Everyday was the same for Ayase Eli. She worked at a front desk everyday as a secretary from six in the morning until five in the evening. Even though it wasn't something that she originally wanted to do, the pay rate was phenomenal compared to her old office job. Her job required her to basically sit in one spot and point old businessmen in the right direction. Nothing was ever exciting in her workplace, just constant working and no one offering any form of small talk to help make her miserable and lonely job slightly better.

She let out a deep sigh and spoke to herself, "... I wish I didn't give up dancing, it would have been better than this at least."

She looked up to an empty corridor. There aren't that many visitors today, and these are the days that Eli hated the most. Without having people walk in constantly, the time passed much slower in her head. The silence that is left in the empty void of a lonely room can only lead to something that Eli dislikes; thinking too much.

"Maybe I should get a new job... or ask for a different shift," she rubbed her temples, "but if I do that, there's no guarantee that I can get another job right away..." she shook her head to get rid of the thoughts.

She sat up with her back straight and started typing onto the computer. On the screen was an email window with the subject line, "Shift Change". She looked over what she typed before sending the email.

"I doubt that they'll give me anything," Eli kept her expectations low as she hit the send button.

The phone next to her rang immediately and she quickly answered, "Miss Ayase, may you please come to my office?" A manly voice said.

"Yes sir..." Eli replied in a rehearsed voice. She had been a secretary for several months and grasped onto a certain way of talking which she calls, "business front." She didn't really change her voice too much, she just spoke from her diaphragm to seem more confident and changed her pitch slightly to make her voice more polite.

She got up and walked over to the elevator. It arrived shortly after she pressed the button and she took a step in, leaving the sound of her heel hitting the floor to echo across the empty lobby. The elevator doors closed and she reached into her suit's pocket to pull out a small hand mirror. She always made sure to fix herself up a little before meeting with her boss. She had created this facade a month after she had started her job here and it hasn't been broken since.

The elevator came to a stop occupied with a dinging noise. When the doors slid open she realized that her boss's door was barely left open. Making sure to not break her image, she walked down the corridor with a confident stride that produced a rhythmic clicking noise due to her high heels. When she arrived at the door she knocked and waited for a response.

"Come in," the voice commanded.

She followed the order and pushed the already opened door until she was visible. Eli extended her leg and stepped into the room to see her boss in his usual seat and two other individuals sitting in front of him. One young man in a business suit, and the other a young woman in casual work clothes. The young woman got up and bowed but the young man gave the both of them a dirty look.

"Miss Ayase, please have a seat," her boss ordered.

She nodded and smiled before she took the last empty seat in the room.

"Now that my secretary is here, I believe it is time to introduce yourselves," her boss extended his hand in a presenting manner.

Eli turned to face the other two in the room and bowed, "My name is Ayase Eli, pleased to make your acquaintance."

"The name's Takeya Morikawa, just your average salaryman," the young man replied with little interest.

"My name is Toujou Nozomi, pleased to meet you," the woman bowed back.

"These two are going to start working with us tomorrow," the attention went back towards her boss. "There are going to be changes though because of our current limited staff. So, Miss Ayase," the boss turned his head to face her, "I'm replacing you with Takeya."

Eli felt a burning sensation in her gut after hearing what her boss had just said. As she was about to protest, she was interrupted by Takeya.

"Hold on, sir. I'm a salaryman, not a secretary," he raised his voice.

Her boss laughed and raised his hands, "Calm down, Takeya. I was only joking a little. What I mean to say is that I'm having you take over Miss Ayase's morning shift."

Eli raised her hand and spoke, "But sir, if you do that, I won't be able to work the amount of hours that we agreed on ever since I started working here."

The boss nodded his head, "Yes, I know, Miss Ayase. I did not forget our agreement and since you're always such an honest and faithful worker, I made sure to keep it. That is why I'm changing you over to night shift."

Eli raised her hand again, "But doesn't the building close around 9pm? I don't believe that you did the math correctly."

"Don't worry, you'll be coming in after the lunch break to start your shift," her boss answered quickly.

Eli had many more questions, but she avoided asking them in spite of her image. She looked over to her left and caught the woman staring at her before she turned away.

"And you, Miss Toujou. You don't have much of a work record, but we still have a job open for you," the boss added.

The woman looked up and smiled, "What is it, sir?"

