The Breach

Part Two - Proposals

(This chapter is undergoing editing; my apologies for the possible punctuation mistakes)

𝔅eams of light soaked Alinas room, bringing her to consciousness. She didn't get much sleep last night, but that wasn't abnormal for her. Alina was temporarily blinded by said light and tumbled out of bed in attempt to get up. She pick herself up and stepped over to her closet. Opening the door, she selected a loose, white blouse and a pair of jeans wrapped in a belt. This would become her work uniform for the day.

Scurring down the stairs in a rush, she snatched up her tennis shoes and walked quickly to the kitchen. Alina bagged up an apple, a PB &J, a bottle of water, and a granola bar, then taped it shut. She finally laced up her shoes and flew out the door, locking it behind her.

Walking to work wasn't the worst part of the day, but it surly was not a highlight. Alina enjoyed the early sun and lack of people on her walk. Besides, there was only one gate on her commute, and she usually just sucked it up rather than trying to go around. She worked in the third ring library which was pretty close anyways. It was quiet in more ways than one, and she really didn't have to do much in order to get the paycheck; just sit, watch, and occasionally put books on shelves.

Alina fiddled with her necklace again before stepping up to the Komms. Luckily for her, there was no line as usual. She tilted her neck down and let the tingle run through her. It buzzed through evey bone in her body before fading out in the tips of her fingers and toes. She shook her body, courtesy of the chills, and advanced to the third ring.

Alina wound through the blocks of the town center until she reached a small building. It was painted colors of faded pinks and chipped grays and had small windows scattered along the sides. Bolded, white words spelled out "BLEMON BREWERY" on the front window. The curly, cursive words were written in some kind of paint, chipping here and there like it hadn't been redone in years.

As Alina pushed open the door, a little bell at the top announced her arrival with a small 'ding!' She didn't waste any time getting to the counter before ordering a medium-sized black coffee; it was one of the few drinks within her budget besides a water, but she needed the energy.

After being given her drink, she didn't spend a minute longer and hurried out the door down the street. Walking quickly, she came upon the usual bike rentals. Alina placed four quarters into the slot and rode off, drink and lunch in hand. She preferred to walk, but today she was running late. She barely even had time to grab her breakfast drink.

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After the third minute of digging through her pockets to finds her keys, Alina's coworker, William, pushed the door open from inside. Will always seemed to be in a cranky mood, so it was no surprise that he huffed in annoyance after her entrance. He started working at the library a few weeks before Alina did. William was average hight for his age with dirty blond hair that would poke out to the sides on occasion. There really wasn't much else to say about him; he was just your generic-looking person like the kind you would see in the backgoud of movies.

Alina found her place at the 'help' desk and cracked open a book while sipping her breakfast. The library was quite large with ladders scattered among the shelves and glass domes built into the ceiling. But this didn't make up for the fact that it always smelled musty, and there was a constant need for fans, courtesy of the humidity.

For the past two hours, Alina read her book on the history of Burke. She was zoned out to it until a lady interrupted her, waving her hands in front of Alina's face. She was shorter than Alina with grey-streaked, brunette hair and sagged skin.