Mistletoe

December 2nd

Tuesday December 2nd

05.32am

Getting up that morning was more excruciating than normal, mostly because I'd been tossing and turning all night. I probably should have taken that jog before bed after all. I made sure to eat a banana before lacing up my shoes and putting the leash on Sergeant, I pressed play on my headset and then we were off.

The morning was quiet and there was a light layer of fog that touched the grass as we ran through the park. Sergeant couldn't have had a better time judging by the leap he took every now and then, his tongue hanging out at the side of his mouth.

When at the heart of the park I took off his leash and threw a stick into the distance for him to fetch, much to his enjoyment. We repeated this process several times until it became time to head back.

The fresh air and high pulse seemed to cleanse my mind and by the time we made it home I felt like a new person. Once again my mind was calm and tidy again, all traces of yesterday's disappointments were gone.

After my shower we both ate breakfast together; Sergeant his kibble and I got toasted bread with homemade strawberry jam. I made sure I didn't have to stress today and when I was getting ready in the bathroom I picked my phone up from the counter to check the time.

The screen blinked 06:30, which meant I had thirty minutes to get over to Pleym. That was more than enough on my end and so I put the phone back down feeling rather satisfied. The feeling was short lived however as I missed the surface and my phone slid off the edge and hit the tiles with an alarmingly loud crack.

"Shit," I breathed and dove down to pick it up. As I'd feared there was a big crack in the screen and when I hit the power button there was no reaction whatsoever. It was completely and utterly dead.

"Now what?" I mumbled, but there wasn't much I could do except stuff it in my bag alongside my sketchpad and pencils, and head off to work.

Emma was of course already there and had opened Pleym for the day and I went to join her behind the counter after depositing my things. I obediently fell into the role of making the coffees people needed to start their day before work while Emma worked the register. The morning rush was a quiet affair, no one was particularly talkative at seven thirty in the morning, except for a few abnormalities.

When things began to slow down I made my second coffee of the day in order to feel more alive and ready for the job at hand. Emma must have already hit her daily quota because she was practically bouncing at the balls of her feet. I promptly made her a glass of water.

"Before the caffeine burns a hole in your stomach," I bargained as she looked at me in confusion.

"Didn't you have a lot of work to do today?" Em asked as she downed her water, clearly thirstier than she'd thought.

I nodded, "but that's also the beauty of home schooling, I can do it when I finish here. That's why I'm only working until eleven, Jill will come in then to take over."

Emma wrinkled her nose. Jill wasn't exactly her favorite person in the world, not on the Pleym staff either for that matter. "I wonder what insufferable story I'll have to listen to this time," Emma rolled her eyes at the prospect. It was safe to say that Jill was an over sharer; say hello to her and she would give a detailed summary of the days that had passed since the last time you saw her.

The hours passed a lot faster that morning compared to the day before. There were more people to take care of and just more things to do in general, not to mention my mood was a lot better. I kept looking around to see if the mystery guy from yesterday was around, only to realize that I didn't precisely remember what he looked like. At the time he'd just been another face on the other side of the counter, but I was fairly certain I'd be able to recognize him if he actually came around.