The alarm clock went off, and the sound felt 10x amplified because of her massive headache. She quickly took her pillow and put it over her ears, trying to block out the noise, but it was no use. The alarm kept going off and she knew it was time to wake up. She took her hand and abruptly hit the clock, shutting it off.
Getting up proved to be a bigger challenge, her whole body aching. She went to the bathroom and was disgusted with her reflection in the mirror. Her red hair was a tangled mess, red curls all over the place. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she noticed her right eye was starting to bruise from the fight she got into last night. She was lucky she didn't get arrested. That seemed to be the norm ever since her divorce. Get drunk at her own bar, pick fights, make a seemingly daily trip to the Sheriff's station where she would often spend the night before being released. She brushed her teeth and then hoped in the shower, getting ready for another long and painful day.
She checked her phone to see what the weather was like outside. Chilly, high would be 45. She put on a pair of purple skinny jeans, a black blouse and her black leather jacket. She got her boots and scarf and headed out the door.
It was still early in the morning, but Granny's looked a bit deserted. There seemed to be only a few people there. She took a seat at one of the booths at the counter.
"Hey Aria" said a tall slender girl with red streaks in her hair. She wore a tight white blouse, red shorts and red high heels with socks. She was about to ask her what she wanted but she paused when she saw the black eye her friend had. "You got into another fight?"
Aria just gave her a glance that seemed to say "I don't want to talk about it" and then just nodded. "It's nothing Ruby."
Ruby let out a small sigh. "Ok so what would you like to order?"
"I'll just have some coffee" said Aria, giving Ruby a small smile.
Ruby nodded and left. Aria just glanced down at the counter, toying with her necklace. It was a long gold chain with a heart pendant. She didn't remember how she got it, probably from her dad at some point, but she had it for as long as she could remember.
The bell on the door rang as someone came into the dinner. Aria glanced over to see who it was and immediately turned away, letting out a small sigh.
The man sat right next to her at the counter. It was Sheriff Graham, a very attractive young man with an Irish accent.
"Are you here to arrest me Graham?" said Ariel, still looking down at the counter.
Ruby came over and placed the coffee on the counter, and then turned to Graham, giving him a big smile. "Morning handsome, can I get you anything?" she asked, giving him this very flirty look.
"No thank you Ruby" said Graham, turning back to Aria.
Ruby gave him a little smirk and went back to attending other customers. Ruby was a very nice young lady, and she loved to flirt with attractive men, especially Graham. It annoyed Aria a bit sometimes, even though Ruby was her best friend, well really the only friend she had, but it got on her nerves a bit.
"We need to talk Aria" said Graham in a very serious tone.
"So you are going to arrest me" she said, taking her mug of coffee, gently blowing on it before taking a sip.
"Look Aria... I'm afraid I don't have much choice" he said. "Ever since you're divorce you've just been making wrong choice after wrong choice and frankly I can't help you out anymore.
Aria let out another sigh. "So I have to go to jail without bail, is that it?"
"Well I talked to Regina and ummm basically she said its either jail or community service."
Aria quickly shot him a look, as she arched her eyebrow. "Community service? Like that what, picking up the trash?"
"Well not exactly. You would have to volunteer at the church and help out the nuns"We have a church?" Aria interrupted, clearly surprised.
"Yes" said Graham patiently.
"For how long?" she asked.
"Probably for a year" he said.
"A year?!" she said angrily.
"YEs Aria, unless you want to permanently move to the cell in the Sheriff's station" he said.
Ariel let out a sigh, closing her eyes. "Fine" she said, taking another sip from her coffee. "When do I start?"
"Today" he said, getting up to leave. "I have already talked with Mr. Jones, the priest, and he will meet you there at 2:00 pm today. I'll uh pick you up at 1:50 since you don't know where the church is." He gave her a small nod and left, leaving Aria with her coffee.
The church was a modest sized church, that looked like a mini- Gothic cathedral from the outside. One the inside it was dark, lighted by hundred of candles. There were only a few stained glass windows with biblical references on them.
The priest was walking down the halls, with the bible in his right hand, heading towards the door to wait for the Sheriff and their new volunteer.
He wasn't too thrilled about this arrangement since it seemed that the lady that would join them wasn't the greatest of people. Still he saw this as an opportunity to help her out, perhaps help her change her ways.
The Sheriff arrived precisely at 2:00, right on time. He got out of the car and went to open the door for his passenger, who was sitting in the back seat. Apparently the rear-doors were locked from the inside. Aria stepped out of the car, looking up at the church, taking it all in.
