Who: Abigail Chevalier and OPEN When: Monday, 8 December, late afternoon Where: Pyreal and Pero Bookstore Rating: G-PG, just to be safe Summary: Abigail's on her way home from the University on an unusually chilly, rainy day.
Abigail stood in front of the glass doors of the university, staring out hopelessly at the steady torrent of rain that poured from the sky. She then looked down at her shoes -- gray suede heels that would never stay dry in this weather. Abigail suddenly remembered she had left her only pair of running shoes in her small square of an office and turned back around to change, but halfway down the hallway she realized that last Thursday she had taken them home and, she remembered with a groan, placed them next to her black rain boots. Sighing, Abby pushed open the doors and stepped into the chilly rain.
It had not been the best of days for Abigail. First, it was a Monday. She normally didn't mind Mondays, finding she was rather ready to get back to studying by the end of the weekend, but she had been up most of the night before, suffering a nasty bout of insomnia that not even a glass of wine could cure. After falling into a fitful sleep for four hours, she awoke to her obnoxious alarm and the sound of Benedict, her cat, coughing up a hairball the size of China right on her comforter. The hot water had been turned off for the morning for maintenance, she was out of coffee, and she was running late. And that was all before Abby left the apartment.
The brunette was only half-way home and soaked to the bone. A trench coat didn't do much to stop the permeation of cold rain. She nearly ran into someone coming out of a door to her right. "Watch it," the other woman barked as she nearly dropped the package she was carrying. Abigail mumbled an apology and looked up, seeing a familiar sign: Pyreal & Pero. Oh, what she wouldn't do for a nice cup of tea. And why not? She deserved it. Pushing open the door brought a tingle of bells and enveloped Abby in the warm smell of coffee and books. After ordering her tea from Willie ("You look a right sight, dear -- hopefully you don't meet any handsome gentlemen in here today!"), Abigail took a seat at her favorite table near the window, happy that at least one thing went right today.