"Nicole!" Someone yelled, instantly waking her up. Nicole quickly looked around and remembered she was at work, and that the person yelling at her was her boss, Mr Yoshida. "Come to my office, now!" He yelled and stormed away. Nicole panicked. How could she let herself fall asleep at work again? This happened so many times lately, and she kept promising it would stop, but it never did. She was worried. What was Mr Yoshida going to do to her now? She took a second to catch her breath, and convince herself it would be nothing bad, then went to her boss' office.
"Mr Yoshida, I-" Nicole started saying before her boss interrupted her. "You're fired" Mr Yoshida said. "What? But-" "I understand things have been hard for you but you've failed me too many times. Hand me your badge and get out" He said. Nicole looked down at the orange yellow and green striped round badge she always wore on her shirt, and removed it to give it to Mr Yoshida. She left the office and looked around inside the Rainbow Factory for the last time as she walked away.
When she got home, she opened the door and saw Gumball and Darwin on the couch upset, watching TV, as usual. She hadn't seen them smile since before their father, her husband had died. "Hey mom" Gumball said, without even taking the time to look at her. "Hey boys, I'll make food right now, you can keep watching your show" Nicole said cheerfully, trying to hide the fact she got fired. "Thanks mom" Gumball said, still looking at his TV. Nicole wished she could do something to help her boys smile again, but she was constantly struggling with the bills and losing sleep ever since she lost her husband, she barely had any time to spend with them. She went to the kitchen and made a meal for her children, trying to distract herself.
"Food is ready!" She said, and Gumball and Darwin slowly got up and came to the kitchen. "Where's your sister?" Nicole said. "I don't know, I haven't seen her all day" Gumball said. "She might be in her room Ms Mom" Darwin said. "Thanks Darwin, you two sit down and enjoy your meal" Nicole said and went to Anais' room. "Anais? Are you there?" She knocked on the door. "It's open mom, you can come in" Anais responded. Nicole opened the door and walked in to see her daughter studying as always. "Food is ready" Nicole said. Anais could tell by her look that something was wrong. "Did something happen?" Anais said. "No, nothing!" Nicole told her. "You got fired, didn't you?" Anais was always the smartest in the family. "Yes..." Nicole said, upset. "Please don't tell your brothers". Anais went back to studying. "Aren't you going to eat with us?" Nicole asked. "I need to study if I want to get a job and help here mom" Anais said. Nicole was shocked. "Anais, dear, thank you so much, but you need to focus on living your life. I'll find a job myself, and I'll make everything right. Okay, dear?" Nicole said. "Okay, mom" Anais said. Nicole knew that Anais didn't believe her, but she was glad she at least listened to her.
All four of them sat around the kitchen table and ate their food. As usual, no one said anything. They just exchanged glances at each other while eating. When they were done, Gumball and Darwin went back to watching TV, and Anais went back to studying. Nicole cleaned the table and the dishes, then went to her room and locked the door. She tried to go to sleep, but as soon as she got in her bed, she couldn't handle it anymore, and burst into tears. Everything was going wrong, and she had no idea how to fix it. She wanted the best for her children but couldn't provide for them anymore. What could she do? She heard a knock on the door. "Mom? Are you alright?" Gumball said from the other side. Nicole wiped away her tears. "Yes honey, now get to bed, you don't want to be late for school tomorrow!". "Alright Mom, good night!" Gumball said. "Good night sweetie!" Nicole responded. "Good night Ms. Mom!" Darwin said. "Good night Darwin!" Nicole said, and heard their footsteps as they walked away to go to their rooms. Nicole calmed herself down, and told herself that she'll do anything to give them the best life she can, no matter what.
