Laura Thompson's POV (Present Year: 2022)

Why in the name of God's green Earth do my knees feel like they're on fire?

Groggily, I sit up, throwing off my covers before making my way towards the bathroom.

Everything is so... stiff.

Reaching my destination, I begin to -rather drowsily, mind you- search for a facecloth on the counter now in front of me.

Where is it? It was here yesterday morning and I haven't touched anything since then!

Finally, my eyes begin to adjust to the harsh lights beaming down on me in the small room as I quickly locate the cloth and drench it in cold water.

"Geez, that's cold!" I murmur, my hands now soaked as I wipe my face down, wincing slightly at my appearance staring back at me in the mirror.

Dark bags under my eyes, my hair looking as if squirrels tried to make a nest within it.

"I'm a mess." I chuckle, heading back in the direction I came from earlier.

Silently, I cast my gaze around my bedroom.

It's maybe even worse of a mess than I am.

"Don't got time to clean it, though. I've gotta get to work!"

Humming to myself lightly, feeling extremely happy for some reason, I get ready for the day ahead, throwing on my SpaceX jacket over top of a plain black shirt along with a dark grey pair of cargo pants.

Practical.

Practical beats pretty in my books. Hands down.

"Is there life on Maaaaaaaaaaaaars?" I sing, my voice cracking as I erupt into an almost giddy fit of laughter as I pour myself a luke-warm cup of coffee.

"I'm such a nerd."

With a sigh, I pick up my phone from where I had left it last night as I had practically stumbled in the door from pure exhaustion.

Powering it on for the day, I set it aside as it boots up, popping two pieces of bread in the toaster.

"Hey, at least I have time for breakfast today." I muse aloud as I hover back over to my phone, the screen now lit with numerous un-read notifications.

Huh?

The majority of the text notifications are from Vivian, checking in on me to make sure everything's okay... Those have a timestamp of early this morning, around two AM... However, there is one notification that catches me off guard.

Unknown number. 6:07 AM.

'Training meeting today at noon. I've already scheduled you as busy, so no need to worry about doing that. See you then.'

My eyes fly wide as realization washes over me, followed seconds later by a surge of emotions.

That's from Elon... And he drove me home last night... after picking me up off the street.

Hey, I guess that explains why I'm so stiff this morning.

I sigh, buttering my now toasted toast and taking a sip of my half-warm coffee.

The events of last night is going to make work horribly awkward now.

I shrug, downing the food in front of me and taking another travel mug of coffee with me towards the door.

"He'll know how to handle things. Heck, he's the CEO of two massive companies." I argue with myself as I lace up my shoes and grab by bag, quickly heading out the door.

"And, we're just friends. There's nothing to it."

Off to face the day.

****

"Good morning, Laura!" The secretary greets as I stroll through the main doors to HQ, my normal spring back in my step.

The walk to work certainly helps clear a person's head. Especially when it's not pouring rain.

I shove the fatigue, stiffness and awkward emotions to the very back of my mind.

None of that today.

"Good morning!" I smile in return as I pass through security. "It's a beautiful day out there this morning, huh?"

The secretary nods in agreement.

"Sure is! I'm glad the rain finally eased off!"

I laugh lightly as I continue my way down the hallway.

"Yeah! You and me both!"

I begin to hum to myself as I make my way towards by office, nodding at everyone as I go past, my usual cheery and bright self slowly re-appearing.

The atmosphere within the entire building seems back to how it should always be; exciting and inspiring.

People are back to normal as well.

Small groups chatting amongst themselves, each with a beverage of some sort...

Everyone just enjoying their mornings before it's time to get busy for the day.

"Morning!" I smile towards a larger group of people I had seen at that early morning meeting yesterday.

So much has changed since then.

As I continue pass them, however, they just stare at me, some of their expressions rather threatening.

I mentally shrug, my low humming not ceasing as I stop in front of my office door.

"Where did I put my ID badge?" I mutter softly as I begin to dig through my pockets as well as my bag.

