His alarm went off promptly at seven that morning. Crawling out of bed he sat there for a moment then remembering what events the day had in store for him the demon warrior groaned. He remembered it was the day of the funeral. He loathed those things. They were too formal, emotional and way too final. He of course wanted to pay his respects to his friend and co worker of the past five years, and give Melanie his condolences, but he still hated going to those things. The only good news was he didn't have to go alone. He was going to pick up Jenna a few hours before the event, but still he wasn't looking forward to the ordeal. He knew it would be sad and depressing. He knew he would be trapped in a room full of people crying over Dale's passing. 

It wouldn't go on until the afternoon he reminded himself. He shuffled his feet through the apartment, starting the coffee first then the shower and got ready for work. He had decided to wear a black button down long sleeve shirt and black trousers. He didn't want to rush to change after work, reserving that time for Jenna. After the quick shower Neil grabbed his clothes and dressed, then checking the time stamp knew he could probably get at least a large cup of coffee before work, possibly two.  He poured a cup adding a splash of cream and checked the smartphone. No missed calls, that was a relief. That meant he didn't have to deal with anyone yet. Today he'd have more socialization than he truly needed before the day's end. He sipped at the warm liquid and waited for it to fully wake him. He didn't want to deal with anything today but he knew he had no other options. 

He just sipped at the warm liquid energy, and tried to think about other things that mad him less depressive, like Jenna and the fact he didn't have to work as late, that was a nice thing for Bill to do in honor of Dale. He didn't want to sit and think about the funeral all morning before going to it. He did hope if nothing else that Dale being such a nice guy more than likely made it to heaven. He had heard of souls not crossing over, staying here in torment. He was sure that if anyone deserved to move on to paradise in the afterlife, it would be his friend. He had no way of knowing for sure, but he had faith in that thought. 

He took a large gulp of the coffee and tried to enjoy his short time before going to work. He got up to pour another cup and saw it was almost time to join the rat race. He hoped the day would slide past him with ease. He didn't think it would but he could hope so. He got up and grabbed a few things he would need for the day before going out the door. Once he was in the car and on the road, he noticed that for a monday the traffic was clogged. It happened on more than a few occasions. He tried to be patient, as the traffic finally let up a block from his office. He didn't really mind, it hadn't made him late. He pulled into the parking lot and found a decent place to park. It wasn't near the door but it was close enough for him. 

He got out and hurried into the building to get on with his day. The sooner he got started the soon it'd be over with, he thought. He strolled into the office and saw everyone was already there. A few of the other guys were dressed in black too. He nodded to a few of the other guys he worked with and waved hello as he passed Bill's office. He got to his own office and sat down at the desk, logging in to the desk top computer. He checked his e mail, cleared his inbox and got started. His work load was lighter than usual, thank the good lord for that small favor. The day progressed at the usual speed, not fast enough but by noon it had started to go quickly. He could over hear a lot of the others, like Margret asking who would be going to Dale's funeral service. It sounded like almost the whole office would be attending. That was good to know. He was glad to see that Dale was well remembered. 

Neil got up from his desk, needing to stretch a few minutes. He had tried to stay distracted from thinking about Dale that he buried himself into his work, it helped make the time fly past him. He checked to see how much time he had left before they would all be off early. He had twenty minutes to kill. He went to the bathroom, washed his hands and checked to make sure he looked good. He then went to the break room to grab a soft drink from the vending machine and a candy bar. He sat in there for a few minutes before going back to his desk. By the time he returned, most of his co workers were busy telling stories about Dale. He was more popular around the office than Neil had originally known. Bill came out of his own office to join them.

"Okay everyone, even though it's a not quite time to get out of here, you can go. I don't think our corporate office will kill me over letting us out of here five minutes early. I will see you at the funeral. If you need directions, I made copies in my office." He told all of his employees. He didn't need to say anything else as everyone got up and headed out the door, excluding a handful of them that stopped to get directions to the funeral home.