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The café that Carmen worked at wasn't a typical restaurant. It mostly served different types of drinks ranging from Coffee, smoothies, tea, any other kinds of frozen drinks, etc. There were different stations for each barista and after you finished giving your order to the cashier at the front, you would be directed to a station where you can watch the barista assigned to you make your drinks from scratch. Carmen was one of the managers at the café, although it typically took about 5 years to become a manager at this specific shop, Carmen had been working here ever since she turned 15 and her high school allowed her to get a workers permit. Now, being 20 going on 21, she had plenty of experience up her sleeve in order to earn the position.

Today, Carmen was the only manager available to work. The cafe was not as busy given that it was now around 4 o'clock and the shops peak time usually ran between 6 am to 1 pm. After that, it was pretty slow. With her co-workers making drinks at their station, and customers sitting in the dining room, Carmen felt a calm in the air. Even with the music blasting through the speakers built into the walls, though it wasn't much of Carmens taste.

She was helping a customer pour their coffee and creamer into their cup when her co-worker approached her.

"Micheal should be coming in soon, are you going to stay to close?" Jane asked.

Carmen handed the coffee cup to the customer with a smile and turned to face Jane. Her brown eyes were staring back at Carmen and her box braids were pulled back into a ponytail, certain strands were mixed with a variety of colors.

Carmen shrugged and leaned against the cashier counter, folding her arms over her chest. "Maybe. Do you want me to?"

"If you don't have any plans with your mom then I don't mind."

"What makes you think I have plans with my mom?" Carmen tilted her head.

Janes mouth turned up into a smile. "She calls you almost everyday and asks you to come see her after you get off here."

Carmen inhaled deeply. That was mostly true. Stella, Carmens mother, did call her at least once a day. However, Carmen only went over to her moms house a few times a week. Most of the time Carmen had to reserve time to herself so she could focus on developing her tech. Stella suffered from severe Panic Disorder. There have been several occasions where her panic attacks have caused her to faint, be unable to leave the house for work, or even be hospitalized. She had a few at least once a month and has been struggling with this ever since Carmens father passed away. Truthfully, it causes Carmen great distress to see her mother in states like this. So she tried to meet with her mother as much as she could to reduce the chance of Stella having episodes, especially considering that her separation anxiety played a huge roll in the onset of attacks.

"She called me today but she's already at work so I'm not going there after I get off. I can stay and close," Carmen explained.

Jane nodded. "Sounds good to me. Hey, do you want to come running with me tomorrow morning? Neither of us have to come in until one."

Jane was probably the only person that Carmen could consider a friend. She was the only one who knew most of the details of Carmens life, aside from her involvement in the black market. Carmen lost contact with any of her friends from high school and Jane was the only one around Carmens age that worked in the shop, aside from the General Manager Micheal who was in his mid 40's. Of course, Carmen had other friends from the black market besides Carston, but they were always busy and she didn't think it would be safe for them to meet up and have coffee like Carmen could with Jane.

Carmen groaned. "I hate running."

"I hate it too, but it's good for me or whatever. Come on, please? You wouldn't make me run these dangerous streets of New York by myself would you?"

"Okay, Ms. Guilt trip." Carmen rolled her eyes and Jane laughed lightly. "Fine. I'll go, but you're not getting me out of bed before nine."

Jane proudly grinned. "I'll be at your apartment at nine-fifteen then."

Once a customer approached the counter, Carmen instantly turned to them to extend a warm greeting and Jane returned to her assigned station to make whatever drink they were to order.

The rest of the night had gone smoothly. By this time it was nearly 10:30, the café was closed and Carmen was now standing outside to lock the doors. Jane stood behind her, the two never locked up the cafe without making sure the other got to their cars safely. After all, this was New York City and there were bad people everywhere. Carmen turned to face Jane and smiled. "Get home safely, okay?"

Jane nodded. "You too."

Jane began walking towards her navy blue car on the opposite side of the parking lot and Carmen waited until she was inside and the car was started before she made her way to her own car parked in front of the doors.

The streets were relatively empty on this side of the city at this time of night. It made Carmens drive home easier even if her apartment was only a few city blocks away from the café. She got into her car and started the drive to her apartment. The tiny one bedroom apartment was on the third floor of the building. The elevator had been broken for days and the buildings landlord never managed to send anyone over to look at it so Carmen was constantly having to take the stairs. Her apartment was at the very end of the third floor hallway and to the right. She had just began kicking off her shoes as she made her way through the front door leading to the entry way. It resembled a studio apartment but Carmen never really needed much room. The living room was really just her TV pressed against the wall and a long beige couch more than a few feet in front of it. The kitchen was instantly to her right when she walked in the door. It had a tiny island located in the center and she didn't bother to get stools to put at the counter top. She rarely had guests other than her mother anyway.

Carmen was making her way to her bedroom when she caught a glance in the mirror located in the bathroom across the apartment given that the door was open, and she couldn't help but pause. She did this often whenever she saw herself in the mirror. It was reflex and she couldn't help it. Her wavy black hair fell gracefully around her shoulders, the color of it matched the iris of her eyes. They couldn't even be called a dark brown, they were a deep black. Her button nose was an interesting addition to her face with her full cheeks. She didn't dare be insecure about her face. Given that her face was a mere copy of someone else's, to be insecure of her own would be in an insult to them. Sometimes when Carmen passed her own reflection she thought she was seeing them stare back at her. In a way, she was. But it was the only thing she had left of them.

She shook her head, tearing her eyes from the mirror and opened the door to her bedroom, it was decently sized compared to the rest of the apartment, against the left wall was her queen sized bed and dresser. But to the right of Carmen was her most prized possessions.

On a long table, out of window view and typically not seen by anyone besides Carmens mother, were three large computer screens with glowing keyboards placed in from of them. The screens were currently glowing green as a matrix of numbers ran their way down every monitor. Beside the last computer on the left end was another attachment to the table where a metal stand stood that currently held a tiny, square, metal fragment with two letters carved into the center: CF.

Carmen removed the jacket that was draped around her shoulders and tossed it onto the bed beside the window, then walked over to the monitors. She pulled out the rolling chair and sat down before she began typing away at one of the glowing keyboards.