𝘾𝙄𝙉𝙉𝘼𝙈𝙊𝙉 𝙎𝙏𝙄𝘾𝙆𝙎 , dreamwastaken

ii.

JADE WOKE UP THAT morning with the horrid sound of the default apple alarm.

she rolled over too fast and hit her hand on the corner of her nightstand instead of the pillow her phone was on.

"fuck," she said a little louder than she would have liked. her cat, cinnamon, jumped up and ran over to her after the sudden noise.

"sorry, cinny." she whispered to him, feeling guilty for waking him up. she was a stone cold bitch to most people and things, but when it came to her cat, she was the opposite. she sat in bed for a little while just checking her notifications with cinny in her lap before getting up to get ready for work. she took a quick shower and brushed her hair out, just putting on a simple but cute outfit consisting of an orange crewneck and light overalls.

she walked to her kitchen and started brewing a cup of holiday blend in her keurig. she turned on the tv and made herself a bowl of cereal. she watched part of an episode of 'criminal minds' before deciding to head out. she grabbed her keys and coat where she left them the night before and walked out to her car. she made the short commute to the strip mall and clocked in. she said hi to her coworkers before sorting some displays out and opening up the store.

//

it was a saturday afternoon, so the store was busy, but not nearly as bad as last night. jade was in a much better mood than she was the night before, and it seemed so were the customers heading in and out. it was only her and her other coworker christian, so they were taking turns working on the floor and behind the counter. unfortunately, christian had left her for his lunch break and within minutes of him being gone, the store grew rapidly busy.

luckily, a number of people left without buying anything leaving only about half a dozen people in the store. she sat behind the register setting up gift bags for a special they were having when she heard a loud shatter happen behind her. she sighed and turned around to inspect the damage.

she saw a woman with her daughter standing in the front of the store, with shattered pieces of glass and purple wax out on the floor in front of them. jade let out a deep sigh before walking over with a dust pan and a small handheld broom.

i'm so sorry, my daughter got a little too excited with all the colors," the woman said earnestly. jade told her not to worry about it and started to bend down so she could sweep up the mess. before she could get on her knees, she saw a man come over and kneel down next to her.

"here, let me help," he said kindly, starting to pick up the larger pieces of glass and wax. jade just nodded and smiled at him, to which he returned with a small breath of laughter.

she stood up and emptied the dustpan into the trash before returning to her spot behind the counter. she moved the gift bags she had made earlier from the space behind her to the floor next to her so they were easier and quicker to grab. standing up from crouching, she was greeted with kind green eyes. the man placed five cinnamon candles on the counter in front of him.

"hi." he said to her. she stood notably shorter than him, ringing in at about 5'3.

"hi," she said back. "i see you like a certain scent." she laughed as she scanned all of the items and placed them gently in the bag. he placed his credit card on the glass surface and let out a light chuckle.

"it's the only one i can stand other than a few citrusy ones. all the rest hurt my head." she nodded in agreement and swiped his card.

"my cat's name is cinnamon. i think it influenced his behavior. he's a feisty one if you don't know him well enough." she handed his card back and he placed it in his wallet.

"mine's named patches. no relevance to her. she's sweet." she placed the bag in front of her and he took a moment to take it. she gave him a confused look and tilted her head. "i'm waiting for my thank you." he said, tilting his head back at her with a smirk on his face. she shook her head and laughed at him before quietly thanking him. he took the bag off of the counter and nodded at her. "i'll see you around."

"yeah, you too"