"It should be ready in two or so days. I'm sorry about the delay... it's just, with how beat up it, we're going to have to have some parts shipped in from Canada. I can go through the costs with you in more detail, if you'd like--," the mechanic explained, getting cut off.
"No, that's quite alright," Alanna said, with a sigh. "I'll take your word for it. Is that all? I'd really like to get going."
"Uh, yeah. Just stop by on Thursday, then," he answered, a bit surprised at her indifference.
"Right, thanks." And then Alanna left.
She pulled open her umbrella as soon as she got outside; it was a miserable, but typical day in May, pouring rain hard. She cursed her awful luck, wishing she could've at least been stranded in nicer weather. This just wasn't her day.
She looked around, pausing for a good half a minute as she tried to figure out what she should even be doing now. She'd barely ever been in Syracuse before-- or anywhere else in the state that wasn't NYC proper-- and she sure didn't know where she was going. She slumped against the wall just outside the garage, taking out her cell phone with her free hand, and dialing her boss's number.
After a couple of rings, her face popped up on the cell phone screen.
"Hi again, Lily," she said in the most unpleasant tone of voice she could possibly muster.
"Wow, is it that bad?" the woman on the other end of the phone asked.
"I'm stuck in fuckin' Syracuse for two days," Alanna said. "Yeah, it's that bad."
"Ouch. I'll reassign your piece, then."
Alanna sighed. "Yeah... I guess you should." She probably wouldn't even get the excuse to spend a few days in New York now; she'd probably end up getting sent home as soon as her car was out of the shop.
"Stupid potholes," she continued to grumble. "It's nearly the twenty-second century, and you can still get into a car accident because of a six inch hole in the road? It ain't fair."
"Yeah, yeah, I want a flying car, too," Lilian replied, with a smile that wasn't completely unsympathetic. "While we're at it, I'd like a Pulitzer, too. Maybe even find true love."
"Oh, hush," said Alanna. "I'm just saying, it seems wrong."
"So do you have a place to stay for the night?"
"No, I don't have the slightest clue," she said.
"Well, here, I'll recommend you a hotel. It's not the Ritz or anything-- which you wouldn't be in anyway, even if you were in New York-- but it's nice enough," Lily said, in her characteristically cruel manner. She gave Alanna an address.
"Oh, and one more thing," Lily added. "It turns out that even though you're stranded, you can still be useful; the New York International Womens' Martial Arts showcase is running from tommorow until Sunday."
"That's useful?" Alanna asked, rolling her eyes.
"Well, okay, it's total fluff. But if you want to expense those repairs, you're going to have to at least pretend to be busy," Lily said with a wink. "It's probably the most interesting thing happening in Syracuse this time of month anyway."
"Probably. Okay, I'll stop by tommorow, and hopefully, I won't even be in this awful city by the day after," Alanna said.
"Alright. Take care now."
"Bye." Alanna hung up.
She was still incredibly irritated at how things had turned out for her today, and she wasn't exactly looking forward to tommorow, either; but at least now she had somewhere dry to stay. She walked out to the street corner, and hailed the first taxi that passed.
Her mood had improved by the next day slightly, after having gotten a
good night's sleep, but attending the first day of the tournament just left
her feeling bored and dreary. She had just sort of wandered in confusedly,
and it sort of went downhill from there. She took notes whenever she could
figure out what was going on, which was not especially often.
On the plus side, at least she hadn't gotten into another accident today.
Midday, she decided she needed to get outside-- she needed a smoke. She went out back, to discover that it had started raining again. She leaned against the wall, lighting up; figuring that the weather was probably about as dreary as her actual mood was. She was dry under the ledge, but barely.
"Hey, excuse me!" a woman called out to her, from a few metres away, starting to approach her.
Oh, great, she's probably going to ask me to put it out. This could not actually possibly get any worse, was Alanna's first thought. Her second thought, as the woman got closer, was that she was incredibly cute; had she seen her before? She seemed familiar.
"Look, I know, I'm supposed to be five metres out, but it's raining and--" Alanna started to protest, getting cut off.
"Huh?" the woman asked, interrupting. It took her a second to realize. "Oh, no, not at all, I don't mind. I was just going to ask if you could spare a cigarette."
"Oh! Sure," Alanna said, taking the pack back out and offering one. "Sorry."
"It's okay. Thanks." She took the cigarette, then took Alanna's lighter.
They stood there in silence for a good moment, Alanna glancing at her, trying to figure out why she recognized her.
"Say... I've seen you before, haven't I?" she asked, it dawning on her as she did. "Oh, I know; you're competing, aren't you? Uh... Taekwondo, right?"
"Yep," she said, fidgetting.
"And you smoke? Wow," Alanna said, surprised.
"Not often. Just occasionally," the woman admitted. "I'm not up for another hour, but I'm really nervous. It helps."
"Makes sense to me," she said, pausing. "Say, I didn't catch your name. I'm Alanna Cassner."
"Sachiko Kim," the woman said. Alanna noticed that her hand was quivering as she shook it. "Uh, nice to meet you."
"Likewise." Alanna smiled. She leaned back against the wall again, not quite feeling so miserable any more, an idea coming to mind. Sachiko just stayed silent.
"Hey, can I ask you a few questions?" Alanna asked.
"Oh?" Sachiko seemed confused.
"I'm actually from the Daily News," she said. "I was sent here... as a replacement," she explained, deciding that perfect honesty would probably not win her any points, "but it's not my field and I don't have the slightest clue as to what to write."
"Oh," Sachiko said. "Sure."
Alanna took her recorder out of her purse-- she'd write up the notes later-- and turned it on. She started asking questions, about her martial arts career so far, about how she expected things to go in the tournament, her future plans, and a bit on the current state of Taekwando currently; keeping it mostly personal, just so she could actually make sense of any of it.
She knew that whatever she wrote would only run if it was an incredibly slow day-- she suspected strongly that Lily had been doing little more than trying to keep her from stewing in her misery-- but she figured that she could at least work it into a damn nice unpublishable, semi-personal piece. Being honest with herself, she knew that about halfway through it stopped being about writing anything, anyway; it was coming from genuine interest in the woman. Sachiko seemed like a nice person.
And a much calmer person, too. Talking seemed to have calmed her down plenty.
"Okay, I have to get back in pretty soon," Sachiko said at last. "But thank you, that helped a lot."
"Sure," Alanna said, turning off the recorder and putting it away. She hesitated for a second-- but just a second, before grinning mischeviously, and asking, "Can I just ask you one more question?"
"Go ahead," Sachiko said.
"When you're done for today, would you like to go out with me for dinner?"
"Eh?" Sachiko seemed startled and confused by the question, and blushed a bit. "Um... uh... I'd be delighted to!" she stammered.
"Wonderful! Here," Alanna said, handing her a business card with her phone number on it, "give me a call when you're finished, alright?"
"Uh, okay," Sachiko murmured, taking the card and pocketing it, looking flustered. "I definitely will! Bye!" She made a slight bow and started to leave. She couldn't have seemed more adorable in Alanna's eyes if she tried.
"Seeya tonight," Alanna said as she left.
The rain continued to pour, and Alanna stood there alone, a huge smile on her face. Things were seeming nice right about now. The story was as useless as it ever was, but at least she'd make something decent from it; and more importantly, she had a date with a very sweet, cute girl. Maybe getting stuck in Syracuse wasn't so bad after all.
Alanna would never know how lucky she was. She had been in a car crash, the weather was miserable, and her career would never go as well for her as she'd like it to; but at least the war was over.