Loud beeping cut through her slumber like a knife might slice through a loaf of bread. Swearing furiously, she reached toward her night stand, where the source of the offending sound was resonating from, smashing her hand down on the snooze button. The silence was blissful but short lived as her ringtone began to play, with the phone lighting up the simple bedroom.

Sarah yanked the bed sheet over her head in exacerbation, wanting nothing more than to throw her phone across the room and re-enter the dream realm that she much preferred to her daily life. It was not to be as she sighed whilst sitting up and reaching for the now vibrating electronic.

"I swear to god Bryan if you don't have a good—"

"Sarah, chill out. Your first alarm should have gone by now anyway, you have nothing to be angry about," the voice on the line was distinctly male and arguably amused sounding, "I'm swinging by your apartment earlier than usual today. Boss bitch wants us in early to finish off the work she should have already done. I know- I know. Fuck her but I need the money and I can't work without you, girl."

A smile spread across Sarah's face as she moved from the bed, cringing slightly as her feet met the cold wooden floor. How could she stay mad at her best friend? He knew the exact words to get her out of bed and into the bathroom to start preparing for the day.

"You've gotten it down to an exact method now, haven't you?"

There was a joking tone painting her voice before she placed the phone on her white wash basket to allow her to pull her nightgown from her lithe form, disposing of it into said wash basket that was beginning to look a little full. Looks like I'll have to do the washing tonight, she thought morosely, not particularly fond of the washing machine stored in a laundry cupboard with a dryer.

"That beast is really getting old now," she murmured to herself, thinking of the ancient washing machine her grandmother had insisted she take possession of when she moved away from home. She wasn't even sure if the spin cycle really worked anymore but it was better than nothing and she was grateful her supportive grandmother had helped her out, rather than taking the machine to the tip like her mother would have. Glancing at the mirror with her pale green eyes, she picked up the phone to hear the tail end of a sentence.

"Ignore me, Sar," Bryan articulated grumpily, clearly at the end of an angry proclamation, "I can hear you laughing, Sarah, thanks for picking me up again. Once again, what method are you talking about?"

Stifling her laughter at having forgotten about her friend so easily, she twirled a strand of her auburn hair, wondering if she would have enough time to have a proper shower before Bryan reached her abode – it did sound as though he was in the car. Maybe I should hurry up.

"Bad mouth Gail, mention money, puppy dog eyes, I agree to start early. Repeat."

"You can't even see my face!" Bryan exclaimed indignantly.

"I can just imagine it," Sarah laughed before sticking her tongue out at her reflection, which she was still staring at – her face was looking markedly slimmer than she remembered, had she lost weight?

"Look, I'm about fifteen minutes out from yours. Shower, don't shower. I don't care. Just don't leave me waiting outside like last time. Your new doorman gives me the creeps."

The dial tone indicated that Bryan had hung up, clearly exasperated by that day last week when she had missed her alarm due to being too engrossed in dreams to even hear that cringe-worthy beeping. It had meant he had had to call her a grand total of seven times to wake her grumpy self. She had screamed at him and hung up before reflecting on her childish antics, throwing on whatever clothes she could find and calling him back, begging to be forgiven for her tantrum – 'I hadn't even had a coffee yet, jeez'. He had waited for her, driven them to work whilst grumbling before proceeding to be quiet towards her for the remainder of the shift.

Shouting him macaroons and a coffee that afternoon had greased the cogs in their friendship such that by the following day, they were once again chatting away animatedly while they pulled into their reserved car park outside Gotham Fabrics.

Sarah skipped out of the bathroom, through her hallway before reaching her open kitchen and dining area where she pulled back the blinds to let in some light whilst simultaneously flipping on the switch on her kettle. She ran her hands through her hair, humming some jazz tune that had been playing at that coffee house she'd visited with Bryan that past week.

As she opened her fridge to pull out a loaf of multi grain bread, she reminisced about the man that had been in the queue of hungry people who had finished work for the day and wanted something caffeinated and sweet to soothe them – needless to say the amount of foot tapping and sighing that occurred in that line was ridiculous. Amongst the clearly agitated crowd and over the top of Bryan chattering to her about which coffee he was going to consume that afternoon, her attention was piqued by tousled dark hair and intense blue eyes behind black-rimmed glasses.

Her heart had fluttered as she took in his smart suit, polished black loafers and generally pleasing appearance – he's not anxiously flittering away, clearly someone isn't addicted to caffeine like the rest of us. Almost as if he had sensed her observing and analysing him, he flashed those blue diamonds in her direction, looking for all the world as though he was surprised to find a woman looking at him. Surely he has women falling at his feet every day, she had thought ruefully whilst returning her attention to Bryan, who had continued talking despite raising an eyebrow at her inattention to which she had shrugged. Sarah found herself compelled to glance shyly back at the suited man and was shocked to find him staring unblinkingly back at her.

