So here is the fourth part to the story and look, it covers more than just one day *gasp* :O

I read over what I have now and I feel that the story is long winded, boring, and not going anywhere fast. The way I write these is I go to a Starbucks on my days off and sit down and write the next chapter off the top of my head. I think that shows in the writing and not in a good way because it lacks structure. I plan to sit down and make a real outline for the story and the chapters so I might go back and revise some of them.

Anyways, I will let you read what I have. I made a change to Taylor's major, it went from computer engineering to computer programming. The changes in chapter 1 went from:

If you asked me where I saw myself five years after graduating high school, I would have told you that I was going to have a successful career and living a nice life. I would have my bachelors in engineering, working for a high profiled firm, and traveling to different places for my job or living in a luxury condo. While I do have an engineering degree, it is in computer engineering and instead of living independently with a well paying job I am still living with my parents a year after graduating.  

to:

If you asked me where I saw myself five years after graduating high school, I would have told you that I was going to have a successful career and living a nice life. I would have my bachelors in computer programming, working for a high profiled tech company making software or developing videogames, and living in a luxury condo in the city or a large house in the suburbs. While I do have a degree in computer programming, I've slowly lost interest in programming and instead of living independently with a well paying job I am still living with my parents a year after graduating.

*PLEASE tell me what you think, whether it's boring, too long/short, not enough action/drama, or if there is something you dislike or whatever. You can do it anonymously at http://iwontbyte.tumblr.com/ask so be as honest and brutal as you want :D

Friday morning went by at a leisurely pass. I woke up around eleven, took a nice long shower to help relax my sore muscles, got in a nice grooming session, I even ate a healthy breakfast again. There isn’t even a list of chores waiting for me so I can lounge around all day watching TV, playing games, and working out the soreness that is covering my whole body. The sun was shining bright on such a peaceful day and everything seems right in the world. And I am losing my fucking mind! I’m so bored just sitting around doing nothing I want to kill myself. It’s funny, most people at work are probably complaining all day long about how nice it would be to just do nothing all day and be in my position. Yet, here I am complaining how boring it is to do nothing all day. If this is what retirement is like, I’m not sure if I am cut out for it.

Speaking of work, I called the boss asking for a status update on the restaurant. Luckily, she says we will be reopening in about a week and she will call later this week with more information. For once I am looking forward to going back to this job. It at least gives me something to do throughout the day. She is also happy to hear from me seeing as how more than half the wait staff quit, some even found other jobs according to her. How fortunate they are to be able to find jobs so easily.

After spending hours of doing nothing around the house I have to get out and do something before I lose my. A trip to the mall will be a welcomed distraction from how boring my life is so I jump in my car and head out. I wonder around the mall slowly just doing some casual window shopping, the effects of the workout is causing some stiffness. I do take the time to venture into the game and electronic stores to get a better look at things and skip over the clothing stores. My sense of fashion has never been great and I like to stick to the same look for the most part, pair of jeans, a graphic T-shirt (a yellow one this time), and a simple plain black jacket that I probably wear too often. Plus, the next time I go out with Charlotte I’m sure she will drag me into each one of the clothing stores so I can skip them this round.

I’m lazily walking along when I very familiar smell hits me. Even through the scents coming from the perfume store I just passed I can identify this one in a heartbeat, coffee. As I approach the familiar shop I have conflicting feelings about whether I should indulge myself or not. I have been going almost all day this week so why not, one more can’t hurt. I stop in front of a shop with an all too familiar sign. The smell of coffee and baked goods wafting out of the shop, blown out by the air conditioning as if it was intentionally designed to do so. Am I really that addicted that I have to fight to restrain myself? But I’ve already admitted I’m addicted so it’s alright to do this. And if I do it now then I won’t have a need to do it later. I’m about to walk into the coffee place with its alluring smell drawing me in when I hear a sudden gasp behind me.

