Connecting the Dots (Shane Madej x OC)

5

I grab my rolling suitcase out of the closet and toss it onto my bed, opening it up and starting to toss in some of my clothes.

Its been a few months since I first started at Buzzfeed and we've finally figured out everything and planned some paranormal investigations.

It's going to be a long trip, our first investigation, from the Winchester mystery house, to the Island of Dolls, and finally the Sallie House. I'm more excited than nervous, but I am a bit anxious to see how the new format lands with viewers.

My phone rings, I check the ID and grab it,

"Hey Ryan." I say, putting it on speaker and continuing to pack.

"Hey, So Shane and I were planning on meeting at Buzzfeed tomorrow morning around 4am. We're gonna get driven to the airport and we can leave our cars in their spots at buzzfeed." He says, i can hear him packing as well.

"Alright that sounds good, I'm going to go in a little later tonight to make sure I've got all my camera gear together." I say,

"Oh ok that's actually good because Shane's going to be there for another project but he was saying he wanted to check out some of the stuff we're going to be using." He says,

"Ok, yeah I'll try to catch him while I'm there." I say,

"Alright cool..." he pauses for a while and I hear him walking around his room, I'm assuming gathering clothes and gear.

"Ahh Jesus. Sophie I'm already bugging out." He says, I can hear the anxiety in his voice. I laugh lightly, I'm not nervous but I'm definitely a little stressed. It already feels like I've been working on the buzzfeed unsolved series for a while, stepping nip to help edit it, even helping Ryan with research when he needs it , I've sat behind the camera for every single episode since I got hired and I'm pretty invested in how this turns out. I just hope that people enjoy it as much as we enjoy making it.

"I think it's going to be fun!" I say, trying to ease a little bit of my own and Ryan's nerves. Ryan laughs nervously,

"Oh yeah sure! It's going to be sooo fun to get possessed by a fucking demon." He says, I break into laughter,

"Yeah! I dunno that sounds like a nice vacation to me." I joke, he sighs,

"I'm just, you know I'm just gonna disassociate, just not gonna think about it until I absolutely have to." He says, I smile,

"That sounds like a great coping method." I say sarcastically,

"I think I'm going to get dinner after I stop at buzzfeed tonight, I'll ask Shane too but do you want to come along?" I ask,

"Yeah sure, where?" He asks,

"Umm I dunno, maybe sushi?" I suggest,

"Oh shittt that sounds great." Ryan says,

"Alright, I gotta go but text me what's going on tonight." He says, I hear him zip up his suitcase,

"Got it, Bye Ryan." I say, he says goodbye, hangs up and I finish my packing.

—

I walk into buzzfeed at around 4pm, swipe my access card and head up to my desk. I don't see Shane at his, which is adjacent mine and as I expected Ryan's desk is also empty.

I toss my backpack onto my desk and log onto my computer, quickly printing a list of the camera gear I wanted to bring, and then I start rummaging through my drawers for my stuff.

I'll need to get the good camera from the tech room but a lot of the smaller gear and gadgets I own myself so they're already home. However, I do need to get some sound gear and stuff from my desk and from the tech room.

I fill my backpack with whatever's in the drawers of my desk and then I head onto the elevator. It opens on the floor before the tech room and Shane ducks in.

"Oh hey Soph!" He says,

"Hey Shane! Ryan said you'd be here working on another video, hows it going?" I ask,

"Not bad, they just needed me to be a tall guy pretty much." He says smiling, I laugh,

"Well I know how hard that is for you." I joke, he laughs,

"Anyways are you done for the day? I was headed to the tech room to grab some of the gear we'll be using, Ryan said you wanted to check it out." I say, Shane smiles,

"Yeah! That'd be great." He says, the elevator door opens and we head to the tech room, I swipe my card and enter the key code, Shane watches on,

"Oooh you got some pretty high security clearance huh?" He jokes, I laugh, we both know that pretty much anyone who handles tech at buzzfeed has access to the tech room, including regular old camera operators like me. The door opens and we step into the cool room, Shane looks around curiously as I scan the shelves for the gear we'll be checking out. I grab the camera I'll be carrying including the shoulder and chest strap and make sure it's all ready to go before putting it into one of the carrying bags. Than I grab the chest cameras and go pros and other tech we'll be needing, loading the smaller stuff into my backpack and packing anything larger in one of its cases. I can feel Shane looking over my shoulder,

"So uhh what's the deal?" He asks, I forgot that I was supposed to be showing him what we'll be using.

"Oh yeah, sorry so, the big camera is going to be what I'm carrying around most of the time. Then we've got chest cameras and go pros for you and Ryan." I explain, Shane nods and looks at the other stuff I've got in my bag, I pull it open a little wider,

"Then we've got some lavalier mics, or body mics, and a few other types of mics and gadgets, Etc etc." I say, Shane laughs a bit, I hadn't expected him to be interested in all the tech stuff going on behind the scenes.

"Alright cool." He says, we're both kneeling on the floor with the stuff strewn around us. He starts to help me pack it up,

"Are you excited?" I ask. Shane nods,

"Yeah I think it's going to be interesting, and I'm pretty stoked to see Ryan lose his shit." He says and we both laugh,

"I think that the fans are going to love it." I say, he agrees, we finish packing everything up and then head back to our desks, joking with each other as we do.

"Anyways Ryan and I are going to get sushi if you want to come." I suggest as I clean up my desk. Shane is sitting at his on his computer.

"Yeah sure!" He says, looking up from his screen. I pull my backpack on, log off and grab the rest of the gear.

Shane shuts his computer off as well, rushing to help me with all the camera equipment.

"Here, lemme grab some of that stuff." He says, tossing a bag over his shoulder.

"Thanks." We jump on the elevator and head to my car, loading all of the stuff into the backseat.

"Alright." Shane claps his hands together, brushing them off, "let's go get some sushi" He waggles his eyebrows and I laugh.

"I'll see you there?" I ask, he nods and waves as he heads over to his car.

—

Shane, Ryan and I sit at a sushi bar joking around and finishing up our food. We've finalized our plans for tomorrow and have moved on to talking about random topics. By 10pm we all agree to head in early considering the early morning we have tomorrow. We walk to the parking lot together and say our good nights before we each head home.