Her heart fluttered in sadness as the mysterious man walked outside. Mina hurriedly checked the booth for any remaining trash before grabbing her half-empty coffee and dashing for the front door. Not only did she have to worry about deadlines and reports, but one blazing question continued to nag at her mind ever since she first saw him.

How do I know him?

It wasn't as if there weren't other, more important questions such as 'why, how, and what he was doing the other night'. She was still coming to terms that her once-boyfriend was murdered. Of course, her curiousity always brought her back to Vlad. She had felt so safe when he looked into her eyes, yet every moment she spent away from him made her shake with fear. Not just fear for herself, but for him. Mina pushed on the front door of the coffee store, immediately remembering it needed to be pulled.

Ugh, I'm a mess. She thought, awkwardly reaching around her purse to open the door. Outside, she walked the few stores down to her work, grateful for the close proximity to caffine. Mina quickly picked up on the arguments upstairs, preparing for the onslaught to come as she trudged up the first flight.

"Kate, give it to Mina, she's dying to cover it!" Michael whined behind his computer. Mina guessed he was talking about the double homicides last night.

"I said no. You're already backed up on the shit-storm that she went through!" Mina's boss replied, immediately silencing herself as Mina walked in. She expertly navigated through the empty cubicles to her desk two spaces down from Michael.

"Mina?" Kate asked, unable to see over the walls. Mina winced at her name, placing her purse in her chair.

"So sorry, I'll make sure it's on your desk in a couple of minutes. I just took a lunch." Mina apologized. Kate walked toward's Mina's desk without a word, eventually. Kate's dry, curly hair bounced as she stepped into Mina's view. Mina gave her a soft smile. Kate tapped on the wall silently, stressed.

"I thought I told you to take the rest of the day, not a lunch." She accused. Mina busied herself, turning the computer on.

"I just needed some caffine, I'm fine." A pale hand stopped her from touching the keyboard.

"Mina," Kate pleaded much more softly, "You haven't slept since it happened. Caffine won't let you heal." Mina fought an urge to reach for her cup. After a pause, Kate let go and Mina replied.

"He was an ass. There's no love lost." Mina's voice cracked as she thought back to that night for what felt like the millionth time today. Kate slowly left Mina's eyesight, and sighed.

"If you won't stop working, then I'm dragging you out for a girl's night." Mina stopped in her tracks. It was bad enough her roomate was her co-worker, adding her boss to the mix didn't bode well for her, especially since the last time she socialized with Kate ended with...

"Wait, fine, I'll go home!" Mina shouted, almost desperate to reverse Kate's decision. Mina loudly moved about as she packed up her belongings for the day. She could almost hear Kate's smile.

"I'll make sure you have plenty of work on Monday!" Warned Kate. Mina sighed as she shut the door behind her; deflated. There went her excuse to not go home. Of course, she still had her trusty old laptop there. With another sigh, Mina resolved to head back to her dungeon of an apartment.