She had a terrible dream that night. Maybe it was caused by a feeling of guilt she had for borrowing Owner's shop for her own selfish purposes or because of the headache from earlier. She dreamt that she was falling... falling down a long, endless void. And she couldn't muster up the strength to move even a finger, so she waited. Waited for the end that never seemed to come.
...
Her body jerked herself awake, and she woke up with a sweat covered forehead and an incredibly dry mouth. She felt that she just woke up from a nightmare, but she couldn't recall much of its details. She rubbed her dry swollen eyes with her dirty hands and breathed slowly in order to calm her unusually quick heart beat.
After finally calming down, she pushed her heavy body up from the sofa and looked around. She jumped in fright when she saw Owner sitting directly in the sofa across from her, calmly sipping his morning coffee and staring at her with indifferent eyes. She stared back and felt goosebumps forming on her arms; she expected Owner to wake her up and start scolding her, but he seemed too quiet... too composed. She's never seen Owner like this before. Perhaps his anger has reached the peak?
"O-Owner?" She felt her heart beat quicken again as she stuttered, "I-I'm so sorry I entered the shop and slept here without your permission! My house disappeared last night, so I had nowhere else to stay but here..."
After she finished speaking, an awkward silence took over the second floor as Ran sat on the sofa with her head facing the ground. She didn't dare say anything else or even look up at him. But Owner continued to quietly sip his coffee, as if Ran didn't interrupt his morning coffee session with her frantic rambling.
She didn't know how long she waited before a soft "Mm," from Owner broke off the silence that washed over the room.
Ran stiffened as she heard Owner set down his cup on the table. She raised her eyes and saw Owner cross his arms with a small frown on his face.
"Who are you?"
Ran was stunned. Was this the infamous 'pretend to not know you in order to piss you off' joke? She looked at his stern face and felt her body temperature grow colder. 'No, Owner would never joke around like this!' She reasoned with her inner self while her outer self sat there with a blank, dumbfounded expression.
"I work for you. You always call me Ran," Ran explained to the patiently waiting Owner.
Upon hearing her reply, Owner raised an eyebrow and titled his head to the side, like a confused puppy.
"Nobody works for me. I don't know how you managed to get into my shop in the middle of the night, but I have to ask you to leave," Owner got up to grab his mug and left the dazed Ran by herself on the second floor.
Ran watched him walk back downstairs with her voice stuck in her throat. She wanted to stop him, and appease his anger, but she knew how incredibly stubborn he was. He was serious in his decision to kick her out for the day.
She abruptly stood up from the sofa, grabbed her belongings, and left the store through the door on the second floor. But she won't be gone for long. Even if Owner had a stubborn personality, it wasn't as extreme as her's.
'Hmph! Two can play at that game then,' She scowled while stomping to the exit of the small dining outlet, determined to come back.
...
Night fell upon the city, but the city remained as lively as during the day. Majority of the shops were still operating in order to accept the countless of people still roaming the streets; however, one shop was preparing to close their doors. Owner dusted the last bookshelf on the first floor and proudly looked at his sparkly clean store. His hazel eyes glistened with satisfaction as he took off his shiba apron and hung it on top of his chair.
His every actions were seen by Ran who was sneaking peeks inside the store behind a nearby pole, waiting for him to leave. She frowned when she saw him taking off his shiba apron. 'Didn't he used to have a poodle one? When did his preference change?' She searched through her memories to confirm if Owner has ever mentioned liking shibas to her, but she couldn't ever recall a moment.
A loud bang finally brought her back to reality, and she cursed at herself for getting distracted before looking back to see Owner's situation. She cursed again, louder this time, when she saw that Owner already locked up his door and disappeared.
'Well.... I'll just start my plan B then' Ran snuck out of one of the outlet's pillar and quickly walked to Owner's shop, used her spare key, and opened it. Her 'plan B' was just to sleep another night at Owner's, wake up before he arrives, and talk to him in the morning after he's had a day to calm down. After all, Owner easily forgives once he's calm again.
She quietly closed the door behind her before heading towards the stairs. Before she made it to the stairs, she heard a "So this is how you got in?" that stopped her in her tracks. She looked up to see Owner come out from behind his desk and she silently cursed. 'I forgot Owner had the key to the entrance of the dining outlet. Of course he could just enter through the doors connected to the outlet.' She scolded herself for underestimating Owner's cautious attitude.
"How'd you get a spare key to my store?" Owner crossed his arms as he started his interrogation, the glisten in his eyes from earlier was long gone, "Are you one of those infamous stalkers that roam around and disturb other people's lives?"
His calm demeanor from earlier completely changed, and Ran stood there with a horrible feeling starting to form in her heart. How come Owner is acting like he doesn't know her?
She hid the spare key behind her back, protecting it in case Owner reached out and stole it from her. "Owner," She called his name with a cold, frustrated tone, "I don't know why you're suddenly pretending like you don't know me. You're the one who gave me the spare key since I work for you." She scowled in frustration.
"Well alright fine," He stopped crossing his arms, his expression loosening, "You're fired. So, give me the spare key and leave me alone." Owner stuck out one of his arms and motioned at her to give the key to him.
Ran felt her heart dropping after she heard Owner's heartless words. She stared at his arm and back at his indifferent expression, which hurt her more than his words. He was looking at her as if she was a stranger, but in her eyes, he was the one that became the stranger.
Ran's grip on the key grew stronger as she also stuck her arm out, her closed hand directly on top of Owner's palm.
"If," Ran's voice was slightly shaking, "If I give you this key right here and now Owner, then that means our relationship, our friendship is over. Do you still want it?"
Owner's eyebrows furrowed after he heard Ran's words.
"What are you talking about? We had no relationship in the first place. Now give me the key and scram," Owner motioned for her key again, more firmly this time.
Ran fought back the tears that threatened to form in her baby blue eyes as she glared at Owner.
"So be it,"
She dropped the key that represented the three years she spent working for him as her voice audibly shook with emotion. All along, she thought Owner and her had a relationship that surpassed that of a Boss and a worker. She considered him as a genuine friend and even believed that he thought of her as one too.
Ran quickly turned around and stomped her way to the door she just entered from, "I'll just have you know that you lost the best worker out there."
She childishly stuck out her middle finger then pushed opened the door. Just as Owner finally thought she left, he heard a distant, "Also, I'm not a stalker. Who would be idiotic enough to follow around such a plain man that has more d*ck in his personality than in his pants?"
And the door shut.