Morning Rush

It was already half past eight when Sun Mei woke up. She groaned with her eyes closed and rubbed her back, which felt kind of stiff for some reason. When she stretched out her hand, she touched the fabric of a shirt that definitely wasn't hers.

Sun Mei's eyes suddenly snapped open. Mr. Wu was lying on the couch next to her, his limbs awkwardly interwoven between hers. It took Sun Mei a couple of minutes to disentangle herself and pick up her phone from the coffee table.

When she saw the time, she immediately started poking Mr. Wu awake.

"Mr. Wu, get up! You need to go to work! It's almost nine!"

She was exaggerating a little, but people tended to do that when they were trying to wake someone up faster.

"What? What… happened? Where did I sleep?" Mr. Wu's voice was hoarse from sleep, his eyes were barely open, and his hair the messiest it had ever been.

"You fell asleep on the couch. We were watching a movie. Well, actually, the third movie…"

"Which movie?"

Mr. Wu seemed confused. He probably had not even heard what time it was, or he would have been less concerned about the movie and more concerned about being on time.

"The Green Mile. Amazing movie, but apparently too long when you are sleepy. What am I saying? You need to get going! You are usually already at work by now!"

Mr. Wu got up unsteadily. "Is Lily ready? I need to drop her off at school first."

"It's still Christmas vacation for her. You're the only one who needs to go."

"That doesn't seem fair," Mr. Wu said with a big yawn.

"Mr. Wu, it's almost nine!"

"What?" Mr. Wu almost jumped up in surprise. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"I've been trying to!"

"Oh no, I need to go!" He tried to move faster, but he bumped into the coffee table as a result.

"Ouch!"

Mr. Wu cursed all the way up to his room, where he changed quickly before coming back downstairs.

Sun Mei was waiting by the door with his briefcase. "Here you go, sir," she said quickly.

Although they were still in a hurry, she felt kind of embarrassed when she realized that she had almost fallen asleep on top of her boss.

"Thank you, Sun Mei," Mr. Wu said mechanically. "I'm off!"

"Have a nice day!"

When Sun Mei pushed the front door shut behind Mr. Wu, she felt an overwhelming sense of relief. At least, she didn't have to deal with this awkwardness now.

She walked slowly into the kitchen to make herself some breakfast, only to realize that someone was already there.

"Morning," Vivian said with a grin, causing Sun Mei to almost have a heart attack.

"What are you doing here?" Sun Mei exclaimed before putting a hand over her chest.

"I'm working. Unlike Mr. Wu, I didn't get a late start this morning…" Vivian's tone seemed to imply that she had walked in and seen the two of them in a mildly compromising, albeit innocent, position.

"You looked cozy on the couch," Vivian said with a smile, confirming Sun Mei's suspicions.

"This is going to be a great day…" Sun Mei thought to herself sarcastically.