So this is my first Samcedes one-shot, based on this short British film I saw called Signs. I own nothing.
It's the same thing. Every. Single. Day. He lies awake, alone, staring at the white ceiling, waiting for his alarm to go off. He showers and dresses alone. He eats the same blah cereal at his small kitchen table, alone. He listens to the many conversations around him on the light rail, alone. Riding the escalator is the most interesting part of his day if he sees that hot brunette girl with the bob, but she never sees him. Women never spare him more than a glance anyway. He arrives at his job he doesn't care about, seeing all of the cubicles and his co-workers, but they never see him. His cubicle is in the same corner, next to the large window, he prints and copies the same stock reports, has lunch at the same bench, while being ignored by another hot woman, nothing new. The meetings with his boss and a handful of his co-workers are the worst. He actually has to interact and pretend to care about whatever his boss is saying, and pretend to get whatever joke his boss just made, laughing robotically just because his co-workers are. After a long day of mediocre work, he heads back home, alone. The only voicemail messages he receives are from his mother, saying how he must be so busy in the city with all of his friends, and girlfriends. If only she knew. He eats his blah dinner, changes out of his work clothes, and goes to bed, alone.
The next day is exactly the same. The same routine. The same feelings of nothing. He sits at his computer mindlessly typing. But something is different today. He looks at the building next to him, and down a floor, only to see an attractive woman. He has never seen her before. She has vibrant brown skin, long dark hair, and he can't help but notice how nice her professional clothes fit her voluptuous body. The woman is drinking something, staring intently at her laptop. She's beautiful. The woman looks up at him suddenly, he quickly looks away. After five mississippi's he looks back down to her, she's talking to what looks like her boss. After her boss leaves, she begins typing until she looks up at him again. He quickly looks away pretending to work, but decides to look at her one last time. She has her forearm on her desk, looking at him with a knowing expression. He looks around him making sure she's actually looking at him. He looks back down to see that she is writing something on a sheet of paper. With a serious expression, she holds up a sign that says,
TAKE A PHOTO
He starts to have a mini panic attack, hoping he didn't offend her. His panic attack subsides when he sees she has a new sign.
IM KIDDING!
She starts laughing. She has a beautiful smile, and he bets her laugh is beautiful as well. She has a new sign.
MERCEDES
He quickly grabs a black sharpie and writes 'SAM' _on a sheet of paper, and holds it up. Mercedes smiles and holds up a new sign that says,
NICE 2 MEET U
Sam quickly writes and holds up his sign that says,
NICE 2 MEET U 2
Mercedes smiles at Sam and proceeds to work. Sam does the same.
For the first time in a long while, Sam's ride home is actually nice. Sam hangs his ''NICE 2 MEET U 2'' sign on his fridge and smiles.
Another first, the alarm clock actually wakes him up. Sam does his morning routine with a pep in his step, ready to get to work, to his corner cubicle.
Mercedes holds up her tic tac toe sign, with her cocky smile. She thinks she's gonna win. She's wrong. Sam smiles back and writes a big 'X' in the middle of his chart. Sam holds up the sign up trying to not to be seen by his boss and co-workers in this meeting. He slowly tips his chair back, and before he can stop he lands on his ass. He gets up quickly while receiving 'judging you' looks from his co-workers. Sam looks over to Mercedes, who's laughing uncontrollably. Sam regrets nothing.
That night, Sam hangs his tic tac toe sign on his fridge.
The next few weeks only get better. Sam and Mercedes trade various jokes, greetings, and gags to each other. Some of which get Sam in hot water. He mistakenly made a hundred copies of a big smiley face, instead of the day's stock reports, and in another incident, he received a verbal lashing from his boss for disturbing his co-workers because he was laughing too loud. He couldn't help it. Mercedes was working her paper drawn tits all over her office. Getting chewed out from his boss didn't faze him. Sam regretted nothing.
Sam's fridge is covered in various signs. It's the best thing is his small apartment.
Today is different. Mercedes seems sad. Sam looks at Mercedes with a sad expression. He wishes he knew what was bothering her. Mercedes looks away to write something, and holds up a sign that says,
I HAVE A SECRET
She turns away to write something else. Sam waits anticipating her secret, trying not to think of the worst. She holds up another sign
I WAS WATCHING U FIRST
She smiles bashfully at him, waiting for his response. Sam smiles big and holds up a finger. He writes ''DO U WANT TO MEET?" He looks at his sign, nervous about showing her. What if she said no. What he doesn't see is Mercedes shaking her boss's hand. Sam looks down to her to see her giving him a sad smile. She follows her boss out the door. Sam looks after her disappointed with himself. But there's always tomorrow.
Sam wakes up and goes through his morning routine in a rush, rushing to get to his cubicle. When he finally arrives to work, he holds up his sign waiting for Mercedes to enter her office. Instead he sees some guy placing his things on her desk. Why couldn't he just been brave for once and ask her out.
For the first time since he has met Mercedes, he regretted something. The rest of his day went by in a blur. Sam thought he was depressed before, but his "Pre-Mercedes" depression had nothing on "Post-Mercedes" depression.
The next day at work, Sam sat in his cubicle not even attempting to look like he was working. Besides, even if he wanted to work he couldn't with this light blinding him every five seconds. Fed up, Sam looked up out the window to see where this light was coming from.
Mercedes.
Sam was so happy, he could've fainted. She wasn't gone and she was actually happy to see him. Mercedes has a mirror in her hand and waves enthusiastically at him. She holds up a sign
I GOT PROMOTED!
Sam quickly writes and holds up
WE SHOULD CELEBRATE
Mercedes disappears for a moment before returning with a sign that says
ABSOLUTELY
It's now or never. Sam holds up the sign that was the center of his nightmares all night,
DO U WANT TO MEET?
Mercedes holds up a sign, with a sly smile
THOUGHT YOU'D NEVER ASK
Fuck work. Sam grabs his jacket and speeds down the stairs to go outside. He gets to the crosswalk and sees Mercedes standing across from him on the other side of the street.
The light turns green.
They slowly walk towards each other, ignoring the patrons around them, and the city noise. Sam starts to speak, but Mercedes holds her finger to her lips. He shuts up instantly. She holds up a sign
HI
There's a big heart surrounding the simple word, and Sam can't help the huge smile that spreads across face. She smiles back, just as big.
Sam has the feeling that somehow he won't be spending so much time alone again.
Thanks for reading!