Tuesday evening

The 12th of February had been a wet and windy day. Until it had turned into a very wet and very windy evening.

Pixal got off the bus and started to walk towards Steep Wisdom,  the restaurant where the young woman worked part-time. She was wearing a pair of  grey jogger pants and had the hood of her purple Ninjago Tech jumper pulled over her  head. Luckily, she didn't have to walk far from the bus stop to her  destination, this was not a pleasant moment to be outside at all.

What a miserable day. She thought. But at least that means it cannot get any worse, only better, right?

No, so far, this Tuesday had definetely not been one of the greatest days in the life of Pixal Borg.

Last night had been a very exhausting - physically and emotionally - evening.

While she would work late hours waiting tables at the restaurant three nights a week, she was not really used to going out herself. And the long yet very pleasant 'double blind date' with Jay, Nya, and of course Zane had then been followed by  a rather emotional conversation with her best friend.

While it had not taken her long to  fall asleep last night, she had woken up around four this  morning, unable to get back to sleep. Consequently, she had spent about  two hours recalling the events of the previous evening and worrying  about what was going to happen tonight, until she could finally leave her bed  without the risk of greatly upsetting her sleeping roommate.

Unfortunately,  her anxiety had not remained in her bed either but had followed Pixal  all through the day, even at college. Thanks to her nervousness, she had  hardly been able to eat anything during her breaks. And the lack of  sleep in combination with her mind being rather occupied otherwise,  today had been the first time that she had not been the first student in  her programming class to complete her - very simple - assignment.

And to top it off, it hadn't stopped raining all day...

Pixal  even had, only very briefly, considered to call in sick at work, just  so she would have an excuse to not face the handsome chef tonight. She had denied her  feelings for Zane for so long, it couldn't hurt delaying her  confession for a few more days...

But the green-eyed girl had never  been one to back out of anything. She had made a promise to Nya (and  herself) and she was going to keep it.

Pixal  soon arrived at her workplace. Before she entered the small restaurant, she  pulled back the soaked hood and ran her hands through her tousled and,  despite the cover, slightly wet hair.

Back at their shared room,  Nya had styled Pixal's hair and even applied some light make-up on her  face, but due to the adverse weather conditions, it was all gone now. The waitress  didn't want to be seen by her co-workers in her current state, so she  headed straight to the combined bathroom and changing room for the female employees.

Pixal  changed into her work uniform – black trousers, white shirt and flat black  shoes. She quickly dried her hair and was just checking her reflection  in the mirror, when she heard a knock on the door.

"Pixal, are you  in here?" Her colleague Chamille entered the room with a worried look  on her face. "Are you alright? I saw you coming in but you didn't greet  anyone and just rushed to the bathroom... I hope you aren't sick."

"I-I am fine," Pixal replied, despite feeling rather nauseous from her nervousness and the lack of food in her stomach. "I just got completely soaked on the way here and wanted to get out of the wet clothes as fast as possible."

"That makes sense, it's way too easy to catch a cold in this awful weather. But are you sure you are fine? You look very tired and pale..."

Pixal nodded. "Please do not worry about me, I just didn't sleep well last night."

And I now have to meet the reason for my insomnia.

"Had  a good evening last night, I guess?" Her purple-haired co-worker smirked. "How did  your date with Zane's friend go last night? Is he hot? Ooh, and how did  Zane like your roommate? I've tried to get some  information from him, but he wouldn't tell me anything..." Chamille complained.

Great, so that means Zane is already here.

When Pixal didn't reply, Chamille understood that she would not reveal any details either.

"Well, I'll leave you alone for now, but I will find out sooner or later anyway." She shrugged. "We won't open for another twenty minutes and we are almost done preparing the menus and tables. So, why don't you sit down in the restaurant and I'll bring you a cup of tea to warm up? It's much nicer and especilly warmer there than the staff room." She  suggested instead. "I'm sure Sensei won't mind, but I will check with him for you." She left to talk to Mister Wu, the kind and wise elderly owner of Steep Wisdom, who had been nicknamed Sensei by his employees.

