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“Go on then, Papa. Chloe’s waiting for you.”
“Listen to me for once. Okay?”
“I’ll do my best.”
With that, I hang up.
Finishing off the beer, I’m this close to getting another one. On the other hand…
Dom, unfortunately, has a point. So instead, I turn my phone on super fucking loud in case anyone calls, and I go to bed.
Early.
Chapter 33
Clara
Sliding my cash across the counter, I don’t bother smiling at the hotel clerk who’s ringing me up while paying more attention to the tiny TV he has under his counter.
“Okay, great. Um, you can have room thirteen. First floor, corner room.”
He slips a key, an actual metal key with a keychain, through the slot at the bottom of the plastic divider and gestures back at the door where I came in.
I’m not expecting much in the way of service for an eighty bucks a night hotel with available hourly rates, so I just take the key, sling my bag back over my shoulder, and leave.
Still, I’m a bit shocked by the state of the place. My phone had alluded to a typical Motel 6 or Red Roof Inn type of place, but this…it’s like a bomb went off.
Went off years ago and then mold grew over the remains.
I hurry to my room and sneak a quick glance back at my car to be sure it’s still parked where I left it.
The atmosphere of the neighborhood doesn’t bode well.
“It’s only for one night,” I murmur to myself as I open the room door with a hard shove. “Then you’ll go to Regina’s.”
That’s the plan, at least. I would have headed over right away, except…I wanted time alone. To think and wallow without someone trying to cheer me up.
I adore Regina, and I’m endlessly impressed by her ability to raise a child on her own—something that’s hitting me harder right now—but I’m not ready for solutions.
Sulking, that’s what I want right now. Just an evening of brooding that’ll allow me a minute to process.
Finally taking a look around the room while I set my duffle on the floor, I notice the yellowing paint, the rough, scratchy-looking carpet, the broken and then reinstalled lock on the door, and the several cigarette burns on the comforter.
“Awesome.”
I close the door behind me, doing my best to secure the lock.
I’m not really satisfied with the hold, so I stuff the one chair in the room in front of it, pushing one of the legs against the tiny dresser in some vain attempt at security.
It won’t do shit against someone trying hard to get in, but it’s better than nothing, I guess.
Besides, you paid with cash and drove in circles before you randomly picked this place. You’re okay.
Except, of course, I’m not. I’m real damn far from okay.
Shaking my head, I move away from pushing the chair into place at the door.
“First things first.”
