We went to Lo Sole Mio friday night. Upon arriving, we were seated promptly, but waited quite a while for the waitress to show up.

We ordered an appetizer, which was delayed because the cook 'spaced it off', but it showed up not too much later.

When we ordered our entree, we said that we were going to split an item, and were promptly informed that there was a $4 'split charge'

It seemed very odd that a meal would cost more for the same size if you were sharing.

We weren't sharing because we were being cheap. We were sharing because we had bread, and an appetizer.

Even splitting the main entree, we didn't finish our halves, and based on the fact that almost everyone was carrying a to-go box, there was a lot of food going out the door.

Maybe an adjustment in portion size and menu price would ease the waste and increase profitability?

It was good, not 'wow', but good.

At the end of the night, we stopped by 'Lava Jays' to see if the environment had gotten better, but at 11:30pm on a Friday night, they were quite empty.

I don't understand how a place like 'Wet Lounge' could be packed with a DJ that consisted of a laptop on a card table, but a new 'Dance Club' like 'Lava Jays' is empty on a Friday night, and from other reports, Saturday night wasn't any better.

Is it the promotion of the business, or the experience it gives the patrons?

If you are new to this story, start at the beginning.

In the stairwell, she starts to speak, but he presses a finger to her lips to quiet her, those sweet, lucious lips....snapping back to reality he motions with his head for her to begin walking downstairs, but, she doesn't get it, so he points, and they start down.

As they reach the garage in the basement, they here footsteps running down the stairwell, the door slips out of his hand and shuts with a loud bang.

In the garage 'Steve' the building maintenance guy is heading towards the exit in his new Challenger.

As they walk past, he smiles at Steve, and makes a rotating motion with his hand in the air, Steve is fired up, and does a smoky burnout and speeds out of the garage and down the street.

He pulls Cindi into a crouch behind a car, just as the people from Corporate run out of the stairwell, jump into a SUV and race out of the garage after the car that left the scene so quickly.

A few moments pass, and he motions to Cindi that they should leave.

He doesn't mind the cramped quarters, but they should leave the area.

They slip out of the garage door, and head the opposite direction, a couple of blocks down, where he parks.

Sitting in his car, they both breathe a little easier.

He looks over, takes a little too long of a lingering look at her, their eyes meet.

They both exclaim 'What - the - FUCK - just happened?'

She punches him in the arm 'You owe me a coke!'

The laughter in the face of the absurd calms them both down a little bit.

'We could have just taken my car, it was in the building garage.' she says after thinking for a moment.

He explains that he thought about that when they were crouched behind the dirty explorer, but leaving the building, he hoped that they at least lost them for a little while.

Joking that, 'Unless they hacked all of the building cams and traffic cams, we should be ok'.

Agreeing that they should leave the area, he starts the car and they rumble towards the exit.

She looks around his car, saying that the new Camaro really looks nice on the inside too. Her Malibu is an ok commuter, but she really likes this retro Muscle car.

He says 'Thanks, I really know how to write a check, don't I?'

Chuckling, they drive down a few blocks, but a speeding SUV is closing in behind him before he can even get to the interstate.

'They hacked all of the building cams and traffic cams?' comes out of their mouths at the same time.

Again she punches him in the arm, with a smile and a shrug.

He downshifts two gears and drops the hammer, makes a hard left at speed turning onto the interstate, the SUV following, but slides off as it's own weight and traction causes it to miss the turn.

Catching a glimpse of them backing up, he continues to increase speed, not wanting them to catch up, weaving in and out of traffic, putting as much distance in between them as he possibly can..........

Staring at the flash drive in his hands, he is wondering where it came from, can't think of where he would get it, but it looks familiar.

Yeah, it should look familiar, it's one of the new 256GB USB 3.0 drives he saw on the desktop support guy's desk.

They were for the engineering group, someone made a big budget stink about them because of the cost for 26 engineers.

The question would still be, how did he get it?

Then, remembering the awkward conversation with the engineer, what was his name? Steve?

His conversation was somewhat random, kept going on about getting new sneakers, and patting me in the chest.

I guess he could have slipped it into my shirt pocket, I was kind of distracted through that whole visit.

Getting up to find Steve?, first stopping by the water fountain to get a drink, and a quick gaze out the window to check the weather outside.

Distracted by a couple of women walking down the street, he is brought back to reality quickly as for an instant, he makes eye contact with Steve?, it is an unnatural feeling, since he is on the seventh floor, and Steve? is on the outside of the window, falling rather quickly.

