1 Another Normal Day..?

Irene was yawning loudly as she walked down the sidewalk without a care in the world. The sound of vehicles passing by, along with the multiple voices from everyone and everywhere was seemingly drowned out by her conscious as she thought through the dozens of tasks she has yet to accomplish for this day.

There were faint bags under her eyes from the all-nighter she did last night to finish one of her projects. Why she was in a rush to complete them? Well, she needed to make room for the Annual Summer Project that she was fortunate enough to be informed of in advance by her boss the other day. Which left her to stay up until 8, leaving her with less than an hour to prepare for work and do all the essentials she needed to do before that time.

Although despite her exhaustion and lack of time, she made sure to be decently presentable. She wore a clean white undershirt with the company's name with a beige blazer right on top. Add to it the adorable high-waisted black pants she had on, with caramel-colored sandals to finish the whole outfit. It was a decent outfit.

She yawns for another time when she hears someone call out her name.

"Irene! Good morning!"

Irene turned around to see the familiar face of her best friend slash coworker. "Good morning, Thea."

The best friend slash coworker, Thea Mysie, looked at her with that bright smile that she was known for around the office. Irene felt blinded by the light that seemingly emitted off of her friend a nonchalant smile appears on her face.

Thea was about to say something, only for that bright smile to disappear—which the people around them were grateful for—and she recoils back. "Eep!" She exclaimed before glaring at her. "Did you pull an all-nighter?" She asked.

Irene was surprised, one of her hands even came to her face to feel it up for any loose skin that could indicate any ounce of her tiredness, "Is it that obvious?" She mumbled to herself as she pulls out her phone to see her face. She was sure that she'd tidy up enough that it didn't look too obvious. Maybe she didn't try too hard, since it was only one night without sleep so she thought she can get away with it.

"Well it was more of a vibe I got when I looked into your eyes, you know?" She explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Irene smiles as she pockets her phone while she looked at her friend with unhidden amusement. "A vibe when you looked in my eyes?" She said, "What's next, you see our future together all cuddled up near a fireplace keeping each other warm?" She added as a tease, bumping their shoulders as she thinks to herself that she might have gotten under her nerves for once.

Thea scoffed, playfully rolling her eyes. Instead of an annoying look Irene expected, Thea wore a cheeky smirk and Irene knew in her heart that she was in trouble, "Like I'd want to live with someone who passes time by simping for hot blonde women with a hot French accent and have jaded eyes that can petrify a man with one look."

Immediately Irene's whole face went red, and the small bump she gave Thea earlier turned into a flustered shove as she sputtered to gather herself. The poor girl was speaking incoherently in the first few seconds, trying to find a reason for her way of showing admiration and affection to trying to outright deny the whole thing.

"We do not talk about that in public, you goat!" She hissed, this phrase the only thing that made sense to reply in her head.

Thea was laughing, she couldn't help it. Irene was fun to mess around with. Her reactions were over the top, especially when it comes to her beloved blondes. Her flustered state was everywhere and nowhere at once, achieving so little after doing so much. And you know you're in for a show when it happens.

Thea looks again at Irene's face, she feels herself hold back from doubling over with laughter at how red it looked.

"And why was that far too specific?!" Irene asked.

Thea was wiping away an imaginary tear, the cheeky grin never leaving her lips as the last of her giggles died down, "I don't know. Ask your boss when you see her in the elevator the both of you love so much~"

"THEA" Irene was so close to pouting—since it was the only way she knows to make her best friend stop, only she hesitated to do so since they were in public and she was too stubborn to 'lose'. Instead, she hid the lower half of her blushing face while glaring at Thea.

And Thea laughs louder, ignoring the dozens of eyes that turned to look at them curious to see what all the commotion was all about. "Okay okay~ I'll stop for today." She bumps their shoulders together, "This is what happens when you do a shit job at teasing me."

There was a sigh of relief. Irene awkwardly cleared her throat, her red face not quite calming down. "Anyway, I've got some news to tell you."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Luci said we're go—" She started only to get cut off by Thea.

"Wow, you're so close to our boss that you guys call each other by nicknames. It's almost like the two of you are da—"

Irene glares daggers.

"Sorry~" They both know she wasn't sorry. She never was with these things.

"Lucinda..." Irene said the name with so much emphasis that Thea felt like she was going to go on another round of laughing her ass off. Irene was so easily provoked that it became a comedy show in their office. Better have some popcorn ready on the go somewhere cause it can happen anytime and everywhere. Not that Irene will retaliate seriously, everyone knew each other's boundaries, and Irene knew well that most of them were just jokes.

