*James*

It's after 3am. I decided to take apart the printer and fix it to keep my mind of this awful night. I head to the storage closet near the elevator when I hear the familiar Bing.  Hoping it's Nate leaving or Julia coming to see me I rush out of the storage closet with a pack of printer paper. 

It's Julia.

"Hey."  I say, keeping my eyes forward, unable to look at her right now with all the thoughts running through my head. She swivels to see me, and I lean in a little.

"What are you doing down here? You're not sleepwalking, are you? The kitchen's closed Ma'am." I joke and straighten my back while walking to the front desk.

I can sense Julia following and a wave of relief washes over me. I make my way behind the front desk to load the paper into the printer. I can't make this awkward, but I also can't look at Julia.

"So, what brings you down here anyways, you get bored with your boyfriend already?" Shit. that really came out of my mouth. I take a deep breath in and straighten my back, staring at the wall.

"What? He's not -"

"Don't even deny it, I saw Hollan walk in. He gave me a wave before heading straight to the elevator." I pause. "There's no other reason for him to be here." I can't believe I'm doing this right now. But she's my best friend. I'm gonna be honest with her. "And.......He hasn't come back down yet."

"It's none of my business anyways... I'm just -" I finally get the courage to turn around and my face drops instantaneously. Julia's been crying. Her eyes are red and swollen along with her lips. It's obvious something happened between them. I will seriously do physical harm to that man if he hurt her.

"Are you ok?! Did something happen?" My voice rose two octaves higher. 

"No! God no... Nothing happened. Seriously. I just had a bad dream and wanted to come down here to read." Julia sets her book and key down on the counter. I don't believe her though. You don't cry if nothing happened.

"A bad dream. Right. " I sit and swivel my chair now, making it clear by my facial expression I don't believe her.

"Yes, I'm dead serious, James, nothing happened."

"So why do you look like you've had a rough night, and why is Hollan still up there and you down here with me?" I scoff. "Hmmm?  You know what, actually, don't tell me. I don't want to know the details. So long as you're being honest and you really are ok, that's all I care about, Julia. What you do with your time is not for me to know."  I pick up my phone and scroll through it, trying to ignore her.

"James...Can I sit down here with you?" Julia looks over to the vacant chair next to me behind the desk and then looks at me waiting for an answer.

"Be my guest, but you're not getting paid..." I reply, still looking down at my phone.

"I won't get you in trouble, though?"

She's trying to be normal and I'm giving her the cold shoulder. I can't do that to her. I give in and sigh, putting my phone down as Julia walks around the counter and sits next to me.

"No, no one will be here for a few more hours. Besides, I've been here forever, and no one else wants this shitty shift. I can do whatever."

"So why DO you work the overnight shift? Sometimes you're here by 6 pm relieving other staff early." 

 I shrug and swivel my chair a little. I like simplicity. But she likes Nate.

"Listen, James, we should talk about earlier." 

She has my attention now and that twinge in my stomach comes back. I smirk and wheel my chair closer for our conversation.

"Hmm, Yeah, we probably should..." 

"Did you mean to -" She start, But I don't give her time to finish her sentence. If this is gonna happen it needs to happen right now. I lean in close and put my hand on the side of her face. Everything happens fast but I feel like we're moving in slow motion. 

She closes her eyes, and I don't waste another second. I need to feel her lips on mine. I lean over and kiss her. Her lips are soft, and I can't get enough of them. I continue to kiss her and right when I think she is going to give in and kiss me back, she pulls away abruptly.

She sees Nate.  Standing in the hall by the elevator. Eyes wide and dark. Staring right at us. His eyes dart back and forth between us.

"NICE." is all I hear him say sarcastically before turning away and pressing the elevator button a few times in a row, waiting to go back in the elevator he just got out of. He watches the numbers impatiently, waiting for the elevators to reach the lobby level.

 Fuck.

"Nate, wait!" Julia jumps out of the chair and practically runs to him, disregarding me completely.

I watch her chase after him and look away the minute they enter the elevator and the doors close. My heart is still pounding. But I kissed her. And I sure as hell didn't imagine her feeling what I felt.  Nate Hollan may have stirred her a little but there's no denying I've gotten her attention.