Asleep On The Job
Merry Christmas @storybrookeswans! Sorry for the delays, but I have finally finished your gift! I hope you like it!
Emma Swan awoke to the loud buzzing of her alarm clock. She rolled over and checked the time on her phone to find that it read 8:15. Realizing that she was late for work, she jumped out of bed and dashed into the room next to hers.
“Hey, kid,” she said, shaking her son awake, “Henry, wake up you’re late for school!”
“Five more minutes,” he said groggily.
“No, Henry,” Emma said, “we need to leave now.”
As Henry groaned and rolled out of bed, yawning and half asleep, she quickly hurried out of the room to get ready for work.
After walking Henry to the bus, Emma headed towards her office. She hadn’t been working as an assistant for more than a week, and she was already late.
When she arrived at her desk, Emma found a note that said,
See me in my office.
~Regina Mills
“Crap.”
As Emma walked to her boss’s office, she tried to regain her composure. Emma hoped that this wasn’t about her tardiness. She swung open the door to Regina’s office to find Regina looking over some files. “Take a seat Miss Swan,” Regina said without looking up from her paperwork.
As Emma took a chair, she asked, “So what is it you wanted to speak to me about?” As Regina looked up from her papers, Emma could see the irritation in her boss’s eyes.
“Miss Swan,” Regina began, “you are aware that you have responsibilities here, are you not?”
Emma felt her heartbeat quicken as she replied, “Yes, Ms. Mills.”
“Then you understand that lateness is unacceptable here,” Regina replied harshly.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Mills, it won’t happen again,” Emma replied. Emma tried to calm herself, but knowing that she had gotten herself into this situation was counterproductive.
“You’re right, Miss Swan, it won’t happen again because you’re fired. You may pack your things and leave by the end of the day.”
Emma developed a sinking feeling in her stomach, followed by anger. She opened her mouth to protest, but Regina had already gone back to looking at her paperwork. As she glanced over at it, Emma could see that they were job applications for the job she had just been fired from. She slowly stood, her hands shaking, and left her former boss’s office.
As Emma packed her things she felt anger boil up inside of her. As she slammed her belongings into a box, she thought of a few choice words she wanted to say to her ex-boss. Once she finished clearing out her desk she decided that she needed to calm herself down with some hot cocoa.
As Emma exited the office building, and was greeted with cold breeze, which aided in soothing her indignation. As Emma made her way to her favorite coffee shop, she contemplated how she would find another job. She didn’t know anyone in New York, or where there were any job openings. Emma knew that she needed to find a job so that she could support herself and Henry, but for the time being she would need to have hope of finding a better place to work. After all, she had never really liked being an assistant.
As Emma entered the coffee shop, the warm scent of coffee surrounded her. It wasn’t as big as it looked on the outside. There were tables with books on them, and bookshelves stocked with various reading material. The place was relatively empty, seeing as most people would be at work. Emma walked up to the counter and rang the bell for service. After a few moments, with no response, Emma rang the bell a few more times. A few moments later, a man bursted out of the back of the shop, looking a bit surprised. His dark hair was disheveled as if he had just woken up.
He squinted his tired blue eyes and said, “Apologies, love, we usually don’t get many customers at this time of day.” He sounded a bit sleepy and dazed. “What can I get for you?”
“I’ll just have a hot cocoa, with cinnamon on top.” Emma replied. Before Emma could stop herself, she blurted out, “Were you sleeping, or something?” Emma felt her cheeks flush as she clapped her hand over her mouth.
His eyes widened for a split second before recovering his composure.“I may have drifted off during the mundane periods of my shift.” He seemed to find Emma’s inquiry amusing, and replied with one of his own. “Not many people come into a coffee shop at 10:15 on a Thursday.”
“Well, I just got fired, so I don’t really have much to do at the moment.” Emma replied bluntly. The barista raised his eyebrows in surprise, but said nothing. “And, it was my fault, too. I overslept, and then when I got to work my boss just fired me.” Emma didn’t quite understand why she was sharing so much of her pathetic life with a complete stranger, but she found comfort in confiding in him. He gave her a look of understanding as he handed her the cocoa.
As Emma drank her hot cocoa she and the barista chatted about life, and shared stories. They talked as if they had known each other for years, and found comfort in each other. Emma told him about her son, Henry, and how he was growing up so fast. As Emma drank the last of the cocoa, she realized that Henry would be out of school soon. Emma paid her bill, and as she gathered her things, she turned to the barista, and remarked, “Hey, I didn’t catch your name.”
“It’s Killian,” he replied, “Killian Jones.” He looked at her with an expression of curiosity and said, “And, I don’t believe you gave me your name either.”
Emma replied, and just as she was about to turn around, Killian said, “Before you go,” as he pulled a blueberry muffin from the dessert shelf, placing it in a bag, “give this to Henry.” With a smile, she took the bag and walked out.
When Emma and Henry arrived back at the apartment, Emma reached into the bag to retrieve the blueberry muffin Killian had given her, and found a scrap of paper. The paper had a phone number scribbled on it with the words call me written at the bottom in looping handwriting. Emma smiled to herself, as she placed the slip of paper in her coat pocket. Maybe today hadn’t been as bad as she thought it would be.
