Familiar

Roses decorated the table that the couple sat at: the aroma wafting from the unsightly flowers was enough to make the woman feel nauseous. With a strained smile, she allowed the man to hold her hand, and she worked hard to stop herself from recoiling in disgust.

It was bad enough that she had been made to come to this date, but now she had to endure the loving gazes of the man sitting opposite and the sickly sweet words that kept spouting out of crusty lips. It was unnerving, and waves of nausea were making waves in her stomach.

Waiting for the signal from this man's actual girlfriend felt like it was taking forever, and she couldn't wait to get out of there.

Stirring her drink with the straw, Jae answered the man with perfunctory words: inwardly, her eyes couldn't be rolled back any further than they were at this moment. If this man was just as boring when he was with his actual girlfriend, she felt even more sorry for the girl than she had done so before.

"Are you listening?" The man's snappy tone brought Jae back down to earth, and the tapping of his shoes intensified under the table. "You're not usually this distracted."

"I'm fine," Jae answered simply and glanced out the window to see the man's girlfriend shoot her an ok signal.

Discreetly gathering her things, Jae watched the girl for a moment, whilst still ignoring the man and then sighed with relief. Soon this would all be over, and another work day would be done.

She couldn't wait to finish up here and then go home and spend the evening with a drink and a long soak in the bath. This job could be fun, but it was so exhausting: having to pretend to be someone else and listen to the drivel these men couldn't help but drone out, day after day. Plus, keeping up the illusion made her magic deplete faster, which took a long time to replenish.

Getting to her feet, Jae, who still wore the face of her client, looked down at the man and said, "look, can we just stop here? This relationship is going nowhere, and I think it's best we end things."

The man paled at her words and jumped out of the chair, almost knocking it over. "What do you mean? You can't just end it like this!" He grabbed her arm in a death grip: Jae was sure that if not for the healing abilities, she would wake up with bruises the next day.

And this was something she wasn't prepared for. Sure, not every task would go smoothly and could quickly turn ugly, but never had she been in a situation like this with a client's partner.

Scowling, she loosened the man's grip with her free hand and said, "there's no need to grab me like that. I've said what I needed to say, and there's nothing more for us to discuss. It just wasn't working out for us, and that's all there is to it."

Leaving the man standing there stunned, and thinking that he would say nothing else, Jae turned to leave. However, before she could even take one step toward the door, he grabbed her once again, and this time, what he captured was her hair.

Pulling her backwards, he jeered, "did you think I was going to let you leave that easily? I didn't agree to us breaking up."

Jae grimaced from the pain and twisted her body so it was easier for her to grab the man's arms, but before she could do anything, there was a yelp, and her hair was released from the man's hands.

Straightening up, Jae saw the man being pressed down on the ground, and a familiar man had his knees pressed to his back, leaving him incapable of freeing himself.

"Let me go!"

"I wouldn't struggle if I were you. You'll only hurt yourself more." The familiar man drawled out in a voice that sounded like he was trying to suppress his anger. "The police are on the way, so why don't you be a good boy and stay down there for me?"

Seeing as there was nothing else she could do here, Jae shot the man a grateful glance, before stepping out of the cafe and walking over to the worried-looking client.

"The task has been completed." Jae informed the girl and then continued to say, "if you should ever need my services again, come by the teahouse. You're always welcome there."

The client tearfully thanked her, and with a cheerful expression, she bid the older woman goodbye and went on her merry way.

Stealing a glance at the man still pressing the other one on the ground, Jae contemplated going back in to help, but after a bloody scene flashed through her mind, she decided against it and turned away from the cafe.

Seeing him again only left a painful feeling in her chest, and it was a feeling she hated the most. Sighing, she snapped her fingers and teleported back to the teahouse.

Right now, she should focus on the tasks at hand, and accumulate enough energy to get her powers back to where they used to be.

One day she would be ready to see him again, but now wasn't the time for that.