Chapter 1

"Petra!" The tired voice of her co-worker startled her from her daydreaming. In it she had been imagining herself sleeping on her soft comfy bed instead of cleaning up her father's coffee shop. Petra stopped cleaning the counters mechanically with her cloth and turned to look curiously at her friend as he came up to her.

"Are we done yet?" Oluo flopped onto the stool to the right of her and stifled a yawn. He wore a blue button up shirt and dress pants underneath his apron as he had just been in class earlier this morning. Petra wore wearing a blue, sleeved tunic and black leggings as she had been out having lunch with a friend before coming to work. "I'm exhausted from today!"

"Today wasn't that bad, was it?" Petra questioned. It actually had been but Petra didn't want to admit it. For some reason they had double the amount of customers they normally did and it had left them both worn out. "I'm not done cleaning yet so if you want you can go now. I can lock up. "

"Are you sure? I can stay if you'd like."

"I'm sure. I've locked up alone before, you know. And you don't look like you'll last another few minutes." Petra smirked. Oluo smiled sheepishly but knew she was right. He had stayed up last night to study for an exam earlier that morning and badly needed sleep. He had not been able to pass English 101 and was now taking it over the summer.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then. Thank you!"

"No problem. I hope you have a good few days before you get your marks back. I figure you're going to need it." Petra smirked at him. Oluo just rolled his eyes and just went to grab his stuff.

"You know I only failed because my teacher can't teach!" He began when he had finished grabbing everything.

"Keep believing that Oluo. I had him last semester and I did great."

"It was probably because he liked you. All the teachers end up liking you, don't they teacher's Pet?" He stressed the last part, knowing it bugged her as it was her nickname since elementary.

"Weren't you leaving?"

"I was in fact." Oluo smiled as Petra stuck her tongue out at him. He turned to look at her again as he opened the door. "Goodnight Petra. And thanks again."

"Goodnight Oluo!" Petra smiled as the young man headed out the door. She would plan some revenge for the teacher's pet comment later.

It took Petra another half an hour to clean the rest of the shop and put everything away. She hadn't expected it to take so long but it was alright. Tomorrow was Saturday and she had another late shift with Oluo as her other co-workers and friends, Gunther and Eld, would be opening again. All four of them had been friends since high school and had just finished their first year of University a little over a month ago. Needing a job, they had agreed to take over her father's coffee shop for the summer as her parents toured the world together. Petra was a little envious of their trip but her parents had been saving up for years for this trip as it had been a romantic dream for them. She hoped she could go on trips like that in the future as well.

Petra glanced outside to see that it had gotten dark but there was still a little bit of light out. The young woman stretched her sore muscles and decided she was done for the night. The place was as clean as she could get it and everything was back in its proper place. Her car was parked a little way from the coffee shop but it would not be a long walk.

Petra turned off the lights before heading for the door. Like most shops, the front walls and door of the coffee shop were made out of glass. Petra loved basking in the light when the sun rays shone directly inside early in the morning.

As she neared the door, Petra could faintly hear some commotion outside but she ignored it. It took a minute to root through her purse for the shop keys but Petra finally found them. She then unlocked the door, happy to be going home to relax. She had just turned around to close and lock it when she heard rapid footsteps approaching her. Suddenly, she felt someone crash into her and she cried out in shock. As her purse flew from her hands, Petra's first thought that is was Oluo but why would he still be here? She felt alarm when the person behind grabbed her as they went forward and pushed her into back into the coffee shop.

"Ah!" Petra stumbled forward with a cry and heard faint shouting from somewhere outside. The person behind her, hopefully Oluo, was still holding her. She quickly broke free of the person's grip and turned around to see who it was, hoping it was someone she knew.