Chapter 2 Two

MILLICENT sat up in her chair and hit snooze on her alarm clock again. She yawned loudly, bringing her head back to the desk. A relieved sigh escaped her lips as she lulled herself back to sleep.

Just a few more minutes, she thought. She would get ready for work.

With a start, she bolted upright and looked at the clock. She was late! She rushed into the bathroom with speed rivalling that of lightning and prepared herself for work.

Once she was dressed, she went over to her desk and grabbed the project papers, arranging them into her bag. She pushed her feet into her pumps and proceeded to run out the door and into the street. It was a miracle that she was able to run in her heels without falling.

She smoothed down her hair with one hand while putting on her coat with the other. A file fell from her bag and she bent to pick it up, running for the bus stop.a

As she neared her local coffee shop, she thought about stopping to get herself a cup of the black liquid but she thought against it. She was running late. She would have to find how to survive at work.

As she ran past the shop, Fred- the barista- called her and asked her to wait. He dropped the garbage bag he was holding and hurried back into the store. He came out with a cup that had the name MILLIE scrawled on it.

"It's your usual. It's been waiting, sitting warm in the microwave, for you." He smiled, handing it to her.

Millie could have cried if she wasn't running out of time. "Thank you so much!" she cried, backing away, "I'll pay on my way back."

"Don't bother, it's on the house!" the barista yelled after her, hoping she heard him.

Millie made it just in time before the bus pulled out of the bus stop. She saw an empty seat and took it, exhaling. The day was proving to be lucky. She caught the bus, got free coffee and it was the 1000th day with Theodore.

They would see a show tonight. She had already bought the tickets. Then, they would have dinner together. She stared out the window and smiled, watching the familiar environs pass by.

When the bus slowed at a red light, she couldn't help the smile that brightened her face. As the bus neared her stop, she arranged herself and walked to the door, waiting.

The bus pulled over and Millie hurried out, and walking towards the head office. She paused to look up at the eighteen-storey building where she worked, it's glass walls reflecting the rays from the morning sun. The words FOREST SKINCARE sat in front of the building; bold, beautiful, dark green letters. It brought a smile to her face. She loved working here.

Millie went through the revolving doors along with the other employees. As she made her way in the direction of the elevator, she noticed people staring at her. She looked down at her shoes and noticed, with relief, that they were the same pair. Her clothes were neatly ironed, and she had been careful with the cup of coffee.

Her third thought wandered to her hair. She didn't have time to run a brush through it but, that couldn't be the reason. Her hair always looked this way, naturally messy and in a ponytail. It was her normal look, nothing new.

She just decided that she couldn't possibly know what people were thinking so, she shrugged as she swiped her company ID card on the scanner, the waist high glass door opening. She walked through the check point and into the open elevator.

Millie said a hearty good morning to its occupants and they returned it half-heartedly. She didn't mind, nothing was going to soil her mood today. She was going to send in her project to the CEO and she was going to spend her 1000th day with Theodore, surprise included. She even got free coffee!

This day couldn't possibly get any better.

She got out on the 11th floor and walked to the office she shared with four other colleagues. She ignored the stares from the people in the hallway, although it started to bother her.

"Good morning!" she greeted, cheerfully, throwing one of her hands in the air as she walked in.

Her team leader, Margaret Lee, was the only one in the office. "Good morning, Millie." she smiled, "you're in a good mood."

Millie smiled, pushing her glasses up her nose, and walked over to her cubicle. It was the second one from Margaret Lee, a pentagon arrangement of five cubicles. She set her things down and sorted through her bag.

"I finished the project last night," she fished out the folder and handed it to Margaret, "I had a new idea for the body scrub, making most of it natural, at least by eighty-nine percent."

Margaret nodded, flipping through. She closed. "This looks good. Take it over to-"

"Mrs. Lee!" One of Millie's colleague, Bethany Paige, called as she barrelled into the office. "You won't believe what I just saw about Millie!" And then, she noticed Millicent. "Oh, hi, Millie." she waved sheepishly.

"What did you find out?" Millie chuckled, going to meet her. "That I eat my cereal after it's gone soggy?"

Bethany held the phone to her chest and shook her head. "It's nothing, really. You don't need to know."

"Now, I want to." Millie said, glancing behind Bethany. She was some employees staring through the glass walls at them and they scrambled, returning about their business, when she looked their way. "Just show me."

"It's really stupid," she started, reluctantly giving her the phone. "It's not anyone's business."

The world seemed to slow down and speed up as Millie started down at the pictures in Bethany's phone. Blood rushed in her ear and every other sound around her faded away. She felt like she was going to pass out.