Skybreak [not to be continued]

II

It was now Monday and I was lying in bed, regretting that I'd ever gotten a job. It was 6 o'clock in the morning and I really didn't want to get up. I had a heated internal debate, before remembering that we desperately needed the money and stumbling out of bed and towards the kitchen.

I quickly scoffed breakfast and threw on some clothes (casual ones that fitted in with work's dress code) and ran out of the back door before the clock had struck 6:30.

I grabbed my bike and helmet, and started cycling towards the shop where I worked it. It took me about 10 minutes to get there by bike, about twice as fast as walking. I'd worked there since I was 14, doing weekends and holidays, as it paid well and the people who owned it are lovely and we get on really well.

I locked up my bike and walked in, smiling at the foreign couple who were busy making Danish pastries in the small kitchen in the back. Replacing my coat for a small, black apron, I walked into the front of the cafe and started serving the steady flow of people that were walking in to buy freshly made breakfast.

I smiled and relaxed, the warm atmosphere of the cafe sucked me into a new world: one the seemed slower and less crazy than the actual one. Working here's an escape from reality because it just seems so separated from everywhere else and in a way, I think that's what I need a lot of the time. Just a break from life, not from living, just life. I danced around the room, serving many people breakfast, flowing with the soothing music humming out the speakers.

~

I worked throughout the day, constantly smiling of course, and struck up hundreds of conversations with all the customers that came in during the day.

I loved my job serving and waitressing at a family run cafe and pastry shop, which had been owned by a family friend for a couple of hundred years. It meant that I could socialise and meet people, many different people, and get paid at the same time! Depending on the sales, my pay could be up to £60 for 5 hours, and on top of money earned from babysitting at weekends - I could bring in £100 on a good day!

I bustled around, serving and waiting upon the ten or so customers still in the cafe at this time of night. It was about 6 o'clock. In the holidays I worked double shifts, so I could be here for up to 11 hours - like today! I sighed as I felt my arm ache pumping the cafeteria up and down for what seemed the millionth time today. I pored yet another cup of pure, steaming coffee and served it to the final customer before finally, I had a seat.

It was only minutes away from closing time and the only customers left were just finishing of their coffees and paying the bills. I smiled at the old couple who were just leaving as I turned to say to my farewells to the next people leaving the building. It was a safe and calm atmosphere inside cafe; there had never been a fight or any heated argument on the grounds since the family bought the cafe, 147 years ago. It had been an unspoken rule that everyone inside had to be treated equally and with respect, no matter their race, age or gender.

I was now the only member of staff in the cafe. The final few people were heading out and I took though their glasses and loaded up the dishwasher: it would be unloaded tomorrow morning. I pondered around and tided up nearly everything before sitting down for a couple of moments.

I pulled out my phone and text Gray, just a simple 'hello' because that girl never left her phone and I knew I would get an almost instant reply. As expected: she did and we were texting each other as I finished tidying up the cafe.

I set my phone down as I wiped down each of the tables, dancing around in between them, and I heard yet another bleep. A notification to tell me I had a new text. I smiled and opened it as I walked out of the back door. I wheeled my bike around to the front and walked back through, locking up as I went along. I read the new text that Gray had sent me in reply to my previous text of 'I'm locking up now': 
"Don't die while doing it!" 
I laughed slightly. Gray's sense of humour was slightly different to most people, and I was one of the few people who understood the funny side behind it (over the crazy psychopathic side).

Stepping out into the cold, harsh air, I felt Goosebumps prickle themselves down my arms and a chill teasingly run down my spine. It felt like something bad was waiting to happen. I turned around to see the sun slowly setting on the horizon, leaving a murky brown trail around it, and the rest of the sky was brutally black. I gasped as the wind blew through me; I quickly turned to lock up the door, the keys trembling in my hands as I tried to swiftly manoeuvre the old piece of metal to lock away the warm safe haven that I had been dancing in only hours before.

I paused as yet another gust of wind blew through me. It felt mischievous and as if it was planning something. I shook my head: I was thinking nonsense, wind couldn't portray emotions or see the future! I started moving quicker, determined to get home before it was completely dark, and I fumbled while trying to unlock my bike from the cafe railings where I had locked it for the twenty minutes or so that I was completely tiding up the cafe. The lock was cold and strangely starting to thaw up with frost, even though it hasn't been there for long. The night was young; I swept my hair out of my face and pulled on my bike helmet securely - when I saw the two (oddly dull for a car travelling at this time of night) wavering headlights heading in a jagged path towards the cafe. Straight towards me. I went to move; I rapidly pulled the key out of the door, turning around, getting ready to run and that’s when I felt it.

Collision.