Faultline

Sarah awoke abruptly to lightning flashing outside her window. Looking at the clock, she saw that she had 15 minutes before her alarm would go off.

'Oh well. Early start, I guess.' She thought, heading to the bathroom to get ready for her day.

Glancing at herself in the mirror, she psyched herself up in preparation for the long day ahead of her.

'Alright, Sarah. Be confident. You've got this. Sure, you've got a horrible boss, but you can get through this.'

Having a light breakfast, she headed out.

Walking in the door of the coffee shop, she put on her apron, clocked in, set herself up at the register, and braced herself for her boss' daily mistreatment.

Whenever someone was early, he'd either compliment them or berate them for 'screwing up the schedule'. Her boss' name was Frank, and he was an asshole.

Hearing footsteps, she braced herself fot the scolding she may or may not recieve.

"Thanks for coming early." Frank said, lightening her mood slightly. "There's a mess I made in the back. Go and clean it up." Frank promptly ruined her mood.

"Alright. I'll go do that." She replied, hiding her irritation.

'At least it's not one of those unhinged rants that he's kind of prone to.' She thought, trying to stay positive.

'I hope that the rest of my shift goes like this.' she thought. 'Not the mess part. The amiable boss part.'

If her whole shift went this way, it'd be a rare good day.

When it was finally time for her lunch break, she ravenously tore apart a WcDonalds McBig McMac while she waited for Salem. Meeting the kid was always the highlight of her day. Salem was Callum's genius younger brother, but Callum wasn't one of those jealous older brother types. Callum supported and encouraged Salem to get his fourth and final degree. Callum loved Salem like life itself.

While she thought, Salem walked in the door towards her. His black hair was just long enough to partially cover his vibrant orange eyes. He was carrying about five textbooks, which after arriving at her table, he set down with a massive "THUMP".

"Wow, Salem. Today you get your fourth master's degree, and you're still studying?"

"Well, yeah. If I'm to keep acquiring knowledge, I can't stop now, can I?" He responded, smiling lightly.

Salem didn't order anything. He never did. He didn't really like eating with people. Salem came to her lunch breaks because he said he enjoyed talking to her.

After her half hour lunch break was over, they said their goodbyes and Salem departed. When he left, it never occured to Sarah that this would be the last time she saw him alive.