A Match Made In Heaven (Kind Of)

Chapter 13

(being peer pressured into finishing this, three entire years later, when the mymusic fanbase doesn't exist. you're welcome)

His vision was white when he woke up. All he could hear was white noise, the sound of nothing piercing through his ears like bullets. Piece by piece he pulled himself together, starting with his hands, arms, moving slowly down to his legs which had turned numb. Pain was coursing through every inch of him as he rose to his knees and begin to observe his surroundings. Then he realised that he hadn't even hit the ground that hard so he stood up and carried on as normal.

"Good morning, sunshine. Glad you could join us."

Ugh, Indie. The second Intern 2 heard his obnoxious voice he wished he could just fall unconscious again.

"What do you want?" he spat, venomous.

"Well," Indie began, "I wanted to bring you over here to show you my new toy - although, I'm sure you've seen it already." His sickening smirk lit a fire deep within Intern 2's gut, and he fell back to the ground to stop himself from lashing out. "I may not be one for the mainstream, but I can't quite understand wanting to stick your dick into a piece of paper. So now, you can't, at least not with this particular piece that you've chosen to bond with. That is, unless you want papercuts in some not so savoury places, but let's be honest, someone as pathetic as you probably couldn't even get it on with an inanimate object."

"Show me."

"Uhhhh, what is it you want me to show you? Please clarify what it is you want me to show you because I feel like something might have been lost in translation here."

"Show me Flowchart. I need to see her. I need proof that it's really... that she's really gone."

Indie snickered. "If you insist..."

The contents of the paper shredder were dumped unceremoniously into Intern 2's lap. As he cast his eyes down to the thin shreds, he realised that this was no joke. This was his love, his life, laid out before him for all to see. This was his proudest work scattered into two, maybe three dozen pieces in front of his eyes. This was Flowchart, laying dead and broken in his lap.

This was the final straw.

He wanted to punch, he wanted to scream, kick, bite, but all he could do was sit completely still as tears fell gently down his face. With his eyes downcast, he choked out, "why?"

"Why?" Indie repeated. "Well, let's see. Do you want to know how much work has gotten done since this whole fiasco started? Neither do I but let me tell you, it's gone down and I don't have the credibility to mess up again, not after last time." Indie visibly cringed. Intern 2 would have to find out more about this later. "And do you know what? I hate you, Intern 2, but you're the only damn person here who actually does any work. And we don't even pay you. You could go home at any time and it wouldn't make a difference to your life, yet you stay here. Why? Just so you can screw over me and my company with you little jokes? You really think a man can be in love with a piece of paper? Why are you doing this to our company, Intern 2, huh? What's your problem with us?"

The tears were still rolling down Intern 2's face, but when he looked up, he could see that Indie was in a very emotional state. This time, he wasn't faking anything, and it became clear that he had been deeply affected by Intern 2, whether it was indirect or not. "Indie, I-"

"And you know what? You know the worst part of all this? Hip Hop! Hip Hop is the only person in this office who likes you, and look at him now." Intern 2 looked down the corridor to see Hip Hop's body on the floor, still knocked out from the electric shock. "Thanks to you, I've had to use him to get you to come to me, and now our workload has gone up, because our workers have gone -- down... by two! By two people... and to be honest now I'm saying it out loud that's kind of on me... But that's not the point, Intern 2, okay! I always thought Hip Hop was a reasonable person, more so than the rest of the idiots that work here. You were his favourite, you know. That is, until this whole flowchart thing started. I think he's jealous of the attention, Intern 2. And do you know what? I think you've just lost your only friend in this place. So go ahead and tape your stupid flowchart back together and get out of here, okay? Go."

Intern 2 hesitated. To be honest, none of what Indie had said really made any sense, but then again he was kind of an idiot.

But the words made him think. It was like Indie's ramblings had flipped a switch inside of him, bringing light to a previously unseen section of his mind, a section which was full of new ideas, new possibilities.

He paused. He paused, and he waited for his voice to allow him to say something.

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"I said, no. No, I'm not going anywhere."

"Intern 2, I am your boss and you will do what I s-"

"Like you said, you don't pay me. I might as well not even work here. So you'd better be glad that I do, because this company would have gone nowhere without me and you know it." He saw a glint of rage flicker across Indie's eyes and quickly continued. "And no, I'm not going to put Flowchart back together again. I'm not going to do anything with her. Because I don't need her."

The doubt was visible in Indie's eyes as he laughed, "I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me. I can be happy without her. You're right, Indie, I can't have a proper bond with a piece of paper. I see now that... this never would have really worked. This never could work. And do you know what? I love flowcharts. I love making them, reading them, heck, I'll stroke them sensually for several hours at a time if I'm feeling real crazy, but that's just a part of who I am. And I realise know that who I am and who I love can be separated. You're right, Hip Hop is my closest friend here. And I love him for that. And honestly? Real love like that is all I need."

Intern 2 might as well have been on the ground sobbing at this point because his own words were so inspirational and heartwarming and really made for a great climax to an even better fanfiction. But instead he stood up, the shreds of paper fluttering from his lap onto the ground. He watched them fall before meeting Indie's eyes, widened and blinking in disbelief. "I'm gonna go back to work. See ya later."

Indie came back to earth at this point. "Wait, so you're not leaving? Don't you hate me and my company?"

"Nah," Intern 2 replied simply. "It's not that I hate you or your company. It's just that I really don't care." Indie's jaw fell slack, shocked that his employee would talk back to him in such a way. "Nice speech by the way. Totally not cheesy and mainstream, very culkin."

With a newfound confidence and appreciation for his workmates, Intern 2 turned on his heel and walked out of the office, leaving Indie's jaw on the floor behind him.