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Assistant: Title: your silhouette looks kinda lonely
        Author: jurousei jurousei 
        Chapter: 1/2 
        Summary: It wasn’t the first time since Vincent’s employment at Kingdom Technologies that he found himself exhausted, running on fumes and spite for the corporation. The money is nice, but everything else is terrible.Dr. Sabine Callas just seems to have everything together, in such a way that Vincent believes it has to be real. She’s composed, intelligent, and striking in the bar he sees her first, while he’s barely keeping it together. Prodigal son he may be, but it didn’t mean sh@t when he was faced with a woman as awarded as Dr. Callas.Was she out of his league? Most likely.Was he going to try at least? Most definitely.
        Contents: Chapter 1: picture this, a swing and a miss // never exchanging a name
    

    


  

  
  
    
    “You are a sad, sad man.” Vincent cracked one eye open, a slight struggle through the dry eyes and general dehydration, and picked out the sight of a short, brown woman frowning at him. His glasses were tucked neatly in his breast pocket, so her features were blurry, but the p@ss@d off expression was familiar and iconic enough for him to recognize. “I’d rather not hear a lecture right now, Tala,” Vincent mumbled as he shut his one eye again. “I am an adult, doing adult things. I invited you to request you to drive me home, not to lecture me.” “That was probably the most depressing thing you’ve said to me ever, dude.”  “Blame my bosses.” It wasn’t the first time since his employment at Kingdom Technologies that he found himself pulling multiple nights of overtime for the last three weeks. One of the largest projects he’s been a part of in his career, and with a few patents on the line, he couldn’t afford to be lazy. With the piling workload and hours at the office, it was mostly impossible to find anything fun that didn’t also take energy.  Call it unhealthy, unwise, or most likely both, but Vincent’s favorite hobby he picked up recently was laying face-down against a bar counter in a sh@tty bar. Sapped away at his wallet, rather than his energy, and his wallet was much easier to refill than his energy. Vincent’s hobby was so fun that he managed to rope his entire project development team into joining him; now, after a particularly rough work day, he’ll randomly receive photos of some coworkers face-planted at their own favorite bars or at their desk from home. Vincent thought that should have counted as a team bonding event, at least in spirit, but his higher-ups didn’t seem to find it funny. “Where ideas come alive,” Vincent grumbled under his breath as he sat himself up for the first time in at least an hour, “more like where I die once every six months.” He grimaced at the stickiness between his cheek and the bar counter, pulling his face away akin to ripping off a velcro strap. “I’ve lost any passion I had for design and engineering. Or for myself in life, in general!” “Isn’t that kind of morbid? A sweet-sounding slogan for a company that produces warheads and suicidal unemployees,” Tala pointed out. She took a sip of Vincent’s drink before cringing at the dry taste. “Allegedly, at least,” she added before glancing around the establishment. “It’s a running joke in the company,” Vincent replied. After Tala failed to stop glancing with what he finally noted to be nervousness after a few seconds, he reassured her, “Don’t worry. They wouldn’t do anything in a public space.” For the first time since he sat down at the counter, he put on his glasses and looked around at the bar. The televisions spread throughout the building either played late night shows or re-runs of sports matches from that day. Conversation dominated the space, interrupted by the occasional cheer of a toast or an announcement from the employees, and it brought a liveliness to the dimly lit environment. For a Thursday night, it was a good mix of the people who had problems — like Vincent — and everyone else having fun for the night. Tala sat to the left of him at the counter, and the next person to his right was a couple seats away talking to what seemed to be their group. They were one of the louder packs in the space, a feat mostly achieved by the three people standing at the center of the group. The individuals at the edges of the group were on the quieter end, Vincent noted as he scanned each person, and— “Mon dieu,” Vincent murmured, one part awe and two parts drunk. Sitting at the bar at the edge of the loud group was a woman that looked older than the others.  “Yo, are you sure you should be eyeing them? They’re a little on the younger end, cradle robber.” Tala peered around Vincent’s tall build, trying to catch a glance at who exactly the man was eyeing. “Shush!” He whipped his head to glare at his friend, an action that sends the room spinning and brings Vincent closer to ending the night by the toilet bowl. With a small grimace from the nausea, Vincent whispered, “My taste in women is much more refined. The black-haired woman sitting over there is beautiful.” Tala raised a brow before leaning forward to glance at the woman in question. Vincent watched Tala process the description in real time, chuckling when her eyes went wide and met Vincent’s gaze with a grin.  “Alright, yeah, I understand.” Tala nodded with a genuine seriousness displayed in her expression. If there was something Vincent loved about their unlikely and hesitant friendship, it was the shared appreciation of beautiful women. “Are you gonna hit on her?” “In this state?” Vincent snorted as he gestured to himself, half deprecating and dejected. “I have pride in myself, but even this may be too much for me. Nor does she look the type to appreciate someone as inebriated as me approaching her.” A man of usual striking confidence, the weeks of overtime led to a decrease in his self-care. He was up at six am, clocked in by seven, and by the time he was off at nine pm, it was hard to feel good in his appearance. He felt gross, tired, and burnt out while a few drinks in. Not a recipe for success in flirting with a woman, as noted from unfortunate, previous experiences. “C’mon, you don’t know unless you try! Pound a few glasses of water, and I’ll even wingwoman you!” Vincent squinted at Tala, who had started donning her pouty eyes. ”What do you want from me? You’re pushing quite hard for me to embarrass myself.” A grin from the shorter woman. “First of all, always. Second, lunch for a poor, starving college student. Five lunches, if I get you laid within the next week.”  “Like you wouldn’t make me buy you lunch anyway,” he scoffed. He rubbed his temples, barely dampening the start of a thudding in his head and wondering if the offer Tala extended was worth it for the beautiful woman across the bar. “Let me get through the waters. We’ll see how everything goes after.” “Deal!” Unbothered by the change of terms and the busy nursing of half a cocktail, Tala mimicked a handshake in the space next to Vincent’s hand. “Start the plan in 2 waters and 30 minutes?” “What plan?” “Alright, bet,” Tala replied with a cackle. // Vincent hated to admit it, but Tala did start her plan — whatever it was, as he had given up on asking questions — on the dot. 30 minutes and two empty water glasses later, he was feeling a little less sh@tty. The second the second glass emptied and he set it on the counter, Tala nudged him. Not even a single moment of rest was afforded to him by his own friend. “Go clean yourself up a little more, you look…” Tala pursed her lips, a thoughtful expression crossing her face for once before shrugging. “Well, you know already. Go tidy up, and I’ll take a shot to prepare myself! On your tab, by the way.” “Fine,” he made up his mind. Tala was right, again. There really was something to a woman’s intuition that Vincent would never be privy to, and all he could do was begrudgingly nod his head to Tala’s suggestion. “I’m placing quite a bit of faith in you right now.” “It’d be nice if you could act like it, at least.” She rolled her eyes. “Now shut up and sit down! Drink some more water or something with less alcohol, and do not throw up on the hot lady,” she hissed. “Do you think I’m stupid?” Vincent scowled. Tala stuck her tongue out and pranced away to find a bartender, it looked like. Without a single word, she somehow got the last say in the conversation. While the headache from dehydration was gone, there was a different headache Vincent could feel the start of. Choosing not to deign Tala’s critique with a response, and certainly not because she didn’t let him respond at all, he did at least agree on needing to clean himself up; standing up from his seat for the first time since entering the bar, he became keenly aware of the uncharacteristic rumples in his clothes and a grossness to his breath he only used to attribute to his alcoholic parents.  He did his best to weave through the bar nimbly, avoiding working servers and roving bar-goers as he smoothed down stray hairs. Vincent prayed to a deity he remembered his coworker mentioning recently — he was never religious, he just needed some guidance to boost his odds currently — that the beautiful woman across the bar wouldn’t see his sorry state. Crossing the threshold to enter the men’s bathroom was a relief Vincent rarely felt, especially with a public one, but now it was the first moment he remembered not being wrack with anxiety. Woman or work-related. He sighed as he finally looked at himself closely in the mirror. The crinkled clothes and ruffled hair was a given, but he didn’t realize just how awful his eyebags had gotten; he didn’t even want to broach the topic about his current skin quality. There was no fixing it overnight, but Vincent pondered if this was the moment to step back and take some time off. (Or maybe just resign, find a better work-life balance elsewhere.) In an attempt to salvage what he could, Vincent rid himself of glasses and splashed water on his face; the cold was refreshing, jolting him alert for the first time in days. It was almost a shame he had to dab the droplets away, but he couldn’t risk ruining his clothing even more, he thought as he re-tucked his shirt. Donning his glasses once more and a heavy inspection later that had two passing guests in the restroom confused, he did look leagues healthier. Rather than another terribly groomed man out there, he looked barely presentable by his standards. But add another roll to each sleeve, just above his elbows, and the edges of his tattoo peeked out; Vincent didn’t know what the woman’s type was, but he figured it would help in more cases than not. He gave himself one last lookover, combed his hair through with his fingers, and finally landed on ‘this is the best it’s going to get’. He was a competitive man, but even he knew when to cut his losses and run. Despite that, it didn’t make swallowing the loss any easier as Vincent walked back out to Tala surrounded by the entire group once nestled in the corner. Now, they surround Tala instead with one of the younger strangers sitting in (formerly) Vincent’s seat. He didn’t know whether he wanted to buy Tala another round of shots or if he wanted to be swallowed up by the ground. Or maybe an earthquake so everyone could forget about him? How did this happen, was he gone for that long? Whatever he hoped for failed, and Tala caught his attention with a grin and a whoop. Right, maybe that last shot she pranced off to acquire was too much, and this was foreshadowing his social demise, all by his own pathetic hand. There was no