Dimitri Allen never really expected to be a man of science as he was growing up. He was in music and art programs in college, but when physics took a hold of him he never would have guessed he'd be working on one of the most prestigious projects in all of Great Britain after he graduated. Nonetheless with a man like Bill Hawkes, who was quite the name of Science at the time, it was all a great achievement he never would have guessed.

Of course, with all achievements came the hardships as well. His hardships included paying for his apartment, dealing with irritating people like Bill Hawkes, as brilliant as he was, or his Spanish/Russian Catholic family, as much as he loved them, and of course, actually working on the idea of a time machine, was quite a difficult task.

Mornings were never hard though, getting up and going to work. As challenging as the time machine was, he was determined to finish it, and determined to do what he could, put his heart and soul into the workings. And he always looked forward to seeing Claire again.

Claire Foley. That distracting piece of artwork he had as an assistant. He thought she was beautiful, and as perfect as they come, and luckily, as helpful as well. He never would have thought the assistant Bill would find would be such a bright, lovely woman to work for them. Someone who was just as passionate about quantum theory and numbers as he was. Claire could possibly be his dream woman.

But of course, he knew she had no interest in him, and he supposed there wasn't much of anything he could do. It was a depressing existence in his own mind, and he knew he couldn't do anything to persuade her into feeling the same way about him, but alas, it was something he could not distract himself on. Just like love, he couldn't distract himself with eating right, sleeping well, or taking time off to cool down. None of those things needed to get in his way.

Dimitri thought this as he was walking down the street to the lab, which was placed in a building with civilians boarding just down the hall. Of course, the science department that helped fund their project couldn't do anything about it, even though it could be potentially dangerous, because they would not buy a larger, more expensive studio, for what could be a simple "crack-pot science experiment". Not even Bill, who was highly regarded as it were, could convince them, since Dimitri had written the thesis paper, and not him. Therefore, it wasn't Bill Hawkes's project, it was "crack-pot scientist just-out-of-university" Dimitri Allen's. How motivating.

Either way, he was determined to make the best of what space he had. As he walked down the street, he thought about how he should have taken his car on the busy streets, even though he knew he would be late. It would be less walking after only having a couple hours of sleep, and he could drive to pick up a couple more cups of coffee, maybe for him and his work mates. But then again, maybe someone at work brewed a pot. God he hoped so.

When he got up to the room, he wasn't surprised to see he was the first one there. Great. He'd have to go brew the pot himself. He walked into the lounge room of the lab and made a full pot of coffee, and got a paper cup ready, since everyone at the lab was far too busy to use regular mugs, to wash them daily. Well, and he wouldn't want anyone to have to have that job.

As he stared at the coffee-maker with anticipation (it was a rather slow process thanks to it being a cheap model that Dimitri could afford), he heard the door crack as a working member approached the work day.

Surprisingly, it was Claire. She had her hair tied back in a braid, and a magenta-and-black work-professional dress on with tall black heels. She looked far too dressed up for it to just be a regular day, Dimitri decided. He only glanced at her, though, before she spoke.

"Hello!" She called, not knowing if anyone was there or not.

Dimitri gave a small smile at the idea of her greeting the air when neither he nor Bill was there yet. "Morning." He called back not quite as peppy as she always was.

It only took a second for her and her beautiful dark pink smile to come into the lounge. "Oh. Waiting for the coffee pot again?" She said with a cute snicker in her voice.

"As usual." Dimitri bent over the table, resting his elbows on the wood, his head on his hands, and his right ankle on his left heel. "I should have bought the one twenty quid more." He sighed.

Claire giggled and gave a pat on his bent over spine, that he knew she could feel under his shirt, for she ran her hand up and down it, in a perfect line. Her body language said so. "Twenty quid more would be too expensive for a workplace." She assured and began resting her elbows on the table next to him, on the other side of the small machine. "Besides, didn't you have coffee at home?"

Yeah, but he bought the good coffee for the workplace in case Claire had noticed. But he wouldn't tell her that. "I did. But it's not enough. You know, with getting up, taking a shower and getting ready, I don't have any time." He explained with a small casual smile. As normal as he spoke to her, internally he wanted her to confess a love for him she'd always had, but he knew that was as farfetched as it could get.

"I suppose I get that." Claire smiled and nodded in her hands, staring idly at the pot. She sighed threw her nose, making a hum through closed lips and let her blue eyes travel to him once more. "Why are you looking at me?" She giggled.

