Matt slipped out at 11:37 to go run and get some chocolates for Stephanie. That was on February 2nd. Now, it was February 3rd.

*

Stephanie was having a bad day, but then again, a man who fell down Mount Everest would probably be having a better day than she was. At least that metaphorical man had a chance to view the top of the world before falling to a painful decline; Steph didn't even get that lucky.

All in all, it was the little things that added up. Like waking up without her husband's arms around her(a note on the fridge was saying that he was out looking for a job), accidentally sleeping in, not having breakfast made when she walked out of the bedroom(which wasn't anything she expected, but it didn't help her mood), having a car that wouldn't start for twelve minutes straight so she was late to work, seeing that her Starbucks that she usually drove through if she needed an extra something was congested beyond belief, and the doors to her job closing and locking her out milliseconds before she reached them.

No, today wasn't a good day. Nor did work try to change any of that. It began with another arduous stack of papers plopped on her desk. Stephanie stared at the papers. The papers stared back. They seemed to be at an interpass, and, since she lacked a box of matches, the papers won this battle. Stephanie began her daily drudge through the paperwork. Just filling out sheets, cross-checking, cross-referencing, crossing before saying a prayer for strength, and working hard to not fall asleep on the job.

*

It could be said that Matthew was also having a bad day, but that wouldn't be entirely accurate. Unlike Stephanie who was visited by the 'Bad Luck Fairy' last night, Matthew's bad luck was entirely of his own doing. Nothing, like, say, a previous obligation, made him get up at zero dark thirty in the morning and drive away. He could've waited, but he chose not to; and was having a bad time of it as a result.

MatPat went back to pressing his face against the glass then stood and looked at the man behind the counter. "You're sure you don't have any."

The man shook his head.

Matt groaned and dragged his hands over his eyes. How the heck did every store that could have chocolates in a thirty mile radius suddenly run out of caramel filled centers? He slumped into a chair next to the window by the entrance of the small one-room chocolate shop. What was he gonna tell Stephanie?

"But," the man began, "we do have another shop downtown a ways, who I know got an order in this morning."

Matthew stood up excitedly. "Really? Can you get me the directions?"

*

Stephanie had a working relationship with the fan. It cooled her off, it stayed put thanks to duct-tape, and it didn't blow away her papers. The fan was small, but powerful, and was clamped to the side wall of her office space. It was aimed at her head and really only pushed her hair back a little bit when it was pointing directly on her; otherwise it just cooled her off. It was supposed to spin back and forth, but with a bit of duct-tape she could hold down the button to keep it still. But, like all working relationships, things can go awry if one party disagrees. Thusly, this had to be the day that the fan betrayed her.

It was shortly after everyone had filed out to go to the cafeteria. Most people liked to go early, but Stephanie always packed a lunch, so she could spend a bit more time on her work. So, once the last person was safely out of earshot, the fan broke forth its fury. The duct-tape holding it in place snapped and the fan began turning, making all five hundred sheets of paper scatter across the floor.

Stephanie tried to grab at the papers, but her efforts were futile. Soon enough all of the papers were in a new location. Her first attempts at wrangling them up didn't work. Everytime she got them in even close to a similar position, the fan just blew them away. So, Steph turned off the fan and proceed to clean up the papers in the inhumanely hot work environment. Finally, she had them all in a large pile. She could organize them and then-

The woman looked at the clock. There wasn't enough time. Flat out, not enough time. By the time she got to the cafeteria everyone would be standing and leaving. Steph looked around to make sure no one was watching, then she pulled out her lunch and ate it on the spot. She smiled at Matt's little scribble of a silly face and the words, "have a great day, honey."

Her smile faded hearing the growing voices from down the hall. She quickly shoved all of the food she could manage into her face, watered down what she could, and scrunched up her bag and hid it away. She was able to swallow and hide the evidence before anyone returned to the room. Stephanie hoped that she didn't get in trouble.

Stephanie did get in trouble.

*

Matt sprinted into the store and quickly a bag of caramel filled chocolates off the shelf, ignoring the surprised cries from the fourteen year girl he barged past to get the gift. He ran to the counter and checked out the one single item. Matt tapped his foot and looked at the clock as the incredibly slow cashier played with the machine; dropping a five for the two and a half dollar item. Matt grimaced, noticing the time.

He had a job interview soon. He had enough time to drop the chocolates at home, or get lunch from McDonald's. Neither was in the way. He bit his bottom lip. He knew what he had to do. He grabbed the spare change, receipt, and his wallet and sprinted out to the car. Then he ran back inside, grabbed the chocolates too, and ran back to the car.

*

All of hopeful joy had been taking from Stephanie's life. She was called into the office and was given a harsh lecture about eating on the job by her boss. A very long lecture, that ran ten minutes into another meeting Stephanie had to attend.

She moved as fast as she could to the meeting room, not having any time to stop at the bathroom. She was utterly embarrassed when she came in. Everyone stared at her as she panted and slowly walked over to her seat. Stephanie looked and felt like a wreck. Her mascara was bleeding down her face, and she let out hiccups from leftover crying every few seconds.

During the meeting, someone asked for her paper pertaining to their schedule. Stephanie clumsily fished through her briefcase and pulled out the paper she'd been given last week. The paper was promptly given back to her, stating that it wasn't finished. Steph blushed. She'd meant to finish it after lunch that day. She apologized and scribbled out the paper. It wasn't hard work, but the fifteen silent seconds that she spent writing felt eternal.

When the meeting finally ended and everyone trickled out Steph just sat there, working on not crying. She returned to her desk, and looked at the mountain that laid before her.

*

"Well, thank you for seeing me, Mister Patrick."

"No problem," Matt responded automatically. "I'm glad to apply."

The man stood up and shook the theorist's hand. "We'll get back to you."

Matt gulped once he'd cleared the building. "My stomach grumbled during the interview?" he criticized himself mentally. "I should've-" He didn't finish the thought.

He disagreed with the idea. It was worth it. All of it. He caught a bus heading back home. He didn't actually get a call back for that job, but if it was because of his stomach, that was alright.

*

Stephanie set the last piece of paper into the stack. Done. All of it. She picked up her purse and briefcase, locking the door behind her like the secretary had instructed. The sun was set by the time she got home. Totally depressed, she dropped her bags on the floor the moment she arrived home. She walked over to the kitchen to grab some food- wait what was that on the counter?

Sure enough, on the counter, with a little sticky note on it, was a bag of caramel chocolates. She loved caramel chocolates. The note read, "Stephanie, happy third day of Valentines."

Stephanie was sitting on the couch when she heard the door open. She expected to hear some criticizing. Some jest of her leaving her stuff in the doorway. But all she heard was Matthew come into the other room. "Hey," he greeted.

Stephanie flew up and gave him a kiss, her mouth still tasting of chocolate. "Chocolates?" she offered.

Matthew shook his head. "They were for you," he argued. He took her hand and led her back to the couch. As they curled up he said, "you left your purse and briefcase in the doorway."

Stephanie nodded into his chest. "I know," she admitted.

Matt frowned. "Then why didn't you do something about it?"

She chuckled. "I'll take care of it next time."

"Fine," submitted Matt. "Say, you wanna have dinner?"

"No. I just wanna stay like this. Why? Are you hungry?"

Matt was still pretty empty from skipping lunch. "I can wait," he lied, snuggling up to his wife.