Mabel's POV:
Beep beep
Beep beep
My alarm screamed like it had a personal vendetta against me. I groaned, rolled over, and weakly slapped around the bed like I was hunting a mosquito until my fingers finally hit the alarm. Silence. Blessed silence.
I lay there for two seconds, contemplating life, adulthood, and why mornings exist at all. Then I dragged myself up into a sitting position, closed my eyes dramatically, and whispered a quick prayer before touching my phone.
7:15am.
"Fantastic. Forty-five minutes to transform from a sleepy goat to a functioning human being."
I rushed into the bathroom and took the quickest bath in recorded history. The lavender scent from my soap filled the air, honestly the only feminine thing keeping me alive this morning. After rinsing off, I wrapped myself in a towel and went straight to hair duty.
Yes, I style my hair before putting on clothes. Priorities.
I pulled my hair into a sleek high ponytail, laid my edges like my life depended on it, checked the mirror, and nodded to myself like, Wow. You're kinda cute.
Then I went to my closet and pulled out long black pants, a black long-sleeved turtleneck, and a white vest, basically giving "classy ninja." I set them on the bed, grabbed my underwear, got dressed, dusted a little powder on my face, applied a lip combo, sprayed perfume, and packed my essentials.
Then I went into the kitchen to make lunch. A sandwich and a banana milkshake. Don't judge me, I'm a simple girl with simple cravings.
---
My workplace wasn't far, so I walked to the bus stop, boarded a bus, and luckily, traffic didn't misbehave today. I got to work at 8:10am, which, for me, is basically early-early.
I greeted the security men and headed to the reception to sign attendance, name, position, and time.
But Fiona, our receptionist slash unofficial gossip headquarters, wasn't on her seat.
"Maybe she went to the restroom," I shrugged and went to my counter.
The company was a two-storey building, lower staff downstairs, the important people upstairs. Each of us had a desk, chair, laptop, mouse, journal, and enough biros to start a small stationery shop. I logged into my laptop and got to work on the reports I abandoned on Friday.
Max, my desk neighbor and certified office clown, nudged me.
"You look good... sniff and smell good too!"
"Thank you, Max."
"You look so serious!"
"Monday morning, Max. What do you expect? Get busy."
"Yes ma'am."
We laughed and continued working until lunchtime.
"So what did you bring for lunch... wait, let me guess. Sandwich and banana milkshake, right?"
"Haha, yeah. You got it." I said, already chewing.
"Take small bites before you choke!" he warned.
I rolled my eyes but smiled.
"Well, I'm heading out to get something. Want anything?"
"Just water, thank you."
"You know there's free water from the dispenser, right?"
"Come on max! They barely wash that thing!"
"Alright Mrs neat freak! I'd get you one." He replied.
"Thank you!"
After finishing my sandwich and milkshake, I folded the Ziploc and headed to the restroom, where I ran into Fiona.
"Hey girl!" she chirped.
"Heyyy. I didn't see you this morning."
"Oh, I stepped out to get something. I saw you walking in."
"I didn't see you..."
"Of course you didn't. You always walk like a queen with your head held high. You don't see mortals."
She said, and we both laughed.
"By the way, you look cute. Hmm, new boyfriend or what?!"
"Oh please. I look cute every day."
"Have you heard the latest??!"
"No, tell me."
"Christopher Nolan's son is back from the U.S! And he's single! And he started a media company and it's already number one in the whole country! Like how?!"
"Wow. Didn't even know he had a son. Anyway, congratulations to him but we shouldn't be gossiping about successful businessmen when we have work."
"Ah! Work, work, work. Girl, take a break."
"I'll think about it. Can I go now?"
"Sure. Go and work yourself to death."
I shot her a playful glare and entered the restroom. After doing my business, washing my hands, and reapplying lip gloss, I returned to my counter. Max was already back with the water.
"Thank you," I said, taking a big gulp.
"Careful! You don't eat like a girl."
"I know!" We laughed and worked until closing time at 5pm.
I packed my things and finally picked up my phone. Instagram was filled with girls screaming over the newly returned single billionaire. I found it cringe, rolled my eyes, and left the app. I opened Snapchat instead, took a few pictures for my story, not like anyone really views them, but vibes.
After logging out of my laptop and saying goodbye to Max and Fiona, I headed out, caught a bus, and went home.
Inside my apartment, which was small, cozy, and perfect for one lady, I turned on the lights. I moved here three years after my parents died, so the place carried a lot of memories.
I emptied the Ziploc and bottle, washed the bottle, and set it aside. Then I undressed, showered, and slipped into my white nightgown.
Dinner was leftover pasta with sauce. I ate while watching Netflix.
"Work again tomorrow," I groaned, turning off the lights before crawling into bed.