I take a long drink of my coffee. It's awful. The break room always had the worst coffee, but it was all that was available. It doesn't help that I have to drink it black. The sugar packets always are the first to go, and no one ever replaces the long expired bottle of creamer in the fridge. You'd think with the high quality of work we do around here they could afford to get us a nice coffee maker, but apparently not. I suppose upper management considers it a bad investment because we don't spend much time in the office. The only time I ever visit is when I have to turn in a contract. Depending on who is working in the back, the processing and verification process can take anywhere from twenty minutes to four hours. I take a seat in a threadbare chair.

Surprisingly, I'm not alone for long. I hear her approach down the hall long before I see her, her gait and footsteps giving away her identity, Daffodil. Upper management tends to discourage us workers from socializing too much with each other; they say it leads to us lowering our guard. But I've worked with Daffodil on quite a few assignments over the years. I wouldn't call us friends, but there's certainly a mutual respect and admiration between us.

As she enters the room, without looking at the corner I am in, she calls out "Hello Crow. You must be getting old, I could practically hear you banging around in here from outside". Her tone is teasing but friendly. "I'm off the clock" I say back. "Besides, anyone who is allowed into the building is more than capable of tracking me down outside." She finishes pouring her own cup of coffee and turns to me "I heard your last job got a bit messy." She takes a sip from her cup, making a face as the bitter liquid touches her tongue. "It was a messy job. From what I gather, the client wanted it to be a bit loud to send some kind of message. Not my choice." She sits across from me, her movements fluid and graceful.

We sit in silence, sipping from our cups as the clock in the corner noisily counts the seconds. I find myself wondering if she and I would have been friends if we didn't work this job. I'd always imagined that I'd do something similar if I hadn't found this opportunity. Security, police work, maybe a bouncer at a bar. She, on the other hand, is a bit of an anomaly. She's one of three women that are employed to the best of my knowledge. Rose is a classic "femme fatale", and Orchid is strong enough to overpower over half of the men on payroll. Daffodil looked like she'd be the teacher to a class of first graders. Maybe that's what made her so good, everyone underestimated her. Whenever the company would put out metrics, Daffodil was consistently in the top ten performers. She holds the record for the most consecutive number one spots.

I catch her looking at me. Her hazel eyes as soft as ever. But for the first time, there is something else there. A hint of sadness. A crack in the facade. "You're not here to turn in a contract, are you?" I ask. She sighs before replying "Not yet, no. Still need to finish. It shouldn't be much longer now." I look down at my cup before downing the rest of my coffee. "I thought it tasted worse than usual."