Saturday morning crept up on Kurt's sleeping form in the last moments before he was abruptly returned to the realm of the conscious by his phone ringing far too loudly.

Kurt swore violently, plotting the slow and painful death of the unlucky soul that dared to wake him so early after a night of (moderate) drinking. However, before he could carry out his plan of execution, Kurt needed to answer his phone to find out exactly who he would be destroying.

"What?" Any semblance of manners that Kurt normally had when answering the phone was gone with what was left of his chance to sleep.

"Mr. Hummel," Rachel's voice, slightly more shrill than usual, made Kurt wince slightly. "I'm so sorry to call you, sir, but it's an emergency." Kurt wasn't too inclined to take Rachel's declaration seriously. This was the woman who classified Kurt receiving warm coffee instead of hot coffee as an emergency.

"Oh really? And what kind of emergency would require you to call me at seven in the morning on a Saturday?" Kurt didn't bother to hide his irritation and he could almost picture Rachel recoiling into herself, hesitant to incur his wrath.

"The International Division is holding a meeting about the company's state of affairs in Europe and all executives are to be there. The meeting starts at 8 a.m. sharp."

Kurt dragged himself into a sitting position and permitted himself a small sigh. It was just his luck that he'd be called into the office during the first free weekend he'd had in months.

"All right, thank you Rachel. I expect to have my usual coffee order waiting on my desk when I arrive." Kurt hung up without waiting for a reply.

After dragging himself out of bed and making his way to the bathroom, Kurt desperately wished for a clone so that he could just go back to sleep. Kurt stepped into the shower, and was immediately assaulted by the not-quite-hot-enough spray of water. It was going to be an extremely long day.

Kurt was just getting into the elevator of the parking garage to go up to his office when a hand suddenly stopped the doors from closing.

Kurt almost swore when the doors opened to reveal the owner of that hand.

"Hummel."

"Karofsky," Kurt replied stiffly. This was not what he needed, first thing on a Saturday morning. Kurt all but plastered himself to the wall farthest from Karofsky. However, his efforts were futile considering the small size of the elevator. Kurt simply planned to ignore Karofsky while the elevator made its way up to the twentieth floor.

"Looks like someone had a rough night." Kurt refused to acknowledge Karofsky's goading and stared resolutely ahead at the display, indicating the elevator's passing of each floor.

"I guess that just goes to show who which one of us is truly dedicated to our job. After all, everyone knows better than to slack off so close to the release of a new collection. And that includes nights of wild partying. It's quite unprofessional, if you ask me."

"Ah, but that's just the thing," Kurt didn't deign to turn and face Karofsky as he spoke. "No one asked you at all. And, if I remember correctly, wasn't it your slacking off that almost cost us the half billion dollar deal with Feldman Department Stores just last quarter?" Kurt could see the gobsmacked expression plastered across Karofsky's face and felt his mood improve by a minute amount.

"You see, Karofsky, those of us who are in my position of power can go out and engage in 'wild nights of partying' because we have already proven ourselves to be dedicated to our work. People like you, on the other hand, will forever be required to slave away at your desk, well into the night. After all, how else are you going to make up for the constant mistakes that seem to follow you everywhere you go?"

Before Karofsky could respond, the elevator chimed and the doors opened, signaling their arrival. Kurt briskly made his way to his office, eager for his coffee, all the while feeling the hole that Karofsky was glaring into his back.

As Kurt expected, Rachel was already in his office, coffee and notes in hand. She handed Kurt his coffee and immediately began briefing him on the topic of the day's meeting as they made their way to the boardroom.

"It turns out that our biggest competitor, Fields & Cauldwell, is also planning on heading into Europe. Now, from last quarter's numbers, it's clear that Fields & Cauldwell, though having earned less than previous quarters, is still doing quite well and proposes a threat to our profits. So it's up to all of the executives from each department to come to an agreement about what the course of action the company will take."

The pair came to a stop at the boardroom and Rachel was looking expectantly at Kurt for any confirmation that he'd heard what she'd said.

"I see. Well then, it looks like we're in for another long day at the office. Splendid." Kurt checked his watch and handed Rachel his empty coffee cup. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to attempt to make this meeting a little less painful."

Rachel nodded and headed back to her cubicle outside of Kurt's office, presumably to get ahead on next week's workload.

Kurt took his usual seat in the boardroom and nodded at a few of his coworkers that were already present. The rest of the executives, including Karofsky, filed in and Kurt was grateful for the fact that this meeting was of the utmost important. There was no room for Karofsky's petty comments right now.

