Unexpected

2. Chocolate Muffin

Beep... Beep... Beep... With a burst of energy, I launched out of bed, pouncing on the beeping alarm clock. I hated it with a passion. It woke me up in the middle of the best dreams, with the most infernal noise I could imagine. Unfortunately, I still needed it to wake up on time for work. I groaned, the adrenaline rush gone, and stumbled to my coffee maker. I would need a whole lot of caffeine today. I had not slept well, and was not ready in the least. As it began to brew, I went back through the hallway of my three-room apartment to my bedroom, to prepare.

After staring through the outfits, I finally grabbed two outfits. First, a white tank top with black leggings and an oversized hoodie. Then, I grabbed a pair of jean shorts, a tight blue spaghetti strap halter top with an open back, and a pair of sandals. I slipped into the first outfit, and placed the second outfit in my bag. After pulling my hair back into a bun, I grabbed my coffee, and slipped into my sneakers, before heading out the door.

I sipped it slowly as I walked down the 2976 steps. Finally, upon reaching the street, I took a sharp left through a back alley, arriving right behind a warm bakery. It was a shortcut I had learned early on, after deciding to work there. I slipped my key into the slot, unlocking the back door. After closing the door silently behind me, I slipped my bag onto a hook in the staff only room, and set to baking. Baking was one of my favorite past times. When my mother had been alive, she had taught me how to bake. It was one of the only things I had still retained after she was gone.

Because I had the morning shift, no one was there. It was just me, my music, my baked goods and my memories, filling the back of the bakery with a nostalgic air. I quickly prepared a batch of muffins. They were the most popular confection of the bakery, and we rarely had any left at the end of the day, when the shop was closed. I quickly threw in a bag of chocolate chips and put the pan in the warm oven. While they baked, I leaned against the counter. Memories came, quickly overloading my senses.

Chocolate chip muffins had always been my mom's favorite. She prepared them the night before, and always left one out for me every first day of school. It became a tradition. I hadn't had one in ten years, never wanting one after the day she died. Despite her working all day at the hospital, I still knew she loved me through the small reminders she left. A muffin before school, a small note in my lunch box. We had been close in our own way, but now she was gone. I lived alone now.

My father has always been out of the picture. Even before he left two years ago, he was never involved. Rarely at home, and never present when he was, I had learned to fend for myself early on. Sometimes, I had to fend for him too. Mom's death struck him hard, and he never recovered. One day, he woke up, decided he'd had enough, and left.

A bell ringing shook me out of my reverie, and I pulled the muffins out of the oven, before heading to the front desk. A lone figure stood there, cloaked in a black coat, and shrouded in shadows before the sun rose in the background.

"Welcome to Sweet Treats Bakery! What can I get you today?" I smiled cheerily at the figure. He removed his hood, and I recognized him as a student who went to my school. It was the boy who sat behind me. I still didn't know his name.

"What do you have?" He asked gruffly.

"Today, we have lemon poppy seed muffins, strawberry banana muffins, chocolate muffins, croissants, chocolate croissants, iced donuts, glazed donuts, jelly donuts, chocolate donuts, nutella-filled donuts, bagels, sesame seed bagels, poppy seed bagels..."

"I'll have a chocolate muffin."

"Good choice! Just baked them this morning!" I quickly grabbed one and placed it in a paper bag, along with a napkin.

"I didn't know you worked here." He spoke.

"Not many do. I'd like to keep it that way if you don't mind. Anything else I can get you?"