Coffee Cups: Chapter 1
By Michael Aura Prower
~SILVER
Something simple and light. A nice warmth spreads over my body.
"Ahh" I sigh. Taking a sip from my dark roast coffee. I glance up from my computer to again stare at the hedgehog behind the counter. "He's so... ugh, I don't even know how to explain it...I couldn't just ask him out could I? No he probably has a girlfriend" sighing again I look back down at my computer.
Currently I'm sitting in a nice little cafe on Cloud St.: Coffee&Cream. With my laptop and a nice spot in the corner, where I can look at people without drawing suspicion.
Speaking of drawing; I was almost done with my latest drawing of the hedgehog I was talking about earlier.
His name, Shadow. Age... I think 18ish. Occupation Batista at my favorite coffee shop. And theft of my heart. God what am I thinking. I sound like a freaking character out of a fanfiction novel. Anyway, adding the final touches to the drawing I saved it and sent it to print at my apartment. Then standing up I gather all my things. Laptop, drawing tablet, Folder of all the pictures of Shadow, and shove them all in my backpack.
Walking from my corner I passed by the counter where that hog was currently washing the cups used to make the elixir of life.
"Have a nice day, Sir" A deep voice called out behind me. Almost squeaking embarrassingly I stutter out a reply without looking back.
"Uh...T-thanks, you t-too." I manage to rush out of there without him noticing the blush currently adorning my face.
Grr, I growl at my inability to look him in the eye. I shake it off and start towards my job. And you may be asking what do I do for a living? Well, I'm one of the editors for a photography CO. :Glass Sky Photography. What I do is when one of the senior photographers puts a caption or explication of the picture I'm the one to edit it for mistakes and correct what doesn't make sense. Fun Right? Wrong. Also I'm the coffee boy, and personally, I'm not complaining when I get to see Shadow every few hours.
You may be asking another question. Do you take any pictures? Aww, you all are so curious it's almost cute. But to answer you, yes sometimes I will take pictures for the cover or something if someone didn't make the deadline.
"Good morning Mr. Silver!" a pink furry hedgehog perkely jogs me from my train of thought and my conversation with you all. Rude!
"Oh hi Amy." Amy is a junior editor and currently shares a cubicle with me. "Hey did you find that new explication from Leo?"
"AHH! I forgot! Hurry come with me! I hate to face him alone. And maybe he would cut me some slack if I came in with you." I sigh.
"Fine, but this can't keep happening! If you keep doing this, he'll fire you." We then set off to go to the big office building where Glass Sky is based.
"So?" She asks questioningly trying to contain her excitement, "Did you see him today?! Was he as cute and mysterious as always? Did he notice you?" Amys flurry of questions continued.
Cutting her off "Yes, Yes, and Yes" Those answers were responded with a high pitched squeak.
"OH MY GOSH! You two would make a perfect couple! I know it! Shy, Naive, and quiet meets dark, mysterious, and sexy!" And thats when she lost me. Her fangirl squeals faded out as I thought of Shadow and I. Running along a pure white sandy beach, the vibrant shades of turquoise contrasting with his beautiful and enticing ruby red eyes. His hand in mine, the grits of soft sand between my toes.
"Silver? Silver, hello? Are you there?" I could only respond with a meek nod. My eyes still glazed over as the images continue to play in full technicolor. "Um, anyway Silver? About that thing for Leo?"
My personal fantasy was cut short as we approached the tall glass building on the corner of the large plaza. "Oh right, that. Yeah I can give you my version of it. Although you should change it up a bit. Leo is starting to recognize my style of writing."
"Oh my gosh, you're a life saver! I'll be by to pick it up in a couple minutes. I have to quickly talk to Rotor. There's a light above my desk that keeps flickering on and off. Bye!" She gave me a quick hug and ran off towards the IT department.
Meanwhile I walked towards the large glass elevator. Oh, I should describe this office building a little more. Because maybe you like learning about where I work...maybe. Anyway the whole thing is mostly made of glass with white fiberglass for some of the walls. Almost everything is glass. Floors, elevators, railings, bridges, walls. Another weird things is that the building is like a couple of pyramids smashed together at different angles. So yeah...that's your daily info for the day. And who said I wasn't educational.
Speaking of educational, a group of kids led by one of the receptionist was walking along the walkway my elevator was heading to right now. The glass cube stopped and the doors slid open quietly. As I walked along the bridge I noticed a pair of very familiar cream colored bunny ears.
"Oh! Good Morning, !" A small voiced called out. I turn and kneel to met her eyes.
"Hi Cream, how are you?" I said tossing her fur between her ears. I couldn't help but notice that the whole class had stopped and stared at the girl dumbfounded. Shocked to find out that little Cream had friends in such a 'cool' place. I almost found it flattering.
