Bad imitation of a panda

Emma had not been able to fall asleep after waking up from her steamy dream, and had spent the rest of the night tossing and turning. As a consequence she felt so exhausted when she arrived at work that evening, that she was worried she might not make it through the shift.

As she was getting ready in the employees' changing room, she caught sight of herself in one of the mirrors. She had pronounced dark circles under her eyes, and looked just as bad as she felt.

Despite being a person that didn't care too much about her appearance, she felt too embarrassed to work while looking like a bad imitation of a panda. As she was stood inspecting her haggard appearance, contemplating what could be done to remedy the situation, someone tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

Emma turned to see Natalie Zheng, one of the serves that she was friendly with, a tall girl with a bright smile and long shapely legs, that made her a favourite with the mainly make clientele in the VIP area. She was smiling sympathetically and holding out a tube of concealer to Emma.

"You look terrible," Natalie said conversationally.

"Thanks," Emma said, accepting the concealer gratefully, she began dabbing some under her eyes.

"Long night?" Natalie asked with a glint in her eyes.

"No, just insomnia," she stuttered, thinking about her dream and its contents.

Emma wasn't friendly with many of her colleagues, but Natalie had a chatty and bubbly personality, that made her an easy acquaintance since she did most of the talking herself.

Emma wasn't particularly good at holding casual conversations. That, combined with a general distrust ingrained in her due to her bad experiences growing up, was not a good recipe for making friends. Emma wasn't usually bothered by this, but she still craved social contact like everyone else, and was therefore happy to have Natalie to chat with. Even when the conversation was often somewhat one-sided.

Natalie didn't disappoint her today. She launched into a detailed account of her most recent date. Emma half listened as Natalie chatted, enjoying the interaction more than the contents, as she got changed into the black shirt and trousers, with accompanying apron and black tie worn by the bartender staff.

As Emma bent down to tie up the black sneakers she wore for work, she paused for a moment, touching her ankle pensively. It had not hurt one bit since that day on the mountain, but the more she thought about it, the weirder it was that the pain and swelling had disappeared so fast.

She thought about the big black dog. Despite his terrifying size and the fright he had given her, she only remembered him as an adorable, friendly pooch now. She wondered how he was doing and hoped his owner or whoever looked after him was feeding him properly.

Thinking about that smooth black fur and those shining green eyes, inevitably brought another image to the forefront of her mind. The image of a handsome man with jet black hair and green eyes. That face, with those exquisite features, that muscled chest, and the way his arms had tightened around her, and-

"Emma, are you feeling alright?"

Emma was yanked back to reality by Natalie looking at her with concern. "You look flushed. Are you getting a fever?"

"Eh? Wh-what?" Emma stuttered and touched her flushed cheeks self-consciously. "I'm fine. I just feel a - a bit hot. I'm gonna go get some fresh air before my shift starts."

With that she made a quick escape, before Natalie could ask any more questions.