< “Six o’clock already. I was just in the middle of a dream. I was kissing Valentino by a crystal blue Italian dream.”>
     The alarm blared in the background, making itself as positively annoying as possible. After twenty seconds of no response from the sleeping form it increased its volume to nerve wracking. The sleeper muttered, mumbled, and pulled the covers over its head to keep the noise out.
     “Shut up,” the person moaned, pulling the covers back from his face. He sighed, looked at the ceiling, and blew a few strands of burgundy colored hair from his face. He rolled over, glaring at the alarm clock. “You’re a bastard for waking me up. The sun’s not up yet and I was having a wonderful dream with me and Spike in the most wonderful setting.” The alarm abruptly shut itself off before the now awake person smashed it into submission.
     < “I can’t be late ‘cause I guess I just won’t get paid.”>
     He looked at the clock on the wall across the room and blinked, wishing his eyes would focus when his brain was only half awake. ‘Of course,’ he thought as he shuffled out of bed, ‘if wishes were horses then I could open my own ranch.’
     He plodded to the bathroom, where he took care of morning business before plodding back to his room.
     < “These are the days when you wish your bed was already made.”>
     He glared disgustedly at the mess of sheets and blankets that made up his bed. “It’s too early to get up,” he grumbled as he plodded past his bed to draw back the curtains and pull up the shade. In the east the sun was beginning to rise from the murky depths, and he sighed.
     < “It's just another manic Monday. I wish it was Sunday. 'Cause that's my funday. My I don't have to runday. It's just another manic Monday”.>
     He glared blearily at the wall calendar and sighed, a sweat drop forming on his head. “This sucks,” he decided as he plodded back out of the room to go and check the temperature outside. The day on the calendar said, in big bold letters, MONDAY.
     < “Have to catch an early train, Got to be to work by nine.”>
     Across town a redhead with an equally large distaste for Mondays was plodding her way through her apartment, running into things because her eyes refused to focus.
     “This bites,” she muttered as she ran face first into a doorjamb. She continued on her way, and in the middle of the kitchen she muttered, “Ouch.”
     A short time later she was dressed, her hair brushed, and everything she needed for work packed into a briefcase. She pulled on her jacket and headed out the door.
     < “And even with an air-o-plane I still couldn’t make it on time.”>
     A clock on a nearby church chimed the hour, and the redhead glanced at her watch and face faulted. “Crap, I’m gonna be late!” she exclaimed as she took off running, her hair billowing out behind her as she passed everyone and everything in her path. She sighed a few minutes later, since some force of nature was obviously slowing her down.
     “Damn these head winds,” she cursed as she dashed across a busy street and dodged traffic. “Damn all my rotten luck!”
     < “’Cause it takes me so long just to figure out what I’m gonna wear.”>
     The first person stood in front of his closet, the door open, and he peered in with a half interested look. with a phony British accent he said, “Should I wear the li’l Gucci dress, the li’l Gucci dress, o’ the li’l Gucci dress?”
     A deeper and sexier voice with a true British accent replied, “How about the li’l Gucci dress?” from the doorway across the room. He turned his head to see a sexy blond young man with deep hazel eyes leaning against the doorjamb. The blond winked and said, “Mornin' luv. Sleep well?”
     “Spike, I swear I’ll slay you if you ever sneak up on me like that again!” the young man cried as he ducked behind his closet door. “I’m not decent!”
     “Not like you’re hiding anything I haven’t already seen before Alex,” Spike replied, grinning. Alex blushed.
     “Well, since you’re here, why don’t you help me decide what I’m going to wear?” Alex asked from inside the closet. “I’m working office today.”
     “The green jeans, brown shoes, dark red shirt, denim vest, and silk tie,” Spike replied, still leaning against the doorjamb.
     “Say what?”
     “You look bloody sexy in that getup, not to mention damn professional.”
     < “Blame it on the train, but the bus is already here.”>
     The redheaded woman skidded to a stop in front of a bus that was beginning to pull out. She waved he arms frantically to get the driver’s attention, and when he opened the doors she bolted on. The driver began to say something in protest, but the woman paid her fare with a little extra for trouble. She turned and faced the other people on the bus, giving a sheepish grin for delaying all of them.