“Taylor, you wouldn’t?” the astonished voice asks me. I freeze where I stand, looking like a puppy that got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. I turn around to apologize for a reason I can’t understand when I hear someone laughing. I turn around to see this furson holding her sides still laughing at me, bags on the floor and slightly bent over trying to calm herself. I stand there, a puzzled look on my face, as I try to figure out who she could be, she looks like an otter but I don’t know any otters that might know my name. Suddenly, something flashes through my mind, a quick blur of a memory that I can’t quite grasp. Don’t you just hate those moments when what you want to remember is on the tip of your tongue but always out of reach. What makes it worse is that she knows my name and I can’t quite place one to her, this happens a lot to me unfortunately. She looks at my confused face and has to restrain herself from busting into another fit of laughing. Now I’m starting to get annoyed, my ears flicking agitatedly and my tail tip quickly swishing back and forth. She looks up and sees that I’m not laughing with her and she almost looks disappointed to me.

“Aw, come on now. Don’t tell me you forgot who I am” she says with a bright smile at me and it hits me.

“Oh, you’re that girl from Starbucks.” Her name is floating on the fringes of my mind just out of grasp, “it’s… it’s… um, A- something, April, no, Autumn, no…  Amber” a happy wag escapes my tail as I finally remember her name, “You just look so different without the counter in front of you.” She giggles at that but she really does. She’s wearing a frilly green blouse that shows off her assets in the front, covered slightly by a small brown jacket and a long brown skirt with green and light brown patterns near the bottom. All this matches her dark amber fur and I wonder for a second if that is where she got her name from.

“What are you doing here?” the question escapes me out of habit when it’s obvious she has been shopping if the bags near her feet mean anything.

“Just enjoying the day off, I wanted to get some shopping done and found some really nice bargains that I couldn’t pass up.”

“Same” I say absentmindedly, I’m still staring at her amazed out how different she looks. Brown is not my favorite color but she manages to make it work really well, the green is a nice touch and the outfit doesn’t clash with her fur color. It has that really earthy tone to it.

“It looks to me like you were about to walk into another Starbucks. How could you?” she feigns heartbroken with a theatrical pose.

“No, it’s not what you think” I play along, “I was just passing by when the scent hit me. I wasn’t going to get anything I swear.” She turns and gives me the cold shoulder. I step closer to her and gently hold her by the shoulders and lean down to her ear and whisper, “You know I would never go anywhere else. So how about we go back to your place for…” I cut myself off realizing what I was saying and that we are in the middle of the mall. I’m awfully close to her; I can smell the faint scent of coffee still on her and a light flowery scent that is pleasing without being too strong.  She comes up to just below my muzzle making it easy to whisper in her ears and I’m touching her in an intimate manner. Instantly, I let go and step back blushing and looking at the ground to my side, ears splayed out of embarrassment. “I’m sorry, I got carried away” I offer as an apology.

“Hehe, don’t be. That was some good cheesy acting. You must watch a lot of porn.” She can’t help burst out laughing at the shocked expression on my face as I try to tell her it’s not true. It takes us a moment to compose ourselves before she speaks again, “So, if you aren’t busy today do you want to help me with the rest of my shopping?”

“Um, I don’t know, I don’t want to be a bother” I start to shy away, feeling like I have already stepped out of my comfort zone with her.

“Nonsense, shopping is always fun with more people.”

“I guess, if you don’t mind.”

She heads into every store I have avoided going into with me following along. The entire time she asks me for my opinion on things but I keep telling her I’m not the best at giving fashion advice. I tell her she looks good in everything she tries on, remembering my last mall outing with Charlotte, and for the most part everything she picks does look good on her. She gives me advice on how to pick colors, mix and match, and on what’s hot and what’s not. She even manages to get me to try on a few things. I do it just for her amusement but some of the outfits she picks out for me are not too shabby and I make a mental note to look at buying some of them when I get some money to spend.

This is probably out tenth trip around the mall before she seems satisfied. I somehow find myself holding her bags which seem to have doubled since I first bumped into, very reminiscent of the last time I did something like this. My sore muscles are grateful for the break after going through a mini workout.

“Thanks for the help, how about we go back to my place and relax. My Starbucks that is, I’ll get you a drink as thanks.”

FREE STARBUCKS! Yes, do it, do it, do it! “Oh, you don’t have to do that.”

