The bell over the entrance gave a soft ping as the door opened and brought in a great gust of frigid, winter wind along with the flushing face of one of our frequent guests.
"Welcome back, Master!" I called out cheerfully, holding my round tray to my chest giving him a small bow. He gave me a nervous smile and rubbed the back of his neck, his light brown hair falling in front of his hazel eyes.
"I'm glad to see you're here, Mira-chan. I was afraid it might've been your day off," he said, stripping off his coat and scarf as he took a seat at a nearby table. I shook my head and gave him a bright smile.
"It's always a pleasure to see you as well, Master! Would you like your usual order?" I asked brightly, pulling out my order pad and pen.
"If you wouldn't mind," he blushed, looking up at me with eyes full of innocent longing.
"I'll have it out right away!" I beamed, already walking back towards the kitchen where I knew Hiro was waiting to take orders and Layla was forcing herself to throw-up the two dollar cupcakes our manager, Gai, had bought us this morning in the sink. Before I had even clipped the ticket onto the order-go-round, Hiro had already snatched it from my fingers and was pulling out the ingredients necessary for the customer's Orange Lovely Omlette.
I sighed, leaning against the counter and debating whether or not I should help Layla hold back her hair or chew her out for making me take on her section while she spewed her guts out all over the kitchen sink.
"We wash dishes in there, you know," I commented matter-of-factly, my hand reaching out to grab a chair.
"Mira, you have a request," Gai said, poking his head in through the curtain. I frowned before pushing the chair back to its original position. I quickly plastered on my happy façade and made my way out into the dining area where several guests were enjoying their meals as they interacted with our nearly all female staff.
"Welcome back, Master!" I greeted with a smile, my requester already seated at a small table by the window.
The man that sat before me was tall and slender, the black trench coat he wore covered almost all of his face apart from the swirling lavender eyes shaded by his wavy, ivory hair. As my eyes met his, he folded down the collar of his coat to reveal his smiling face. I bit my lip as I felt unease crawling up my spine. He was strangely attractive and unlike any other character I'd seen visiting Maid Café before. I fought to keep my smile as it was and not changing into one of nervousness and embarrassment.
"Is there anything I can get you, Master?" I asked, praying he'd make his order quick and easy. The man smiled and shook his head before speaking.
"Have you ever wanted to go somewhere impossible?" He suddenly asked. I stared down at him in thought before nodding my head and glancing out the window.
"Where would it be?" He wondered. I bit my lip, my eyebrows crinkling together. I thought of all the wonderful things I loved in life, only realizing much too soon that there wasn't anything I particularly loved or even cared about in the life I lived. So, it wouldn't really matter where I went. I didn't care. I shrugged my shoulders as I returned my eyesight to his.
"I suppose I'd like to go back in time and see the world as it once was before. Before all of this existed, before there were cars and internet and phones. That'd be interesting, yeah?" I replied with an honest smile. Before there was such a person as Mira Phantomhive. The man gave a large grin as if to agree with my answer before placing an order for a Banana-Blueberry Pom Pom Smoothie.
"Have a good night, Mira! Be safe going home!" Layla called out to me as she left; I gave her a backwards wave in response, my mouth was full of peanut butter and chocolate chips. A few moments later and I was all alone in the entire shop, it was my responsibility to close up. I gave the kitchen an extra once over to ensure all had been taken care of before locking up the front door and carting the trash out to the rear door.
"You sure do get off late."
I dropped the lid of the trashcan and held my chest in a panic.
"Oh. You scared me," I laughed breathily, dropping the trash into its respectable bin. The ivory haired man pushed off the wall of the adjacent building and approached me with his hands jammed inside the pockets of his coat.
"Sorry, I wasn't meaning to," he smiled charmingly. I shrugged it off.
"Not to be rude or anything, but we're really not supposed to mingle with the customers outside of work," I warned, zipping up my jacket over my work uniform.
"Oh, I just need your time for just a moment, Mira-chan," he reassured. I sighed and fought against the urge to tell him to get lost. That wouldn't be good for business.
"If there's a request you'd like to make, I'm here from 10:30 to 6 tomorrow. I'd be happy to meet any of your –"
"It's not a request I'm making," he said, cutting me off. I frowned in agitation.
"Then what is it you –"
"I'm simply here to give you a little push in the right direction," he said, giving me a close-eyed smile. I narrowed my eyes at him in suspicion.
"What right direction?"
The man leaned unbearably close and I could feel his breath brushing over my lips.
"Somewhere impossible." And then he withdrew his hands from inside his coat pockets and placed them on my shoulders before giving me a hard, sound shove. I toppled through the open back door, my feet slipping out from beneath me. My arms flailed forward to try and grasp something, anything to stop my descent to the floor. But there was nothing in my reach and my head quickly struck the hard, tiled flooring. All I saw was the man's close-eyed smile before the world around me went black. My head was spinning. Even though I knew my body was no longer in motion, I felt as if I were still falling. Forever and ever. The blackness was never-ending.
