Looking Forward [LGBT Shorts]

Laina - Girl Master of Disguises

Thump! thump! goes Laina's feet as she dashes to the apartment residing in a nice complex. Her blonde hair, which was cropped just a month ago, whips behind her. The news she received just minutes ago bore into her mind, and the sooner she could see Buggy the better.

She barges through the front door and sees a French waiter staring at her with a raised eyebrow. A black pencil is in 'his' hand, which 'he' is using to draw the thin mustache. "May I help you, Mademoiselle?" 'he' asks in a bad French accent.

"Babe, I know it's you."

Buggy smiles as she takes off the short black wig. Wild, brown curls fall behind her in a bun. Setting the wig on one of the many plastic heads in the apartment they share, she says, "You have to admit I've been getting better." She wipes the mustache off her face.

"Um, sure." The news, you have to tell her what you were just told, she thinks. "Can you sit down for a minute?"

Buggy's smile fades when she sees the taut look on Laina's face. "Yeah, okay." She grabs a chair and sits down. Laina sits across from her. "What's going on?"

Get it out already. "I, um, was let go. I'm not needed anymore. I'm fired. All that jazz." It was humiliating to get the news fifteen minutes ago, and it's humiliating now. 

"Oh..." Scooting the chair closer to Laina, Buggy wraps her arms around and holds her close. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. Did they tell you why?"

Laina shakes her head. "I'm seriously contemplating revenge," she says. "What a juvenile thing, I know. But come on."

"Yeah, it's petty. We should just be the bigger person and find someone else to work for," Buggy agrees. In the last couple of years, she's been less brash about getting out for justice and more just letting it go. However, she still will track some hooligan and smack them around from time to time, and always in disguise.

After a moment, the brunette puts on a smile. "But hey, at least you have a severance package."

Laina wrangles herself out of the embrace to look at Buggy in the eye. "They didn't say anything about it. So, no I don't."

The softness disappeared, and Buggy immediately looks done. "Fuck being mature, you were right. Let's get some revenge."

__________

"I thought we were going for childish, not potentially harmful," Laina tells Buggy as she sets up the last practical joke bomb. "What if we end up blinding someone?"

"Don't worry, it's not made to blind someone," Buggy states. "It's only supposed to destroy their sense of smell." 

She's dressed in another disguise: sleek blonde hair, pencil skirt, white blouse. She has a fake badge hanging from her neck. When she came out of the building, she confided in Laina that it was eerily easy to go past the people whose job is literally to sense something odd in normal scenarios and deal with it. 

"What did you do to the bombs?"

"Nothing much. I added the rotten eggs from the fridge."

Laina's jaw went slack. "Are you serious?"

"Mm-hm." Satisfied with the set-up, Buggy stands. In her hand is the detonator. "Now, I remember part of the night schedule. Six o'clock is when everyone leaves the building, and the cleaners don't come in until seven. Weird timing, but it works. The smoke bombs should clear out before seven."

Before, Laina wasn't really into this idea. But now she's nodding along. "Good point. The cleaners are so nice. I'm not going to screw them over for something they didn't do."

Buggy pauses. "This is why I love you."

"Thanks," she deadpans. She looks at her watch. "We have ten minutes until six. I know a great hiding spot we can hang out in for the time being."

So, Laina and Buggy currently reside on a roof behind Laina's former workplace. They're as quiet as they can be, watching the target like they are cops casing in on a suspect. The longer Laina stays crouched, the restless she feels. She can stay in position if she needs to, but she can't also be silent as well. 

"So..." she starts. She taps her finger on the cement wall in front of her. "Do you have a specific event in mind for your French waiter?"

Buggy's eyes don't stray as she answers, "It was for a surprise before your job screwed it up." She blinks rapidly until she can keep looking without having to blink for a longer period.

"What kind of surprise?"

She chews on her bottom lip. Laina waits for her to say something. When she doesn't, the blonde says, "We have five minutes until the plan sets in motion. Should be plenty of time for you to explain."

"I know, I'm trying to find the right words without swearing so much," Buggy admits. She slowly exhales. "The idea was that your employer was going to promote you based on your excellent work, and I would drive us to a fancy restaurant so you would be told there. I'd leave you and come back as the waiter to serve you the finest wine they had. Once you were in a happy mood, then I'd go over and serve you a cake with 'Congrats on your promotion!' written on it. Then you'd be confused, and I'd reveal myself and tell you the news as a cute gesture."

Laina's face goes blank. "That. Has to be the dumbest idea I've heard," she says. "Why would you bother disguising yourself for that?"

With a shrug, Buggy says, "To empathize surprise. It was a work in progress. The supposed promotion was gonna happen next month. Which is why I'm, honestly, shocked by you getting fired."

Crossing her arms, she stares down at the building. Laina had been working in the same agency for years. If it wasn't for her job, she wouldn't have met Buggy. She can't get those years back, and she definitely won't see a reference from them for future jobs. 

"I don't quite get it, either," she says. "The only boss I had who didn't like me was the one who transferred here a month ago."

Hearing this, Buggy exclaims, "This is the first time I'm hearing about this! You should have told me when he was first giving you trouble."

"Hon, this was my issue to deal with. You don't need to solve every problem I bring home. I don't do that for you."

"I can't tell if that's supposed to be endearing or not."

Laina doesn't answer. She feels Buggy's arm reaching around and pulling her close. The brunette's chin rests on her head. Instantly, she feels warmth spreading across her chest.

"If you need me to help or not, I'm here. I'll be by your side no matter what."

She can't help but smile. Tilting her head up, Laina kisses Buggy on the mouth. Buggy kisses back, smiling in between. After a long, shitty day, kissing her was the best part of Laina's day. It doesn't hurt that she smells like fresh laundry, too.

Something out of the corner of Laina's eye catches her attention. Breaking off the kiss, she turns to see shadows moving around the inside of the building.

"People are moving!" Laina exclaims in a whisper. "Where's the device?"

Buggy holds it up. She then extends it to Laina. "You wanna push the button?" she offers.

Laina looks at it before taking it. "This is for you, Mr. Whatshisface."

She presses the button and waits. Not long after, people run out of the building, coughing into their arms. Because Laina recognizes some of her coworkers, she feels bad about putting them in the crossfire. A thick layer of victory covers up the sympathy when her former boss comes out of the building between the other bosses who didn't come to her defense when he was telling her to get lost earlier today. She imagines him choking on his words as he rushes away from the rank building.

"You feeling better?" Buggy asks.

She nods. "A lot better." She watches the bitter-sweet scenario a little longer. "Okay, we should go now before someone sees us."

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

They run down to the street and towards their apartment, laughing the whole way there.