FIRST

Waking up today was a challenge...

CHAPTER 2

Waking up today was a challenge. It's the one day a week i have off from work and i usually spend the day cleaning and running errands. I slowly, but surely pull myself out of bed and make my way towards the kitchen. It's been a while since i've gone grocery shopping so i cross my fingers just as i open the fridge.
"Lord please don't be empty" i mumble to myself. Just as i suspected! Empty! Wonderful, now i have to actually go out for food. I begin trudging back to my room to grab a towel before making my way to the bathroom for a shower. Turning the faucet to the hottest temperature imaginable, i strip out of my clothes before climbing in. The water burns my skin and i'm sure any other person would die from the steam but i love it. I've never been a fan of the cold. My father's favorite memory of my childhood was the winter night that our heating blew out and my five year old self tried climbing into the oven shouting "This is where the food cooks and food has to be heated to cook so this thing is heat which means it's not the cold so i'm staying!". That story is a classic whenever we meet people. My thoughts begin to change as i absently do my shower routine. Somehow, I drift back to last night and the man on the road. His face was mostly shadowed by the darkness and if it wasn't for my car headlights then i probably wouldn't have seen a thing. I vividly remember tan skin and dark hair that was cut just below his ears. The man's shirt was torn off at the shoulder and slouched baggily against his large figure. His eyes though; my mind could not conjure a color to match them. I could however remember the exact feeling i felt as i looked into them; my heart began to beat wildly in my chest and i-- only for a split second, forgot about what was happening as we continued to stare at each other. I just noticed the widen and realization of something in his facial features before the moment was stolen from us. A large arrow dropped from the sky before digging itself into my car. Then the man ran off into the night. Something like out of a storybook. I'm brought back to reality as the burning begins to fade and be replaced with cold water.
Wow i've been in here a long time..
I flip the faucet off and step out of the shower to stand in front of the foggy mirror. I spend the next 5 minutes drying off before wrapping the white towel around my body. I spend the next 5 minutes after that just looking at myself in the mirror. I left my thick curly hair in a bun for my shower considering i was only going out for breakfast and errands but seeing that now i'm done in the shower, i might as well take it out. My hands wrestle in my head for a while until i come up with the 3 hair ties i had used to secure the bun. My curls tumble down my back to rest a few inches above my butt. Tucking the tendrils in the front behind my ears to get a better view, i lean against the counter with my hands steadying me. I've always studied my features very curiously considering the only thing that i got from either of my parents were my mother's hair and my father's eyes. My dark brown eyes are surrounded by many long and dark eyelashes while my button nose rests where it always does, smack dab in the middle of my face. I have no freckles, dimples, moles, or anything else that would make me different. My light brown face is free of blemishless, hold for a couple zits scattered around. My lips are pink and full, cupids bow i believe is what it's called. I won't lie, i was blessed with my mother's genes. She is stunning and yet i only have half her DNA. Even then, i still lean towards my dad personality wise. After my self check in the mirror i finally make my way back out to my bedroom to put clothes on. It's a simple day so i just throw on fitted black jeans, a plain white t-shirt and a light wash jean jacket before grabbing my house keys and my purse. Most of the places I plan to go today are relatively near my apartment so I walk out of the front of the building and onto the sidewalk to begin to my journey of the day. My first stop is this cute breakfast cafe that has an assortment of goodies. I pull open the front door and immediately go stand in the line for the register since I already know my order. After 3 minutes of waiting, it's finally my turn order and I quickly spout my order to the teenage boy standing there.
"Hi, could I please get a large vanilla iced coffee, extra cream and extra sugar." i wait for him to punch it in before I continue,
"is that all?" The boy, whose name tag reads Liam says to me, not looking up once.
"Could I also get a plain bagel with extra cream cheese"
"We don't put the cream cheese on the-" he begins before I quickly cut in.
"Tell the chef it's Madeleine's order"
