(Just as a forward: my amazing cover was made by @LeeRoss here on Prose. His work is amazing so definitely check him out after you enjoy this chapter!)

Today was the day. It was the start of the new team. Diana’s old supervisor, Destiney, had finally retired, after years of trying to avoid it. Though Diana loves Destiney, it was definitely time for a fresh start.

Diana has wanted to change up things at her job. It was becoming boring. The day in and day out where the only thing that changed were the clients and very occasionally staff was enough to drive her mad. She needed change and wanted to be in the upper management. It was about time. She had been with the company for years!

She did her best to use hairspray to keep down the fly away hairs that were slipping from her bun that was on the top of her head. That was the fight every morning in her car since her hairs wasn’t the perfect length to fully stay in the bun.

That was her most recent impulse thing to do. She had cut her long, black-brown curls into a bob and now, it was growing back and getting into her face while she worked.

After almost ten minutes, she gave up with a huff, and quickly grabbed what she needed from the passenger seat of her car. Her hair shouldn’t be her biggest worry. It should be making a good first impression with the new boss.

She got into the office building with no hiccups, even making sure that she was still looking good on any reflected surface she could. The bun was looking fine and so was she in her navy blue button up and black pencil skirt with conservative pumps. Diana was conservative at work, but she could be more fashion forward when not there, making her seem like a bore. Her heels were clicking against the tile in the halls and lobby, echoing throughout.

She was almost to her office’s section of the building when she pulled out her phone. Last minute messages of good lucks and I love yous filled the screen as her dark brown eyes scanned it all over. Quickly, she closed out some of those with the swift movement of her thumb before looking up to see what was going on around her.

At the same time she looked up, a nicely dressed man looked up at her at the same time. He had light brown eyes behind his black rimmed glasses and had slightly long hair that was in a tiny ponytail and resting at the nape of his neck. He was in a nice suit, almost perfectly tailored to his body, making Diana immediately look back up to his face when she noticed.

This quick moment of looking was ruined by them running into each other, the mug that was in his hand and full of coffee ending up on her chest, soaking through her shirt. A loud wince was released from Diana at taking the blow, trying to hide her discomfort from her face.

“I’m so sorry!” the man quickly said, trying to move his hand as fast as he was talking. “Shit. Do you need me to find you another shirt?”

Diana held back her smart mouth comment that was about to escape, remembering her goals to eventually move up, and nodded. “I’m not sure how you could, but yes, please.”

“Which client are you under? Let me go tell them you’re going to be late.”

“I’m at Marriden.”

His eyes went wide for a moment before his eyes darted towards the door she was heading from. “Me too. Just started.”

“Welcome to the team.” She gave him a small smirk. “I’m going to go check my car while you can see if you can scrape something up from around here.”

She quickly spun on her heels to head out before hearing him shout. “Wait! What’s your name?!”

“Diana! Diana Capaletti!” She was not going to turn back too much to see him as she was fuming slightly. She couldn’t let the entire office see how mad she was so her face quickly changed as if her chest wasn’t soaked.

As she neared the door, Diana’s coworker, and sort of friend, Eleanor, came in. Her face turned to a mix of pain and sadness. “Rough morning?” the blonde asked, her Southern drawl coming out while she spoke.

Diana held back an annoyed sigh and just shook her head. “It was fine until someone ran into me with their mug of hot coffee.”

"I think I have a spare shirt in the car from the cleaners." Eleanor rummaged through the purse she had in her hand as best as she could. She then handed over the keys to her blue Kia.

"You're a queen!" She quickly gave an air cheek kiss before heading towards the lot.

Diana wasn't the type to pray, but she was internally praying to whoever would listen that Elanor didn't park super far from the building. Eleanor was the type to park as far away as possible to get her "steps" in.

A sigh of relief is let out from her lips as she saw her savior chariot. She unlocked the doors and began sacavaging, looking to see where Eleanor possibly had a clean shirt.

Come on! Come on! Come on!

She got towards the backseat and saw on the seat, laid out, a black top that was covered in yellow, white, and green flowers, in a dry cleaning garment bag. The top was totally not her style at all for work, as she could see the sleeves were capped and frilly. There was even fabric frill right in the middle of the chest. She had no other chance though!

