Connie's Cafe/Book Shop

Chapter 4 - Sunday

Sunday morning dawned bright. Connie lay in bed contemplating her day. She knew she had to get up soon but as usual it was always hard to get up on Sunday mornings. The apartment lay in silence, the usual weekly noisy traffic from the road outside was silent. On Sundays the area turned into a morgue, this was mainly a shopping area and most places were closed on Sundays.

Peach was making her presence known by pushing her face into Connie's shoulder and purring loudly. Peach was used to getting her breakfast around 7 each morning and she was quite upset that it was 8 am and still no movement!

Connie gently caressed the cat but she knew that Peach was after breakfast. She slowly got up and Peach rushed to the kitchen ahead of Connie knowing she had finally won. Connie put on the coffee, fed Peach and tidied up her area. Having an indoor cat was hard work sometimes but Connie preferred it. If she let Peach out, with her being in the shop all day, the poor cat would be out all day! This set up was much better. It also meant that Peach stayed clean and free from pesky fleas. She remembered when she was younger having two cats at home who had been let out all the time and they always brought home fleas. She remember the on going battles with washing and spraying and was glad she didn't have to go through that rigmarole!

She turned the radio on in the kitchen and music filled the whole apartment, Tim had wired up speakers around the place and now which ever device she put on they would all connect, she could move around her apartment and have music everywhere.

After her coffee she slipped into her jogging pants and hoodie, put on her trainers and headed downstairs for her Sunday run. She enjoyed her Sunday run. Sunday was her day. No shop, no customers, no Betty and Pat. Just her.

She ran down the street for about fifteen minutes and then made a left turn into a small park. She ran round the whole perimeter of the park and then back out and back home. The whole run took just under one hour.

As she turned the lock at the apartment she felt a little out of breath but energised and ready to tackle the day.

Connie greeted Peach then dived into the shower. She chose a casual dress to slip into, grabbed her bag and was back out in the street by 10am. This time she walked over to her car, got in and made the same journey she made every Sunday to visit her remaining family member.

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It was just coming on for 1 o'clock when she made it back to the apartment. She had stopped in at the little supermarket on the way home and had picked up some lamb cutlets.

She went into the kitchen and started preparing them. Peach decided he would like to try them and was sharply pushed off the counter. She loved Peach but there were limits!

When she had finished cooking and tidied up, she sat on the high stool at the kitchen counter to eat her lunch. She listened idiley to the radio as she sipped her from her glass of wine and enjoyed her lamb.

She thought back to the morning visit, today hadn't been too bad. Sunday family visits were always unpredictable, they ranged from awful where she would spend the entire day depressed to quite good, like today, when she could just put everything behind her and get on with life.

When she finished eating she washed up the remaining dishes and headed for her comfy chair with the remainder of her wine. She picked up the novel she was half way through and curled up to read.

After about half an hour she dozed off to sleep. By the time she woke up it was growing dark.

Damn! she thought, I really hate dozing off, it wastes the day. The reality was Connie really didn't have much else to do but relax on Sundays. Connie had never really had many close friends. No real reason, she had lots of acquaintances and people liked her. She was a pleasant girl, always helpful and kind, but she liked keeping herself to herself and found it hard to really confide in others so she had never really been close to anyone.

The result was now quite visible. At 26 she was successful in work and life in general but she was definitely alone.

Well, she mused, not totally alone, she had Peach who loved her, Tim, who in his own way, cared for her and certainly was always there if she needed him, Amy was turning into a friend, of sorts, and of course there was always Betty and Pat. Connie laughed to herself, what more could she possibly want out of life!