Pixal  decided to follow Chamille's advice. This would buy her a few more minutes. And maybe a cup of tea would also calm  her down a bit, so she would be ready to talk to Zane afterwards. She  took a final look at herself in the mirror and exited the changing room.  But when she came into the restaurant area, Pixal's desire for a hot  beverage disappeared in an instance, when she saw Zane standing right  next to the tea station.

He was still in his civil attire, tight blue jeans (making her blush) and a bright white shirt - and he looked just as anxious and miserable as she felt.

"Hello Pixal." He greeted her. "I am glad you arrived early for work tonight, because... I would like to talk to you please."

-----

"...I would like to talk to you please."

Zane  mentally face-palmed. That must have been the worst introduction ever  to what he was going to tell her. He couldn't understand why his mind  had come up with such a lame (as his friend Jay would call it)  phrase. Zane was normally very eloquent – not as loquacious as his  flatmate though – but he had never been short of words.

But as  Pixal didn't object to his suggestion, he carefully took her hand and  led her to one of the more private dining tables in a corner. He held  the chair for her to sit down and took the seat right next to her.

"Can I get you anything to drink? A glass of water maybe? Or a cup of tea?"

"No, thank you." She shook her head. "Maybe later."

The last part was also directed at Chamille who was approaching their table with a steaming mug on a small tray. Her colleague and friend seemingly understood and wordlessly turned away.

Maybe  she wants to have this conversation finished rather sooner than later... I  better get straight to the point so she can reject me now.

He  suddenly realised that he was still holding her hand. He instantly let go, but couldn't help noticing the slight blush on her normally  pale face. It suited her well and Zane fondly remembered the short  glimpse he had gotten at her rather unusual appearace, when she had  arrived at Steep Wisdom a few minutes ago.

Pixal had worn very  casual clothing and was soaking wet. Her hair had been completely  undone from the rain and wind outside. But when he saw her face with a  light rosy complexion and the green eyes sparkling brightly, he thought  that she had never looked more beautiful than at that moment.

Zane swallowed. "Pixal, there is something I need to tell you."

He  lowered his head down. "At our dinner last night – and while talking to  Jay afterwards – I realised that... I have feelings for you. Romantic  feelings, to be specific.

I know that... you see me as a friend and  that there is only a small probability for you to ever return my  feelings, especially when considering the fact that you were the one to  suggest our 'double date' last night. But I have given my word to Jay –  and I owe it to myself to tell you that... I am in love with you."

Jay  must have a stronger influence on me than I thought. Never have I ever  used such a long sentence before, to cover my nervousness... Altough... I  cannot recall having ever been this nervous before...

"Zane."  Pixal's voice ripped him from his thoughts and he could feel the light  weight of her soft hand on top of his own. Zane looked up. She was  beaming at him.

"I-I was going to tell you the same." Her eyes  were glistening with tears – but tears of happiness he hoped – and she  leaned closer towards him. The soft floral scent of her perfume began to  cloud Zane's mind, making it simply impossible to think of something smart and romanic to say to her. So, to his own surprise, he found himself acting on his feeling instead. Zane gently cupped her face with his hands and closed the small gap between their lips.

He  got slightly worried when she did not respond immediately, but it only  took her a brief moment, before she eagerly kissed him back.

Unfortunately, even a person who could hold his breath for several minutes under water needed air at some point, so eventually they had to break the kiss. Both smiled at each other lovingly.

"I love you, Mister Julien." Pixal whispered.

"I love you too, Miss Borg." Zane answered.

"About that... I was surprised you didn't tell Jay that Cyrus is my uncle, when we arranged the blind date."

"I did not want him to like you for who you are related to, I wanted him to like you for who you  are." Zane replied. "Jay admires Mr Borg. So if I had told him, he  probably would have paid more attention to you, just because of your  name. And... I know this sounds selfish, but... I am glad that he was not  too interested in you..."

"So am I." Pixal kissed him again.

"Until  just a few minutes ago, I felt like this was one of the worst days of my life." She told him, when they pulled apart again. "Thank you for  turning it into the best day ever."