Chapter 3 Late as usual

BEEP! BEEP!

RING!

Her alarm was beeping repeatedly and her phone as well–she had a call.

But sleepy, lazy Kimberly still lay there snoring heavily on her bed. And she was close to falling down from the bed. Her leg was already on the floor.

Then she fell with a resounding thud that slapped Kimberly back to life.

"Argh!" She screamed in pain. "Oh my God!" She shrieked as her back throbbed painfully. Tiredly, she got up and glanced around. She was fully awake and the impact had drained all the sleep from her head.

She finally heard her alarm which had been beeping for hours now. She turned it off and glanced quickly at the time. It was 10:45!

Kimberly's eyes widened. She had set her alarm to 8:00 and in her setting, she has to turn it off or it'll keep beeping till the battery dies.

Even her phone was filled with messages, missed calls and notifications.

Well, no time to waste, she needs to go to work.

And how many times has her boss complained of her lateness? She can't recall as it was endless. And even the loudest alarm cannot fix her sleeping problem.

"Maybe I should be falling down so I can wake up earlier," Kimberly mused as she made her bed. Then, she went ahead to pick a vase that fell down...

Then,

What the hell Kim? Get ready for work!

Kimberly rushed to the bathroom and in five minutes flat, she was done. She had carefully made sure to wash off all the soap off her hair pertaining to the fact that her co workers laughed at her cause she had soap in her hair once.

She was done with her preparations in no time and sighed, looking at her room. It's super messy and she's itching to clean it.

But work is More important.

Rushing outside with her bag hung limply on her shoulder, she tripped and fell down. She hit her arm as she landed. "aah!" She shrieked, hurt.

How pathetic. This was unbelievable. Was it necessary to fall? Jeez. She hastened to get up, dusting herself and her eyes raking her body for any signs of dirt or injury.

Luckily her cloth was devoid of it. This time, she walked steadily.

Her phone rang in her bag but she ignored it. She didn't even make an attempt to check the time. She already knew, unerringly, that she was late. Hopefully Mr Stewie will pardon her as usual.

But again, he'll tell her to do something about it and she'll end up not doing it and disappointing him.

Kimberly waited for a while before she could find a taxi. There was a lady in it holding a cute, sick–looking cat.

Her enemies

Cats hate her and she's also afraid of them. She doesn't have to provoke them to be attacked. It's like all cats are born to attack her. They seem to know instinctively that she's an enemy. She wondered if she looked like a mouse to them. At least the cat's caged, so that feline isn't gonna mess with her.

"Michi Park," Kimberly said absently to the driver, her eyes were glued to the cat.

As she got in, she shuddered as she looked at the cat's malevolent eyes. It seemed to be saying to her, "if I had the opportunity, I'd kill you"

Kimberly waved at the lady. She looked Kimberly's age or younger.

"OMG!" The lady screamed heartily. Then covered her mouth to prevent further outburst." Oh my, he's back" she exclaimed quietly this time.

"Who?" Kimberly asked automatically. It must be someone very special and famous to make her this excited.

"Ace Sanchez!"

Kimberly's heart fluttered and doubled it's rapid pace. She bit her lips and covered her mouth to forestall any scream which was imminent.

Ace was her favorite superstar. She's never missed any of his concerts. He traveled for a year now he's back. Every lady is passionate about him, Including Kim.

She hurriedly turned on her phone and gazed at it. Surprisingly his news was what she found in her phone. She also saw some of Sam's missed calls and"you're late" messages from her.

Kimberly frowned slightly and switched off her phone. She laid back in her seat, closing her eyes smiling. "He's back. That's so amazing, " she muttered.

"Do you know the famous CEO of the San company is his cousin? I've been crushing on Nate Sanders since day 1 and now I know he's related, am so thrilled...!" The lady, Gigi, said effusively.

Kimberly snapped her head and looked at the lady with disbelief. Gigi was now scrolling through her phone blushing and Kim felt like she's been struck, hardly.

Nate is related? That darned CEO!

"There's nothing perfect about Nate," Kimberly found herself saying truculently.

The lady merely looked at her as she was deeply engrossed in her phone.

Kimberly seethed with despair. Why Nate? Really? Aw C'mon! She had just dealt with him last night and managed to sleep although haunted by dreams of him and now he's related to her favorite superstar!

Suddenly, the cat meowed viciously at Kimberly who shifted almost immediately. "Sorry, that's Tracey for you..."Gigi laughed and finally she alighted with her crazy cat.

Kimberly waved. Finally she paid attention to her surroundings and was surprised to see the driver stop at Michi Park.

"Wait a sec, this isn't where I wanted." Kimberly was confused.

"Ma'am you said Michi Park," the driver answered.

"I said avenue! Michi avenue!"

"It was park!" The driver pointed out confidently.

Kimberly bit her lips angrily. Seriously? "Well please take me there– I'll pay double," she asked sweetly trying to simmer down a bit.

The driver studied her with disapproval before driving away.

She wasn't planning on paying double. Jeez. Her phone beeped and she checked, only to see Nate's picture with Ace Sanchez."This is all your fault!" She blamed him, switching off her phone.

They're related. Damn!

***

"Again, Kimberly?"

Her boss's stringent voice made her feel queasy. She stared at her decorative glitter boots.

"Alright. You know what to do–Double delivery. I'll pardon you this time"

Kimberly nodded, at least that's better than being fired. Way better.

"At least try to get up early, Kim. It's not good for you," Mr Stewie chided, a bit concerned.

"Yes sir, I will,"-then quietly,-"try" Kimberly assured as she picked her bag wearing her face Cap.

Burger Beach uniform was a blue and white polo and black trousers or skirt with black boots.

Glancing through the window, she saw a black car drive in. The car was familiar and just as she tried to recall it, she heard..

"Kimberly! Let's go!"