"... said that we're going to start preparations for our Annual Summer Project in a few days. So whatever current ones we have at the moment, we should finish, or else you won't be able to participate." She continued, with a much cooler voice. Her complexion had returned to normal, her brain switching back to work mode as she is being reminded of the same thoughts and advice from earlier.

When she didn't hear anything from her friend, she glances at her.

Thea's eyes were wide as dinner plates, and the look brings a shit-eating grin to her face, "Oh shit. I haven't finished compiling the data that I got from that business trip I had in Australia." Gone was that cheeky smile, now replaced with dread for the next hours to come.

Irene started chuckling evilly.

Thea immediately turned to her. She wrapped their arms together, as she snuggled to her friend's side, trying to prompt the kind and helpful side of her best friend outside, "Irene you gotta help me make the spreadsheet!"

Irene held her chin up as she puffed up her chest, suddenly feeling powerful. "No." She said.

"Pleaaase Irene I need it!" Thea was again bringing the attention of the public to them, not that they noticed or cared.

"No~"

"I'll buy you caramel ice cream if you help me!"

A twinge of sparkle glistened at the corner of Irene's eyes as soon as she heard the name of her favorite treat. "The salty butter kind of caramel?"

Thea nodded desperately.

"Six cups." She offered.

Thea immediately cringed at the amount. She can only consume about two cups of ice cream if she wants to, and three when she's really sad. The idea of eating six is making her stomach sick "... five." She tried to bargain, for the sake of Irene's health.

"Four!"

Thea sighed, "Fine..."

Irene beamed happily as she celebrated her victory in the back of her mind as well as take some time off of her schedule to reserve it for her friend's request, "I'll help you with the spreadsheet and review your report~"

Despite her bad teasing skills, how easily she is to tease, and her unhealthy obsession with caramel ice cream, when it comes to work, Irene was like another person entirely. She can be considered a workaholic when it counts. Almost beast-like, but in short bursts, unlike their boss.

———————

[ Company Office - 11 hours later ]

The familiar sound of the computer shutting down echoed in her little booth, indicating that she's finished today's work. Like a tiger waking up after its afternoon nap, Irene stretched with a satisfied sigh as her joints popped and released tension in her body that has remained sitting for the past hours she's worked.

She had completed most of what she had sought out to do in her long list of tasks, as well as managed to do some progress in the spreadsheet Thea had asked of her earlier that day, although it needs furthermore work and rewriting. All in all, she can consider most of today's harvest a successful one. Leaving her to her last task that ties everything together in a neat little red bow.

Mission: Make Lucinda eat dinner!

It was a simple thing. Grab the bento she had ready earlier in the day, heat it in the kitchen's microwave and deliver it to Lucinda! Maybe she can even strike up a conversation with her and assist her with some of her workloads. Very simple yet very effective.

Irene nodded to herself, 'I should tell her that I told Thea in advance about the summer project. Yes, that would be a good thing to bring up to start a conversation rolling while we eat our early dinners!' She happily thought. Anything that involves her dear Lucinda was always an exciting endeavor.

Irene made quick work of cleaning her desk, making sure to leave it tidy or else it'll be somewhat of an inconvenience to her when she'll come in for tomorrow's shift.

Placing her pens and highlighters in her pen cup, putting away the dozens of spiral notebooks in her backpack, while all the little things gets organized and placed in her desk drawers. After that, she started wiping her desk, keyboard, mouse, and monitor with baby wipes before disinfecting and throwing her trash away.

There was a bright smile on her face, satisfied with what she's done. She pulled out two bentos from her bag and lightly jogs to the office kitchen, passing by a couple of her coworkers that were heading home.

She gives them a small wave and thanked them for their hard work, not staying long for a chat to continue on her merry way to the kitchen.

Irene entered the familiar room that was the kitchen office. There were a few counters and cabinets lined up by a corner of the room, coupled with a large pearly white fridge and a couple of tables and chairs. Inside the cabinet were a lot of junk food and other snacks, and in the fridge were a wide variety of cold beverages for the employees to help themselves. At last, just nearby the outlet was the glorified microwave that Irene was going to use to heat Lucinda and her's dinners.

