Inchoate Blood (CRUX I)

10. it's her again

{Chapter 10}

Something flying through the window... something fuzzy and red. Then there is a face too close to mine, a girl, with red hair? Dark, dark red hair- so beautiful. I feel a slap across my back.

"How many bloody times do I need to slap you to wake up?!" someone shouts.

Rude. Very rude. Can't she see I'm sleeping so blissfully... Wait SHIT I HAVE WORK. I need to wake up.

Shocking myself, I jump straight up from bed. "Holy crap Eire, what time is it?"

"Eight seventeen, you got thirteen minutes to get ready. Ain't you glad I slapped you awake?"

I throw a pillow at her and it lands on her scowling face. "Shut up. I slept at 3am yesterday thanks to your dishes." Then I mumble, "And I had a bandaged hand too."

"Hey, where's the appreciation for the dinner?" She sits herself down on the kitchen bench, opening a paper bag. Some breakfast she bought probably.

"Don't drop any food otherwise you're vacuuming the carpet," I say, walking myself to the kitchen for a glass of water. Yeah call me a clean-freak or whatever, but I just can't stand having a messy apartment.

"Tch. And you complain about washing the dishes last night." She gets up from the couch, a piece of egg and ham sandwich already shoved in her mouth. Flinging a plastic bag at me, she throws some canteen food on the table. "Your breakfast here, princess."

"Don't call me that." I run a hand roughly rough my bed head, sighing at the smell of tomato and cheese croissants. She knows it's my favourite food from the canteen, despite being the terrorising woman she is, but my grumbling stomach won't help me from admitting that.

"What should I call you then? Your highness?" She mocks, a smile forming on her lips.

"Yeah I'd like that if you didn't say it with such sarcasm." I mutter, "Get out of my apartment and go to class. I'm about to get changed anyways."

She raises an eyebrow. "Anything I'm not allowed to see?"

I roll my eyes, stripping my t-shirt in front of her. So I admit I haven't worked out for a while now, ever since the beer and alcohol fetish got to me, but I'm buffer than the average guy and I can tell she was surprised just by looking at her expression.

"Okay, okay, I'm out." Her eyes don't linger for a second longer as she exits my room, closing the door behind her.

Well that does the trick. Shit, the time is eight twenty five, I legitimately have five minutes to get ready for work. Putting on a fresh dress shirt from the laundry, I cuff my sleeves neatly and open the first two buttons at the collar. Then hiding my transmutation needles behind my blazer, I do a last appearance check before grabbing my breakfast and rushing out of my apartment.

"Hey, morning," a co-worker with spiky black hair and lanyard around his neck passes me by the hallway.

"Morning, Shaun." I greet back.

He catches sight of my bandaged hand. "Had some rough time yesterday?"

I scoff, "No, hardly anything. My trainee didn't get hurt at all."

"Hah! That's the first I've heard," Shaun laughs. "Oh yeah, I heard a meeting was called this morning for all the Regime interns. I don't know but are you supposed to -"

"Shit," I remember all my ignored phone notifications this morning. "Thanks for the reminder. I'd better go. See you around."

Holding my uneaten breakfast tightly in my hands, I run to conference room downstairs where they normally hold the important meetings. Arriving at the conference, seventy eyes stare at me standing breathlessly late by the door as I hide my breakfast bag behind my back.