the mercy of those seats, if I hadn’t thought ahead at the dealership. After checking my mirrors more times than necessary, I pulled out from my spot into traffic. In the rearview mirror I caught sight of Gabby, tears were covering her face. Instincts told me to whip the car around and comfort my very best friend, but if I had, I’d have never left.
Serenity Cove, was located in Southern Maine, along the coast, in New England territory; the trip averaged around six hours. I needed the time to wrap my head around what was happening and mentally prepare myself for whatever was going to come my way. When I’d left all those years ago after my High School graduation I wasn’t leaving anything behind that I was going to miss. Audrey was an absentee mother, my father Kole walked out when I was a child, and my Grandma was more concerned with the Inn than me. With the exception of my phenomenal Grandfather, my family was nothing but a letdown in my life.
Of course I had friends, but even by the end of my stay in that godforsaken place, I’d learned much more about those so-called ‘friends.’ My life had been nothing but a big slap in the face. When I’d had the opportunity to make my future better—I had jumped head first into the unknown. Best decision ever. I never regretted my move to New York City. It hadn’t taken long for the hustle of the city to become a preference for me.
My eager and willing attitude landed me a job right away as a go-to girl. The pay was bad and the hours were worse, but it was exhilarating. Sooner than I could have hoped I caught a spot at an up-and-coming magazine as a receptionist. That is where I met Gabriella and together we’d moved up the ladder, making the magazine a phenomenon. Well, it still had a ways to go, but someday, I just knew I’d see it in stores everywhere. My boss and creator of the magazine, Erik Wright, just about died when I told him I needed to leave. He’d tried everything he could think of to coerce me into staying, stopping shy of handcuffing me to my desk and throwing away the key. Though, I had a feeling the thought crossed his mind, on several occasions. However, I had confidence in their success and told him—repeatedly—I wouldn’t be leaving if I didn’t.
I reached over to my glove compartment and fumbled around until I found my new pack of cigarettes. Unfortunately, I was a stress smoker and chances were by the time I made it home, this pack would be gone. A flame shot up from my lighter and charred the end of my cancer-stick. Even on the first deep inhale I felt my tensed body begin to relax, if only a little.
Truth be told, as anxious as I was about crossing the Maine state line, the trip was coming at a perfect time. A little over a month ago, I’d walked in on my boyfriend of almost a year. He’d been engaged in a threesome with a couple of fake bimbos. From that moment on, I’d been finished with his sorry ass, and even more so when I found out that throughout the duration of our relationship, he’d banged every female with legs. The worst part was how oblivious I’d been to his extracurricular activities. While I thought we’d been reaching the stage of talking rings, white dresses and forever, Vince had been adding one more notch to his bedpost.
My cell phone buzzed incessantly from the passenger seat, drawing me away from my past disaster. The number on the phone immediately had my body tighten again. It was a number that popped up at least twice a day; it was also the number of the Maine Correctional Center the place my mother would be calling ‘home’ for the next three years. Thankfully, if I chose not to answer the call, she wasn’t able to leave a voicemail, as her automated system would shut off before there was a chance. One day, I would answer but things were bad enough, without adding that on top of my mess.
Two more drags from my cigarette later and my phone went off again. Daggers shot from my eyes, as I half considered chucking it out the window. The caller that time wasn’t Audrey. It was my Grandma. My thumb hovered over the ignore button, but I