"I'm well, thank you for asking! This nice lady here has been showing our class around your huge building. So far we've seen the processing room, printing room, and the editing department. Oh, thats right. I left you a little present on your desk. Also, why do you have a couple of pictures of a hedgehog on your desk... do you know him?" The innocence in her eyes almost blinding.
"Oh...um, well..." I trail off awkwardly. "He's a friend of mine." She smiled completely oblivious to my lie. I felt bad for lying to her. But she nodded anyway and gave me a big hug and skipped back to her group.
"Bye ! See you after you're done with work!" That reminded me that I was picking her after work. So I waved and told her that I'd see her soon. Tuning I again started for my desk. I soon came to the Editing division of the building. Swiping my card I pushed the heavy door and waved at the receptionist Nikki. I continued till I reached my cubicle. The said cubicle was a comical sight. You could tell who worked here. One side was a mixture of pink, purple, and white. While the other was white, neon blue, and gold. I sat down and opened my bag. Out came my laptop and some other office supplies. I set it all in the correct spot and then booted up my laptop. When it had finished I saw a message from Amy.
NEW MESSAGE START
To: Silver Editing
From: Amy Editing
Hey Silvy,
I can't get up there in time. Rotor has given me a whole load of paperwork to fill out before he can fix that light. Anyway I need you to hand in that paper to Leo. Just say that I'm down here in IT. Ily!
Amy.
END MESSAGE
Poor Amy. Those IT forms are a pain. I remembered one time my laptop had broke, and filling out those forms had taken at least an hour to fill out. So feeling pity I went ahead and printed out the paper. After picking it up I headed to Leo's head executive suite office. I knocked on the door.
"Come in." A voice called from inside. Walking in I saw the badger sitting at his desk. Leo was a short little thing. A little scatterbrained sometimes but man, did he have a temper. I handed him 'Amy's' paper. "What's this?"
"Amy's stuck down in IT filling out forms and she asked me to print out her expectation that was due today." He nodded and set the paper on his large oak desk. He then sat down and opened a desk drawer; from it he pulled out a notepad and handed it to me.
"Here is a list of tasks I need you to do. They're divided into things you need to do here and things you need to give to people in other departments. I need this done today." His last gruffly voiced words were dismissive. Taking the hint I turned and headed towards the door. But he stopped me. "Hey, I also need you to make a run to Coffee & Cream. We ran out of that stuff from this morning ages ago. Some workers are getting cranky." I nodded eagerly. "Good."
When I had returned to my desk I noticed a little box near some stacks of paper. I'm surprised that I didn't notice it before. I picked it up and examined it. It was the size of a few dry erase marker and wrapped in what looked like todays newspaper.
Unwrapping it I found a little friendship bracelet made from beads and what looked like bits from a charm bracelet. I since her mother died I've been the one taking care of her. Shes become somewhat of a daughter to me. When It was my first day of work she woke up an hour before six and made me breakfast. It may have been slightly singed at the edges but I swear I've never seen her happier when I told her that it was great. Then everyday after that she would put little notes in my lunch after I had finished making them. In a couple years when I'm old enough I'm going to adopt her for real. Since the orphanage is about 4 houses down she walks to my apartment waiting to walk to school together. Mina, the head of the orphanage and I are old friends so she doesn't mind. Just as long as she makes it home before 8:30 PM. Slipping on the bracelet I sit down and pick up the note pad with all the chores I have to do.
"I swear, If I see another piece of stupid IT paperwork I'm going to kill someone!" I heard Amy storming and stomping from around the corner. She had walked in glaring daggers at the light above her desk.
"Careful if you glare daggers, it might break even more" I teased. She just huffed and haphazardly threw herself on her chair.
"For a building thats supposedly modern and high tech; we sure have the crappiest lights ever!" With her deflated attitude she spun around and opened her laptop and started to boot it up. While she was waiting she kept spinning despite the chair squeaking in protest. When she got bored of that she glanced over to me her eyes caught the little charm bracelet.
"That from Cream?"
I simply nodded, taking a moment to marvel at the intricacy of what that little six year old did. Upon closer examination I found that every charm had been from memories we shared. A little stone bird from when I took her to the plaza, an old Coke cap from when she stayed over at my apartment after the fire. There were a few more but a slight cough from Amy brought my mind back from memory lane.
"Hey, did when you were at Coffee&Cream did you happen to pick up anymore coffee~?" She asked sweetly dragging out the last e. "Or wait! I bet you forgot because when Shadow spoke to you so you freaked and scurred out of there as fast as your hedgehog legs could carry you!"
Quickly I stood up, I had completely forgotten about getting more coffee! Turning away as to hide the crimson blush caused by my forgetfulness I grabbed my bag and ran off. Amy just laughed after me.
"God, he's hopeless and a little naive." She shook her head and turned back to her computer.
end chapter~3
Hello all my beautiful readers! Thanks for taking time to (hopefully) enjoy this story. REMEMBER! R&R, because that's what makes my world go round! Love y'all!