A lot of things occurred during Mai's first week off. It was strange to be awake and do things without the need to rest for the entire day. It felt even weirder to gain the broken pieces of herself again. Strangely, Geese Tower was slowly beginning to take the shape of a sanctuary and Mai didn't know how to feel about it. Somehow, she managed to ignore the odd feeling it left her with.

Somehow, she also ended up having occasional dinner dates with Geese except those were not dates. They certainly weren't when she had them with the only person, she had the heart to keep up with; Joe. One of these days, she would have to contact her old friends. One day when she felt stronger.

Talking to people after months of isolation was a much harder process than it had any right to be. But first, Mai needed to visit Geese and find out what was so important that he had to summon her to his office at seven in the morning.

During her time here, Mai found out that the man usually held all business-related meetings at nine and employee check-ins half an hour before. Something important was waiting to be announced if the check-in was happening so early. Assuming it even was a check-in. Suffice it to say, Mai was a little excited and concerned when she opened the door to the office, without knocking (because she honestly forgot to).

Already present were Billy and Hein. And Geese of course, comfortably sitting in his chair and leaning over the desk. They looked as if they had been discussing things quite extensively and maybe with a less-than-pleasant outcome judging from the serious expression on their faces.

The solemn atmosphere didn't let up entirely when Mai entered, and she could only do a meek wave. Yikes, were they about to fire her? She hadn't enjoyed being a server, but she hadn't gotten complaints. Or had she? She always made sure to smile when she served the drinks.

"I'm going to Canada for a week. We're in the midst of expansion after all," Geese said once the silence became a little too unbearable.

"Oh…" was the answer from Mai as relief came over her. All right, no termination letter was given to her in person because she happened to be useless but why this early for that announcement?

"As for you, Miss Mai. You'll move on to the role of secretary. During my absence, people will contact the tower for business meetings and as my secretary for the week, it'll be your job to schedule them," Geese continued, staring directly at Mai like he was trying to spot her soul. She hated when he did that. He looked almost frightening.

She swallowed as she nodded. This sounded like a massive undertaking and yet not as she was just going to fill out Geese's calendar and nothing else.

"So I'm gonna sit there?" she pointed at the chair. Silence filled the office as Geese stood up and maneuvered around the desk.

"You can. But don't rummage through the drawers. I don't want to reorganize everything when I get back because a little bird has long talons," he folded his arms over his chest while Mai took a seat in the chair, surprised at how comfortable it was. Of course, it had to be if Geese had to sit in it for who knew how long.

"I make no promises," Mai leaned back into the chair and swung around for a bit. It took a bite of her cheek to stop a smirk from spreading over her face. How odd that she found pleasure in such minor things when it came to her dreary life.

The men seemed almost amused by her antics. Even Geese despite the fact that Mai had just taken his command and thrown it to the wind.

"Oh brother," he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Looks like I get my work cut out for me when I get back."

The very same day, Geese left. Probably why the meeting had been so early. Billy and Hein returned to their regular duties and Mai took the role of secretary or ruler apparent depending on how one looked at it. Truth be told, she felt odd sitting here in the heart of Howard Connection. She felt like she had been given the keys to the kingdom without even wanting them.

She had a feeling that Geese was probably pulling the strings up north while she was just here sitting pretty and occasionally getting meals sent to her by Hein. It felt oddly quiet without them here; maybe a little strange too. The phone sure did chime every other minute however as Mai answered each call and logged the dates into a laptop's digital calendar.

By the end of the day, her head was filled to the brim with names of companies, firms, representatives, investors, politicians, and whoever sat on the board of directors. Always talking to their assistants, never the people themselves. Odd.

Precisely eight hours of nonstop ringing followed by scheduling and Mai felt as if her head was about to explode. The clock hit four-thirty and that meant the end of the workday. Mai sat back in the chair with a deep sigh, basking in the sound of silence. No chiming phone, no stranger's voice talking down her ear, no mask she needed to wear to hide her humanity. Geez, how Geese managed to stand this environment was a mystery.

Finally, off the hook, she took to rummaging through the desk's drawers for her amusement, not finding much aside from company documents, tax reports, and a few unsent letters to people she did not know which she didn't read.

One envelope did catch her attention because it hadn't been with the others. It was buried deep within other documents, building plans, and architectural concept art for the tower. On the front, "Maria" was written. Curiously, the envelope was empty.

