2

Everything started out well like a totally normal Wednesday though she felt energized in a way she hadn’t in a long time. Her commute was smooth and slow, but she had a mind for nothing but figuring out who exactly M.A. was. The message she had woke up to put a smile on her face even if she really didn't want it too. Something about it was interesting to her though it was nothing more than a follow up to her response. She was enjoying the newness of everything. Sarah had never thought about what kind of relationship she was really looking for until she had to ponder what and who he really was. The lack of a picture didn’t bother her because she felt it was a good way not to dismiss him on appearance alone. He seemed interested in her as well because the picture though it was good, was blurry because it was taken at a distance with a phone’s camera. That didn’t seem to matter to him.

Princess,

You must really like torture if you think the Alley is even remotely good. As if I would ever take someone there. It isn't a matter of your clearance either; people don't often find what I do to be good conversation material. Maybe one day I will tell you if you really want. I will give you this though I said I wasn't a stalker and I am not I will be around your building today a few times, see if you can spot me. The game is on.

M.A.

Her response was equally fun to write. She had found herself smiling at the idea he was going to be around. She knew that she must have interacted with him before at some point. The idea that he knew who she was, and she didn’t know exactly who he was played through her mind. Though she didn’t mind the guessing game, it would be interesting to see who he really was when or if they got to that point. She worked with different types of people every day and found most of them to be intriguing. This game was fun enough for now.

M.A.

I never said I didn't like torture. I read reports and research all day if that isn't a form of torture then I really don't know what is. So you will be around today, huh? What do I get if I spot you then? Games are only fun if there is a prize.

Princess

When she got to work, she saw the message blinking now on her phone. She had downloaded the app before leaving for work. She hadn’t planned on letting this get to a point where she would be tethered to her phone. However, she also had doubted that a man would catch her interest to the point this one had. Having the app on her phone would be a fun distraction to the boring work she normally did every day, like the paperwork of going over hundreds of pages of the newest research on different viruses that may or may not become an issue for her team of people at some point. Just seeing an incoming message was exciting to her in a way she didn’t realize would happen.

Princess,

A Prize? I thought I would be enough of a prize, but I guess not. You start with a prize then and will work your way up the chain. I hope you enjoy it.

M.A.

She was puzzled as to what that meant. She walked into the building, scanning her surroundings to see if anyone was out of place. She figured that she would be able to spot this mystery man just because she knew most of the people who worked in the building, but what if he could work in the building as well never entered her mind until that second. That would complicate things a bit for her to figure out who he was. At least for her, it would be easy to spot someone, she didn't know in the building, but if they worked there, hmm, she thought to herself. The idea that he knew the building meant he had been in a few times and had seen her or the obvious that he worked in the building as well. All military buildings, regardless of the purpose of them, looked similar to a point. He would have to be able to notice the differences that were around her door to be able to know what exact building she worked in.

"Who died?” she heard Marco say in the back of her. As she had just stayed in the main entryway of the building that opened into the main section of offices and cubicles. She was just looking around the room and knew that this for her was out of the norm. She normally just headed straight to her office and started her day. Looking around was not like her.

"What?” She replied back.

"Your office? You haven't seen yet?" he said as he motioned for her to go look. It wouldn’t be surprising that the guys on her team would notice the smallest of changes in the building, like a present left for her in her office.

"What about my office?” She asked as she tried to read his face. Something was confusing him. She could see that very easily.

"Go and see.” He replied and walked away.

She made her way across the crowded floor of cubicles and desks to the other wall where her office was in the corner. She saw her door was slightly open, but the lights were off. She pushed the door open and saw the bouquet of mixed flowers on her desk. She went over and looked to see the card that was handwritten. The block letters told her that the person was in the military and not one of the researchers like herself. She looked around the open area with the cubicles seeing if anyone was looking in her office directly. No one was.

A Prize to start our game......

She held the card in her hand, staring at the flowers and then felt her phone go off. She saw the icon blinking again.

Princess

I hope you like them.

M.A.

She smiled despite herself as she scanned the room again. She was trying to see if anyone was looking at her in the office again as she glanced around the room and then to other offices that lined the wall and the conference rooms, which were dark for the moment. No one was out of place or looking her way. She shut the door and sat at her desk, still with the card in hand. She didn't know what to do or say. It was the first time someone had just given her flowers before, more so her favorite flowers. No one knew that here as they had never asked. She felt different. She couldn't explain it but wished she could see who gave her them so she could thank them in person.

M.A.

I do. Thank you. Now tell me what I am wearing? Just so I know you are really here.

Princess

Within a few minutes of replying, she got her response.

Princess,

I will when I see you. I am not in the building yet now. Almost time to muster and all that. I should see you soon.

M.A.

She smiled again. She figured if anything, she would be in meetings all day. Seeing her in the meetings would help narrow down if he was an outsider. She was finally happy with the idea.  The smile on her face didn’t fade, though. The flowers were a very nice way to start of the day and this game between them.

However, the day seemed to drag, and by the third meeting, she wondered if he was in the building at all. No messages for hours, which seemed like a letdown after the great start to the day. She was headed to her office again when she felt her phone go off again. As soon as she saw the icon, she hurried to her office to read the message. As soon as she cleared the door, she opened it and read it.

