My eyelids shoot open when my phone scares me awake, the Friends theme song blasting through the speaker. I sit up and grab my phone from my nightstand to see who's calling- it's my best friend from England, Jessica.
"Jess!" I squeal, immediately earning a laugh.
"It's been so long since we've talked! How's Australia?" She asks.
"Pretty great so far, but I miss you." I pout even though she can't see me.
"I miss you too." She whines. "That's why I saved up some money and bought a plane ticket!"
"No way!" I shriek loudly, probably waking the entire building.
"It's true, I'm flying in in three days! You better be at the airport by two to come get me." She demands.
"I will. Text me all the details."
We say our goodbyes and hang up. I don't think I've been this excited for something since in a long time.
Soon after I hang up, I get a text message. Then I get another, but this one isn't from her.
From: Lukey-Pukey
I made cinnamon french toast come try it
I smile at his words and crawl out of bed, literally. I slip my feet into my slippers and head out the door and to the flat next door. The door is cracked open slightly, for me to get in I assume, so I push through it and shut it behind me. A huge pile of mail is scattered all over the table, but I focus on the heavenly stack of cinnamon french toast.
"Mere! They taste so good, sorry I couldn't wait for you." He apologizes, his mouth full of food.
"It's fine, just hand me a plate." I chuckle. He hands me a glass plate with two slices on it, covered in cinnamon.
I dig in right away and don't even stop to thank him or compliment them. Hell, I'm not sure when the last time I took a breath was.
"Do you have to work today?"
I swallow the delicious food and lick my lips.
"Yeah, ten until five." I sigh. Working at the book store is nice, but Adam is the only employee I know and he makes me a bit uncomfortable.
"Ugh." He groans. "Call off."
"I'm not just gonna call off because you want me to stay here." I roll my eyes and continue to eat my breakfast.
"Why not?"
"Because."
"Great argument, you should be a lawyer." He states sarcastically, standing up and placing his empty plate in the sink. I do the same and follow him into the living room.
"Don't your parents pay for everything anyway? You're rich, you don't need a job." He says. I snort.
"They're rich, I'm not."
"That doesn't change the fact that they pay for everything."
"How would you even know that? I never mentioned my parents." I squint my eyes at him and cross my arms across my chest.
He stays silent and avoids eye contact with me, biting his lip. Then my brain sparks an idea.
I stomp over to the table where I saw the pile of mail and sort through it all. Half of the mail is addressed to me. A few envelopes are opened, but the contents seem to be inside.
Checks. Three envelopes have checks signed by my parents. Every one is written for two thousand pounds.
"You went through my mail?" I ask angrily, collecting every last piece of my mail, including coupons, and heading back into the living room.
"Mere, I-"
"No." I spit, gripping the handle of the front door. "You do not get to go through my mail and then make assumptions about what goes on in my life."
I yank the door open without another word and slam it shut behind me. I should probably start getting ready for work anyway.
-
"You're late, Meredith." Adam taunts, stuffing a few adult fiction novels on their shelf.
"Sorry, I was showering." I apologize quickly. I took so long to shower that I didn't have time to dry my hair, so it's leaving a wet stain on my back.
"You're good. A new shipment of adult's books came in this morning, go ahead and stock them." He instructs. I nod and get to work, bringing box after box of heavy books into the store and placing them on the shelves.
While putting the books in their places I happen to notice a short asian girl behind the counter, checking out a woman with too many books.
"That's Lily." Adam whispers, pointing to the girl. "She's pretty hot."
"How long has she worked here?" I ask, ignoring how he called her hot. It's weird.
"Not very long, a few weeks maybe. I'm thinking about asking her out on a date tonight."
"On a Tuesday night?" I raise my eyebrows.
"Right. Maybe Friday night, then." He shrugs.
"Go for it, mate." I bump his shoulder with mine and he chuckles, playfully smacking me in the arm. I'm surprised I'm not still grouchy over my argument with Luke.
"Now?" He swallows. "Not now, it's too early."
"You've gotta do it soon before someone gets to her first."
He sighs and smoothes out his shirt before approaching her. The woman grabs her receipt from Lily and heads out, the tiny bell jingling behind her.
I decide not to listen in on their conversation and instead continue to work. After a few minutes Adam comes back over to me with a proud smile.
"She accepted! I have a date, I have a date." He sings, doing a dumb dance. I laugh and shake my head, enbarrassed by the glances we're receiving from the customers.
-
Lunch rolls around after a while so I grab my lunch from my tiny locker and sit down in the break room. Lily is in there, talking with another employee who I haven't met.
"Oh, you must be Meredith! I'm Alicia." The other employee says, tying her blonde hair up into a ponytail.
"And I'm Lily." The other girl states. She smiles at me and pulls her pants up higher.
"You obviously know who I am, so I'm not even gonna bother trying to introduce myself." I chuckle, taking a seat at the nearest table. They sit across from me and open up their lunches, digging in with me.
"So I heard Adam asked you out." Alicia giggles, nudging Lily. "What's it like having a hot guy chase after you?"
"It's eh." Lily shrugs. "He's hot, I'll admit that, but he's not my type. I just didn't want to turn him down."
"I heard he kisses on the first date." Alicia wiggles her eyebrows and I snort, earning a disgusted look from Lily.
"He's too much of a flirt." She complains, tossing her dark hair over her shoulder. "I don't think I could stand having him around all the time."
"Aw come on, give him a chance." I pout. Adam is a huge flirt, as I've learned in my very short time working here, but he's sweet and funny.
"I am, I'm going on a date with him. But I guarantee nothing will come out of this."
"That's the spirit." I say sarcastically. Alicia snorts and Lily just takes another bite of her sandwich.
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PLS YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO I SAY IT EVERY CHAPTER