The priest stood there, taking her in, examining her, working his way from her boots up to her face. Her long, curly red hair flowed in the wind, and he saw how she shivered slightly as the wind hit her face. She put her hands in the pockets of her jacket, turning over to Graham.
He gently led her up the steps to where the Priest was standing. She was very beautiful, he thought, his eyes immediately going to her lush red lips.
"Mr. Jones, I'd like you to meet Aria Wayland, you're new volunteer" he said, presenting her to him.
"Killian Jones" he said, smiling at her, extending out his hand to shake hers. Aria gave him a small smile as she took her hand out of her pocket. She flinched a little as their hands touched. She felt this weird shiver go up her spine, as she pulled away.
He might be a priest, Aria thought, but he was extremely attractive. Short brown hair, piercing blue eyes, soft white skin. She seemed to mentally undress him with her eyes, and then suddenly stopped herself, realizing what she was doing.
"All right well I'll leave you two to get acquainted" Graham said, giving Killian a smile and then turning to Aria,giving her a stern look as if to warn her against doing anything stupid.
Killian and Aria looked Graham got in his car and left.
"Well Ms. Wayland, shall we?" asked Killian, motioning for her to go inside.
"You can call me Aria" she said, heading towards the door.
Aria stopped at the door, amazed at the church. It wasn't that big but it was beautiful inside. Dark and a bit haunting, candles everywhere. Aria realized that she had never been inside a church before.
"Impressive isn't it?" said Killian from behind her.
"It sure is" said Aria, still looking around. "So what exactly am I going to be doing? Picking up after the mass, tidying the place up. You know I could be you're maid, I have this sluttly maid outfit I wore for Halloween a few years ago, I can wear if you like" she said.
"Ms. Wayland-"
"Aria" she said quickly. "Ms. Wayland would be my mother, if I had one."
"Aria" said Killian. "I am going to have to ask you to refrain from using inappropriate language while you're here. And I really hope you won't be wearing any inappropriate outfits. You also cannot show up here drunk on with a hangover, I'll make an exception today since its your first day."
"How did you"
"You look terrible, no offense" he said. "Besides this is a small town and ummm you were sort of on the newspaper the other day."
"Great" said Aria, raising her eyebrows as she let out another sigh.
"All right well basically you will be helping the nuns with the fundraisers and cleaning up after mass, things of that matter."
Aria nodded. "So you're Irish?"
"What?" he asked.
"You seem to have an Irish accent" she said, pointing at him. "Plus Killian... it's a strange name, foreign."
"Well yes I am Irish" he said. "And are you Australian then since you have an Aussie accent?"
"Yes I suppose I am" she said. "So tell Killian whats an attractive Irish priest doing in a town like Storybrooke?"
"I could ask you the same" he said. "Well... I've been here for as long as I can remember. Something about this place just seems to keep me here."
"I know the feeling" she said.
"Well let's get started shall we".
After hours of working, it was already dinner time and Aria was exhausted.
"Well I think we're done for today, you may leave Aria" Killian said, putting away the cups from mass in their respective compartments.
"That's it? No more mass, nothing?" she asked holding her breathe.
"Nope, we're done" he said, smiling at her.
Aria let out a relived breathe. "Thank God" she said. Her eyes quickly widened, realizing she had used the word God. Her hand quickly shot up to her mouth.
Killian chuckled to himself in amusement.
"Sorry" she quickly apologized. "I didn't mean to use the Lord's name in vain, or whatever it is..."
"That's all right Aria" he said giving her a comforting smile.
"So, what are your plans for the evening?" she asked nonchalantly.
"I'll just be heading home" he said.
"Perhaps you'd like to join me for a drink at my bar, drinks on me" she said.
"Thanks but I don't drink" he said.
"Oh" Aria said, with a bit of disappointment on in her voice. "Well I have food too we can just go get something to eat?"
Killian looked at her with a saddened gaze. While she was quite lovely, he didn't want to give her the wrong idea. "Aria you do know that as a priest I am not allowed to date right?"
"I know" she said quickly, defending herself. "Just think of it as me thanking you for giving me this job so I can avoid going to jail."
"Well... I guess I don't see the harm" he said smiling at her.
"Great, the bar is just a few blocks away apparently so we could just walk there" she said.
Killian nodded, grabbed his coat from the coat closet and they both headed out the door.