"It's probably at the bottom of your bag, Lori. No need to look so panicked." A voice from behind me laughs.

Surprise runs through me as I quickly turn on my heel.

"Oh! It's just you!" I sigh, running a hand through my hair as Vivian begins to reach her hand into the bag that's now on the floor.

"Found it." She declares, pulling my lanyard as well as my badge from the depths of my bag and handing it to me with an eye-roll. "I swear, Lori. You just need to slow down! There's always so much on your mind, you completely overlook the logical solutions in front of you. You're already a hundred miles ahead onto the next thing, coming up with that solution! And if that solution doesn't work in your head, then you just keep going, and going and going..."

With a laugh, I scan my badge and the lock light goes from red to green, allowing me to push the door open and step inside.

"You're right." I agree, sliding into the office chair behind my desk and booting up the computer for the day. "But, that's how I roll. There can never be too many solutions to a problem. I, personally, like to keep a plan B in my back pocket."

My friend just rolls her eyes once more before leaning over my shoulder, her eyes wandering over the computer screen in front of us.

"You have a meeting at noon? What for?" She asks, pressing her finger against the monitor.

"Hm?" I begin, confused as my own gaze finds what Vivian had seen seconds ago.

A calendar notification in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. It's message one similar to the text from Elon I had received this morning.

That's another thing...

Why would he have even bothered to text me when he's the one who put it in my calendar?

How did he even find my number?

I sigh, shaking myself from my thoughts.

"Apparently so. Why don't you check your calendar? If we both are on it, it's probably training related for, you know..." I trail off, spinning around in my chair to face the woman behind me as her eyes light up.

"Gotcha." She exclaims, hurriedly unlocking her phone and checking her own staff calendar. "Yep. It's here."

I smile.

"Well, I guess we know what to expect now."

Vivian nods, bouncing on her toes.

"Exciting times!" She cheers softly, heading towards the door. "Well, I guess I'll see you at noon, then."

"Yeah. It seems so." I nod, "Have a great morning, Vivi."

She smiles back at me, looking more excited than I've seen her in a long time.

"You too!"

And with that, she turns on her heel, the door closing behind her softly.

"Time to get to work." I smile to myself as I pull up my agenda on the screen in front of me.

Looks like I'm in for a morning of calls.

****

"So everything's all good out there now? That last batch of supplies made it to you guys okay?" I inquire over the phone, swiveling in my chair as I glance at the clock mounted on the far-side of my small office.

11:45 AM.

Practically 12:00.

"Alright. Well, I'm glad everything is looking good and on schedule... Make sure you all stay safe out there! And stay hydrated!"

With a slight sigh, I end the call.

"The last thing we need is a group of people passing out from heatstroke under that burning hot Texas sun... Especially when they're working with volatile materials!" I mutter beneath my breath, shutting down any running tasks on my computer before shutting the entire thing down.

In one swift movement, I'm out of my chair, packed up and out the door; heading towards the meeting room outlined in my calendar notification from earlier.

This morning's notifications and questions quickly worm their way to the front of my mind.

Why and How?

Running a now rather stressed hand through my hair, I briefly close my eyes as the sound of my footsteps and distant chatter echo around me.

"You're overthinking again." I mutter to myself. "Quit it."

"Yeah! Quit it, already, Laura!" A rather familiar voice muses aloud from beside me, causing my eyes to fly wide open as I turn to face the source.

My wild gaze calms itself as I realize it's just-

"Mark!" I laugh, elbowing him playfully. "Don't ever do that again!"

He just smirks as he rubs his side.

"Geez, you have sharp elbows, Lau."

I stop, mid-stride, turning to look at the younger man beside me.

"Lau?" I muse, confusion settling on my features.

Mark shrugs.

"Why not?"

"That's just a new one for me, Marko."

He groans in frustration.

"I've heard that way to many times. So many, in fact, I've lost count."

I snicker once more.

