Chapter 1: Day one

A/N I'll try and update regularly but here is the first chapter of As Time Slows Down, a catradora fic brought to you by yours truly

Adora speed-walked through the bustling sidewalks and heavy traffic of early morning New York. Everyone was trying to get to work, the blonde included. Today was her first day on the job and she was not about to be late. As she strode swiftly through the endless roads and around equally rushed citizens, Adora couldn't help but take in the sounds and smells around her. Yes, it was mixed with the cigarette smoke and stench of garbage from dumpsters but she could still make out the luscious smells of bacon, waffles, coffee, pancakes, and other morning food being served at the different restaurants she shoved past. She could also hear laughter and bits of phone conversations over the din of the occasional honking horn or shouting from one angry person or another. It was almost calming, even as stressed as she was to get to work on time, to know that there were other people out there just trying to get through life - much like her.

She finally arrived at her new job, a modest coffee shop sporting a catchy name. Bagel's Breakfast was popular with the locals but didn't attract many tourists due to its obscurity and location. It was right on the Brooklyn side of the line between it and Queens. Not that its area had no tourist attractions, in fact, there were many. But none too close by as to be within walking distance, which, in New York, is a big deal.

Adora jerked the door open and cringed at the loud, frantic jingling of the bell this caused. Glimmer, her quirky - if slightly bossy - manager popped her head out from the kitchen to see who it was. Seeing her new employee, the woman hurried over to drag Adora into the kitchen to complete her morning duties. She sighed as Glimmer proceeded to go back over the mechanics of the several coffee machines and point out where the cleaning supplies are kept. The manager is nothing if not thorough and a part of the blonde can appreciate that. It shows dedication. It is seven forty-five and the shop opens at eight o'clock, so all last-minute tasks are to be completed within the next five minutes so that they can get a head start on making the regulars' coffee and setting out the pastries made even earlier that morning by the chefs.

It was Adora's job to wipe down the counter and the tables to ensure they are clean before grinding the first set of coffee beans. Bow, her co-worker, helped her in the latter task because the coffee bean grinder, like many other machines, has its own little oddities that need to be worked through before you can get the hang of it. This one was just generally displeased in its daily roll and single mundane task.

limmer said she would handle the first customer of the day because he is mute and she wanted Adora to see how they communicate since he tries something new every day. The girl thought it ridiculous that they would be doing anything short of learning sign-language but that's just her. When the man came in at exactly eight, Glimmer greeted him cheerily and waited patiently as he made his way over, a pleasant smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. Adora took notice of how elderly he was and estimated him to be about seventy years of age. The room was silent as the man stared up at the blackboard with the menu written on it in multicolored chalk. Finally, he seemed to come to a decision and held Glimmer's gaze for a moment before he began nodding. He nodded five times, very slowly and purposefully. Glimmer immediately claps her hands together and told the man what a good choice he made, ringing up his order on the cash register. "An iced caramel with no whipped cream!" The girl shouted to the back and Adora rushed to the kitchen to watch Bow prepare the drink with ease. Once he was finished, he handed it to her and the blonde carried it out to Glimmer and the man. He already paid so that as soon as he had his drink in hand, he was walking out the door.

"What was the nodding?" Adora asked curiously.

"Each nod represented a number on the board so if he nodded three times he wanted number three, if he nodded six times he wanted number six."

"How did you know he wanted no whipped cream?"

p"Experience," Glimmer said with a smirk.

Just then, someone else entered the establishment. Another regular by the looks of it as she swiftly tossed the amount she always paid and tapped impatiently with her foot for Glimmer to quickly grab the drink as Adora put the money into the register. She looked to be in her early thirties or late twenties. Glimmer had the drink in the woman's hand in a flash and both she and Adora smiled and told the woman to have a good day. She grunted in response as she practically jogged out the door in her high heels. Hopefully, the other costumers would be as pleasant as the first and nowhere near similar in manner to the second.

