Lila woke up to a blaring,

BEEEEEEEPPPPPPP *pause* BEEEEEEP *pause* BEPPPPPPPP.

Groaning she flung her arm in the general direction of her alarm clock... This action was followed by a loud CRASH! Coaxed by disaster Lila found herself upright and wide awake. Carefully she looked over the right edge of her bed... Yup, she broke her one and only lamp. Falling back onto her bed she exasperatedly exclaimed, "Can't a girl catch a break? What a bad start to a good day!"

Dragging herself up she threw her blankets onto the floor and carefully edged around the broken porcelain and glass. Thundering down the stairs she grabbed the dustpan and broom and trudged back to the mess of jagged edges of the once beautiful light source. She swept up the mess quickly, with skill. She wasted no time in throwing the broken pieces away. Rubbing her hands together she checked her watch and..... SHE WAS ALREADY 20 MINUTES LATE?!?!?!?

Like a hurricane she dove into the nearest cardboard box throwing socks and miscellaneous items of clothing this way and that. Finally finding something reasonable she quickly dressed and dashed out the front door. The house was quiet for a few moments before the door banged open again and she frantically grabbed her purse, phone and keys.

In a rush she sped slightly over the speed limit, slightly wary of cops or bad drivers. She quickly rushed down the roads she had carefully studied the night before to the one place that would make her day less muggy today. The cafe. Endorphins already releasing in her brain at just the idea of coffee, allowed her thoughts to wander. The soft cream and the slightly bitter taste of only one shot of espresso, the delicious taste of icy caramel flowing across her tongue would just make her day. Snapping out of her daze as a small droplet of drool hit her collar bone, she noticed she was only a couple blocks away. She happily applied a slight amount of pressure to the gas petal in anticipation. She could almost feel the caffeine in her system already.

Exiting her car, she ran to the enterence remembering she was still late, and on the first day! She chastised herself internally because of her carelessness, staying up so late to what- practice singing that stupid song? Mockingly it echoed in her head, "Mr. Sandman bring me a dream! Give him two lips like roses and clovers, and tell him that his lonesome nights are over!" She scoffed, like her lonely nights would ever end.

The line inside the tiny cafe was longer than usual. The 7:30 am rush, she felt her shoulders droop. At her old job the cafe knew her so well they would have had her order ready the moment they saw her car on the street. She usually would just grab it, pay, leave a hefty tip with no time for change, and leave. In this new city no one knew her and it would take weeks of daily visits for them to even begin to do little things like that. Resigned she let out a deep breath of purified stress and took out her phone.

She scrolled through social media with a disinterested expression until his face popped up on her screen. A surge of fury and pain flowed through her as if she had just seen a dementor. The bittersweet taste of salty tears filled her mouth as she looked upon his face. She couldn't do this anymore, she had moved to get away from him and this was a new start. Struggling indecisively her finger pad hesitated over the 'Unfollow' button when a shove from behind caused her indecisiveness to be disrupted. There it was, one second the post was there and then his face vanished, as painless as that.

"Hey lady! Get a move on! The rest of us have places to be!"

The shout was accompanied by another push, but more aggressive. Turning around in frustration she faced her provoker. He was a stout, middle aged man, with the basic construction uniform obscuring his overweight figure. The mans face was a flushed red tone and his nostrils flared at her like an angry bull. Gritting her teeth she mustered up the courage and thick skin she had built up from years of bullying. Ever since she was young she had always felt as if the world was against her. Men, women, and especially children seemed to revel in critiquing or criticizing her freely without remorse. No one had ever apologized to her and she was always told how bad at things she was. Some days, like right now, she felt tired of being the rug that everyone wiped their feet on.

Rising herself up to her full 5'8 height, she addressed the man in an exaggerated and haughty tone,

"Oh my dear sir, I must apologize -profusely- for my misgivings. If you would wait but a moment I am sure you can order your small black coffee in no time. Although whipping a horse makes it move faster, we are all humans here are we not?" She finished with her eyes looking down her nose at him. She had tried to fight the bullying and harsh words everyday of her life but she found the best solution was not to ignore it, fight back or antagonize the person but to humanize her self and make them feel guilty for treating a fellow human in such a way. The mans face inexplicably got redder and he slumped sightly, his meaty finger raised and pointed, an insult ready to launch until a voice from the counter caught both their attention.

"Just let the lady get her coffee dude." She turned and saw a young coffee barista. His peeling name tag read 'Joshua'. She smiled and cooperated quickly placing her order confidently and politely stepping to the side after wards to wait. She admired the tall, young barista as he worked efficiently and quickly to make her order. His arms looked muscular as if he worked out often. His chest and shoulders were broad and muscled as well, complimented by the soft yellow polo shirt he wore with the first two buttons undone. His short blonde hair was neatly greased into a soft wave to the left. He turned and with a confident and practiced smile handed her her order. He repeated the order to her checking if it was right but she was unable to focus as she met his eyes. They were a deep forest green, reminding her of the feeling of being enveloped by the dense woods and brush that made her feel safe. She took a deep breath, catching his scent, which was that of freshly crushed pine needles in the spring. As she re-centered her thoughts grabbing the order from his hands she shakily replied,

"Oh, sorry.. yes that's correct... thank you." His smile widened in response and before he could turn away she sheepishly put a 20 in his tip jar. He followed her action with questioning eyes and a light- REAL- smile played upon his lips. She turned and confidently left, making sure her walk was swayed and attractive as she did so- hoping he was looking. She smiled to herself as she placed the coffees above her car door as she unlocked it. She smiled to her self all the way to work thinking,

"Oh what a dreamboat >.<"