"Well, you're stuck with it now! The whole way to Mars and back."

"Ha ha." Mark grumbles as we both continue on our way towards the destination.

Our footsteps echo through the halls, occasionally falling in sync before falling out again.

Neither of us speak.

There's nothing really much to talk about.

All of our pent up questions about what we signed up for last night are about to likely be answered.

It's exciting and scary all at the same time.

"Hey, guys!" Vivian waves from down the hallway in front of us.

She's casually leaning against the wall behind her, phone in her hands.

Why is she in the hallway?

I roll over my wrist to check the time.

11:57 AM.

As we near, she quickly shoves the device back into her pocket before pushing herself off the wall, meeting us halfway.

"So?" Vivian starts, her hands now shoved in her pockets. "Where's our fourth Crew member?"

That explains why Vivi was just out here waiting! Musk is a no show!

I mentally scold myself.

Give the man five more minutes. Geez!

"Probably just running a bit behind, seeing as he's the CEO, ya know." Mark deadpans, crossing his arms.

"Well then... I guess we just wait." Vivian concludes as the three of us find our own section of wall to lean against while idly wait.

I've never liked waiting on people.

Especially people at a higher authority level.

I always just feel so small...

As I stand there, quite literally twiddling my thumbs, my thoughts begin to get the best of me.

This is going to be extremely awkward...

What should I say?

Should I even mention the events of yesterday night?

I shiver at that thought.

Whether from the memory of the freezing cold rain against my skin or the feeling of my side pressed against his, I'm not quite sure.

I quickly shake my head as if to clear it.

Don't go down that road, Lori. Seriously!

I need something to distract me... Break me from these... fanciful thoughts.

"Vivi," I start, turning to the woman leaning against the wall beside me. "Do you ever have those random, annoying thoughts that you just can't shake for some reason?"

My friend turns to face me, curiosity on her features.

"What do you mean?"

I sigh.

"Thoughts that just won't go away. Won't leave you alone."

At this, she nods.

"Sure I do. Everyone gets those."

"Well," I start, trying not to sound annoyed. "How do you get rid of them?"

Vivian pauses, looking almost as if she's thinking over her next words.

"I usually-"

She breaks off mid-sentence as the sound of rapid, rather rushed sounding footfalls meets my ears.

"Sorry I'm late!" A voice calls from behind me, matching the footfalls.

I turn on my heel towards the source of both noises.

Elon, quickly making his way towards our small trio, wears a rather bothered look upon his features.

"I should've mentioned I had a meeting this morning that I knew was going to run late..." He continues to ramble as he makes his way towards the door, stopping briefly at my side.

"Glad to see you're in one piece, Ms. Thompson." Musk smiles softly, our gazes locking momentarily before he practically rips himself away as he ushers us all inside.

"Thank you." I murmur on my way past him, quickly taking my seat as I fight back the color on my cheeks that's likely arising.

As we all settle into the room, my nerves slowly calm themselves... My brain now laser focused on one thing:

Mars.

"Alright, what's the word on the street?" Mark asks eagerly, leaning forward in his seat slightly as the CEO just grins.

We're gathered in a small circle, our expressions all seeming to match the next person sitting beside any of us.

"I was wrong in my original time frame for our training," Elon begins, his grin never wavering. "As it turns out, NASA is willing to accept us at JSC to begin training tomorrow afternoon."

An excited silence hangs in the room as my brain instantly goes abuzz once again.

There's no way!

How the heck are we gonna make it to Texas by tomorrow afternoon?

Vivian seems to be on the same thought train as I am as she raises the same question.

"What exactly will be our means of transportation?"

"Flight." I pipe up before anyone else can, my head having already mapped out the most likely solution. "SpaceX does have a plane on deck, correct?"

Musk simply nods, still alight with happiness.

"We leave tonight. I've asked the air crew to be ready to go by eleven-thirty. We should be in the air by midnight."

Yet another late night.

Oh boy.