“Come on, do you have other plans?”

I pull out my phone and see that no one has called or texted me which is not unusual but I was hoping someone would want to do something with me on a Friday night. Well she does so why not, “Nope, nothing it seems.”

“Great, I’ll meet you there.”

She grabs her bags from me and makes her way to her car as I sit and relax an extra minute before I get up and move to mine. I was in the mall longer than I realize, it’s dark out now and there’s only an hour left before Starbucks closes by the time I reach it. I get the usual greeting when I enter and notice there is only one other customer in here, a coyote diligently pouring over a book at one of the tables. I look around for Amber and don’t see her. I guess I beat her here even though she left before me. She probably had trouble with all those bags. I should have carried her them to her car. I feel bad at myself for not doing that when Brandon appears from behind the barista bar.

“Hey buddy, don’t look so down. I’m here, seems you came to see me after all.”

“Sorry, I was just looking for Amber. Is she here yet?”

His expression changes slightly, “Nope, like I said she doesn’t work today.”

“I know but I” I am cut short by her entrance.

“Hey Brandon, guess who I saw today. Hey you beat me here” she observes as she sees me talking to Brandon. She makes her way around the counter to the space restricted to employees only.

“You know most people avoid coming to work on their days off.”

“I know, I know. I was at the mall doing some shopping and I ran into Taylor. You’ll never guess what he was about to do.”

 “Don’t listen to her lies” I tell Brandon from my side of the counter.

“He was about to go to another Starbucks.”

“Uh, Blasphemy!” he turns and stars at me in mock disbelief.

“It’s a lie I tell you, a lie. I would never do such a thing.”

“Traitor! Traitor!”

I hear the coyote shuffle around in the corner and I clam up, feeling bad for disturbing his quite studying. The others get the hint but snicker from behind the counter. It’s only a moment later before Amber emerges on my side of the bar with a drink in each paw. She sets one in front of me and I take a sip of it savoring the sweet flavors.

“Caramel brulee, how’d you know?”

“It’s the only thing you get when you come here.”

“You’ve become a regular in here” Brandon says as he sets down some pound cakes in between Amber and I. I look at them and him with a bit of suspicion, I like free things but I don’t want to be a moocher. “Don’t worry, they are going to be thrown out anyways so we might as well feed ourselves instead of the trashcan” he says in between mouthfuls. If that’s the case, I see no sense in letting them go to waste and I grab one for myself.

“What do you do when you are not here or wandering around the mall?” Amber asks to make conversation. I explain to her my current job situation. Brandon keeps piping in with questions and Amber keeps giving him pointed looks like he should be busy doing something else other than talking to us. There isn’t much for him to do though, the coyote seems content over in the corner and no one else has come in since us. I change the subject by asking them about what it’s like to work in a Starbucks and that keeps them talking for a good while. They tell tales of unruly customers and gossip they here that I’m sure the furson they are about would not appreciate it being told, but it makes for interesting and funny conversation. A little beeper goes off from Brandon’s side that makes him stop midway between his story about a customer who planted a bug in his drink and tried blaming him for it.

“Sorry guys but I’ve got to kick you out. It’s closing time.”

I step off the stole and stretch my limbs and wag my tail.

“Hey, thanks for coming along with me around the mall, I had a lot of fun today” Amber says as she turns to me.

“I did too. It was great to get out of the house.”

“We should do this again sometimes.”

“Yeah” I don’t know what else to say and she is looking at me like she is expecting something more. “I’d like that.” We stand there for a bit and the silence is starting to get awkward, “I guess I better go, I don’t want to hold Brandon up. See you soon?” I ask hoping that satisfies her.

“Yeah, I’ll be here all weekend so you know where to find me if you want to drop by.”

“Alright” I say as I leave out the door and wave good bye to them. I guess Amber is staying to help Brandon close up since she isn’t leaving with me.

--------

 “No I haven’t forgotten…. I’m in the parking lot now…. I’ll see you there then.” I shove my phone as I head towards the game store in the mall. This game is the only big release to look forward to this time of year but it is not as popular as the blockbuster shooting games, yet Mike and Nick have probably been here since the store closed waiting for the game to come out. I spot the two black bears sitting at the front of a very small line in front of the closed store.

