I jog down the hall toward the elevator that I’d seen Ella walking to. Downstairs, I don’t see her in the lobby and I guess it was wishful thinking that I would. I go outside and her car is still there. I breathe a little easier knowing she hasn’t completely left.

Ella is somewhere, probably waiting on me to come talk to her. I check my phone, but of course she hasn’t sent any messages. I turn back around and wander through the hotel’s pool area, weight room, and library. She’s not here.

I step back outside and look around, trying to picture what Ella would do if she were standing here herself. Across the street is a shopping center. I follow my instincts and jog over there. There’s a movie theater, a few restaurants, a book shop, and some random stores.

I walk along the sidewalk, glancing into the windows of each store as I pass, hoping I’ll glimpse her in one of them. I make it all the way down to the end and don’t see her at all. That leaves only one place.

I turn around and stare up at the largest building in the parking lot. There are people coming and going. Kids holding their mother’s hand. Couples on a date. Older people enjoying their retirement. Everywhere I look I see the citizens of De Sota just living their lives.

They don’t have to worry about the hurricane that’s currently ravaging the coast. They’re not scrambling to get their families somewhere safer because they’re already safe right where they are. It’s so surreal to be standing here, intruding on another town’s everyday life when my own life has gone to hell. I’m currently sharing a hotel room with my family, my ex, and a strange lady with a huge dog. I’ve spent the last two days stuck in traffic and combating with no cell phone signal. Yet everyone here is just fine. Their lives aren’t interrupted at all.

I walk toward the movie theater, finally realizing where Ella would have gone when she left the hotel. Everything in her life has been turned upside down as well.

She probably just wanted something normal.