It was midday in a non-descript office block. Conversations could be heard from all corners of a busy office.

The workers were mostly talking to their counterparts appearing on their headsets, whilst taking notes using telepathy. This was how the world worked in 2066.

People still went to work in offices however – human interaction could be minimized, but could not be replaced. Not yet anyway.

At one of the desks a young woman with long dark hair has just put down her headset. She closed her dark green eyes for a moment to give them a rest. Light from the windows bounced off her shimmering pale skin, contrasting against her long dark eyelashes.

It's been six months since she started working here. It was mundane work, but she enjoyed it. It was nice to have a normal job, a normal life, she thought.

Suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulders.

She turned around to look. "Hey Aoife, ready to go celebrate? You're not forgetting your birthday are you?" said a man cheerfully. He looked around the same age as Aoife.

Aoife smiled, "Hey Mike, I didn't know it's that time already! Let me get my things, will be ready in a minute!"

"Great, I'll go and get the others!" Mike said over his shoulder while walking away.

Aoife had a quick look at the mirror to check her makeup, although she wasn't sure why she should bother. These days makeup last for an eternity unless you wanted to take it off. She didn't even really need a purse. Cell phones had been made redundant a long time ago. Cash was now obliterated. Doors were unlocked with biometric scans. Aoife only kept a purse on her out of habit.

Aoife and her work team headed to a nearby restaurant to celebrate her birthday.

It was a shopping mall affair, with above average food and super friendly staff. Aoife had already booked a table for the party, so she approached the front desk to confirm the reservation.

"One of your guests is already waiting at the table." Said the woman behind the front desk.

Aoife raised an eyebrow.

Mike was standing next to her, and saw the look on her face. "Are you expecting someone?"

"I wasn't…" Aoife mumbled. Not wanting to look too perturbed, she put a smile on her face and followed the staff to the table and the mysterious waiting guest.

As the party approached the table, they could see a man standing next to it.

He looked elegantly overdressed for the venue, with an old-fashioned (for the 2060s) suit in grey and polished black shoes, but somehow the look worked for his slim build. He looked to be in his mid 30s with short, blond hair. He had slightly eerie eyes, but it was hard to pinpoint why at a quick glance. He was inhumanly pale, but handsome in an otherworldly way.

Aoife approached the man, and said in a low voice, "Father!"

The man smiled and gave Aoife a kiss on her cheek, "Happy Birthday, my precious."

"Why are you here? You didn't tell me you'd come!"

"You didn't ask. Anyway, I wouldn't miss your birthday celebration for the world. And I'll pay the bill."

Aoife tried not to roll her eyes.

"Please promise me it's real money you use this time."

"Aoife dearest, is this how you see your father?"

Aoife glared at him.

The man leant into Aoife and half whispered to Aoife, "I think now is the time for you to make an introduction, don't you think?"

"Erm… right", she called out to the rest of the party, "this is my… dad, Jareth."

Aoife never ever talked about her family. She was always friendly and fun to be with at work, but she never ever divulged any personal details. To have her father turning up unannounced was surprising to say the least. The man only looked about 10 years older than Aoife, but no one paid any attention to it, except that it might have confused some of them into thinking that he was actually Aoife's new rich boyfriend. By now advances in medicine and technology meant that people kept their looks younger for longer, either by improved living standards, advanced surgery or gene manipulation.

An extra seat was quickly arranged. Whilst getting into the chair, Jareth noticed the music playing in the background.

"I didn't know that they still do this in a restaurant."

"Some restaurants like to go for the retro feel, Father."

"What on earth is this music anyway?" Jareth pulled a face like he caught a whiff of the Bog of Eternal Stench.

"It's top of the charts at the moment, the teenagers love him."

Jareth winced, "can't say I'm particularly… accustomed to the taste of adolescence from this decade."

"You don't have to listen to it you know."

"Very well." Jareth turned away from Aoife to greet the rest of the party.

And as if by magic Jareth switched his charm on to full. He expertly manipulated all around him like a handful of crystals, some office workers in a non-descript town in the middle of America didn't stand a chance. Aoife, having spent all her life seeing her father taking centre stage, had decided not to notice.

When Jareth has gone away for the bathroom briefly, Debbie, another colleague who was sitting next to Aoife, asked her: "your dad sounds different, where's he from?"

"England." Aoife said without thinking.

"I love his accent, so sophisticated."

Aoife didn't know how to answer that.

"You didn't tell me that you were half English?"

"I lived most of my life in America, I can hardly call myself anything other than American." Aoife lied, a sudden pang of guilt hitting her at the same time.

"Is that why your parents picked Aoife as your name?"

"Well… it's Irish, but close enough I guess." Aoife was faltering now.

In spite of the uninvited guest and occasional awkward conversations, the birthday lunch went well. Aoife and Jareth hadn't see each other for a while, but decided to have their catch up after the meal. With Jareth on form as usual, all the guests came out of the restaurant feeling thoroughly entertained, if not completely seduced.

After the lunch, everyone walked back to their cars to head back to the office. Aoife was walking along with Jareth when he asked, "so… I assume we'll be on our way to the usual place?"

"I need to hand over a few tasks to my team, can you wait for me outside the office?"

"Of course, precious."

Aoife got back to her office and noticed a Jareth fan club forming on the office floor.

"Oh my god Aoife, you didn't tell me your father was so hot?" said one girl, hyperventilating.

"This is why I didn't invite him to lunch." Aoife thought to herself.

"Your mom is one lucky woman." Said another.

"She was." Aoife answered calmly.

The fan club went silent for a moment.

"I'm so sorry Aoife, I didn't realize…" said the girl blushing furiously, either from embarrassment or was still recovering from Jareth's hotness.

Aoife laughed it off, "Don't worry! She's passed away quite a long time ago."

Aoife quickly handed off some of her work and left the office quickly, before she had to answer any more awkward questions. She went downstairs and saw Jareth standing outside, looking at the the distance, deep in thought. He heard Aoife's footsteps and turned around to look at her, smiling.

"Sorry to make you wait, I'm ready."

Jareth nodded. "Car?" He asked with a smirk.

"Come off it." Aoife finally rolled her eyes at him.

Jareth let out a small laugh, wrapped his arm around Aoife's shoulders and they both disappeared amid a shower of glitter.