“It’s about time you got here” Nick says as he adjusts his thick black glasses on the bridge of his muzzle “we thought you weren’t going to show up.”

“Nick, it is two hours before midnight. I have plenty of time.”

“Plenty of time to make your way to the back on the line, any later and we wouldn’t be able to hold a spot for you up at the front with us.”

“You’re lucky to have friends like us” Mike chimes in, his deep gruff voice disguising how much of a geek he is on the inside.

“Yeah, yeah, move over and give me one of those energy drinks will yah.”

 Mike snuffles as I cut in line between them, “seems he’s actually been preparing for an all-nighter. How much coffee have you had?”

“Not as many energy drinks as you two have had.”

The rest of the time is spent talking about the game and different strategies and builds we want to make. We even get into a friendly geek argument with the horse and wolverine behind us. By the time the store starts preparing to open thirty minutes before midnight, to my surprise, the line has grown to about forty furs.

“Geez, I guess I do owe you guys a big thanks.”

“Told you” they both say in unison with smug grins on their muzzles.

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A ringing noise from the corner of my bedroom breaks my concentration and I tell the guys I’m playing with that I will BRB. I quickly grab my phone off of my bed and take a look at who is interrupting my game time.

“Hey Rick, what do you want?”

“WOW! I’m surprised you are up this early on a weekend.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It is 7 a.m. dude, so you ready to go hiking?”

“Huh?” is the only thing I can utter as I look around in confusion. There are beams of light trying to break through the blinds and one look at the corner of my computer screen tells me that Rick wasn’t lying about it being early in the morning. I must have been so pumped full of caffeine and so engrossed in the game that I lost track of time. Rick is going on about something but the realization that I didn’t get any sleep starts to hit me. “Um… sorry Rick, I’m not up so I can go hiking with you guys. I’ve been up with Mike and Nick playing that new game.”

“Aw come on, so does that mean you aren’t coming with us?”

“Not unless you plan on going at night, there is no way I can go without some sleep.”

“Fine, whatever” and the line went dead. He sounded a little upset but I really don’t think I could go hiking around the mountains right now, fatigue is hitting me harder than a mossy slime right now (and those things hit pretty hard).

When I get back to the game I tell the guys that I’m going to be going pretty soon because I’m tired, I finally crawl into bed a little before ten and fall asleep instantly.

The rest of the weekend goes by with me glued to the TV only leaving the mystical realm where I am an almighty mage to eat and use the bathroom. My mom pops in twice wondering why I’ve been such a shut in and I have to answer a series of questions before I can get her to leave. I can’t figure out if I am more exhausted from lack of sleep or from playing too much when I sign off early on Sunday. Mike and Nick begrudgingly stop playing so they can get enough sleep to face the real world tomorrow. They work as programmers for some high tech software firm. If it weren’t for the help from those two I might not have graduated with my degree. They tried to get me to join them at their company but I’m not as accomplished in programming as they are.

 One good think about being jobless is you can wake up anytime you want and I take full advantage of that to catch up on some much needed sleep. It is past noon by the time get out of bed, I’ve gotten so much sleep that I feel tired from sleeping too much. I decide a nice long shower would be a good idea to help wake me up. I follow that with an extra long brushing session that leaves me panting and thoroughly relaxed. A protest from my stomach leads me to the kitchen to get some much needed nourishment. Since I have the time I decide to cook some scrambled eggs, grits, and microwaved bacon for my breakfast, well I guess it is actually called lunch at this time of day. That meal really hits the spot after eating nothing but snacks and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for two days.

With the dishes done I turn to my chore for the day which is doing laundry, one of my least favorite tasks because you can’t do a half ass job without someone noticing. Going through all the loads takes up a good portion of the day and the sun is on its way down. No one has called or texted so with nothing else to look forward to I turn to my three best friends for the rest of the day: my TV, computer, and games who are always there for me.

