smoke breaks | proxies

i.

The sound of a lighter clicking followed by water bubbling filled the small apartment, overshadowing the soft sound of YouTube being played on a large TV. I turned, a grin already split across my face as I took in the sight of Natalie with her head tilted back, a cloud of smoke billowing from her lips. She was quiet for a moment before hacking out a cough. I couldn't help the loud laugh that escaped me at the sight, folded over as giggles overtook my body.

Natalie chuckled a bit too between her coughs, throwing her hand out in anger. "Fuck- fuck off," she choked out, covering her mouth with both hands.

That only made me laugh harder, my hazy vision worsening as tears gathered in the corners of my eyes. "You- you can't even t-take a hit," I cackled out.

"I'm just not fucking used to it, you ass," Natalie snapped back, leaning fully into the couch and closing her eyes. "Not everyone's a pothead like you, y'know." She turned, letting her head rest fully on the couch, scarred eye hidden beneath a thick bunch of hair. She gave a lopsided smile, eyes already drooping low. "Aren't you supposed to be going to work soon?"

I shot up faster than I meant to, vision going blurry at the sudden change. "Wh-what fucking t-time is it?"

Natalie snorted, chuckling to herself. "Three forty-two."

I scrambled off the couch, hitting the floor and bouncing back up almost immediately as I ran to my room. "F-fff-fuck!" I rummaged through my dirty clothes, trying to find my uniform without falling over. Getting absolutely wrecked before work may not have been the smartest idea but by god I am not the smartest man.

"I don't know why you even still work there, man," Natalie called from her place in the living room, pausing only to hit the bong again. I could hear the rumbling water and her hacking coughs. "That place fuckin' sucks! They don't treat you right!"

"Th-they're paying our b-bills right now, Nat," I called back, jumping into a pair of jeans as I made my way back to the living room. "H-how else would I-I be able to afford the luxuries we l-love s-sss-so much like our incre-edible collection of n-ninety-nine-cent noo-oodles?"

"Oh, what would I do without those noodles," she grumbled out.

I fastened my belt before pulling on my apron and then a jacket. I gripped my keys tight, making sure they were there, and then I turned and press a kiss to the top of Natalie's head, grinning as she grunted and threw her hand out to hit me. She missed, letting her arm fall limp instead. "I'll be home i-in a few hours. I close toni-ight, s-so don't wait up, but d-do watch that YouTube vi-ideo I-I told you about."

She called out a goodbye as I shut the front door, locking it behind me. It was cold today, colder than I thought it would be. I wrapped my jacket tight around myself and began shuffling down the sidewalk. The coffee shop I worked at was only a couple of minutes down the road by walking, so I never felt the need to drive, but with the cold seeping into my skin, I almost wished I had something to drive.

The walk was spent in silence excusing the music playing through my headphones, and as I entered the building I had grown a love-hate relationship with, I let out a sigh of relief.

"Toby!"

I turned at the voice, grinning at the sight of Jeff leaned against the counter, a similar grin split across his face, the scars elongating it to something that would have been off-putting if I wasn't so used to it. He motioned for me to hurry up, and I laughed as I got behind the bar.

"Took you long enough. I feel like I've been waiting ages," he groaned out dramatically.

"I'm only l-like, wh-what, five minutes late?" I clocked in using the buggy computer and let out a deep exhale as it denied my number. When would they get a new system instead of keeping this one that broke down every two hours. I was ten minutes late, actually, but I wouldn't tell him that until he noticed.