Steps

Step 4: Acquaintances

It was late. She knew that much. The sun had set some time ago, and the office was empty. Yet, here she was sitting at her desk, still working. Today, Alex had managed to drop his laptop. Where was he even going with it the first place? It didn't matter.

The laptop lay face down on her desk, the bottom panel open. Something had happened to the hard drive after the drop. What exactly it was, she didn't know. She groaned and shoved away from her desk. She was done with this for today. It could wait until tomorrow. Alex would have to deal.

She glanced at the clock. 9:43. She was supposed to be out of here, like, 4 hours ago! She let herself slump down in her chair as she groaned again. She was starving. But she knew the minute she left, whoever was supposed to be coming from S.T.A.R. Labs would show up.

A package had arrived yesterday from the main office in Starling City. Apparently, Mr. Palmer had sent it himself. The attached instructions indicated that the package was not to be opened, and that someone from S.T.A.R. Labs would be by to pick it up today. But today was almost over, and still no one had been by to get it. She was starting to think it was some sort of sick joke. See which idiot would stay all night waiting for someone who wasn't going to show. Of course it would be her who would get stuck with the stupid thing.

She stood up and stretched, pacing her office for a minute. She wasn't going to stay all night. She wasn't that dumb. She'd give whoever was supposed to be coming another hour, then she was done. But she had to find something to do in the meantime. She did need to maintenance the server racks. She could never do it while everyone was working, so now was probably the perfect time.

She grabbed her phone and a can of compressed air and walked down the hall to the server closet. She badged herself in, propped the door open, and turned on the light. Man, she really missed being in a server closet all the time. Back when she worked in the Starling City office, she practically lived in the main closet. It was always quiet, and she didn't have to worry about people interrupting her. Badge access kept most people out.

She walked over to the small table and set the compressed air down. It was a little bit too quiet for her tonight. She kept a small Bluetooth speaker in here just for times like this. She synced up her phone and put on the first album she found. Setting her phone down, she quickly slipped out of her shoes. While her flats were comfortable, being barefoot was better. Plus, it always got hot in the server closet once she got moving around. She decided to shed her cardigan as well.

She breathed in deeply. This was going to be fun. Slipping on a dusk mask and grabbing the compressed air, she dragged a stepladder to the first rack and began unplugging things.

This type of work really didn't bother her all too much. It was so repetitive; she didn't have to pay that much mind to it. She could let herself get lost in the music, which she did, often. She couldn't dance, but she loved to sway and tap her feet in time with the music, singing and humming along where she could.

She was just about finished with the third rack when the album ended. She hopped off the ladder and went to change it.

"Do you always listen to such interesting music?"

She stopped dead in her tracks. Someone had gotten in. Who in the world could have gotten in? The building was badge access only! She felt herself begin to tense. The voice was vaguely familiar, but it didn't sound like anyone from the office. Should she call building security?

She slowly turned her head to see who it was. Cisco leaned against the frame of the door. She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"WHAT THE HECK MAN?!? YOU SCARED THE CRAP OUTTA ME."

"Woah, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He pushed off the frame and strolled over to her, offering her an apologetic smile.