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Here's another long chapter!

The First Snow

Vaughn exhaled, watching his breath form in clouds under his nose. He stared up at the grey building, windows haphazardly spotting its front in dark panes. The sky was incredibly blue in the crisp, cold air. Only a few wispy clouds shifted here and there. December. The first snow was last night.

He kicked his car door closed so hard the entire body rattled. Fresh snow fell from the mirrors and hit the pavement, quickly turning grey in the slush. Vaughn shifted his shoulders in his black coat, pretending not to feel the bite of the cold as he made his way for the front door.

The lobby wasn't much warmer, the glass not providing a good barrier against the weather. Vaughn tapped his boots off on the sopping wet rug. He rapped his knuckles on the soda machine.

"All out!" Terry's muffled voice called.

"I just had a question," Vaughn grumbled, staring down at the bright cola logo.

"Well? You gonna ask or just stand there looking—"

"Christmas," Vaughn interrupted short. He sighed. "I've got a couple weeks left to get a stupid gift… Ideas. Shoot."

"Gift card," Terry answered after a pause. "Can't go wrong with a gift card."

"But for what?" Vaughn pressured. He really wasn't good at this gift giving thing. Especially when he didn't know enough about the person to buy a gift card for a specific store or service.

"I don't know! Coffee or something – now scram, the witch's on her broomstick, and I'm not getting caught in her hair again," he griped.

Vaughn grabbed the front panel, quickly ripping it away. A few bright bulbs blinded him that illuminated the advertisement. He found Terry sitting with his knees in his face around the inner contraptions that worked the vending machine. "What? She's back?"

"You heard me!" Terry complained, reaching up for the panel. "Now hide me!"

Though confused why the superintendent was around, Vaughn gave a quick nod and replaced the plastic with some difficulty. Terry turned the lights off, effectively sitting in the dark.

"Thanks for the warning," Vaughn said, heading for the elevator.

"Psst! Hey, wait!" Terry called him back. A piece of paper was shoved through the pick-up slot on the bottom. "Hang this up, will ya?"

Vaughn grunted in approval, snatching the paper and splatting the old tape to the front. 'Out of Order' was upside down.

"Thank ya."

"Sure thing," Vaughn smirked, hitting the button for the elevator.

By the time he reached the third floor, there was a loud commotion coming from the other side of the elevator door. Vaughn sighed and straightened his shoulders, prepared for the worst.

The worst turned out to be Allen and Luke running in circles after Basil. Who was gripping a purse to his chest for dear life. Typical.

"Just hand it over for a minute!" Luke begged, stopping short as Allen passed him by, reaching out for the poor intern.

Basil was seconds from screaming like a little girl. "No!"

"We just want a peek!" Allen attempted reason.

"No!" Basil repeated, finding himself between them. He had his back to Gill's desk, his eyes flicking back and forth between Luke and Allen on either side of him closing in. He was cornered. Basil held the black bag behind his back. "No! She said she'll have my head if one thing's out of place! No! You can't touch it!"

Have his head? Now, where did Vaughn hear that before?

"Morning!" Molly greeted as Vaughn unzipped his coat and hung it on the rack next to her desk. "Gee, that coat doesn't look very warm. Aren't you cold?"

Vaughn ignored the concern, watching as Allen and Luke were about to pounce. "Busy morning?"

"Eh, Superintendent Vivi's been in. But she's holed herself up in Hamilton's office. It seems pretty important."

"Do you think it's about lay-offs?" Dan suddenly turned around to join their conversation.

For once, the man looked awake. Vaughn had to voice this observation. "Dan? You look rather… awake."

"Yeah, I found out if I sleep at night, I don't have to during the day," he flatly said, his eyes narrowing.

"Took ya long enough to figure it out," Molly giggled.

"What do you mean about lay-offs? I thought that was all rumors," Vaughn glared.

"No, that's real," Dan shook his head.

"I heard…" Molly looked around furtively. She made a sign and beckoned her head to the break room. She scurried inside, the two men following behind her. The door closed and the blinds down, Molly hopped up on the counter and continued her gossip. "The other day, I heard Mr. Hamilton talking about it to Gill. He sounded really worried about profit margins and pressure from the main office headquarters. He said he'll have to make his mind up about it before the year's out."

"No surprise Gill's recommending Vaughn for the cut," Dan jabbed his thumb at the silver-haired grump.

Vaughn crossed his arms. "So what is he gonna do? Fire one of us after the holidays?"

"Probably," Molly shrugged. She looked down at the floor. "I just hope it's not today… but it would make sense why the superintendent's in. To approve it, you know?"

Their faces paled. What if it was them? They all had their own reasons to fear they'd be on the cutting block. Vaughn was constantly disrespecting his superiors, Dan was almost never awake – even though he made up for it with work done at home, and Molly had the smallest chest in the office. The grim reaper of the job market was at their door.

