AllFreeNovel
Share Us
If someone grabs me, there won’t be any witnesses.
Footsteps crunch in the gravel behind me. It might just be my overactive imagination, but I don’t bother to look as I fumble with the key.
Something brushes my arm and I scream, whirling around with my fists up to fend off what has to be an attack.
“Whoa!”
A woman watches me like I’m a wild animal that got too close to the bars of the zoo. In her arms is a pile of snacks that looks substantially lighter than when I last saw it.
My hands sink down to my sides as the realization slowly filters that she isn’t going to kill me. “Um...hi.”
“I couldn’t stop Rhonda from eating your cheese puffs, but I managed to salvage the rest.” Her gaze lingers on my face and the shell-shocked expression that I’m probably wearing. “My name is Tiffany, by the way.”
“Thanks, sorry.” I awkwardly take the bags of snacks. My sister’s name falls off my tongue before I can think about it. “I’m Olivia.”
“Was Creepy Chris giving you a hard time?”
I raise my eyebrows. “Creepy Chris?”
Tiffany jerks her head in the direction of the lobby. “The asshole who works as the night clerk. He likes to jack up the room rates when he smells desperation.”
“Power always corrupts weak men. It’s a shame society keeps giving it to them.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” she says with a shrug, like financial exploitation is just the way of the world. “The girls try to look out for each other around here. You’ll learn the ropes, eventually.”
My face heats from embarrassment. I open my mouth and then close it again, unsure of how to respond. There really isn’t a good way to insist that you’re not a sex worker without offending the sex worker who thinks that you’re in the same profession.
“Thanks,” I say lamely.
Awkward silence falls for a moment, and then Tiffany seems to come to a sudden decision.
“Looks like it’s been a long night. A couple of us are hanging out in my room with a bottle of vodka. Nothing crazy, we’re just going to relax a little.” She nods at the pile of snacks in my arms. “Those would be a welcome addition if you’re feeling social.”
I know I should say no, that I have no business hanging out with strangers when there might be a hitman after me. The smart choice would be to go back inside my empty motel room and barricade the door.
The hotel room door shuts and I pocket the key. “Let’s go.”
* * *
Tiffany’s casual hangout includes four other women in varying stages of drunkenness. Her room is slightly larger than mine, but not by much. Two women lounge on the bed near the window, nodding in greeting as I step inside the room. Another stands at the dresser as she fills a cup with ice from a plastic bucket.
A woman that I can only assume is Rhonda rushes up when I step through the door and plucks a bag of chips from my hand.
“Girl, how did you know I was starving?”
Tiffany rolls her eyes as she shuts the door behind us. “Because you’re always hungry, Rhonda.”
The other woman’s response is lost around a mouthful of chips, but it sounds something like: “Oh, shut up.”
“That’s Rhonda, obviously. Chantel and Brittany are over there in the corner,” Tiffany says as she moves past where I’m still awkwardly standing by the door. “And Maria better not to be using the last of the damn ice to make that vodka cranberry.”
A pretty Hispanic woman standing by the dresser stops mid-pour to cast us a sheepish expression. “I’ll get more.”
“Yeah, you will.” Rhonda says as she grabs another bag of chips off the table before turning to me. “Only one machine works, and it’s all the way on the other side of the complex.”
Tiffany sits down on the edge of the bed. “I was just going to take a break, but I think I’m done for the night. It’s totally dead out there. Allie hasn’t moved from her spot in over an hour. I’m having one more drink and going to bed.”
“Alcohol is poison.” Rhonda tells me. “But things get slow in the winter, and you got to pass the time somehow.”
