Part 1

Tired, worn out from working non-stop for the past months.
Quite a number of white hair seemed to have sprouted.
Not to mention the numerous times she felt like dying.

She took the very next day off when the whole thing ended.
Decided to pampered herself at the hairsalon and made a booking.
Her friend called her just after she hung up the phone.
It was for dinner, a 'get to know new people' thing.

She hesitated.
She didn't know if they would welcome her.
After all, she IS a foreigner.

She decided to go anyway.
'I need the poison, I need to destress,' she thought.

She went out in her usual gear.
Jeans and sneakers.
All black. She didn't feel especially preppy.

She left all the decisions to the hairdresser, as usual.
Male hairdressers are pretty good at massaging.
She relaxed and fell asleep.
For the first time in her life,
she had her hair coloured.

It wasn't bad, she was just not used to having coloured hair.
'It'll grow out,' she thought to herself,
and headed towards downtown to meet her friend.

*******
The guys were late.
She was feeling sleepy and hungry.
Not in a good mood.

The guys arrived perhaps half an hour later.
Mass media. Busy people.
Mindless chatter.
She drank.
Sometimes throwing in a bit of comment.
Most of the time, in a daze.

She couldn't remember why she ended up talking with the guy digonally across her.
Perhaps the one next to her was too boring.
The topic drifted to what they do on their off days.
They exchanged their mail addresses.