amount of fake bravado he could pull from his reserve that would make this night end well in any way. “Vincent, you took a while! I started talking to a bunch of cool people in a corner,“ Vincent winced at the phrasing, “and they were waiting to meet you. Look!” The bubbly attitude, a lack of scowl at his mere appearance — Tala was drunk. He suspected he’d be seeing more than one shot on his tab by the end of the night, but if this was what it took for her to not sh@ttalk him (out loud) for the night and to wingwoman, then this was a small price to pay. So far at least, he thought. The jury was still out on if he’d have to drag Tala out of the bar by the end of the night. Arming himself with a pleasant smile, he stretched his arms wide in open friendliness as he greeted, “Hello, Tala’s new friends! How are you all this fine Thursday?” He stifled the shudder at his weak introduction, feeling a social anxiety he hadn’t encountered since middle school, but the strangers paid no mind. Whether more drunk or less of an overthinker than Vincent, they all smiled in some way as they started introducing a round robin of names. More sober than before but not up to usual fare, Vincent managed to catch half the names or so. Some of the more unique ones, harder to remember, or catchy in their own way, he filed away in his little folder of connections and networking. Still, not one of them was the gorgeous woman from before. Maybe his glancing wasn’t subtle or they had caught on earlier, long before he retreated to the bathroom, but one of the woman’s compatriots — an intern? Her name was Sunwoo, he was sure at least — nudged him. “If you’re looking for Sabine, she’s over there.” She pointed out a booth a few feet away from them, where Vincent did a double-take. He noticed a new person sitting across from her. Clad in a light blue polo and a red beret — not even a cool-toned red, Vincent complained — was a bearded and well-built man. Much older by the looks of his salt and pepper hair and fine wrinkles in his face, but the woman looked relaxed unlike before. She didn’t look unhappy, but she certainly wasn’t the most comfortable; somehow, that had disappeared, and Vincent was struck by how cute her half-smile, half-smirk was. Of all things, cute. This was shaping out to be worse and worse for him. Sunwoo rolled her eyes at the stunned expression. “That’s her mentor,” she said. Looking at her closely for the first time — was five foot something that far away before? — Vincent noted the red flush on her pale cheeks. It only looked more pigmented against her white hair, but judging from her composure, it seemed only a side effect of pale skin rather than actual drunkenness. “They just like being antisocial together, but they’re not…y’know.” Sunwoo paused, wiggling her eyebrows to elaborate her point. Vincent raised one eyebrow to elaborate his confusion; the previous claim of Sunwoo not being drunk seemed a little less likely. “I apologize for not understanding what you mean, my friend.”  Another roll of the eyes; somehow it was enough for Vincent to feel even dumber than he usually did. Sunwoo explained, “Coworkers, not whatever you’re thinking. Tala was right, you do suck at hiding your thoughts.” He whipped his head towards the Filipino woman who only waved politely with a laugh at his glare. What the hell had she been telling everyone in the group? “Anyway, I’ll prove it. She’s kinda mean at first, but she’s actually super cool. Just don’t be as dumb as you were with me, and she won’t hate you,” Sunwoo grinned. The same type of mischievous and up-to-no-good grin Tala sported, cheeky and familiar, one that he couldn’t stop in time as Sunwoo yelled, “Dr. Callas! Come meet a new person, like the networking advice you gave me!” Oh shit. A medical doctor or a doctorate? Whatever it was, the woman’s disclaimer made more sense, and Vincent mentally polished his academic degrees from the shelf. Suddenly, he could understand why peacocks behaved the way they did.  Whether it was 30 seconds or 5 minutes when the beautiful Dr. Callas finally arrived, it didn’t matter when Vincent scrambled to gather his wits the whole time. Not that that mattered it either, since nothing prepared him for just how awe striking the woman up close was. Dr. Callas was taller than him in small, black wedges and donned a dark grey blouse with matching jet-black pants. Her hand, extended for a handshake, was manicured with emerald french tips and adorned with silver, dainty bracelets. A few that had Vincent’s eyes widening at the brand signet; a fellow woman of luxury taste. “You’re who my colleague wanted to introduce me to?” Right. Life was not short, but it wasn’t long either depending on one’s unluckiness. Vincent Fabron was a late-twenties man who figured out most of his life much quicker than others. Financially stable, with meaningful and impactful work sometimes, and being not the most socially dry person in the sphere — it truly could be worse. He figured out all the things he needed to. What he didn’t figure out was how to talk to a woman this significantly out of his league. One whose voice was richer and deeper than others who had fawned over him previously, lightly roughened from what Vincent guesses may be a less crippling cigarette habit than his; one sentence in, and Vincent was dizzy already.  “Dr. Sabine Callas, this is Tala’s friend! Turns out she’s also a Kingdom employee,” Sunwoo explained, breaking what must have been Vincent’s stunned expression. “I’m pretty sure he is too.” Vincent’s previous romantic meanderings screeched to a halt. Also a Kingdom employee?  