I Hate Love✅

3. The Loner

On the first day in the Lou, she lay in her bed and slept all day. Well, ordered wine to sip on and a charcuterie board between her naps, but she pretty much slept the day away. The suite was divine, one of the better ones she stayed in. It looked like a tiny apartment with a living room with two sofas and a chair, a kitchenette with a two-burner stove, a refrigerator, and a microwave. Not that she would cook anything.

In the bedroom was a king-size bed with plush linen, a large flat-screen mounted on the wall, a huge spacious closet, a chaise chair, and a double desk with two chairs. Everything white and ebony wood. The view was amazing. She had a panoramic view of the Arch and Riverfront lit up at night.

She showered late at night, finished the bottle of wine, and checked her socials. Not that anyone was checking for her.

Ginger, the loner, the one no one cared about.

She went back to sleep.

The next days she felt a little better, dressed in baggy sweats, and a dark t-shirt, and wore her hair out, in the short curly fro that it was. No one had seen her in her natural hair since before the group. Not wanting to have them style her mess of hair in a young, kiddie style, she shaved it bald, forcing them (her stylists and manager) to let her wear the wigs of her choice.

She had been wearing wigs ever since. Every single color she tried at some point, even rainbow.

The hair and her tattoos were her way of expressing herself.

But sometimes she wished she could fade into the crowd and not be known.

She decided to walk around the nice hotel and see what they had to offer. A nice fitness room, though she never worked out in her life. A nice pool, inside and outside one, and she brought three swimsuits because she loved to swim. A gift shop, but who was she buying gifts for? There was even a clothing store, she might stop in there, never could have too many clothes.

The hotel was attached to a casino and another, cheaper rate hotel. The loud sounds and bright lights coming from the Casino caught her attention. She could see inside and she watched the old fogies gamble away their paychecks. She was not much of a gambler herself, she did not see the point.

She loved her money and wanted to keep it in her pocket.

Still, she wanted to give it a try. She purposely went to the older, grayed, attendant at the door, hoping she did not recognize her. She knew she would be ID'd. At twenty-six, she looked eighteen with her natural hair and no make-up.

Once she was let inside, she looked all around. How was she going to play if she didn't carry cash like that? Did the machines swipe credit cards? Yeah, this was a bad idea.

She walked around the place some more, listening to the sounds. Old souls hunkered over the slot machines, in a daze as they pulled a lever or pressed a button. The ring-a-ding bells were kind of intoxicating.

Maybe she should try one of the tables. She knew how to play Blackjack and Poker. Surely they took a credit card.

She was lost as hell in the place, wondering what she should do. When she noticed a Customer Service area, she decided to try there.

"How do I play if I have no cash, just a credit card?"

The attendant motioned to the ATM just a few feet away from her.

Okay, great, that could work. How much should she play with? She had no idea. She pressed what the limit was, five hundred dollars. Sounded fair. If she lost that, no big deal. She could never sell another record and live off her PT money for life.

Cash in hand, she put it away in her wallet.

She walked around the loud place again, before finding an empty corner and a machine that looked all alone. She slipped a hundred-dollar bill in, reviewed the machine, and pressed some buttons. Nothing. Oh well, that was fun. And on and one she went, winning a few dollars and then losing it all back and then some. What was the point of this again?

She was down to ten dollars and change when the machine hit a jackpot. She'd won five hundred dollars! Well, that was a nice bag, and she still had four hundred dollars she had not touched.

She decided to cash out then, while ahead. Plus, she was bored.

After she got her cash and put it away, she left the casino and saw that there was an all-you-can-eat buffet. Imagine Ginger Hollands eating at a place like that. She did see a sushi place but decided she could get an order to go.

Back in her room, soon as she walked in, she noticed a folded sheet of paper that must have been slipped under her door. Probably hotel management sending her a bill. She ordered lots of wine the previous day.

She set the note and her food on the small dining area table. She kicked off her shoes and relaxed on the sofa. Grabbed the remote to see what was on.

Flicking through the channels like a zombie, she grabbed her container of Philly rolls and California rolls and dug in. This was the life. Nice and quiet with nothing to do. No one still knew she was here. Maybe she should let someone know.

She grabbed her phone and texted her bestie, still feeling some kind of way disturbing her.

Hey boo. Miss u. I'm not far if you need me, I'm in the Lou

St. Louis was only a three-hour drive to Springfield, Missouri. Though she still did not know why Kitty and Icee decided to live there and not get a place in L.A. or Atlanta where the action was happening. Then again, Kitty was busy trying to build an empire. If she made it down to Springfield any time soon, she was hitting up Ice Kingdom Mall for sure.

After stuffing her face with several sushi rolls, she picked up the note to see what kind of damage she'd done.

It wasn't a bill.

I saw that you were staying here and I really would like to meet up with you and talk.

It was signed...your mother

A/N: I thought it was time we met the woman that created Ginger. Hopefully, this helps her with her abandonment issues. Opens her up more to love, herself and others.