Princess

I was wondering if I would ever see you out of a meeting today. Blue shirt and tan pants.

M.A.

She had to look down to see if that was what she was wearing. When she smiled, she felt the phone go off again.

If that smile if from my message that I will have to keep messaging you.

She knew he was there in the building. Not only that, but he was also close enough to see her smile. She looked up and now scanned the room. She didn't know what she was looking for, but she could see everyone hard at work. There were two groups of people she didn't know either doing a tour or waiting for someone. Each had seven people in them, and all had ID badges. She was tempted to go over and see each one, but that may be cheating at their game.

 She went onto her office, but unlike usual, she left her door open, and she began to go over a new research paper someone had left on her desk. She kicked her feet over the side of her chair and leaned back. She knew it was unprofessional-looking, but her chair was uncomfortable any other way.  She also didn’t really care how it looked to someone if it saved her back some pain. When her boss walked in and saw her, "Do you have to act like a child in here?"

"My office, My rules,” she stated without looking up. Though her and her boss, who was an officer in the Army, he was often like an older brother of sorts in the way he treated her. Though it was known that she was a favorite of nearly everyone, it was their commanding officer that everyone took their cues from with her. If she didn’t like someone in the building, they would be removed quickly. They knew she would just have to say one word, and she would get her way much like a spoiled child.

"Nice flowers, who are they from?” he asked with his eyebrow cocked up. Though he didn’t really want to get involved with any of his people’s personal lives with her, it was different. She didn’t have that net around her that many others did. She was alone in the world, and he would do what he could to protect her without overstepping his own boundaries.

"A Friend,” she answered.

"Friend, huh?” he asked, cocking one eyebrow up.

One of the passing groups was standing outside her office, and people were looking inside the office to find her draped over her chair laying back she caught one of the men smiling at her. She wondered if that could be him. They were all people from the other commands. She looked again and didn’t see anyone she could remember being there before.

"Does this friend of yours have a name?” her boss questioned.

"Yes, I am sure he does, DAD.," she replied back again without looking up again from the paper in her hand.

"God knows I am not your father.” Her boss replied.

"Could have fooled me,” she said.

"Really, kid?” He asked.

"Is there a reason you're in here bugging me. I know it isn't my award-winning personality, and we have been stuck in the same meetings all day together, so it isn't lack of face time, so what is it?” She asked, now looking up. She saw that both groups were waiting there outside her office. One was a group of soldiers that had been students a few times before. That was one thing she hadn’t thought of as a possibility before.

"Well now, snappy, aren't you?” he asked as he chuckled.

"No, just busy. Why did you schedule all these meetings on one day?” she asked though they did have daily meetings never ones like the ones she had just sat through all on one day. Now she had more paperwork to get through and not the same amount of time to get through it like normal. It didn’t help that her mind was also not fully on task either.

"We have all these guys coming in and out for the next week or so. Thought it would be best to get our major work done." Her boss said as he looked out to the groups that were outside the office in the hallway.

"Who are they?” she asked.

"Special Forces. Don't ask cause they won't tell types. Here to learn our tactics." he said.

"Oh," she knew exactly what he meant. She had done the training with them a few times as well. She was also one of the instructors who often had to teach them the basics in medicine and first aid.

She smiled even broader now as she returned to her paperwork. Her boss left the room with a huff, and she settled back into reading and watching over the paper. She caught two of them staring at her. She wrote them off as her M.A. wouldn't stare. She shrugged and went back to work. She did need to finish her paperwork even though finding out who he was there at the forefront of her mind distracting her.

A little time went by, and they were still hanging out outside her office when she felt the building shift a bit. The feeling was slightly weird, and people started looking around to see if everyone felt it as well. Sarah knew what that was and was already on her feet and out the door into the massive crowd of men when the alarm went off.

"Crap.” She said rather loudly when her teammates all also stood and looked around as they had a few seconds before the announcement. The visitors themselves were unfazed by the sounds. "Code Blue Alpha Team Red. First Floor, room 178." Was announced over the speaker. She started to head off toward the locker room to change quickly. She was suited up before anyone else and went out and up the hallways to wait. This suit was not as heavy as her field suit, but it was state of the art in its design. Aaron was right on six before she knew it, and as they both nodded, they made their way through the building to the lab in question. She tugged on her air supply and headed into the room first. Two people lay on the ground, and Aaron went to check on them while she went into the lab. She had to find what they were working on and quick. As she looked at the samples, she motioned to him, it was okay to take off their helmets. As the rest of the team arrived, she was searching through everything and saw one of the people trying to move. She bent down, "Was supposed to be dead.” they said.

"What was?” she asked.

"The grenade.” He replied, and she saw the blood pool under him now. She yelled out to everyone through the opening in the doors between the lab and the research space.

"Grenade. Not biological. I need a med team here ASAP." She began to work on him as she waited. She ripped off her suit to the waist so she could have more movement, and she rolled him over and started to scan the room for supplies.

