A/N: Damn, this is long. Well, good luck.

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Mimi Tachikawa groaned as her alarm went off and her clocked blinked 6:30. She put it on 'Sleep' and collapsed back into her pillow. Five minutes later, the same, annoying noise sounded again.

"All right, all right, I'm up," Mimi said aloud, standing up and stretching, just as her best friend, Sora walked into her room.

"Why are you getting up so early, Mimi?" she asked, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "I could hear your alarm from the other room."

"Me too!" yelled Kari, the other roommate, her voice slightly muffled. "These walls aren't soundproof, you know!"

"Sorry!" Mimi shouted back. "I have an early meeting and I want to be on time. You go back to sleep – I'll try to be quiet."

"No, no, we're already up," Sora replied. "Might as well see what's on TV"

Since Mimi had forgotten to lay out her clothes the previous night, she hurried to pick out something.

"Kari!" she called, knocking on the wall. "You have a good sense of style – what do I wear?"

"You're a designer, Mimi!" Kari shouted back. "But I'll try to help!"

"You guys ever hear of a phone?" Tai shouted through the wall.

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Mimi and Kari had decided on something for her to wear from her own line of clothing, so she was off. She ran down the steps of her New York City apartment and looked at the gloomy day outside.

She stepped out and suddenly it began to pour. And Mimi did not have a car.

"Oh, this is magic," Mimi complained aloud. "Just my luck."

She held her bag over her head and started running, thankful that her office was not too far away.

She passed by a couple of cameras and figured that another movie was being filmed. "Excuse me, miss?" called out one of the workers.

"Oh, God," Mimi said. "Am I in the way of a shot?"

"No," he replied, walking up to her. "I just noticed that you're soaking wet. Here."

The man handed her an umbrella and Mimi graciously accepted it. "Thank you so much," she said, smiling. "I'm Mimi Tachikawa – are you…Jake Akids?"

"Ah, so good to be recognized at last," he said, grinning. "I would expect people to know the actors, not the director."

"Oh, I just love all your films!" Mimi exclaimed. "Waiting to Embrace You was magnificent."

"Thanks. It's always great to meet the fans. Actually, we're in production of another – Desiring to Kiss You. Do you know of a little restaurant or eatery or something? We'll be filming that later in the day."

"There's a coffee-house, Corner Café, that I go to every day after work, just around the corner."

"Great. Hopefully I'll see you there."

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In his own office, Matt was making something out of paper cups and pencils and it was spinning on his desk.

"Slow day?" came a voice.

Matt jumped, then knocked over his creation. He saw that the voice belonged to Melinda, one of his co-workers. "Oh, yeah," he said.

Melinda grinned and put a couple papers on his desk. "Those are the new reports that you asked for. When you're done with them, I suppose you could…make paper airplanes or something."

She winked and walked out. "Whoa…" Matt breathed, once she had left his office. "I thought she was a lesbian!"

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"Where have you been?" asked Mimi's British boss, Lukas Thompson. "You were supposed to be here…five minutes ago."

"Ooh, five minutes," Mimi said, rolling her eyes. "Why didn't you start the meeting without me?"

"We couldn't have done it without you," Lukas replied.

"Aww, I'm touched," she said.

"No, I'm serious," Lukas said. "You're the head marketer on this campaign."

Mimi stuck out her tongue. "Ha, ha! You admitted it – you need me here!"

"I admit nothing. Only that you are a great designer and marketer. Kudos to you. Now, please sit – and try not to make the chair too wet. Do you want to tell me why exactly you are late?"

"Sure, because I have a perfectly good excuse."

Lukas waited for a moment, blinked, then said, "And it is…?"

"I just happened to meet Jake Akids."

"And he is…?"

"Ooh, isn't he that hot director of Longing to Love You and Wanting to Hold You?" Mimi's colleague, Lily, asked.

Mimi nodded.

Lukas rolled his eyes. "Oh, God, what's he working on now? Dying to Bore Us?"

Mimi playfully hit her boss with some papers, and he responded by hitting her back. "Hey, don't you have those applicants to interview before the meeting?" Mimi asked.

"Oh, bugger," he said, running off.

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"I hate cubicles, I hate cubicles, I hate cubicles!" Tai chanted.

A brunette named Chloe walked by and leaned on the wall.

"I take it you dislike your working space," she commented.

"Oh, you noticed?" he said. "It's so small and confined. Everyone can hear what you're saying and see what you're doing. It's really annoying."

"Then work hard to get a promotion."

