Lucy tapped on the small rectangular clock attached to her wrist for the fifth time today. The numbers stayed at 7:14:28 still, and with a sigh she ran a hand through her hair. The numbers stayed still even though everything in her life was changing. And oh how she loathed it.

At twenty-five, she was starting to show moderate signs of aging. It was ordinary for the people who had not found a soulmate by age twenty-four to see themselves aging practically in the mirror, but for Lucy, it seemed ridiculous. Her once golden hair was now starting to turn gray, and her beautiful face now had small wrinkles along her nose and mouth.

Lucy pushed herself up from the chair that she was sitting in drinking tea a few moments ago and decided to get dressed. After all, she did have a date tonight.

"And then I said, 'I can't believe you did that!' and it was a hit!" Dan Straight told Lucy with a booming laugh, causing quite a few eyes to look over at their table. Many of them were women, and their envious eyes flicked up and down Lucy's still curvaceous form. Although she had not found her soulmate, Lucy had tried to keep her aging body in shape if she were to find him or her any day now.

"Hmm," Lucy said absentmindedly, swirling the wine in her glass. It was a pity. The aged chardonnay was delicious, and she would sure miss it when she finally broke up with the sportscaster.

It wasn't that Dan was a bad guy. He was just dull beyond belief and almost obviously gay, but she enjoyed her time with him. And the food wasn't bad either. He had taken her to the finest restaurants in all of Fiore. He was rich for sure, but he could have all the money in the world and still be boring as dust. And as sneeze-worthy as well. The cologne he wore practically clouded when he wrapped her in a hug, which was every time he saw her.

Small wrinkles formed at Dan's eyes as he looked at her in concern. "What's wrong, Lulu? Not having a good time?"

Lucy bit back a lie. "No, of course I'm having a good time. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You haven't touched your filet mignon and haven't spoken all evening. Are you sure everything is alright, my love?" he said, touching her hand from across the table. Lucy resisted the urge to pull it back and hiss at the man who had been talking about how own life for the past hour and a half.

"I'm fine. Just a hard day at work, that's all," she said, sipping her wine with a small smile. She really would miss this wine.

"The work of a journalist never stops. Neither does a sportscaster's," Dan said with a slight chuckle, drawing his hand back to his glass to take a drink of his scotch.

"Yes," Lucy said, her thoughts slowly turning to her soulmate once again.

What would he be like? Was he boring and dull just like Dan, or would be more adventurous. Surely he would be aging as if he were a forty-five-year-old just like Lucy had, but hopefully he'd still have his looks. Lucy's eyes flicked to Dan's sparse hairline as he droned about the weather once more and how interesting it was to him. To Lucy, she couldn't care less. All she cared about at the moment was getting her work finished on time, completing her novel, and finding her soulmate.

After the date was finally over, Lucy and Dan embraced in a hug. He was tall, which was nice, but she didn't fit correctly in his arms. His arms seemed a little too long for her small frame, and whenever they hugged she seemed to fit right underneath his armpit, which was not comfortable in the slightest.

"I hope to see you again very soon, my Lulu," he leaned in to whisper, and Lucy felt a slight shiver not from attraction but from annoyance. Why wouldn't he bother to call her by her actual name? It was the same amount of letters, and Lucy associated the name 'Lulu' with her friend Levy's puppy, not a cute nickname.

"Of course," she said, leaning in to peck him on the cheek. The peck wasn't romantic, it was purely friendly. She could smell the strong odor of his aftershave, and she wrinkled her nose slightly.

"Great. I'll call you," he told her, waving as he headed out to his car. She headed out to hers and began driving to her weekly grocery run. Even grocery shopping seemed interesting compared to listening to Dan's droning.

Lucy gathered her weekly groceries quickly in the same order. Vegetables and fruits first, meats second, boxed meals third, and dairy and frozen meals last. Piling it all into the car, she gazed at the clock once more. The same numbers gazed back at her. Lucy growled in frustration and slammed the trunk shut. When would she ever meet someone she truly cared about other than platonically?

She got in the car and began to read her to-do list for the week. It was droll and the same as last week. Her life was so boring, and as she pressed her head against the steering wheel, she prayed for some excitement.

Lucy placed her hand on the steering wheel and began to back up when she heard a thump and a soft yelp. Gasping, she parked her car immediately and jumped out the car door. A man was holding his leg in pain, and Lucy ran over and held her hands out in exasperation.

"I am so sorry, sir! Did I hurt you?" she said, and the man straightened and dusted off his pants. His pants leg was a little ripped, but no damage.

"No, but you were pretty close there. Better be careful. Don't space out otherwise you won't know what hit you ," he told Lucy, turning to look at her.

Oh, something had hit her alright.

The man was stunningly handsome. Although he was aged around his eyes, mouth, and on his body, the statement remained. His hair was a soft rose peppered with silver that she had only thought came in flowers and eyeshadow palettes, and his eyes a deep sage. His neck adorned a checkered scarf of which she'd never seen but looked expensive as Burberry. His hands were now raised in a 'what can you do?' fashion and looked sturdy by the lines and muscles in them. Lucy gasped as her eyes met his, and she noticed a smirk on his thin lips.

"Can I help you with something?" he asked, his voice booming.

"Um," she told him intelligently, and he chuckled. The sound was baritone and soothing, and she instantly loved the noise and wanted to hear it over and over.

"Let me know, alright? People without soulmates gotta stick together, right?" he chuckled again, and Lucy managed a smile even while she was gawking like a schoolgirl to her favorite boy band member.

"R-right," she said.

'Real smart, Lucy. Now he'll know you're a real catch,' Lucy scolded herself.

She looked down in her wrap pocket and saw that there was a tiny piece of paper sticking out of it. Curious, she grasped it in both hands and read quickly.

'Natsu Dragneel, Architect for The City of Magnolia.' it read, with a number underneath it. He had written two words underneath it.

'Call me'.