Coffee, Tea, or Me?

Brew No. 8

☕ Brew No. 8 ☕

Morning rays filtered in through the window, and I pulled the duvet over my head to keep the spring sunlight out. As a potato, I never really liked getting out of bed, especially after the long winter break I just had. The pulsating pain in my head made matters worse.

"Jeanette, come out for breakfast," my mother called from the dining room, disrupting the tiny moment of peace I was experiencing. "I've prepared pancakes!"

"Mmm... Pancakes..." The temping offer was enough to make me stir. A debate between my lazy self and conscious self ensued.

Get out of bed; the pancakes are waiting!

Jeanette, don't you think that the bed is exceptionally cozy today? Sleep in.

Pancakes.

Sleep.

"You don't want to be late for work, do you?" My mother continued, breaking me out of my inner monologue.

Work?

My mind was still fuzzy from sleep, but that word struck a nerve so I grudgingly sat up, rubbing my eyes as I allowed my brain to focus.

Work. Mr Morales. Late. Death.

I was definitely wide awake now.

"Ah!" I scrambled to the bathroom to freshen up before tugging on some clothing and heading out the room for breakfast.

"Whoa," my mother commented, setting down a plate of pancakes on the dining table. "To think that there would be a day where my daughter takes her job seriously."

"It's not just about my job," I whined, cutting the pancake into small pieces. "If I'm ever late for work, Mr Morales would surely toss me into a dungeon without of food and leave me there to starve while he piles tons of work on my poor haggard body before it suffocates me and I die a slow, long death."

"Then I'm afraid that you might have to rush now." She pointed towards the hanging clock on the wall.

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"Ms Walters, how many times have you sneezed in this hour alone?" Mr Morales asked while scanning through his documents. We were currently in a meeting with the executive board, and being the responsible secretary I was, I was in the midst of taking down notes and participating in the discussion whenever necessary, but-

"Achoo!" I sneezed, rubbing my nose in irritation.

The executives chuckled softly as my cheeks turned a hue of pink from embarrassment. "A-Around ten times, I guess?"

My reply just evoked more laughter from the group as Mr Morales shook his head. "That was a rhetorical question. Well, you won't be able to do anything in your current state. Go buy yourself a drink and be back here in ten minutes. Clear?"

"Yes sir." I stood up and left the room, making my way down the familiar path to Six Degrees Café. Considering how often I frequented the café, I was pretty sure that I could make my way there blindfolded. Since it was barely noon, the café was scarce of people.

"You're here rather early today," River looked up from the pantry. "I didn't think that you missed me that much."

"Nonsense," I smirked at him. "Could I get one caramel ma-ACHOO!"

"Have you been sneezing for the past few hours?" River asked worriedly.

"Yeah..." I sniffed. "It gets really frustrating."