Alfred was walking through his study, his mind preoccupied with running through a list of deadlines and his latest business deal, when he stepped in an empty pizza box, spun around 3 times with his arms waving wildly, wrapped the rug around his ankle, tripped and slid across the floor, and stubbed two toes on his desk. Rubbing his foot and cursing, he thought aloud to himself, "I really need to get a housekeeper."

He shuffled into the public library, hands shoved deep in his pockets, elbows pressing into his backpack to keep it steady on his back despite one broken strap. There was a thick, stained scarf wrapped around his neck almost smothering his nose, tucked tight into the top of his windbreaker. Other patrons ignored him; he might as well be just another broke college student come to the library to cram. The librarian didn't seem to appreciate his dirty boots, though, judging by the looks she was throwing his way. The entire floor by the entrance was sullied with rock salt, ground into the cracks between floorboards by hundreds of New York City patrons entering the library for a respite from the bitter cold outside. The library's heating was certainly a welcome change from the chilly February weather, but that wasn't why Toris was here.

Though the librarian's evil eyes sent shivers up his spine, Toris sucked in a deep breath and walked up to the polished information desk. She watched him approach, but didn't remove her blood-red fingers from the ancient keyboard she was in the middle of typing on.

"I…um…" Should he talk louder, or was that disrespectful? How loud was too loud in a library? She kept staring at him. "Could you…" He looked over his shoulder. No one was staring, although it felt like it.

"May I help you?" she asked, much louder than Toris had expected.

"Oh, I - can people without a library card - can they use the computers, as well?" he managed, trying to keep his voice even. She looked annoyed. Maybe she was like that with everyone.

"Guest computers are over behind the non-fiction section, near foreign language." She pointed one meticulously manicured fingernail down the rows of towering shelves.

"Thank you very much," Toris half-whispered, nodding in a way that he hoped was polite and hurrying in the direction she'd pointed. The clickity-clack of her fingernails on the old desktop computer keyboard immediately resumed behind him.

After spending a good five minutes wandering the labyrinth of stacks, he spotted a huddle of desks and computer monitors like an oasis in a desert. Finally, he thought to himself, sliding into an uncomfortable wooden chair in front of one of the monitors. The plastic adjustor from the broken strap of his backpack scraped across the chair's surface, making him cringe. No one looked up to see who the cause of the commotion was, though. It almost surprised Toris that he was so invisible to others.

But you shouldn't be surprised. You know what he told you.

He wanted to burrow deep into his jacket, into a place where he could stop running. But he couldn't; a line was beginning for the public computers. "You have fifteen minutes," one of the librarians reminded him, gesturing to a few of the newcomers shuffling impatiently from side to side as they waited their turn. He nodded and got to work.

What sites should he even check for a job? Craigslist seemed kind of shady, but it was worth a try, at least. You're running out of options. Shady is your best bet at this point. He dispelled the thought, scrolling through endless pages of listings for temporary jobs. He didn't need a temporary job, he needed something consistent. Toris huffed with impatience, glancing at the time in the top corner of the screen. Eight minutes. Should he just try asking around at, like, McDonald's or something? They could always use an extra cashier. He kept scrolling. He found nothing.

A librarian tapped him on the shoulder. Toris jumped, recoiling from the point of contact. "Five minutes," he reminded him. Toris just nodded furiously, hoping he wasn't acting suspicious. Please go away, he prayed to himself. The librarian just walked back over to a book cart and continued shelving classic Spanish literature. Reminding himself to take deep breaths, Toris continued looking through the listings, but all he wanted to do was get out of there and away from these people who must hate him for taking so long.

At two minutes, he was about to exit the window when he saw one that caught his eye. Housekeeper…suburbs…$15 an hour. Holy crap, $15 an hour? Good luck finding that kind of money for housekeeping anywhere else. Nervous, he checked the time. Shit. One minute left. Okay, okay…e-mail! He'd make an account and email the link to himself (and delete it all later, of course). Toris went through the account creation steps as quickly as he could, but was cut off by the librarian.

"Time's up."

"I, I'm sorry, I just need to finish this one thing…" he tried, still typing.

"There's a line. Your time is up," the librarian reiterated, growing impatient.

"I'm really, really sorry, I'm almost…almost done," he mumbled, killing time as he navigated to the new account's inbox.

"Sir. Please get off the computer now." He looked ready to use force.

"Right, right…okay, I'm done, I'm very sorry, here you go." He hit send, logged out and jumped up from the chair, smiling sheepishly at the woman waiting with her arms crossed at the front of the line. She let out a sigh and took a seat at the computer, going about her business while the librarian reminded her that she had fifteen minutes. Toris shuffled to the back of the line, but there was the ghost of a smile on his face. And a tiny flame of hope, deep inside his chest, nestled somewhere under his rib cage, thawing out his heart that had been frosted over for so long.

A mug of coffee was clutched in his fist, infused with copious amounts of cream and sugar. It was decaf, but it always made Alfred feel sophisticated and confident, and gave him the energy to push through each day of doing what he did. He kicked the traitorous pizza box into the corner and flopped down into his desk chair with a sigh of relief. The mug was placed with a thunk on the wooden desk. A drip of coffee slid down the side while Alfred opened up his browser, typing "craigslist" into the address bar. It wasn't like he'd gotten any replies since posting the ad a week ago, but, be it for better or for worse, Alfred F. Jones was a hardcore optimist.

Upon seeing the new reply notification, he decided his relentless optimism had paid off. He didn't want to admit it, but he just wasn't the orderly type. No matter how hard he tried, his house always descended into chaos within a week. This was exactly what he needed. (Frankly, he was surprised he hadn't thought of it sooner.) Now to check the guy's credentials…

Hmm. Toris Laurinaitis, 25…has experience cleaning…will accept the posted wage as more than enough payment.

Alfred rocketed back from his desk, hands raised in two triumphant fists above his head. Yes! This guy sounded great. Like, he didn't know for sure that he was telling the truth in the reply, but hey, that's why interviews existed. Never mind that he was the only one who replied. He wheeled himself back over to the desk, typing excitedly.

To: tl1990

From: alfredfjones

REPLY [on 13.3.2015 at 9:36AM Toris Laurinaitis tl1990 wrote: …]

You sound like the perfect fit for the job! Is an on-site interview on Sunday at 2:00PM good for you? (My address is already posted on the ad, so :P

Wait, no, emoticons weren't professional.

good for you? (My address is already posted on the ad.)

Can't wait to see you there!

- Alfred F. Jones, CEO AlTech Co.

He hit send before looking at the time and freaking out. Crap, crap, crap, he had to be at a meeting in 20 minutes! He jumped out of his chair, tripped on the pizza box again, and sprinted down the hall towards his bedroom, not even halfway dressed yet. The mug of lukewarm coffee was left sitting next to the computer, which let out a small ping! as Toris replied with his confirmation an hour and 29 minutes later.

AN:

So! My new AmeLiet story. I've been wanting to write this for a while, and I've got everything carefully planned out, so I'm excited to see how everyone likes it. :) This is just a prologue, of course; the chapters will get much longer.

Review, let me know if you like it, if you want to read more! I know AmeLiet isn't a super popular ship, but I'm hoping to garner a fair following for this one (and maybe even convert a few. Who knows ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) )