Okay, I have to get up now. The snooze button has already been pressed twice and I don't want to risk being late to work.
But there's a small problem. Someone is currently keeping me from leaving.
"Go back to sleep." Alex murmers after letting out a big yawn near my ear. I don't have a single clue on how he doesn't have horrible morning breath. He can not be perfect.
"You know I can't." I groan annoyed that I don't have a choice.
"Just call in sick and stay with me. I can cook breakfast and we can continue watching the show." He hugs me closer to his warm body and it's getting difficult to disagree with him. My back is facing his front with my fuzzy purple blanket covering us and I feel like I'm wrapped in a comfy cocoon.
After our heartfelt discussion in the park, Alex and I popped two bags of the popcorn he brought and attempted to binge watch "Ghost Whisperer". Almost six hours after we began watching on my laptop, we both ended up falling asleep on my bed.
"Alex, that's not an incentive to stay. That show creeped me out. Plus, I'm starting to wonder if you're secretly a psychopath. What kind of person googles: Scariest Ghost whisperer episodes?"
"I feel personally attacked right now, they were the best episodes! You'll be fine, I'll protect you from the ghosts. Just maybe not the one who had it's mouth and eyes sewed shut with stitches. That one gave me chills. You're on your own with that one." I feel him shudder recalling the disturbing episode.
"That's not funny! All right, I'm waking up for real now. I'm working by myself today until two so I have to open the store." I manage to lift his heavy arm and escape his grasp before finishing my sentence.
As soon as I step foot on the cool tiled floor, I hear a crunch and sense something uncomfortable under both of my feet. I move back and see that one of our popcorn bags fell and random kernel pieces are scattered through out my room. I quickly try to locate the other bag and breathe a sigh of relief when I see it on my nightstand.
"Jenny, look at all the mess you did." Alex smirks then leaves the bed and starts cleaning up. "Go ahead and get dressed for work, I'll take care of this for you."
"Thank you so much!" I place a quick kiss on his right stubbled cheek before grabbing a red plain shirt along with a pair of jeans from my closet and running into my bathroom. I have to hurry and change clothes in addition to brushing my teeth.
I take a brief glimpse at my cell and see that I have ten minutes to leave my apartment so I can make it on time. I hope I can pull this off.
Once I'm done, I move quickly and gather my crossbody purse and keys. Alex isn't in my room and I wonder if he has already left. I'm pretty sure he didn't tell me goodbye while I was in the bathroom.
Unless he did and I just didn't hear him? No time to think, just go.
"Here, take this for breakfast! It's the most important meal of the day." I hear Alex yell from the direction of my kitchen before a solid flying object hits my shoulder. "Sorry babe, I thought you were going to catch it."
"I thought you had left." I pick up the cocoa puffs cereal bar and throw it in my bag.
"I was waiting for you. I have to go visit my dad he-" Alex starts to tell me when we hear the noise of a door opening. I look to my left only to see Rebecca gawking at the scene playing outside her bedroom.
"Alex, what are you doing here?" She tries to regain her composure and discreetly straightens her silk pajama tank top and shorts. I don't miss the fact that she's basically checking him out right in front of me.
I remember her telling me about her crush on Alex and on how she thought he felt the same way. I'm pretty sure she was bullshitting about the second part and it makes me mad. It's clear now that Rebecca told me that lie so I wouldn't go after him.
Would it be bad manners to kick her out of the apartment?
"Morning, just spending time with my girlfriend." He casually walks towards me and wraps his arm around my shoulder. "Have a good day." Alex adds over his shoulder while gently pushing me out through the front door.
"Oh, uh, bye Alex!" Rebecca responds after she blinks the look of confusion off her face.
I guess I don't get a goodbye. I must not be special.
I roll my eyes and hear Alex chuckle softly beside me as we dash down the stairs.
"It looked like you were about to slap your roomate."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." I play dumb.
Was it that obvious?
"I already know why since Ann told Asher, who then in turn told me. Just so you know, whatever Rebecca told you was a lie. I don't even talk to her."
I really want to be petty and bring up the fact that technically, he did just talk to her a few seconds ago, but decide to let it go.