"Med team ETA 10 minutes." Came through her mic in her ear. She sighed as she was still searching the room for the supplies she needed.

"Not fast enough, this guy has five tops.” She yelled back. And with that, she started to work on him. She had to try at least to stop the bleeding, but it wasn't that easy. She was limited by what was in the first aid kit before her. She had about six clamps on his side by the time the team rushed in. She was glad when they did arrive though she had slowed the blood flow she had run out of clamps in the kit.

 She was covered in his blood, but she had stopped the significant part of the bleeding and bought a little time they would not have had before if she hadn’t tried something out of the box. They were quick in loading him and removing him to take him to the hospital. She stood there as she looked around the room. Very little was disturbed; this was not an ordinary grenade accident. However, that was not her problem at the moment. She left as the investigating team arrived as the scene was now clear. Her job was only if there was a biological agent in the explosion or something else equally as fatal. She was a first responder in all things, but she only stayed if it was in her job description, so she didn’t get in the way.

"Kid, I don't know how you do it.” One of them said as she was leaving as they looked her up and down.

"Hmm?” she asked.

"All that blood,” he replied. "You really don't care if you're covered in it."

"Blood doesn't bother me.” She said as she walked back into the hallway, trying to plot her path back to the locker rooms, so she didn't have to pass in the main workroom. She forgot about the construction of that hallway as they were expanding certain areas, and she did have to go through the main room. After Aaron who probably had minimal blood on him walked through she would be stopped at least ten times as she looked down at her clothes and saw she was probably about sixty percent covered, she could only imagine that she also had blood on her face, covering her arms,  and in her hair as well. When she opened the doors, it seemed the entire room went quiet, and everyone turned to look. She took a deep breath and went on her way to the locker room to change and take a quick shower. She wasn't expecting a message when she got out, but the icon was lit up and blinking at her.

Red is your color. Maybe not blood..... Are you okay?

She let out a little laugh as she pulled her spare scrubs on. She walked back to her office and sat in her chair. She thought about the note and smiled slightly. Being covered in blood didn’t bother her. She had seen much worse and something that was more horrific in its own way. Other people often thought it was horrible.

I am fine. Not my blood. 

The response she sent was easy and to the point. She waited to see who pulled out their phones, and to her surprise, four of them did. She waited to see. She saw the slight smile on one that looked razor-sharp. She studied him slightly closer, she had seen him before a few times. He was slight but well built, not someone who you would take as a threat at first. She knew from experience those were usually the most dangerous types. He typed into his phone and then placed it back in his pocket as hers rang at the same time. She answered it and found it was the doctors at the hospital for a quick update on the person she had just worked on.  She looked at her cell and saw the inbox light up again. She was talking to the doctor as she read it.

That is good to know. I was slightly concerned. Not the right way to play a game if one gets hurt.

She smiled.

Are we still playing the game?

She watched the man again as he again took out his phone and he smiled at it. She waited and watched closely, but he never looked her way as he again typed something them placed his phone away in his pocket. She waited a few seconds and saw the box light up.

Maybe? Do you think you know who I am yet?

She smiled and then typed back.

I think so.

She waited, but this time the man she had been watching didn't take out his phone. She didn't think, but as she went to hang up from the call with the doctor, she saw the light was lit for the inbox.

Really now, that would be a surprise.

Damnit, she thought, not the one she thought.

Nevermind.

She typed and sent that and realized the day was mostly over, and people were now leaving for the day. She had to buckle down and finish her work before she too could go home or even think about it. One by one, the main room went empty, and even the visitors left.

Don't give up, princess. It won't be easy, but what worthwhile thing in life is?

She smiled at that and put her glasses back on as she read through and started the corrections on the report in front of her. She noticed the time and then thought how wonderful again she would be eating super late. When she heard the door buzzer and one of the guards go over to it. He came back to her office and held up the bag. "Your dinner?” he asked.

"I didn't order anything,” she said as she did, she saw the icon blinking again. "Wait. I think someone else did for me."

"You know that person?” he asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, no tricks there,” she said as she grabbed her purse.

"It was paid for,” he said and smiled as he handed it over to her.

"Oh.” She smiled. "thank you."

She placed the bag on her desk and then tapped the icon.

You need to eat something. I think you are just as bad as I am in that department. God knows I am bad enough by myself.

She didn't know how to reply. The idea that he still knew that she was in the office was slightly weird, but maybe he knew her car. Alley’s the bowling alley, and the base restaurant was across the parking lot. It could be explained away by sheer coincidence of him being over there and seeing that. She was hoping it would be something like that. Sarah didn’t want to think of the horror stories of stalkerish types and other freaks you might find on a dating app.

Thank you again. Twice in one day.

She sat down and noticed that almost everyone was gone. After she ate, she couldn't concentrate anymore. She wasn't used to eating, but maybe one meal a day, and then she would usually just pass out. She decided to call it a day and go home. She could finish everything in the morning if she buckled down. She walked out to her car to see the setting sun, and then as she got in the car, she began to process the day. Though she found the game to be fun today, would she enjoy it again tomorrow? How long would it last? She was the type who needed answers. She wondered if she would find them or not before she lost interest in the game.