare up at him, "Come with me." he takes me by the wrist and pulls me along to a nearby building. When we get close to it the sign reads Club Sirius in big neon lights. Yet instead of being gaudy it looks to be kind of cool adding some sort of appeal to the building. W-wait a minute…this is the number one host club known in this city! Wait don't tell me!

"You work here?" I ask.

"Yes I do." Well…he certainly has the look of one. "Come on now follow me." he enters into the building still slightly dragging me behind him. Entering to the huge building, the sign doesn't do any justice to what awaits. This place could even be fit to serve royalty. There's a fountain with coy fish at the entrance itself; a chandelier hangs from the ceiling and there's even a buffet of fruits and sweets. I can't help but gape at how expensive this place looks.

"Er…I don't think I have enough money to pay for services…" I say cautiously to him. Still walking he turns to me still smiling,

"It's ok; it's on the house tonight."

"What?! But won't you get in trouble for…"

"It's fine I'll work something out later with the owner." Looking around the place is packed with female customers all surrounding a different host. They're too far away for me to actually see them at the moment.

"Oh there you Mr. Christopher! I was about to come out looking for you." A young man comes up to us. He looks cute in a boyish and innocent kind of way. He seems younger than me a bit even though he's dressed as a butler it seems. His sandy brown hair seems kind of fluffy adding to his innocent charm and his big brown eyes also seem to mesmerize me. Just like before though even though he looks young his eyes seem to hold an unknown maturity.

"Sorry I didn't mean to be gone so long; I ended up running into a bit of a situation."

"Really what happened?"

"Nothing serious. Is there a table open right now that I can tend to this young lady at?" his remark makes me blush slightly.

"Yeah table seven should be open right now."

"Thomas come on! What's taking so long?!" a group of girls are beckoning over the cute young man from a distance.

"Sorry Miss Mina; I'll be there in just a second." He turns to me and bows slightly, "Enjoy your time here ma'am." With that he heads over to the table to tend to the ladies.

"Over here." My strange acquaintance leads me to a glass table with an intricate gold border with a soft violet colored couch. "Please sit." I hesitate for a moment but the way he gestures for me to sit down feels as though he's pulling me in and I find myself sitting on the couch. But he doesn't sit down yet. "Hello there; my name is Christopher. I look forward to serving you this evening."

"Er…hi Christopher…my name's Miri." I can't believe I'm being severed by a host at Club Sirius…

he laughs slightly noticing how nervous I am.

"I think I may have something in mind that will help you calm down; please excuse me, I'll be right back." With a light bow he leaves me by myself for a few moments as I take a look at my surroundings even more. After a few minutes he returns with a delicious looking piece of cake. The cake itself looks like green but the chocolate frosting makes it look really good s strawberry on top finishes to look of the cake. "Here you are." He hands me the cake with a fork before setting down the patter with a tea set he had in his other hand. Once he sits down Christopher starts preparing the tea. "What do you like in your tea."

"Um…milk and some sugar." I kind of feel like I don't deserve this kind of treatment. As he prepares the tea I can't seem to settle down at all; he sets the cup down on the table in front of me. "Aren't you going to eat?" Christopher asks as he leans back on the couch after making his own tea.

"Oh um…sorry." I take a piece of the cake on my fork and eat it. "Mint chocolate chip…!"

"That's right."

"It's really good. Mmm…! So yummy!" I take another bite enjoying the taste of the cake. Suddenly I realize he's watching me and I freeze. "Er…sorry…I just never expected…it's good."

"heh I'm glad you're smiling now." I set the cake on the table and lift the tea up to my lips. The warm and smooth taste of the tea is so good I don't think even a professional level café can compete with it. "So what happened today besides the thief and the puddle? I'm guessing other incidents took place in order to wind you up so much."

"You don't even know the half of it…it was basically one bad thing after another today…" I take another sip of the tea.

"You can tell me about it if you want; I'll listen."

