Laura Thompson's POV (Present Year: 2022)

On the outside, to everyone else in the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla's office, I probably look happy, overjoyed even.

However, on the inside, I am the complete opposite of every happy emotion I know.

He can't be serious!

The fourth Crew member of the first manned flight to Mars is none other than Elon Musk?

He must be joking, right?

"Oh!" I laugh, my earlier joy quickly fading away being replaced by something else.

As the chatter in the room slowly dies down, my head erupts once again with more thoughts that don't have answers.

Can Musk actually just get up and walk away? What about the media? What about all the employees? Who'd take his place if something ever happened? How would both companies even stay alive if he was to never come back?

Why the heck do I care so much all of a sudden?!

I feel my face begin to heat up as I fight against my sudden rise of emotions.

"Excuse me." I murmur softly, quickly getting up from my chair and heading out into the hallway.

As the door closes softly behind me, I sigh heavily, running a now rather sweaty palm down my face.

What the heck was that?!

"Why does this have to happen now, all of times?" I mutter lowly, beginning to pace. "I finally get the opportunity of a lifetime and-"

The sound of the office door opening causes me to pause.

"You good?" My friend, Vivian, asks, quickly walking towards me. "You left in an awful hurry."

"Yeah." I sigh. "Yeah, I'm good. It's just really warm in there, that's all."

At this, she raises an eyebrow questioningly.

"Lori, it's actually not that warm in there."

My demeanor falters slightly.

"I-It's not?" I stutter, feeling my face heat up once more.

Vivian comes closer to me, a questioning expression still on her features.

"Well," She concludes, "As long as you're okay, I guess there's really no reason for me to be here..."

A silence falls in between us as she stares me down, trying to read me.

"You might want to come back in soon, we all have to do some paper signing. Legal stuff and all that."

I nod, still attempting to squash my emotions.

"Sounds real fun." I laugh as I watch the woman in front of me knocks on the door she had just came from and seconds later, she's back inside the room.

I sigh heavily once more.

You've wanted this since you were a child! Don't let some pesky emotions steer you away!

I nod to myself as I quickly rap on the door a few times, waiting for it to be opened.

Almost instantly, Vivian whisks it open, and I make my way towards the seat I'd been sitting in moments ago.

Right beside the Apollo 11 picture.

That's gonna be me, except on Mars...

Rather abruptly, the heavy sound of a stack of papers being placed breaks me from my thoughts.

Startled slightly, I lower my gaze from where it had been seconds ago, back down to the papers now in front of me.

"Might want to get signing some papers, Ms. Thompson."

I shift my gaze from the papers in front of me to the source of the voice behind them.

Elon also has his own stack of pages, which he somehow already made a dent in.

"That would seem the most logical choice of action." I nod, my own gaze locking with his own, a rather curious and excited gleam in his eyes.

I think he's more excited about all of this than we all are.

"Pen?" Musk asks as I shake myself from my thoughts, taking the pen from his grasp.

"Thanks."

Once more, the room goes quiet, other than the sound of four people scribbling away on paper after paper.

The time continues to wear on by.

And, before we all knew it, it was getting quite late.

Silently, I roll my wrist over to check the time on my watch, gasping at what my eyes are reading.

"How on Earth is it almost eleven thirty?" I laugh lightly, my hand cramping up from all the signing as I roll my wrist back over to continue sifting through all the papers.

"Wait, it's that late already?" Mark asks groggily from the other side of the room, his stack of papers almost complete.

"Apparently." Vivian replies, her own voice faltering slightly.

Her stack of papers is almost completed too.

I quickly glance at my own.

Nowhere close to either of them.

Elon's pile, however, was complete, sitting off to the side of his now empty desk.

He had been kind enough to go make us all coffees, claiming that the caffeine would help us stay awake.

At first, I was skeptical of the idea.

The minute I have a hot cup of coffee in my hands, I'll be out like a light!

Though currently, I'm starting to think a caffeine boost might just do the trick to get me though the rest of these papers.

"I feel like I'm signing my life away." I muse aloud, my own voice ringing back at me making me cringe slightly.

I sound horribly exhausted.

"Well," The younger, curly haired man from the the other side of the room starts, tapping his clipboard against his knee. "You essentially are. We already know how fast things can go wrong when it comes to space travel."

"Mhm." I sigh, signing yet another paper, my signature looking more like a scribble than anything else.

The room goes quiet yet again as the three of us continue scribbling away.

My thoughts begin to wander and I allow them.

Tired thoughts are usually more fun to think about than normal ones anyways.

I wonder what's taking him so long to make a few cups of coffee? I really don't want to be alone here once Vivi and Mark leave... But it's not like I have to worry about anything weird... Elon's a decent guy...

The sound of the office door being unlocked interrupts me from my thoughts, which I'm sort of thankful for.

That train of thought was going somewhere I didn't really want to go.

"Sorry about the delay." The CEO chuckles lightly, passing out the small disposable cups. "I was apparently having a difficult time recalling how to make a pot of coffee."

