"Thank you for that report. Next up, the FBI has continued to stay silent on any progress of the investigation into the destruction of—"

  The television abruptly cut off as Maria clicked the remote. A few curious coworkers looked up at the sudden change in noise, and—seeing her enter the room—quickly returned to their phones. She could have sworn she saw a few grateful expressions at the newfound silence. Sure, they could still hear the muffled bustle of the sales floor just on the other side of the thin walls, but at least they didn't have anything blaring advertisements at them from only a few feet away when they were just trying to get a few minutes of peace.

  Of course, not everyone in the room got the memo.

  "Did you hear about this new bullshit?" Karl asked, landing on the chair between Maria and Jose. "You know what we have to do just to fill a pick now?"

  "Karl, we're in the break room," said Jose, not glancing up from his phone.

  "So?"

  "So none of us want to talk about work shit in the break room," Maria agreed. She was digging through her bag for something. Karl glanced over, but she just came up with her own phone, hopping on some social network he didn't recognize.

  "Sheesh, sorry I'm ruining your thrilling conversation," Karl grumbled.

  "Oh, you know me and Jose," Maria said dryly, not looking up for a second. "Closer than family here. We don't have to talk anymore, we just beam thoughts to each other."

  "Yup," added Jose.

  "Riiiight." Karl glanced between them. "If you want me to fuck off, just say so."

  "And miss out on the sheer joy of watching you figure it out for yourself?"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Karl took a second to understand what she meant, which only made her grin wider at her phone. He stomped off in a huff, leaving them alone once again.

  Maria stretched out and tried to relax, thumbing through her news feed idly and trying not to look too closely at the stories that flicked by. She only wanted an impression of what was going on in the world, she didn't want to actually get involved in it. Getting involved meant she'd start caring about the people in it, and Maria didn't have time for such things. She was barely keeping up with her own life.

  She wished she hadn't had to pick up such a menial, degrading job like a lowly retail worker, but something had to pay her bills. At least they hired fast. They were desperate for anyone young, fit and eager. She had two out of three, and she was pretty good at faking the "eager" part so far around management.

  "Hey Maria," said Jose.

  "Shh shh shh," she interrupted. "We just achieved the perfect break room volume. Do you want to upset our karmic overlords when we've clearly pleased them?"

  "I was just gonna tell you that your hair's sticking up at the side."

  "What?"

  "Right here—" he said, and he started to reach toward her to point it out. She recoiled violently away from his hand. "Whoa, sorry. Just right there on your left side."

  She reached into her bag and pulled out a small hand mirror. "Shit, that looks stupid. Thanks."

  "No problem."

  Jose returned to his phone, leaving them in silence. Maria looked him over. Jose wasn't bad looking, and he was confident enough to talk to her directly and do it kindly. He might actually be worth remembering, all things considered.

  Nope, she reminded herself. Not again. Definitely not again.

  "Hey, break's over," Karl said, leaning back into the room. "Time to end your amazing party."

  Maria sighed. She tucked her things back in her bag and wrapped it back around her shoulder. She was allowed to carry it back on the floor, after a great deal of persuasion from her supervisors of its necessity. No one else was allowed to have a bag or purse of any kind, but hers was special.

  She was walking out of the break room when something caught her eye. Jose noticed her turn, but there was nothing there. She didn't seem to think so either, as she was already turning back to the door—but she wasn't quick enough to notice Jason coming in at the same time. They bumped into each other, and he happened to brush his arm against the slim part of her skin exposed between her thin gloves and thick sleeves.

  A bright spark of electricity jumped between them.