Chapter 1

Dakota hated her job.

It was only ever meant to be a temporary position - reception work for a few months after college finished, then onto her real career. But she was good at her job, and so when she’d informed them of her intention to quit, they’d offered her a raise. The next time she’d warned them she was moving on, she’d been swayed by the offer of a promotion.

Six years later, she was still there. Still pushing paper, still intending to move on, slowly accepting the fact that she’d probably be in this job until she died, slowly working her way higher up a chain she didn’t care about in the slightest.

Just recently, for some reason, it had been worse than ever. She didn’t just hate her job, she was struggling to find any kind of joy in life - she had almost started to worry that she might be depressed, until she’d spoken about it with Holly, another one of the girls in the office.

Dakota had no idea how the conversation had even started. She and Holly were as different as cheese and chalk - where Holly was brash and outspoken, Dakota was shy, avoiding attention whenever possible. Her accounting job, as much as she’d grown to despise it, suited her down to the ground; she could hide away in her office, alone with just her numbers.

They even stood in stark contrast to each other physically. Both were gorgeous (though Dakota would never, ever describe herself that way) but Holly was more than six feet tall, with red hair that went all the way down to her butt, and a curvaceous body ... which she had no compunctions about showing off. In contrast, Dakota had a petite build, standing only 5’3 and weighing just more than 100 pounds. She had short, dirty-blonde hair, and always dressed as professionally as possible, wearing suit pants and (when she felt she could get away with it) flats.

The two of them had never gotten along, but last week they’d somehow struck up a conversation, and Holly had shared that she too had been feeling extremely down - as had many of the other women in the office.

“Maybe it’s the new air conditioners they’ve installed,” Dakota suggested, making a mental note to go and talk to Rob (the office administrator) about it.

“It’s probably just the work,” Holly said with a snort, and Dakota had smiled politely. She didn’t think it was very professional to openly disparage their place of employment like that, but she certainly wasn’t going to pick a fight with a co-worker.

She sighed with relief as Holly walked away, and sat at her desk, wishing it was Friday.

Only four days to go, she told herself, her heart sinking at the prospect of the week ahead. At least on the weekend she could get high - she’d broken up with Skye because he seemed to do nothing but smoke weed all day, but recently Dakota had found herself turning to pot more and more, especially after the soul-crushing depression that she felt like she was experiencing.

Sitting down at her desk, the young woman checked her calendar. Nothing scheduled - just paperwork. Mounds and mounds of paperwork.

“Four more days,” she said out loud. “Come on, girl - you can do this.”

The clock had just turned to 10am when Dakota heard an unusual sound. Something she felt hadn’t been heard in the office for a very, very long time.

It was the sound of a woman laughing.

Curious, she got out of her chair and followed the sound. It was coming from a cubicle on the other side of the room - Rob’s! Peeking around the corner of the flimsy wall separating him from the rest of the office, Dakota was surprised to find Holly leaning against the accountant’s desk, her laugh coming in snorts as she flirted with the young man. He had one hand casually stroking her hair, following it all the way down her back.

Dakota realized that her peeking mustn’t have been as subtle as she’d thought, because Rob glanced up at her, and she was surprised to find herself getting warm.

Her eyes widened. Her face flushed. She felt something new, something exciting. Something she barely remembered.

She felt ... happy.

Without a word, she left the (comparatively) raucous two, and headed back to her own desk. She felt strange ... shaken. A smile slowly spread across her face.

She felt good.

The next day, Dakota came into work early. Her good mood had lasted the rest of the work day: a part of her wanted to question why she’d felt that sudden burst of happiness, but she somehow felt like examining it too closely could potentially make it disappear, and so instead she just basked in the warm feeling, enjoying the sensation of joy - joy! - as it coursed through her body.

It finally faded only when she got home to her drab apartment. Moving a basket of laundry out of the way, she’d sunk into her chair and spent the night watching reality TV, reminiscing about how good she’d felt that day as she filed reports and faxed photocopies of emails. Normally getting home was what she lived for, but for the first time that she could recall, she’d wished that she was back at work.

For the first time, she allowed herself to wonder - why had Rob’s glance given her so much joy? It didn’t make sense. It must have just been a coincidence, Dakota told herself, and realized that there was only one way to be sure.

Getting into work earlier than normal, her first visit had been to Rob’s cubicle. He’d smiled at the sight of her, and that warm feeling had filled her body again - she’d enthusiastically returned his smile, and spent the next few minutes chatting about inanities, enjoying the small burst of pleasure that she felt every time Rob made eye-contact.

Again, questioning it felt dangerous, like trying to grip a small animal too tightly. The best way to keep it alive was to give it room, let it grow. With a smile, she dismissed any worries from her head.

Her morning had continued in much the same manner as the entire previous day, but to her dismay, her feeling of joy started to fade right before lunch, and when her break-time came about, she could hardly muster up the energy to go across the road and pick up a wrap.