Had he been staring at her? Oh god, how awkward was that? He was obsessing over her and he didn't even notice. "O-oh, I-I didn't even realize." He gave a snicker and looked down anxiously. He let his tired eyes drift back up to her before going on. "I suppose it's because you look…beautiful, you're all dressed up." He hoped that compliment wasn't out of line, but it was the truth.

Claire moved her arms to look down at her outfit. "Really? Well thank you! I guess I can just hold all the gentlemen to court, now can't I?" She said jokingly and giggled as Dimitri followed her standing up position. "But you like it? You don't think it's too much?" She let her hands roam down her hips lightly at the skirt of her dress.

"What? Oh not at all." He shook his head and gave an assuring smile. "W-what do you mean "all" of the gentlemen?" He asked, realizing that Dimitri wasn't the only subject in that statement. Who else was going after this perfect woman? Or rather, who wouldn't?

She smiled wide before placing her hands behind her back. "Well, truthfully," she brought her hands back in front of her bashfully. "I've got a date tonight."

Right then, Dimitri's heart broke. It was exactly what he wasn't hoping for.

"Oh really?" He asked to be polite.

"Yes!" She chirped. "It's my first date in…a while. And truthfully, I wanted to get ready this morning, because I am literally leaving to dinner right after I leave work. I wouldn't have time otherwise. I hope Bill won't mind my not-very-work-appropriate clothes."

What could Dimitri say? She was beautiful. She was so beautiful, why would he even assume that she wouldn't get a date, probably with some perfect handsome gentleman, completely opposite of the man he was himself? He could see the picture now, they would get married and have a wonderful wedding and then not too long after, have beautiful children…

Dios mio, I need to stop this he thought to himself as he knew he had to choke out some words to her. Here goes nothing. "Well, he's a lucky guy." What the hell Dimitri? That didn't even have anything to do with Bill!

Claire giggled and looked down, again a little bashful. "Oh, stop it." She said through a smile and turned back to the coffee pot, realizing it was getting full. "Oh! It's going!"

"What a miracle." Dimitri mumbled staring at the drip, drip, drip of the coffee. Coffee was no longer the issue at hand. He wanted so bad to ask about her date. He knew it was impolite and probably intrusive to ask but he wanted to know everything. Where she met him, who he was, how the question was asked, where they were going, everything. But how could he do that?

When the coffee finally brewed, Claire was so kind as to fill both of their cups. "Jeez, where's Bill?" She asked and sipped her cup.

"I don't know but I'm quite enjoying the air without him."

Claire gave a laugh and smacked his arm. "You're so mean."

When Dimitri saw her smile, he mirrored it. "You know it's true." He joked and sipped his caffeine. His smile was completely forced of course. He honestly felt like slumping on the floor and doing nothing after he found out about her date, but he couldn't.

He was obsessing again. He knew he couldn't go on through the day without it. Maybe if it didn't get brought up again, he could forget. Besides, there's no guarantee they'd have any chemistry anyway and even have a second. Then again if she did, Dimitri wouldn't stand in the way of her happiness. There was no way she could be happy with him, if that ever happened to happen. He wasn't worth her time and she would probably see that. Hell, she must already see that.

"You okay?"

Dimitri looked up to Claire, not expecting her to speak again. No, he wasn't that great, but he didn't want her to see that. "Oh, oh yeah. Why? Do I not look okay?" He gave a half smile after a sip, staring at the floor.

"Well, you were thinking rather hard, and you didn't look happy about it." She explained. Her arms where now crossed, holding her cup on the crook of her arm. "In fact, you've been acting strange all morning. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah." Dimitri lied with a smile. "Probably just tired."

Right after his words, Bill walked in through the door, with his lab coat already on, and a clipboard in hand. "Hello." He greeted monotonously as he walked into the lounge for coffee. He looked as if he was about to make an announcement but then he got a glimpse of what Claire was wearing. "Not very work appropriate today, I see."

Claire gave a slight blush. "I'm sorry. I have to go somewhere right after work, and I need to make a good impression—"

"Oh it doesn't bother me." Bill said with a smile. "Others though…"

As soon as Dimitri noticed he was taunting him about his crush, he tried to hide the blush behind his coffee cup. Damn Bill for always calling it out on him. Luckily, it seemed as though Claire had never known, probably because she was too busy focusing on this perfect man she had for a date. She must have been pining for him for a while, that's probably why she didn't notice, because for the most part it seems like nothing could get passed her. She was a bright woman, but she never seemed to notice his love for her. Now he knew why.