She walked over to the small box, whistling a happy tune. For tonight's menu, she made a classic dish from the Philippines called Adobo. She found the recipe a week ago while she was looking to expand her knowledge of chicken recipes, and spent the next days perfecting it.

The bentos that contained the food were microwavable so she didn't need to pull out a plate from one of the cabinets or be worried about almost causing a fire. The memory of her first failure resurfaced and she couldn't help but feel a little bit embarrassed for being so stupid.

She shakes her head, 'Nevermind that. I need to get these done as soon as possible.' She thought as she placed the bentos inside the microwave before punching in a series of buttons until the food inside started spinning. A quiet ticking came from the microwave, not enough for it to become annoying but enough to fill in some of the silence that was the empty kitchen.

Irene strides to the fridge to grab a cold beer while she waits. She leaned on the countertop near the microwave and opened the can with a sizzle before she drank. She had halved the content of the beer from one sip.

"Fwuah~" She lets out a satisfied sigh, the coldness of the slightly bitter liquid hitting all of the right spots.

She was about to continue to drink in peace when she notices something that was out of place.

The microwave started ticking slower than usual. At first, she thought that her food was nearly done, but then another tick went by and it was... slow.

With a confused look, she turns to face the machinery. Staring at the metal heating box, she gauged how the ticking slowed down by a small second after its last tick. She also takes note of the bentos that were once spinning normally, now spun at a snail-paced speed.

'Something's wrong...' She notes in her head as she places a hand on her chest to feel her heart beat faster under her skin. She felt nervous, but she didn't know what.

The annoying hum of the luminescent lights reached her ears and she can hear the huge difference it was from normal.

She looks at the canned beer she had in her hand, and experimentally she lets go expecting it to go reach the floor with that loud 'clang'. Instead, the beer was seen floating in midair with its contents close to spilling but not quite getting there. Just as she'd expected it.

Irene sped-walked to the faucet and turned on the tap. Water came out at a sluggish pace, just like the contents of her beer.

Mist clouded in front of her when she exhaled, bringing out a surprised look from her. It was then she noticed the sudden drop of temperature in the room, as well as her subtle shivering. 'I don't know what's going on, but I should go find Luci...'

She was walking out of the room, her arms around herself trying to keep warm. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her nervousness nearly blowing over in a panic. She needed to go to Lucinda and brainstorm whatever this was as soon as possible, she's got a feeling that it isn't all that good in the slightest.

One of her feet takes a step out of the room and the cold disappears at a snap of a finger. Time went back to normal in the kitchen as the microwave ticks went on, the faucet ran, and the beer fell with its contents spilling all over the tiled floor.

Irene was about to enter the room again to investigate when she felt herself fall.

The floor beneath her feet had disappeared all of the sudden and the next thing she knew was free-falling through a dark abyss with nothing accompanying her but her voice that tore out screams of terror.

She felt like she couldn't breathe.

She has no clue what was happening.

A torrent of useless thoughts circulated in her head, drowning her while fear and panic never left her heart. Her mind felt like exploding with the amount of pressure and her heart felt like it would beat out of her chest. The tips of her fingers felt frozen, she feels that they were there but she couldn't do anything to move them. It was the same as the rest of her body.

She was simply falling and she can't do anything to stop it.

'I don't want to die...' was her last thought when she blacked out.

———————

Irene opened her eyes to the sight of large, luscious green leaves covering the light blue sky above it.

Her senses were slowly coming back to her. She could only move the tips of her fingers first, the feeling she would describe was like breaking a thin coat of ice that was surrounding the limb. Cracking and falling apart.

She takes a deep breath, humid air filling her lungs, greeting her to the dozens of scents that were surrounding her. Her hearing also comes back, and she hears the subtle movement of the leaves as they weaved with the wind as well as the distant ruffling of feathers. She opened and closed her mouth, trying to get the feeling back to her jaw and it was then she noticed how dry her tongue was. Her sense of touch was the last to come back and immediately she registered the blades of grass she was laying on.

Gathering some strength, she started to sit up. Her head became dizzy as she does so which slipped a soft groan from her lips.

Her gaze was focused on her lap, red hair falling from the sides of her face instead of the usual raven color. It brings a confused frown but she lets her gaze wander and sees how her work clothes were dirtied by the grass and dirt she was sitting on. Not to mention the little cuts and bruises that littered her arms.

She looks up to find nature surrounding her in every direction she looked. Trees, bushes, and animals were all she saw from where she was.

"Where am I...?"