Let's Do This 1: Stormi and Sebastian

Chapter 2

Stormi POV

     It's been a week. One of the longest weeks of my life, driving from state to state, staying in shitty little motels. The upside? I feel like I've lost about twenty pounds from not eating, but it's probably only about five pounds in actuality. I just have no appetite. I've been checking in with Raven and my boss, Emily, every time I stop. 

     Emily has been an absolute godsend. I called her the night everything happened with who I used to call family, but will now only refer to them as, the traitors, and told her I needed to be fully remote, or transferred to a branch of the company across the country. She said I was up for a promotion anyway and gave it to me since no one else was in the running. Luckily, the position can be fully remote. Web designing is great like that! 

     There might be some meetings, but I can always fly in for the ones that need to be in person, or I could do them over Zoom. Emily is willing to work with me because 'losing a wonderful and talented person like you would only hurt us'. She said she's also not one to let the competition have the upper hand if she can help it. 'Plus, I've been following your work for the last eight years.' 

     Did I mention what a godsend she is?

     I'm almost to Washington. I've driven from my cozy little coastal hometown in North Carolina, all the way across the country to the state of Washington. I'm not stopping til I hit the Pacific. I might have to stop before I literally hit the Pacific, but I'm driving there to see it. I've got enough in savings to buy some land and put a 'tiny home' on it if I can't find something I like. I don't need a big house or apartment when it's just me. I'll need to find somewhere to stay, for now. 

     It's spring, but it's still cold. There's a chill in the air still. Maybe I'll rent a cabin or a room at a motel near the coast. Somewhere I can smell the salty sea air. The only upside to all of this drama that happened is, that I've been traveling and exploring like I'd dreamed of when I was a kid. Thankfully, being the nerd I am, always the 'weird one' at school, has allowed me time to work on my web designing from an early age. Story was always the popular one, the one who stood out and I just kind of, stayed in the shadows. I am self-taught in most of the web-designing but I did excel when I went for it as my major. I'd been working and making money though, since I was fourteen doing this and working out any bugs on people's computers.

     When I started getting paid for it, I needed some way to keep it all secret from Mom. I knew she wouldn't be happy about me gaining any type of independence. Story had always been Mom's favorite. You could just tell. So, I asked if Grandma helped me open up my own checking account, keeping all the information about it at her house for safekeeping. She knew Mom and Dad disliked me, more Mom than Dad. I don't think she could have imagined it would ever get to this level when she passed two years ago, but I'm so thankful she loved me as much as she did and that she helped me better myself. I would have been totally screwed if I'd waited to start working like most kids.

     Pulling into a little motel that had clearly seen better days, I parked and went inside to get a room. The inside of the place looked like something straight out of the sixties!  The little lobby had bright, textured wallpaper that was starting to peel off and the most hideous yellow and orange furniture. I asked for a room that was on the first floor, but closest to the office. I wanted to try to be safe, but able to leave quickly if needed. The older lady behind the counter handed me a key and told me my room was number nine.

     "Go out and make a right. It's right next door," she gave me a nod with a voice that sounded like she'd been smoking a pack a day for the last twenty years. I pulled my little duffle with wheels on it, which had my few days' worth of clothes in it, behind me as I put the key into the keyhole. It really was an old-school motel from the sixties. I've been washing them as soon as stop somewhere so I don't have to try to unpack everything, every time I stop. Though, I think this is it. I think this is where I'm landing and putting down roots. I think this is my destination on this crazy journey. It's somewhere no one would even think to look for me, because it didn't seem like the town was all that big, nor did it look like there was a huge population when I drove through earlier. I opened the door to the room, and it was the same awful furniture that was in the lobby. 

     I went back out to my little car and started lugging in all the rest of my luggage into the small room with two beds, a small table with two chairs, and a bright yellow bathroom with a shower that had a slow drip. 

     Pulling my last bag in, I pull open the yellow floral print curtains and set up my laptop on the small table just as the skies open and a downpour came. It felt almost cleansing somehow. Like this was where I was meant to be. And this was making me, somehow, less...bitter? Angry? Hurt? I couldn't put my finger on exactly what, but for now, just...less. Can't get too deep in the feels yet. 

     Logging into my hotspot, I searched online for any smaller homes for sale or rent. Three of the listings caught my eye. One is an actual tiny home, but it's on wheels. It's a whopping five hundred square feet. I'll check it out, but it's last on the list. 

     Then there's an A-frame in the middle of nowhere that I love all the photos of. Maybe add a patio on top where the loft is located, giving it a more private feel. If you don't count the loft as a bedroom, it's a one-bedroom. I could totally use that once it's remodeled as an office space, for work and anything else that catches my fancy. A huge glass door overlooks the forest and a river about half a mile from the house, which is visible from where it's located on the property. 

     The last house that caught my eye was a cabin. It was a two-bedroom, with a one-person standup shower in the bathroom, because there was no bathtub. Oof. That might move this one to dead last. I need a tub. It's part of how every girl unwinds.

     Okay. Time to make some calls.

     Let's do this.