Squidward lay in his bed in his tiki home, reading a fan-fiction story on his computer. His window was open, letting in the cool night air breeze, smelling like fall and reminding him of Halloween. All was quiet in the neighborhood except for the click of a mouse as the cephalopod clicked 'Next Chapter.'

The particular story that Squidward was reading had him captivated. It was a long-fic sitting at a total of 600 thousand words with 6,000 word chapters each, and it had everything that the octopus had hoped for. It had plenty of action, mystery, and drama, as well as two characters with plenty of chemistry that he hoped would become a couple by the story's conclusion.

He glanced at the clock by his bed. It was just past 1 AM, and even though Squidward knew that he had to work at the Krusty Krab in a few hours, he could not make himself close the laptop and go to sleep, no matter how much he wanted to.

He was so excited when he had discovered this story when he was browsing the internet for his favorite show, HOUSE FANCY. There weren't that many stories about this particular fandom, so he practically jumped for joy when he found the one perfectly suited to his tastes and preferences.

Squidward had been reading it for a while, around three hours if he had to estimate, and he didn't regret a single second of it. It was a story beyond his wildest dreams, and he never wanted it to end. He was leaving in-depth reviews on every chapter about what he liked and sometimes disliked about each segment so far, hoping and almost praying that whoever wrote it would continue to do so.

He had just gotten enthralled and so absorbed by the current arc that was unfolding when his shell phone rang beside him. Sighing and setting aside his laptop, he answered the phone as he wondered who in their right mind could possibly be calling him at this hour of the night.

"Hello?" He answered dully, his mind still focused on the story he had been reading.

"Ahoy, Mr. Squidward!" The voice of Eugene Krabs sounded loudly in his ear. "I'm gonna need ya to come in a little early today!".

Squidward sighed, already hating where this was going. "Alright, Mr. Krabs, what time do I need to be there?"

The crab hummed thoughtfully on the other end. "I think you should come in around three or four this morning. We're going to have a busy day, and I need to make as much money as possible before closing time!"

The octopus glanced at his clock again, feeling sad as he realized that he would need to temporarily cease reading this wonderful fic to get some sleep. Sadly agreeing to his boss's demands as though he even had a choice in the matter, he hung up the phone and closed his laptop, already wishing that he could go back to reading it.

He slept fitfully over the next remaining hours of the night, tossing and turning and only managing to get in an hour or two of sleep.

Once his alarm went off, he rose from his bed, somehow feeling even worse than before. He sighed and hopped into the shower, quickly scrubbing up and taking less than five minutes total as he hurried to get to his laptop again. He just knew that as soon as he began reading, his mood would probably be lifted just a little bit.

After his shower, he made himself a quick breakfast of buttered toast along with a small bowl of scrambled eggs with salt and pepper added to them to make them taste as good as possible.

Once that was done, he grabbed his new phone he had purchased the day before on Krab's demands and also made sure to grab his hat as he headed out the door.

He opened the story on his iShell, reading while he walked to work. He was so focused on the story that he hardly even heard Spongebob blabbering beside him. He didn't say a single word the whole way there, continuing to read as he walked through the double doors of the restaurant, clocked in, and took his place at his post to start his shift.

"No phones during your shift, Mr. Squidward!" Krabs barked at him while entering his office.

The cephalopod reluctantly did as he was told, putting his phone into his shirt pocket and gloomily staring ahead towards the bustling potential customers on their way to their own jobs. He counted the money in the cash register to give himself something to do and to take his mind off of the story he had been obsessing over since yesterday evening.

A customer walked in just as he finished counting and putting everything back into its proper place. He looked up, slightly annoyed at the interruption. "What will it be today, sir?" He asked dully.

The fish looked up at the board. "I'll have three Krabby Patties, with a Dr. Kelp, please!"

Squidward sighed and turned toward the kitchen area. "Spongebob, three Krabby Patties on the double!"

The customer walked away to find himself a tale, and Squidward's phone buzzed in his pocket, reminding him of its presence. He tried to ignore it for now, until it buzzed two more times.

He glanced at the clock above the front doors. It was just past ten o'clock, still seven hours left to go. Squidward groaned and put his head in his hands, whining pathetically.. "Why can't the day be over already?" He muttered to himself sadly. He knew his story would still be there waiting for him when he finished work, but that still didn't make the long wait any less painful.

He wished he could take his break now. Krabs only gave him and Spongebob five minutes to eat lunch, so he usually had to shove it down his throat while barely even having any time to chew his food properly, which he hated to do, but there was nothing that he could do about it at the moment.

Squidward felt a headache beginning to form. It was gonna be a long day.