Who in the world was Maria? A lover? Rock's mom? Had Geese scared her off? Mai had a strong feeling that it was a question forever left unanswered. A fleeting thought about kindred spirits passed through her mind then. If this Maria was a lover who was here no longer, was that why Mai was here?

Mai shook the thought away, finding it a little too far-fetched for her liking. With her boredom staved and curiosity somewhat sated, she put all papers back where she found them. In the following minutes, she could amuse herself by looking at the tower's concept art. Judging from the front page, it would appear that this massive structure was completed and then expanded; probably to suit Geese's Japanophilia.

His fascination with that country was almost adorable for how transparent it was. For Mai, it was her home country, so it didn't fill her with such obsession. She pushed thoughts of Geese aside and left the office, stretching her body and rubbing her rear end. As comfortable as the office chair was, Mai was not a gal built for sitting on her ass all day, answering phone calls.

It was a good thing she had made plans today. Hein had been informed of this so he wouldn't waste his time ordering the maids around to cook. Mai hurried to the elevator and took the ride to her hotel room, where she got dressed fairly quickly. It wasn't a special occasion so there was no need to dress up, but Mai wanted to look socially acceptable regardless. And for this reason, she dressed in the outfit she had been buying with her first outing with Billy.

It fit her well when she tried it and it fit her well now. Just for good measure, Mai took the new purse with her.

And then she was off.

"Mai, hey! Thanks for meeting up," Joe waved and Mai returned the gesture. They had met up in the square and now made their way down the street. Mai didn't feel so exposed when she was with Joe as she did with Billy and there hadn't been any more outings with him either, lest Mai lost her mind from the paranoia.

No one wishing to gun her down hopefully.

At least he had kept his distance until they reached the graveyard. Walking with Joe felt nicer; like a good-hearted attempt to recapture the past. Mai came to find that such a thought was about to take a more literal meaning when they stopped in front of the Pao Pao Café.

"Is this…?" Mai turned to look at an annoyingly proud Joe. It had been a very long time since she had been here, and she never thought to set foot back here again for that very reason.

"Yep! Don't worry, it'll be therapeutic! Besides, I missed the crocodile meat," he exclaimed with a wide grin that faltered shortly after. "Besides…it's not right going here alone."

She ought to tell him that she didn't quite like crocodile meat. She also considered just going home again as this place bore many memories, most of which were positive but with the way her life had been turning, however, they were forever marred with a bitter aftertaste; drinks and dinner dates with Andy being some of the strongest.

Why oh why had Joe done this? Therapeutic? More so torturous. Mai could feel the sourness spread across her body, infecting her bloodstream, and kicking her mood in the shin as she followed Joe inside, past the glaring neon lights, and down the staircase to the packed establishment. An unused table stood unoccupied, and they sat down.

Or rather, Joe sat down, and Mai quietly shrunk in her seat, wishing she could disintegrate. The memories came sneaking, forcing intrusive thoughts into her vision. The scent of delicious food lingered in her air, reminding her that she was hungry and in turn reminding her of the time when Andy shared his hotdog with her, and they bit from each end.

"So, what've you been up to?" Joe asked, replacing the image of Andy's face.

Pull yourself together! Mai reminded herself and drew a deep breath to keep herself composed. She rubbed her eyes to quell the tears that were beginning to well up inside of them. But then it occurred to her that she essentially had to inform Joe of her current employment.

Curiously, he had never thought to ask Mai exactly why Billy was with her at the graveyard or why they had entered bit of a verbal kids' fight about the simple act of giving Joe Billy's number. He was happy when he received it, but he never posed some rather obvious questions that anyone but him would. Since he was so indifferent to it, Mai found it best just to be honest.

"I…I got caught up in some misunderstanding and I'm working for Geese Howard because of that. This week, I'm his secretary – relaying information to people wanting to schedule meetings and booking them in his calendar," Mai uttered, fiddling with the edge of her skirt.

Her cheeks reddened as she sat anxiously for Joe's reaction. He didn't share nearly as strong feelings towards Geese and the tower goons as Terry and Andy but that didn't mean he liked them either. Except for Billy…somehow.

Of course, the weird look that Joe was giving, didn't help her nerves at all. He looked like she told him that she had broken both legs but won the Powerball at the same time. Suffice it to say his reaction was worrisome.

"…I had a feeling you'd react like that," Mai soured a bit, reaching for the menu. It occurred to her that her hands had begun shaking.