She carefully grabbed the top and slipped it out of the bag, putting down her purse in Eleanor's car before getting it on. Diana held back her comments on how she looked and got her dirty shirt in the bag before getting her purse, locking Eleanor's car, and headed towards her own car to put her soaked shirt away.

The parking lot was full of cars, a few people struggling to find a spot because they were late, and the air felt cool on her arms and legs. Now that she wasn't worrying about possible burns in her chest, her mind suddenly was on the man who spilled his drink on her.

Though the look was short, he was pretty handsome. She wasn't the type to take notice of things like that as she wouldn't date anyone at work. It interfered too much with her goals of being a manager one day. There also was no one that really had ever caught her eye either, but this guy was different. He was really good looking and she couldn't stop thinking about that suit. No one else usually wore suits except managers and big wigs so it was a nice change of pace.

Was he not paying attention to where he was going because he was staring at her?

Diana was beautiful in her own mind, but dates were few and far between as of late. She was work focused as of late...but coffee guy wasn't going to change her mind about at work dating. No way.

After getting her stained shirt into the car, she tried to think of what to say to explain to her boss about her tardiness. There’s no way the guy, on his first day, was going to cover for her in her mind. What would he have to gain by doing this? She may have had the manager look, but she definitely wasn’t one yet.

Maybe Eleanor would cover for her? That sounds more logical to her...well, if she remembers. Ellie wasn’t the stereotypical blonde, but in her mind did always have a million things on it at any given time. It might be short of a miracle if she remembered to even let new boss know who Diana was.

She did her best to not run through the hallways of the office building, discreetly looking at her phone to see how late she was about to be. A sigh left her lips before she stuffed her phone in her purse again. She was five minutes early still. Maybe her luck was turning around this morning.

She walked briskly to her desk near the back by the window, not bothering to stop by the break room for coffee like she normally did. Diana had had more than enough spilled on her that morning.

Being careful not to hit Eleanor’s chair, she got into hers and put her purse in the small cabinet next to it. She made sure it was all locked up before doing her best to get logged and clocked in.

Her desk was a bit less decorated than most in the office, only having some framed pictures, magazine clippings, and old memos that should have been thrown out months ago. The picture frames were silver, matching, and has memories of her, her siblings, her mother, and her aunt. Inspirational quotes were shown beneath clippings of clothes she saw in magazines and old comic strips from the newspaper in a cork board behind her computer. One of them was super yellow and clearly shown to be folded over and over a few times.

Diana was pulling up her email and checking in when Eleanor came to her desk, sporting her signature “My favorite people call me “Mama” ” mug, and taking a small sip from it. She let out a small noise towards swallowing her sip.

“I’m glad I still had that top for you. It looks real good on ya!” She gushed a little before setting down her mug and moving to the wall of the cubicle and gently doing two knocks against it.

A petite redhead bounced up after the two knocks and let out a small squeal and a perky “Morning Ellie and Di!” Her hair was tied back in a ponytail with a teal bow securing it.

Diana opened up her hot pink planner before mumbling a quick “Morning”. Hopefully, if she could focus on the day’s work, the morning and the mysterious handsome man would disappear from her mind.

“What’s her damage?” the redhead whispered, probably louder than she meant to.

“Well,” Ellie started, her eyes darting to see who else might be around to hear. “Di is sourpuss supreme because someone spilled coffee on her.”

Diana gave a glare up at the two of them before looking to the planner in her hand. “He almost made me late!”

“Wah wah!” The red haired woman pretended to wipe invisible tears from her eyes. “You are literally never late so you wouldn’t have gotten into that big of trouble!”

Diana held back an annoyed look. She knew that Andrea never understood what Diana’s goals were. She was content with where she was in the job, she didn’t want to go any further or strive higher than where she was currently. Andrea was always happy just where she was and as long as she didn’t get fired.

“I’ve never been late. It’ll look bad if I was once especially when the new boss is coming in today.” Di was half focused in the conversation, jotting down important information in her planner from new emails that were in her box.

“The only thing I’m worried about is whether or not he’s a he and if he’s cute.” Andrea said bluntly, looking over her long, lavender nails.

“Are you joking-“ Di started before being interrupted by a squeal from Eleanor.

“That’s totally what I’m hoping for too! God above, there is not much eye candy here, and we deserve a little piece, don't we, Annie?”

