Danica awoke in the early morning. She had enough time to run and still get all of her morning routine done but that was part of her morning routine. Rather than do any semblance of exercise she took her time, puttered around. She was not a morning person by any stretch of the word. If she could bypass morning altogether she would be happy. Still, the alarm rang on her phone. It was plugged into the wall and on her mattress next to her head. Usually it wasn’t on her bed, it was on her nightstand but she had been texting late the night before and fell asleep with it next to her head. Her finger swiped to turn the alarm off and her hands went to her eyes.

She rubbed them a few times before she let out a groan, pulling the covers back and sitting up. Her hair unruly and the sleep clung to her lashes. She pushed herself off her bed and headed for flounders tank in the living room close to the TV and plants. She talked idly to him as she made him his breakfast and put it in his tank. Bare feet padding across her floor to the kitchen she hit the on button for her keurig, getting a cup down, adding the sugar to the copper travel mug and filling up the reusable k-cup with coffee grounds. She got the creamer from the fridge and set it on the counter. When the blue lights flashed on the machine she put the pod in the containment chamber, then stuck her travel mug under the nozzle, closing the top handle and hitting the largest cup setting.

She turned back around and went to her bedroom and to her bathroom. She took off her clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor. Reaching into the shower she turned the water to the perfect temperature and stepped in. Her morning shower routine consisted of her eyes being closed, getting lost in the water and an internal struggle to stop standing under the water and to actually wash her hair. Shampoo and conditioner were applied to her hair and rinsed. She shaved and cleaned herself off with body wash before turning off the water and stepping out of the shower.

Walking back into her bedroom she went to her closet where she grabbed her uniform along with socks, underwear and a bra. She changed and rather than worry about her hair she towel dried it as best as she could. Her hair was never something she paid much attention to; she actually liked it better when it wasn’t styled. She embraced her curls and frizz a long time ago. Her makeup routine was not even close to basic. She went back to the bathroom to brush her teeth, wash her face and apply moisturizer. The most she did for makeup at work was filled in her eyebrows with an extremely light hand and some lip stain of a lipstick. Her entire routine if rushed and put together rather than spaced out and given ample time to complete could be finished in under thirty minutes.

She knew how to be a girl, when the time was right. Work was work, she was a marine biologist. She didn’t have to deal with the mass society that came into the aquarium. She looked after the animals, studied, ared for, performed medical, ran tests, and so on. She doubted the dolphins would judge her. She was comfortable in her own skin to feel pretty without makeup. If she was going out, on a date or trying to impress she might try and put more makeup on.

She grabbed her messenger bag that was on the closet floor and left her room. She went to the counter and took her travel mug, twisting the lid on. She turned off the machine and took the pod out of the machine. She opened a lower cupboard under the sink and grabbed a small, plastic container. She emptied the used coffee grounds inside before replacing the lid and returning it to it’s spot under the sink. She closed the cupboard and put the pod into the dishwasher. She didn’t turn it on, but rather closed it and left it alone. She went to the door and put on her shoes, grabbed her black pea coat and her aviator sunglasses. Leaving she locked up and left her condo.

The commute was mundane, so were her mornings really. She opted out of driving her car to work and chose to walk and take the metro in tandem. She walked through the back of the building, going straight for her locker, not seeing her familiar face that she normally did. She put her bag in the locker along with her coat and sunglasses. She pocketed her phone and took her travel mug with her before locking up her locked and clocking in. Her mornings were always busy, usually her whole day was but there was no morning break for her she opted out of it in order to get more work done. Her phone went off. A text meassage. Meet me by the shark tank in fifteen. She stared down at the screen, her heart skipping beats; beyond happy to see whom it was from. A smile always came to her lips when it came to him.

She loved him unlike anything she ever had before. She loved him when she was young; as much as a young naïve girl who had yet to see the world could possibly love someone. She never stopped loving him, even when life gave them the biggest curve ball; her love was lost, in the tornado that was her thoughts. It was still there but it wasn’t felt; it seemed like it would never return. Being older and without him being hers she had a lot of time to realize that it had always been there it just had to go into hiding. Even now, as she called him her best friend she loved him with a fierce loyalty.