Work, work, work... All day, it’s just working, working, working. That's the way life has been lately. As a single mother, you're trying to juggle taxes, child support, rent—everything. It’s utterly exhausting.

All you do is work. You put in overtime, wake up early in the mornings, work weekends and weekdays, even work through the holidays. It feels as though you haven’t had a break in years.

And as much as you hate to admit it—as much as you loathe relying on a man again—the one person keeping you from losing your mind is Aki, your coworker from the office next door. He’s the only one who works the same crazy shifts as you do.

What started as brief conversations gradually turned into longer discussions, evolving from a simple exchange into a habit, and then a necessity. One day, when he called in sick, you realized just how much you depended on him. Without your daily Aki fix, you felt genuinely unhinged for the entire day. You found yourself acting paranoid, your eyes darting around every time you left the office for a minute or two—hoping he would be there. But he wasn’t. You hardly slept that night… if that means anything. You hardly sleep any nights. It's getting serious.

No, it is serious.

You’re actually going crazy. You’re becoming addicted to a man you only interact with at work. Sure, you have his number. Sure, you know quite a bit about each other from your long, late-night talks… but it’s still bad.

Tonight is one of those nights—no, let's be honest, it feels like every night at this point. You’re working late again and are significantly more on edge than usual because you haven’t seen Aki, and it’s driving you crazy. You gulp down your last bit of coffee, the cold liquid sliding down your throat like gravel after you left it sitting on the counter for two hours. You’re on your final sip when you hear a knock on your door—making you jump and… shit, spill coffee onto your shirt. Great. Who the hell is at your door now? It better not be Makima, or you swear to god…