Annie nodded as she looked up. “I doubt it though. This company always looks for the oldest, crustiest-“

Her rant was interrupted by the man who had run into Diana earlier, his black hair already dropping out of the ponytail, and he was pushing his glasses up to his face when he stopped at Diana’s desk.

“Oh thank goodness! You found a shirt.” He let out a sigh and a small, nervous laugh as he continued to speak. “No one here had a replacement shirt from who I asked.”

Diana gave him a small smile, feeling small hairs starting to tickle near the back of her ears. “I appreciate you searching it for me.”

“I’m not sure if I apologized before I do-“

“That’s my blouse. That Di’s wearing. Mine.” Eleanor sputtered out, clearly excited to see the attractive man near their desk.

The man broke his gaze from Diana for a moment to look up at the blonde, the small smile that was on his lips quickly disappearing.

“Oh.” His voice was slightly monotone, much different than how he was speaking with Diana just moments ago. “I appreciate your...preparedness for situations like this.”

Eleanor clearly didn’t hear the change in tone as she had a huge, smitten grin on her face. Diana lifted one of her brows while waiting for the blonde to respond.

“Oh! Thanks… I’m Eleanor Belanger, but you can call me Ellie.” Her voice was very flirtatious and it was making Diana cringe internally. Obviously, Di thought he was attractive too, but she wasn’t going to be so blunt about it.

“Well, Eleanor, I’m glad you were able to help a fellow coworker, and I’m glad you were able to get in and changed and still be on time, Diana.” The last part had him looking back to Di, making her heart skip a beat.

Why was she acting like this? He was just a coworker, a good looking one, and nothing was going to come from this. She needed to take a break or a breather.

“I will see you all around. Have a good morning.” He was clearly talking more towards Di, but tried to have it be towards all the women in that small cubicle area.

As soon as he was out of hearing distance, Diana got a punch to the arm from Eleanor, making her practically yelp in pain.

“What the fuck was that for?” Diana whispered the fuck as softly as she could.

“For you failing to tell us that it was a major hottie who spilled coffee on you!” Ellie gave her a harsh glare.

“That...that literally wasn’t important when I had scalding coffee burning at my chest.”

“Uh...yeah, it did! You literally heard Annie and I gush about how there was no one cute in the office and you were hiding out about him!”

Di’s moves immediately to face away from them, trying to resist the urge to put her hands on her face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“Oh you totally do! You’re probably looking like a tomato!” A squeal was followed with Annie joining in.

“Ellie totally has been though!” Annie piped up, gripping Eleanor’s arm. “She was so suave and quick to flirt! I’m sure Mr. Ponytail will be asking for your number in no time!”

Ellie and Annie had started to continue their conversation, but Diana had already tuned them out. She had two important clients that desperately needed her attention or they were going to drop business with them.

Okay...maybe she was being a bit dramatic about that last part. Every client was an important one to her and these two had been super chatty and she could barely pull away to go home yesterday.

Either way, focusing on the clients was way smarter than on “Mr. Ponytail”. Especially not the way he has dimples when he even remotely smiled or how cute it was that his eyes squinted when he smiled as well.

Though she definitely was only work focused, her mind was drifting to thoughts of jealousy. Obviously, he wasn’t interested in Ellie...right? Not that it mattered, but still. He didn’t call her Ellie when said to call her that so he didn’t like her! Right?

Diana gave her head a proverbial shake. Why was she so focused on this man? Her mother and auntie always told her that men were a dime a dozen so she never should be focused or hung up on one. Why was this different? She probably just was touch starved or something Annie could “read” on her.

She was brought back to reality when she could hear Annie and Ellie bicker right next to her ear. Di couldn’t even tell what the useless fight was even about.

“Do you two ever work?” Di said it loudly and frustrated. “Not everyone is so worried about being with a man. We got a job to do!”

Ellie and Annie immediately got silent before one of them scoffed. They never understood why she was like that and they didn’t want to be talked down on more so the two got to their desks and finally seemed to get to work.

Di worked diligently from that point on, really only looking up to attempt to stop eye strain. After a few hours, there was an email that popped into her box from the secretaries at the front desk.

“To Everyone on Destiney’s Old Town,

Your new supervisor is waiting for you guys in the sky blue meeting room. Please be prompt as they wanted to keep introductions brief.

