All Four Of Me

Chapter 8

KENZIE

Sometimes when I wake up in the morning I can just tell that it is going to be a bad day. There are never any warning signs, but every now and then I will wake up and the world will have it out for me. Every possible thing that could go wrong will and there is nothing I can do to stop it.

Opening my eyes this morning, I can tell that it is going to be one of those days.

To start off with I only got two hours of sleep last night. A factor that would usually make me grumpy on any normal day without much of a challenge. My sleep had been plagued by a series of terrifying nightmares, some so realistic that I could almost swear the pain that had been inflicted upon me in the dreams had been real. After finally jolting awake as a result of a particularly revolting dream scenario, I had been too petrified to fall back asleep, resulting in me staying up the rest of the night, starring aimlessly at the white painted ceiling.

Not even breakfast time, which is usually filled with friendly chatter between the men, holds the same cheery feel to it. If anything, the moment I walk into the kitchen area it is surrounded by chaos. Will is stressed out about some major court case he has today and is rushing around the kitchen like a headless chicken trying to fix himself a coffee before he has to leave for work.

Nathan has already left for the day, having informed us yesterday that he would be travelling a couple of hours away from the city to meet a potential client. His absence from the room means that there are no jokes or funny little stories to lighten the atmosphere, so instead the room remains tense.

Chris is rifling around under the sink trying to fix a leak in one of the pipes, the sound of his muffled grumbling can be heard every few minutes as the water continues to leak out of the cupboard, creating a giant puddle on the tiled floor.

"This day is cursed." I mutter, rubbing the palms of my hands against my eyes to try and relieve some of the tiredness I am feeling. I am also sort of hoping that when I open my eyes again the kitchen will be as it usually is when I come down for breakfast of a morning.

"No it's not, kiddo. We are just having a rough morning, everything is going to be fine as soon as we all get into our normal daily routine." James tries to reassure me while shoving a stack of loose papers into his leather briefcase.

No sooner has he finished speaking there is a loud crash in the kitchen followed by a shout of pain and a string of swear words coming from both Chris and Will. Looking over to the source of the noise, we are shocked to find Will leaning against the kitchen bench, his once crisp white shirt drenched with his own coffee. Looking over to the sink where Chris had previously been under the cupboard, he is now next to the bench holding his hands against his forehead with his face scrunched up in obvious pain.

"Are you alright?" James rushes into the kitchen to make sure that no-one is seriously injured.

"Yeah, I slipped on the tiles and spilt my coffee on the both of us. I'm pretty sure he hit his head underneath the bench when it burnt his legs." Will says, shaking the excess liquid from his hands before looking down at Chris. "I'm sorry man."

"It's all good. I think we should call a plumber though before we have any further accidents. The pipe is busted beyond repair and the duct tape I put on it is only just holding." Chris says, standing up from the floor as if he hadn't just smacked his head a few seconds earlier.

"That's fine, I'm going to go get changed before I leave, I can't afford to be late meeting my client this morning." Will excuses himself before rushing out of the kitchen to change his sodden clothes.

"Oh, can one of you please drive Kenzie to school this morning as well?" Will calls out, halfway between the kitchen and the staircase.

"I'll do it." James calls back, shaking his head at the sound of Will's retreating footsteps and the muffled "thank you" that is shouted back.