The Wisest Fool.

Not a Morning Person

I was jamming out to One More Night by Maroon 5 in my red 2016 Honda Civic on my way to work. It was Monday again, another stale week of waking up early to waste away my days working. The seatbelt light flashed at me and its persistent dinging sound seemed to get louder the more I ignored it. I rolled my eyes at it and turned up the radio more. I hated wearing seatbelts, they never sit right on my boobs. It either has to go awkwardly in between them, or underneath in a super weird and uncomfortable way. It was easier to just avoid it.

I had snoozed my alarm clock one too many times and had a feeling I was going to be late. I still had to get my morning coffee from Starbucks, and I didn't even have time to brush my teeth before I raced out of my second story apartment. I figured I could fix my hair in the car and do my makeup when I got to work. Or at a red light on the way.

I worked as an Asset Protection Specialist at a retail store called Hales. We mostly sold clothes, but there were also some electronics and other random stuff. My job was to make sure people don't get away with stealing our products. Standing at an intimidating height of 5'2", I may be small but I can still throw hands when I need to.

I have always been into security type jobs ever since I returned from Army basic training and advanced individual training as Military Police. Yeah, I know that's hard for some people to believe, but I am a U.S. Army soldier in the Reserves. I absolutely hate all the running, but the rest isn't so bad. MPs get to shoot all the big guns. Plus, military experience looks pretty damn good on a resume.

I looked into the rearview mirror, trying to do something with my short blonde hair. It was a mess, and totally trying to do it's own thing. I had kept my hair short since sophomore year of high school, and I was twenty years old now. It was just so much easier to deal with than long hair, mostly because of how thick and wavy it can get. I used to have to put a hat on after my showers in order to avoid having my hair poof out like a male lion's mane.

After doing the best I could to tame my hair, I continued looking in the mirror, trying to decide if I wanted to put on makeup today. I saw the reflection of my blue eyes staring back at me, occasionally flicking my eyes view back to the road to make sure I wasn't going to hit anything. Nah, no makeup today. I'm too tired to lift a mascara brush anytime soon. It was safe to say that I definitely was not a morning person.

I glanced down at my thighs in my black skinny jeans. I had wide hips and slightly thick thighs, but I was still very small. I had maintained a constant weight between 120 and 125 lbs for the last few years, even though I could swear that my stomach seems to get less and less flat all the time. I was able to dress pretty casual for work. I'm supposed to look like just another customer, so it's a pretty nice perk. Today it was black skinny jeans, my same black Vans with the white stripe that I wear all the time, and a simple Doctor Who T-shirt.

The Maroon 5 song that was playing on the radio came to an end and another song began playing that I didn't recognise. I was driving down a road that ran alongside the freeway, my attempt to avoid traffic that would just make me more late. As I gazed at the clock on my radio I became more worried and picked up speed.

The speed limit was thirty, but I started to pick up speed in an effort to shave a few minutes off the time it would take to get there. Starbucks is only about ten miles away now. I've got this. Self motivation is important. And there were only a few intersections on the way that could potentially slow me down so that was good.

I watched the speedometer of my car slowly surpass 35mph... then 40... then 50. I tried to stay between 50 and 55mph. The unfamiliar song that was playing was starting to get extremely repetitive and annoying, so I looked at the screen, searching for a better station to listen to. My phone buzzed on the seat next to me but it was only my mother reminding me to pay my car payment, it often slipped my mind if someone didn't remind me, and she knew me too well to let me try to remember on my own.