The alarm pulsed as Noah fumbled his way back through the cubicles to Van, who was still sitting at David’s computer. Noah tossed her the USB stick. She caught it and in one smooth motion, plugged it into the computer, on the first try.

“That was awesome, I love you,” Noah said as he rushed past her to look out the window.

Van smacked his ass as he ran by, “thanks, I never get USBs right on the first try, at least wherever we’re from I do. What’s with the alarm, by the way?”

The cheep blinds in the window crinkled as Noah peered through them. “I think you’re right. This place is being hacked. Someone took what they wanted and left.”

“This place has shitty security,” Van said as she pulled up the database as she copied it. “My grandma could hack this place, and she can’t change the input on her tv.”

“Hey neither can I.”

“And you’re the CTO?” Van laughed.

Noah let go of the blinds and briefly covered his ears as he rushed back over to the computer and Van. Something about the alarm just made him want to do everything quicker. He paused just before he was about to touch Van’s shoulder. “Your hair?”

“What about it?” Van said, trying to look at it.

“What color was it? Red?”

“Yes why? This isn’t the time to fuck with me,” she spun around to look at him. “Fuck me! Your face.”

“What about it?”

“You have a beard.”

“And your hair is blond. How’s that possible? I just saw you. Your hair was red.”

“You definitely didn’t have a beard.”

Noah ran his fingers through his long thick beard. He’d never had it this long before.

Van stood up and kissed him. He loved the feeling of his whiskers on her face. “Our appearance must change to match what we’re supposed to look like here.”

“But it doesn’t happen right away. There is a little delay.”

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

The building’s lights started to flash red.

“Is the copy done?” Noah asked through her kisses.

“I don’t like leaving your lips,” she said as she turned to check the computer. The USB copy was finished. She pulled the stick out without safely ejecting it and tucked it between her breasts.

“That’s not going to keep anyone from trying to get it,” Noah laughed.

A group of ten people rushed past them, not batting an eye at either Van or Noah. They all had terrified looks on their faces. Practically running, the group made their way to the building’s entrance, burst through the doors, and dropped to their knees outside the front door. Their hands above their heads. Seconds later, a fleet of police cruisers of all shapes and sizes flooded the front parking lot. Others practically flew around to the back.

Noah grabbed the phone, and it’s charger, the phone was up to 37%. Then grabbed Van’s hand and led her from the cubicle. Van looked around as he led her out and back towards the stairs. It all looked so familiar to her. She’d worked there for years. Now in a snap, it was all gone. This wasn’t her office. She wasn’t the old her. It felt oddly liberating like she was finally who she was supposed to be.

“I have to tell you something,” Van yelled over the music and the alarm, which the latter seemed to be louder, then it had been back at David’s desk. They paused at the top of the stairs. Noah turned to her and kissed her again. She’d never get enough of those.

“What’s up?” he asked, holding her hand tight. “We’re kind of in a situation here, can it wait?”

“I don’t know, maybe, probably, but…”

Noah kissed her again, “it’s ok, just say it.”

“I think I may have gone through the door frame before I met you, fell actually. I was outside near the construction site, and…what if I’m not your Vanessa?”

Noah looked at her. He hadn’t considered what would happen if one of them stepped through the door without the other. Maybe it didn’t work unless they both stepped through together? Maybe it did? Maybe it wasn’t limited to the two of them? Either way… “it doesn’t matter, you are my Vanessa, and I love you…”

Van kissed him before he could finish. His finger ran through her blond hair, she could feel his beard on her face, and to both of them, it didn’t matter. They were each other’s connection. Everything else was background fuzz, static to their music.

The song ended again, through the pause of the music they could hear voices outside. The two of them ran down the stairs hand in hand, as the music restarted.

Upstairs an explosion could be heard, then footsteps. Loud footsteps.

“We need to go,” Van yelled half out of breath. “We’re not going to be able to explain why we are here, and they aren’t going to let us keep the copy of the database and the door.”

“Door frame, and you’re right, they aren’t going to let us keep playing the music either,” Noah said as they both looked down at the phone.

As they entered the parking garage a strange sound echoed across it. Near the garage door, sparks filled the darkness.

“They are cutting into the parking garage door. We aren’t going to be able to drive out of here.”

“So, what then?” Van asked, already knowing the answer. They both turned to look at the door frame. She grabbed Noah’s key card and scanned it. The storage fence gate opened.

Noah leaned over and kissed Van. “I love you.”

“I know,” Van laughed, as she wrapped a pinky around Noah’s pinky.

Together, they stepped through the door frame, and the world around them changed.