Clouds Cover the Sun Because they like the warmth

A Week In

Flocks of people came in as it hit breaktime. A few gave her odd looks, but Manon chose to ignore it. Perhaps they were just hungry? That was until Daniella had rushed up to the counter. Her wings took up most of the room, and she seemed out of breath. "How much do you get paid?" Manon blinked the confusion away. "I beg your pardon?" Manon replied quickly. "How much do you get paid?" "Sixteen dollars an hour?" Manon replied weakly. Daniella took in another breath as she relaxed. "I'll take one coffee and a bag of cookies." Daniella said rather casually. Manon remained still for a few seconds as she tried to process what had just happened. Though her curiosity got the better of her. "Why did you want to know my pay?" Manon asked as Daniella gave her a sweet smile. "I'll tell you after work." Manon figured that would be the responses especially with the line growing. "One dollar." Manon replied before getting to the customers. A lot of them were giving her weird, and some amused ones as well. As if this was the biggest thing they had seen in a long while. Was she and Norman that obvious? They had been dating for two weeks by now, but she didn't think anyone would notice. The two hadn't even kissed in front of them and they were already figuring it out. That may explain why Daniella asked about her pay, though as far as she was aware her salary was not intended to change. She and Norman may discuss this later. About half way through the line was a different coworker. As she was preparing her drink her name was called. She looked over at the coworker who had a smug grin on her face. "Have you been seeing anyone as of lately?" She teased, well that just spelled it out. To be honest she did want to keep it under wraps for now. Just replying with a shrug. "What about you?" She asked. The coworker sighed, "I wish, but no guy seems to be into me." She said as Manon gave her her items. "Two dollars." She replied. Two bucks were placed in her hand. "Have a good day." "You too." Manon replied as the coworker walked off to another group of people. Whispering amongst themselves as their eyes occasionally drifted to Manon. She probably screwed up there, but that didn't matter for now. She just hoped she would make it to the end of the day without any issue. Sure enough breaktime drifted by until she reached the last person in line, which was surprisingly, Peter. No sign of Bryce, which was odd as she had rarely seen them apart. "Hey Peter." Manon greeted. "Hey, uhm one coffee please." Manon walked over and grabbed the cup. "No Bryce today?" She replied as she poured coffee into it. "I saw him earlier. We were having a smoke break together." Peter explained as Manon nodded. "Say Marianne." Manon was already walking over with his coffee. "You and the boss seem rather close, are you two..." The elevator dinged, catching his attention. "Uh, got to go bye." With that Peter rushed off to the stairs. "Bye." Manon replied as Norman walked into view. Manon smiled as she already got to work making his coffee. By now the last few employees were off on their ways back to the desks. "Hi." Norman said as he leaned on the counter. "Hi." Manon replied as she placed the coffee in front of him. "Thank you." He replied before taking a sip. "It seems a lot of your staff is suspicious of us." Manon mentioned as she got to work cleaning up the area. Norman nodded. "I've gotten a lot of questions as well. Most of them were from Bryce, but all are asking the same thing." Manon nodded. "Do you want to tell people yet, or leave it as a mystery for a little while longer?" Norman asked Manon had noticed Norman had always asked for her permission before doing something. It was quite nice, but this decision involved both of them more greatly than hand holding. "Well what would you like to do?" Manon asked, Norman seemed rather surprised. Then a small bit of tension settled in. What would Norman want to do? Sure if he wanted to tell people she could deal with it. Maybe even have them come to a compromise where they only tell some people? But this was something that involved the two of them, and if they were going to make the jump they would have to do it together. "Well, I personally want to wait a bit longer before really telling anyone, but if you want to tell people that would be fine too." His voice sounded nervous at the end. She could tell he really just wanted to keep it a secret for a bit longer, but would be willing to let her tell. Manon let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She was glad to see he was honest about how he felt, but also that he seemed to be willing to compromise. "I'd like to do that as well." Manon replied with a smile. "Are you sure?" Norman asked. Manon held out her hand. Norman seemed confused before leaning down and putting his head in her hand. Manon blushed at the sight. She hadn't been expecting it, but it was kind of silly, and cute. It caused her to laugh, "I was expecting your hand, but this works too." Norman flushed gray as he stood back up straight. "Oh, I guess that makes more sense." Norman replied, not doing too well on hiding his own laughter. "So we're keeping a secret a little longer?" Manon replied and Norman nodded. "Though you have to admit, we are both bad at hiding it." Manon waved him off. "Yeah, but let's be honest they may have a more calm response if we just let it fester for a while." Manon said as Norman shrugged. "Good point. I'll see you later." "See you tomorrow." Manon replied as she watched Norman walk away. His eyes still focused on her to the point he almost ran into a wall. Manon let out a laugh alongside Norman before she was left alone, all by herself until the end of the day.

The chilly night air hit her skin as she walked outside. Daniella was waiting for her, leaning against the building, a cigarette was in her mouth. "Finally." She said as she threw it in an ashtray placed by a trash can. "Ready to go?" Manon nodded. "Oh by the way, what was the salary question?" Daniella looked a little embarrassed. "Well there's been some rumors about favoritism." Manon could see through that crap right away, but before she could ask. "MARIANNE!" Manon felt her body tense up as both her and Daniella turned to their left to see Rebeca. "I'm So sorry about what happened on Saturday, I didn't mean to hurt you, I just wanted to make sure you were safe from that odd looker." Rebeca paused as she looked at Daniella. The avian hybrid showed anger as their wings lifted. "Pardon?" "Oh I wasn't talking about you, but you're not much different. None of you can handle the truth." Daniella gritted her teeth, but Manon stepped in front of her. She was not going to hold back anymore. "No, they get angry because you make offensive comments. I'm sorry I'm dating someone you don't like the appearance of, but we weren't really friends to begin with and you slapped me! Quit bothering me, I don't like you, and I don't want to see you." Rebeca looked like she was about to explode. "Excuse me!" "You heard her fuck off!" Daniella shouted quickly as she moved forward. Rebeca let out a growl. "Now listen here, I'm pretty, and I'm normal, so you can just suck it up. You are so unfortunate to have despicable things as friends, and when you are crying because things turned out shitty for you then you can kiss my" A loud honk came as Rebeca fell over with a scream of pain. Rather quickly Daniella's wing blocked her view of anything. It gave harsh chills up her spine. Suddenly the night air felt colder, just like that horrid freezer. Manon felt as if she was about to vomit. "Hey Marianne, You, okay?" Daniella asked as she spun around. Manon nodded. "Let's get home." Daniella nodded as the two began to walk off. Daniella removed her wing though Manon could still feel the feathers around her back. Not even leaving her side until she got inside her apartment. When she did, Manon still felt uneasy. In fact she couldn't hold it back anymore. She rushed over to her toilet. Managing to make it before her food came up. Shivers ran up her spine. She wanted to talk about it with someone. Norman was a good choice, but a small voice was in the back of her mind. She couldn't tell him what had happened. What would he think if he learned about it? Likely he would be disgusted. Manon sighed as she felt hopeless, but being hopeless would have caused her to die. There would have to be one positive now. Her date with Norman was coming up, and she probably wouldn't have to deal with Rebeca now. She took a deep breath. Tomorrow was another day.