"It's really gorgeous," Jessie stammered, motioning vaguely to the watch on my wrist. Holding her hand out for a moment, before letting it drop to her side. The pain lingered as she stared at me with deep blue eyes which were glossing over with tears.

"Um, hey Jessie," I said, taking a step forward. I had expected anything but her, which now placed me into a scenario that I was actively trying to avoid. Abbey watched intently as Jessie turned away, before back at me.

"How's work?" she asked, her voice shaking. Wearing a sunflower yellow dress with long white sleeves underneath, brown boots tied tightly she may have been mistaken for a model. However, the seemingly bright attire did not match her apparent mood. Bags rested under her eyes as tears crept up on her.

"Yeah work's alright," I replied, followed by silence. Having not expected nor wanting her here, it reminded me of who I felt I was fighting against. One way or another. She paused, taking a deep breath.

"Take care of him," she said, her bottom lip quivering as her words barely held any strength. I knew she was talking about Jake. A tear rolled down her cheek, which she wiped away with her sleeve. Adjusting her satchel over her shoulder, she sniffed, before mumbling, "Please, just, treat him well,"

Another moment of silence. The, she began to sob. She brought her hand up to her mouth, trying to hold the tears back. But it was hopeless, pain washing over her. It wasn't like when a kid wanted attention and would cry so loudly so someone would notice. It was the kind where you just wished you would disappear.

As Abbey continued to watch unmoving, I became aware of my dilemma. This was Abbey's job, and even if it wasn't, she had no knowledge of this girl. Nor no duty to her. However, I knew her and was in the exact situation she was upset about. Doing nothing would continue this drama, maybe further it. And having an enemy who's in this mess would continue to cause issues beyond control.

And so I hugged her.

It wasn't a choice I had much say in, not exactly something I planned to do nor exactly had hoped to. But given the situation, there wasn't anything else that would happen. Pulling my arms around her, I noted that I was slightly taller than her.

She wrapped her arms around me in return, resting her head on my shoulder and continued to cry. I didn't know how to react, so I just continued to embrace her. Abbey remained silent, watching on, as I seemingly hugged a random girl.

"Sorry," she said, quickly standing back. Her eyes were red, but she immediately tried to hide the fact. Wiping her face on her sleeves, she tried to smile. Instead, her bottom lip wobbled as she attempted to maintain some appearance of strength, "I don't... I don't really know what came over me... I should probably go,"

"No, it's fine," I said, giving a half smile. Abbey had started to aimlessly type into the computer, pretending to do something, whilst maintaining a glance every so often at the situation. I took a deep breath, before I asked, "Why don't we go to a nearby café? If you're free that is, I don't think they close for a few hours..."

"You sure?" she asked with an eagerness clinging to her voice, and I nodded. Of course, the thing I would least like to do at this point was to go for a coffee with a girl who likely disliked me. And although I could never fully trust Scott's opinion, the fact that he appeared to have a distaste for a girl who was supposed to be perfect for him gave me some doubts.

"Yeah. It will give us a good chance to get to know each other," I said, smiling. Turning to Abbey, I gave a goodbye and she smiled at me. I hoped that I would be able to have a proper conversation with her at another time.

It was nearing four as we entered the café, which had been only a few shops down from Abbey's work. Jessie said it was a decent café, which I decided to trust her on. It was empty, an older man working behind the coffee machine and a younger boy at the cash register. They gave us a brief smile as we entered, as we sat down near the back of the café.

Jessie sat across from me, crossing her legs and carefully placing her satchel on the ground beside her. The boy from behind the register quickly scurried over to us with a small computer tablet and pen. He smiled at us.

"Hey what can I get you girls today?" he asked, looking between us both. Jessie seemed to suddenly perk up, giving a smile; her entire mood had switched from a sobbing mess to someone who could make any sane man swoon.

"I'll get a medium soy latte, one sugar," she said, putting on the sweetest voice. I was beginning to wonder how someone such as her had managed to land on getting someone like Scott. A boy who appeared to have no knowledge of what emotion was. The waiter turned to me, waiting for me to order.

