His Lovable Klutz (Completed)

Segment One.

♥ Dammit! ♥

      Coby groaned in her sleep, the sound muffled by the cocoon of bed covers wrapped tightly around her head. Her entire body was buried beneath the heavy quilt, making her resemble a hibernating bear more than a young woman with a job to get to. An arm snaked out from the mountainous pile of fabric, blindly flailing until it made contact with the snooze button on her alarm clock. The blaring beeps ceased, and she promptly retreated back into her quilted fortress.

      Just as she began to drift back into her dream of lounging on a tropical beach, Coby's eyes shot open in horror. She bolted upright, the sudden movement sending the covers flying in all directions. Her eyes, wide with panic, locked onto the glaring red numbers of the alarm clock. 8:30 a.m. flashed back at her like a taunting neon sign.

      "Oh, crap!" she exclaimed, scrambling to untangle herself from the bedding.

      In her haste, she tripped over the rebellious bed cover that had wrapped around her legs, sending her crashing to the floor with a resounding thud. The impact knocked the breath out of her, but she couldn't afford to lie there and wallow in her clumsiness.

      "Ouch, damn it!" she muttered, rubbing her sore elbow as she scrambled to her feet. She gave the covers a swift kick for good measure, only to stumble again and curse even louder.

      Coby's bedroom was a disaster zone. The small room was cluttered with piles of clothes—clean and dirty, indistinguishable from one another—scattered across the floor. Her desk was a chaotic mess of makeup products, half-empty coffee mugs, and overdue bills. A bookshelf, ostensibly meant for books, was instead home to a collection of mismatched socks and an empty cereal box.

      She dashed through the minefield of her bedroom and burst into the living room, which was somehow even worse. Bottles of liquor, some still half-full, were strewn across the carpet, mingling with empty pizza boxes and takeout containers that had long since begun to smell. The coffee table bore the remnants of last night's ill-advised attempt at a cheese platter, now a sad display of hardened cheese slices and stale crackers.

      "Great, just great," Coby muttered as she hopped over a particularly treacherous pile of dirty laundry.

      She made a beeline for the bathroom, only to slide on a discarded pizza slice and nearly go crashing into the wall. She caught herself just in time, her heart pounding from the close call.

      Once in the bathroom, she yanked off her pajamas and grabbed her toothbrush with such vigor that she accidentally flicked toothpaste onto her shirt.

      "Oh, come on!" she groaned, trying to rub the minty smear off her blouse.

      In her haste, she knocked over a bottle of shampoo, which tumbled into the sink, creating a bubbly mess.

      She turned on the shower, but in her frantic state, she accidentally set the water to scalding hot. The second the boiling stream hit her skin, she let out a yelp that probably startled the neighbors.

      "Hot! Hot! Hot!" she squealed, jumping back and flailing as if she were on fire.

      She adjusted the temperature with trembling hands, finally managing to get a tolerable stream of water.

      Coby's shower routine was a chaotic dance of shampooing, soaping, and trying not to slip on the slick tiles. She managed to drop her soap twice and almost lost her balance each time she bent down to retrieve it. By the time she was done, she was a frazzled, dripping mess, but at least she was clean.