"That makes sense," The younger man in the room muses aloud. "That way, we can catch some shut eye on the way and then once we get settled, we can have until it's go time to finish resting up!"

I quickly look over towards Mark, as if to give him a 'no duh' type of look, though my gaze is intercepted by Elon's.

For the second time in a matter of minutes, our gazes lock.

There's the same curious, happy and determined gleam in his eyes... Yet so much more than that...

Quit it, Laura!

I quickly tear myself away, zoning back into reality.

"Well then," I conclude, sitting up in my chair as I regain my composure. "I guess we better pack our bags and say our goodbyes, then."

I cast my gaze to both Mark and Vivian, both sharing the same expression of almost... panic?

Quickly, I sling an arm around Vivian's shoulder.

"We'll pack together. You'll be fine." I assure my friend who still looks as if she's about to make a bee-line for the exit.

"Oh," She sighs softly, turning to smile at me rather weakly. "Okay."

"Well it's settled then." Elon states, making his way to his feet as we all follow suit. "Be back here with a bag full of your essentials in about eleven and a half hours or so. We'll meet at the rear exit... And please,"

He pauses, a slight frown settling upon his features momentarily before it vanishes.

"Don't go talking about this to the masses. We're still trying fly under the radar, so to speak."

Back to herself again, Vivian gives Musk a thumbs up as Mark does the same.

I simply nod in understanding.

"See ya later, Boss!" The younger man cheers as he and Vivian head towards the exit.

However, instead of leaving through the door, Vivian stops dead in her tracks, turning to face me with an expression of curiosity and amusement.

"You coming with us, Lori?"

I quickly look towards Elon, who had somehow made his way to my side, and then back to the pair at the door.

I've gotta talk to him.

I allow my gaze to quickly meet his once more.

'Go ahead. I'll catch up.' He seems to say with his eyes as I step towards the exit.

"Yeah!" I start, stammering over my words intentionally. "I was just in a train of thought, that's all!"

I quickly make my way to Vivi's side, nodding once more in Elon's direction.

"I guess we'll see you later this evening, Mr. Musk."

He smiles, nodding.

"That's the plan."

And with that, I follow the two people in front of me out the door.

Neither of them even hear my lanyard fall to the ground as the door closes softly behind us.

****

"We're going to Mars, guys." Mark muses aloud excitedly, breaking the silence that had fallen between the three of us.

"That we are!" My friend exclaims, her footsteps falling into sync with mine as we near the end of the hallway we had been down previously.

Hopefully, Elon realizes what I've done and he'll return my keys to me before we leave... I sorta need those to get home.

I chuckle at the thought.

"What's so funny?" Vivian inquires from beside me, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Hm?" I hum, my strides not ceasing. "Oh, nothing."

"If you say so." I hear the woman beside me mutter as she joins Mark at his side seconds later.

I guess I'll just stop at my office and then double back to his?

"Hey guys?" I call out, stopping my long strides.

The pair in front of me do the same.

"I've just gotta swing by my office real quick to grab some things. I'll see you both later tonight!"

They start getting closer to me.

"We can stick around if-" Vivi starts as I cut her off.

"No, no, no." I smile, trying to sound as persuasive as I can while panic runs through me. "You both have a lot of things to take care of and not much time to do it! I'll be fine!"

Mark runs a hand through his hair, confusion settling upon his features.

The pair share their confusion.

"Okay then..." My friend trails off, continuing on her way once again. "Have a great rest of your day!"

"You too." I breathe as the pair round the corner out of my view.

Almost instantly, I feel the panic leave my system.

No need for that, Lori.

Nodding to myself, I begin to head back the way I had just came from, playing the seemingly never ending game of 'find Elon Musk.'

As I pass the meeting room I had just been in, I can't help but feel a doubt begin to nag at me.

What if he just took your keys and left?

I mentally scold myself for being so stupid.

Why would he do that? There's literally no point.

