There was a necklace 99 wore around her neck for as long as Max could remember. The necklace consisted of a chain and a key. Today however 99 was not wearing her necklace. Max was curious as to why this was. For some reason this curiosity held his interest for some time until he was so curious he just decided to ask. "99?" "Hmm?" "You know that necklace you have?" He wasn't sure how to word his question. She nodded, knowing the necklace in question. "Well, uh, I was wondering." "Did I ever tell you about that necklace, Max?" She handed him a cup of coffee and sat down at her desk and he sat on her couch. "No." "Well, I got it when I was nine and it contained- at the time- five keys. One of the original five is buried with my father. My mother is in possession of another. And my high school boyfriend as I am told still wears his around his neck. The fourth is a surrogate tag on my old dog's collar." "And the fifth?" She reached into her pocket and placed it in the palm of his hand and closed his hand tightly over it. "But what does it mean, 99?" "It's the key to my heart." She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek, and walked out of the office.