"It is getting late." I half yawn, half laugh as I cradle the warm cup in between my palms. "I guess that's why us humans need rest. Because apparently, if we don't, we completely forget how to do the simplest of things!"

Elon just smiles wearily.

"Apparently so."

The room falls into yet another quiet spell, though this time the sound of scribbling on paper is accompanied by the clicking of keys.

"Nope, that's not how you spell that!" Musk mutters, obviously becoming frustrated as he continues clicking away at the keys in front of him. 

I stifle a laugh as I continue the task at hand.

Who knew this is how I'd end my day. Sitting in an office with two of my friends and the CEO of the company who apparently can't spell.

I choke down yet another laugh.

Oh boy, that caffeine is kicking in.

Usually, I'm not a night owl for many reasons. Including the fact that I tend to become almost... I don't know... Loopy?

I need to get these papers done and get my butt home before I do or say something I know I'll regret.

"Well. That's that, anyway." Mark's voice pulls me back to Earth as I quickly lift my head to face him.

He stands from where he'd been sitting, his pile of papers now neatly placed on the side of the CEO's desk.

From beside me, Vivian yawns.

"That certainly was one heck of a thrill." She jokes, making her way to her feet as well.

Now her pile of papers are neatly placed beside where Mark had placed his, moments ago.

They're leaving.

I glance at my own pile.

Ten or twelve more to go.

"Well," Musk starts, now facing the pair. "I thank you both for putting yourselves forward for the future of space exploration. Even if signing your life away was the last thing you wanted to do this evening."

"I'm sure it's going to be well worth it, Sir." Mark nods, heading towards the door, Vivian on his heels.

The CEO smiles.

"I certainly believe it will be. Have a great evening Mr. Myers, Ms. Chang."

Vivian smiles.

"You too."

Turning to me, she adds,

"Let me know when you're home, okay, Laura?"

Now it's my turn to simply nod.

"Will do. Have a good night."

And with that, I watch as Vivian and Mark file out the door, disappearing from my view as it closes softly behind them.

Well, this is awkward.

Silently, I begin scribbling against my papers once more, now even more focused than ever on just getting them done.

The silence in the room slowly begins to become unbearable.

Neither of us speaking, just the sounds of our own individual actions fill the space.

"You know, I was expecting you to track me down a lot sooner."

His statement catches me off guard.

"What do you mean by that?" I ask, curiosity ringing in my tone.

Elon turns in his chair to face me, his expression almost unreadable.

"In your interview when you were hired. The interviewer asked you about the Starship program. If I recall correctly, from the information I was passed along, you knew quite a bit more than the average person would have. That is, unless one was so intrigued by the idea that they constantly followed up on any progress that correlated with the idea itself."

"Well," I begin to stammer, feeling almost as if I was being called out. "What can I say? Mars is absolutely fascinating. And from what I can see, this company, as well as Starship, is currently anyone's only means to get there. So, yes, I'm wanting to go to Mars, if that's the answer you're looking for."

He nods, appearing to think something over.

"You're a very difficult person to read, Mr. Musk." I note aloud as he smiles slightly.

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"Not really," I yawn. "Just makes things more of a challenge."

The blanket of silence settles around us once more as I finish the last few pages of signing my life away.

"And that's that." I sigh tiredly, placing my now completed pile of papers beside where my friends had placed their own as I head towards the office door. "Have a-"

I'm abruptly cut off as my phone lets out an obnoxiously loud screech of a notification alarm.

"What the heck?" I mutter as the man behind the desk swivels in his chair to face me, a confused expression written on his features.

Rather hurriedly, I fish my phone from my pocket, peering at the screen to see what all the fuss was about.

"Well then." I groan, tossing the device angrily back into my pocket. "Apparently, it's pouring rain."

This'll be fun. Walking home in the pouring rain in the middle of the night.

"Well, have a great evening, Mr. Musk." I nod curtly, swinging open the door in front of me and making my way into the hallway.

I'm gonna get soaking wet on my way home... And then I'll have to have a shower... And then by the time that's done I'll just go to sleep for a few hours then wake up and get back to the grind again.

My footsteps echo through the eerily quiet hallways as I make my way towards the front doors, one thing on my mind.

I need sleep.

Then, just as I'm about to swing open the glass door in front of me and step out into the absolute pouring rain, the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps from behind me gains my attention.

"Ms. Thompson!"

That's Musk's voice. What did I forget in his office?

I slowly turn around to face the source of his voice and it did indeed belong to who I figured it did.

"Yes?" I reply, slightly confused.

Why would he run all the way up to the main doors?

"Let me drive you home." Elon states, gesturing to the harsh darkness on the other side of the doors. "It's pouring out there. Plus, it's the middle of the night. Who knows who's out there at this time of night."

"I'm just fine. Thank you, though." I reply, the same emotions from earlier trying to surface once more.

"Laura," He starts, genuine compassion in his tone. "Honestly, I don't mind the extra few miles."

I raise my hand as if to silence him.

