insomnia [✔]

scene. iii

Madeleine had trouble falling asleep. A few days had passed since the incident that evening when she and her colleague had been threatened. In any case, no one talked about it anymore at work, so Madeleine had chosen to forget, too. However, even if during the day, none of these past events came back to her mind, once night fell, when she thought she could finally rest, nightmares arose. Terrible nightmares that agitated her and forced her to wake up in a panic, panting, haggard.

She didn't tell anyone about it, even if the tiredness showed on her face the next day, no matter how many smiles she wore. Samantha had even ended up asking her if you were all right, but since Madeleine assured her each time that there was no reason to worry, she didn't ask any more questions, so as not to rush her. Madeleine had even found a few excuses. She assured that the upstairs neighbor was doing work in his house, and that it was making a lot of noise. The young woman stated other reasons for this style, without being really alarming.

Be that as it may, Madeleine was well and truly determined to make sense of things! She wanted to invest herself as much as possible in her work, so she decided that she should in no case let personal concerns interfere with her professionalism. For example, during the midday rush, she performed top notch, so much so that other colleagues congratulated her while they themselves were out of breath. The rhythm was always very intense and difficult to follow during the rush, but Madeleine knew how to handle the pressure like a pro.

"Seriously, Madeleine... Tell me your secret to holding on after such a rush? I've been working here for a while, and I still have so much trouble when it happens! Maybe I should think about retiring!" Even though Samantha wore a sulky face, she still managed to joke and tease her colleague at the same time.

"Dunno!" Laughs Madeleine embarrassed "and then I too am starting to have back pain from standing behind the counter!"

"You're telling me...but you know what? I love my job. I really don't mean it! Even though there are days when I really want to strangle my boss." Samantha replied. clenching her fingers in the void as if she were really wrapping them around someone's neck.

"Strangle who?" asked the boss who was passing at the same time "Oh, girls! While I think about it, this Saturday there will be a special event at the cafe. I prefer to warn you, it may stir up a lot of people."

"Yes sir !" Samantha answered by giving a military salute as if it were an order given by a sergeant, even a colonel. Madeleine, who was right next to her, had to bite her lip to keep from bursting out laughing. The boss noticed nothing, but seemed satisfied.

"That's the right frame of mind! With that, good job, ladies! I still have to go and brief Jon and Eddie about the pecan cupcakes. It's urgent! I'm expecting them let them make enough to feed a whole regiment!"

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The day was officially over and the colleagues had taken the initiative to meet in order to have a drink together. Madeleine, who had initially refused the invitation on the pretext that she had things to settle, ended up giving in. Besides, she only half regretted this last decision because the atmosphere was rather warm, and we talked without worrying about anything. A kind of complicity had been created between her and her colleagues, without her realizing it, and she was beginning to find something reassuring in the little group they formed.

The dark-haired girl didn't talk much, sitting quietly with her glass filled with a translucent, flavored, and reasonably alcoholic liquid. On the other hand, the minds began to be disturbed, enkylosed by the music and intoxicated by this intimate atmosphere created by the subdued lights of the bar. Samantha was chatting with Jon, which didn't prevent her from slipping winks at the others, to signify that they could join the discussion whenever they wanted. For his part, Eddie, who tapped his foot to beat the beat of the music, seemed to be struggling not to dance.

"What's you waiting for? The dance floor is calling you! Go dance!" encouraged Madeleine and Eddie at first embarrassed to have been caught in the act, ends up smiling while encouraging the young woman to join him.

"I'm only going on the condition that you come with me," Eddie declared and understanding that he was speaking seriously, Madeleine tried to get out of the situation by joking, and then faced with the insistence of the blonde-haired man, she assured him that she could not dance.

"Don't see anything personal, but honestly better not. I can't dance. If I try it could end very badly." Said Madeleine who was only half joking because she really had no faith in her dance technique.

"Oh, come on. Please! No one is going to judge you. Besides, I'm showing you some steps. So you can act like you know how to dance. Come on, come on!" Eddie exclaimed, holding out his hand to Madeleine who ended up accepting with some apprehension.

The blonde boy and the young woman walked together to the dance floor. Madeleine's heart was beating fast, she already felt uneasy. But she wasn't one to give up so easily, so she took a chance anyway. The music that was passing was now quite slow with a regular rhythm. So Eddie started with small gestures, without overdoing it. He showed his dance partner that it was easy to match the tempo.

At first, Madeleine looked everywhere around her. She felt that the other costumers were judging her, although they were far too busy feasting. Only the bartender peeked in from time to time, but that was it. So, the dark-haired girl decided on her own to disregard what was around. Instead, she looked back at Eddie, who gave her a smile. They tried to synchronize during an improvised choreography.

The adrenaline was building at lightning speed, and Madeleine felt dizzy. She felt as if the music was beating through her skin, flowing through her veins like blood. And then, to close what looked like a spectacle, Eddie pushed her backwards while holding a hand under her back. It looked like a big Hollywood finale, and probably galvanized by it all, the blonde-haired man tried to kiss his dance partner languidly.

Madeleine, who thought it was a joke, began to laugh, and then she felt Eddie's hand hold her more tightly, as if to reduce the distance between them. The young woman then turned her face away before violently pushing away her colleague, who widened his eyes in surprise. They were now facing each other. Madeleine gasping and Eddie frowning. Neither of them knew what to say, so Madeleine was the first to emerge from the hesitation. She retrieved her bag from the table where her other colleagues were, who tried to hold her back without success.