--------

A loud ringing noise jars me out of my sleep and I toy with the idea of just letting it go, but even with my idle brain I tell myself it could be a potential employer and I’m force myself to reach out and grasp my phone. I have to shield my eyes from the bright screen and peek through my fingers to see who is calling. An all too familiar name appears and I groan at the sight.

“What?”

“Whoa mister grumpy pants, wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”

“No, it’s the fact that I’m even awake now.”

“It’s ten in the morning, you missed my first call. I was just giving you one more shot before I came over there to get you.”

“Get me for what?”

“You are not getting out of this. We already agreed on it, you are working out today. I’ll see you at one.”

He doesn’t even give me time to whine and complain before he hangs up. I lie still in bed, a lifeless lump and I seriously thinking about just sleeping in. Another late night gaming session left me crawling into bed around four. But something in me won’t let me stay in bed and I lazily get out of bed to make my way to the bathroom. Now that I’m out of the cozy comfort of my bed and I’m a little more awake I give up on the idea of skipping out on my workout.

I can’t stop a yawn from escaping as I walk in through the doors of the gym. Rick is at the smoothie bar waiting for me.

“Don’t tell me you went back to sleep, you look like you just woke up.”

“No, I got up after you called me. I just didn’t get that much sleep so I’m just tired. I don’t even think my tail is awake yet.”

“Oh, don’t worry we are about to fix that.”

I get the feeling that Rick is still mad at me for skipping out on going hiking with them because I feel like passing out by the time he says we are done. I’m on the floor in what is probably a pool of my own sweat, light headed, and panting. My arms and legs feel like jelly and I can’t even muster the energy to get up. Rick offers me a paw and I fling my arm in the arm up in the air hoping he catches it, one big heave latter and I’m wobbling over to the locker room.

“Not bad today” he says, a big shit eating grin across his face. “Let’s head into the sauna for a bit.” I can’t even argue with him, all he gets is an ear flick, and even that took some effort.

Just sitting down feels wonderful and the steam is helping me to relax. I start to rub the sore spots on my body, which seem to be everywhere, leaving my matted fur disheveled like when I wake up. Crawling back into bed sounds like an amazing idea right now and I close my eyes and lean back against the wall letting the steam wash over me like a blanket. Laughter from over Rick’s direction causes me to sit back up and I look over at him to see what’s so funny. I see he’s not alone though, a big tiger is sitting next to him, and something about the tiger is familiar. His matted down fur shows off his barrel chest and thick arms, you can see the muscles bulge when he lifts his arms to scratch under his armpit, the black strips seem to dance across the sea of orange fur as he moves. Below that is an expanse of snow white fur that covers his rather large belly and the rest is hidden by a large gym towel. My daze is broken by a sudden movement of a large white, black, and orange blur in front of my face and someone calling my name.

“Haha! He really seems to be out of it, what did you do to him?”

“Nothing too much, just pushed him a little past his limit for a really good workout.”

“Nice, I’m still sore from when I did that yesterday. I almost fell to the floor when I tried to get out of bed today.”

My ears flick in his direction from the laughter at his own embarrassing situation. That deep voice floats through my ears reminding me of Vincent’s. “Is that you Vincent?” I ask just to be sure.

“The one and only” he says, a huge smile that shows off his array of sharp teeth.

“How do you two know each other?” Rick asks.

“Starbucks” I tell him

“Figures, he likes the black crack as much as you do.”

The conversation quickly devolves to sports and I quickly lose interest and decide to go back to just relaxing in the steam. It’s only a couple of minutes before Rick decides it is time for us to leave. Whether it is from being so relaxed or still sore, I almost stumble into the back of Vincent as we. Thankfully I brace myself on the wall next to the door and exit without anyone noticing.

My sandwich doesn’t even make it to the table when Rick drops it down in front of me. I’m already trying to shove the whole foot long down my maw when Rick takes his seat. I listen to him lecture me about my sleeping habits and how important it is to get a good night’s sleep and be well rested. I just sit and listen, nodding my head in between gulps of water and mawful of food. He asks about my job situation and I tell him what my boss told me. I try and weasel my way out of more workouts using my job as an excuse but he has a solution to all of them, even offering to work out after the gym has closed, one of the perks of being an employee he tells me. I change the subject since I can’t think of anymore ways around it for now and we talk until Rick has to go back. I thought I was in the clear when he didn’t mention the next time he was planning on torturing me but just as I was about to drive away he turns around to wave goodbye and tells me I’ll see him Thursday at the same time then he quickly jogs back to the gym before I can protest.