"Oh uh sorry," I said, quickly glancing at the small menu. It was only drinks, a few credits each. I had never been fond of coffee, as I found it too bitter. I placed down the menu, "A small hot chocolate, thanks,"

"Anything else?" he said, and we both shook our head. He nodded, pressing the tablet twice as a small slip of paper printed out the bottom. On it had our order, total cost, and table number. He collected the menus, smiling at us. Jessie thanked him as he went back behind the counter, connecting the tablet to the register.

There was a pause, as Jessie's smile dropped once again, her body slumping forward. She let out a sigh, looking away for another moment before back at me.

"You're so fucking lucky," she muttered, shaking her head with a sad smile. I could feel the guilt creep up my body like a spider, wriggling under my skin and crawling into my deepest insecurities. I gave a small nervous chuckle.

"Yeah, not so much," I said, sighing. There was an obvious tension between us, and it was not helped by the moments of silence that followed every sentence exchanged. I decided to ask against better judgment, "So how's um... Scott?"

"Dreadful," she said, the words coming out as a stammer. She smiled at me, her eyes opposingly singing with dismay, "He's just... so blank,"

"I'm sorry," I said, that spider of guilt digging deeper and deeper. Whether it was intentional or not, Jessie had managed to make my day even worse. I nodded, "Scott isn't exactly pleasant is he?"

She nodded in return, as another minute of silence followed. I could see her glancing at my watch, the guilt spider continuing its path. I wondered if she was jealous of my position. If she was, I wish she wasn't. I was going through hell and back just doing what the system told me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad," she said, shifting in her seat. I smiled, even though that guilt didn't seem to go away. It wasn't her fault I felt this way, and I needed to realize that I couldn't blame others for my problems.

"No it's fine, really," I said, nodding. I took a deep breath, before I said, "Jake says a lot of nice things about you,"

"Oh! Does he?!" her mood changed like the flick of a switch, her mournful frown shifting to one of glee. I found myself taken aback by it but I nodded, smiling.

"Yeah," I said, pushing that guilt down, to deal with it later, "He says everything good that can be said,"

"Isn't he just incredible?" she said, pure awe clinging to the words, as I slumped into my seat. She was beaming now, her mood shifting from a sobbing woman to an excited child.

"Yeah," I said, a lump in my throat. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the barista placing down the drinks in front of us.

He gave us a smile, stamping the paper slip on the table with a tick, to show our order was delivered. My mood was lifted by the smell of hot chocolate. I had never had hot chocolate in this particular café, but it appeared to be well made.

"Thanks so much, Mark," Jessie said with a smile to the barista. He nodded, before heading back to behind the coffee machine. I was about to comment on her familiarity with the barista when she said, "You know what's kinda funny? Me and Jake used to come here all the time. We'd sit exactly like this too, him where you are me and me here. And he'd order a hot chocolate too. Said coffee was too bitter... ain't that a weird coincidence huh?"

I paused. Processing what she had just said to me.

"Yeah it is pretty weird," is all I managed to say. Her negligence to mention her familiarity with this place put me on edge, but I decided to let it go, "I guess the system is right, matches are pretty similar,"

She nodded, her eyes wandering away for a moment as she raised her coffee to her lips and took a sip. Her lipstick left a cherry mark on the brim of the glass. Taking a drink of mine, I was amazed at how perfect it tasted. My mother used to say that her mother would talk about having real chocolate as a kid. It was something hard to imagine, but drinking this drink could give me some idea of what it may have been like.

"You kind of have everything I don't in a way," Jessie said, another sip before placing the cup down into the saucer. I could feel the spider crawling across me again, its spindle legs reaching the depths of my self-consciousness, "You got assigned to Jake, who you know I am close to. You're smart, kind, caring, even strong despite how hard it must be in this situation. You even get to work with Scott, my match. You're all I seem to hear about..."

I was tangled in the spider's web of guilt, like a fly who was caught and trying to escape. The spider slowly wrapping its victim in its threads until it finds itself unable to breathe. Struggling as the inevitable guilt swallows. If only my seat would swallow me whole.

"Thanks, but really I'm just some random girl," I said, picking up my drink so I didn't have to say more. Although the drink itself was perfect, it was tainted sourly by the situation I was in. I decided to add, "But I've heard a lot of good things about you too... and you're seriously gorgeous,"

"Aww thanks, Becky!" she said, her entire mood shifting in an instant, her face now glowing with pride. She sat up straight as I continued to feel the spider crawl across every inch of sanity. She continued her drink before she said, "I guess it's just lucky genetics huh?"