Best,

Mary”

Diana let out a soft breath to attempt to calm down as she got up to head to the meeting room. She noticed that Ellie and Annie didn’t get up. Half of her wanted them to have to stay there, knowing they were going to be blabbermouths along the way, but she needed to be a team player.

“Did you guys...get Mary’s email?” Her speech pattern was broken a bit while waiting to see their responses.

“Oh! No, I didn’t.” Ellie looked to her email before getting up and locking her screen. “Annie? Did you read your email?”

“Just did at hearing Di ask!” Annie’s head popped up at hearing Ellie’s voice. “Are we all walking together?”

“Yeah, sure!” Ellie said, heading out of the tiny cubicle and had Di follow right behind her.

They met up with the redhead near her desk and just as Di had thought, the two of them began to chat up a storm, going on and on about Mr. Ponytail, and how so perfect he was for Ellie.

Diana tried really hard not to let the whole thing bother her, even tuning them out as they took seats in the conference room.

Slowly, Diana’s teammates started to fill in, their chatter filling the room, and making Di lose focus again. Their former team assistant came in after a few moments after their entire team was in.

The lanky man put his hands up to get the room to simmer down without luck. His face quickly turned to one of annoyance before speaking up. “Hey! Let’s get quiet now, children.” The children comment was said in a condescending way.

Everyone began to settle down, glares and scoffs arising while they were. The lanky, curly haired man had a small smirk arise as people finally got quiet. “Now, as we know, Destiney retired, but we aren’t left leaderless!” He motioned someone to come in through the door while he spoke. “He’s been in management for four years with our company and just moved to support our team.”

“Please help me welcome...Richard De La Cruz!” He clapped slightly after saying it, making everyone follow suit.

Diana’s eyes went wide when seeing who walked on in, but “Mr. Ponytail” himself.

“You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

“Was it that obvious?”

Probably, it was obvious to anyone that could see Mr. Addison was. He was trying to hide his embarrassed reaction behind his signature mug of tea, the stream fogging his glasses lens slightly.

Mr. Addison and fellow teacher, Mr. Peters, were watching the final moments of Mrs. Brittany leading their classes in the music lesson. She was doing her best to have them play the last notes of Mozart together before having a large smile emerge on her face.

“Good job everyone! Fantastic!” She clapped as the kids began to chatter in excitement. Her blue green eyes looked to the door frame and saw the two male teachers standing in there. Her eyes lit up for a moment before she continued.

“Alright kids! Go pack up your instruments and get in lines to go back to class.”

Collective groans and scurried steps are heard as Mrs. Brittany walked back to her desk and was quickly scribbling something on a notepad.

“Why don’t you go talk to her?” Mr. Peters asked with a nudge to Mr. Addison’s rib cage. Mr. Addison tried to move before Mr. Peters made contact without much luck.

“I think she’s married,” Addison sounded a little heartbroken as he moved his mug from his lips. “Even if she isn’t, we barely even talk!”

Mr. Peters motioned for the kids to get into their lives, trying to get them to quiet down. “Go try or I’ll suck the kids on you.”

Addison shook his head before letting out a small breath. He hadn’t been on a date since his wife passed. It felt like no one could compare to her...until he saw Ms. Brittany. She always seemed so upbeat, even during moments when she wasn’t near the kids. Maybe she was the chance to get back out there…

Ms. Brittany looked up from her scribbling and gave Mr. Addison a small smile. “Hey there. Can I help you with something?”

He felt his heart race at that smile. Addison hadn’t seen the smile towards him! It was like all the stars were there and he was stuck in her beauty.

“Oh! Uh-yes-mm!” Was he really getting nervous trying to talk to her? He once was a lady’s man, always getting any girl he wanted, but now he can’t talk to an elementary school music teacher? He was getting soft!

He cleared his throat slightly before letting out a soft breath through his nose. “Would you go out with me on Saturday? There’s a bad not too far that has an okay local scene or we could get-"

A small chuckle arose from Ms. Brittany, her small smile breaking out into a large genuine smile. How did she somehow get prettier?

“I would love to. Let me get-" She quickly moved to her desk and grabbed a small business card to hand to him. “My personal number is the mobile. Please don’t hesitate to reach out before Ms. Addison.”

