Golden State of Affairs

Chapter one : A Fleeting moment

Today is the usual day: it's 3:30 am. No it's not it's 2:30. what the hell. I blink my eyes a few times to make sure I'm reading the time correctly and it's indeed 2:30. Nevertheless I begrudgingly wake up because Im most definitely not falling back asleep. A Monday, and it's definitely way way way before the sun is even close to cresting the horizon? Yippee. I pull on my coat and go sit on the balcony to have a cigarette and try and wake up I guess. I scope the street and nobody is out but one fella staggering. Most definitely drunk or high and I just sigh as I watch him walk into the distance. What a beautiful chilly morning. I zone out and just enjoy the fuzziness of disassociating, feeling like I'm asleep with my eyes open for what feels like hours until I'm practically jolted from my awakened slumber by a skidding car on my street. It's some sort of beemer that's blasting music, it screeches to a stop about 30 yards from me then shortly after I see a door fly open and a bearded guy jumps out into the middle of the street followed by someone else shoving this poor lady out and swearing at her, who upon further inspection appears to be a sex worker. The bearded guy seems to comfort her by rubbing her shoulder but he gets back in the car and they take off, leaving her stranded. I know she's stranded because she just stands there for 5 minutes and she has nothing warm on her persons. Without contemplation I lean over the balcony and I yell to ask her if she wants my coat, I think I may have startled her but she was undeniably thankful me and carried on down the street, the opposite way from where they took off. After I could no longer see her I sat back in my seat to try and relax even though that was slightly stressful. I thought I was about to witness a murder or something fucked. I mean it was pretty messed up but she's alive so it's a win in my books. I eventually wound down and zone out again before im snapped back into reality by a different car speeding down the street. I take that as a sign to wake up, go inside and start my morning routine but god damn, what do they put in New Yorks water.

I gaze at the clock it's 3:20 am. I guess I'll go hop in the shower. I soak in the heat from my shower feeling myself slowly wake up. Then I move onto the utmost time consuming part of my day: to pick out an outfit... that I like. Today I've decided to go with a pair of earth toned plaid high top pants and an oatmeal coloured top with a small embroidered cream heart on my left side of my chest, I tuck it into my pants and straighten out my top. So cute. Obsessed. I look in the mirror to inspect and much to my horror I've realised my hair is in dire need of a trim and blow out. No time to pick apart my outfit though so brush my hair out, pop it up in a bun and rush down the hall and shortly after I'm greeted by my orange cat who is screaming at me in all caps, which is his only setting. His name is Mandarin, sometimes goes by "lil man"  and he is genuinely my life. He can be sweet and sometimes a sour ass. Right at this very moment at bloody 4:15 in the morning he is obviously demanding food, as am I. Im actually starving. So I carry on around the kitchen fetching his biccys and I pop a nice chicken neck in there as well. Good for their cartilage and collagen. After he's chuffed with his feed I move on to my favourite meal and one that I've been hyper fixed on for months. Scrambled eggs with bacon and tomato with a cup of Ceylon tea. Black. Mmmm. I whizz through that task as if I could do it with my eyes closed and then I take a moment to pause, enjoy my cuppa and meal, gazing out over the balcony above my cafe letting time suspend before I have to go down stairs at 4:45 and open shop for a 5:30 am start then chowing through morning rush until 10 am. Im so excited (not). love my job so much, but hangry, tired and coffee-less business people are like, not the finest hours of my week. It's usually the hot businessmen or the really sweet old folk and even the mums with kids that are my silver linings but I digress. I've got a hell of a few hours ahead of me and Sam doesn't clock in until 7:00 am, which is actually okay. That's when the rush is really on and I genuinely need her help. 5-7 is for the people who wake early so they can take their time. Who don't always despise the morning. The not,  not morning people but not, not night people. They have the duality of being night and morning people but aren't overly ecstatic for either. Those kinda people have their thinking caps on, they are my kinda people. Anyways I'm too invested by other peoples lives haha. I check the time. 4:30.  I gracefully eat my food and watch as people waddle with their coats on.  Not a lot of people out but there's a few, even this early.