HANDLE NAME: UNKNOWN

Chapter 3- The Coin

"Now you've done it Em..." Emelia whispered. She looked away from her food to where the laptop sat on her desk. True to the Phantom's word, the laptop was off. Quietly, she stared at its black reflective screen, contemplating last night. Breathing out, she looked down at the food.

This really was for her then?

Her mouth watered even if she felt unsure and nervous at such a gift. But the words on the paper were not a lie. She needed to eat. Yesterday her stomach had taken in almost nothing but scraps. She had hurled the sandwiches at the wedding, and only Daphne's bowl of odd end bar treats had kept her going through the night. At some point after going to bed though, she had woken up with her stomach ready to purge the volume of undigested alcohol.

Emelia's eyes tentatively traveled to the toilet, surprisingly not covered in puke, but it still took most of her gut this early A.M.  Her stomach ached, her head pounded, and she decided it was completely ridiculous to debate this anymore; she sank to the table and began to eat.

The medicine went down first, a little rough to swallow, but with water and toast coming in after it; the tightness of her gut began to relieve. The eggs benedict was next, she took small bites of the French toast, nibbled on bacon, popped a few grapes into her mouth, and finally leaned back in utter relief. She hadn't been full in so long- it was a welcome feeling- even if pleasantly uncomfortable.

Her eyes rose to stare at the fridge. She would need to get containers for the rest. No way in hell was she throwing away even a scrap of this. Checkout was at 1 pm. Emelia didn't know where she was going still, her own return ticket from her flight- not Gordon's- a few days out.

This whole wedding had been a nightmare to even pay for. It was made clear she risked being disowned, for whatever that even meant, if she didn't attend this wedding. Vicky still held this disillusion that there was nothing to be sorry for and it was Emelia who was at fault for all their grief and strain.

She had a year to pay for her ticket here; a cheap route that gave her multiple layovers but didn't break the bank. The hotels were a different story, but with determination she also found a rare deal on cheap rooms for her stay. She didn't fret over planning for food though. The wedding would feed her. The grand dinner afterwards was supposed to have been her shot at stocking up on the leftovers. And most hotels usually threw in free continental breakfasts- even if just bland cereal and toast. That had been her plan for food and accommodations. Now she had neither.

"Should I have just flown home on that early ticket Gordon gave me?"

And where would you have stayed? Her mind whispered. Your landlord already emailed you; the locks won't work anymore. He officially evicted you.

That wasn't part of the plan... but when one of her credit cards declined and the others were maxed for that month- Emelia had no choice but to use her rent money to pay for an overdue chemo bill. She thought she would still have time to pull extra shifts, work even later nights and her landlord would be none the wiser. But that didn't work- her manger refused to offer her more shifts, still begrudged that she had a whole week planned off for this vacation that fell on one of the busiest times for the cafe. So, she paid dearly for that gamble.

She needed to search for new rental. She needed to plan her next steps. She needed time. And time only gave her one thing; either be homeless here for a few more days- where WIFI was in abundance, the air was warm and there was a higher chance of nicking some food... or be homeless back home; a dreary colder city that just felt so uninviting.

The latter was unavoidable, but she didn't need to rush it. Emelia could use this time to find a new apartment. Find another part time job since she now only was employed through one. The café let her stay, though still begrudged at her scheduled absence. The gas station said not to bother coming back to work- vacations were not an option there.