⁂ 𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝐶ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 #1 | 007 story

#001 | 𝑇𝑒𝑎 𝑐𝑢𝑝𝑠 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠

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♫︎        - You showed me a power that is strong enough to bring sun to the darkest days

            -   It's none of my business, but it's just been on my mind ☽︎

THE SOFT MUSICAL NOTES were overwhelming the air, along with the delicious smell of grilled toasts and butter. Layla's flat didn't reflect her salary at all. She preferred living in a little cheap dowm to earth place, far from the busy streets of London.
Her apartment included one room with a squeaky door that had been poorly made, a medium bathroom with not much to it- just the usual stuff : bathroom, shower, faucet; an averaged sized comfortable living room with large bookshelves, a tv, a large sofa and a small table in front of this last. And finally, the tiniest claustrophobic kitchen where you'd find yourself stuck between the fridge and the counter.

"You know everyone there, c'mon!" The manly voice of her close friend interrupted her task.
"Look, I just hate parties and socializing isn't on my strong points list." Layla answered as she made her way back to the living room with two hot tea cups and buttered toasts.
"I don't understand you." He chuckled softly, taking his cup from her while she sat next to him.
"Will, nobody does."
He hummed when he took his first sip, feeling the sweet boiling liquid make its way down his throat. "But I do know many things about you. Just still trying to understand how that clever brain of yours work."
She smiled to the little compliment and sighed, bitting into her warm toast. If someone else said the same thing, she would have surely ignored him but Will meant a lot to her. As she grew up in the arms of the agency, she spent her late twenties with him, just joking around and training. They were unseparable.

"What's the party about anyways? And why are you here instead of there?" She asked him, raising her eyebrow.
"You know I'm the kind of men who prefers a good cuppa' and toasts over alcohol and.. headaches." Layla snorted. Another reason she trusts him : they are nearly similar on their mindset level. "And it's something related to.. I dunno, their successful agents. The leadboard is already out."
She looked away, her eyes staring at the dark orange tea in her cup. Wait for it...
"And you're on it." He said, a little smirk building up on his lips.
"Well that's really good to know. But I'm not going." She said, determined.
"You really wanna get M pissed again? You remember what she did last year, don't you?"

Gosh she does. Layla was again on the leadboard, this time fifth! M called for her name three times and left her on the stage, awkwardly looking at the agents, smiling, waiting. Next day, Layla woke up in a holding cell and stayed there for 48 hours.
Of course she laughed in M's face just by imagining the scene.
M was like a.. mother figure to her yet she doesn't like to imagine them that close because in a way it's not only weird but she prefers to save what she heard about her mother in her mind, hooked on action and adventure stories the famous Ashlyn couple were famed by.

"Don't tell me you didn't laugh! But again, she did raise me and blah blah blah, it was rude not showing up." Layla shook her head, rolling her eyes. Her hands were wrapped around her hot cup, keeping her skin warm.
"E-xactly. You really need to work on your behaviour with people." Will checked his silver-grey watch, putting his half-full cup down. "I better get going."
"You got something to do? Or.. someone?" She teased, watching him with her malicious brown eyes stand up.
"Very.. very funny, young woman. But no, I gotta meet up with Daniel. Said he wanted me to try his new gadget."
"Let's just hope you won't get burnt again." They both busted out laughing, re-imagining that one pen which produced fire. Will ended up burning his shirt and his hand.
"Promise I won't burn myself!" He gave her a thumb up and opened the door. "Don't get in trouble with M. I'll see you tomorrow."
"See ya Will."

And once the door was closed, the music stopped, the place becoming silent like if ghosts were leading a quiet party. Layla stood up, took the cups to the kitchen and gave the wall clock a glance.

- 8 : 56 pm

"Guess I'm spending the rest of my night alone." She spoke to herself, smiling. She didn't hate being alone. In fact, she loves to concentrate on her own thoughts and feelings rather than communicating with other people. She kind of blame M for that due to the extreme training and hard lessons miss Boss taught her from a young age.
Humming a soft melody, Layla turned off the lights of the living room and went inside her bedroom. Each night that room was the stage for her dreams or nightmares. It was just tidy enough to show that she cared about the space and just messy enough to show that she was able to let her creativity roam free. It was her safe zone, perfect for how she was.
She picked a few drawings of her own design off the floor and jumped on her bed, sighting deeply like if some weight was on her shoulders the whole time. Falling asleep was one of the best parts of the day, there either in or on the cozy blankets, snug and safe, letting the world of dreams come to her in its dancing way.

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