Square One

4

The two of them stayed in the cafe as long as they could, trying to plan as much as possible. Melissa decided to visit all the shops around town the next day, looking for work, while Carmen looked for an apartment. They made up a system of rationing the money for food, and decided they had as much done as they could just before the cafe closed.

The two of them walked out the door, and were both hit with the freezing air.

"Wow," Melissa said, pulling on her gloves. "I forgot how cold it is."

"Yeah," Carmen said. "We should probably look for a motel or something."

"Good idea." 

Carmen pulled out his phone. "There's one 10 minutes from here."

"Then let's go."

They started walking the streets, Melissa slipping slightly on the ice patches, Carmen gripping her arm to make sure she didn't fall. The streets were pretty empty, every light in every building shut off.

"This is so creepy," Melissa whispered.

"Whispering will probably just add to the creepiness," Carmen said at his regular volume.

Melissa scowled. "Are you sure it's this way?"

"It must be here somewhere."

"What if we have to sleep on a park bench or something?"

"We'll find it, Melissa. Calm down."

Sure enough, after a few more minutes, the two came up to one of the trashiest motels they had ever seen. It seemed to be coated in dirt, with cigarette butts and pages of new papers littering the ground, and a single street lamp shining onto a sign to faded, neither of them could make out a word.

"Great find," Melissa mumbled.

"Well," Carmen said. "At least it will be cheap."

They reached the doors, and pulled them open to reveal a sad little office. A woman who looked to be in her late 40's sat at the desk, a cigarette hanging in the corner of her mouth, flipping through the pages of a magazine.

Carmen approached her. She looked up, startled, and quickly closed the magazine. 

"Can I help you?"

Carmen pulled Melissa forward. "We'd like a room."

The woman's eyes flashed from Melissa to Carmen, as she pulled out a huge planner. She flipped through a few pages, each covered in smeared ink, before finding the one she wanted.

She jotted something down, and then looked back up at them. "Name?"

"Carmen Kilroy."

Her eyebrows raised. "Isn't that a girl's name?"

Carmen bit the inside of his cheek, trying not to explode at the woman. "It's unisex."

The woman didn't look convinced, but wrote down his name anyways. She pulled a key from a drawer in the desk, and held it out to him.

"Room 14B."

"Thank you," Melissa said, rushing Carmen out of the office.

"You looked like you were ready to murder her," Melissa said as they walked the hall to their room.

"I was."

"You're rather touchy about your name, aren't you?"

"You could say that."

They reached the door, and Carmen jammed the key into the lock, pushing the door open.

They stood in the doorway, and looked at the room before them. It was musty, and small, nothing but a tv, a bathroom, and a bed.

It was the bed they were focusing on.

"Um," Melissa said after a moment. "I guess we're... uh..."

"Sharing the bed," Carmen finished for her.

"Yeah..."

They stared at it for another minute.

"Well," Carmen said, picking up his bag and going into the room. "We might as well get comfortable."

"I'm gonna take a shower," Melissa said, gesturing to the bathroom. Carmen nodded, and turned on the tv.

Melissa reached the bathroom and turned on the shower. She waited for the water to get warm, and inspected herself in the mirror.

Her mascara had rubbed off a little, adding to the dark circles under her eyes. Her lips were more chapped than she had expected, and as she ran her fingers through her hair, she noticed that her dark roots were growing back.

She sighed, leaning her head against the mirror. "We're gonna get back on our feet," She whispered to herself.

She emerged from the bathroom 10 minutes later, wearing a pair of a t-shirt, and the same pants she had been wearing earlier.

"Guess I forgot pajamas," She said.

Carmen mumbled something, but kept looking at the tv. He was sitting on the bed, leaning back against the wall.

Melissa came up to the bed, and sat besides him. The tv was playing some cop show. Melissa looked at Carmen quickly, and then said, "I'm gonna go to sleep."

Carmen remained silent.

Melissa lay down, her back to Carmen, hugging the blanket up around her neck. "Goodnight, Carmen," She said softly, wondering if he could here her over the tv.

"Goodnight, Melissa," He replied.

---

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