Broken Inside

7 - The Start Over

Alex arrived at the address she was given. It was a nicer neighbourhood than the one she was in before. A girl was waiting there for her. 

"Are you Alex?" the girl asked her.

"Yes. Are you Annie?" 

The girl smiled and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you. Come on, let me show you to your room."

Alex followed Annie into the building and up four flights of stairs. She felt winded after two floors. By the third floor, she was panting hard and sweating. 

Annie looked back at her and smiled sympathetically. "You'll get used to it after a while. Come on, just one more floor," Annie said to her encouragingly.

Alex took a deep breath and muster all her remaining energy to get up the last flight of stairs. When she reached the landing, she dropped her bag to the floor and leaned up against the wall with her eyes shut. She could hear the pounding of her heart in her ears. She took a few deep breaths and let them out slowly through her mouth.

"That's it, just breathe," Annie coaxed her. 

Alex opened her eyes and said to Annie, "Are you sure there's no room on the ground floor?"

Annie chuckled and shook her head. Then she gestured with her head. "Come on, we're down here."

Shaking her head, Alex picked up her bag from the floor and followed Annie. Annie stopped in front of unit 4A and she unlocked the door. She smiled at Alex and said, "Welcome to your new home."

They walked into the apartment and the first thing that caught Alex's eyes were the large floor to ceiling glass window. There was so much natural light coming into the living room and kitchen space.

"So this is the common area," Annie explained. "Living room, balcony, kitchen, laundry. The fridge is always stocked with food. Eat whatever you want. Hot food are delivered for every meal."

Then Alex followed Annie down the hallway off the kitchen. She pointed at the opposite hallway and said, "That wing is for male models, this wing is for female. There are two bathrooms at each wing. If the ladies are taking too long, you can use the male ones, it's fine."

She opened the door at the end of the hallway and Alex followed her inside. "So this is your room. Use it to sleep, or whatever you want."

Annie took out a pager from her bag, checked that it was working, then handed it to Alex. "You will be paged when there's a job. Just call in and the person on the line will tell you where to go." 

"So, you have any questions for me?" Annie asked expectantly.

"Is there a landline here? Because I don't own a phone," Alex explained.

"There's a phone in the kitchen but we really need to get you a phone soon. I'll see what I can do," Annie promised her. Then she bid her farewell and left, closing the door behind her. 

Alex looked around the room and sighed. The room was old but it was so much bigger than her room in Brooklyn. She had her own closet, vanity, a lounge chair and a bigger single bed. Alex sat down on the thick mattress. It's a comfortable bed. She pulled her legs up and laid sideways. She looked around the room. 

Her mind suddenly went to Lola and how her life had ended tragically. She felt sadness overwhelming her and tears started to flow down her cheeks. She closed her eyes and silently cried herself to sleep.

*****

Alex opened her eyes to darkness. The only lights were coming in through the window from the streetlights. She slowly pulled herself up and looked around, wondering what time it was.