Once I got to the firehouse, I smiled. It took some convincing, but the fire chief gave me my duffel bag. And a radio. On the tag, was the number 11. He told me to come back soon. He offered to change my job to paying. I have to decline. It would be rude to quit the job you were just offered, wouldn't it? But the radio. That changes everything. The black rectangle with some blue tape on it in order to hold the sharpies 11. I am not leaving. I will just be long distance.

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I take the elevator with Lucifer. Typically, I prefer the stairs. But I don't know where I'm going, so I guess I'm stuck with him. The firehouse is sprinting distance from here. Good. Because living with a strange man does not set me at ease. It would be helpful to have a bunch of burley firefighters close by. I place the duffle bag and the off-white suitcaseat my feet and wait for the elevator ride to be over. I also hope that doesn't start playing some cheesy elevator music.

I heft my suitcase and do as he orders. The broken wheel squeaks pathetically. I take it all slowly. It's a nice place. I still can't believe I'm here. I'm pretty sure this is just a dream. But here I am. Trusting a stranger. Oh I make wonderful life decisions. I don't go into the room more than 3 in. I'm not accustomed to this. This niceness. It's strange. Only met a few people that would actually do this. And both of them lived in the Rocky mountains. One of them is dead. The other... We're just going to say MIA.

The reason I don't go any further is because a thought hits me. He said that he gives us treatment to every one of the poor pathetic girls he rescues. Does that mean they stayed here too? I should ask. But I don't want to be rude.

I blink hard and wonder if he just read my mind. I choose to ignore it. "Don't you have a party to go to?" I ask, needing sometime to think and be freaked out by all this. "You shouldn't let Maze deal with everybody. And who knows, maybe their is another poor unfortunate soul for you to save *cough* ruin *cough*."

I want to take the money. I want to get out of here. But the 20 bucks in my wallet need a little help for a bit. And between staying here and going back to Thomas, this is the lesser of the two evils. So I place the suitcase on the bed and find normal clothes. I hate wearing this dress. Them I head off to go get changed. The money sits in disturbed.

Finally out of that dress, I sit down on the bed. It's nice. I will admit that. I glare at my suitcase, not wanting to unpack. Ugh, I was jerk. But I shouldn't care. I should not have to need someone to help me. I should not have needed someone to force me to break up with Thomas. But here I am. So might as well accept that, right? Thankfully, Thomas bothered to pack my book. He didn't pack my sweatshirts, but I ignore that. I sit down on the floor in the far corner of the room with the Hallmark romance type book. My nose buried in it, and I relax, kind of. My subconscious is still on alert.