A shrill scream erupted from the main room. They all nodded simultaneously. "Basil."

The trio exited the break room to find Basil on the ground, desperately crawling away as Allen and Luke fought for control of the purse on top of him.

"She'll kill us! She'll kill us all!" Basil was screaming, hugging the purse and pulling himself away with one arm.

"No, she'll kill you," Allen corrected, pushing Basil's head into the carpet. His screaming was muffled as he tried to get his face up.

"I'm so curious, I'm gonna die!" Luke wailed, holding both of Basil's legs to keep him from getting away.

"That's quite enough."

All three looked up at Gill standing over them, arms crossed and foot tapping authoritatively. To Basil's delight, Gill grabbed Allen's face and pushed him backwards off of Basil into Luke and helped the intern to his feet.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Gill!" Basil praised.

"I will have none of this nonsense in my office," Gill scolded the other two. "Now get back to work and make a good impression. The superintendent's here."

Vaughn was rather impressed. Luke and Allen headed back to their respective desks, one with his tail between his legs, and the other looking miffed that a scrawny kid like Gill could knock him flat. Dan gave Vaughn a shrug, seemingly as surprised as him. Molly hadn't moved. She was staring straight ahead. At Hamilton's open door.

"Well," Superintendent Vivi stood in the doorway with a smirk. She looked Gill up and down. "You've certainly made a good impression. Gill, right?"

Molly held in a laugh as Vaughn's face contorted in confusion. This sounded like the same spiel Vivi pitched to him. But… he wasn't anything like Gill. Right?! His hair's not even silver… Platinum. Totally different.

"See, I'm kind of a control freak," Vivi smiled, taking the strings of Gill's bolo and winding them between her fingers. "You'd be a fun project."

"I'll be your bitch!" Basil excitedly volunteered. He was ignored.

"So what do you say, Gill? How would you like a job with quadruple the pay and none of the paper work?" She asked. Suddenly, Vivi's eyes found Vaughn across the room, lighting up. She pulled hard on Gill's bolo, pitching him forward with a choke. She pointed at Vaughn. "Wouldn't that make you jealous, Vaughn?!"

Hands in his pockets, Vaughn shrugged as his coworkers stared at him in a mixture of confusion and awe. "Nah. Do what you want with him."

Gill coughed and wrenched himself out of her grip. Righting his bolo clip at his collar, he cleared his throat. "Ahem! Besides, I'm not interested."

"What?!" Vivi turned in shock. "What is with you people?! All honest and… and… ugh. What a waste of time. Hamilton – carry me to the exit."

Hamilton paled at the request, quickly looking to Basil. He snatched Vivi's purse from him. "Here, Basil, carry Superintendent Vivi to her car."

"What?" Basil hardly had time to ask before Vivi tossed herself at him. Struggling to hold her bridal style, Basil's face went all shades of red and purple as his arms shook.

Vivi looked over her nails, crossing her legs. "Very well. I trust your decision is sound. I expect a copy with the reported results. Now… march, intern!"

Hamilton tossed her purse on top of her, making Basil groan in pain. When he turned to the elevator, Vivi made the argument she'd get sick riding horizontally in an elevator – duh. So the poor boy made his way into the stairwell.

"What did she mean, Mr. Hamilton?" Rod piped up after a long silence. "A decision?"

All eyes on him, Hamilton blanched. He nervously pulled his collar away from his neck. "Er… for the food selections! Christmas party! Just a couple weeks away!"

No one could call him out on his obvious lie as he had sprung back into his office. They heard the click of a lock. And then a chain. And a few bolts. And the input of a security code. A mechanical voice declared: "Systems armed."

Everyone was on the main floor. All eyes moved to the different faces. So it was true. One of them was going to get laid off.

"Okay, am I the only one feeling Survivor here?" Molly whispered in the silence.

"Totally, right?!" Luke shouted, glad someone other than him said it.

"Ooo!" Tina squealed. "Do we get to vote who goes off the island?!"

"I vote Gill!" Alice raised her hand in the air.

"I vote Basil…" Rod grumbled, glad the look-a-like intern wasn't in the room. Lately, to differentiate himself from him, Rod began wearing obnoxious orange ski goggles in his hair.

"I-I don't want to vote!" Candace cried, hiding her face in her hands.

"Hey!" Gill intervened, arms spread like it had an effect. "This is not a game! We're talking about someone's job – their lifestyle – being uprooted and thrown away like yesterday's garbage…"

Everyone looked down in shame, fear returning as they wondered if they were the garbage.

"Besides," Gill snottily stuck his nose in the air, sweeping his hair back. "We all know Vaughn's going to hit the curb."

Vaughn rolled up his sleeve, growling under his breath. Molly held him back as arguing erupted once again.

