I won't be ashamed for loving you so honestly

Chapter 1

Blackness.
It hit Stanley like a flash grenade, but instead of the normal blinding white, it was a cold void of nothingness. The darkness slowly fades away, and Stanley realises he's back at his desk. The resets were jarring, and Stanley took a moment to rub his eyes and stretch. He was exhausted. Constant runs, and no breaks are starting to affect his body. Maybe he'd ask the oh so powerful Narrator to let him rest at his apartment or something like that.

"Stanley sat there at his desk, waiting for orders that will never come."

Normally, the Narrator would wait for Stanley to leave his office before he started talking, but I guess Stanley took too long for the Narrator. Stanley liked the little bit of quiet that he was able to get. It almost resembled privacy. Something that he lost the privilege of a long time ago.

Stanley looked up at the ceiling or where he thought the Narrator would be. He assumed the Narrator was above him, but technically, the Narrator was all around him. Constantly watching at every possible angle. A normal person would feel uncomfortable at this, being watched by an unknown onlooker. But Stanley was okay with it. Or rather, he went through so many runs that he simply got used to it.

Then something strange happened. Stanley's stomach started to ache. This was very different. Normally, he gets phantom pains from previous runs before, but this pain had nothing to do with the previous run. He did the freedom ending before this, right? He shouldn't feel this.

Then it hit him. Time could pass in the parable. Or at least his body kept some functions. He never knew if it did cause the resets would also reset his body, so he never knew what would happen if he got hungry or needed the bathroom. It never got to that yet. And hopefully, never will. The thought of slowly starving wasn't exactly appealing to Stanley. Starving. Maybe that was it. Maybe he finally got hungry.

"Stanley, for the love of God, can we please get a move on? I'm practically dying of boredom, and I can't even die!"

Stanley would never admit this out loud, but he liked when the Narrator would beg. Not that he'd be able to get these thoughts out of his system. He was constantly being watched. So he just has to push down these feelings and wait for him to finally explode from the pressure.

Stanley finally got up from his desk and left his office, making his way to the 2 doors.

"Oh goody. Finally, he emerges from his cave..."

Sarcastic barstard. This was it. This was hell. Stanley definitely died, and this is his personal hell. Being stuck at work with a British "person." Truly a fate worse than death, Stanley thought to himself.

"When Stanley came to a set of 2 open doors. He entered the door on his -"

But before the Narrator could finish the monologue, Stanley walked through the door on the right. He wanted to piss off the Narrator the best way he knew, waste time in a room for no god damn reason. He didn't even like the employee lounge that much. Sure, the couches were okay at best, and the blue interior was a nice change from the beige and yellow office, but it wasn't exactly a room Stanley looked forward into being.

"This was not the correct way to the meeting room. Perhaps Stanley wanted to pop by the employee lounge. Just to admire it."

Stanley walked into the lounge and made himself comfortable on one of the chairs. He took a long stretch and leaned back.

"Ah yes. This is such riveting gameplay. Stanley decides to waste everyone's time by sitting in the employee lounge even though all of his coworkers disappeared, the most interesting thing that has happened in his boring life, and here he is ladies and gentle Sitting. My God, how does he do it."