Lost Boy

Chapter One

"If you have a heartbeat, there's still time for your dreams."

-Sean Stephenson.

...

Fawn

Five Years Later

I was running late for work. As I speed-walked into the building I made sure to grab a coffee from the canteen, needing something to keep me awake and alert. Mondays were full of meetings.

"Morning sunshine!" One of my oldest friends Ada was stood by the doors waiting for me, large dark sunglasses resting on her golden locks. In high school she had been the loud gossipy one, but several years studying at art college had sobered her up. Over the past few years she had mellowed, becoming one of the kindest people I knew. Occasionally her fiery spirit would reappear again, usually in board meetings with Dean.

"H-Hey," I mumbled sleepily, still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

Our office was situated on the outskirts of town and most of us had gone to high school together. We'd all been stuck together since we were kids, sepearting only for college and then coming back together again. We had made a pact during the year of graduation to all return to our hometown, and somehow we had made it work. 

What was once a lanky body in high school had eventually become a msucled greek god. Dean and I had been friends for years, and after a few years of trying for college football he had returned to town, much to my surprise. "Try not to bother her majesty too much," Dean joked from behind me, leaving his desk and coming to stand next to us. "She's unpredictable." He mock whispered.

"Give m-me a break." I pinched his cheeks, making him slap my hands away. "O-or your jeep might just e-end up with a d-dent on it. " He was in love with his blue Jeep Wrangler. It was his baby.

"You wouldn't dare!" Dean pointed his finger at my shoulder. "Does our friendship mean nothing to you? Or do you just have a death wish today?"

"Come on guys, we have more important things to do today. Plus, I'm not being paid to listen to Dean's failed flirting." Ada groaned, grabbing my arm and dragging me down the corridor, stopping once we had reached her desk chair. She flopped down with a sigh and signed in to her computer.

"W-what?" I flinched and Dean rolled his eyes. "Shut up. I wasn't flirting." 

"Who wasn't flirting?" asked Scarlett, coming up to us from where she had been stood by her desk. She had been working here for a couple of years now, gaining the job after several years doing a fashion and design degree. "I've been waiting for you guys for the past ten minutes. What happened? Was Dean having some alone time with his baby again?" Everyone loved making fun of Dean's car.

"Leave my baby out of this." Dean glared, suddenly being given a cup of coffee by Ada before he could do any damage to Scarlett. He was immediately distracted by the warm beverage, much like the rest of us. Before anyone else could speak the phone on the desk started to ring, interrupting us. "Time to get t-to work," I smirked, saluting Scarlett as I walked to my chair and computer, at the very end of the corridor. "See y-you later!"

...

Just like every other Monday, I was heavily focused on trying to stay awake. By lunch my hair was already a brown tangled mess and Ada was having to reapply her eyeliner for the third time because she kept smudging it accidentally.

As the meetings continued throughout the day, I found myself daydreaming. Making eye contact with someone across the table, I felt my heart race anxiously.

What if they thought I was staring at them?

I panicked. Whilst I did have a miniature group of colleagues I called friends, I found it extremely hard to form a coherent sentence around any other human beings or things that breathe. My social anxiety was bad. Luckily I had Ada with me to calm my nerves. She had gotten me this job after all. I had never left town, working various part time jobs to cover bills, basically doing the bare minimum. Being a town over, Ada and I had stayed in touch the most, and as soon as she returned to town and heard the Brookes' Company was hiring she had secured us both jobs here. The others had followed not long after, thanks to her recommendation.