"Emma? Are you awake?" The sleepy blonde was ripped from a nightmare of villains, dark magic, and poison apples by her flat-mate's loud thumping on her bedroom door. "Emma? You need to get up, you cannot be late!" The brunette said sternly, before flinging open the door and bee-lining for the long red curtains, which blocked out all the natural light.
"Five more minutes, B. Please!" Emma's plea came out as more of a drowsy mumble than she intended, Belle simply rolled her eyes and sighed. Although she was grateful for no longer being stuck in her nightmare realm, she hasn't had a decent night's sleep in weeks and at this point, she would take nightmare sleep over no sleep. "Pretty please?" Emma's words fell on deaf ears as her friend ripped open the curtains, allowing the sun's golden rays to light up the blonde's room. Emma responded by heaving her duvet over her head; a shield from the morning sun.
"You said that ten minutes ago!" The brunette remarked as she made her way over to blonde's bed and jumped on top of the bundled-up blonde.
"Ow, is this necessary?" The blonde groaned as the extra weight pushed her body into her mattress' springs. "Dude, get off me! You're so damn heavy." Belle laughed and ignored the request, instead, she began to dig through the duvet in search of her friend's face.
"Are you going to get up?" The Brunette asked when she finally pulled the duvet away from Emma's head. "It's already 8:30 and, if I'm not mistaken, your new job starts at 9:30. You still need to shower, and it takes at least half an hour to get there. Ergo, you need to get up."
"I know, I know, I'll get up now." The blonde reluctantly forfeited her five extra minutes in bed. Belle rolled off the bed and stood with her hands out to help Emma up, she practically had to drag the blonde out of the bed. When Emma had finally begun standing on her own two feet, Belle noticed how scruffy her she looked, Emma's vest top had been stretched and rotated half way around her body, one pyjama leg was caught above her knee, her hair was matted, and she was missing one sock. She must be having nightmares again, Belle thought. Emma saw the worried expression on her friend's face, she stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around Belle's waist, "I'm okay, I promise." Belle nodded and lifted her right pinkie finger between them. Emma smiled and hooked her own right pinkie around her friend's.
Belle took a deep breath and released Emma's finger before turning to leave the room. "I'm making tea and toast for breakfast; do you want some?" Belle said as she walked towards the kitchen.
"Two sugars with almond milk, and two slices of PB and J please." The two girls spoke in unison.
"We spend too much time together," Emma cheerily called out, "thanks B, you're the best!"
"I know I am." Belle quipped back.
The blonde pulled out a pair of plain black trousers, and a plain black shirt from her drawer, before grabbing a towel and plodding to the bathroom. She put the shower on the most powerful and hottest setting and quickly stripped. She stepped into the shower, she could feel her skin turning bright red from the scalding hot water.
Perfect.
She stood under the hot stream of water, allowing her hair to become thoroughly soaked by the blistering water. She was nervous about starting her new job, she really needed this to work out. She couldn't risk letting Belle down again, her friend has supported her long enough. Belle reassures her that she doesn't mind, but before Emma had met her she was so independent, and she wanted that part of herself back. Emma moved out of the stream to grab the shampoo, she squeezed a generous glob on top of her head and massaged it in. Emma let out a shocked yelp when she returned to the stream of water; it was freezing cold.
"Belle!" The blonde squawked as she turned off the water and wrapped a towel around her body. "The water's freezing!"
"Brilliant, the boiler must be on the blink again. I'll message dad to get the repair-man here as soon as possible." Emma had walked in just in time to see Belle gathering the last of her things before she left for work. "I need to go I'll see you later." Belle said over her shoulder as she made her way to the front door, just before she slammed it shut she said: "Don't be late Emma!" and then she was gone. Leaving a shivering Emma alone in the flat.
"Great. Just bloody great." Emma mumbled, she went back into the bathroom and tried to wash out the shampoo with the cold water in the sink.
She rolled her hair around in the towel as she walked back to her room to finish getting ready. "No shower, on your first day. That's a great impression to give your boss" the blonde groaned as she wiggled into her trousers and buttoned up her shirt. "Hire me. I don't bother showering and-" Emma spoke mockingly as she slipped on her shoes and her eyes fell on her clock. It was 9 o'clock.