"Ann and Asher need to stop telling you things. Lately, I'm the one who has ended up out of the loop now. As for Rebecca, it's not like I was jealous or anything." Maybe I had been a little bit, but that's over now. Not that me and her are ever going to become best buds.
"Sure you weren't babe." Alex teases me and holds my hand as we approach the outside parking lot.
I glance at our intertwined hands and it feels good. The beginning of a relationship can be tricky, but since we were friends first, I hope the transition goes smoother.
"I'll see you tomorrow in class since I'll be occupied with my dad all day." Alex says with annoyance. We have never talked about his parents, but I sense it's a delicate topic so I'm not going to ask questions.
I personally know about the whole avoiding talking about parents thing. By this point, I could major in it.
"All right." Shortly after Mr. Hall paired us in class, Tuesdays and Thursdays had subconsciously became my favorite days because I was always guaranteed to see him.
Now, we are dating and I can mostly see him whenever I want without looking like a complete stalker. Ahh, The perks of finally being with the person you like.
"Be good at work, stop being a troublemaker, and keep thinking about me." He remarks with a smug smile and before I can protest, he places a tender kiss on my lips which temporarily distracts me.
I don't know if I will ever become used to his kisses. It still feels like I'm dreaming and any minute I might wake up.
"I'm not a troublemaker." I argue as he enters his car.
Great retort Amelia.
"Jenny, you're about to be late to work." Alex points at the fancy looking watch he's wearing on his wrist.
"Oh shit." I mumble and of course drop my keys.
After fumbling to pick them up, I unlock my door and get in to start my car.
When it's ready, I back out of my parking spot and make my way towards the road. I notice that Alex doesn't leave until he sees that I have safely made it onto the main street.
Thank goodness there's no traffic at this moment or else I would just start panicking and worrying about letting Ben down. This isn't my first time working by myself, but there's always the added pressure of making sure everything goes well since it will all fall back on me.
It seems living only a handful of blocks away from my job really came in handy today when I see that it took less than seven minutes.
Once I'm parked, I turn off the engine, and breathe a sigh of relief. I made it by two minutes and to celebrate, I raise my fist in victory. I'm like a time ninja right now.
I rush to unlock the front entrance door when I hear the unmistakable sounds of footsteps behind me.
At six thirty in the morning, when you're all alone, this is pretty scary. Not to mention that I fell asleep during a damn ghost show which has made me even more paranoid.
"Please don't be a robber. Let it just be a customer or my imagination." I silently whisper to myself before turning around and coming face to face with whoever this mysterious individual is. I don't have a weapon on me so I'm screwed.
"What the fuck?" I curse and let out a yelp when I recognize the person.
"Did I scare you?" He has the audacity to ask.
"Yes, Stephen. It's still dark out and all I heard were your footsteps. You could have called out my name and said you were behind me or something. What are you doing here so early?"
"Sorry, I didn't mean too. Ben called me last night and said I should come to learn how to open and to help you in any way I could. He thought it would be a good training opportunity."
"Oh. I wasn't told anything, but fine. Come in, I guess." I shrug and motion for him to follow me. After leaving work yesturday, I completely forgot all about Stephen working with me.
Yeah, not looking forward to informing Alex of that news.
"I know it's still awkward between us, but I really appreciate that you forgave me for my past actions."
"It was time to move on." I focus on turning on the lights and place my stuff behind the counter. I feel my phone vibrate and decide to check out whatever notification it is while I have time.
Shortly after unlocking the screen, I see a text message from an unknown number that just says: Don't trust him
Instinctively, I look up and search for, well, I'm not really sure. An answer to what the hell this is I guess.
"Are you alright?" Stephen interrupts my thoughts and I shake my head.
It was just a wrong number. It doesn't even make sense. Who's "him"?
"Uh, yeah. Anyway, let me show you what are the first steps to do when opening and setting up."
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A/N: Hmm.. I wonder if that text message was really a wrong number? Who would "him" be?
Next chapter some characters we haven't seen in a while will pop up! Not to mention, a sprinkle of drama that I think you will enjoy.
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!
*Chapter note: The episode "See no evil" from Ghost Whisperer was the one referenced by Alex if you are interested in seeing it.