Ari woke up in a cold sweat. She shot upright on her bed and looked around her room. Breathing heavily, she reached for her phone.
8:34 am. Work starts at 8. Damn.
Wrestling with the bed covers, Ari untangled her feet before she tripped as she danced around her room searching for clean clothes. In the midst of her frantic movements she suddenly stopped.
What the hell happened last night?
She remembered Zach, her boss, cornering her and... flirting? Was that flirting?? Wait, was that just a dream?
Ari genuinely couldn't tell if that was a dream. She furrowed her brow trying her hardest to remember. If it was a dream, that was probably the most vivid dream she's ever had.
Wait, didn't Chris like, commit a mass murder or something?
Ari rolled her eyes. That was definitely a dream. Obviously. Chris may be insane, but she's pretty sure the Nintendo headquarters are states away.
Finally having all her stuff together, she tumbled into her car. Turning the keys and putting on the latest angsty song she's heard from tiktok that would be perfect to animate to, she huffed and began her journey to work.
The whole way to work, all she could think about is that dream. She really didn't think her crush on Zach was THAT bad. Like bad enough to dream extremely vividly about. She couldn't think about it too hard though, because she could feel her face get warmer when she remembered the details. Zach's her boss, that's a no-no. This isn't an X reader irl or anything, this is real.
Whatever, just play it cool around Zach. Don't be weird. You're getting salary working for a cool animation company. Don't blow it.
As she pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later, she sighed from relief upon seeing neither Mike or Zach's cars in the front of the studio building. Walking in, she was greeted by another employee, who commented on her late arrival. Laughing it off with them, they both went to their offices to begin their day.
The first two hours went by quick. Paperwork can be kinda boring but it kept her busy enough to prevent her mind from wandering. Occasionally the other workers would pop in to ask about this or that, and Ari would chat a bit before returning to work. When she took a break for a bit, she couldn't help but wonder about Zach again. She really is down bad for him. He's such a regular dude, too. Not even emo. Either way, she was glad he wasn't in the office today. It would be too awkward. Her autism would make her say something stupid.
She shook her head, trying to get the gay thoughts out of her head. She took a sip of some fruity Starbucks drink, and started to return to her computer inputs. Someone stepped into the threshold of the room as she sat back up in her chair. Turning with a smile to whichever coworker they were, she said "Hey what's -" before she realized it was her boss.
