August 5th, 2012
4:29pm
I had finally gotten a job over the summer as a journalist for Panem Times, the local newspaper, and saved whatever I could to get this place. It was kind of a shithole but at least it was a place to call my own.
"For someone with the smallest room in your mothers place you sure do have a lot of crap." Gale mutters and places one of my boxes over another one and stretches.
"And here I was thinking that you'd obey your one and only rule: to keep that trap of yours shut." I retort and he chuckles, wiping whatever sweat he had on his forehead.
"If I was getting paid then I might just listen to that bullshit rule." I throw him a water bottle and shake my head at him as Madge comes back from checking the small apartment out.
"Did you know I could hear your neighbours fight through those paper thin walls you have?" She asks and tilts her head like I wasn't aware of it already.
Despite how much I want to give her a glare for pointing it out I just reply calmly and drink from my water. "I do, but I'll take what I can get."
After a few hours and a few drinks we have my second hand couch out in the living room and Gale sets up the DVD player Prim got me so we could watch a movie I don't care too much for.
"Can I smoke in here?" Johanna asks and does so without my reply but I don't complain because I'm sure it's what I'll be doing to when writers block comes around.
Madge moves away from Johanna to the other side of me and sighs as she hears people shouting outside in the halls.
"Really Katniss, you could just come live with me." The blonde murmurs and picks at my couch.
"I don't want to have to depend on anyone," I tell her and smack her hand so she could stop it. Pouting she crosses her arms and looks away from the fabric to me.
"It's really bad here," she points the obvious, again. "What if you get robbed or mugged on your way in or what if you get shanked?"
Finnick laughs aloud at the last bit which Gale, Johanna and I follow. She really is a worry wart, but we don't tell her that to her face because she would start to worry whether or not we've said other things about her behind her back.
"Okay, I think it's done." Gale says and leans back to turn both on.
A few hours later and they're on their way home to leave me alone. Once the door is shut behind them I lean against the door and slid down it with a grin that threatens to split my face.
I finally feel like I am building myself and who I am, what I stand for and where I'm going.
Standing to my feet after a few minutes of realization of what I'm going to face I start to unpack. The book shelf is rickety but it's still loyal enough to hold my books up and a few standing photo frames on the top shelf.
After that's done I move to the kitchen and pull out all the supplies I have and push the boxes into the small dining area that meets between the living room and the kitchen.
After an hour or two of unpacking sleep finally decides to come and I pace into my bedroom, collapsing onto my bed and sigh happily into my pillow that still smells vaguely like my mom's house.
August 6th, 2012
10:38am
Loud ringing wakes me up and I sit straight, twisting both left and right to find where the sound is coming from.
Groaning I drag myself to the end of the bed and pick up my cell from the floor that lays next to my jeans that I discarded last night.
"Hello," I say groggily into the phone and the voice snaps me awake.
"You're late." Snow, my boss, snaps into the phone and I jolt up and find my box of clean clothes.
"I know, sir, I'm sorry." Apologies are pathetic because Snow is a ruthless man. When my sister had the pox I had to watch her but Snow wouldn't give me a few days off so she had to fend for herself for a week straight.
"Everdeen, I will not tolerate tardiness. If you're not here by 11am sharp you might just find yourself struggling to pay for that apartment of yours." And the line goes dead.
Pulling my slacks on and a blouse, I run into the bathroom and brush my teeth then pull my hair up into a cheap bun. Throwing concealer and mascara on I settle with lip balm rather than a pink tinted lipstick.
The place I live is only a twenty minute walk from work which leaves me a good fifteen minutes to grab a bite at the nearest McDonalds.
But when I arrive the line is long and I groan. I guess I'll just survive until lunch which will be shortened with my lateness this morning. To be honest I'm not quite sure if Snow really has that kind of power or if it's legal but I won't jeopardise my job for it.
Taking a quick glance at my watch I see that I only have ten minutes left and I groan so I speed walk towards the building that everyone has nicknamed the Capitol, mostly because it holds most of the well-known business in all of Panem.