"Oh n-no, no I mean you've already done more than enough for me. I mean the service and helping me out today not to mention treating me like this without having to pay. I mean there's no way I can ask for you to listen to me yammer and complain about that stuff." He smiles as he props an arm up on the couch and rests his head in his hand,

"Being independent is a great quality to have Miri…but sometimes even those kinds of people need someone to listen every now and again." his gentle voice makes me blush slightly. I don't like sounding weak in front of people but…he's already seen me cry, "If it helps, what we talk about tonight will not leave this table."

"You…promise it won't?" he places a finger to his lips,

"My lips are sealed." I take a deep breath "Well it just pretty much started with me waking up late today…" slowly but surely I tell Christopher my whole story From waking up late to the incident with the thief. All the while he listens intently to me complain about every little thing I possibly can. When I stop he occasionally gives his own opinion about the story. By the end of it I feel so relaxed that I feel all muscles in my body are relaxed as if I've taken a nice hot bath to relieve the tension. "And than you brought me here."

"I see…well after all that I can understand why you would be pushed to tears. I'm sorry that all happened to you."

"Just one of those days I guess. Although I never would have expected that you would be a host though…I think the entire day today you were the one good thing that happened."

"Yes well I'm surprised that you yourself know so much about foul language." I remember all the cuss words and slander I used not to long ago. He chuckles slightly as my face turns red,

"Yeah…um sorry about that…"

"It's fine; after the day you had it's understandable. Now you said you received a test back from a class; are you in college?"

"Yeah it's my second semester so I guess I'm still getting used to everything. Right now I'm just getting my core classes out of the way."

"Really what are you wanting to study?"

"Mythology." I say shyly. "I've always been interested in old folk tales and legends."

"That's an interesting field to go into."

"Yeah…although I'm not too sure of what I could do with a degree in mythology at the moment it's still something I'm wanting to do….maybe a museum."

"hee hee…are you interested in history as well?"

"I've never given it much thought but I guess I'd be willing to give it a shot."

"You said you take the subway to school; you don't live on campus?"

"Nope…I have my own apartment.

"So you live on your own?"

"I've been on my own for a long time now-oh…er…" now he really has to keep his lips sealed. He's so easy to talk to…that just sort of slipped out…that's definitely something too personal…I don't want to ruin the fun either. "S-sorry…um can we talk about something else…?"

"Sure…what kind of hobbies do you have?" wow he didn't even try once to press the topic. He really is considerate to a person's feelings. I wonder what kind of person he is when he's not working? Is he just as nice as this or is their something deeper?

…

after the long conversation we have Christopher walks we to the train station so I can make the last train for the night. Apparently he didn't feel comfortable leaving me alone to walk at night so now he's escorting me. as we enter the station I try to pay for my ticket but,

"I can get it." Christopher places a credit card on the counter,

"What but I can-"

"It's fine; don't worry." Ugh…I wonder if anyone can argue against his smile… with my ticket in hand I'm about to pass through the gate, "Make sure you get home safely."

"Hey I am 20 years old here I'm not a child…"

"Well that may be but still I'd prefer it if you get home safely."

"Yeah sure…" I can't believe he just casually gave me his cell number so I can call him when I get home…I don't even know if I should read into that or not…probably not, he's just being a gentle man. "Oh yeah." I fumble through my backpack and pull out a neatly folded jacket. "Here I was hoping I would be able to give this back to you soon."

"I'm glad it helped you out that time."

"Hey I know I still have your handkerchief but do you mind if I hold onto it…I'd prefer not to give it back with my snot and everything on it."

"hehheh, you don't have to worry about that you know."

"I know but one kind gesture deserves another; besides I want to return the favor."

"Alright then…so long as you come back to talk to me from time to time."

"You mean back to the club…um well I'd have to save a bit for it but I can try to yeah…"

Last call for the 11:15 heading downtown.

"Ah that's my train." I smile at him, "Thanks for everything today…having someone listen to me did help."

"I'm glad to hear it." I pass through the gate and before heading down the stairs I wave one last time to Christopher. Making it onto my train in time I take a seat by a window. As it starts to move I think back on the events for today and find myself smiling.

It was really a bad day today when you think about it…but now that I think about it…maybe today was good too. From my pocket I produce the piece of paper Christopher gave me with his number on it.

"Yeah…today was a pretty good day."