Something about atmosphere is as inviting as home is and I feel completely at ease here even if there are a bunch of strangers all around me. My favorite seat in the house is taken so I dump my backpack at one of the empty tables near the windows for temporary seating, as soon as the hyena gets up though I’ll be there to take it. I see Brandon behind the bar and that bunny girl is manning the registrar, admittedly I have already forgotten her name.

My ears flick when I hear my drink being called and I get up to get it, my gaze not leaving the hyena as I observe him. He’s typing on his laptop with a book open resting on the armrest. I give a disappointed sigh; he’s probably going to be there for a while.

“We missed you this weekend.”

I turn my attention to the happy smiling lion talking to me, “yeah I didn’t really have much time to myself.”

“Romantic weekend with your girlfriend?”

“Naw, nothing like that, I don’t have one of those. It was that new videogame that came out.”

“I heard of it, Tree of Dawn I think.”

“Tree of Mana” I correct him.

“Yeah, that’s the one. A friend of mine said it was great and got good reviews, I was thinking of picking up a copy later this week when I get paid.”

“You should, it’s totally worth it and then we could play together, my group is always looking for new members to play with.”

A loud cough interrupts us before he can talk, the bunny girl looking at him a little upset. She repeats the order and hands him the cup now that she’s got his attention. I grab my drink and tell Brandon I’ll talk to him later and go back to my seat, not before I steal a glance at the corner to see if the hyena is still taking up my spot. He is and I return to my table and
pull out my iPad intending to wait him out. Luckily, he’s only there for another forty minutes and I quickly move to claim my throne before the horse grabbing her drink can get to it. Content and comfortable, so much so my tail is wagging, I pull out my laptop and start to do more productive activities. Checking through my email I’ve gotten a couple of potential employers that want to schedule a phone screening, more rejections, and even more spam. My productivity slow diminishes as I start bringing up different gaming blogs and other websites. By the time I get up to relieve myself and get a refill I’ve given up on applying to jobs.

The setting sun filtering through the pulled down blinds casts a dull glow on everything when I get a text message. It’s a simple one that only says “Get on” from Mike. They must be off work and want to play before it gets too late. I send a reply that I will meet them online once I get back and I start to pack my stuff up.

“Not leaving so soon are you?” a deep voice says followed by the heavy pat of something over my shoulder that causes me to jump, my ears to shoot up and the fur on my tail bristle.

“Whoa, sorry, didn’t mean to startle you” the guy behind me says.

I turn my head to see a large paw still resting on my shoulder and a large tiger happily smiling behind me, tail waving leisurely behind him.

“Oh, hi Vincent, you almost made me jump out of my fur.”

“Why don’t you sit down a bit and smooth down your fur before you head out?”

“I’m kind of in a hurry I have to meet someone in game.”

“I actually wanted to talk to you about a game, I need help with my character in MapleStory and I was hoping you could help me.”

“I’m not sure, I haven’t played that game since I got Tree of Mana.”

“You bought, how is it? I was thinking of getting it but I’m not sure yet. It seems so complicated and overwhelming.”

Maybe it was the coffee or the way he was looking at me, curious and smiling, or maybe it was because he was talking about the game but I found myself sitting back down and chatting with him. I started to convince him why he should get the game and why it’s so awesome. Somehow, he even got me to help him with his character in MapleStory and somewhere along the line I missed the second text from Mike asking if I was still going to get on. It wasn’t until Brandon interrupted our conversation with a loud cough that I realize it happened again. Looking around I see that we are the only two in the shop and they are waiting for us to leave, more so kicking us out, so they could close up shop.

“So why were you so late in getting on? We finished a mini dungeon without you” Nick’s green text scrolls across the chat box.

“I got stuck at Starbucks talking to someone. He going to be joining our group soon :D”