Chapter One

Tap… Tap… Ta-Tap… Tap…

Elena sat at her desk, hitting her pencil against the desk, staring mindlessly at the wall divider that made up one wall of her office space. She knew that she should be focused on the email she was currently composing for her boss, it was 4:45 and she had to finish it before going home. Elena sighed deeply, trying to refocus her attention, but she knew it was no use, there really was no point, her boss would just reword the entire thing, effectively writing it himself, before she could send it off to his client. It was her sixth month at this firm, and even though it was her first job out of high school, she really thought her boss would have more faith in her by now. It really was quite unnerving.

Suddenly, Elena's phone vibrated once, snapping her attention to its spot on her desk, she noticed two things, the text was from Matt and it was past 5pm. 'Shit,' Elena thought to herself,' I have to finish this email, I'll do it quickly, then I can look at my text.' Frantically typing she completed the last few sentences and sent it on to her boss, glancing nervously at his door, she picked up her phone to read Matt's message.

'Hey Elena, I know we haven't spoken since graduation, but I miss you. Could we please meet up for coffee this Saturday?'

Elena just stared at the message, barely able to process what was on the screen in front of her. "This can't be happening," she groaned under her breath. She had not seen Matt since their messy break up and felt guilty every time she thought of it. Why did he want to bring this stuff back up into the open air? Why couldn't he just realise that they were in different places emotionally. She was so not ready to settle down with kids and a white picket fence and he was already picking out children's names. She really did not need any of this right now.

Looking back up at her computer screen, Elena realised that her boss had replied to her email, opening up the window she took note of the multitude of changes that had been made. Sighing to herself, she double checked it before sending it through to her boss' client. "This really is pointless," she said to herself as she picked up her handbag and got ready to leave the office. As Elena picked her phone up from her desk, she glanced down at the screen. Matt could wait until she got home before she replied, she needed time to think about what she was going to do.

Elena peered over shoulder as she left the main office space, her gaze lingering on her boss' office door. She shook her head slightly as her gaze dropped and she continued walking towards the elevator. This was not the life she thought she would be living after graduating high school, working a menial job, afraid to go to college and leave Mystic Falls while her brother was under court order to stay at Mystic Falls Rehabilitation Centre until he was given the thumbs up by the head counsellor. Everyone was just so afraid he would relapse again.

As the elevator doors opened, she stepped in, grateful that another day at work was over; this would be the death of her, a slow death, but death nonetheless. The doors shut, just as she heard her boss shout, "Elena wait! I need to talk to you about…" 'Oh well, that can wait until Monday,' Elena thought as she pulled out her phone again to look at Matt's message. Rereading it wouldn't help her come up with an answer, but at least it would remind her to reply to the text eventually. She couldn't stand Matt up, he didn't deserve that.

Stepping out of the elevator, Elena had a quick look around the car park, trying to remember where she left her car. Locating it in the far corner, she took a deep breath, steadying herself, before walking purposefully in that direction. To this day she did not know why, but empty car parks gave her the creeps, more so than any other person she knew. Reaching her car, she quickly opened it; dumping her bag on the passenger seat she got in and turned on the radio. 'One of life's simple pleasures,' she thought, bopping her head up and down in time to the music. Carefully, she reversed out of her parking spot and headed home.

Elena pulled into her driveway 20 minutes later, feeling much better than when she left the office, she switched off the radio, picked up her handbag and got out of the car. Locking the car as she walked to her front door, Elena smiled to herself, 'thank god it's a Friday, I need a break from work.' Opening the front door, Elena dropped her keys in the bowl on the hall stand as well as her bag, scooping out her phone before walking towards the kitchen. Elena sat on a kitchen stool, sighing to herself, as she reopened Matt's message and quickly typed a reply.

'I'm free mid-afternoon this Saturday, would you like to meet at Mystic Grill for a coffee? It would be great to catch up.'

Elena hoped that Matt would not get the wrong idea, she couldn't get back together with him, but she couldn't leave him hanging either. That would be too mean. Placing her phone in her pocket, Elena got up from her stool and walked over to the fridge in hopes of finding something for dinner. Popping a tupperware in the microwave she waited for her leftovers to be heated up before dumping them unceremoniously onto a plate. She carried the plate into the TV room, flicked on the TV and started to channel surf. Elena tried desperately to forget about how empty the house felt; she tried desperately to forget about how empty her life was becoming.