Perpetuity (A Loki FanFiction)

Chapter One: Snow and Coffee

"I'm so sorry, Dominique, I'm going to be late for work; the metro is packed tighter than a queen in her corset."

"That's okay. The orange line is shut down today, and I know that's your way of getting here. I'll see you in a minute!"

"Thanks, Doll!" She hung up the phone and anxiously waited for the green line to arrive to take her on her long journey to work.

Because the orange line was under construction, everybody was crowded on the train; there was hardly a seat left. There were no empty rows, so she had to settle for an opening inbetween a confused tourist and an upset Korean woman shouting at her stray children across the aisle. Needless to say, they both shut up once the woman wearing the Oscar de la Renta suit sat between them.

The commute was long and monotonous; the computerized voice announcing the stops over the intercom could have put her to sleep immediately if she were not already half an hour late. Her phone seemed to come alive with the vibration notifying her of a new message. It was Dominique.

R, my darling, u must get here ASAP! Georgia will hunt u down if u r another min l8!

She decided not to reply; Dominique could wait for her to arrive. Until then she could stay occupied with her spelling or her dating websites; finding a boy desperate enough to date a girl he meets over the Internet shouldn't be that hard to find.

"Station 7"

She regally stood up from her bench-seat on the metro and hurriedly half-strutted towards the sliding doors. She almost stumbled over her studded heels she bought the other day, but quickly regained her balance before her heel could shift out from under her weight. She glided out onto the platform just as the doors shut.

Luckily, the office was only a block away, so she got there quickly and arrived without aching feet.

"Nicki, I'm here!" She yelled in a whisper to her best friend.

"Thank The Lord baby Jesus you came when you did!" She hugged her tightly and quickly explained her enthusiasm, "Georgia's calling a staff meeting in an hour! Put your stuff up and let's go!"

Dominique shoved her to her desk and plopped her down in her white leather office chair.

"Now, pretend like you're working tré tré difficile for the next hour and you'll be okay!" She scurried away to her own posh desk and kept her eyes on the computer monitor until Georgia called the meeting.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, if you will please join me in the Elle Office please!" Georgia announced over the loudspeaker.

The entire floor immediately jumped to their feet and scurried to the office where they were called like little Pomeranians obeying their owner.

The meeting was long and boring. Jason was scouting models for the next issue of Elle, Johanna was in charge of celebrity interviews, Camille was finding the latest "deals" on fall fashion and she and Nicki were stuck with choosing the ads to put in the magazine.

After long laborious hours of looking at the shiny cars and over-the-top eyshadow shimmer ads, five o'clock rolled around and she decided it would be quicker to take a taxi that reeked of cigarettes than walk down the metro in her, frankly, painful shoes.

"This is it. Thank you so much. Enjoy your tip,"

It was now snowing. The white fluffs of frozen water floated lightly across the cityscape like brilliantly bright fireflies. They landed on the ground and immediately melted, but they rested on the people's shoulders and eyelashes and hats and gloves. Everyone was painted white. The woman in the red hat tried to maneuver around the snow capped citizens, and in her bustle she saw the sole light of a shop across the street. She shut her eyes and made a run for the other side, when she heard shouting and mumbling. Two hands wrapped around her torso and pulled her onto the other pavement and they collapsed on the ground.