"Shit. Shit. Shit. I'm going to be late." She cried as she grabbed her phone from her nightstand and slipped it into her backpack, before pulling on her red leather jacket and running out the door. A bare-faced and wet-haired Emma ran down the two flights of stairs and crossed the road to the bus stop in, what she was sure, was a record-worthy time. Luckily this was a relatively busy bus stop, so she managed to get there just as the last person was boarding. She quickly fumbled around her backpack's front pocket in search of her oyster card. "Fuuuu-"
It was in her other bag. Emma flashed a grin at the bus driver, "Hey, so I'm having a rough morning and I-"
The bus driver he cut her off, "Either tap your oyster or get off my bus."
Emma's grin fell as she turned around and got off the bus. "Fucking oyster cards." She muttered to herself, "who decided that cashless buses should be a thing?" She stood at the bus stop for a second, contemplating the few choices she now had. There was no way she would make it in time now. The next bus isn't for another half hour. She walked back to her flat, pulling out her phone to call her boss, surely it would serve in her favour to inform them. She decided to give herself some time to think up a decent excuse, so she'd call them once she had retrieved her oyster. She crossed the road, climbed up the two flights of stairs and unlocked her door. As she walked in she remembered the breakfast Belle had made her. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed the mug of tea. It was still warm. She picked up the cold, rock hard PB and J toast and took a large bite.
"Ew." The blonde whispered to herself as she tossed it into the bin. She chugged her tea as she walked to her room. She set down her empty mug and dropped to her hands and knees to search for her old backpack. She dragged the rainbow spotted bag out from under her bed and pulled out her oyster card. "You're a piece of shit. Y'know that." She scolded the card as she shoved it into her pocket and pulled out her phone.
She decided that her best bet would be to stick to the truth, no lies or exaggerations. Mostly because she had zero imagination and couldn't think of a non-cliché excuse, but hopefully her boss would respect her honesty.
She unlocked her phone and scrolled down to R in her contacts list and tapped on her boss' name. The phone rung four times before being answered.
"Emma! I hope this call isn't to say you're quitting before your first day even starts?" her boss chuckled.
"No, no! definitely not! I need this job! I will be there-" Emma promised.
"I sense a but…"
"but… I may be a little late. I kinda woke up a little late, and I forgot my oyster, so I had to get off the bus and…" Emma paused and held her breath, she found this is the only way she could force her rambling into submission. Her heart was pounding as she waited for a reply.
"Emma." Her name was spoken slowly. Every. Single. Letter. Was spoken with purpose. "I had so much faith in you. Your interview and trial went so well. You promised me, you promised that you would not let me down, Emma. You promised me that you would be reliable. I need employees that I can rely on, you understand that, right?"
"I know, I get it, and I'm so, so, so sorry! I will get there as soon as possible, and I'll make up the time I lost afterwards. I'll work without a break, or I'll even work the whole day for free…" Emma lost control of her rambling, luckily her boss cut her off.
"Emma, I do not run a sweatshop." The words were rolled out of her boss' mouth, stained with pure disgust. "You will make up the time you missed. However, you will be paid for it, and you will not be skipping your break either…"
Now I feel a but coming… Emma thought.
"But this is your one and only second chance, Emma. If you make a single slip-up today, I will have to let you go."
"Thank you so much! I really appreciate this, and I understand completely. I'll be there as soon as possible"
"Goodbye, Emma." And the line was cut.
"Acting like a bit of a dickhead mate." Emma rolled her eyes at her phone. "Anyone would think you owned a bloody Michelin star restaurant the way you go on about that place. It's just a coffee shop. Get the fuck over it." Mocking her boss was the only way to simmer her anxiety down. Emma wanted to convince herself that this job wasn't the be-all and end-all, if something else goes wrong, she can just find another job. Everything would be fine.
The blonde still had twenty minutes until she had to leave, she figured she should make these minutes count and make herself look more presentable. She walked over to her desk and began drying her hair. When it was dry she pulled it into a tight, high pony and then pulled out her small bag of make-up, containing nothing but a tube of mascara, a liquid eyeliner, a light powder and a few lip glosses.
Emma was soon bounding out of her flat, for the second time, and finally made her way to work.