“You can call me Henry.” He looked over the business card that was for music lessons and singing training. Thinking of hearing her sing made his stomach flip. He could only imagine her angelic voice teaching others.

“Henry. Text me whenever, but you should go back to the kids.”

“Of course! Um thank you-"

“Abigail. My name is Abigail.”

Based on a prompt from Pinterest that read: "You have been completely colorblind your whole life and only see in shades of gray. You come across a stranger that appears in total color."

The black and white vision was the norm for Tyler. They always felt like they were a fish out of water. Their whole life they never understood seeing the beauty of their partner's eyes, a perfect sunny day, or a beautiful forest in bloom.

They figured they would never see colors. Doctors told them they had a rare color blindness and it wasn't something that could ever be fixed. They were forever "broken".

That all changed one day. Their partner suggested going to the Pride Parade as they were both out, but had never been. The idea upsetted Tyler. They knew the flags and people would be all colorful, something that they wouldn't be able to see.

"Let's just try." Their partner had said with a gentle and calming tone.

When they arrived, Tyler tried not to sulk while people tried to find a spot. Within a few moments, music arose from the speakers, and people started making their way down the block.

Tears started to form in their eyes as they saw a whole crowd of people walk by with their hands holding different pride flags and Tyler could finally see the only one that mattered: the non binary flag.

Tyler finally understood what a beautiful sunflower looked like as the yellow was bright on the flag. They knew what grapes and violets looked like because of the deep purple on the flag. And now, unknowingly, they also noticed the black and white stripe. They had been a part of the flag the whole time, welcomed, and just as important as the other colors they could not see.

Hurtful words fill my head,

They affect my heart and fill it with dread.

I feel like I’m drowning in these bad thoughts,

It’s my own personal hell I have brought.

When I feel like I’m done,

I hear your voice and I know the battle was won.

My hero is here, he saved me from the demons that harbor inside,

He helps to free me, helps me no longer hide.

I always thought I wasn’t suppose to find true love,

I thought that I was for good folks like angels from above.

He’s my angel, I should see,

Because he brings heaven daily to me.

Flashes of light dance in my pupils as I try to find the constellations I remember. The humidity sticks to my skin and I hear my dog sniffing noisily at the grass. Two in the morning is the best time for him to frolic, and we've spent countless nights just like this, with him trying to catch fireflies, then remembering how awful they are and spitting them right back out, and me looking at the sky, trying to find something. I have always loved the sky since I always felt like an alien. No matter how good my camouflage is, people always seem to sniff out that I'm different, even when I didn't know it. Now I know it, and it makes me feel closer to the stars.

I look down for a brief moment to see my dog racing towards me with a stick in his jaws. He's smiling brightly, rewarding himself for a good nightly poo with a stick. I take it from him and throw it and watch him race back to find it. All the kings are looking down at me right now, according to the Lion King. I wonder if they look down at me like I look up at them. I wonder if their eyes fill with amazement and tears when they realize that they made me and everything I do and am. If high school was any indication, they don't.

I peer up again. The wind is picking up and the stars are beginning to be covered by the clouds of the storm that's coming tomorrow. I call my dog, who comes racing over with his recovered stick, and we head towards the door. I look up at the sky again, see the moon and all the stars twinkling behind a layer of grey and shake my head. I have to spend more time looking at my eyelids than stars one of these nights.

He’s haunted by ghosts that I can’t fight,

I reach out to him, try to bring his heart to light.

The voice I hear most isn’t my man’s,

It’s a spirit that thought together they had plans.

Their future was laid out in their mind if they had their way,

But I was the one he wants to give the rest of his days.

Why does this ghost haunt me as as well?

I wish I could be left alone and not dragged through Their Hell.

You never trusted me, we knew it from the start,

No matter what I said, your mind could not moved.

Quickly I realized that your venom and hurt go straight for the heart.

I was always going to be someone you disapproved.

Now times have changed and I beg you to move on,

You can’t keep calling him to you.

He isn’t a play thing, he isn’t your pawn.

You and him are over, you two are through.

Your pain lasts longer than you know,

I hear it in his voice as he calls me angel,

I’m glad you can never see my man grow,

I hope you one day will reap what you sow.

I thought I was always meant for Sunlight,

His warmth being intoxicating and the happiness brought immeasurable.

