Hayley

It was a siege. The invader was merciless. Flooding the skies, the streets, no corner was left unaffected. Though the inhabitants had felt a sense of security just days before that the worst had past, still, it came.

Snow.

The March gale had quickly wiped away the memory of the 60 degree days the New Yorker's had briefly glimpsed. At this point in the season the city didn't fall with a hush, but with a whimper.

Distanced from the lights and bulk of the crowds, mouses clicked and fingers tapped on touch screens in the basement level of an old brick building. Gone was the charm of the structure and in its stead a square yellow sign read Post-It-Notes. The interior was as gloomy as the outside, but an attempt at whimsy had been made with the unconventional furniture. Among the juts of table and boards, a woman glared at her screen as if offended. Her eyes, though big and the color of a less snow affected sky, rolled as she tossed her blonde braid back.

The eraser of her pencil bounced off the desk rapidly as she tapped it to some tune or another. Her eyes stung from the latest match against the computer screen, so she blinked and groaned to herself. The sound went unnoticed by the others in the room. They were huddled over the old pin pong table they had spread various iPads over. While her article had been done for the last forty minutes, Hayley Gillies willed herself to find better words.

Lately she hadn't been satisfied with her work. It had been two years since she graduated college and started at Post-It-Notes, and as grateful Hayley had been to have a job that kept the wolf merely pawing at the door, this wasn't what she had pictured. Part of that was the times. Technology had sped up so fast and was still going. The newspaper job she had once dreamed of was a few and far between catch. Now it was websites with click bait titles and pictures more than words.

And still, Hayley obsessed over those words.

It wasn't as if she was working for google she lectured herself as she ran her hand over the back of her neck. Hell, she was barely a step above a ghost writer since it wasn't her name on the article. She was one of three that kept the Rank Tank section going, and with options like buzzfeed out there, the basement housed site was barely going. Hayley wrinkled her nose as she looked at the Rank Tank tab. All those articles on plays, concerts, and rallies in college, and now she found quirkily paragraphs to put under pictures of various ranked shops, foods, even celebrities.

Mitch, the Rank Tank creator would find different topics to rank twice a week. None were hard hitting, but it was understood the tab was a space filler. Then Liza would hunt up the pictures and forward the list to Hayley to shape on the site and add those over analyzed words. A career it was not, but paired with her part time work and roommate, she was getting by, and in the city that was no easy feat.

Giving in to her frustrations, she forwarded her work to Mitch and began shutting down her station. Her go to "it isn't forever" chant played in her head just as the door opened. Hayley raised a brow as Cole Masen came in, handing an SD card over to an intern.

A few years her senior, Cole worked all over the city in photography. Freelancing, and on no regular schedule she could tell for PIN. He was tall and lanky, wearing a slicker sizes too large for him, but meant to protect his camera bag. His hair was an overgrown light brown that tended to fall towards his green eyes. He had rarely said more than hello/goodbye to her, but today he glanced by and walked over.

"You look thrilled to be here." He said, his voice low but not with the shyness she expected.

"Cutting it close aren't you?" She asked him as he placed his camera bag on the edge of her desk.

"It's nothing for tonight, just have a few shots to sell. May come in handy for you guys down the line." Cole rolled his shoulders and smiled at her. "So what have I missed?"

Hayley blinked but returned the smile. "Well the main group has made themselves a den over there going over pictures for the Swipe It piece."

"Do I want to know?"

"Dating apps, of course." Hayley chuckled as Cole hung his head, sending melting snow dripping. "And now you know why I'm thrilled to be here."

Cole looked up, "And what did you write this week?"

"Best to Worst Lip Filler Jobs." Hayley narrowed her eyes. "Shut up."

Raising his hands in surrender, Cole laughed, "I said nothing. But that would explain the face, you're right. You gotta buck up kid, a jobs a job."

Now Hayley rolled her eyes "I've been lecturing myself on that all afternoon, don't start. But still I want to write something…I don't know. Just more than Tinder swiping I guess. I understand that its how dating is done now, but do we have to write about it? Soul mates, now there's a rare concept, let's find some of those and write about them."

Huffing out a breath Hayley took the slinky she kept on her desk, gave it a few testy shots and muttered "That was a lot wasn't it."

"It was, but can't say that I disagree, the concept is foreign enough these days." Cole looked towards the ping pong table with a sigh.

"Of course, you're a guy, not likely to believe in soul mates."

Now he raised a brow at Hayley. "I didn't say that. I believe in the things I've seen, and I've seen soul mates."

Something about his tone and the prideful look in his eyes had Hayley putting the slinky back. "Do tell."

"Well, I've found mine." Cole shrugged grabbed a chair from the empty desk next to Hayley and sat. "Years ago, actually. We met when we were kids."

Hayley smiled in spite of herself. "And you're so certain it's soul mate material?"

"Oh no doubt, I've loved them both most of my life."

The silence hung a few beats as they stared at each other. Hayley flicked her notepad closer to her and grabbed the pencil she'd been bouncing. "Both" She repeated.

Cole smirked as he tipped his chair back. "I could keep up an idea that I'm a polyamorous stud, but fine. Both, as in my best friends since I was nine years old."

"So you're saying your best friends are your soul mates?" Charmed at the notion Hayley tipped up her notepad, started jotting shorthand.

"That'd be what I'm saying. There's nothing romantic about it, but they're the loves of my life." He shrugged again but smiled at her. "Usually people don't look at me like that when I mention it."

"Like what?"

Cole looked at her for a while before answering. For the first time since he sat down Hayley felt her face grow hot. His lips twitched once before looking down. "I don't know. People often seem indulgent about it. Throw in that one of them is a woman, and forget it. I can't tell you how many times we've heard the old 'boys and girls can't be just friends' chestnut over the years."

Knowing she would've had that though, Hayley felt a trickle of shame. But mostly, she was curious. Cole never spoke much to anyone yet here he was, sharing something she could tell was the most precious part of his life. He needed to talk she realized. And just like that, she found the words.

"Tell me about them."