"What makes you so sure?!"

"We should pick straws!"

"And what – volunteer?!"

"Who are you kidding – it's obviously going to be—"

"He's not worth it, Vaughn!"

"I'll have you arrested!"

"More coffee for everyone else?"

"Why does it have to be this way?!"

During the commotion, Molly had stopped tugging on Vaughn's arm. Vaughn noticed and followed her gaze. Candace was holding her arm, looking down at the floor, tears forming in her sad eyes.

"See ya tomorrow!"

"Monday, you idiot!"

Lights started going out as the employees filed out for the weekend. Vaughn threw his briefcase onto Molly's desk wall, pushing his arms into his fleece coat. Molly stood in front of her computer, gathering the things she wanted for the weekend and squeezing them into her purse.

"That really doesn't look very warm," she commented.

Vaughn drew up the zipper. He resisted rolling his eyes. "Thanks, Mom."

Molly rolled her eyes. She looked up in surprise across the room. "Ahem. Are you, um, taking the elevator or the stairs?"

"I don't know," Vaughn gave her a weird look.

She continued her less than subtle act, tapping a few papers together. "Well, I'd think about taking the elevator. Like… right this second?"

Finally catching on, Vaughn whirled around to see Candace waiting by herself in front of the elevator. He happily snatched up his briefcase, rubbing Molly's hair in thanks. She laughed and righted it, watching fondly as he caught up to her friend. To avoid being a third wheel, Molly grabbed her coat and snuck quietly down the stairs.

Nerves gripped Vaughn as he approached. This was it. This was it! He had to ask her now. It was now or never.

"Hey!" He said a bit too loudly as he stepped next to her. "Candace…"

She had jumped at the initial shout, but she calmed upon seeing him. She smiled. "Oh, um… hi, Vaughn."

"Taking the elevator?" He asked stupidly. He mentally kicked himself as the doors creaked open.

"Um, yes!" Candace nodded, stepping inside. She held an arm out to stop the door and tilted her head in confusion. "You coming?"

Vaughn nodded, snapping himself into gear. He strode forward and turned to face the door. Allen walked forward in a hurry, about to step inside. When he saw the occupants, his grin widened devilishly. "Oh. I guess I'll take the next one."

"Oh, n-no, it's fine," Candace shook her head, moving into the corner. "Plenty of room."

"Looks pretty crowded to me," he stared straight at Vaughn, enjoying this too much.

Vaughn gave him a warning glare, silently waiting for him to leave so the doors could close.

"See you crazy kids Monday," Allen waved. Before the doors closed, he made the ridiculous motion of groping invisible breasts. Vaughn flipped him off with his briefcase blocking the action so Candace wouldn't see. Allen laughed and the doors closed.

"He's… kind of intimidating," Candace commented.

"He's kind of an asshole, you mean? Yeah. He is," Vaughn agreed.

Candace giggled, looking down at the floor. She gasped in embarrassment, looking at the button panel in front of her. "Oh! I forgot to press the button… Sorry…"

Vaughn watched in amusement how her face flushed and she accidentally pushed the ground floor button and floor two at the same time. She started apologizing again, attempting to hide her burning face in her hair.

He shrugged. "It's fine. Just an extra stop."

Candace nodded at his logic, her blush receding somewhat. They stood in awkward silence as the elevator roared down, the gears turning agonizingly slow.

Just ask… But what if she thinks I'm blackmailing her? Go out to dinner with me, or I'll tell everyone you work at Hooters? But he wasn't! Vaughn legitimately liked her. It just complicated things now that he had stalled asking her out for so long. No. No more running. Just say it.

"Um…" he began. The doors to floor two opened, suspended for a moment, and then closed again.

"Yes?" Candace turned to him, eyes wide.

Vaughn stared at the ceiling, feeling his face turn darker like hers had. "Would… um… What are you getting for the Secret Santa?"

SHIT. He just blurted that out of nowhere.

Candace smiled in what appeared to be relief. "Um… that's a secret, right?"

"Well… yeah…" Vaughn said. He felt more like an idiot with every stuffy breath he took. Allen was right. This elevator felt very crowded.

"I'm actually, um… pretty confident," Candace said, deciding to hold her bag in both hands in front of herself. "He was pretty easy to buy for – oh! That kind of spoils part of it, don't you think?"

"I still don't know who it is though," Vaughn said. He couldn't help but hope she was talking about him. Though he had to admit, he'd be a tough person to buy for. He seemingly liked nothing, and he didn't talk about his likes when he liked them. So… it couldn't be him. "That's good though. Good for you—"

The elevator suddenly lurched. The single light above their heads went out as they staggered to regain their balance. A red light glowed on the button panel. It was the service light. They were stuck.

