Korrasami Tale

Asami's Secret

I stared at the clock, knee bouncing with nervous energy. The seconds seemed like hours. Excitement slowly started to pound through my veins. Three minutes until my shift ended, three minutes until I was home free. I tuck a strand of stray brown hair behind my ear. My ponytail was starting to fall out, I noticed vaguely. I willed for the hands of the clock to move faster, but they seemed to be content being stuck at 5:57 P.M. One of my coworkers nudged me. I blinked out of my thoughts and glanced over to Opal.

"Almost time, huh?" She smiled.

My stomach almost did a summersault. "Hell yeah," I respond giddily, like a schoolgirl.

The minute hand managed to move. 5:58 P.M. "I can't believe Bo managed to get tickets!"

"Mako pulled some strings," I admitted. "He's awesome like that."

"You can go early, if you want," Opal said, wiping down the counter.

We worked at a diner together. It was a small joint, on a corner of a busy street in Republic City. She had talked to her mom, who owned the the place, about me working there. I applied and earned the job. It was nice gig. The pay was alright, nothing lucrative, but the community surrounding Zhaofu's employment. Opal's entire family worked at the place. They were immigrants into Republic City after the Earth Queen was assassinated. Chaos erupted, so they fled to Republic City that was known for its stability. Opal's father worked as an engineer that helped Future Industries improve the infrastructure of the city. He was the only one that didn't work at the diner. Opal's siblings, even her adopted sibling, worked at the diner. Trying to make money to pay the bills. Trying to make it in the big city. And so far, it was working. Income flowed steadily through the small diner. For me, it was enough to pay the bills. Next shift was going to go to Huan, Wing, and Wei. The diner closes at midnight, and then Bataar Jr. and Suyin take the morning shift, then it was Opal and I, and so on and so forth. There were others who worked at the Zhaofu diner, but they weren't part of the family.

Kuvira was the manager for tonight, and she was in the back making a phone call. I really liked Kuvira. She was ambitious, determined, trustworthy. And, when an idiotic customer came into the shop all high and mighty, she shot him down. Kuvira and I were starting to be the best of friends. She was totally badass, and she had a tribal, warrior, tattoo sleeve. She was in the Earth Kingdom military until the chaos ensued. She ran with the family that took care of her.

I shook my head. "No way, we're in this together."

Her and I started to clean the rest of the diner, preparing for the next wave of workers to come in. Rush hour was going to happen in the next fifteen minutes. 6:15 was the classic dinner rush. I wanted to get out of the diner as soon as I could, but I didn't want to leave Opal to end the shift.

The seconds ticked by. 5:59 P.M. Kuvira walked out of the back room, and rolled her shoulders. Upon seeing me, she gave a wink. I winked back.

"You excited for tonight?" Kuvira asked, a smirk curling on her face.

I was almost trembling with excitement now. "Oh yeah, definitely! Shame you can't make it."

"What can I say?" Kuvira laughed. "I'm busy with the boxing thing."

"But you're missing out on half-naked models! Hot models!" I respond. "Did I mention they're almost naked?"