I tapped my pen against my desk as I stared at the clock on the wall. It read 2:53. Two hours and seven minutes. Two hours and six minutes. I repeated in it in my head. A small ping brought me out of my daze and I glanced over at my computer. Ian had sent me an email.

Hey loser, want to go grab some pizza after we get out of this hell we call our careers?

I smirked and clicked on the small arrow to reply.

Anything to take my mind off the monotony.

I hit send and strained my ears slightly. I heard a soft ping from across the office and a faint scoff of agreement. Ian was my best friend. We had worked together for two years now, in the same 9-to-5, 6 foot by 6 foot squares. It wasn't the best job in the world, but it also wasn't the worst. He was a software developer and I was an operations processor. My job title was just a fancy way of saying 'number cruncher'. Basically, what I'm saying is, I was just like everyone else.

I turned back to my computer screen and got back to work, typing endlessly. At 4:45, I gave up and pulled a book out of my purse, opening it up to where I last marked it and began reading until I heard rustling from my neighbors that meant they were packing up to go home. Ian swung by my cubicle and leaned against the tiny doorway.

"Ready to go, loser?" He smirked at me, picking up my bag off the floor.

"You know you should really stop calling me that?" I said, smirking, jerking my bag out of his hand and putting it on my shoulder. We both began our walk to the stairs together. We agreed the elevator was overrated. And we only worked on the third floor.

"And why is that?" He said, walking in front of me, taking backwards steps.

"I might just start calling you Dumbo", I shrugged, he stopped walking and I sauntered past. I heard him clap his hands over his ears.

"They aren't THAT big", I heard him mutter beside me. I laughed and we both descended the stairs. Ian pushed open the door and smirked, "M'lady." I glared at him. He knew that I hated that.

The air outside was cool and crisp. I pulled my hat out of my bag and yanked it low over my forehead. We continued walking and chatting lazily, until we reached the pizza joint.

We'd done this several times before and it wasn't any different. We both shared our newest experiences with work. Ian had a feud with the office weirdo and I convinced him that if I somehow developed carpal tunnel syndrome, I might get some paid time off.

"Where will we be in 5 years, loser?" He asked me after we'd had a quiet moment.

"I'm not sure Dumbo, but I hope we both find our way out", we clinked glasses at that and took long sips of our beers. Ian came around to my side of the booth and leaned in close to me, smiling.

"Let's say in 6 years, if we haven't found anyone...why don't we get together?" I looked at him skeptically and took another sip of beer and swirled the remaining liquid around the glass.

"Why not now?" I leaned forward and placed my hand at the back of his neck, pulling him forward. His lips pressed to mine gently and I felt him freeze beneath me, but immediately his lips moved against mine. My head felt light and fuzzy. I wasn't sure if it was from the kiss or the beer, but there was no denying that I enjoyed it. I pulled away from him, blushing and covering my smile with my hand.

"I'm s-" I was cut off almost immediately as his lips met mine again, his hand making his way into my hair. He released me shortly after and stared into my eyes.

"I think you just made my year, Molly Iver", he said, smiling, his hand still resting against the back of my neck.

"I've been wanting to do that for quite some time, Ian Stratta", I grabbed my second piece of pizza and took a large bite out of it so I wouldn't have to say anything else. Ian draped his arm over my shoulder and I leaned into him.

"I mean I know we've had a few kisses over the past few years, but it was always when we'd be considerably intoxicated and I wasn't sure if they meant anything", he rambled onto me. I swallowed my bite and stared at him.

"They always meant something", I said quieyl and slowly we both broke out into smiles and finished our pizza, holding hands when we could. He paid our bill and I made him let me leave the tip.

We walked down the street hand in hand; we lived only a few blocks from each other and we reached my building first.

"I wish I could walk you to your building", I said, standing on the bottom stair so I could see into his eyes.

"Don't worry about it", he said, taking my hand in his and intertwining our fingers. He leaned forward and I leaned forward. Our lips met again.

"Thanks for dinner, Ian", I said, once we broke apart.

"Don't worry about it, loser", he pecked me on the cheek and started walking backwards toward his building.

"Don't get lost on your way home, Dumbo!" I yelled at him. He shook his head, smiling and turning around. I watched him go for a moment and then turned back towards the entrance.

I went up a few steps and heard a loud clang from the alleyway beside the building. I shrugged and continued up, but stopped when I saw a soft glowing coming from the alley. Any sane human being would have kept going, they would have ignored it, but I did not. I turned and went back down the stairs to investigate. I crept around the edge of the building and in the middle of the alley was what looked like a glowing rock. I stepped forward slowly, my eyes widening as I got closer. As I approached it, I reached down and grazed my fingers across it curiously. I immediately collapsed against the pavement. My eyes watered and my throat felt like it was closing. It reminded me of an allergy attack I had to peanuts as a kid. My vision blurred and everything went dark.

I woke up after what must have been several minutes of being passed out when rainfall began to drip down my face. My clothes were soaked through. I looked around and the rock was gone. There was a small crack in the cement where it must have fallen but other than that, there was no evidence it had been there. I stood up weakly and made my way back to the stairs to my building, hugging myself and shivering. All of my muscles ached furiously. I tried to understand what had just happened but all I could recall was touching the stone and passing out shortly after. It scared me so much that I tried to shove the event out of my mind completely.

I reached my apartment, threw my purse into a chair and peeled off my clothes, dropping them in the washing machine immediately. I scrambled to my bed and climbed underneath the covers, still shivering. My back ached and I immediately buried myself beneath the covers, falling asleep almost instantaneously.