"Ugh- Laundry day. My favorite day of the week!" Mercedes thought sarcastically to herself as she pulled up to the laundry mat on the corner. 10PM on a Monday night. No one should be in the laundry mat at this time of night. Three quick loads, and she'd be out by midnight. Just when the laundry mat closed.

There were only five washers and five dryers in the small building. Mercedes liked coming here late at night because she could be alone, write a little bit and get things done quickly. She was a song writer for a major record company now, just biding her time until she'd get her chance to be front and center on stage. Mercedes couldn't wait for the day she'd see her name in lights. But until then, it'd be late night laundry sessions and her trusty laptop to keep her company on Monday nights.

Ah, but tonight was different of course.

Mercedes was surprised to see a handsome stranger a few rows down dumping his clothes into one of the washing machines.

"Uh, I think that you're supposed to separate the whites and colors… but I could be wrong." Mercedes stated as she slid her laundry basket down the aisle and claimed a few washers of her own. This guy was definitely going to turn all his whites pink if he put that red shirt into the load with his whites.

"Oh uh, thanks!" The stranger smirked. Hmm- he had the nicest lips she'd seen on a white boy in a long time.

"No problem! Just wanted to impart some wisdom. Mercedes…" she held out her hand to the stranger.

"Sam. Nice to meet you! In case you couldn't tell… I don't do laundry often". He smiled. That in turn made Mercedes smile. Okay, so laundry might just get interesting tonight.

"I hate to be that cliché but… yeah. I haven't had to do my own laundry very much." Sam stated.

"Oh, you're too old to use that excuse Sam."

Sam just laughed at Mercedes' teasing. Mercedes guessed Sam as about 23 or so. He should have definitely had some experience doing his own laundry by now. A few moments passed as they both paid attention to their own laundry. What should have been awkward silence, surprisingly wasn't. Once Mercedes was done sorting and loading her clothes into the wash, she headed over to one of the folding tables with the outlet underneath and took out her laptop. She plugged it in and opened a new word document. She had a deadline to write a new pop song for one of the new artists on her label by the end of the week. She was feeling a little writers block. The new artist couldn't sing worth a damn and she hadn't really been inspired by anything in a while. However, that was neither here nor there, she had to come up with a new hit single and soon. As she sat looking at the blank word document, she looked up and caught Sam's eye. He smiled and shyly looked away. Mercedes thought to herself that obviously Sam liked what he saw. Her suspicions were confirmed when he sauntered toward her a few minutes later.

"So… what are you working on? Am I allowed to know or is it some top secret FBI Intel?" Sam was definitely flirting by the smile on his face. Okay, this could be fun and Mercedes was up for a little fun tonight. Something to break up the monotony of her routine.

"Well, definitely not FBI intel. I'm a song writer. I've been a bit blocked lately, and usually… as crazy as it sounds, doing some mundane chores that I don't have to think too hard about, usually helps clear my mind."

"Ah… I see. Well that is pretty interesting. I'm sure you'll come up with something. Besides, '"Every moment in life is a learning experience. Or what good is it, right?"' – Uh, sorry. That was lame." Sam was blushing. Mercedes thought that was extremely cute.

"Uh- did you just quote that old Will Smith movie? Like seriously? In real life?" Mercedes laughed. That made Sam blush even more.

"Yeah, sorry I do impressions. That's sorta my thing. Sorry."

"No need to be sorry. It was kind of cute." Mercedes and Sam exchanged a meaningful glance that lasted about 20 seconds too long. The loud buzz of the washer machine finishing broke them both out of their reverie.

"Oh uh, I think that's mine. Here's to hoping I didn't turn my boxers pink again!" Sam reddened.

As he turned to walk back to his washing machine, Mercedes couldn't help but watch as he walked away. Yeah, tonight was just what she needed to get her creative juices flowing. Soon after, Mercedes joined Sam to help with his laundry, as hers was finishing up. They talked for a long time about a multitude of things. Life, music, art, comic books, musicals, anything under the sun. They had a lot in common. While being lost in conversation, the lights overhead flickered. Sam made an off handed comment about, but it wasn't until the lights clicked off a second time and stayed off that it reminded Mercedes that, the laundry mat closed at Midnight. She checked her cell which read 12:05AM.

"So… the laundry mat closed at midnight you know…" Mercedes mentioned to Sam as she got up to check her dryer.

"Oh yeah, It does, doesn't it? I saw something about that on the door when I walked in." Sam said. He walked over to the door to read the hours of the laundry mat when he saw a sign sitting to the left of the entrance doors that read: "Laundry Mat closes at Midnight. Doors lock automatically. PLEASE FINISH YOUR LAUNDRY BEFORE 12AM."

"Uh… Mercedes? I think we may be stuck in here until morning." Sam sounded uneasy.

"HA! Funny." Mercedes chuckled. She'd never actually been at the laundry past midnight, but she couldn't imagine that no one would come check on the building before locking up. Sam tried the door and discovered that in fact… it was locked. Shit. What now?

To Be Continued….