"I'm perfectly capable of handling a bit of rain." I insist, pushing open the door in front of me and stepping outside.

Almost instantly, I'm absolutely soaked and freezing cold, though I don't show it.

With a cheery wave, I leave a rather shocked and amused looking Elon Musk in my wake.

The last thing I need is to be in a vehicle with him... Especially when I'm this exhausted.

Curious, I look back over my shoulder.

The lights that were on moments ago are now off, meaning that he must've finally given up on me and left.

Good.

Slowly but surely, I make my way out of the parking lot and across the street, the headlights of the busy traffic dazzling my eyes.

"Nothing like a late night stroll in the rain." I laugh aloud, turning a corner, bringing me one step closer to home.

However, as I continue my way along the sidewalk in front of me, the cold begins to seep into my bones.

"Maybe this was a bad idea after all." I murmur, beginning to shiver as I hug myself in a vain attempt to keep warm.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

I should've just went with him. Then I'd be home already. And warm and dry.

"Look at her! What a loser!" The distant sound of drunken laughter fills my ears as does the sound of a vehicle speeding towards me.

I quickly spin on my heel to see what's coming towards me, however, headlights blind my vision.

The next thing I know, I'm on the ground, soaking wet and sore.

The car is gone.

So is the laughter and the headlights.

"Seriously?" I hiss out through clenched teeth as I pick myself up off the ground, my fatigued eyes wandering over my body, checking for injuries.

Nothing but a few minor scratches on my knees and palms.

"Still hurts like a bugger, though." I sigh as I continue on, limping ever so slightly.

Then, yet another pair of headlights illuminate the path in front of me, though for some reason, I don't hear any loud sound of an approaching vehicle.

Confused, I turn ever so slightly, squinting against the insanely bright beams of light.

The vehicle is slowly making it's way toward me, almost hesitantly.

Figuring it's just some creep, I turn back to the still illuminated path in front of me, continuing on my way home.

"Go away." I mutter lowly, almost tempted to turn around and tell off whoever this person was.

Finally, the driver seems to make up their mind and begins to pull away slightly.

"Thank you." I breathe silently.

Only to appear directly at my side seconds later.

I hear the sound of an electronic window being rolled down, followed by a light laugh.

"Perfectly capable of handling a bit of rain, huh?"

Elon? Why the-

I turn to face the vehicle, my assumptions correct.

"I told you I'd be fine! Why the heck did you follow me?" I snap, not wanting any of this to be real.

I just want to get home. Get some rest, gosh dang it.

Instead of answering, Elon quickly hops out of the driver's seat, heading towards my shaking, frozen and scraped up form.

"Geez. What the heck happened to you?" He asks as I silently slip an arm around his shoulder, leaning against his side for support while he leads us back towards the vehicle.

"Some drunkards sped past me, purposely soaking me even more." I mutter bitterly as I ease myself into the passenger seat, the door shutting softly behind me.

I watch through lidded eyes as my apparent rescuer makes his way around the vehicle, slipping into the driver's seat beside me seconds later.

"Sorry about that." Comes the reply as we pull out into traffic. "So? Where to?"

Quietly, I mutter my address, still not very impressed with the events unfolding before me.

I watch through the window as the lights of various buildings and other things blur by my vision.

None of this seems real.

"We should be to your place in about five minutes." Elon's voice drags me back to reality slightly.

"Okay."

My eyes begin to feel extremely heavy as they slowly begin to close by themselves.

I can't fight it anymore.

I need some rest.

"Laura." A masculine voice nags distantly. "You can't fall asleep here. Stay awake."

"Sure thing, E." I slur, my head now leaning rather comfortably against the window beside me.

"Thompson." The voice nags once more, though this time I feel someone shaking me gently. "Don't close your eyes. You're almost home, then you can sleep."

"Nah, I'm good." I drawl, my head now in my hands.

"Stay awake." The voice says once again as, rather suddenly, a gust of cold wind bellows beside me, my ears popping at the sudden change in pressure.

"What the heck!" I practically scream, as my eyes shoot wide open, my gaze quickly scanning my surroundings.

The first thing I notice is the window I had been leaning on previously is now rolled all the way down.

The second thing I notice is the sound of laughter.

My eyes flick from the driver, then back to the window that's now on it's way back up, then back to the driver who is still laughing like a maniac.

"I told you not to fall asleep." Elon laughs, turning to face me.

"So you open the window on me?"

"I didn't have much of a choice." He smirks as he pulls into the parking lot outside my apartment.

"I guess." I sigh as he puts the car in park.

Confused, I turn to face the man beside me.

"Let me at least walk you to the door." Elon tries to persuade once more.

"I'll be fine." I insist, grasping the door handle beside me, turning to leave.

Pausing, I turn back to the man who had practically picked me up off the street and then brought me home without second thought.

"Thank you, Mr-"

I cut myself off, smiling lightly.

"Thank you, Elon."

And with that, I swing open the door beside me and make a bee-line towards my apartment, not even risking a glance behind me.