The next day, Nicole got her kids in the car and drove them to school. "Have a nice day at school kids!" Nicole told them, and they waved goodbye to her as they went into school. Nicole waited for them to get inside, then drove off, panicked. She had to find a job, and she had to find one now. She drove around town, when suddenly she saw a huge line of people waiting outside some place. She parked her car and got out to see what it was. "New! Elmore's first ever Maid Cafe!" The sign read. "What's a maid cafe?" Nicole asked herself. She went closer, and saw a "Now Hiring!" flyer on one of the windows. Still having no idea what this job was, she decided she might as well give it a shot, and went to wait in the huge line of people. After about an hour, she finally got inside the building and it was the cleanest thing she had ever seen. Not a single dirty spot anywhere. This place must have some amazing janitors. She suddenly saw one of the people who were cleaning this place, and she was surprised. That woman didn't look like a janitor, and she was wearing some kind of black and white dress. Nicole looked around and saw that a lot of women were wearing that, and they looked quite nice in it. Nicole realized they must be working here, and went to talk to one of them. "Excuse me!" Nicole said. "We'll get you a table right now, what would you like to order?" The lady said. "No I'm not here to order something, I saw this place was hiring, could I apply?" Nicole said. "Of course! Let us take you to our boss right now!" The lady said, and Nicole followed her. "Wait here, I'll tell her about you!" The lady said, and went into the room as Nicole waited outside. She could hear a conversation happening, but couldn't hear much. She pressed her ear against the door and was able to hear a little better. "Does she look good?" The boss said. "She looks remarkable!" The lady said. "Alright, send her in" The boss said, and Nicole started to hear footsteps coming towards her. She quickly stepped away from the door to hide that she was eavesdropping, as the lady came out. "You can go in now!" The lady said. "Thanks!" Nicole said, and stepped through the door.
"Hi, my name is Nicole Watterson-" Nicole said, then got shocked as soon as she saw who the boss was. "Nicole?" Her old friend Yuki said. Nicole and Yuki used to be childhood friends, until Nicole beat her in a championship, and Yuki vowed to seek revenge. They saw each other again a year ago, were they reconciled, but they had not seen each other since, and Nicole hoped Yuki had given up her search for revenge. "So, you want to be one of my maids here? That sounds interesting" Yuki said. "Could I get the job?" Nicole said, desperate to have some sort of job. "After my husband told me he fired you I expected you to be desperate, but seeing you like this is better than I expected" Yuki told her. "Is that a yes?" Nicole asked. "Absolutely! Follow me to get your outfit!" Yuki said. "Wait, what outfit?" Nicole said, then remembered the dresses all the other women were wearing. "Oh, right". "They're called maid dresses, and they're fabulous!" Yuki said. "I can't wait to see how you look like in one of them". Nicole nervously followed her into the changing room. "Here's your outfit" Yuki said and gave her one of the maid dresses. "Step into that booth and put it on" Yuki instructed.
Nicole got into the changing booth and pulled the curtain to earn herself some privacy. Yuki was still standing outside but Nicole hoped she couldn't see anything past the curtain. She sighed and looked at the mirror in front of her, taking one last look at herself before she changed outfits. Afterwards, she started stripping. She took off her shirt, and her skirt, then her bra and her panties, leaving herself fully naked. She took a moment to admire herself in the mirror. She hadn't seen herself like this in a while, and she really did look remarkable. She put on the white bra and panties that came with the outfit, then put on the maid dress along with the socks and shoes. She had to admit, she did look good wearing it. She admired herself in the mirror again, until she suddenly heard the curtain open behind her. Nicole shrieked and turned around to see Yuki. "You look even better than I thought you would!" Her new boss said. "Yuki, you can't just-" Nicole tried to say, but got interrupted. "Hey, shoes off!" Yuki told her. "But- You gave me them! And I saw everyone else was wearing them!" Nicole said. "It was a test! You don't normally wear shoes, and you shouldn't start now!" Yuki said, and Nicole removed her shoes and socks. Nicole knew that Yuki enjoyed tormenting her like this. Yuki put on of her hands on Nicole's chin and turned Nicole's face to look towards her. "Nicole, smile!" Yuki instructed her. Nicole wasn't too happy, but she did so anyways. "Now get to work, maid!" Yuki told her, and Nicole started walking towards her first day on the job.
Inside her however, Nicole noticed a feeling of excitement she had not felt in a while. She was really looking forward to this new experience!