By The Way, I Like You | Stephen x Reader

Chapter One

"Wake up, Y/N!" Someone shouts at me through the phone. Blinking rapidly, I look at the video chat and see Sophia giving me a strange look. Sighing, she continues on, "You're spacing out again. What's going on?"

Sophia: concerned about everything, acts like a mom, has the right thing to say in any situation and my best friend since middle school. She helped me through some bad points in my life and always wants me to do my absolute best. She's the reason why I've always been afraid of messing up. Sophia has pushed me past my limits with expectations and even if it may seem like a bad thing, to me, it's not. The higher my expectations are, the better I do at the things I work on.

Sighing, I put a hand on my temple and close my eyes. "I've been stressing over this project for work because it's due in a few days and I don't know how to finish the ending of the proposal," I reply in a frustrated tone. My headache was getting worse, so I took a sip of water before I continued to stare at the computer screen. This six-page proposal is taking longer than necessary. It should have been finished weeks ago and sent in, but I procrastinated to the point that I only have a few days left before my last chance of changing the company will disappear.

I work at a game development company in Toronto, Ontario. The company is called "Achieve More." We sell multiple games and products and are one of the highest ranked producers on TopTen and GoScore. The coding in the games takes a ton of time, so only professionals are allowed to be hired. It's very rare for spots to open up, so when there is one open, there are hundreds of applicants hoping for a spot on the team.

When my interview came around a couple of years ago, they were very impressed by my proposals and how hard working I am overall. They said that they would give me an email telling me if I got the spot and a couple of weeks later, I receive it. Everyone I told was super happy for me because they knew that working here was a dream come true for me.

Thing is, no one told me about how stressful this job was going to be. Working 8-10 hour shifts on coding and hard deadlines made me age very quickly. It's not like my hair turned gray, but I have been getting pimples more often due to the fact that I haven't been this stressed in a while. But the pay I get for all of this is worth it in the end.

Sophia sighs into her microphone and speaks, "you need to take a breather. Clear your head and do something fun." I gave her a death glare, but she held firm. "Your stress meter is off of the charts, Y/N. You'll finish this a whole lot better if you clear your mind from this for a bit."

Realizing she was right, I close my eyes and turn my desk chair 180° so I could easily stand up. I walk into the kitchen and open the fridge to see that I was running low on food. Groaning, I shut it and grab my phone that I left near the computer. "Sophia, I'm gonna call you back later. I have to go grocery shopping," I tell her and she rolls her eyes.

"I swear, you're a diligent worker, but when it comes to food, you can't seem to stop feeding your black hole," she holds a hand up in the air and gives me a sly grin. Chuckling, she continues, "anyways, have fun. I'll be here if you need help on that proposal."

Smiling, I reply with a small "thank you" before I say goodbye and end the call. Walking towards my room, I grab a pair of socks and slip on an oversized sweater with some night black Adidas sweatpants. Grabbing the nearest cost, I place it over my arms and put my hair into a quick ponytail. Walking out of my room, I check my phone to see if I got any notifications. One popped up the second I turned my phone on.

"By the way, Can you Survive an RPG Game | Part 4 - The Dumbest Hero." I see who posted it and it was by one of my subscriptions, DanPlan. Rolling my eyes, I see the earbuds that I left on the table the previous night and grab them. I plug them into my phone and opened up YouTube to watch the newest episode of their most popular series.