Monday, Again.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The alarm demands.

I groan. Another Monday.

I clamber out of bed and start my monotonous morning routine.

Wash face, brush teeth, pick out some clean work clothes, and brush my hair. Ah, and put on my glasses. That would make my day a whole lot harder if I forgot those.

I look in the mirror. A tired-eyed, pale skinned girl looks back at me.

I stick out my tongue at her. Why can’t I look just a little prettier?

If I were, maybe he would have asked me out by now...

I begin my commute to work at Queen Rose Company. It’s raining out, so I put up my folding umbrella that I carry around in my handbag.

The raindrops rhythmically hit my umbrella, and I find myself spacing out as I walk.

My mind wanders to him, as usual.

Akira. Akira Kurogami.

He works in the office across from mine - Sky Kingdom Company. Our companies are rivals, but ironically, we work in the same building.

Realistically, we have nothing to do with each other. Everything in the universe is against us being anything other than two people who share the same building at work.

I mean, he is gorgeous. Even his name is beautiful.

He has spiky black hair with a small blonde streak. Dark black eyes, giving him an air of mystery.

Then there is his earring... I can’t help but wonder, why did he get that pierced? Does he have some sort of wild background story?

I feel myself blushing as I imagine him. Then I walk straight into a pole. Ouch.

A lump starts to form on my head almost immediately.

Gah! Can this day get any worse?! It’s only 8:00 AM, for goodness's sake!

I stand there for a moment clutching my head. I so wish I could run back home and crawl back into my comfortable bed and continue reading the shojo manga I started reading last night.

The thought of Akira saying his usual, ‘Good morning’, as we clock in together makes me speed up my pace, though.

I propel myself using Akira’s greeting as fuel. I pace forward through the rain until I reach my work building. I take the elevator up to floor 7.

The doors open, and right on time, there he is, coming up the stairs.

I feel embarrassed that he catches me taking the elevator every day, I’m seriously lazy, but to give him a different impression, I always pretend to be talking on the phone when the elevator doors open.

“Okay, yeah, talk to you later! Bye!” I say into my phone, which is showing nothing but a black screen.

Akira looks over as he hears my voice and does a slight bow.

“Good morning, Miyu,” he says, as usual.

“Good morning, Akira,” I say, and bow back.

His black hair looks so shiny, the blonde streak in it catches the light.

I can smell his shampoo. It smells like crisp green apples.

He smiles, and I feel my cheeks get hot. He turns away toward the Sky Kingdom Company side of the building.

I watch the back of his head for a moment before turning away too.

We both tap our access cards on our respective office doors and enter to start our Mondays.

Once I get to my desk, I let out a sigh I didn’t know I was holding in. My moment of happiness in the day has been and gone.