"See, that's too much work. I just want what I want…now."

"Sorry, bud, but that ain't how the world works. Now, I gotta type something up for John. Good luck, Tai."

"Hey, Tai?" said Louis, poking his head over the top of the cubicle. "I think I can help you with that problem you were talking to your doctor on the phone with earlier."

"I HATE CUBICLES!"

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Mimi began to make her way to the Corner Café and once inside, sat down on the couch beside her friends. "Hey, how'd your meeting go?" Kari asked, sipping her coffee.

"It was all right," Mimi replied, signaling for the waiter to come over. "Right up until Tom put us to sleep with his unnecessarily boring presentation." She sighed. "French vanilla cappuccino, please."

"Mimi, what exactly do you do?" Matt asked.

"What kind of friend are you?" Sora questioned in disbelief. "She's the designer and head marketer for a very popular clothing line, Pretty in Pink!"

"She's also capable of answering her own questions," replied Matt. "I think."

"You know," Mimi mused, totally forgetting about the present conversation. "We've lived here for nearly ten years, and Harry has worked here all his life…"

"Wow," Matt said sarcastically. "That is a mind-boggler."

"No, I mean…we've come here every day for the past ten years and have all ordered our own things – a French vanilla cappuccino for me, a black coffee for Sora, a tea with two sugars for Kari, a doughnut and an apple juice for Tai, a Pepsi for Matt, and a double coffee for T.K. – and Harry doesn't even remember our orders."

"I'm surprised you do," Sora said. "But he is kind of a creepy guy."

Mimi nodded as Harry brought her her drink. "Thanks, Harry!" she said cheerily. "How are you?"

"Fine," he replied, his long dark hair hiding part of his face. He then walked off and returned to his position behind the counter.

"I come for the coffee," T.K. began. "I stay for the sparkling conversation."

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Moments later, the director, Jake, and his crew of cameramen entered the little coffee shop. He then spotted Mimi sitting down. "Hey, Mimi," he said.

The others just blinked and she shrugged to them and replied, "Oh, yeah, I met a director."

Jake spoke for a moment to Harry, then announced, "Attention, everyone in this coffee shop – does anyone have a problem in using you in this shot? If so, please speak up."

"Yeah, I have a problem," said one guy in the back.

"Yeah, well, go to hell," Jake said.

Everyone began clapping. "I like this guy," Matt concluded.

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Jake filmed the shot, after many takes, then sat down with the others and introduced himself. Jake then got a coffee and asked Mimi, "Would you like to go out sometime?"

"Yeah, I'd love to," Mimi said. "I'm free tonight."

"Great, I'll pick you up at seven."

Mimi smiled as the director got up and left with his crew. "Well, well," Kari clucked, raising her eyebrows.

"What?" Mimi asked innocently, looking over her cappuccino cup.

"Don't go getting too ahead of yourself," Sora said. "He's a director. He'll be on the move a lot."

"Not all the time," argued Mimi. "And he's shooting his next movie here."

"Oh, Lord, what is it – Dying to Bore Us?" Matt groaned.

Mimi, instead of defending Jake, just blinked. "You know…that's exactly what my boss said."

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That night, Mimi sat on the couch where Tai was lying upside down, and waited for Jake. "Get a better view like that?" Sora asked.

Tai looked over at Mimi, grinned, and replied, "I do, actually."

Mimi hit him with a pillow.

"Oh, shoot, I'm late," Kari said, looking at her watch.

"Late for what?" Matt asked, walking into the apartment and grabbing himself a beer.

"Kari has a photo shoot with New York's most handsome men," T.K. said.

"No I don't," she replied. "Because you're not there, T.K."

The two kissed and Tai, looking disgusted, shouted, "Aw, come on! I don't wanna see my sister and my best friend's brother make out!"

"Well, no one wants to see your boxers," Kari replied.

"I know when I'm not wanted," Tai said, flipping off the couch and leaving.

"For God's sakes, man, pull your pants up!" Matt shouted after him.

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Soon, Jake came and said that they would go to the theatre down the road. "Oh, to a movie?" Mimi asked, smiling. "I should've guessed."

Jake grinned. "That's okay, isn't it?"

"Sure. What are we seeing?"

"I wasn't sure. There's a chick-flick playing, Crying Goodbyes."

"Oh, I'm sure you don't want to see that, though. How about Die Hard 4.0?"

"Sounds good to me."

The two walked outside, to where Jake's silver sports car was waiting. "Oh, my God!" Mimi exclaimed. "You drive a Lamborghini Diablo?"

