Daphne’s alarm blared. It was Monday morning again. She turned off the noise coming from her phone, and pulled herself out of bed. Tanpopo was laying at the end of the bed, looking up at her. “Good morning, bud,” she said, gently patting his head. He nuzzled her and yawned, giving her the “food time?” eyes immediately after. She smiled at him.

  “It’s time,” she said as she started walking towards her kitchen. She heard him jump off the bed behind her, mewing excitedly. She grabbed his bowl and washed it.

  “It’s been two full weeks now,” Daphne murmured as she grabbed his can of wet food. Daphne’s chest tightened as she pried the lid off of the can. She sighed heavily as she cut the meat in the can in half. “Shit,” she said loudly. “It’s been two weeks and I’ve made zero progress.”

  She aggressively started chopping up the pate in the bowl, making it easier for Tanpopo to eat. Beneath her, he was rubbing himself around her ankles and meowing with greater intensity.

  It would be one thing if being murdered hadn’t come out of nowhere. But I’m not even sure who to suspect.

  Sighing heavily again, she placed the bowl down for Tanpopo, who happily started chowing down. She turned and started prepping her coffee maker to make her morning coffee.

  There’s three weeks to Halloween. I’ve wasted two weeks already just sorting out the situation with Gary. She pressed her fingertips to her temples, then pressed the brew button on her coffeemaker. Her phone vibrated with a notification of some kind, and the date caught her eye. It was October 10th.

  I’m already almost halfway through October. The pressure inside of her was building. It would have been one thing if the killer had given me some hints in the past…like hate mail, or sabotaging me…or something…

  She paused, thinking back on her fading memories of what the future was supposed to be like. Or maybe there was something like that and I didn’t notice before. She walked into the bathroom to start her shower water so it would warm up in time for her to get in.

  She regularly neglected to check her mail thoroughly. All of her bills were on autopay, so it wasn’t as though she had gone through each and every piece of mail she had gotten. As for sabotage, she knew she was pretty quick to assume that she had just looked over something, or done it to herself, so perhaps the killer had given her some hints, and she had just never noticed.

  She aggressively ran her hands through her thick hair, stepping into the shower. The warm water soothed her, forcing her to relax, at least a little bit.

  I should stop focusing on the negatives so much. It’s only been two weeks. I’m sure I’ve probably made some progress, not none.

  She chewed on her lips. Her heart ached. She hugged herself, thinking of how much she had thought that she had loved him before she came back to the past, and before the original breakup.

  Her heart throbbed for the na?ve girl she had been. Instead, I found out he was taking advantage of me, and cheating on me the whole time. Her eyes pricked. I should at least give myself some credit that I’ve made some progress towards finding happiness. It’s not as though I will be stuck in a dead-end relationship as long as I was last time. She swallowed hard, her throat tightening. I wish I hadn’t been so immature in the past.

  Daphne got out of the shower, drying off and getting dressed. I guess I can hope for happiness with someone else when I’m ready again. She pulled out the cosmetics that she and Holly had split the cost of. Daphne had spent a good chunk of the day on Sunday watching videos on how to do makeup. She’d struggled a bit at first, but as Holly suggested, the ones that she’d picked out were relatively simple. Daphne had struggled the most with the mascara, but after several tries, she had started to get the hang of it.

  She put on her makeup and chose to go with the light pink lip gloss. She pocketed it into her slacks, deciding she’d put it on once she got to work. She’d quickly learned that lip gloss did not stay on well through eating.

  She walked back into the kitchen, and poured herself a cup of coffee. Glancing at the clock, she realized that it was a little later than she’d been hoping it was. Groaning, she quickly made herself some breakfast and sat down at her small table. She glanced over at Tanpopo’s hammock, where he was happily cleaning himself, and she smiled. I am glad that Tanpopo is happy. Maybe I’ll spend some time playing with him…more than I did before.