"Yeah, because it's really fucking weird," Joe sat back with a furrowed brow. His lips thinned a bit while he thought it over before he leaned forward, "…Knowing you, I bet you had your reasons."

Oh. That was an unexpected development. It made the choking atmosphere a little easier to bear. Suppose it would just be hypocritical for Joe to be outraged when he was hassling some British bloke for his number.

Mai felt an ounce of relief wash over her as she stared at the numerous items on the menu. "Mm-hm. I did and it's only temporary. It's a betrayal, yes but I wanted to get the debt out of my way before I moved on. Gotta pray for forgiveness afterward."

To that, Joe frowned again. "Mai…I'm, I'm gonna say something you may not like. I think it's your life so you should live it as you want to instead of how you think Andy would want. That's what Terry told me before he left."

Sounded very much like something Terry would say. Maybe that would explain why he just vanished from South Town after the funeral, leaving everyone behind. It was easy for him to say such a thing because he wasn't the last person Andy talked to before his passing. If only Mai had been smart enough to just stop him from sending her away that night…there was no point in mulling over past regrets anymore. She had done so plenty of times in the last six months.

Nothing she could do would reverse fate.

"Heh," Mai lingered on the award-winning menu items. "Do you think I deserve that?"

"…I think everyone just fell into a deep hole of grief-induced self-punishment. Terry too. I think he left because of it," Joe said, staring directly at her. He was almost unrecognizable when he wasn't goofing around.

"You haven't talked to him either then…"

"Nope."

"Ah…" Mai mused. She felt a moment's disappointment. She would have liked to see him again and just say sorry. They parted ways on less-than-ideal terms after the funeral. Mai was furious with him for the fact that she just needed someone to lash out on.

Back then, she blamed him because she couldn't come to terms with her own sins. Terry took it in stride and never returned the abuse but she could see how it wounded him. She still remembered the hurt look he tried to hide.

"You deserve peace too. Hell, if you wanna date again, you should! My grandma did so three months after grandpa died. It's different for everyone but I think at some point, we have to live our lives, you know? Five stages and all that."

Hm. Suppose King's comment about grief was beginning to make sense now when Mai sat and thought about it. She had denied the incident until she saw the body. She was lashing out at everyone in misplaced anger. Then she spent too much time imagining what she could have done differently.

And now, she just sat in a deep rut.

To fall in love again and open her heart to anyone not named Andy Bogard was preposterous, however.

"Look at you, so serious," Mai smiled a bit, not because she was happy. Moreso because something was beginning to change and break inside of her. She didn't know what it was and she'd rather just deflect.

Joe grinned and she almost felt at ease looking at his silly smiles. "Hehe, leaving the city helped that I think."

"Leaving…do you think it would help me?"

"I don't know. Maybe? It's worth a try, ain't it?"

Was it? But where was she to go? To Japan?

"I should ask Geese permission for that then," Mai said, briefly considering if she should latch onto Geese's next business trip and hope they went someplace nice.

"Ugh yeah, I forgot he was your boss," Joe visibly shuddered. "Say is he still an asshole?"

He had his moments, Mai reckoned. Despite the reputation he carried and the way he acted when he won at billiards, she would be foolish if she denied the existence of his humanity. Because Geese Howard, unlike the magnificent bastard he tended to be, was very human. A decent human. How weird that was. How odd that he could be so courteous with her. Even odder that she had grown to enjoy his company. Those dinner dates weren't so bad after all. But why was he so cordial?

For Maria's sake?

"He's smug and crude but it's not as bad as you'd think. He's okay once you get to know him," Mai shrugged, finding it so strange that she was saying those words of Geese Howard of all people. But she had promised herself to be honest to Joe and she was being honest now.

"Weird…I can't judge too much. I've been sending pole boy funny pictures and hearts but all I get are angry smileys. I'll keep trying until I make him smile," Joe pulled out his phone, tapped away, and put it on the table. An image of a snake with a hat was the first thing Mai spotted.

"Why?"

"Because he's really overworked as of late and that makes him sullen," Joe sat back with a sigh. That sounded very much like Billy. Mai had not seen him since the meeting with Geese. "I think we vibe because on the rare occasion that he has time to answer, we just talk and it's fun. I like him even if he's working for Geese. It's the same with you."

Maybe it was. Guess there was a lot more to people's hearts and perceptions. Maybe Mai could continue working at the tower for a little longer. Oh well, suppose Mai should try out the crocodile meat tonight after all.