"Night Janitor!" He announced.

"J-Janitor...?" The woman's voice trailed off.

"Any questions?" He asked to the group. There was no response. "Then I guess that means we're done here, you're all dismissed."

Takeya got up immediately and straightened his tie before leaving. Eli soon followed after but looked over her shoulder as she walked through the door. Nozomi was still seated and looking down into her lap. Was she not satisfied with her new job? Eli shook her head. There was no point in letting it bother her. She was just going to be like another background character to her everyday life.

Of course Eli was upset about the sudden change at first, it seemed like she wasn't getting her usual hours. But it does mean that her life just changed, even if it was just a little bit. She reached the elevator and pushed the button. It arrived shortly just like before and she stepped in. Eli turned around and spotted Nozomi walking down the hallway.

"Looks like she finally recovered," Eli spoke to herself before she stepped forward to hold the elevator doors open.

Nozomi looked up and noticed Eli's goodwill. She let out a small yelp before picking up her speed to keep her from waiting, "Thank you very much, Miss Ayase," she stepped into the elevator and bowed to Eli.

"You're welcome, you can also just call me Eli," she let go of the elevator door and rubbed the back of her head. This woman was a little strange.

Nozomi raised her head and held out her hand, "Okay, Eli. You can call me Nozomi then."

Eli shook Nozomi's hand and nodded, "I look forward to seeing you on the night shift." She added.

Nozomi smiled in response. The elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open, "I'll see you tomorrow then, Eli," she took a step out of the elevator and waved. Eli waved back and watched Nozomi leave the building as she walked back to the front desk to finish her shift.

Eli woke up to the sound of her alarm the next morning. She reached over her head and felt around for her alarm clock until her hand landed on top of it. Her alarm came to a stop and she flipped over in her bed to face the ceiling, "I forgot to change my alarm..."

Eli sat up and looked outside the window next to her. It was slightly fogged but she could see the droplets of water rolling down her window. It took a while for Eli's senses to boot up, but she began to hear pecking noises against her window. It was hard rain. She yawned and swung her legs to the side of her bed and sat up. She reached for the remote next to the clock and pushed on the power button. The dark room was instantly lit by the large TV across from the bed. The news channel was on and they were talking about a new restaurant that opened up in town.

"Ocean's Flight? What a strange name..." Eli shrugged and got up. She left the TV on and walked towards the kitchen. She flipped the light switch and made her way to the fridge. It was packed with newly bought groceries that Eli had shopped for a few days ago. They were lined up neatly, vegetables on one shelf, meats on another, drinks on the door shelves and everything else was on the top shelf. She reached her hand in and grabbed the carton of eggs.

"I don't feel like eating much today," she set the carton on the counter and closed the fridge. Then she bent down and opened up one of the cupboards to get a medium sized frying pan. She set the pan on the stove and turned the knob to high. She waited for the pan to heat. In the meantime, she reached for the olive oil that was on the counter and poured a little bit of it onto the pan.

She opened another cupboard and pulled out a small bowl to set next to the eggs. Eli took a deep breath and opened the carton. She grabbed 2 of them and hit each one against the counter before cracking them into the bowl. The reason she uses her counter is so the shells don't accidentally get into the eggs, it was a trick her mother taught her when she was young.

She pulled on a drawer that was around hip level and grabbed a pair of chopsticks. She started beating the eggs while adding some seasoning like salt and pepper. By now the pan was ready and Eli gracefully poured the eggs onto it. Her apartment was filled with the crackling sound of the eggs being cooked. The smell began to invade the room until Eli's senses unconsciously blocked the smell.

She pulled out a plate and carefully placed the cooked eggs on it. She set the pan down and grabbed a fork from the drawer before walking back to the TV. The news was still on and had just moved over to the weather forecast. Eli took a seat and placed the plate on a table before grabbing her remote.

"It's going to rain all week..." Eli took a quick glimpse of the weather chart before she started channel surfing. She held the remote in one hand while using her fork in the other to start eating her breakfast. There usually wasn't anything interesting to watch in the mornings. Most of the channels just ran their version of a newscast and few channels actually offer anything to remotely enjoy. Eli flipped past another channel before flipping back,

"Oh!" She set down the remote and picked up her plate.

