Perfect Match

Perfect Match (1)

Light was filtering through the curtains when she opened her eyes, casting unsymmetrical shapes onto the furniture and the floor. She stretched, reaching toward the end of her bed with her toes, and then stood up. After dragging a brush through her hair, she ventured out of her room and down the hallway toward the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth and attempted to tame her hair slightly. There was someone else in the kitchen when she walked in, and he turned to smile at her, a spatula in his hand. He ran his fingers through his short brown hair before he spoke.

“Morning, Cari. Did you sleep well?”

“Morning, Nick. Yes, I did. Why do you ask?”

“You’re up late, that’s all. You’re normally the first of us to get out of bed.”

She shrugged. “I was working on a design last night and it took me a little longer than I was hoping it would, so I had a bit of a lie-in.”

“Is it a good one?” he asked, turning back to the stove.

“We’ll see,” she said. “I have to send it to the company so that they can get it to the author in question to see if she’ll approve it, but I think it suits the book well. If it doesn’t, I’ve got another idea in the works, but I’m not the biggest fan of that one. It’s not as eye-catching.”

He nodded. “Do you want breakfast? Molly only woke up ten minutes before you did and I’m making pancakes for her. It won’t be a problem if I add a few more to the stack.”

“That would be awesome, thanks,” Cari said.

“Anytime,” he said.

She sat down on one of the stools that sat in the corner of the kitchen. For all that their apartment was a three-bedroom, the kitchen was small and there wasn’t enough space for an island or a breakfast table. Instead, they had two stools settled in front of the window to allow for some socialization while they were cooking. She tapped her fingers against the window sill as Nick moved around the kitchen. As the smell of cooking pancakes filled the room, they were joined by a third inhabitant of the apartment.

“Good morning, Cari.”

Cari smiled slightly at the brown-haired girl who had entered the room. “Morning, Molly.”

Molly smiled back, her blue eyes crinkling. She moved to kiss Nick quickly, and then sat down on the other stool beside Cari. “You never sleep in this late.”

“Like I was telling Nick, I was working on a design and got a bit carried away with how late I was working,” Cari said. “It was an accident, honestly. The design is just looking really good and I wanted to finish it before I went to bed and lost my inspiration.”

“You’re so good at designing those things,” Molly said, “I don’t know why you work at the bookstore. You could spend all of your time designing book covers and still have plenty of money.”

“I like the bookstore,” Cari said, shrugging. “It’s quiet, I don’t have to do much except sit at the cash register or talk to Delia, and it gives me time to think about my cover designs. I can imagine what they’d look like on the shelves of the store and it helps me to decide whether or not they would be good enough to catch the attention of a customer.”

Molly opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, someone had picked her up and crushed her in a hug. They then did the same to Cari, who laughed and hugged back.

“You’re awfully enthusiastic this morning, Scott,” she said, reaching up to ruffle his blonde hair.

“Someone has to be,” he said. “You’ve got work later, right?”