A thud, and a scream from the street, and he doesn't need to find Steve? anymore.

What the fsck just happened?

Did that just happen?

Opening the window, and looking down at the street, the body and streaks of liquid flowing away from it, confirm that, yes, that just happened.

Turning his gaze upward, he sees a shaded face looking down from above.

Could be wrong, but isn't that one of the people from corporate?

The stairway opens up, it's Cindi, she's shaken and upset.

She explains that the people from corporate were questioning Bill, (he thinks 'that's right it was Bill, Steve is the building maintenance guy.)

They had him in a conference room, but disappeared, she heard the commotion in the street, and looked out to see Bill in a pool of blood on the sidewalk.

Footsteps approach, they look at each other, and as quietly as possible slip in the stairwell.

They don't want to be questioned like Bill....................

Picking up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Cindy from HR, the desktop support guy is out, and I'm having a problem with my computer, can you come up here and give me a hand?"

Thinking, 'Cindy, the gorgeous blue-eyed, brunette?'

"Sure, I'll be right up."

click.....

At least this afternoon is looking up.

Searching through his desk, thinking 'I had to eat that sandwich today, I couldn't have had something milder?'

He frantically digs until he finds some breath mints.

The minty sting encompasses his mouth as he chews the whole package.

Hopefully that'll cover it, I don't need any more assistance being awkward.

Making his way up, he notices a few strangers in the building.

They are either going to buy the building, or from corporate, coming to lay off more workers.

Thoughts of his own job security start to creep through his mind, is this a ploy to get me quietly into HR? Will security be escorting me out of the building?

Bumping into the security guard, he apologizes, and makes his way into the HR area, looking back, he is more nervous, and doesn't notice Cindy walking toward him, then 'crash'.

He knocks her down on her butt. Catching himself, bent over, apologizing as he tries to help her back up, awkwardly touching her, trying to assist, but not touch anywhere inappropriate.

He thinks 'When was the last time I even touched a woman?". Then "If I have to ask, it's been too long'.

She tells him it's okay, no problem, go wait in her office, and she'll be right back, just needs to greet someone from corporate.

Thinking, "Great, I am getting fired." as he walks back to her office.

The sweet smell of her perfume lingers in the air.

Glancing around at the pictures on her desk of her dog, her and her dog, her. Looks like she is single. 'yeah, like I have a chance'.

She comes in, and goes over the issues with her PC, printing problems, etc....

In a short time, everything is sorted out, she thanks him for his help, says she owes him a favor.

He jokingly says something about lunch next week, and she casually agrees.

Stunned, he backs out of the office to go back to his desk.

Turning he bumps into an engineer, he looks familiar, but so many do, the engineer speaks to him by name, looking nervous and jumpy.

They part and he gets on an elevator as the people from corporate are getting off.

They are all in suits, but appear to be out of place, a cold hardness to their looks, instead of the normal stuffed suits that come from corporate, maybe they are the sports type, that work out a lot.......

At his desk, in the zone of comfortability, he resumes the boring day that his the normal course of his life.

Thinking how great of a distraction it was to help Cindy, wondering if she was just being nice, or if he'll really have lunch with her next week.

Reaching down to pick up a pen, a flash drive falls out of his shirt pocket.

That's not mine, where did it come from?

To be continued.............

At his desk, the feeling is overwhelming, fighting it takes all he can muster, but soon he falls victim.

His head snaps back up from the instant of sleep as he nods off at his desk.

Reflexes from years of office work kick in, he contemplates for an instant and reacts.

A quick move of the mouse interrupts the screen saver.

Some quick clicks and browser tab changes give the appearance of propriety.

The nap-jerk will be back, he knows not when, but it will be back.

Fighting the overwhelming monotony of the office, he rises from the desk, a stroll at lunch may keep his keen senses sharpened.

A walk downtown reveals his true powers.

He is invisible to the world.

Passing through the masses with a word, look, acknowledgment of existence.

A woman's fleeting glance and smile gives him a moment of awareness, that is followed by realization as she walks past and begins to converse with the person behind him.

Slight hints of humanity are realized as he orders and pays for lunch.

Taking the solitary sandwich and leaving the deli, he is again cloaked in invisibility as he walks back to the office.

Passing by people he knows, unrecognized by any.

Eating alone at his desk, browsing news sites, he wonders what else may be out there in the world.

Then something out of the ordinary happens, the phone rings..........