It was a live broadcast of a ballet performance from the US. Eli watched intently while enjoying the rest of her breakfast. She used to do ballet herself when she lived in Russia with her grandmother, but ever since she moved to Japan during high school she had quit dancing all together. Eli set the empty plate down and curled up in her chair to finish watching the live broadcast.

It ended around 8am. Eli still had a lot of time before work. She got up and placed her plate in the kitchen sink before walking across her apartment to her dresser. She pulled out a white t-shirt and some underwear before making her way to the bathroom.

Eli appeared from the bathroom about an hour later with a toothbrush in her mouth. She set her dirty clothes in a basket and reached up to continue brushing her teeth. Eli didn't really like standing in one place and brushing her teeth, it was something strange nonetheless. She'd much prefer walking around her apartment while she did it. In her mind, it was more entertaining than staring at herself in the mirror.

She walked around the apartment and continued to brush her teeth. All she could do was think to herself while observing what was around her. It looked like it was going to rain all day, but something about the city being dim and clouded with a gray color relaxed her. It must sound strange to most people, but Eli liked how the rain could transform an entire city in an instant.

She finished brushing her teeth and sat in front of the TV again until it was time for her to leave. Her work place was about a 15 minute walk away from her apartment. She checked her desk clock and got up to change into her business clothing. She pulled out a light blue dress shirt and a black skirt that reached down to her knees. Eli didn't really feel like putting on a suit or tie so she kept it to a minimum. She made her way to the front door and grabbed her purse and a long, white umbrella before putting on a pair of black high heels.

She reached the bottom floor and walked out of the lobby. The rain was pouring down hard, but Eli pushed on anyways. She opened up her umbrella and began walking. The rain would patter off of the concrete sidewalk and splash against her legs. It was difficult to walk in this hard rain with her heels on, one slip could have her end up in an emergency room if she wasn't careful.

There was barely anyone outside. Anyone who was, was either in a car or taking shelter from the storm. Eli checked her wristwatch, she didn't have time to stop in hopes for the storm to ease up. She pushed forward, but nature pushed back. The wind started picking up and sending the rain sideways, pelting against Eli. She retaliated by tilting her umbrella forward which she would soon regret. A large gust of wind swept under the umbrella and knocked it out of Eli's hands into the air. The umbrella was helplessly carried away by the wind and left Eli behind for a wet demise.

The rain ruthlessly poured on Eli as she made a sprint for her workplace. Her dress shirt was getting soaked and her skirt was starting to stick against her legs. If she didn't hurry, the rain would soak into her underwear which would leave her uncomfortable for her whole shift. She picked up her pace, she could feel the rain rolling down her back and her legs. Her clothes began to feel heavy and stick onto her, before she knew it she looked like some high school teacher who had been pushed into a pool.

Her hair had become a mess, and her make up had long since been washed away. She brought up her wristwatch and wiped it hastily.

"I still have 10 minutes to get to work," Eli attempted to psych herself up. She quickly looked both ways and dashed for the other side of the street. In an instant, she felt a sudden loss of balance on her right foot. Her heel had snapped and caused her to crash onto the middle of the street. Her dress shirt slipped out from the clutches of her now ripped skirt. Eli was a mess. She felt a warm sensation around her knee and sat up to inspect it. Her knee was badly scraped and bleeding.

She tried to pick herself up but felt a sharp pain on her right ankle. She must have rolled her ankle during the fall, there was no way she could make it to work in this condition. She crawled her way to the side of the street and sat on the curb. If anyone were to pass her, they would think she was some business woman who just lost her job.

Eli dragged herself under a shelter and reached into her purse to pull out a few tissues. She placed them over the wound on her knee and leaned against the wall. Eli cursed herself for not being more careful. If she showed up to work like this, she would definitely get scolded and maybe even fired. Working as a secretary for a company like hers required you to be nicely dressed and maintain appearance.

Eli curled up and brought her knees to her chest. She hung her head and scrounged around her purse in search of her phone to call in sick. Whatever focus she had left was broken when she heard a tire screech and the squeaking of shaken metal. She looked up to see a rusty old pick up truck parked in front of her.

The window rolled down and she was greeted with the concerned face of a woman who wore her purple hair in two tails.

"Miss Ayas- I mean, Eli?" the woman called out.

Eli weakly smiled back, "Oh... Good afternoon, Nozomi."