Vaughn couldn't believe his luck. He was thanking every deity in the cosmos for the second chance at asking out Candace, when he realized how terrible that would be. What if she rejected him? They'd be stuck together. Awkwardly. For potentially hours. And why wouldn't she reject him? A guy asks a girl out when they're trapped in an elevator? How incredibly creepy is that?!

He hit his head against the wall in defeat.

"V-Vaughn? Are you okay? What's happened?" Candace squeaked in the darkness.

"Fine… Just got knocked off balance," he lied with a heavy sigh. He slowly moved down into a sitting position in his respective corner, his knees up and his head against the wall. "Doesn't look like we're going anywhere anytime soon."

"Oh…" she mumbled. He heard her shift around until she was sitting in her corner, too. "How long do you think it'll take for them to find us?"

"Considering Allen's waiting for the elevator… not long," Vaughn said. He closed his eyes. "Besides, Terry can get this old thing running pretty quick."

"So… how long?" She repeated.

Vaughn tried to keep the annoyance out of his voice. "I don't know – fifteen? Twenty minutes?"

"Oh…" Candace sighed. "I, um, have a shift starting at six, so I was just wondering if I'd be late…"

Oh. Makes sense. Good job snapping at her though – that was real nice, Vaughn.

The voice in his head sounded very similar to Molly. She would've pounded him if she were here, not one to deal with all his stupidity. Vaughn felt like punching himself in the head, but it would only freak Candace out. He settled on silently loathing himself.

"So, um…" Candace started. It was strange not being able to see much of her. The red warning light wasn't bright enough to illuminate the room by any means, but a corner of Candace's face was partially revealed as she talked below it. "Did you buy your Secret Santa gift?"

Vaughn took his time answering. "No… I can't think of anything."

"That's good though," Candace said. She quickly amended her statement. "Er – I mean, not good that you can't find anything, but good that you're thinking about it so much. It's the thought that counts, after all. R-right? So… um… that's nice of you… to think hard about it… instead of buying the first thing you see…"

Vaughn understood where she was going, but her delivery was lacking in the confidence department. He smiled anyways. "Thanks."

He watched her eyes turn downward, an action she often did when she was embarrassed. Maybe it wouldn't be so weird. This was still his chance. Now or never! Just… just ask. The worst that can happen is still better than never knowing.

"This is gonna sound bad… because… well, it's… we're in here, and we can't get out, and I know this is a really bad idea, but I keep stalling—" Vaughn was still in the process of convincing himself this was a good idea as the words tumbled out of his mouth, a stressed hand in his shaggy hair.

The elevator screeched terribly, making Candace yelp in surprise. They both quickly got to their feet as it seemed to give a few inches of free fall. They held the walls to balance themselves as the light flickered back on, the red light went out, and the elevator crawled down like normal.

This is it!

"Candace, would you…" he closed his eyes, not able to look at her if she was watching him. "Would you be interested in dinner? With me?"

Candace stopped hugging the wall, realizing she was safe. Vaughn had not, still in fear of rejection. She looked down at the floor, her face unreadable.

"I don't know, you don't have to or anything, if you think it's weird. It was a dumb idea," Vaughn was shooting himself down for her. His shoulders relaxed as they neared the ground floor, and she remained silent.

"I…" Candace opened her mouth. "I… I'm not sure if that's a, um… good idea…"

The reality of the rejection not yet settling in, Vaughn nodded. "Right. No problem."

"Are you… is that okay?" Candace sheepishly asked, the doors jerking open and the lobby before them.

"Yeah. No problem," Vaughn repeated, letting Candace step out first.

They walked in silence out the front doors. Vaughn gave her a nod in parting once they were outside, making quick powerful strides to his car.

"Wa-wait!" Candace called.

Vaughn stopped in surprise, turning around to meet her. Candace ran through the cars, breathing hard as she stopped before him. She stared at his shoes, eyes closed. "I'm sorry! I… It's not that I don't like you – I do, but… but I'm already pushing the rules enough as it is w-without the dating a colleague rules, and, and, I f-feel so b-bad b-because everyone's t-talking about… about lay-offs, and worrying and I-I sh-should b-be the one to g-get f-fired!"

He was surprised that so much had just come out of little Candace, and she was sobbing like the day he met her in the Hooters parking lot. Vaughn blinked in surprise as she held her blue mitten-ed hands over her face, choking in tears behind them.

Candace stopped crying and looked up in surprise, feeling his hand on her head. He wasn't wearing gloves, so he was cold, but it was a comfort all the same. She found him giving her a small smile. "It's… okay. I understand. …You worry too much."

Her lip quivered, threatening more tears. Candace forced a smile in return. "Th-thank you, Vaughn… I'm so glad you understand…"

Vaughn nodded and Candace hurried off to catch a bus. He sighed as he watched her go, his breath puffing in the icy air.