Devon looked at Sarah inquisitively.

"Well Sarah, what do you say" asked Devon. "Shall we live together like a real couple."

"Oh" she answered unsure of what to say. "What made you think of this idea.?"

"Well, you see, I had a dream the other night. I know it's sounds crazy but we fay take dreams more seriously than you humans."

Sarah found this comment rather offensive. She always took her dreams seriously.

"Anyway" Devon continued, "I was at this masquerade ball, with dancers who wore the most outrageous costumes and there were chandeliers on the ceiling, and the room was shaped like a bubble. There were masked fay's all around and they laughed as I pushed my way through them."

Sarah looked a little uncomfortable. She remembered how she once danced with the Goblin King at a ball which sounded just like this. It was the strangest, but also the most wonderful feeling of her life. The way he held her in her arms and she felt so safe and secure, and the way her feet were swept of the floor and they glided along like they wearing soaring through an enchanted supernova. It was the first time she had ever been close to a man in such a way, and although it felt forbidden there were parts of her which felt like she was higher than the heavens above. In that short length of time Jareth had made Sarah feel more alive than she had ever felt before. Now these feelings had come back to her, she urged Devon to tell her more.

"So what happened in this dream?" she asked.

"I was sure I was looking for something, or someone. It seemed as if I was searching for ages until I saw her."

"Who, who did you see."

"You Sarah, it was you."

"Me?" Sarah said taken aback.

"Yes, and it made me realise how much I wanted to be with you. So please Sarah. How about it, let's live together."

Devon's dream had made Sarah realise that she couldn't live with him, not when she still clearly had feelings towards Jareth.

"Look it's not that I don't want to see you more, it's just that, well, it's a bit fast, don't you think. I'm happy with the way things are." She bit her lip hoping that what she had just said had been rational enough for him to comprehend.

Devon was shocked by her reply. He was sure that she would agree. His face contained a mixture of emotions; sadness, anger, humiliation and rejection. He didn't know what possible reason she could have for refusing his offer. Before she could explain her reason's he shot up out of his chair and stormed out of the café. The entire room looked at them as his sudden departure knocked over their hot cups of coffee's on the table. Sarah let out a slight gasp as a drop of coffee charred her skin. She awkwardly left her seat, said sorry to the people whose eyes stared at her and hustled out of the café. She noticed that Devon had ran streets ahead of her now and couldn't be any more late for work than she already was so she set off inn the other direction.

She hated Devon being mad at her. Usually he was a very calm and level-headed character but whenever he got rejected by Sarah, even for something small, his Jekyll and Hyde personality came into form. He wanted Sarah to be his and no one else's. She tried ringing his cell phone several times on her way to work but unsurprisingly there was no answer. She knew that this would not be forgotten easily.

Sarah turned around to glance at the big clock. It was quarter-past-eight. She was late. She legged it down the streets as fast as her feet could carry her, almost colliding into street vendors and newspaper stands as she raced by.

"Sorry" she shouted.

The hustle and bustle of New York City flushed past her as she pranced. The last thing she need was for her boss to notice her bad punctuality. She already had branded her as a troublemaker. Sarah thought it was just because she felt threatened by a younger woman as apart from her occasional lateness she had really done nothing wrong.

When she finally arrived she noticed her cynic of a boss shaking her head in disappointment.

"And what time do you call this missy!" Elaine, her boss demanded.

"I'm sorry" is all Sarah could say.

"You Sarah, are on your final warning" said Elaine.

"Yes miss."

"You look atrocious girl!" Elaine said as she stared at Sarah's damp hair and ruffled suit. "Well don't just stand there go and shred these papers."

"Yes, yes of course."

Sarah grabbed the papers and walked over to her tiny office. Sarah knew that as much as she hated Elaine, she had to be on her best behaviour otherwise she would be out. If only she hadn't of collided into the chief executive on her way.

"Ahhhh" he screamed as hot tea corrupted his debonair suit.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" said Sarah.

"Who the hell do you think you are. You just ruined my best suit. Oh man are you gonna pay for this child."

"I'm really sorry sir, it was an accident I swear, I didn't mean it." She was sure that she really didn't mean it. It wasn't like she had not been watching where she was going. She almost felt as though she had been pushed.

"Apologise all you want Sarah, there is no way you can worm your way out of this one" Elaine said as she strutted up to her with a satisfied grin. "Just say the words sir."

"You're fired!" the chief executive bellowed.

The words hollered through Sarah's mind over and over. She wanted so badly to keep her job after her father had worked so very hard to get it for her in the first place. She stood in shock for a few seconds before she realised that this was her only time to act in a way to try and redeem herself.

"Please sir, don't fire me, I'll pay for the suit and you can take this month's wages away, but you can't fire me."

"I just did, case DISMISSED! Now somebody remove her from my sight!"

Two security guards rushed over to Sarah and grabbed her by each arm before Sarah pulled away.

"Don't worry, I'm leaving."

Sarah marched out of the building. She couldn't believe it. This was the worst day she could ever have. First her boyfriend walks out on her and then she gets fired. Her life had suddenly turned from good to dreadful.

Tears streamed down her face as she walked away from the only thing her father was proud of her father for. She had images in her head of his disappointing face when she told him the news. She worked so hard only for it all to get blown away like a speck of dust over one stupid ungainly moment. She knew that from this moment her life was going to get worse and worse. Why couldn't she have left her house earlier, why couldn't she have given a better answer to Devon's proposal and why did she have to be so clumsy and bump into the chief executive.

Not really knowing where she was going she headed off into the busy streets of Manhattan looking solemn and gray.

If only she had been aware of the three malicious goblins that had just walked out of her old workplace and the snowy white owl that had seen everything from the tree branch above.