"Well, we should get working." Bill cut off his own mean joke. "This thing has to get twenty more percent done by the end of the week."

Claire gave a sigh but smiled anyway. "Wow, what a task."

"Like that's going to happen." Dimitri mumbled under his breath and followed suit of his coworkers to get started.

The day went on, and soon enough, Claire left a little early for her date, probably because she couldn't stand the anticipation, and Bill left later in the evening. Eventually Dimitri was all alone in the lab, working on the project and obsessing about her date.

He thought "obsessing" was a good word for it. Sure, he let himself think about Claire every now and then before, but it wasn't like it was now. Know it was pure jealousy of a man he didn't even know, and that was what pained him most. Fixing up the machine, trying to reach Bill's improbable expectations of finishing twenty percent if he was the only one staying late, he was alone fixating on her night.

Finally the clock struck eleven-thirty and he knew he should leave. He fixed up the rest of his work, what needed to be done before he left, and finally walked out of the door.

It only took fifteen minutes, more or less, for him to get back to his apartment, where he skipped dinner, took off his tie and button down shirt, didn't bother to change his pants and tried to sleep. Of course, too many thoughts were floating in his mind. Mostly about Claire's date.

How did it go? He could only imagine her giving her sweet smile to a handsome man with an equally as perfect smile and perfect sense of self. He was probably a philosopher. He could imagine her falling for a philosopher. She probably had one hell of a time.

One question that was burning in his mind, that he hardly wanted to think about, was where was she now? If she wasn't at home, sleeping in bed, having a pleasant dream of having a second date with the man, could she be at his house? In his bed?

Stop, stop, stop. Why am I doing this to myself? He thought and closed his eyes as he pulled a comforter over him. He just needed to sleep, and not think of any of that. Meditate into sleep.

Before he did that, however, he checked the clock, and saw that it somehow became one in the morning, and he had to be up in five hours. This was when he decided he really needed to sleep, and that was what he was going to make himself do. Well, hopefully.

The next morning, Dimtiri woke up instinctively at around six o'clock. He made cheap coffee, showered and threw on a pair of clothes. He drank a cup while petting the cat he owned and watching the news, just to see what was going on the world, but none of it really stuck in his mind. He was far too tired, stressed, and anxious.

He walked to work shortly after he checked to make sure the cat had food, and again, he was the first one at the lab. He made coffee, surprisingly the machine had decided to work efficiently for once and brewed it instantly, so Dimitri had no problem waking up this morning. How wonderful for him.

He got to work on the machine right away. He hoped twenty more percent by the end of the week would happen, but he couldn't concentrate. He found himself tightening and untightening the same screws trying to figure out how exactly he was going to build the damn thing. He wasn't a mechanic he was a scientist dammit. How was this supposed to happen and work out to maximum ability if he hardly knew what he was doing?

"Stop it, Allen." Dimitri mumbled to himself as he dropped the wrench and leaned against the unfinished machine. He needed to calm down and, well, work. He needed a distraction.

As he considered around the room for something to take his mind off of the subconscious stresses, he noticed the radio. That was the one his mother had given him, since his radio at home only gets one channel in his apartment, and it's in some foreign, almost African sounding language. He does find it rather interesting.

In any case, he decided to turn it on. It was still on a catchy station, some popular music he wouldn't care to know the name of, but he knew the words, since the same songs always played over and over on that station, so he decided to listen. The first song he tuned in on, he did know the words, so he started singing along.

Dimitri never thought he had a good singing voice, then again, no one ever heard him sing, except for his music teachers in university and his college roommate, who was a culinary major and a psych minor. He did ace his voice class, he knew how to read music, just like every good Spanish boy, as he was, but he never thought he was exceptional at it. Either way, he still sung when he was alone.

When that song ended, the next came on, and Dimitri knew the words to that one as well. So he sung, and more importantly, he worked. What a great distraction.

Well, it was, that is, until he heard a mezzo-soprano from behind him, singing the same words as he. He swung around, his lips now sealed to see Claire smiling and singing. She stopped to smile at him. "I didn't know you sung."

Dimitri gave a laugh and turned around to hide his blush and look like he was working. "I could say the same for you." He muttered.

"Oh, I studied music for a while before I graduated." She told him while she got a cup of coffee and her lab coat on.

He gave a stunned look and turned to her. "Really?" He asked with an incredulous tone.

She gave her sweet snicker again. "Why? You don't believe me?"