A whiff of something sweet and warm makes me stop in step. Cheesy and warm it makes my stomach growl.
When I see a couple walk out of the bakery across the street I bolt that direction like my life depended on it but my job was on the wire if I was late so I make it my goal to get something to eat and leave quickly.
Inside is quiet, you can't even hear cars passing by in the road and I smile because I see there is only one person left in line.
"Good morning," pair of blue eyes greets me and I smile back, remembering just who it is. The ring on his left ring finger confirms just who I thought it was.
"Riker," I say and smile politely. It's been about a year but I wouldn't really forget that night, ever.
"Uh," he says and his lip twists a little while his brow arches at me. "Sorry but… do I know you?"
Dread and embarrassment come but I keep it under control.
"Yeah, I'm Katniss Everdeen. I meet you at your bachelor party last year, you were really drunk so I'm not too sure if you'd remember—"
"Oh!" He exclaims and nods with a grin. "You're the girl that Peeta got all mental over when that other boy started feeling you up. Yes, I remember now." The smile drops from my face and I stare him dead in the eye until he realizes that what he said was the wrong thing to ever mention.
"God, I'm sorry." He murmurs and scratches the back of his neck and looks over his shoulder and back to me.
"Can I just get a… what is baking right now?" I ask when I realize that I have no idea what I had a sniff of from the outside.
"Cheese buns," he replies, glad the conversation took a turn for the better.
"Can I get two of those and a black coffee?" I pull money out of my purse when he shakes his head at me.
"Think of it as an apology," and I nod because it seems reasonable and because I can't just say no to free food.
He bags it up in a brown paper bag and I smile, thanking him with a promise that I'll be back if these buns are as good as they smell.
When I turn I bump into a man after a few steps and the coffee I had in my hand spills all over him.
He hisses a curse and tugs his shirt off right away. I see his pecks and I say sorry repeatedly as I attempt to wipe whatever liquid I can from his torso with the sleeve of my blouse.
After a minute or two he removes my hands and laughs a little uncomfortably.
The blonde head of curls I see when he looks down block me from viewing his face but his voice give me an idea with just who this man could be and I fill with glee.
Peeta Mellark.
"No, ma'am, it's really okay. Happens all the time," I hear my phone ring and I answer it to come back to reality.
"Miss Everdeen, you have five minute before you're unemployed."
I shut the phone off and place it back in my purse and groan.
"I'm so sorry, again, truly. But I have to get going." I push a twenty dollar bill into his chest and mutter another apology before I run off to work like a madman but not until he clasps my wrist. It sends tingles to my fingertips and I turn to him.
He looks up and hands me the twenty and smiles. "I think I can pay for my own coffee seeing as how I work here, thanks though." And I blush slowly.
"I've really got to get going, sorry." I reply and wriggly my hand free before running off to work with a grin.
I realize that that is just another embarrassing moment for Mister Mellark to remember for. When will it end?
August 7th, 2012
8:39am
At least I'm not late today, I try to tell myself as I stand in line anxiously at the Mellark Bakery and practically wear out my purse strap with my jittery fingers.
Three people stand before me and I bop on my heels like a goddamn child on Christmas morning only I'm not excited for the presents but eagerly waiting to see Peeta, hopefully. But I keep looking around to find no one but Riker behind the counter.
When the last person leaves the till I take a deep breath and smile at Riker who is still staring at the cash register. Finally he looks up and grins at me like he had yesterday.
"Well, I see you liked the cheese buns," I nod at him and he picks up a brown paper bag. "So I'm guessing it's another two more for you this morning, Katniss?"
Nodding one again, I reach into my pocket and take the twenty dollar bill and slide it over the counters top.
"But please, no coffee this time." I leaned over and act like what I was about to say was a secret for his ears only. "Your coffee is kind of really crappy."
He barks out a laugh and shakes his head, walking over to the window and pulled two cheese buns out and came back with a smile still dancing on his lips.
"That's because Peeta was late yesterday and I had to make the coffee myself. He's better at everything and I'm just here to deal with paperwork and run the till."
