*Wednesday*
Vanessa leans back in her chair, "What do you want to know?" She asks and Chip thinks, "What happened to your parents?" Her face was blank as she shrugged slightly "Nothing happened to them, I just knew that I couldn't stay with them anymore" "Why?" He was cautious, not wanting to upset her. "Well, they were shit parents. Mom was an alcoholic and Dad's a pervert so you do the math" He sighs, "I'm sorry" She shakes her head, "No harm done, what else" "You can tell me whatever you want" he says and she nods, looking out at the open field that slowly got darker as the sun descended into the mountains. "Well, I was angry when we moved to Texas. I missed my friends and my Aunt. I didn't want to leave California" "So you're going back?" She nods continuing, "I was on my own for a while, with nothing but 5 grand and a backpack filled with clothing. I made it to Arkansas where I met Mikey. He offered me a place to live and he was nice at first" "Then what?" "Well he gave me a month without rent and I honestly fell for him. He told me that he could get me a job at a club his cousin owned and I was desperate since I was running out of money" "Is that how you got into prostitution?" She looks at me, shaking her head, "God no. I never slept with the customers. I was a dancer. It was good because I did get a lot of money from it. It wasn't until I was 17, that I did certain favors, never going all the way. But at the same time, I realized that Mikey was stealing my money behind my back" she scoffs obviously angry "And that's why you took the 100 grand?" She nods, with a grin "Well, of course, I had to charge interest" This makes Chip turn his head, "Interest?" "Well, that motherfucker had to pay for trying to screw me over like that" "And what did you do?" Chip feared her answer, "He took 50 grand from me and I doubled the price" "Vanessa are you serious?" She was proud but Chip was annoyed by her actions. "This guy tried to kill us" "But he didn't and now we are headed to California free and rich," she says and Chip sighs, knowing that arguing wouldn't undo what happened. "Thanks for talking to me though," she says and he nods, "Thanks for listening" They are left in calm silence, the sky slowly getting darker, night falling upon them.
After a few hours, Chip yawned loudly and Vanessa opens her eyes as he blinks the tears away. She had slept for a while so she knew Chip was getting tired. "If you want we can stop for the night," she says sitting up straight, rubbing her neck. "We still have a lot of miles to California" "But if you go on any longer you'll swerve off the road," she says and Chip sighs, knowing she was right. "Plus there's no rush, Chip. Another night won't kill us" she says and he turns out of the freeway, going into the next town so they can sleep for the night. Chip pulls into the closest hotel he finds, entering the office, "Hey, you got any rooms?" Vanessa asks the clerk, him looking bored as he turns around grabbing a key from the hooks on the wall. "We got a couple how many?" "Just one," she says, and he hands her a key. They walk up the stairs to the second story where our room was at the end of the hall.
After opening the door, Chip instantly crashes onto the bed. Vanessa chuckled, going over to the bathroom to pee before bed. She sits next to him on the bed, taking off her shoes before laying down next to him. He looks at her and she chuckles, "Don't worry I'll keep my distance" he exhales through his nose, smiling weakly his eyes closed now. "It's fine, 48 hours right?" They lay now facing each other, the room dimly lit by the lamp on the nightstand. "If you could go back and change what happened to you would you?" She asks him. He sighs, looking her in the eyes as he shakes his head, "Not really, maybe the whole crazy trucker people part, but if none of this would've happened then I wouldn't have met you" She chuckles softly, "Wow, and I thought you didn't like me" "No if I had to travel across the states on the run from a crazy person with anyone, I'm glad it's with you" Vanessa tried to conceal how glad she felt hearing this from him. No one had been this nice to her in so long she felt almost foreign to the feeling of warmth. And clearly, Chip noticed as she looks away from his eyes. He brings his hand to her cheek, rubbing his thumb on her cheek. The simple gesture was enough to have tears wallowing up in her eyes. He wipes a tear and she opens her eyes looking at him, "I'm sorry, I know I look stupid for crying" she wipes her tears and he sighs knowing she was hurting. "It's okay to cry, Vanessa" She sighs, chuckling as she takes his hand, "Thank you. For being so kind, it's not every day that someone would go out of there way for someone like me" He kisses her hand, again the gesture making her all warm inside, "Thank you for not leaving me" She furrows her eyebrows and he looks in her eyes, "Pretty much everyone who knew about the money has tried either to kill me for it or just take it for themselves and leave me with nothing. But you didn't do that. You showed me that there are good people out there, and you are the best of them all" She smiles and he kisses her forehead, "Now, we got a full day ahead of us tomorrow, so let's get some rest" he says and he pulls her body close to his. She lays her head on his chest as he wraps his arms around her, securing her body in his arms. Vanessa loved how loving his embrace felt as his hand rubbed her back softly. She smiles at the fact that he never once tried to make her do anything for him. He really was a rare gem.
