Freakshow

Chapter Six

I didn't see Cairo when I went to breakfast the next morning, and he was sorely missed all day as our paths didn't seem to cross even once.

I told Erica all that had happened, and protested when the other girl didn't believe me that I hadn't even kissed our hot boss. I promised to tell her the moment anything happened, and the two of us made plans to go for drinks before we left Vancouver.

I took the SkyTrain home after my shift and felt a little bit lonely once I got back to my apartment.

I convinced myself it was logical to let the place go, the Cirque was leaving in nine days and it seemed perfectly reasonable to give up my apartment and most of my belongings and hit the road with them.

I craved Becs' advice, and I loathed my friend for ruining our friendship. I half considered texting her and forgiving her just to have somebody to talk to. I wanted to go on and on about Cairo and his muscular arms, his gorgeous tattoos and the fact that he seemed almost as interested in me as I was in him.

I couldn't fathom sharing him with Becs though, there was a stab of jealousy when I thought about the two of them meeting and I felt a little rage tantrum build when I thought about Becs scooping Cai from under my nose the way she had with Jason.

I checked my phone and Becs hadn't texted that day. Or the last couple of days. I wondered if Becs had finally gotten the hint, or if she'd finally decided to move in with Jason and every drop of guilt had been fucked out of her by then.

Either way, I made myself okay with it. I had no other choice really, I didn't want either one of them back in my life at this point other than as an audience for my tales of Cairo's amazing self. And if I needed people for that, I would make new friends elsewhere.

I packed up a few personal mementos and looked around the place.

Once it had felt bright and cheery, and I'd taken great pride in having an apartment of my own.

Now it felt dingy and cold, I could see dust motes dancing in the light of a lamp and saw finger marks in the layer of dust on the nightstand.

It wasn't much bigger than the room the Cirque provided for me, and it was much less luxurious.

I went to my dresser and packed anything I'd worn in the past six months and stuffed the rest into garbage bags for goodwill. I did the same with my closet and gained momentum as I moved from room to room.

Within a couple hours my apartment was almost packed. I was a little saddened to realize that there wasn't much keeping me in Richmond after all.

I went to my neighbour's apartment and knocked, knelt and petted her friendly little cat one last time.

"Can I help you?" the neighbor asked as she opened her door. The cat sped through my legs and disappeared into the apartment.

"I'm moving," I blurted with no ceremony. "Do you need anything?"

"What have you got?" the girl asked suspiciously. I suddenly hated this about the city. Even in my condition, I had a sense of community growing up in a small farming town. After my parent's death, I'd lost the connection I'd had with my friends as I'd been driven into myself by my sister's constant taunts.

I hadn't realized how much I'd missed it until this past week, with the people from Cirque. They'd welcomed me into their midst, in spite of me being normal to them. I wanted that community again, I wanted family.

"A little of everything, you wanna come take a look?" I asked.

The girl hesitated, then grabbed her keys and said, "Yeah, sure."