Bethany sat on the bed staring into space. She had not been out of the room since two days ago unless it was to go get food from the broken down vend machine in the motel lobby. She blinked and focused when the sound of a vacuum drifted through the paper thin walls indicating that housekeeping was now on duty.

It had been three weeks since she had checked into the motel which meant three weeks since she's been getting turned down for every job she had applied for. The money in her account had ran out and she had now resorted to selling anything from the storage space that she had rented in order to pay for storage rent, motel cost and food.

It was the end of the world.

She forced herself to get up from the bed and walk to the bathroom where she took a few minutes to stand staring blankly into the mirror at a reflection she hardly recognized. There are days the tiredness comes in both forms, physical and mental. Her body needed to rest yet her mind needed her body to move, to burn the anxiety right out.

Bethany sighed and slumped against the bathroom counter. Tired eyes stared back at her set on a pale face that once was rosy and healthy, now looked hollow and pale. She quickly looked away and reached for the tap and splashed her face with cold water. She brushed her teeth and stripped out of her musty clothes and stepped into the shower. The water pours down, it drips by her side, as her mind faded into dullness and everything is a foggy illusion. The sensation of the steamy water calms her; it takes her mind of things for just a while.

As the warm water hit her skin she closed her eyes and tried to picture herself on vacation in the Caribbean and the warm water that ran down her skin was really the warm ocean. Her temporary daydreaming was broken by the ringing of her cell phone. She quickly turned the shower off and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around herself as she rushed to get the phone.

"Hello!" She listened as the woman on the other line informed her that she was calling to remind her about her interview that was scheduled to be in the next half an hour. Sure enough she looked at her phone and saw that she indeed had a voicemail. "I'll be there thank you"

She tossed her phone on the bed and quickly changed into a dress suit that she had left laid out from the last interview she had. She quickly ran a comb through her hair and pulled it into a not so neat bun, grabbed her phone and tossed it into her purse as she ran out the door.

She hurried down the hall her footsteps quieted by the swirled designed carpet as her feet thumped on the floor. She pushed the side door open and immediately the cool winter air hit her face like a thousand needles piercing her skin all at once. Her eyes immediately teared up at the unpleasant feeling. A woman on a mission she didn't slow down, she ran through the motel parking lot as she hurried to get across the street to the bus stop.

She got to a traffic light and hit the crossing button and waited for her signal to cross. As the signal changed she moved to get across the street occasionally glancing at the cars that stopped at the red light. Oh how she missed the leisure of driving her own vehicle. A vehicle that had been repossessed a month before she got kicked out of her house.

She glanced nervously at her watch and saw that she had twenty minutes to get to her interview. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the bus. Another three minutes and she would have exploded with nervousness but luckily for her the bus came. She sat at a window seat and stared out the window as the bus drove back into traffic.

Citizen high to citizen low.

No matter how she tried to not remember the day her life changed her mind had a mind of its own.

"What are you doing in my house? Why are there moving vans outside with my things? Why is my house empty!?" Bethany asked as she dumped her recent shopping bags at her feet.

"I'm sorry miss Thomas. We tried to avoid this but you've been ignoring all attempts to contact you. The house is now city property according to your grandfather's will since you and Mr. Sanchez have decided to not adhere to the clause stipulated by your grandfathers" the man in a suit replied

"You're kicking me out? Right now? What about giving me time to find somewhere!?" She demanded

"Ma'am we've given you more than two years. That's far more than we were suppose to. I've been ordered to move you out today" he told her looking anywhere but her face.

"You can't do this! Please don't do this!" She begged

She hated begging but if it meant not being put out on the streets she would do anything.

"I'm sorry ma'am but I don't have a choice. Here are the keys to two storage unit we've rented on your behalf. You can store your things there while you search for somewhere to stay"

She grabbed the keys from his outstretched hands and stood glaring at him.

"What happens to my house now?" She asked

"Its will be cleaned and renovated and put on the market to be sold ma'am."

