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CHAPTER III — high or low; it's off to work we go!
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KIRAN WOKE UP THE DAY SHE WAS GOING BACK TO WORK, FRIDAY, WITH A FAMILIAR SHAKINESS AND A HIT OF CRAVINGS SHE DIDN'T MISS. It's way too early, a glance at her phone proves, searing into the back of her eyelids.She groans as she pulls herself from bed and clenches her fists hard enough to feel them stop shaking, her knuckles white from the pressure. Kiran took a couple deep breaths to calm herself down, before she was going to her closet to pick an appropriate outfit that Perry would do a double take at, but ultimately allow her to wear.
She trudges to her kitchen, ignoring the way her apartment is barely lit by the vestiges of a sunrise that hasn't peaked over the horizon yet. The coffee pot is pulled forward, a new filter put in with some ground, the back filled with water, and Kiran leaves it to brew as she makes her way to the bathroom to shower. It's not what she wishes she was drinking, but the bitterness of black coffee will stave it off for now.
She has a longer shower than usual, the water scalding. Then, she makes herself breakfast slowly, because she has the time, even if it is a badly made egg, some burnt toast, and the second mug of coffee from the pot, the first one drank while she was cooking. Her alarm goes off as she smothers her toast with peanut butter, and her door knob to her apartment jiggles before opening. Kiran waves tiredly at Gracie as she goes to turn her phone alarm off.
She comes back out to Gracie pouring herself a mug of coffee, stealing the milk from the fridge, topping off the mug with that, and then adding a sprinkle of sugar. The teenager also grabs an apple, rinses it off, then takes a huge bite as she plops down in the chair across from the one Kiran had taken again.
"You've run out of yoghurt," Gracie states around a bite of apple. Kiran purposely scrapes her fork across her plate to see the girl cringe.
"You ate the last of it."
Gracie leans back in her chair, munching on her apple. Kiran guesses she must have been painting already, with the new stain on her shirt that still looks a little wet, her hands covered in it too, and she smeared some on her cheek. She wants to ask what she's working on, but the need for silence this early stops her. Instead, Kiran gets up to get her third cup of coffee.