And Dimitri blushed at his own accusing sounding words. "Oh no. That's not it at all." He told her and went back to his work looking worried. "I just found it funny, because I did as well." He laughed.

"Haha, really?" Claire asked excitedly. "Wow, I never knew we had so much in common besides numbers." She joked.

And that, of course, hurt him so. They did have so much in common, didn't they? Oh, if he would just have opened up to her or something, maybe he would have had the same chance as the "philosopher" she went on a date with the night before. He probably opened up to her, hell, he probably explained the philosophy of the music he had studied to her. He was probably perfect.

"I suppose so." He nodded looking down. "So, mezzo-soprano?"

Claire looked impressed. "How did you know?" She asked with her arms crossed.

Dimitri shrugged with a smile. "You sang like one." You sang like a siren. Of course he would never compliment her so…out of line. "Very well done."

She giggled and pulled her long reddish brown hair back behind her shoulders. "You're so sweet, but I'm not that good." She shrugged. "You on the other hand, very well done!" She mirrored.

Dimitri laughed and shrugged, knowing she was just being nice. "Well thanks." He continued with the work. "So, how was your date?" Really, Dimitri? Really?

Claire giggled, and seemed to blush a little. "Oh, it actually went quite well." She answered.

"Oh did it?" Dimitri gave a fake smile, staring down at his machine. He couldn't look at her. He couldn't see that beautiful smile for someone else, and he needed to focus his attention on work anyway.

"Yes." Claire answered and shrugged. "Dinner was good, our walk on the pier was good, I had fun." She looked down and started working across from Dimitri on the machine. "I'm probably saying too much, aren't I? It's not very work appropriate."

Dimitri shook his head, almost eagerly. He did want to know what was going on, he just…didn't want to initiate it. "God no. Do you really think we're what you would call a 'professional work environment' anyway?" He gave a laugh.

"Well, Bill tends to think so."

"Well, Bill's not here." He snickered. "Besides, he hardly used to take it so serious anyways. He just wants to give a good impression. Before you showed up, we spent half the time swearing at each other and the other half swearing at work."

Claire laughed at the idea of Dimitri's words and shrugged. "Well, still. I'm sure you're probably bored to hear of my love life." He mumbled with a smile.

Love. She used the word love. That wasn't a good sign. He assumed she had a second date planned out, possibly even a third. "I certainly don't mind." He smiled. "I suppose it's better than listening to my singing." He laughed.

Her red hair bounced on her shoulders as she shook her head. "No, I doubt that." She adjusted her glasses and tried putting two pieces of the Time Machine puzzle together and she said nothing.

Dimitri couldn't let her stop there. It was strange how bad he wanted to know how her perfect date went, it was almost as if he was looking for a flaw somewhere. All he knew was that he didn't want her to stop. "So," He started a little sheepishly. "You said you took a walk on the pier. It wasn't very cold last night." Since he did walk home last night, at least he could use something.

"I know, it was nice." She smiled. "He bought me a cup of tea and we sat there for a while talking." She shrugged staring down. "It was nice."

Dimitri nodded, and ran an already exhausted hand threw his hair. "Sounds nice." He mumbled and continued working. What else could he say? This was almost torturous but he still wanted more. There had to be a flaw in this date. Something had to have gone wrong.

Suddenly another song came on that Dimitri knew, and before he knew it, his foot was tapping, and he started singing again. Claire just smiled.

"Must we listen to this racket?" Bill asked as he walked into the front door. He grabbed himself a cup of coffee and quickly got to work as the rest of the group had.

Dimitri then sung a bit louder towards Bill's direction, to simply say "yes", and looked down a little embarrassed. Bill ignored him.

"So how was your date last night?" Bill asked Claire, knowing that it was create a stir with Dimitri.

The red-head smiled. "Oh, well! It was certainly worth wearing my nice clothes to work all day." She giggled and handed Bill a piece of the Time Machine that he needed. "I'm sorry for that anyway."

"Well, what's done is done." He shrugged and took her piece. "I'm glad it was worth it, however."

She nodded. "Me too."

"So are you going to have a second?" Bill asked, knowing he was out of line.

Dimitri looked down in a blush.

Claire did the same. "Oh, I'm not sure." She told him anyway. "It was a good date, and all, but I'm not sure if he's so interested."

Bill made a look to Dimitri and then to her. "You're probably just being modest." He assured. "Oh well, if he doesn't want a second date, he's missing out."

Dimitri looked up at his co-worker. Was that Bill's successful attempt at saying something nice and not making fun of him? This was something that was truly one in a million.