"A convertible Lamborghini Diablo," replied Jake, pushing the button to retract the roof.

"With a V12 engine?" questioned Mimi. "And zero to one hundred in 8.4 seconds?

"Uh, yeah," said Jake, impressed. He opened the door for Mimi, and she got in the silver car, grinning. They drove to the theatre, got popcorn and got in.

"In my professional opinion," stated Mimi, as the opening credits played on the screen. "I think the original Die Hard was the best."

"No way," said a guy from behind them. "The third one kicked the original's ass."

"I know that Jeremy Irons played a great character, but despite how much ass he kicked, Alan Rickman as Hans Grüber was still better."

"I agree," said a woman in front of Jake and Mimi. "The first is always the best. And the second one shouldn't even have been made."

"Yeah, it totally ruined it," Mimi nodded. "But this one should be good…"

"Unless it follows the patterns of the movies, and sucks," said the guy.

The theatre lights dimmed and the commercials of upcoming films started. Mimi rested her head on Jake's shoulder and stayed there throughout the movie.

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"Hey, you guys," said Matt, in the guys' apartment. "I gotta say something."

"Oh, God, are you coming out of the closet?" Tai asked. "Why does everyone come out to me?"

"Chill, Tai," Matt said. "But speaking of that, at work, there's this girl that everyone thinks is a lesbian."

"There's no one like that at work," said Tai.

"My work, you idiot. Mine. Anyway, today, I think she was flirting with me. But I don't want to ask her out if she does…play for the other side. And, since it's clear that I cannot ask Tai for any advice…I still can't believe I'm doing this…T.K. – what should I do?"

"I think you should go for it," he said. "What've you got to lose? Just your dignity, pride, and respect."

"But other than that, it's all good?"

"Yeah…and your status at the office."

Matt groaned and buried his face in his hands.

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During the movie, there were times when Mimi jumped and Jake held her tighter. She then realised how perfect they were together.

When the movie was over, they and the other two film critics began talking. "The best," everyone agreed.

"You're back awfully late," Sora said from the couch. "You didn't have to wait up," Mimi said.

"Nah, I wanted to hear all the dirty details firsthand."

Mimi stuck out her tongue. "He was very nice. He – "

"Wait, wait!" came Kari's voice, as she ran into the room and sat in front of Mimi.

"Don't get all excited," Mimi said. "We just went to the new Die Hard movie, then out to Denny's. Nothing happened. He was sweet."

"So was it good?" Kari asked.

"Was what good? Nothing happened!"

"The movie, Mims," Sora said. "Was it good?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, Bruce Willis rocks."

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The next morning, Mimi rolled over and looked at her clock. "Hmm, it's seven fifty-four," she said aloud groggily. "I didn't set my alarm. Hmm." She blinked a couple times before it set in. "I have six minutes to get to work!"

Mimi jumped into some clothes that probably didn't match, grabbed a slice of toast, managed a muffled "bye" then ran out the door.

She sprinted to her office, where her boss was waiting for another excuse. "I have one," Mimi panted. "I have an excuse. It's not a very good excuse, but I have one. I slept in because I didn't set my alarm."

"If this were school, you would have a detention," Lukas said. "But, alas, since it is not, you must write out 'I will set my alarm and not sleep in' one hundred times."

"Teacher's a meany!" Mimi exclaimed, pouting and crossing her arms.

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Mimi met her friends and Jake at the coffeehouse after work. She kissed Jake on the cheek and sat down beside him. "I think we should go out again tonight," he said.

"O…kay," Mimi said, giving him a weird look.

"D'you wanna go out to dinner, then?"

"Sounds great."

"All right, enough of that," Tai said. "People are here."

Mimi stuck out her tongue. "It's not my fault you don't have a girlfriend."

"Yeah, it is! You chase them all away!"

"They're not good enough for you, Tai."

"What about the blonde accountant!"

"Answer's in the question, bud."

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"Hey, Matt, what's up?" Sora asked, as everyone was gathered at the girls' apartment later. "You look blue."

"I'd say a fleshy-white," Tai replied.

Sora threw a pillow at Tai and Matt replied, "My work blows. We've got about a million presentations to do and the head of the company's coming down and I've gotta impress him. God, I'm so nervous."

"You'll do great, Matt," Sora comforted. "I used to think you were slime when I met you, but once I got to know you, it was okay."

"Thanks, Sora, that helps."

"I try."

"Well, I'm off," Mimi announced, throwing on her jacket.

"Wait, Mims," Matt said, turning around on the couch. "I need your professional advice."

