coffee | s. reid [discontinued]

01 | eggs and bacon

COFFEE

01 | eggs and bacon

Madlyn pressed the button on the coffee machine, nothing happening. "What?" she asked herself, pressing everything she could. She leaned over the back, looking to check if it was on and plugged in. "I don't get it," she whined, continuing to press the buttons.

Hot water poured from the machine, but no coffee. Madlyn gasped as it overflowed from the cup, mumbling "No" repeatedly. She grabbed a few paper towels, continuing to utter as water spilled everywhere. She placed them on the water, making a noise of pain each time she touched the boiling water.

Madlyn swapped the cup for another one, knocking the pile of the single-use cups over. "No!" she exclaimed, trying to catch them as they rolled off the counter.

     "Madlyn."

     She spun around to face Aaron Hotchner, water continuing to pour onto the floor as she held a number of cups in her arms. "The machine wouldn't start so I started pressing all the buttons and then the water started and then it wouldn't stop no matter how many times I pressed stop and now there's a mess and water everywhere and all-"

     "Okay, okay, okay!" Hotch exclaimed, his way of telling her to stop. Madlyn shut her mouth as she looked at him. "Can you manage to clean this up without making it worse?"

"Yes," Madlyn assured. She waited for Hotch and the recruited team behind him, nervously smiling at them and waiting for them to have passed her before moving. As she did, she slipped on the water and landed in it. "Shoot," she uttered, standing up and moving away from the water.

     She shrugged off her suit jacket, tying it around her waist to hide the wetness on her trousers. She exhaled as she continued to dab at the water with the paper towels. She looked at the water as it continued to pour out. As she continuously swapped the cups under the machine, she looked around for anything the could help her and rest her eyes on an empty bowl. She swapped the cup one last time and grabbed the bowl.

Madlyn placed the bowl under the running stream of water as it began to gradually slow, giving her the opportunity to dry to counter and floor with the paper towels.

     "Maddie, you okay?" Elle asked, looking at her.

     "Yeah, I'm okay!" she answered, turning to face Elle. "Sort of. The coffee machine messed up and there's water everywhere and I fell in it and there's a mess everywhere and nothings going right today and-"

     "Woah, woah, slow down, okay? Take a deep breath." Madlyn nodded slowly, doing what Elle said as she inhaled through her nose. "I'll go get a towel, okay?" Madlyn nodded as Elle walked away. She continued to take deep breaths as she picked up the soaked papers and began to throw them all away.