"Aw, thanks Bill." She shrugged. "Well, if he does want to go on a second date, I'll let you know."

"If not, you have other sources, probably closer than you think."

And there was that sly, awful smile that Dimitri knew was coming. What a jerk.

Claire shrugged. "Well, dating isn't really my thing anyway. I suppose I'll take it as it comes." She explained.

Did she even notice what he was talking about? Probably not. As Dimitri thought, she was probably too caught up in the man she was dating to even realize. Well, not that he would mind very much. How embarrassing would that be if she did?

As hours passed by, with the clock ringing two to three hours left of work, the phone started ringing. It took a moment for any of them to grab it, which Bill did. And in that second it was for Dimitri.

"It's your mum."

Dimitri turned a bright red. His mum! How the heck did she get his work number? But of course, without asking questions, he took the phone as quietly as he could. What a horrible day. "Hola, madre." He said with a slight mumble.

"What's wrong? Aren't you happy to hear from me?" He heard on the other line.

"No, I am, but mum, estoy en el trabajo!" Dimitri said in a whisper.

"I know, isn't it great? Your sister gave me your work number!"

He pressed a hand to his temple. "Why on earth would she do that?" He questioned in a mumble, not to the receiver. This was his typical Spanish mother. "Mum, thanks for calling me, but I have to get back to work."

"Okay, but baby, I have some great news. We're coming back to England for holiday!"

"You're what?" He hoped he heard wrong.

"Me, your father and your sister are coming to see you!" She said excitedly. "Vamos a tener tan divertido!"

"Yeah, very fun." Dimitri rolled his eyes in the phone and looked down. He tapped his hands on the coffee pot, waiting for the conversation to be over. "Listen, mum, estoy en el trabajo. Yo realmente no se debe hablar con usted en este momento. Y esta llamada es muy caro." Now he was just making up excuses.

"Does Dimitri realize he's speaking in broken Spanish?" Claire asked Bill with a smile. Of course, Dimitri could hear this from the other room.

Bill shook his head. "No, it just happens. You should hear when his relatives from Russia call."

"That's kind of…cute." She giggled.

And Dimitri blushed, not even listening to the phone call.

"Dimitri, estás escuchando a mí?"

"Yes, mum! I'm listening." He sighed. "That's great that you're coming, but honestly, I can't talk to you about it until after work, okay?"

"…okay. Whatever you say, baby."

"Thank you."

"Te quiero, cariño."

"Te quiero, tambien." And they both hung up. Dimitri, of course ran out into work room, trying to forget that his mother still called him cariño and got back to business. He hoped that was the last phone call of the day.

Claire giggled as Dimitri walked in, but said nothing.

Only a couple of minutes later, another phone call arrived. Bill, again, picked it up.

"Claire, it's for you."

Claire smiled excitedly and took the phone, walking into the other room and talking as quietly as she could. She spoke too quietly for either Dimitri, nor Bill to hear.

A couple of minutes later, Claire walked out with a smile on her face and went back to work. No one asked who she was on the phone with. In fact, Dimitri said nothing for the rest of the night. He was far too busy working anyway.

By the end of the day, Bill was the first to leave as usual. Dimitri decided to pack up early as well, feeling mentally exhausted, but he didn't leave before Claire.

"Dimitri, you really should take it easy every now and then." She suggested as she was putting her tools and other works things away.

He nodded shrugged, still working. "Yeah, I'm almost done here." He smiled up at her. "Hey, I could walk you to your place, if you would like."

Claire smiled back. "Oh, that's alright. I'm getting ride, apparently." She shrugged. "That's what that call was about."

Dimitri was a little disappointed but wouldn't let her see. "Okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yep. Good night."

"Night, Claire."

He sighed after she walked out and he dropped the tools. He really had to get home and sleep for once, and maybe stop thinking about life and Claire.

Of course, as he was packing up, the thoughts began flooding. One thought in particular was, who is Claire getting a ride from?

It could be anyone. It could be just a friend, or even her family. But what if it was him? What if it was the "philosopher" that she might have a second date with? What if that was going to be their second date?

He shook his thoughts off his shoulders and walked out of the building, towards home. He needed to sleep for once.

Alright, well, this was supposed to be a writing exercise where you take a character and put the home life, work like and love life all in all, and it ended up being like 10 pages. Sorry people.

I thought it was kind of, well, cute (says the woman in love with Dimitri Allen) so I hope you guys can enjoy it. Sorry for the lack of literary tact here.