Sabine raised a brow, a glimmer of interest crossing her face for the first time that Vincent caught. Maybe this terrible, terrible corporation would finally benefit Vincent in a way greater than his paycheck (difficult to beat) or having to beg for any semblance of time off (not as difficult to beat). “What department? I’m responsible for the pharmacology department, but I fear I can’t elaborate further.” “I’m part of the defense branch, if you’d like to call it by the sanitized term,” Vincent replied with a low chuckle, matching Sabine’s. Now, Sabine’s full attention was on him: he felt the goosebumps rise across both arms at the intensity of her stare, head lightly tilted to the side as she scrutinized h. “On the engineering design side, not the outwardly terrible side. I fear I also cannot elaborate further.” “You look young to be at such a clearance. You can’t be one of the stupid ones,” Sabine remarked without blinking. Sharp-tongued and blithe, she continued, “You were one of the wonder hires a few years back, when they updated that line of manufacturing?” “How..?” Sunwoo giggled, looking back at Sabine. “I can say this much, right?” As if used to asking such a question, Sunwoo continued without waiting for a response, “She’s a fellow there. One of the smartest, probably the smartest person ever actually. I’ve been interning there the last two summers in her team.” The pride was palpable, but Vincent remained silent. F@ck, the woman was even more out of his league somehow; Sabine was right on the money, and while he was proud of his accomplishments, the two degrees and a half done dissertation of his didn’t seem anywhere impressive now. At this point, he didn’t know what was the more appropriate way to refer to her. He cleared his throat before offering a smile. “How sharp to make such a quick deduction, madame,” he answered, deciding to keep as vague as possible. “Yes, I was one of the engineers hired in that spring wave. I’m working with them in partnership for a doctorate, and perhaps I can join you in that same accomplishment one day.” “Oh, it’s always interesting to hear what one’s thesis subject is. If you don’t mind sharing.” The cool stare boring into Vincent’s didn’t give much choice, despite the flat (well-intentioned?) words.  “In-depth characterization and current state-of-the-art applications of radianite, no one has compiled such a detailed index since its discovery. Low hanging fruit, but foundational sounding, yes?” He possessed no shame in further admitting with a sharp grin, some sliver of confidence coming back, “It’s still important work, but if one were also to think more quantitatively…Quite a bit of citations to be gained as well.” “Not a bad trait at all to consider all outcomes, positive or negative,” Sabine agreed with a low chuckle. Sunwoo stared at her with wide eyes, but Sabine somehow either failed to notice or ignored it outright as she said, “Smart work is hard work. No wonder there hasn’t been a total collapse of your branch already, but only time will tell.” Vincent winced, but there was nothing to disagree with. If he had to rate his work experiences on a spectrum from terrible equivalent of rotting in hell prematurely to fantastic, dustland fairytale of benefits, pay, and coworkers, most would rank on the lower to middle end; the nicest benefits were from his time in the military, but that wasn’t a fairytale occupation particularly. Kingdom had the best benefits out of all the mega-corporations, sure, even if nowhere near as stable as the military’s. Everything else could rot in hell, and judging by the first — and maybe the only one he’d ever get — sympathetic expression on Sabine’s face, she could guess his entire opinion already. Sunwoo’s words of his thoughts being easily readable flickered in his mind; he shooed it away with a scowl. “Survive until you get your degree, then leave. Don’t be like me and come back,” Sabine advised. “The type of freedom they offer with the position might sound nice when they describe it, but a large enclosure is still an enclosure.” Vincent nodded. “I have no plans to stay, if all goes well. Please do not worry, madame,” he reassured. Feeling more brazen than before — the advice and the surprise amusement must have been a sign that she didn’t hate him at least — he said, “They may have taken most of my will to live, but they will never take all of it. Only a most gorgeous woman like you could break the last remainder of it.” “Oh man…” Sunwoo let not even two seconds pass before chiming in to break, to her credit, what may have been the start of an extended silence. But he wanted to at least confirm it; that way he could go home and mope accurately, knowing that he scuffed it rather than just assuming so. Still, the way her hand made a slicing motion through her neck did make him lightly falter in his dedication. This time, because Vincent lived such a comedically-timed life, Sabine did glance down at Sunwoo, and there was no way of getting around it. At least Sunwoo had the manners to look nervous from Sabine’s direct stare. Unsure if it was the better or the worse option from the younger’s attitude, Sabine offered nothing more than a raised brow. “It was interesting to meet you. Take care, you and your friend,” Sabine wished Vincent, moving on as if nothing happened. Caught off-guard — and maybe slightly affronted at the lack of any acknowledgment — Vincent could only respond, “Of course… Take care as well, Dr. Callas.” She departed the premises in quick, brisk strides, only stopping briefly by the booth she occupied before. The man from before was still present, and Vincent watched with a sinking stomach as the older man escorted Sabine out of the bar. “Ouch…” Sunwoo made a hissing noise. “Well, look on the bright side. You never gave her your name, and you don’t work in the same department. You’ll probably never have to face her any time soon,” Sunwoo comforted. F@ck. He needed a smoke. // 
  [08:29 am] Me: It went very poorly.
 
