GREENER PASTURES

CHAPTER SIX

Talia watched through the window as houses, trees, and people passed through the window in a fast motion. They were to soon stop in a small village to rest. She seemed to be on the journey so far but could not stop thinking about home. Have they even discovered her letter? How is her mother feeling right now? Were the main thoughts going through her mind?

“We stop here for today, it has been a smooth journey so far, but I do not promise smoothness all along.” Their leader, Bro Thierry as they commonly call him, spoke loudly as he removed his bag from the car boot. This town was known for the numerous motels it had. It is said that it is a hot spot for the relaxation of travelers. 

Talia and her friend set off to find one of the motels where they could freshen up and rest on a steady bed. After walking for almost twenty minutes while swatting mosquitoes and other insects, they came upon a motel ‘Middleman five-star motel’

“Do five-star motels exist?” Gray asked the question that was at the tip of her friend’s tongue.

“I don’t think so, it would have been a hotel,” Talia replied, pushing open the two large wooden doors of the motel. 

“Jesus!”

 Gary shouted and Talia jumped away from the door not only because of her friend’s cry of fright and horror but also because of the sound the doors made.

“Are these doors of this century? Gosh! It looks like the doors of those types of motels found in Zombie infested and abandoned towns in horror movies.” 

At Talia’s statement, they all came out of their frightened state and entered into a more frightening state as they started looking at their surroundings. True to her earlier statement, the environment looked exactly like those in horror movies. This made them start thinking otherwise when they spotted one of their fellow travelers they recognized as Louise coming toward them. They breathed a sigh of relief they weren’t aware of.

“Hey! What are you guys doing standing here like Saul’s wife? Don’t you want to freshen up” he spoke passing through them to stand directly in front of the door now facing them but with his back to the said door. Confusion became apparent on his face once he noticed their fear-stricken faces. He shook his head after he got no reply from them, they were trying to see what came next after opening the door.

“Wow wow! Mama!” He shouted as the door creaked again in a very frightful way. He stopped just for some time surveyed his environment before shaking his head and going right in. “Bro Thierry said that we should all meet at the bar beside the feeling station after freshening up.” He spoke from inside.

“Bar!” 

“Yes! I mean no. Look, it is not an actual bar, it is just a center of relaxation.” The girls visibly relaxed. What a way to sugarcoat a bar.

“Are you girls’ kids or what? You almost made me think I was committing some sort of sin.” He shook his head as he proceeded into the motel leaving enough space in the half-open door that small body structures could squeeze through.

They were surprised to see a receptionist behind a desk ‘does it mean this girl didn’t hear all the noise and commotion outside?’ Talia thought to herself. Louise had to bang the desk to get the lady’s attention. 

“Middleman five-star motel.” She said pushing an open thick ledger towards the direction the bang came from because she didn’t even spare a glance at the person who did it.

“Excuse me! How much do we have to pay per night? Can you at least give us your attention?” At the sound of his voice, the girl looked up and smiled seductively at him but the smile vanished when she saw the girls behind him though it quickly came back as she focused her attention on Louise. 

“Of course sugar, it's two thousand per night, but you can pay one thousand five hundred if I get to spend it with you.”

The girls immediately looked at each other in horror, she was selling herself so cheaply. Talia personally felt pity for her. Louise shook his head with his face twisted in disgust as he removed two thousand notes from his wallet and handed it to the girl.

“So?” she said smiling from ear to ear as she flipped the pages of the ledger and pushed it towards Louise to sign which he did and extended his hand demanding his room key.

“You lose sugar.” She said handing him the keys and going back to her phone immediately after he left the reception. It was like the girls weren’t even standing there.

“Umm, excuse me please, we want room for two.”  She looked at the both of them as if sizing them up for a fight. “Four thousand.” She said her face twisted the most. They paid, took the keys, and left while looking around as if expecting some mythical creatures to jump out of thin air and attack them.

The room was no different from the surroundings of the motel, it was dirty and the worst part of it was the toilet. 

“Please let’s start cleaning up this place because the longer we wait, my brain keeps the picture which is not good for my future appetite.” 

Talia really struggled to smile but it was like she needed a push to change her facial expression that has been changing ever since she stepped foot at the motel. So they spent the next hour cleaning up. They succeeded in cleaning it properly. Making them know that it was not the usual state of the room but a state created out of lack of maintenance and tidying.

They took turns to freshen up and before they knew it, they were already late for their gathering at the ‘place of relaxation 

“Oh thank God you girls are here, I almost sent out a search party. Please take your seats and have something to drink.” Bro Thierry who was in a happy mode spoke 

“So Louise? Where were you in your story?”

He asked while taking a sip of his drink.

“Just at the beginning my brother.”

A/N
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