Coffee and Aspirin

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The blaring of an annoying alarm clock sounded in the depths of heavily populated New York. Thousands of people were awakening at different moments that date and time and one of them was Henry Blanks.

Eighteen-year-old Henry lived in the middle of New York and already, at six in the morning, car horns were honking, and people were swearing, just another morning, Henry thought tiredly.

His spine tingled as he planted his feet on the cold wood flooring and stopped the alarm on his clock. He got up like any other morning: beginning with hurrying to the shower with clothes bunched up in his hands, then, about ten or so minutes later, he's making up his bed with a toothbrush in his mouth; and fifteen minutes left for breakfast.

He quickly spit in the kitchen sink before washing out his mouth and toothbrush then grabbing a donut from the fridge he had gotten last night from work.

Soon, it was 6:45 and Henry was saying goodbye to Zara, his stuffed dog that sat on his bookshelf, and then rushing out to the streets of New York for work.

***
Henry made it to the Dunkin Donuts where he worked and opened the cafe (shop, restaurant, whatever it was called) and began starting up the computers and preheating the ovens.

He had until seven to get everything ready for the opening and, like every other day, he had everything up and heating at seven-ten, just in time for their morning rush.

Among the many orders that morning, his coworker, and somewhat friend, Lia came in like normal: hair array and just barely dressed. Her hair was in a messy bun clipped with a hair clip and her black bra strap hung off her shoulder in her black t-shirt.

"Sorry, Henry!" Lia said, hurrying into the employee's area and putting on her headset and name tag.

"It's fine," Henry replied. "It's like every other day, Lia." He printed out a receipt and thanked the customer and wished him a good day.

Lia frowned at him, "I've been really trying, Hens. You know that."

"I do."

Lia works part-time at Dunkin and then heads to the local college before going home where she has to then take care of her two sons.

Henry didn't really consider her a friend but he knew that their relationship was something that would hurt him should anything happen to Lia or heck, even to her sons.

"Where's Harry?" Lia called out.

"Bathroom!"

Again, Henry handed another customer their receipt and a bag of chocolate frosted donuts and wishing them a good day, and getting one in return.

He didn't enjoy his days anymore. It just seemed like the same thing every day and to him, he was getting tired of it. Even when he was at home, with a bottle of milk, dressed in a onesie, and Blues Clues playing in the background, being little didn't seem fun anymore.

Lia suggested him getting a dog or even a cat, something he could look forward to after work that day but Henry couldn't because of his allergy to fur and hair; and if he were to get a fish or perhaps a lizard, it would just be one other thing to take care of when he couldn't even properly aid himself much.

^^^
Jamie Klinks awoke to the sounds of his cat, Klarisa clawing and meowing at the bedroom door. Groaning and with great difficulty, Jamie rolled over and checked the time on his phone, reading that it was just a little over nine.

Knowing that he had to be at work in half an hour, he got himself out of bed and made his way out of his room, Klarisa following him, meowing all the way.

Jamie reached down and petted her hairless body, earning a purr of acceptance. Chuckling, he added some more food to her bowl and water from the kitchen sink. Then he grabbed himself some heat-up breakfast and put it in the microwave. As it was running, Jamie made his way to the bathroom, going for a quick shower.

Once he was done, he grabbed proper work clothes and changed for the day. He grabbed Klarisa's litter box and dumped it into the trash in the kitchen. He washed his hands and tied up the bag. With his phone and such with him, he grabbed his breakfast and the trash, dumping it into his outdoor trash can then left his house for the day, chewing on his breakfast as he drove to work.