Notting Hill in Manhattan [t. c]

part three

  Annalise woke up as soon as the birds started to sing. She's an early bird herself too, even on the weekends.

  She got out of bed and made her way towards the kitchen. She grabbed her favourite mug —the one she bought at Disney World and has Belle on it— and poured milk in it, then, she placed it into the microwave and marked a minute to get it warm. As the milk heated up, she walked back to her bedroom, took E.K Johnston's book and her marker from her bag, grabbed a long blue cardigan from her closet and a hair clip from her drawer.

  When she arrived at the low floor, her milk was done, so, she clipped her hair up and took the small jar of coffee and sugar from the cupboard, placed them on the kitchen bar and walked up to the microwave to get her mug. Once the heat embraced her cold fingertips, she grabbed a spoon from one of the drawers that are next to the stove and served a teaspoon of coffee and sugar into the mug.

  As she mixed everything together, she opened the book and continued her reading, she almost finished it. Once the coffee was prepared, Lise left the spoon in the sink, kept the marker into the pocket of her cardigan and held the book with the left hand and the mug with the right one as she made her way towards the fire escape.

  She sat and read for a while until she finished the book. The ending left her wanting and needing more if she was honest. The sunlight flooded Manhattan and kissed the skyscrapers sweetly as well as her skin. She placed the book down and looked at the city waking up and stretching its arms and legs, hearing the early morning bustle as her roommates walked into the living room.

  "Morning." Said Annalise with a bright smile that Naomi returned but Lennon didn't. Coldwell was a night owl that hated her inner clock so badly because it made her wake up early when she'd much rather stay in bed until noon. "How did you sleep?"

"Very well thanks." Said Naomi.

"Same." Lennon started to prepare her usual morning tea while Naomi poured the coffee that was left in the coffee maker from yesterday into her mug and heated it up. Another sign to tell the three of them are very different.

"How was your shift yesterday?" Lise asked Nom as said girl sat on the ground in front of her, giving her back to the sun.

"It was fine, you know, busy but fine. I performed an open heart surgery and my patient's still breathing, so, that's always good and it means I can do my job when I barely had any sleep the night before." Both girls chuckled as they took a sip from their respective mugs. "How was the day at the store?"

"It was—"

"The best day ever for the local." Lenn busted into the conversation. "Let's go up, there's no room here for the three of us." She added as she walked past Lise towards the rooftop, where they had made a small roof garden. It was another reading spot or just a spot of the house where they could sit and do nothing, make their usual hangouts with their friends, etcetera.

  When they arrived, they sat on the chairs of the rectangular glass table and stayed in silence for a while as they looked at the landscape.

"So?" Asked Nom. "Why was it 'the best day'?" Lise sighed as she took another sip of her coffee and Lennon smiled.

"Well, Timothée Chalamet was there." Naomi almost spilled the coffee through out her nostrils.

"You mean the guy from 'The King'? The movie we watched at the premiere?" She looked at her two friends. "You're kidding."

"Nope, he was there and he bought two books." Said Annalise.

"Yeah and not any books but Lise's favourites books." Naomi chuckled. "He went like..." Lenn stood up, left her mug in the table and placed her hands on the glass just like Tim had done the day before. She intensified her stare as she looked deeply at Barnes' eyes and smirked a bit. "I usually like to read people's favourite books so...your favourites?" Both girls started screaming while Lise chugged her coffee and chuckled afterwards.