I set Lisa's parking brake; I was a woman on a mission.

I had taken a second to change out of the black polo that constitutes my uniform, and I had that, my ball cap, and the lighted sign for my car under my arm as I stormed into the employee's entrance, almost running smack into Ice. He was on his way out, carrying a single pizza. He grinned at me and said, "Yo, baby!"

I resisted the urge to rip out all of his piercings and weave them into his spiky blonde hair. I think I showed considerable restraint when I replied, "Go jump in a lake."

Alright, it lacks zing, but there were a few more important things that I had to say, all of them to the man behind the counter. He was standing there, getting more pizzas ready.

"Hey! There you are! I told you it'd be OK!" Bob said enthusiastically. "Ice is here, but he's going out on a delivery now, and we just got swamped. I'm going to need you to-"

"No." I cut him off. "No, Bob. I have stayed here over an hour and a half after my shift ended. I'm going home."

"Oh, but Maria, we-"

"Bob," I said, "Someone called me a demon tonight. That second delivery you had me on was in the middle of a dark alley, and I don't even know what those people did for a living! Then, I got tipped in beer."

"You're not supposed to-"

I held up my finger. "And then I got kidnapped by ninjas! Real, honest-to-God, black-wearing, sword wielding, sneaky red-eyed ninjas!"

I know this technically violated the "no talking" rule set down by Shen-dude, but at this point I was too high on rage to really care.

"And I only got two decent tips tonight, and one of them was from a nine year old! Bob, I just don't get paid enough for this!"

"Well, there's nothing I-"

"You could give me decent hours. Or treat me like a human being. Or fire that waste of space and hire someone more conscientious. Or not send me down to the DOCKS at this time of night ALONE. But the time for that has passed." I shoved the polo, cap, and lighted sign over the counter to Bob. "This is my two weeks notice."

"But Maria, we need you! And you're always saying you need the money, I did you a favor tonight by letting you pick up Ice's tips!"

I looked over at Ice, who has been standing in the door since I told him to go swimming, just watching the show. He looked mildly surprised at being called a waste of space. Bob blathered on with the litany of why he needs me, and why I couldn't or shouldn't quit. It occurred to me that I wasn't getting paid to stand and listen to this, either.

I looked back at Bob with a large grin on my face. "You know, I think I'm getting sick." I held my hand up to my forehead for a second. "Yeah, there it is. Fever, sinus congestion, a sudden attack of self respect... This is the Ninja flu alright. It looks like I'm going to be out sick for at least the next fourteen days."

I was still grinning as I walked past Ice and out of the shop into a new, ninja-free life.