Until I found out it wasn't right.

The Sunlight soon became unbearable, unpleasurable.

I sadly didn't realize that I was a star,

That I had my own light I could shine from within,

But sadly, I was in too far,

I couldn't escape him, part of me was missin'.

His light burned my eyes, my skin, my heart,

I couldn't escape the rays.

It felt like no matter what I did, I'd come back to his part.

Perhaps it was to be like this until the end of days.

Then I found Moonlight.

Their Moonlight was the right for me.

He guided and protected me, something that I craved.

I made him realize he wasn't lonely,

That someone was there for them, the gold road now seen and paved.

He and I are the moon and the stars,

partners, friends, lovers,

Not opposites and set as apart as far,

Always beside each other in the night's covers.

Where did you find that?!” Her voice practically broke while trying to get the words out. She didn’t think that something so important would end up in a lake so far from home.

The nobleman had in hands a small trinket that was covered in moss and dirt. He was still in the water, the legs of his trousers dipping dangerously close to the water. He was focused on cleaning what appeared to most as a rock and was now seeing it as a small locket on a very rusted and small chain.

“I just found it here…” the man said, his tone being a mixture of shock and confusion.

The redhead woman shook her head. “That can’t be possible!” She began to gather the hem of her large gown into her ams. “It looks like the-”

“Isabella!” The dark haired man called out to the redhead, moving towards her. “You do not have to get into the water. Let me get over to-”

“I want to! The water seems nice and we are only heading home after this.” She stated with a dainty chuckle. She was slipping off her shoes as she spoke.

He chuckled to himself as he rolled up the legs on his trousers, making sure to keep the small locket in his hand. “Please, be careful, my love!” He called out as he watched the one he loved trudge carefully in the knee deep water.

He rushed over to her quickly, and as carefully as he could, to get her into his arms before showing the tiny locket and chain.

“Roland! You don’t have to-” she protested gently, playfully tapping his arm before her olive eyes went to the item. “It almost looks like the locket I had as a child.”

Roland furrowed his brows slightly. “The one that your father gave you?” He was still doing his best to clean the build up of moss on the locket.

“Yes. My father had it last,” Her tone was casual as she spoke about it. “It had an “I” on the front and the chain broke on it and he promised to fix before he-” The man’s eyes went wide at the little locket as an “I” was revealed on the side he was looking at.

“What’s the matter, dear?” Isbella noticed his expression change while she was speaking, which made her stop in her tracks of thought.

Roland moved to show her the locket and looked up at her with his dark brown eyes. “Where did it break on the chain? What’s in the locket? This may just be a-” His words were going fast, something Isabella rarely saw from him.

She took his hand into hers, making him stop what he was saying for a moment. He let out a soft breath before moving the tiny chain from behind the locket. Isabella shook her head in disbelief. It was broken in the exact spot on the chain. It was just a coincidence…

“Perhaps we should sit in the grass and see if we can get it open? What is in there if it is yours?” Roland guided the two of them from the lake and onto a patch of grass.

“A picture of me and my grandfather. He had just passed away when Father bought me the necklace.”

The two were soon sitting in the grass near the pond, Roland doing his best to pry the little locket open. After a few more moments of trying, the locket was popped open. Isabella leaned close to Roland, the smell of her perfume still wafting from her skin, and tried to hold back tears.

“That’s Grandfather!” She practically screamed, gripping tenderly on to Roland’s arm.

“What happened for the locket to be in the lake? What happened to your father?”

“We don’t know. Mother said he vanished one night after a night out with his associates.”

“And no one ever saw him after that?”

“No.”

at first it's just a smile

but soon

that same smile

its not just a smile

they smile

and a warm feeling fills you up

like drinking a cup of hot cocoa or tea

on a snowy winter day

wrapped in a blanket near the fireplace

that nice

comfortable

warm.

like home.

or how their prescence at first was just that,

a prescence.

just a being taking up space

but now

being near them

its like feeling the sun on your skin after weeks of rain

it's all these feelings that fill you up when you're near them or they do something

how you feel your face warm when you talk to them

the slight nervousness

or maybe not slight at all

your sweaty palms

messing with your hair

all those things

and one day

while you're talking to them

or when you see them smile

you just know

you just know you're in love

it's just the little things