Finn

When I was sent home early, Mercedes would allow me to make up the time the next day. I would stay after hours, reorganizing the record room and getting the files for the patients that were scheduled to come in the next morning. It was easy to get everything done in an empty office.

Mercedes had called me as I had finished sending out two day reminders to patients. She needed me to bring her the billing forms. "The folder is on the desk in the corner. There's a bag in my office. I'll send you my address," she listed in a breath. When I agreed, she hung up.

"Well, see you when I get there," I said into my phone. "Bye." I entered her office, and finding the messenger bag wasn't a hunt.

Mercedes' office looked very basic. There was her desk with three chairs around it. She didn't have any personal items or photos. The little color and decorations that were there were placed by her mother.

I had a short ride to the address Mercedes sent. "Hold the door," I asked, but no attempt was made. I rushed to stop the elevator from closing.

Rachel huffed as I stepped in. She didn't want to share the ride up, especially not with me. She lowered her head and focused on her phone.

The elevator moved creakily from the first floor. Ever second was milked on the ride. Just as we passed the sixth floor, the box jerked to a stop.

"No, no, no, this can't be happening."

I didn't panic. I pressed the elevator's service button and sat on the floor. To be respectful, I pulled my legs back and out of the way of the pacing woman.

"Why aren't you more panicked?"

It was far from my first time in a broken elevator. I have lost countless nights to the one in my building. I expected it to happen in the old and cheap but not in a fancy place with a doorman.

"We just have to wait." I knew we wouldn't be there all night, but repairs were going to take time. I offered her the spot beside me, but she said that it was unsanitary. I laid my jacket out beside me and offered again.

"Such a gentleman," she sarcastic said, but she still declined. She began to dial a number on her phone.

I was a little jealous that she had phone service, but I couldn't let her call 911; the message was already out. I pointed at the glowing button. "It's for emergencies like this," I explained. "Firefighters will be here… eventually."

"I need the real emergency response team, not the lackeys they assigned to the elevator squad." She didn't make the call, but she didn't verbally admit that I was right. She leaned against the wall with her arms crossed.

I didn't want to sit in an awkward silence. I tried to start a conversation. "So you're-"

"No," she declined. "This isn't the time for discussion or getting to know a stranger. I don't even want to know your name. We are going to save our oxygen and wait for help quietly."

I whispered in disbelief, "Who hurt you?"

Growing up, I was told that everyone was good, and they only changed when they were done wrong. I repeatedly asked that question around Mercedes, but I never let it pass my lips. I saw how Rachel treated her employees and how cold she treated a stranger that she couldn't cut a deal with, and I guess I couldn't bite my tongue.

"That's none of your concern," she argued. "Where do you get off judging people? You're the man that couldn't remember what type of business he wanted to start."

"If you made people feel comfortable and wanted-"

"I run my business just fine." Looking down at me, Rachel shot, "My job had a perpuse."

"Right," I scoffed. "Every deal you make is to get more money than you give. When was the last time you helped anyone without wanting something in return."

She threw her breakfast muffin in a trashcan in front of a homeless man- what a humanitarian.

We finally settled into silence, and anger radiated off of us both. Rachel distracted herself with her phone. I thought about forcing the door open and squeezing between floors for freedom.

After forty minutes, I realized that I had to apologize; it was going to haunt me if I didn't. I took a deep breath before saying, "I'm sorry." I watched as Rachel cut her eyes at me. "I'm, um, claustrophobic."

Her eyebrows raised as she tried to make sense of my attitude and excuse. "Apology accepted." She was supposed to apologize to me, but maybe apologies weren't her thing. "If you can get a presentation ready by tomorrow, I can sit aside thirty minutes to listen."

"How about lunch?"

As if the universe had everything planned, the elevator began.

When the elevator stopped on the 14th floor, I rushed out. I didn't know if Mercedes would take pity or punish me. I knocked on the door, and as soon as she opened it, I started my explanation.

"I hope you're okay," she worried. "Why didn't you call?"

When you choose a cheap phone plan, you accept the chance that you might not have a signal in emergencies.