     She found an empty seat and sat down, sliding up close to the window so she could see her reflection. She set her briefcase down and fumbled through her pockets until she found her name tag, which she slipped on. The badge proclaimed that her name was Lina, and that she wanted to help.
     < “It's just another manic Monday. I wish it was Sunday. 'Cause that's my funday. My I don't have to runday. It's just another manic Monday”>
     The bus drove on as she looked out the window and watched the world pass by. She breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a little. In the distance the sun was beginning to arc through the sky, warm orange and yellow rays breaking through the morning clouds.
     < “All of the nights. Why did my lover have to pick last night To get down? (last night, last night)  Doesn't it matter That I have to feed the both of us? Employment's down.”>
     Back at Alex’s the young mage was beginning to cuss and swear up a storm as his laptop gave him error message after error message. His printer protested the abuse it was receiving from his left foot as he struggled with other tasks.
     “This is so typical,” he sighed, glaring at the printer, which began to look like an elephant attacked it. “Remind me to kill you later,” he growled. A sweat drop formed on the side of the printer.
     “Something wrong?” Spike asked, circling powerful arms around Alex’s shoulders in a loving embrace. He had since shed his leather trench coat and dress shirt, leaving his tight T-shirt on, yet his arms were bare.
     “I have a project I’m working on that I want a hard copy of, but this piece of crap is making itself difficult! I mean, I’m working at the store as well as working on something to submit to a magazine, which is a pain in the ass when I’m supporting me, and then there’s the alcohol you drink whenever you spend the night or day here. I’m drained and stressed and this isn’t making it any easier!” He punctuated his sentence by kicking the printer and denting the metal casing.
     < “then he tells me in his bedroom voice...”>
     Spike nuzzled his neck before whispering sensually in his ear, “C’mon baby, let’s go make some noise.” Before kissing the back of his neck.
     “Mmmm... Spike, I don’t have time right now,” Alex protested, wriggling as the vampire kissed the back of his neck. He was enjoying every minute of this, and might as well enjoy some before a long day of work.
     < “Time it goes so fast (When you're having fun).”>
     A few minutes later Spike was laying between the sheets, his clothes scattered around the room, a contented grin across his lips. Alex was brushing his hair back into place, a glow around him ‘cause he’d just had some.
     “Was that minute stuff a habit?” Spike purred from where he lay.
     “What do you mean?” Alex asked, blushing a bit.
     “Well, you were, you know, shagging like a rabbit.”
     Alex grumbled something under his breath, which was drowned out by a clock chiming the hour. He looked at his watch, face faulted, and dashed around his room, throwing things into his bag.
     “What’s the bloody problem?” Spike asked, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and sitting up, a bit of sheet covering something very personal.
     “I need to leave for work. Now!” Alex said, snagging his wallet from the bed. He kissed the vampire on the lips a couple of times, ruffled his hair, and ran for the door. “See you tonight!”
     < “It's just another manic Monday. I wish it was Sunday. 'Cause that's my funday. My I don't have to runday. It's just another manic Monday.” (repeat X2)>
     He ran for work, his ponytail trailing behind. He’d snagged Spike’s coat for his own, smiling a satisfied smile since his love had decided to make his morning so wonderful. The sun was breaking through the clouds to the south, and the day was starting out beautifully. He hoped that the rest of the day would be as wonderful as the morning was, and that Spike would be waiting for him when he got home. Even though it was bound to be a long day, he had a positive outlook on things.
     ‘This is what life is all about,’ he thought as he ran through the center of town, ‘Even on a Monday, everything looks beautiful. The world is beginning a new week, full of new things and new experiences. We have been given a clean slate from the previous week’s toil, and now we have the opportunity to fill it with wonderful things.’
     He slipped a pair of sunglasses on as a ray of warm sunlight struck him, giving the illusion of being a spotlight. He deserved a spotlight at that moment, and enjoyed every second of that delicious light. Work was only a short distance away, and deep down he knew that even though this was just another Manic Monday, it would be a wonderful one none the less.

-End.