The day I decided to change my life

Chapter 1: Home

When they told me about the fabulous life in the city, they forgot to tell me the tiny bit detail about the high rent prices.

For the moment, I had seen three different places.

The first one, had two many roommates. I couldn't handle all that mess.

The second one was two expensive and too far from college.

The third one was okay, I guess. The landlord said it had a problem with the pipes. A leak or something like that, that it wouldn't interfere in my day to day life, so I didn't pay much attention to it.

It was a little small, but it was perfect for me.

A single room that had a small kitchen -if you could call it like that- and a double bed. There was a door that lead to a small bathroom and a little balcony that I fell in love with the moment I saw it.

I could only afford two months of the rent, but I had a job interview this week in a clothing store. I had hope. I knew in my hometown I didn't have a chance. My boyfriend made sure of that. I even learnt when I left that he was the one who complained about my work in the restaurant. He talked about me to other businesses when I broke up with him, and, as you can see, he achieved what he wanted. Maybe he thought I would come back to him.

Proud to say I didn't.

I never liked the city, never liked big buildings, malls nor wide streets. People weren't so friendly and everyone seemed always so busy.

But I didn't have a chance, if I wanted to do something with my life I couldn't keep living with him. I couldn't depend on a person who treated me like shit.

Sadly, I only realized that when the hand he raised so many times on me but never touched my face, finally hit me. That was the turning point in my life. It's like suddenly I had woken up. I opened my eyes and saw the devil that was in front of me. The hate in his eyes suddenly and uncharacteristically banished and was replaced by a fake softness that I was so familiar with. He came towards me, maybe hoping to hug me, maybe hoping that I would forgive him like many other times.

But I didn't. I started to grab my things. To pack the biggest suitcase I had, and slammed the door after me. Not listening to what he wanted to say, not glancing back.

My sister was there for me, she even lent me some money, but I needed to leave. I needed to do this for myself.

The city was my new home. And I needed to learn to love it.

With a little bit of painting and a few of my decorating skills, I could make a change in this place.

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"See? It's very easy!" I followed my manager around the store. "Then you bring the jeans here and you organize them by size. Got it?" Ashley turned around, her red haired ponytail swinging as she did so.

I nodded my head determinedly.

"And smile!" She smiled widely as if I didn't know how to do it. "It's really important."

I tried to put on my best smile but it was more like a grimace.

Guess I really didn't know how to do it.

"We'll work on that." She put a hand in the low of my back making me follow her towards a room in the back. "This is your uniform. Go change and I'll wait for you at the pay desk." She handed me a bag and I nodded once again.

Feeling like a robot, I closed the door behind me and examined the interior of the bag. There was a black polo shirt and a pair of black jeans. I could use the shoes I wanted, so I opted for my white sneakers. I actually didn't own much shoes and these were comfortable enough to spend the day walking here and there.