Crossing the shop floor, the various sounds of machinery and chatter fill my ears.

It's so nice not having that eerie quiet anymore.

Glancing over my shoulder, I quickly head down the hallway to which the destination I seek is at the end of.

Hopefully he's here.

I make my way rather cautiously towards the door, listening for any sort of sign of life within the office.

Nothing.

"Huh." I mutter lowly, my eyes wandering from the door in front of me to the door at the end of the hallway.

It leads outside.

Maybe he's out there taking a phone call.

Once more, I resume my long, rather confident, strides towards the glass door.

I reach it, pushing it open to reveal the warm California air.

With a soft sigh, I step away from the door, breathing in the fresh air and relishing the feeling of the warm sun on my skin.

It's amazing how nice it is to just be outside.

I stand in the warm afternoon sunshine a while longer before re-focusing my attention to my previous thoughts.

Right. Elon has my keys. Somewhere.

"This was such a stupid idea." I groan beneath my breath as I begin to wander aimlessly, my feet taking me around the back of the building.

Might as well scope it out so I don't walk back here blind later tonight.

I begin to softly hum to myself as I walk, allowing my gaze to wander over the rather odd assortment of vehicles parked around the building.

Everything from standard cars, SUVs and trucks to fancy sports cars... There's really no in between.

As I round the corner to the very back of SpaceX HQ, my gaze falls upon a rather familiar looking vehicle, which catches me off guard.

It's a white Tesla Roadster... The 2020 model by the looks of it...

However, it's not the make and model that draws me to it.

It's the color.

"White." I murmur, my head sorting through any pieces of info as to why this vehicle seems so familiar.

Last night... Those extremely bright headlights...

My gaze wanders to the front of the sports car in front of me.

A pair of likely LED headlights stare back at me.

Even if the headlights weren't super bright, the white paint on that thing would've been enough for it to appear that bright... And since it's electric... That explains why I couldn't hear it as well...

Realization falls over me as I stand there, gawking at the vehicle in front of me.

"This is Elon's car."

Intrigued now, I move closer to the parked car, examining it's exterior.

Spotless.

Well, nearly, other than a few chips in the paint here and there from constant use.

The rubber on the tires seem fairly new, though again, the evidence of use proves once more to exist.

I lean in closer to the passenger side window, peering through the darkly tinted glass.

I sat there and acted like a fool last night...

Shaking my head, I stand straight once more, doing a complete walk around the entire vehicle.

White body paint with black rims... Lookin' sharp.

"Well? Whaddya think?" A masculine voice asks from behind me.

I can't help but allow a smile to spread across my face as I turn to face the voice.

"Ehh..." I start, smirking. "There's a few paint chips here and there... The rubber's showing some wear and tear..."

"Pssh." Elon dismisses with a wave of his hand, stepping down from the sidewalk to join me at the front of the vehicle. "She can go from 0-100 kilometres per hour in a matter of 2.1 seconds."

"Prove it." I challenge, placing my hands on my hips.

Musk steps closer to me, that same glint of determination in his eyes now ignited.

My heart begins to hammer in my chest as I fight to keep a blush off my cheeks.

"I'd love to," He starts, his voice sounding suddenly deeper. "But last time I checked, doing so would be pretty illegal."

I shrug, still smirking as I look up towards him.

"I'd bail you out of jail."

Elon laughs lightly.

"I can bail myself out. Though, your offer is appreciated."

The man in front of me steps away, heading towards the driver's side door.

"Where are you off to?" I inquire, my heart rate slowly returning back to normal.

"Wherever you want." Comes the reply as the car I'm in front of comes to life. "You coming?"

Rather dazed at the sudden turn of events, I struggle to find a reply.

"Y...Yeah!" I stammer for real this time as I take one last look around to make sure no prying eyes are gawking before I open the passenger side door and slide into the seat.

"Oh, and Laura," Elon begins, turning to me with a playful smirk as he puts the car in reverse.

"Here are your keys."