When I finally burst through those front doors, I let out a great gasp of relief and slogged my way towards the elevators, doing the janitor a favor and coating the floor in a big, fresh layer of water.

"You're late again," I heard a familiar, bored voice say from the front desk. "You know if you keep that up, you might break my record of tardiness without getting fired."

Behind the front desk was a friend of mine from high school that was hired at around the same time as myself: Violet Aarons. Back then she was known for her teal-blue hair, but since having to subject herself to the Corporate World, she has had to instead opt for a deep purple instead. Framed by that purple hair is a face that I've never known to be anything except as deadpan as can possibly be. Yet, past the sarcasm and venomous tongue was someone who truly cared for her friends.

"Look, just because I've been late twice--" I said.

"Three times," Violet interrupted.

"TWICE in the past MONTH, doesn't mean I'm going to aim for any sort of record!" I said with a huff.

"Whatever you say, girl. You do you." As Violet said this, I could see, once again, those familiar green and yellow lights, now hovering above the stark block of matte black that was the front desk.

"Uhh... Violet?"

"What, what is it?" Violet said with a bored and unconcerned tone.

"You got something... above you..."

Violet looked up and squinted, with an expression of confusion. "Like what something?"

"Kinda like two orbs of light that are just... circling around you? One of them's green and the other's yellow."

Violet looked down at me scrupulously through her many layers of eye-liner. "You okay?"

"What?"

"Like, do I need to call HR and tell them you need to take a stress leave or something?"

I looked at Violet confused for a moment, and then realized what it was she was saying. "Wh-what? No no, nothing like that! I'm fine, honest!"

"Are you sure? People don't usually just... see things, you know."

"Dead serious, I'm right as rain! I'm sure it was just something reflecting off someone's watch or whatever!"

Violet's expression didn't soften, but she shrugged and returned to her game of solitaire. "Right, whatever. Listen, just take it easy, okay? You should get up there before the boss gives you hell."

"Y-you're right! Have a good one, Vi!"

Luckily, at that moment, the elevator door slid open with a chime and I squished in with the near-capacity crowd on the ride up.

Unfortunately, it looked like taking the stairs would have been the better option, as it seemed like every person on that elevator was going to a different floor and the accounting department was up near the top. Finally a recording announced my floor number and the doors opened once again.

Everyone was already knee-deep in their own work, which didn't bode well for me. My manager, Grigori, was at the far end of the forest of cubicles in a deep discussion with another coworker. As quietly as I could, I crept towards my own desk, making sure to keep my head below the line of cubicles to remain being seen. Maybe I could say I was here but had to make an emergency bathroom run? Yeah, just twenty minutes in the bathroom. That's normal.

Luckily I managed to reach my desk in time, and just as I sat down I let out a sigh of relief and sunk against the cheap polyester cushions. That's when I heard a bright voice chime from behind me.

"Suuee~! There you are!" I jumped nearly a foot with a yelp. "Hahaha, sorry about that! Here, boss wanted me to hand these out to everyone!"

I looked over and saw Jonathon Arian, the "heartthrob of accounting", at least according to the gossip-types in the office. He was a tall, lean man with a head of perfectly wavy dark hair, flawless, brown skin, and eyes that you could really lose yourself into. Of course it was a surprise to me to see him even talking to me, but not so much when I saw the memo he was holding out.

"O-oh, thanks," I said, looking at yet another office-wide scolding about someone having stolen treats from the break room. Really it's Violet that needs to receive this, but that's what makes it the "perfect crime".

"Hey don't mention it, and sorry about the scare!" Jonathon said, giving a slight wave before repeating the same process, with yet another yelp of surprise, from the person in the cubicle right next to mine. I placed the memo face-down on my desk and let my upper torso splay over it as my computer did its slow, slow process of booting up.

The morning was otherwise eventful, with the usual inbox full of spam emails and the forms to fill out. When I finally finished one of my weekly reports, I pressed the "print" button and was notified immediately that I was out of paper. Right. I opened the bottom drawer of my desk to reach for another stack and noticed my own supply of spare paper was empty as well. I let out a loud groan as I got up, stretched, and made my way towards the supply room.

There I sifted through the boxes and draped a sizeable load of paper over my arm. When I closed the box and looked up, there, floating in front of me, appeared to be a mint-green, winged cat and a puppy with a unicorn's horn.

"Hello!" The cat said in a bright and illegally cute tone. "Can you see us yet? The curse should be worn off by now!"

I stood there, still as a statue, blinking and rubbing my eyes a few times.

"Uhhh... are you okay?" The puppy asked. "She looks kinda pale..."

"So... you're real?" I asked slowly.

"Oh perfect! Yes, real as can be! See, try touching my paw!" The cat said, reaching out. Sluggishly I rubbed the fur and the thick pads, and they felt as real, warm, and soft as any animal I had touched. "Now allow us to introduce ourselves, I'm--"

The animals had continued to talk, but in one graceful motion I crumbled to the floor and everything went dark.