The early morning light made its way past April and Danny’s black out blinds, slight rays of sun poking through and warming April’s exposed toes. She shifted, glanced through groggy half-open eyes at the clock and saw that she still had five minutes before her alarm was to go off. She hated that, waking up before her alarm. She always willed herself back to sleep to try to savor those last five minutes of slumbering bliss before she had to get up and start her day.

As soon as she went back to sleep, the harsh beeps of Danny’s alarm went off, with her slower, more melodic alarm following just a minute or so behind. He always slept through those first horrible chirps, though she never understood how he could with its incessant noise so close to his precious ears. She shoved his shoulder and, predictably, he smacked snooze on the clock and rolled over to take her into his arms and smell her hair before getting up for work.

“Ugh, why can’t our clocks be synchronized? Why do we need two alarms, anyway?” she asked, wiggling herself a little closer to him.

“Babe, you know why. It’s because you constantly snooze yours until you’re running so late that you are a frantic mess getting out of here,” he said, his voice muffled by her thick hair.

She hated when he pointed out her snoozing habits so soon after waking; her body stiffened, she sat straight up and said, “Fine! I’ll get up now! You’ll see!”

He spread out across the entire bed while she was leaving the room and said, “Yeah, you’ll show me…” as he fell back asleep.

April’s anger dissipated while she showered. It always did. She was a real monster in the mornings and she often found herself needing to apologize to anyone who may have accidentally stepped in the way of her waking wrath just after her morning shower. She often felt even more compelled to apologize after she ate her morning banana. Comfortably predictable, she was. She let the hot water steam the bathroom mirrors and humidify the small space. In these early Spring mornings, she loved to feel a small ounce of humidity in the air, even if it was generated by her hot shower–she knew with summer coming that it wouldn’t be long before she was running for the hills from anything and everything humid, but in late March, the morning air carried a slight chill and dampness that she liked to obliterate with her hot, humid shower air.

Danny knocked at the bathroom door; it must’ve gotten pretty late while she was in there. “Babe? Can you hurry up? I have to get ready for work too.”

She put on her light blue fluffy robe, opened the door, and said, “Sorry, honey! What’s the forecast for today?” as she walked out of the bathroom, billowing clouds of shower steam following in her wake.

“It’s going to be a nice one out there. I’d say you should be pretty comfortable in a dress with boots,” he said, closing the bathroom door.

A dress with boots! She hadn’t been comfortably go to work in just a dress with boots since the late fall. She opened her bedroom blackout blinds and let the dazzling sunlight warm her still-drying body. This is going to be a good day, she thought.

April and Danny finished their morning routines and left for work together, zoning out on the subway until Danny got off three stops before her. He gave her a quick kiss and a squeeze on the shoulder on his way out and she read her book, Emma Donoghue’s Room, for the rest of her trip. Needing some vital vitamin D before being shut up in the office all day, she opted to take the long way to work, looping up and around the building outside rather than climbing the interior stairs straight into the office. She walked languidly, face up, smiling, until she couldn’t find any more excuses to stay outside anymore. She stood in front of the revolving door, took a deep breath, and went inside.

“Hello, miss,” said the doorman.

“Hey, Ricky! Lovely day out there today,” she said in passing, just like every other day.

“Maybe the big boss will let you work outside today,” he quipped.

“Maybe, Rabbit!” she said, disappearing into the elevator.

Maybe the big boss will let you work outside today, she thought. Could he? Would he? Probably not, but it was worth a shot. April breezed into the office, exuberant in her morning giddiness, and greeted everyone she saw with a smile and a warm hello. She dropped her things at her desk and went into the kitchen to make two cups of coffee. He can’t deny me if I make him the perfect cup of coffee, can he?

“Good morning, Mister Boss Man!” she said from the doorway of his office.

He glanced up and waved her in, “Oh, hello, April, just the girl I’ve been waiting for. What’s that?”

“It’s a coffee for me and a coffee for you.”

“Great, wonderful, thanks. Come in, come in,” he said, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk.

She sat down, handed him his drink, and waited for the right moment to ask, but all he did was talk about his weekend, his wife, and his children before moving on to official business.

“Oh, excuse me, sir? May I ask you a question before we begin working?”

“Sure, April. Shoot,” he said, looking at her inquiringly.

Maintain eye contact, girl. No twisting your fingers in your lap. Sit up straight. “Well, it’s so beautiful outside today, and I was just wondering if maybe I could work outside today?”

He looked genuinely surprised, “Work outside? April, we’re not in school here. You have to stay inside during working hours. We can’t, er, take class outside.”

Dejected, she said, “But I have everything I need on my laptop, and I thought maybe it wouldn’t be a big deal or anything.”

“April, if I let you work in an unconventional manner, I will have to let everyone do so, you understand?”

She gathered what was left of her dignity (Why would I ask him such a juvenile question?) as she stood up to leave the room, “Of course. Sorry I asked.”

“You can always go for a nice stroll during your lunch hour. Please close the door on your way out. Remember! Get me your monthly report by…let’s say 11:30. That should give you enough time?”

An hour and a half. Sure, if you want a shitty one.  “Yeah, should be. Good idea about the lunch time walk, sir. Sorry to waste your time,” she said, closing the door.

April’s heart felt peculiarly heavy when she sat down at her desk. She couldn’t figure out if it was the feeling of embarrassment in asking or the complete rejection in his answer. She knew she had to get outside, though. The artificial sunlight provided by the overhead fluorescent lights was starting to eat away at her soul. The stale air circulating through the vents was making her throat tight, and she yearned for the sweet smells of the springtime air, freshened with each gust of wind.

Besides, sitting at a desk all day made her feel antsy and anxious. Who decided that we humans should sit inside staring at a screen for eight to ten hours a day? An idiot, that’s who. She laughed.

She opened Word and typed, “March Monthly Report, 2015,” but that’s all she could get out. She sat and stared at the rhythmically blinking cursor, her hands folded just beneath her chin. With each blink of the cursor, she thought, outside until the word was drumming through her ears. That drumming sound grew louder and louder and soon she found herself opening a new message in her email. Her fingers moved unconsciously typing a message to the entire office, all the while her mind was focused on outside, outside, outside.

TO: New York Office

Subject: Recess

Hi All,

As you’re well aware, it’s springtime out there. I that instead of taking a lame-o lunch hour–who likes eating limp lettuce at their desks? Who likes taking boring old walks around the building? No one, I say!–we go outside for Recess. What do you think? Who’s in for a rousing game of kickball? Meet me on the field in the park across the street at noon. Be there or be square.

Best,

April Flanigan

Send. There. Outside. Outside. Outside. She nudged her gym bag, full of sneakers, workout clothes, and kickballs. Finally, I thought you’d never do it.