"Ha, that's a sentence I never thought I'd hear," Mimi replied. "And especially not from you. What is it?"

"What d'you do to calm down before a big presentation or meeting?"

"Well, normally, I have a warm bath, burn incense candles, eat some chocolate ice cream and watch old reruns of Friends." Mimi then looked at Matt's expression. "But, I guess you could eat…I dunno, something manly and watch…The Godfather. I also suggest taking a hot shower to clear your mind."

"I'll try…something."

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Jake took Mimi to a fancy restaurant, and Mimi at once noticed that he seemed a bit preoccupied.

"Is something the matter, Jake?" she asked, reaching over and touching his hand.

"Well, I, uh, there's something I gotta tell you, Mimi," he began, stuttering. "Well, you see, the production's moving to California."

"Uh huh…" she said.

"And, I don't think we can see each other anymore. It would be too difficult."

"Oh." Mimi's heart sank. "Yeah, yeah, I understand."

"Really?"

She forced a weak smile. "Yeah, totally. It's your job. I mean, obviously it's more important. Would you excuse me a minute?"

Mimi ran to the bathroom and cried her heart out. "You're a fool, Mimi," she said to herself, glad that she had the room to herself. "You fell for him. This is only the second date. You should've listened to Sora."

She left the washroom, returned to the table, grabbed her purse and said to Jake that she'd hail a taxi home.

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"What do you know?" Matt said to himself, eating some ice cream out of the tub and watching an old episode of Friends. "The little ditz was right."

Suddenly, there was a light knock at the door. "I was watching The Godfather!" he exclaimed, jumping up, switching the channel. "I was watching The Godfather!" He ran to the door to see Mimi standing there, tear-stained.

"Hey, Matt," she said in a voice so low Matt had to strain his neck to hear her. "Can I stay here for awhile?"

"Sure, come in," he said, opening the door wider. "What happened?"

"Jake broke up with me," she said, sitting on one of his lounge chairs. "He and his crew are going to California. I know it's stupid for me to like him this much after only two days…"

"No," Matt said. "After all, seven days is enough for some people and seven years is still not enough."

"Are you quoting…Sense & Sensibility?"

Matt flushed. "No. It was in, uh…Scarface."

Mimi gave a light laugh. "Anyway, I just need to crash here. I don't want to wake Sora and Kari, 'cause I didn't bring my key, 'cause…well, I thought something would happen with me and Jake. Stupid me – again."

Matt smiled and held out the container he was holding. "Ice cream?"

"Thanks, Matt." Mimi said, smiling.

"No problem. And hey…just for comfort – he's probably gay."

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The next day, Mimi managed to make it to work. However, she still couldn't function properly. Mimi had been staring at her blank computer screen for the past ten minutes.

"You know, you might need to turn it on to get it to work," Lukas, who had been observing her for the past nine-and-one-half minutes.

"Oh, um…right," Mimi said, reaching down and pushing the power button.

"What's wrong, Mimi?" Lukas questioned, sitting on her desk.

"Jake broke up with me," Mimi said, tears filling her eyes once more as she cried on her boss' knee.

"Jake? Jake Akids? That – "

"Don't," Lily warned, rubbing Mimi's back.

Lukas held up his hands in a defeated position. "Listen, you're better off, Mimi. I mean it."

"Totally," Lily agreed. "There're so many other guys out there. Like Rick the copy boy. He's had his eye on you for months."

"I think what she needs is a good, long, one-week vacation," her boss said.

Mimi looked up. "R-really? But you've never given anyone a vacation."

"Yeah, Mary could barely get away with her excuse that she was in labor," Lily agreed, somewhat coldly.

"Sure, Mimi, why don't you take a holiday to somewhere relaxing," continued Lukas. "I'm sure we can manage without you for a bit."

"Thanks, boss," Mimi said, smiling and wiping away her tears.

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Kari ran in the coffeehouse later that day, screaming "Oh, my gosh, you guys! Guess what?"

"You got a haircut?" guessed Tai.

"No…" she said, as the others looked weirdly at him.

"What? You don't know how many times I've been burned by women when I didn't say that."

"I got a major raise today!" Kari continued. "And to celebrate, we're all going to Las Vegas!"

"Yeah!" the others cheered.

"Hold on," said Tai, stopping her. "You mean to say that you have enough to take all of us to Las Vegas?"

"Well, technically, yes, but it'd be great if you could pay yoursel – "

"All right, we're going to Vegas!" shouted Tai, punching the air.