AFTER
When Triss asked Natalie to move to Dallas with her, it was no questions asked. She was in a bad situation, one that she hadn’t wanted to clarify. She needed a ride down and a roommate.
Natalie wasn’t in a bad situation herself. In fact, as far as she was concerned, life was turning up her way all around. She had a new job, an active social life, everything you might want out of your 20s, and far more than most people get. But at the same time, she didn’t have much tying her down. Her job was nice, but it wasn’t going to become a career. And no one in her social life was more important to her than Triss. She tried not to dwell on the fact that she couldn’t remember any of her other friends’ names.
In the end, she had asked an estate salesman to take care of her apartment for her, broken the lease, and come out of the deal with a couple grand in her bank account. It was enough to move with, if only barely. Triss had some more things, which she had packed up in a trailer and attached to the back of her truck. Natalie had offered to help only a thousand times, but Triss had this weird thing about being up way too early in the morning, and by the time Natalie had been awake, Triss had packed everything but the coffee machine and Natalie’s sleeping bag.
She was asleep in the passenger seat now, her hair tied up to keep it from getting crushed. Natalie yawned herself, though she didn’t feel particularly tired. A healthy cup of coffee had seen to that, and a second was keeping the cupholder warm for her.
She checked her mirrors for traffic. This part of the I-35 was generally pretty light, being too far south to get OKC traffic and too far north to hit Dallas. In fact, coming into Ardmore might be a good chance to stop and get gas and breakfast before they did hit the big city.
“Hey, Triss,” Natalie called over, quietly enough not to startle her companion. Triss mumbled something incoherent in response. “Triss, I know you’re in there. I have coffee.”
“Gimme a second,” said Triss, coming out of her daze. She yawned loudly, then stretched up toward the ceiling. “I’ll take that coffee now.”
Natalie grabbed her coffee out of the cupholder and handed it over. After a second, she started, “we’re coming up on Ardmore now. Will you find us a place to eat breakfast?”
“Can you just pick something up at the gas station? I’d rather be in Dallas early, if possible.”
Natalie rolled her eyes. “The leasing office has all day to deal with us. Come on, I’ll even pay.”
Triss’s face did something that Natalie’s memory… that Natalie didn’t recognize, but eventually settled on resignation. “Okay, fine. Here, take exit thirty-two up ahead.”
Natalie set her blinker on and went about navigating through the narrower streets. They pulled to a stop in front of a place that looked like it had to be local, if only by way of how run down it was. Natalie looked at Triss quizzically. “Are you sure this is the place?”
Triss shrugged. “It had good reviews. Are you coming?”
“Yeah, yeah. You go on ahead and get us a table. I’m just gonna make sure nothing has shifted in the back.”
Triss gave her that same weird look as before, but then nodded. “Okay. See you in a sec.”
They got out of the truck and went their separate ways. Natalie wandered to the back of the trailer, and fumbled with the key until she found the right one. She lifted the gate up, thankful that the noise of the highway was half loud enough to cover up the awful creaking. Inside was one box, secured to the back wall. It didn’t look like it had shifted, so Natalie closed the trailer back up again.