Sadly, it seemed the universe had other plans seeing as the day went on Adora had to personally deal with assholes who never got tired of rubbing her the wrong way. She was so glad when the end of her shift finally came and she trudged - annoyed, tired, and happy to be out of the shop - down the street at two o'clock. She worked six hours per day five days a week, alternating from the first shift and the second. As she went over the day in her head, Adora was forced to admit that this was not a job that she was going to come naturally at. It was so damn different than her previous one as a street dancer. It was less of a job as it was a group project she did with friends and fellow dancers - but it paid and they won plenty of prize money whenever they chose to enter themselves in many competitions. They were good - really good - but like most good things in Adora's life, it all went to hell.

She was going to be more careful this time around to watch her step and not cross the wrong people; she is smarter and stronger and she is going to prove that to everyone who would doubt her.

Her apartment building is only twelve blocks away from the coffee shop and the streets, although not empty, are clearer than before. It should take her roughly fifteen minutes to reach her destination if she didn't stop. Adora let herself slow down and take her time looking around. It was a beautiful day and the sun shone down on the busy city. It reminded her distantly of that day. The day it all went wrong. The sun was beating down on them just like this and the people were just as busy as they passed them by.

It was six months ago now but Adora's heart still broke every time she thought about it. She opened herself up and her heart got smashed - lesson learned.

Adora arrived at her apartment building and made her way up the outside stairs to the third floor, her apartment was the fifth door on the left and she pulled her keys out of her pocket slowly, exhaustion making her limbs feel heavy. She turned the key in the lock and pushed her door open, staring into the dark entryway with the air of someone who was both eager to enter and so very reluctant. She shuffled in and flipped on the light, shutting the door behind her.

Her living room was plain, not much by the way of decor or personalization. She had some magazines in a neat pile on one corner of the coffee table and there were a few movies in their cases on the entertainment center alongside her TV and rarely used PS4. A couple of shoes were strewn about the floor and Adora carefully avoided them as she went to the kitchen for a glass of water. When she opened the cabinet she ignored the mugs that had been gifted to Adora by them and went straight for the clear, glass tumblers lining the upper shelf. Once she had one in hand, the blonde held the cup steadily below her sink faucet and turned the water on. It rushed out in a constant stream, filling her glass with each passing second.

She turned the water off and took a sip, the water was cold and she felt it go down her hot throat and fill her mostly empty stomach. She hadn't had lunch and the girl suspected she should probably eat a little something before she collapsed on her couch and watched some romcom trending on Netflix. Adora rummaged through her pantry - or what served as her pantry - and came out with a family size bag of Doritos. She set the bag on the small counter next to her stove then grabbed a plate to pour a healthy portion of the decidedly unhealthy snack onto. She popped one in her mouth before closing the bag of chips, grabbing her plate and glass of water, chewing noisily as she shuffled to her couch.

The remote was sitting on the arm of the couch and Adora set her food on the table before settling back into the corner and picking up the remote to switch the television on. She mindlessly flipped to Netflix and sifted through her recommended before she found a harmless enough movie to get her mind off of things. As it played Adora ate and drank her water, settling further and further into the soft fabric of her couch. Soon enough she drifted off, dreaming of impolite consumers and dancing in the sun.

She woke up at about seven, groggily turning off her TV and stretching out where she lay. Her back popped and Adora sighed in relief at the sensation. As she stood, something caught her eye; the very reason why she had felt even an ounce of hesitation at entering her home. It was a picture of the blonde and her ex, Double Trouble, holding hands outside the dance studio their group met at. The sassy nonbinary stole Adora's heart in college then proceeded to break it when Adora asked them for their hand in marriage. It was foolish, impulsive even; but the barista had never expected her best friend and partner to flat out say no and break up with her. Especially not in front of the hundreds who were watching.

Adora stormed with angry tears stinging her eyes over to the picture, slamming the frame face-down.

New job, new beginnings - no more old love.