Her shock was quickly replaced by anger after hearing a bang from inside of her apartment. She turned to the men assembling her entertainment center and snapped, "You break, you buy it… and you know you can't afford it." Continuing to glare at the workers, she asked me, "Do you want to come in? I can teach you how to fill these forms out."

I agreed and entered the appointment. I followed her to a table. Unpacking the bag, I asked "What happened to the guy that did billing?" I didn't know his name, but I remember his disappearance because it was the day I became the only man in the office.

"Fired," she breathed. "I'll get you some water."

I looked around the room and thought of how lonely it had to be to have all Mercedes had alone. I decided to join Sam and Puck's pact to help Mercedes. I thought I had a good excuse.

Sam

I couldn't accept my boredom and knew that I had to get Quinn out of the office. I was losing my game of trashketball as I waited for my friend to answer my call. When he did, I jumped straight to the point. "Quinn is going to the gym, so you have to be there."

"Dude, it's the middle of the night," Puck said groggily into the phone. He took a moment to perk up and think of the plan. "If she leaves, how do you know that's where she's going?"

"I scheduled it."

Quinn didn't really appreciate her planner. The reminders she got were just suggestions: it might be a good day to call your grandmother, or if you want, you could respond to your sister's baby shower invitation. She only followed it on her best days. That day, she won a case and wasn't held in contempt during the others, so there was a high chance that she'd leave.

I hang up with Puck and listen for the ding of Quinn's digital planner. When I heard the joyful noise, I peeked into her office, only to watch her ignore the reminder. I was defeated. I answered my phone when Finn called.

"Whatever you and Puck have going on, I'm in," Finn started. He gave me rules to dating his boss: a repeat of what Puck and I had already set because they were common sense. "She's a good person and would be hurt if she found out that we-"

Quinn entered the room, and I quickly dropped my phone. She lifted her head from her folder. "Return this to the record room and be in at seven."

Finn had to repeat himself. "I've worked with Mercedes for five years. I know what she likes, so don't do anything until I tell you to."

"Okay," I answered. I was more focused on getting out of the office.

Puck

The gym was open 24 hours for someone.

Mike huffed when he noticed me: nothing personal. He had a shitty boss too. He had to pull doubles before he was allowed to practice his dance moves in one of the studios. "I have to get something to eat. I'm locking the door. Don't let anyone in. Don't fall because there's nothing to take in a lawsuit. Don't bother the blonde in the ring. I'm sure she's capable of murder." He left the two of us alone.

I was putting weights on the barbell when she appeared. "Has anyone told you not to lift without a spotter?" Quinn sat at the end of the bench. She glowed with a sheen of sweat, and she still looked sexy as hell.

"I know my limits."

"That would be great to put on your gravestone," she joked, and I agreed.

"Noah Puckerman, a badass that knew his limits," I fantasized. I realized what I had done afterwards: I gave her my name, and the last thing I wanted was another person calling me Noah. I announced, "Call me Puck or nothing."

"Well, Nothing, do you work here?"

"No, I just like to work out." I leaned over the bar without calculating how close I would land towards her.

She agreed, "Healthy body, healthy mind." She smirked, and her green eyes brightened. She knew the game. She decided that she earned extra time for her workout. She went back down stairs, but twenty minutes later, she passed through the weight room to get to the showers and the sauna.

I eventually decided to try out the sauna. "See what has Quinn coming back." After a shower and changing into shorts, I was ready to go. I opened the door, and hot air poured out. I fought against the heat to sit.

Quinn continued to lie face up on the bench above me, not bothering to cover her bikini with a towel. She didn't have to open her eyes to know that I was with her; there were only two of us in the building. She criticized my short workout..

"I like to keep things fast and intense," I admitted, making her softly snicker at the double entendre. I settled to the heat, but boredom nearly killed me. "So you just sit here?"

She sat up and announced that she had an idea. She slid from her seat to be closer to me. She was brave enough to say that she wanted sex.

I like a strong woman that knows what she wants. What more can I say?