  She sighed, taking a sip of her hot coffee. All I can do at this point is just to keep moving forward. All I can do is wait until there is something I can use to start figuring things out. She chewed on her lip. For my happiness… She thought about how she would have been absolutely convinced that she could find happiness with Gary, only two weeks ago. Her heart panged. Time heals all wounds. She took another sip of her coffee. Eventually it won’t hurt anymore. She took one more gulp of her coffee. I’m just impatient. I still have time.

  ~

  Thought it was early October, the wind had a bite in it that chilled Daphne through her coat as she was walking up to the office building from the parking garage. She pulled her coat tighter around her, chewing on her lower lip. God I should have skipped putting makeup on. She took a quick glance at her watch. I should have just kept practicing in the evenings. Holly probably would understand. Daphne let out a heavy breath. I have so much to catch up on that I probably won’t be out of here until six thirty. She sighed again. Traffic was so bad this morning. If I’d left at the same time any other morning, it probably would have been fine.

  As she was nearing the building, she noticed that someone was standing next to the doors, looking at their watch and then looking around. A little closer and she could tell that it was Landon. Their eyes met and Daphne saw him smile and he waved at her. She returned the gesture.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “What are you waiting here for?” Daphne asked as she got closer.

  “I was waiting for you,” Landon replied, a grin blossoming on his face.

  “For me?” Daphne asked, her eyebrows raising. “You know it’s warmer inside than out here, right?”

  Landon’s smile turned into a smirk. “Of course I know that. I was just hoping that you might come early enough so that we could go get a cup of coffee together to celebrate my graduation from being a trainee.”

  Daphne felt her eyes widen. This most certainly never happened in the past. Things are beginning to change already.

  “I have a lot to get done today,” Daphne murmured.

  Landon smiled a little and nodded. “You always do. I’m more than happy to help since I know I’ll be eating into your work time with my celebrative coffee.”

  Daphne wavered a little. I do never get to do things like this. This is also clear evidence that things are changing, so maybe it would be good to go. But I have so much to get done that it could take me weeks to dig out from underneath it all…

  She chewed a little on her lower lip while Landon looked at her expectantly. Ah, fuck it. I put work ahead of myself all of the time.

  “Alright,” she replied with a smile. “As long as you help me today with my workload.”

  “I promise,” Landon said, picking himself up from leaning against the wall, and leading the way to the coffee shop that he had chosen.

  ~

  “Order number one-one-six, please!” a barista shouted. Daphne watched from her seat as Landon grabbed their drinks off of the counter. He had insisted on paying for both of their coffees, telling her that he’d owed her a lot for his training. Daphne had shrugged and shook her head, telling him that he hadn’t really needed her help training. Regardless, Daphne had accepted his gesture, not really knowing how to say no.

  Still, as Landon walked over to the table with a silly little grin on her face, she was beginning to wish that she’d said no. The whole thing was beginning to have an aura of…a date.

  Daphne shook her head at herself. It’s just a celebration. Stop misinterpreting things.

  Landon placed her coffee cup in front of her. She pulled out the stick that kept it sealed in hopes of it cooling off a little bit faster.

  She looked up at Landon who had a bit of a cute look on his face. She chewed on the inside of one of her cheeks. What if I’m actually not wrong about the vibe I’m getting? Then what? Butterflies fluttered in her stomach and she felt her chest tighten a little. He has a girlfriend. Hopefully I won’t have to disappoint him.

  “Congratulations on your first day as a fully trained employee,” she said with a smile.

  “Thank you,” Landon replied, the sweet smile on his face widening.

  “The training wheels are off now!” Daphne exclaimed. “Though I’m not sure you even needed them in the first place.” She took a small sip of her coffee. It was still piping hot, causing her to burn herself a little. She held back a flinch.

  He laughed at her statement. “I appreciate that,” he said. “The environment definitely feels grueling enough to doubt myself. I also really appreciate the time you spent training me, even though you were extremely busy.” His face was filled with adoration, which caused Daphne’s stomach to tighten even further.

  “Of course,” Daphne said, waving at him as if it wasn’t a big deal at all…even though she knew it had been extra work for her. “I was just doing my job, after all.”