"Um okay...that'll be $7.58" I hand Liam the money before moving to the side to wait. Not even 5 minutes later do I hear my name being called and my order is in my hands, I look inside the bag and see my bagel with extra cream cheese looking yummy. It's obvious I must come here a lot if the chef knows how I like my order. I sit in one of the puffy chairs they have for a moment so I can eat my food and sip on my drink a bit before I continue on. After leaving the cafe I walk half a mile to a grocery store and spend the next 30 minutes in there before walking out with my bag of stuff. Luckily I remembered to stick a tote bag in my purse before i left so I could carry my things on my shoulder. I spend the next 2 hours walking around the city and picking up odds and ends that I needed, slowly making my way towards my place. Before I know it, I'm standing in front of my door putting the key into the lock and dropping all my things on the couch. The rest of my afternoon is uneventful and full of me just lounging around; laying in my bed for a while, switching to the couch when that got boring, then cleaning the whole apartment in my boredom.
At around 7pm I get a call from the restaurant/bakery where I worked. It's more of a restaurant that has a bakery connected to it that serves all the deserts for customers. i work as a baker and sometimes a waitress if they're short on staff that day. I love to cook and bake more than anything in the entire world so this job is basically a dream. I answer the call almost immediately,
"Hello?" I ask.
"Madelaine! Hey it's Morgan, i was wondering if there's anyway you could come into the bakery tonight for a few hours because i just got a call from Liz and Daniel already took the-" Morgan starts to ramble but i cut in to save her the oxygen.
"Of course i can come in, i've just been lounging around here anyways, I'll be there in a few." I quickly say bye and hang up so i can go collect my things leave. I don't bother changing my jeans since i'll be in the back anyways but i do change out of my clean white t-shirt and put on a faded and worn out black band t-shirt since i make the quite the mess and hate aprons. I throw my jean jacket back on, grab my phone and keys before making my way outside. I quickly zig zag around pedestrians as i speed walk the half-mile towards manhattan where i work.
As soon as i open the back door of restaurant i see morgan basically ripping her hair out at the remaining two of the bakery staff.
"Oh my god! Why would Liz leave me to run a kitchen, i have no idea what i'm doing! Do you guys know what you're doing?" She nearly screams. Both of the terrified workers in front of her viciously shake their heads.
"Morgan, sweetie, maybe you should take a seat" i solfty coo to her as i lay my hands on her shoulders to guide her to a chair.
"Madelaine, you don't understand! There's 10 orders we're behind on because none of us know how to make half of them" She wails, obviously overwhelmed with the responsibility she was given. Placing my hands on her cheeks i tell her,
"And that's why you did the right thing by calling me, you did good Morgan" I quickly hug her and then i get into my business mode. Looking at all of them i slightly raise my voice.
"Okay. So we're a little short staffed but nothing is as difficult as it seems. So what's going to happen is you-" I point to the slim little teenage girl standing in front of me "- are going to man the register and give anyone who has waited more than 10 minutes for their order, a dessert of their choice from the case, free of charge" I turn to the next employee "You are going to stay back here and help me distribute things into pans and put them into the oven-" He nods at me stiffly. I finally turn to a composed Morgan and tell her that i just need her to preheat the ovens, set the timers, and then help the man, whose name is Aman, take things out of the oven and onto plates or boxes.
After nearly 4 hours of baking and directing people around, the bakery is closed and the restaurant is getting ready for its midnight closing time. I wave goodbye to my fellow employees before making a small trip to the restroom to see how much flour, sugar, and cocoa powder i can dust off before leaving the safety of the kitchen. I gather my things and throw my jacket on before locking up the bakery with my keys and making my way onto the busy new york sidewalk. The walk is a calm one as i decide to take my time getting home. I'm not in a rush and i love the atmosphere of the city that never sleeps. I'm in my own world when i smell something, a fragrance so amazing that it could be considered addicting; it stops me in my tracks and the person behind me lightly knocks into me before going around my body that stands deadly still, lightly sniffing the air. I can feel my wolf stir behind the wall, she's becoming restless at the smell. It smells like cinnamon and a warm campfire, if i closed my eyes i bet i could visualize standing in front of a fire drinking cinnamon flavored hot chocolate. My insides are melting just thinking about it. A buzz from my pocket knocks me out of my transe; i refrain from looking at the text but i do resume walking. I can still smell whatever it was but it's becoming harder to grasp as i walk closer to my apartment. Although the sidewalks are filled to the brim, i can feel the burning sensations of someone watching me for the last five minutes of my walk. It put me on a bit of edge but not quite frightened considering i could easily defend myself because of my werewolf genes. But still, I breathe out of a breath of relief when i deadbolt my door shut.