Not for the first time that day, she felt under dressed and self-conscious of her make up free face – of course I look like this today, she mused as his eyes flitted down her form before raising quickly to meet her gaze. He smirked and she blushed. It was as though a connection had been established between them but it was extinguished just as quickly as it had been formed when he moved toward the counter to make his order and she came back to her conversation with Bryan – he had begun discussing textiles as though he hadn't noticed her second concentration lapse.

It was only a few minutes before they were ordering two strong lattes and two packets of five pink macaroons to-go from the pretty, young brunette 'Jasmine', or so her name tag had read, serving the long line alone – it was surprising that she was so cheerful considering how grumpy some of the other patrons had been about the wait time.

Having paid for their order, they were directed to sit in the leather lounges of the waiting area situated beside the collection counter, where every thirty seconds or so, a pubescent blonde male would call out a name, place a coffee on the bench and have it quickly swooped upon by the caffeine craving buyer.

Bryan had already begun to tuck into his packet of macaroons, dropping crumbs down his t-shirt with the slogan 'Fat people are harder to kidnap' splashed ironically across the front – he was as thin as a rake and would not be called fat by anyone. He had switched topics once again, now discussing the merits of using garlic in cooking despite anything anyone might say about his breath. Sarah didn't even bother with a witty retort as she was only half paying attention to him.

The remaining half of her focus was attuned to the quiet brunette sitting straight across from them in one of the highly sought after padded arm chairs considered to be the epitome of comfort. He had just removed a black moleskin book from his briefcase and was scribbling in it furiously. A lock of his soft-looking hair fell across his forehead, which he brushed aside mindlessly.

A few minutes passed in this manner before a name was called that caught his attention, causing him to discard the journal in his briefcase before rising and heading to the counter. Jonathan, what a sexy name, Sarah thought mischievously as he seized his large coffee, placed a lid gently on and exited the busy coffee house, not looking in her direction once.

Whilst her thoughts had been enraptured by that mysterious man, she had been busying herself with attending to breakfast – toast, jam and, of course, coffee – and was now planted in her plush dining chair, enjoying her food. She sighed as the last morsel passed her lips and the remainder of coffee was gulped greedily away. Rising from her chair, she perched her mug atop the plastic bright orange plate she had eaten on and transported it slowly to the sink – she could always wash it later.

For what felt like the millionth time that morning, her phone began to ring, which Sarah took as her queue to run blindly through the still dark apartment to her bedroom – the door thankfully still ajar so as to avoid an unnecessary collision. She rummaged through her closet for an outfit to wear, seizing on a flowery print flowing summer dress with a simple tan coloured cardigan.

She dressed quickly before slipping on a black pair of flats, grabbing her handbag from the floor and rushing out of the apartment, slowing only to slide the key into its place and lock the door. Swinging her arms, she hurriedly descended the carpeted stairs of her building, passing her neighbour Mrs. Jeeves with a wave and a smile. She picked up her pace through the bright foyer, bid her doorman Steve a good day and fled the building, running now as she spotted Bryan's blue Mirage sitting, idling, at the curb about half a block away.

Panting slightly, she flung open the passenger door – noting the water on the door handle and wondering if she had perhaps dressed too coolly for the day – and dismissively slid into the car, leaning across to Bryan to kiss his cheek as his arm slid around her in response.

"Thanks for waiting."

"Wouldn't dream of clashing with Gailasaurus without you, babe," he joked, winking at her before turning to do a head check so he could begin driving towards their destination.

The day was clearly just beginning in Gotham as the sky had pink, orange and blue gradients splashed across it and the streets were starting to mill with people – some in track suits getting in their morning run, some in suits headed to their presumably boring day jobs and others still dressed as though they were just now heading home. Sarah envied the latter group, clearly missing the days not so long past where responsibility had no meaning to her when she could go off gallivanting where and with whom she pleased. My life is too serious these days, she thought as the buildings raced past the window she was staring out of.

"We should be able to bail early, you know," Bryan engaged her in conversation whilst keeping his eyes on the road for once, "I mean we ARE coming in early just to help them out. The least they could do is let us out before the sun goes down so we can have a bit of fun in all this monotony. Oh, I'll just make this one!"

Sarah was thrown back against her seat as Bryan accelerated at the orange set of lights they were approaching. Bracing herself, Sarah closed her eyes knowing that any articulation she might make would be ignored by her friend anyway – he had done this enough times for her to know that.

"Chill out, Sar—"

Bryan was cut off by screeching tyres, followed by shattering glass and crumpling steel – all accompanied by a blood curdling scream. Sarah was aware one moment and then not at all the next.