  Landon looked down at his coffee cup, chuckling a little with a soft grin on his face. “I look forward to working with you more in the future, and if you are ever overwhelmed and need help, I’m still more than happy to give you a hand if I have time.”

  Daphne smiled at him and took a small drink of her coffee. It was cool enough for her to drink now, but still hot enough that it made her burn hurt.

  I wish I had a bit of alcohol to drink in this situation. She noticed the air was starting to become thick with whatever true purpose Landon had for taking her out to coffee. Maybe I could deal with what is coming better.

  Landon took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Daphne felt her eyebrows raise and her chest tighten, the butterflies in her stomach fluttering more rapidly.

  Does he even know that Gary and I broke up? She tried to remember who all at work she had told. She was fairly certain she had only mentioned it to Holly.

  “I actually asked you to coffee because there was something I wanted to tell you,” Landon said.

  Daphne felt her stomach drop at his words. Shit. He’s really going to make me reject him, isn’t he?

  Her throat tightened. “What’s that?” she asked, knowing fully well already where the conversation was going.

  “I’m, uh…” he stuttered a bit, a blush spreading across his face. “I’m interested in you, Daphne,” he said.

  Daphne had to bite her tongue. Fuck. Landon is a nice guy…But I’m not ready for another relationship. I have too many other things I need to figure out.

  “And all the time at work,” Landon continued, “I see you texting your boyfriend and looking frustrated. I just can’t help but think you deserve better, and I want to be that for you.”

  Daphne felt her heart skip a beat. He’s so earnest.

  “I see,” she replied. “What about your girlfriend?” she asked, trying to dodge the issue.

  “Rose?” he asked raising his eyebrows. He frowned and shook his head. “Honestly, the way that she was when she came to visit was really enlightening. It was a side of her I hadn’t seen before, so I called it quits with her after that.”

  Daphne felt her eyes widen as she sat back further into her chair. I judged Landon too harshly that day. She remembered how confused she’d been that such a kind person could be dating someone so…bitchy.

  “Wow,” she replied.

  “What about you and your boyfriend?” Landon asked. “It seems like things are pretty rocky.”

  Daphne pursed her lips, her heart sinking that they had circled back to her. I might as well be honest. I’ll just tell him that I’m not ready for anything yet.

  “We broke up,” she answered.

  “Oh,” Landon replied, looking a bit excited. “So then…?”

  The air was thick with his expectations. Daphne’s throat tightened, and she began to feel as though she was drowning in his eagerness.

  Daphne smiled awkwardly. “To be entirely honest, I don’t think I’m ready for another relationship right now,” she said. “I had a lot of expectations for that relationship I was in and ended up getting really hurt because I didn’t face reality. So. I need to heal before I can move on to someone new.”

  Landon nodded solemnly. “That’s fair. I can understand that. I didn’t really know how toxic Rose was until I was without her.” He pursued his lips, looking disappointed.

  Daphne’s heart was thundering in her chest. I can’t believe I just did that. Her throat tightened enough that she couldn’t speak. She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing the whole situation would just go away so that she didn’t have to deal with it anymore.

  I at least told him a true excuse. Though she knew the underlying truth she was trying to hide from herself, even in that moment, was that she wasn’t really interested in Landon at all in that way.

  “I hope you’ll at least consider me as a possible candidate for a partner in the future when you’re ready again,” Landon said with a puppy dog like smile on his face.

  “Of course,” she lied, smiling.

  “I hope that my feeling won’t put a damper on our work relationship either,” Landon continued. “I think you’re really cool and intelligent, and incredible at your job, frankly.”

  Daphne felt her face warming under the flurry of his compliments. “Thank you,” she murmured, taking another drink of her coffee. “I’ll keep your feelings in mind and try to not let it affect our work.” She smiled, doing her best to make it look as genuine as possible.

  Landon looked relieved. “Thank you,” he said.

  Daphne’s stomach was swirling and she took another big of her coffee in hopes of calming it, but to no avail.