The day's meeting was long and stressful. Mercedes wasted no time in outlining various methods that could be used to prevent Fields & Cauldwell from taking too much of the European market share. Suggestions were made, discussed, and shot down. It wasn't until well after 6 p.m. that all of the executives reached an agreement. The best thing for Rheinhold & Co. to do at this point was to continue as scheduled and focus on heavy marketing once they've already entered Europe. It wasn't as aggressive as some would have liked but it was necessary to keep the current flow of business as stable as possible.

Kurt sighed in relief as he finally waked into his apartment. Now, he could finally get some rest. But first, Kurt decided to tidy up a bit.

'Jeez, I must have been really out of it if I actually left my clothes strewn about,' Kurt thought.

As he picked up his pants, he saw something fall out of one of the pockets. Upon closer inspection, the events from the previous night, more specifically, what happened at the end of the night, came flooding back to Kurt as though a dam had been opened.

The woman's voice rang in Kurt's head as he remembered exactly what she'd implied while pressed up against him.

'Believe me when I say that my business caters to everyones needs.'

Kurt shook his head and tossed the business card into the trash bin beside his bed. He wasn't desperate enough to resort to that. Sure, outside of his professional life, things were a little slow, but Kurt prided himself in being above the constant need for sex that most men seem to have.

Kurt finished cleaning up and stood in his living room, somewhat at a loss for what to do next. He briefly entertained the thought of calling Mercedes but he quickly shot that idea down when he remembered that she was supposed to be in a conference call with overseas partners until the wee hours of the morning.

Kurt smiled softly as he remembered their conversation shortly after the day's meeting was over.

"Mercedes, you can't possibly expect to take on all of this on your own. Why don't you get one of your assistants to do it for you? We both know how much they're dying for the chance to prove themselves to you."

Mercedes smiled at Kurt's statement, knowing that he was right. But she wasn't going to change her mind.

"Kurt, I'm not doing this on my own. It's a company effort. But this meeting is really important. I know that it'll cost me a night's sleep but this was the only available time that they had so I have to take the chance when it's presented to me." Mercedes smiled reassuringly at her friend's concern. "Besides, it's only one meeting. I just need to get through this and then we'll be good to go."

"If you say so. Knock 'em dead, tiger."

Kurt shook his head at his best friend's determination to get as much work done as possible no matter how exhausted she might be. The clock read 9:32 p.m. so Kurt figured that the would be well underway by now. Bringing himself back to his current situation, Kurt still had no idea what to do with himself.

"Well, I suppose eating might be a good place to start," Kurt said to himself. He shook his head at his own sad excuse for a Saturday night. Here he was, standing in front of his almost-empty refrigerator, contemplating whether or not the Chinese food in the back was still safe to eat.

Sighing with resignation, Kurt decided to try his luck. He stuck the food in the microwave and went back into his living room to see if there was anything worth watching on television.

While he flipped through countless channels, Kurt snorted to himself.

"Of course there's nothing on," he said to the empty room. "Everyone else is out having a life. Who would be home to watch TV?" Kurt chose to ignore the fact that he was actively talking to himself and retrieved his food from the microwave when it beeped.

Kurt flopped back onto the couch and settled for watching a rerun of an old sitcom. He steadily ignored the niggling feeling of interest that refused to dissipate ever since he rediscovered the business card.

Against his better judgement, Kurt went back into his bedroom and retrieved the business card from the trash bin. He was more than a little grateful that he'd just emptied it the day before, so there was almost nothing in it.

Kurt studied the card carefully as he made his way back into the living room. It was quite plain, with nothing but the name, motto and address on it. There wasn't even a phone number on the card nor was there anything printed on the back of it. Kurt was completely lost.

So, he sat there, on his couch, staring at the business card in his hands. The audience's laughter blared in the background, letting Kurt know that he'd missed the latest joke in the show. Kurt turned the card over in his hands, not even believing himself as he came to a decision.

"Maybe if I just go, I'll get this stupid feeling out of my system." After quickly polishing off the rest of his Chinese food, Kurt put on a pair of dark jeans and a grey sweater. He wasn't too sure what he was getting himself into but that was no excuse to look anything less than presentable. He stuffed the card into his pocket, shrugged on his jacket, and grabbed his keys before leaving his apartment.

During the entire elevator ride down to the garage and as Kurt entered the address into his car's navigation system, he couldn't help but feel as though he'd just made an awful decision.