John rolled out of bed at the sound of his dog whimpering in the hallway. It was the same routine every morning the moment his alarm went off. He trudged down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Pepper, his golden retriever, was waiting impatiently next to her bowl.
“One scoop and then I need another ten minutes of sleep, girl,” he said, pouring the brown pellets into the bowl. “I don’t know what it is but I’m not feeling too hot today.”
He went back up the stairs and into bed, where ten minutes felt like ten seconds. He had to take his breakfast of coffee and toast to-go as he rushed out the door, a bit of shampoo still in his hair.
When he arrived to work and clocked in he was six minutes late, nothing out of the ordinary. He walked past his co-workers on his way to refill his to-go mug, brushing crumbs off from his tie as he tried to avoid Becky’s desk.
“Hey, John,” said a sinister voice.
He turned around, a toothy grin across his face.
“Hey, Becky,” he said.
“You never RSVP’ed for my housewarming party. Everyone from work will be there.”
“I bet they will be. I’m unfortunately busy that night.”
“You and your pup have big plans?”
“Something like that. Let me know about the next one.”
He slunk away and into the breakroom, where a line had formed for the coffee. The person in line before him took the last of it without preparing a new pot. There was an unwritten rule in every office, a rule few people seemed to follow. If you used up the last of the pot it was your duty to make the next one. As John was preparing the next pot he heard footsteps behind him and a shiver crawled up his spine. Did Becky follow him?
He turned around and a sense of relief washed over him. It was someone he didn’t recognize, a woman seemingly around his age, standing with the same to-go mug that he had.
“Hey,” said John, “I’m just finishing up here. Should be enough for both of us soon. I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m John.”
“Kristen,” she said. “I’m in no rush. Actually about to head out once I refill this thing.” She must’ve caught sight of his because she held hers up and tapped the side of it. “You’ve got good taste.”
“I like to think so. Is today your first day?”
“First day here, yes. I’m a representative from Checks Corp. Helping to ease the transfer of your clock-in system. You guys haven’t updated since the nineties. I had a quick meeting with your boss, seems like a nice guy.”
“He is,” replied John. “Leaves me to do my work, which is nice.” He turned to the coffee pot, it was half filled. He watched it rise as if an hourglass counting down his time to make an impression on Kristen. “How do you take your coffee?”
“On the go,” she said, followed by a smirk. “Two cream. You?”
“One cream,” he said. “Too many and it feels like I’m drinking milk. Do you like your job?”
“I like the paycheck,” she tilted her head side to side as she stared up at the ceiling, “and I suppose the people. My head is in the clouds most days. Still tossing around the idea of the ‘dream job’ scenario working out someday. Nobody ever gets to have their dream job, though. Right?”
“Some people do. Seems like most celebrities are pretty happy.”
“I don’t know about that. I put on a happy face when I’m with clients, can’t imagine it’s much different for celebrities during interviews. We’re all chasing something, I suppose. Perhaps it’s only meant for a small number of us to be fast enough to catch it.”
“Are you always this introspective in the morning?”
“So long as I’ve had at least a cup,” she replied, shaking her to-go mug in the air.
“So what is it? Your dream job.”
“So long as you don’t laugh.”
He crossed his heart with his index finger.
She cleared her throat.
“I want to be a singer,” she said. “Like on a big stage in a stadium singer. With lights on me, fans screaming, at least three outfit changes. Right now I show up to any open mics I can, and have two bars I sing at every other week for enough money to cover groceries. What about you? Is working here your dream gig?”
“Dream gig, no.” He turned to the pot, almost done. “The job doesn’t matter so much to me as the life. Right now I live in a townhome with my dog. Saving up to get a house, mostly just so Pepper will have some space to run around when I can’t make it to the dog park. Having a family someday. Stuff like that. The day-to-day of the job isn’t so important to me. It’s what happens when I clock out.”
“Well when I’m done here clocking out will be a lot easier for you. So you and your dog will have more time to spend together.” She nodded. “I like that outlook. I feel like I’ve been missing that. I’ve been so focused on singing I guess I’ve kind of shut everything else out when it comes to my personal life.”
He pulled the coffee pot and filled his mug. She placed hers on the counter and he filled hers, leaving enough room for her two creams.
“How about we continue this conversation over another cup of coffee sometime?” he asked.
“I’d like that,” she replied, turning her coffee into milk. “It was nice meeting you, John. Maybe someday I’ll meet, Pepper, was it?”
“You’ll love her.”
Kristen wrote her number down on a napkin and handed it to John.
“Don’t wipe your mouth with that,” she said. “See you soon.”
As Kristen walked away John finished up preparing his coffee, stirring in the cream with a wooden stick. His walk back to his desk was less eager than his morning strut to the break room. He caught a glare from Becky and a quick glance at her computer screen, where she was taking a virtual tour of her new home.
At his desk he set his coffee above his mouse and logged in. He checked emails before checking homes for sale in the area. Nothing seemed to peak his interest as he looked more at the backyards than the actual homes. Too small. Too many trees. Not enough trees. He sighed and pulled the napkin out from his pocket and sent a short message to Kristen, just his name and a coffee emoji.
Before clocking out he checked listings again, more hoping to burn the last ten minutes of the day than anything. Still nothing. His phone lit up and he picked it up, a reply from Kristen. She’d sent him a link along with “How about this one?”. He clicked on it and it showed a home about five miles out of the range he’d been looking, with the perfect yard for Pepper.
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Abigail Bloom's life is thrown into a sweeping romance when a new deputy rolls into the small town of Brooks Landing, but when her ex-husband enters back into her life, she's unsure if she can hold onto her new chance at true love. A break-in in the small town causes Abigail's ex to suspect the new deputy - Can she trust her new love interest or is he using her as an alibi?
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(First 3 episodes FREE) John Prince's life in Peak Creek seems perfect. He's been seeing Cassandra Queen for six months and hopes to move in together. However, Cassandra resists the change, putting John's romantic future into question. When an opportunity to advance at work opens up, John feels his luck turning around. Katie Young, a recent transfer at the firm, has other plans. Their rivalry collides when they have to co-present during a company retreat.
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This story left me smiling. I have a good feeling about these two and their future together.