"I asked you to run those reports an hour ago! Why aren't they done?" My boss all but screamed in my face, upset over reports I haven't gotten done because he keeps overloading me with work.

"I haven't had time, but if you give me a few minutes I can run the reports now." I tried to calmly smooth things over, but despite my best efforts he was still red in the face.

"Forget about it. I'll have Nathan run the reports. Get your act together, we all have to multitask around here, it's not just you. Don't act like you're a martyr because you stay after work. It's hard on everyone."

He says that but yet it seems I'm the only one working around here in this crap shack. Nobody else is doing nearly the work I do. I end up staying hours after work every night just to finish everything up. Sometimes I feel like I'm at the end of my rope and can't handle it anymore. All this for a small one bedroom apartment.

I groaned, finding my way back to my desk only to find more work had been dropped off while I was getting chewed out. I slammed my head down on the desk, almost in tears. This isn't how I thought my life would turn out honestly. I thought I'd be someone by now.

Ring, ring, ring! My phone furiously rang while buzzing at the same time in my pocket. Luckily for me our cubicles are spaced out enough that I probably didn't disturb anyone. Our office doesn't have a no phone policy but it's frowned upon, you know, if you're me anyway.

I took my cell phone out of my pocket, I didn't recognize the number on my phone, and didn't want to pay the extra four dollars a month for the caller ID feature so I had no idea who is calling. "Hello?" I asked, putting the phone to my ear. It's a cheaper model so the sound quality was a bit muffled.

"Ari? It's Shelby." She sounded frantic on the other end. "Cassie is here with me."

"Shelby? What do you want?" I tried not to sound rude but I wasn't exactly expecting a phone call from her. The last time I heard from her she married my high school crush and has lived the perfect lavish lifestyle since then. I haven't even heard from Cassie in years. We all kind of just went our own way.

There was static on the other end. "He's back Ari."

I almost dropped my phone, a rush of fear and panish washed over me. "N-no he can't be." I stuttered.

"He is, and he's looking for you. We held him off as best we could, but it wasn't much. He's gotten so much stronger."

I gulped. "What does he want with me?"

She paused, I could hear the sympathy in her voice. "I would say revenge Ari, you're the one that made the finishing move that sent him back to where he came. I don't think we ever stopped him, he just went back and trained while we moved on with our lives."

"I can't do this again." I stuttered. "I've got a job, I can't just go off on weeks on end anymore."

"None of us can Ari. I have two young kids and Cassie has a baby." That's right, people my age are getting married and settling down.

"Have you heard from Eve?" I asked.

"No, I was hoping you have. I haven't heard from her in about six years." Wow where has the time gone? "We need to meet up now."

"I can't, I'm at work. I can meet you guys after work."

"We can't wait that long!"

"Does he know where I'm at?" I asked, feeling a migraine coming on.

"Well no, but…"

I cut her off. "Good, then I'll meet you at the old hangout after work at four."

"Wait, Ari!" She gasped desperately, but I hung up the phone, not waiting for her to plead her case any longer. She would just have to wait, I can't risk losing my job, how else would I pay for my apartment? I'm already on thin ice as it is.