"I can't believe this! I sue all of you! You won't get away with this!" She warned

"The wills are legal documents that will hold up in court ma'am. I'm afraid there's nothing you can do. I do have another appointment so I'm going to have to ask you to leave now" the man told her

Bethany huffed and bent down to grab her shopping bags as she marched out of the house. She watched as a man added outside bolts to the large wooden doors before putting on a large padlock.

Her life was officially over. She turned to see neighbors standing by watching and whispering so with her head hung low she turn and did her walk of shame to one of the waiting moving vans.

With nowhere to go she pulled out her phone and started calling her friends, one by one they all made an excuse for why they couldn't give her a place to stay. One had the nerve to tell her that her dog was allergic to poor people before promptly hanging up on her. Her last resort was her mother. A woman that had walked out on her when she was seven years old leaving her grandparents to raise her.

She wasn't surprised at all when she mother told her she heard about her unfortunate situation but she was out of town on a family vacation so she was unable to help. News surely traveled fast in her circle because soon instead of answering, her calls had started going to voicemail.

She nibbled at her bottom lip as the time went by. The bus seem to be stopping at every bus stop they came across. When she looked at her watch she saw that she had only seven minutes left to make it to her interview. Feeling too anxious to remain seated she got up and made her way to the front of the moving bus. When the driver stopped at a traffic light she glared at him.

"You could have totally made that light!" She snapped

"Safety first ma'am" he replied with a careless shrug

"Can you let me out? I'll make a run for it" she said

"Suit yourself" the driver said as he pulled on the lever to open the door.

She quickly ran down the steps and didn't hesitate. She ran across the street just as the light changed to free. Horns blared at her as she picked up her speed. She kept running until she got to the reception desk. The woman gave her an unimpressed once over.

"The interviews are over ma'am. You're late by three minutes. The boss left after seeing the last applicant"

Bethany felt her heart fall to the pit of her stomach and lay there. Despite her efforts she was still too late. She turned and walked out of the building feeling defeated. She found the nearest bus stop and was thankful she didn't have to wait long for the bus. The doors opened to reveal the same driver from before.

"Still didn't make it huh?" He asked

"No" she replied

She sat blankly the whole ride back to the motel. She didn't even realize she had gotten back to the motel. Thankfully the driver remembered where he had picked her up.

"Hey! You there!"

She turned to see the front desk manager rushing towards hers.

"Good you're finally back. We need you to hurry and get your things out of the room so the guest can go in"

"What?" She asked confused

"You didn't book the room for another night and someone else booked it, we need your stuff out of there now" the man said then he turned to walk away

"Wait I can pay you see" she said pulling out some crumpled bills from her bag

"It's too late for that lady, the room has already been rented"

Bethany watched as the man walked away. She felt her chin tremble like a young child on the verge of tears. Once again she was too late.

With tear clouded eyes she walked around the room picking up her items and packed them away in her small feminine Calvin Klein pulley. She made her way back into the cold with no idea where to go next or what to do. She dragged her small luggage down the street, shivering against the cold wind that whipped mercilessly at any exposed skin it could find. She walked until she felt numb, walked until she could go anymore. When she spotted a small restaurant up ahead she made for it.

When she got inside she felt like crying in relief when she felt the heat radiating around the room. She slipped into a nearby booth and quickly ordered a warm beverage when a waitress came by. She wasted no time bringing to hot tea to her lips as soon as it was placed before her. She closed her eyes and relished the warm sensation she felt as the liquid slid down her throat. She emptied the cup in no time and then sat thinking of her next plan.

The restaurant door swung open and Bethany glanced up as a man in a cowboy hat walked in.

I didn't know cowboys visited this side of town.

She watched as he removed his hat and looked around and immediately her eyes widened in recognition. She knew him! Just as quickly a plan came to her that someone had to be desperate enough to go through with. So of course here she found herself laying low on the bed of the back of a red farm pickup truck as it drove her away from the town she once knew as home but had quickly become nothing but a nightmare.

Hey guys! So thanks for sticking around for book 2 it means a lot to have all your support. Remember to please leave me some comments and votes as you read along.