If Things Should Stay the Same

Chapter 15. Mornings

Enjoying the early morning breeze out in the small balcony, he had been sitting on one of the wrought metal chairs surrounding a circular glass table with a metal frame. He was re-reading the compiled notes of his chemistry and biology classes for the last half hour after waking up unusually early in the morning.

He had to be prepared if he wanted to pursue his career of being a doctor. As far as he knew, only the top one hundred of the high scoring applicants were accepted to study medicine in any school – not yet counting the various evaluations of previous academic performance and achievements in both high school and college. Although he was confident enough with his grades alone, he still had to go through the inevitable process of sitting an entrance exam. Something he preferred to do by himself without the influence of his family's wealth or reputation.

As he was starting to enjoy soaking up the warm rays of the sunrise, he could smell the rich aroma of his favorite brew of coffee. Strong and invigorating, it made reviewing the biological interactions of glucose with enzymes in the mouth a little less tedious and a little more interesting. Although, he was still reading through his writing, his cheek resting on his knuckles, while trying to picture the diagrams drawn by his professor along with the detailed explanation of the chemical reactions.

He was about to turn the page of his notebook when he felt something hot near his elbow. That was certainly strange as the sunlight was coming in from his right. And despite the sun's rays being partially filtered by the leafy branches of the tall trees greeting him from the balcony rails, his other half should be well away from any source of heat.

"Whoa!" He let out a startled yelp as he turned to see what was near his left arm. Just inches from his arm was a steaming cup of coffee with a stirrer in it while a couple of sachets were carefully tucked in between its bottom and the saucer.

About to ask himself about the hot beverage's sudden appearance, he was then subjected to another surprise when he felt a tap on his shoulder. This time, he abruptly stood up and was met with an unexpected face in a slightly loose-fitting business suit, the cuffs of his sleeves reaching up to a third of his palms while those of the trousers were in thick folds around the ankles.

"I apologize for the unexplained intrusion, Master, but I would just like to inquire what you would prefer for breakfast. Would you prefer any one or a combination of..." The young man in a suit sucked in a big mouthful of air before breathlessly continuing on with a slew of choices, "...cereal, scones, toast, muesli, waffles, fried noodles, pancakes, porridge, pudding, bacon, eggs, sausages, muffins, bagels, hash browns, canned sardines or smoked ham?"

"Sev?" Alex wanted to say more but the words just jumbled themselves up in his mouth, refusing to come out.

He had not realized that someone had once again managed to sneak in under his nose. He had not heard the door opening – or any footsteps for that matter. He did a quick glance on Sev's footwear. It looked like the traditional leather shoes which should at least be making light tapping sounds when walking on the wooden floorboards or the tiles. He then questioned himself if he had been too thoroughly immersed in his studies to realize someone coming in the room. He found it hard to believe that Sev, a newbie at the job, would manage to do a stunt like Joshua always had. Alex started to blame his recent episodes of inattention and thought that they were going to spell disaster for him one of these days if they continued to persist.

"I'm working? Remember?" Sev replied with a confused look on his face, somehow getting the feeling that Alex was completely confounded with his presence at the moment.

"Aren't you-? Shouldn't you-? But I thought-" Words continued to refuse cooperating with Alex, only producing fragmented sentences of what he intended to say. They were all just tangling themselves with his tongue, much to his chagrin. He wanted to ask why Sev was standing in front of him, all dressed up like he was doing the same job as Joshua.