  [08:40 am] Tala: better luck next time

  [08:40 am] Tala: L lol

  [08:41am ] Tala: u owe me at least one lunch anyway
 
  [08:45 am] Me: I hope you’re having a terrible hangover. 

  [08:46 am] Me: $75 on my card, just from you.
 
  [10:30 am] Tala: today is the Lord’s day, and this is how ur going to talk to me
 
  [10:31 am] Tala: look i did my part of the deal. i got you an in, didn’t i?
 Vincent scowled at his phone in his cubicle, unable to get the last word in before his supervisor hunted him down. Prodigal son or not, luck was debatably a skill, and that was something he couldn’t engineer or practice. He sighed, shutting off his phone and returning to his desktop monitor; the clicking of the keyboards and mouse would be his companions today as he prepared for another full day’s work of CAD drawings to supply to a vendor. Vincent paused briefly to grab his headphones from its case in a drawer, chair spinning enough for something in his peripherals to catch his eye. He looked up right as he placed his headphones on, eyes widening as he inquired, “Dr. Callas?” At the call of her name, Sabine turned around and met Vincent’s eyes with her own small look of surprise. More composed and elegant than Vincent as she recovered her neutral expression quicker, she offered a nod of acknowledgment before paying attention to the colleagues next to her again.  A weird coincidence but not an unpleasant sight, though he would never say such a thing about a woman as striking as Sabine, he returned to his computer with a small flutter in his chest. He ignored how a brief glance instilled that feeling in him, but if the work didn’t seem as tedious or exhausting as before, then…  Right, maybe he was slightly enamored already.'
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