Desolation

Chapter 07

Amina woke up to an unfamiliar setting. She had to remind herself that she was all alone in a different city. It had been so long since she was solo that she almost forgot how it felt. However, she was slowly embracing the idea and dare she say enjoying it.

She couldn't have stayed with Henry any longer. It would only further prove her weakness and heavy dependence on him. She got out of her bed and looked down at herself. Last night she had fallen asleep in her jeans and Nike hoodie, she was so tired she slept with her shoes on.

Amina quickly took her toiletries and entered the bathroom. She was delighted to see the bathroom was clean. It was no where near as fancy as the bathroom she had at Henry's house but that was the least of her worries. The bathroom had traditional white tiles with a shower, toilet and a sink. Simple yet sufficient. She took her shampoo, conditioner, tangle teaser brush, soap and got into the shower. She spent a good hour in the shower washing her hair and bathing. She probably would have spent more time in the shower but the hot water was finished.

She stepped out and looked at herself in the now semi-fogged mirror. She still had slightly puffy eyes from all the crying of yesterday and her hair was a frizzy mess.

Although she couldn't control the puffiness of her eyes anytime soon she decided to atleast do a wash and go on her hair. Once she was done with her hair she moisturised her body and put on some blue denim shorts that reached mid- thigh with a graphic T-shirt and her checkered vans. Amina was only 26 and she still tried to keep up with trends as much as she could.

Before exiting the hotel room to go ask if there were any places to get breakfast she sprayed some perfume on. It smelt fresh and light, a light aroma of flowers. It suited her personality.

She locked her door after getting her handbag out and walked over to the reception. The lady that she had met yesterday named Janis seemed to be leaving. " Um....good morning. Sorry to disturb I just wanted to ask if you know of any places where I could buy breakfast?"

Janis looked her up and down before a small smirk played on her lips. "You really sound like a tourist you know that cutie?" Amina didn't respond she just gave her a small smile.

"I will tell you what, give me 5 minutes and I will take you to the diner a few blocks from here. Deal?"

Amina would usually never accept the offer of strangers as she was always paranoid rightfully so. Today however was different. Even though the nickname Janis gave her was annoying she still felt that she wasn't such bad company. Plus it wasn't like she had much to lose." Yeah sure."

With that Janis smiled and then went into the staff room. Amina just sat on the old worn out sofa that was at the reception while she was waiting for Janis. She just started at the wall and tried to keep herself busy with thoughts while she waited for Janis.

" Ok let's go." She snapped out of her daze by the sudden voice of Janis. She nodded and got up.

They had now been walking for 2 minutes in silence when Janis decided to break it. " So what brings you to Bakersfield Amina?"

She let out an exasperated sigh but decided that there was no harm in laying all her burdens on a stranger she met last night. " I am escaping from my problems."

" I can relate to that one." She gave Amina a sad smile.

" What do you mean?"