a/n: I don't know where I fished this plot out from. I just felt like posting something new. I don't even know under which genre this is going to fall. I guess you'll have to judge for yourselves. Leave a review of what you think if you've got time. I'm just scratching around... Thanks for reading :)

“The new girl from Dev? She’s not here yet,” Sam told me, as we both looked at the corner table where her desk was. It was still empty.

“Yeah, she usually arrives sometime before 10,” Chris relayed, speaking up from the table across from Sam as he overheard us.

I checked my watch. “It’s past 10 now.”

“You know how it goes, as long as you complete your weekly hours you can come and go as you pretty much please,” Chris grinned.

“I know I do,” Sam commented with a grin himself.

“She hates waking up early. We’re night owls, is what we are,” Chris said, leaning back against his chair. “We just can’t function properly when the sun is up.”

“You make her sound more like a vampire,” I joked, good-naturedly.

“She’s not a vampire, doof,” Sam laughed. “Although honestly she does strike me as pretty strange though.”

“Not strange-strange, just a little strange. But she’s got great taste in music,” Chris pointed out. “I was checking out music from her drive this one time. She’s into a lot of cool stuff.”

“What do you mean strange, like goth?” I wanted to know.

“Why are you asking anyway?” Sam prompted me.

I shrugged. “No special reason,” I replied.

“You like her, don’t you?” Sam teased. “You planning on asking her out?”

I cracked a smirk. “Funny thing is actually,” I started with a meaningful pause before I spilled it, “she kind of asked me out yesterday.”

“Whoa, really?” Chris’ eyes widened. “That is weird.” He laughed. “Some girl asking you out,” he teased.

“Shut up, man,” I hit his arm not-so-lightly. “I’m just—I just want to know what she’s into, what she’s like.” I’ve never even spoken more than five sentences to her since she came in about three months ago. I just wanted to know what I was getting myself into. I’d already said yes to her of course—what else could I have said? But it wasn’t like I couldn’t back out of it if I wanted to, that’s why I was asking around.

“Oh, okay,” Sam nodded. “Well, she’s nice. But I can’t say I know her very well. She mostly keeps to herself. Corner desk, you know?”

“Yeah, she’s always plugged into her MP3 player, ignoring the world while she worked,” Chris said. “She’s pretty smart but she’s not too social, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“But asking out some guy you barely know is a pretty risky thing to do for anyone,” Sam pointed out. “You gotta give her that.”

“True,” I agreed.

I did think she was interesting—just really a little weird. I didn’t even know why she asked me out, of all the single guys in the office. She just came right out and asked if I had a girlfriend then if I’d want to go out with her. Then she goes straight on to tell me that I should plan it myself. Is that just plain bizarre or what?

“She’s cute,” Sam commented simply.

“I know that,” I told him as-a-matter-of-factly. It wasn’t like she was ugly or anything. Sure, she wasn’t drop dead gorgeous but she did have her finer points. “But would you go out with her?”

He shot me a grimace. “Dude,” he held up his hand. “I’m taken.”

I rolled my eyes. “Hypothetically,” I said and looked over at Chris, who just shrugged.

“Heck, sure, why not?” he replied.

I rubbed my chin in thought. What could it hurt, right? It wasn’t like I was dating anyone else or had anything else to occupy my time anyway. And she seemed worth getting to know. I could see us being friends. She seemed witty and on the times that I overheard her talking to other people, she seemed funny and easygoing.

I’d had girlfriends before, but those just never lasted. I wasn’t looking for like a big commitment thing right now but it was just a date anyway. A plain and simple date. What was the worst that could happen, right?

I decided that I would go out with her. Who knew? Maybe she could even be the one. I nodded satisfied at my decision, giving the guys a thumbs-up thanks for the info.

I heard a phone ringing in the distance, probably the front desk, before I leaned against Sam’s desk again to start on other topics, “So you guys see that game last weekend?” I prompted.

Chris was going to answer when Diane the administrations assistant came rushing over. “Any of you guys seen Mr. Masterson?” she asked urgently.

“Yeah, he’s in the Meeting Room,” Sam replied, pointing to the Meeting Room at the other side of the floor.

“Thanks,” Diane said shortly, starting to rush away.

Chris stopped her. “Hey, what’s up?” he asked, his forehead creasing. “Is there some sort of bad news?”

Diane blinked tentatively before giving each of us a glance in turn, shifting on her feet. “Um, County Hospital just called,” she started, sounding anxious.

“And?” Sam prompted.

She glanced at each of us in turn yet again, still hesitant. “They called about Erin Blake—“

My eyes widened. “The new girl from Dev?”

Diane nodded briskly. “She was in an accident. She just died.”

---o-o-o---