Nita couldn't figure out how she had managed to do such a thing. She had neither a logical reason to wear such jewelry in the empty office, nor the time to waste playing with the acquisitions she needed to catalog. Yet when she brought her hands back up to grab the jeweled headpiece, she couldn't bring herself to yank it off.

"Wait, I shouldn't take it off," she said in an uncharacteristically timid voice. "It will make me look more beautiful, and it is my duty to look beautiful."

She shook her head once more. "What? Why did I say that? Utter nonsense! No...not nonsense... I must look beautiful for... for..."

Like a tug of war playing out in her mind, Nita's concerns jerked back and forth between finishing her job and having a pleasing appearance for...someone, though Nita was so confused at the moment she couldn't think of who. All she knew was that this was important. More important than her job. More important than herself.

Her heart suddenly began pounding, and a wave of euphoria swept over her.

PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
PART 5
PART 6
PART 7

Commissioned by  yurikokinai