She had to laugh when he asked how she was; for all that Alyssa was still confident and sure of herself, she was a far cry from even herself from earlier that day. It had been a sore blow to lose her job, especially when it wasn't her fault - at least, mostly not her fault.<em>Calling my supervisor a racist bastard was probably the final kicker,</em>she thought sourly.<br/><br/>To Sam, Alyssa smiled warmly. She was suddenly glad that she hadn't gotten so deep in her cups that she was drunk off her ass - though she and Sam were friends, it probably wouldn't show the best side of her if the first time that they had seen each other in months was with her completely smashed in a bar, wailing about her misfortunes in life.<br/><br/>"I lost my job today after calling my boss a racist prick, I almost got hit by a car, and my apartment is in the process of being flooded by my stupid upstairs neighbors. That's what brings me here," she answered sourly, taking a large swallow of beer. "What about you, Sam? I come here during some of my weekends off, but I've never seen you here before."