Taking the bag, I bite my lip and try to go about the question softly but I see no use so I blurt my question out. "Where is he? Peeta I mean."
Riker looks up from under his lashes with a sly smile and looks over his shoulder to shout his name and I panic. My heart thumps against my ribs and I shake my head furiously as I try to stop him but it's too late. The blonde boy comes out of the double doors that could only lead into the kitchen with his forearms covered in flour and his hair messy, off-white apron on and his face clearly annoyed.
"What is it now?" He grunts at Riker then looks to me. It made my heart stop when his demeanor changed from angry to something like delight. Maybe he was excited to see me, maybe.
"You have a customer asking for you," Riker replies and hands me my change and I mindlessly put it all into my purse without a care in the world that it'll jumble up whatever junk I have in there.
Eyes turning to Riker, Peeta pointed a finger to me and arched a brow like he was wordlessly asking Riker if I was the person asking for him. Riker nods at walks to the other side of the counter but keeps his eyes on us.
When those blue eyes fall back onto me I give him a small wave and take the brown bag. Walking over to the only exit to get out from behind the counter, he meets me there and scratches the back of his neck.
God, I think, that was so sexy.
Undoing the apron I look around me and back to him slowly. I hope he knows I can't stay too long.
Pointing to an open table nearby he sits first and I follow him then sit on the other side. The first few seconds are quiet before he clears his throat.
"Are you here to apologize, again?" My cheeks redness and I look down to the bag in my hands at threaten to rip the poor paper apart with how hard I'm holding it.
"I'm joking," he adds and chuckles at me. With a blank expression, I shake my head at him but slowly a smile tugs at me lips and we're both silent and smiling.
"Now that you mention it, though…" I trail off and bite my lip, my eyes looking to the brown floor and he waves his hand me dismissively.
"Honestly, Katniss, I wasn't joking when I said that it happens all the time. I can name at least five times that's happened this month and it only started so don't worry about it."
"But I left you… shirtless… in the middle of a bakery." He laughs and points up toward the ceiling with his index finger.
"I live up there anyway, it's a small apartment connected to this place so don't go fretting over a worn out t-shirt that should have been thrown out anyway."
Instead of relief, I only feel a little upset that I had left Peeta shirtless in a bakery. It only occurs to me now that I was wiping my sleeve all over him like a peasant and I flush all over again.
"If you're thinking about other ways you managed to embarrass yourself, don't even try to apologize for it." We share a look and I roll my eyes to show my annoyance. How does he even know what I'm thinking or what I'm about to say? It's kind of freaky.
"Katniss, I've been thinking-" he starts and I stand abruptly when my eyes fall onto the clock behind his head.
"I'm sorry," I apologize and he shakes his head with a light laugh.
"You honestly say sorry too much—"
"Peeta, I have a job to get to and I should leave now or my boss will freak out, again." Understandingly he nods and waves his palm gracefully towards the exit as if he's allowing me to leave.
Rushing past him, Peeta takes my hand into his. In a friendly manner, I'm sure.
"I want to see you again," he tells me and I swear that my breathing stops all together.
Turning to face him my head tilts like he's playing a joke and I don't quite believe him. I mean I'm a twenty year old girl who still relies on Nyquil to help her sleep some nights and smokes, drinks too much for her to even try and quit. I live in a shitty apartment with only eggs and coffee to fill me for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then I grasp that Peeta knows none of this about me.
"Tomorrow," I reply and wriggle my hand free. "I'll be at the city hall tomorrow at two in the afternoon to interview the mayor, mayor Undersee. I'll see you there?" He nods and I smile then turn away.
At least there isn't an embarrassing story to come from today's meeting. Confidence arises with in… then I trip on my way out and I curse and wipe my hands over my knees and palm and I refuse to see if Peeta had seen that.
I KNOW IT'S NOT SATURDAY AND I'M SO SORRY BUT I WAS OUT OF TOWN AND HAD NO INTERNET CONNECTION!
Still, here it is, chapter three. If you have questions just send me a PM or send me asks over at .com :)