I nodded, finishing the last of my hot chocolate. Although I hadn't even bought anything from the grocery, nor had a fair amount of time to recover from the earlier situation, anything would be better than this. Even going to my apartment and facing Jake. As long as I did not have to deal with this.

"I'm glad we could have this chat," I said, beginning to sit up. Despite her kind words, it was almost as if her praise was a stab to the heart, leaving another hole for the spider to crawl into. I brushed it off as insecurities as I said, "But I really should get heading home. I'm pretty tired; big day today,"

I was about to walk out when she stood up, beaming, as she wrapped her arms around me. I was shocked at first, as who wouldn't, but not eager to cause any more social drama. So I reluctantly returned the hug before standing back from her.

"Thanks so much for coffee! Don't worry, you don't have to pay me back for the drink, consider it a gift. Since we're friends and all," she said, and I nodded. I didn't exactly consider her a friend and didn't believe me nor my spider would get along with her in the long run.

But if it helped the situation, then I guess we were friends.

"Thanks, hopefully, you're feeling better," I said, and at the mention of the earlier situation, her smile slightly faltered. My heart jumped as I immediately regretted saying anything. I wished more than anything to simply return home.

"Yep," she said quickly. There was a brief pause between us before she sat back down again, continuing her soy whatever. Taking that as an opportunity to leave, I exited the café. Although I still wanted to talk to Abbey, more than anything I wanted to go home. Just have a hot shower and read a book. But that spider of guilt had already trapped me in its web, and I doubt there was much I could do to get it off.

The train ride was bleak, nothing new nothing old. A boring stale task. The walk home was similar, except for a kid, likely no older than twelve, who was being beaten by three members of Law Enforcement. They were a higher ranking, as indicated by the gold accents on the white armor, making the situation even more disturbing.

But it wasn't my business. And thus, I continued to walk my bleak path whilst giving it no more than a few glances.

The foyer to the apartment was cold. It was nearing five o'clock by the time I was at my floor. When the elevator opened, golden light streamed through a window at the back of the hall like a roll of ribbon unfurling. I found myself wishing Jake wasn't there to greet me when I opened the door.

Briefly scanning my card, I opened the door. Dismay partnered with my guilt as Jake greeted me at the door, a cut under his eye. My negative motions paused, as concern for what had transpired after I left took precedent.

"What happened," had been the first thing I said to him when I walked inside the apartment door, closing it behind me. He sighed, walking over to the sofa to take a seat.

"Nothing," he said as bleakly as my route here had been. I walked over to sit across from him in the chair, my arms crossed.

"Why are you hurt?" I asked, likely too harsh but I wasn't in the mood nor mental space to try to apologize or fix my tone. Instead, I would allow my actions to take place. A horrible decision, but one I made regardless.

"Well... things just got heated. You should have seen Scott he-" having read my facial he paused, taking a moment to think before he continued, rewording his statement before he said, "Everyone is fine. Scott isn't too bashed up... Charlie is one fighter I'll give him that..."

There was silence. I didn't want to go any further on the topic. Although I knew it would rupture in a whole different issue, I decided to say it what I needed to regardless.

"I just had coffee with Jessie," I said, and his whole body seemed to light up at the mention of her name. As if half his weight had disappeared. I swallowed a lump in my throat before I said, "She seems to really like you huh?"

He gave a half-dazed smile, a smitten look on his face as he began to blush. He shook his head for a moment as if getting an idea out of his mind.

"That girl will be the death of me," he said, lying onto the sofa and staring up at the also appropriately bleak ceiling, "See, I had this feeling you two would get along. I'm glad it's going to all work out soon..."

"Well, somewhat..." I said, sighing. I shifted in my seat, "Today just changed everything... a lower getting through the system designed to prevent that? Nonetheless, someone in my job being responsible for it? I guess it's all just a lot to take in..."

"We'll work it out," he said, sitting up. In his boring greyish eyes was a faith I had never seen in him before. What it was for I doubt I would know. Nor did I particularly want to know. He continued, "I just... I just have this gut feeling that everything's going to be okay, y' know?"

"You really think so?" I asked. I already knew how he was going to answer.

"Yeah," he said, giving a small smile, "I really do,"

And so, it began.