a.k.a. Katana

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight:

"KOKIN! You were supposed to wake me up! You know I can't tell time!" Katana screeched at his still sleeping form. He jumped from the bed, getting tangled in the covers as he did. "What? What happened?" He croaked. His hair stuck up in all directions and his green and gold eyes darted around the room searching for the dangerous thing that had awakened him so abruptly.

His gaze finally settled on the woman bristling by the bathroom door with her arms crossed over her chest. Her red lips were pressed into a line and her eyes flashed a steely silver.

Kokin straightened up and began searching for his cigarettes. "Oh...Hey, aren't you supposed to be at work or something?" He asked scratching at the stubble on his chin. Katana threw the wet washrag she had used to wash her face at him. It landed with a satisfyingly squishy smack against his cheek and then fell onto the table on top of the cigarettes he had been searching for.

He blinked for a moment and removed the rag from the table. "What are you mad at me for?" He asked grimacing at the now damp package of cigarettes. "Because you made me oversleep, and now I'm pretty sure, I'm late. A lot late!" She huffed. He raised an eyebrow at her as he lit his cigarette. "So...you think I purposely made you sleep in?" He asked between drags.

"Yes, because you hate my job. You want me to lost my job so that I can here all day while you pay for everything and food to me and buy all my stuff I need." She accused, her language abilities becoming clouded by her anger.

"Yes, that would be terrible for you, wouldn't it?" He remarked sarcastically while he reposed on the window ledge. He cracked the window open to allow the smoke to filter out. "Don't be so, so, 'fucking cocky!'" She cried finishing in English. "I know, Kokin. Men are the same all over. You trick us into must having-into needing you. Then getting us stuck, like some kind of crazy game. It's not funny!" She ranted on.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he commented with a genuinely confused expression. "You know!" She insisted stomping her foot. He chuckled to himself, "If you say so." He relented. "But, I never had any intention of causing you to lose your job. Look, you just got here. You can't expect to become instantly rich."

She was quiet for a moment while she thought about what he had said. "Well, maybe not right away. But I could...if I wasn't late today." She mumbled looking at the floor. "Maybe." He agreed.

Katana whirled around on her heel and headed for the door. "Where are you going?" He asked. "To see if I can keep my job. I can't just sit up here and pout about it. I'm only getting more later." She said over her shoulder and disappeared out the door.

Lee-ell was not happy about Katana being late again, and she stuck to her word. "I gave you one more chance yesterday, and you wasted it! Some jack-ass of a man shows up and the next morning you're nowhere to be found. I'm not stupid, Katana."

Maybe if she had been more saavy, Katana would have insisted this meeting be held in private rather than in the main hallway. She would have told Lee-ell that she wouldn't have been late if she had been given proper lodging to begin with. And, if she had known they existed, she might have pointed out that the guest comment cards had given her glowing reviews. Then she would have admitted that she couldn't tell time with the available clocks and worked out a way to improve her punctuality.

Instead she blushed with anger and embarrassment while Lee-ell told her to collect her things and be out by second lunch.

Tears stung the back of her eyes as she made her way to Jundid's room to pretend like she had things to pack away. She half blamed Kokin and half blamed herself. If she hadn't been late all of those other times today would have been her first offense.