"I said I wanted non-fat milk in my coffee. I can clearly taste the fat. I need this re-made as soon as possible." 

With my fakest smile, I took the coffee from the customer. "Of course. My apologies. I'll have that right out for you." Even though her coffee was made right the first time, I started to remake it. I took a glance at the customer's name on the cup. Karen. Of course. 

I glanced at the clock on the wall and let out a long sigh. Ten more minutes until my break at The Pick Me Up Coffee Shop was over. I got this job a few days after we got back to the city. Serving coffee, bagels, and other pastries seemed like something I can handle. Of course, customers like Karen here always test my patience. Otherwise, I enjoyed it. I liked earning my own money and opening a savings account. I was only working part-time right now since I was in school and I didn't want to overwhelm myself. 

When I finally remade Karen's coffee, I walked back over to her and handed it to her with a smile. "Here you go. Non-fat."

Without another word, she turned and left. "You have a wonderful day," I mumbled under my breath. I was counting down the days until Sean and I were taking our mini-vacation. I still wasn't sure if I was regretting letting him pick the place, but right now I didn't care. I just wanted to not worry about school, work, or anything else. Just bliss.

"Lydia," my boss Joe called from his office, "go ahead and take your break. See you back in thirty minutes." 

"Thanks." I took off my apron and clocked out before walking outside of the shop and onto the busy streets of Manhattan. I walked across the street to the Jamba Juice to get my usual Aloha Pineapple smoothie. 

"Hey, Sam," I greeted the young blonde behind the counter. She couldn't be older than twenty and she and I have gotten used to seeing each other. Every break I would come here and order the same thing. It's become so consistent, Sam would usually have it ready for me. 

"Hey, Lydia!" She reached into the fridge and pulled it out for me. "Here you go." 

"Thank you," I replied as I reached for my wallet and pulled out some cash. 

"No, it's on me today. Thanks for the coffee yesterday." 

I smiled as I put a few dollars in the tip jar. "No problem, and thanks for this!" 

I took my smoothie and went to sit outside of my coffee shop. One other habit I did on my break was call my birth mother, Dr. Maria Sinclair. She was one of the best cardiothoracic surgeons in the country and worked at a hospital in Portland. I met her for the first time when Sean and I were doing our road trip. Of course, that was when I ended up getting kidnapped by people who were after Sean. 

After that horrific few days happened, we spoke on the phone regularly and I've made the trip out to Portland to visit her. So far it's been great. Turns out she had been trying to find me ever since I was born. Being seventeen at the time, her mother forced her to give me up to the care of my father and his wife. 

She still blamed herself for the traumatic childhood I endured and I kept telling her it wasn't her fault.

My cellphone vibrated in my pocket and I saw her name on the screen. With a smile, I pushed the answer button. "Hello?"

"Hey, Lydia. How's your day so far?" She asked. I could hear the sound of monitors beeping and doctors talking in the background.

"It's okay. Glad it's almost over. How's work?"

"Busy. I just finished a six hour surgery and my feet aren't happy about it."

I laughed into the phone. The more I got to know her, the more I noticed things that were similar between us. Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like if she had raised me. But then again, if she had, she may not be the talented surgeon she is today. The world needed a doctor like her.

She let out a long breath. "Do you have class tonight?"

"Yeah, religion. It's a late class so I have a little break after work." Thank God for that. It took me a little while to even get to campus when I left work. Since my class was at seven, I usually had an hour to shower and relax in my dorm. 

"Well, that's good." She hesitated before she continued. "I was thinking about flying out to New York to see you soon." 

I was drinking some of my smoothie through the straw and nearly choked at her question. "I'm sorry, what?" 

"Well, I've never been and I was thinking maybe you could show me around and we could spend some time together." 

For some reason, it felt different with her coming here. It made me nervous and I started getting that fight or flight feeling. I closed my eyes tight and thought about some of the things my therapist has told me. It was good to let people in and it was even good to feel like this sometimes. I needed to stop pushing people away. 

"Yeah." I cleared my throat. "I would like that." This was definitely out of my comfort zone, but I needed to be uncomfortable if I was going to continue and make some progress. 

"Great! I was thinking maybe during your spring break. Would that work?" 

Come on, Lydia. You can do this... "Let's do it." 

I walked out of my religion class and started towards my dorm room. Today's lecture was extra boring and I nearly fell asleep. I just wasn't one for lectures. I learned better hands on. Thankfully, I was passing all my classes. I only had another three semesters to complete my bachelor's degree. That was my goal right now. That was where my focus was. I was also trying to figure out how to get my art showcased and open a studio. That's what most of my savings was for. Under no circumstances was Sean buying me a studio. 

My phone binged and I saw a text from Sean. 

Sean: Hey baby. How was class?

I smiled as I typed my reply. Me: Good. Same old same old. I miss you. 

Sean: I miss you, too. Am I still meeting you for lunch tomorrow? 

Every Thursday he met me for lunch either at the cafe on campus or my dorm. It all depended on how much time we had and if Ellie was at home. If we had the dorm to ourselves, we usually took advantage of the privacy. 

Me: Yes. I think Ellie will be at her yoga class. 

Sean: Really? I'll remember that. I got a call coming in, beautiful. I'll talk to you later tonight. I love you. 

Me: Love you, too. 

I slid my phone in my pocket as I pulled out my keys and unlocked the door to my dorm. Ellie was standing in front of our floor to ceiling mirror putting on makeup when I came inside. "Hey,"" I said as I put my stuff down. 

"Hey! How was class?" How many more people were going to ask me that today? 

"Good. Where are you off to?" Even though were were very similar, she tended to me the social butterfly. 

"I have a date tonight." 

I sat on my bed, leaning back on my arms as I looked at her with a raised brow. "Please tell me its not a frat boy." After what happened a few nights ago at the Pheta Thi, she promised to swear off those parties, those boys, and alcohol for awhile. 

She laughed as she applied her lipstick. "No. He's a guy from my physics class. He asked me out a week ago but I wasn't to sure if I wanted to do it."

"What changed your mind?" I was curious since Ellie wasn't one to have her mind changed.

She walked over to her dresser and handed me a bag of Hershey's Kisses. "What's this?"

She pointed to the bag. "He gave me those when he asked me this time. He was so sweet. Literally."

I giggled and shook my head as I looked at the bag. "So, that's the trick? I offered you cold hard cash to go see that foreign movie with me and you still refused. Are you telling me this," I held up the bag of chocolates, "would have worked?"

She shrugged before grabbing the candy. "I guess so."

I let out a exasperated sigh. "Woman, you drive me crazy."

She put the last few touches of her makeup on before she grabbed her purse and started for the door.

"I'm coming straight home after. Maybe we can have some girl time and Netflix it up."

That sounded amazing to me. After the day I had, I could use a stress free night. "Yes, please. Anything."

She almost made it to the door before she turned around and grabbed an envelope from the table. "This came for you today."

"What is it?"

"No idea. FedEx brought it by. See you later."

When she left I opened the envelope and started reading the document. As I got to the bottom of the page, my heart sank. "What the fuck?"

According to this document, my old landlord had been trying to get in contact with me ever since I lost my apartment. I didn't have an address or phone so he wasn't able to mail it until now.

He was trying to charge me the remaining rent I had on my apartment for the six months left on my lease. The total was almost eight thousand dollars.