The Smell of Coffee and Paper: A Hamilton Au

Chapter Two

Text messages are going be in aligned to the center and are as follows

John-normal text

Herc- bold text

Laf- italics

stand there 
won't you just stand still

John Laurens I

"Wake up already!" A booming voice sounds above me.

"Yeah, you porc. You've slept through your alarm clock's ringing for 15 long minutes. I'm about to let Herc do whatever he wants to your face." Another voice with a distinct French accent fully draws me out of my sleep.

"Aww, you'd really let me do that?"

"Well, the face's owner decides that nothing will be happening to this gorgeousness today. Nice try, Laf."

Laf pouts. "Dammit John! I was so close!" Then his expression sobers. "But you might be late to work now, so..."

I jump out of bed without another word and hurry through brushing my teeth and getting dressed, throwing on a random suit in my closet in record time. There's the slightest feeling that Laf and Herc are barely suppressing their laughter-the cause of which I didn't understand-but nothing is worse than showing up late to your first day on the job. Everything else simply must be thrown aside.

I rush out of our apartment door and speed down the stairs. Screw the elevator. I didn't use it much anyway due to its creaky nature and slow movement. One day someone's going to discover that a turtle could move faster than it. Turtles were nice. Weren't they?

Making my way downtown, tie half done, practically sprinting towards the metro station. I don't question why the sky is still pitch-black, even though I probably should have. My watch reads 8:52. Well, shit.

By the time I got to the station, I noticed something was off. Usually, at around 9 am the station would be bustling with activity-part of the morning rush hour. However, right now the station was completely quiet. The few people walking around looking like zombies. Slow, lulled half to sleep. Lifeless.

I frown up at the large digital clock and squint at the numbers through my own sleepy state. Wait. Wait a minute. 3:48

This can't be right.

Just then, my phone buzzes, and I see a text from Laf.

You at the station yet?

Yes, I am. And very confused.

Laf takes a long time to type out the next text. I walk towards the metro.

Turn back. Now. It's 3 am in the morning and you actually want to go to work this early? Damn, John you really want this job, don't you?

I turn red. So this was all a setup and I have officially become the butt of their jokes for the entire week. Maybe two. Great. I can almost hear those bastards' laughing at me.

Very funny, Laf.

It is very funny! Have a nice rest of your day roomie.

I sigh and sit on one of the benches at the station. This was turning out to be just the perfect day. After the panic of thinking I was late passed, I let out a yawn. I was definitely going to need caffeine if I was even thinking about making it through my day.