A New Apartment

Laura texted Dan about the apartment and for him to call her once he was able. With the entire day ahead of her, she sucked in a deep breath and got back into her car. It was time to distract herself from old memories and go back to job hunting. She estimated she had two to three days at best before she'd need to fill up her car again. That alone would be painful on their meager budget.

Laura sat in her car and tried to come up with a plan. She wanted somewhere with a lot of stores within walking distance of each other. Her eyes turned toward the south and the mall. Bringman Season Mall was a hub of activity ten or more years ago. Now, it only made the news when a fight or shooting broke out in the parking lot. Next to two convention centers, the mall would have plenty of places she could attempt to apply for any job that would take her. Well, almost any.

Five and a half hours later, Laura's calves hurt, and her confidence shot. In hindsight, the mall might not have been a great idea. No one was hiring a middle-aged woman for anything other than a management position. The kids she saw working the few stores that were open looked like they didn't need the money and were still in High School.

The phone rang. She bumped her elbow trying to sit straight up in the driver's seat. Grumbling and rubbing her arm, she immediately felt better when she saw who was calling.

"Hey, sorry, ran a little later than I expected. Got caught up talking to a coworker. You said you had some news?" Dan greeted as soon as picked up.

"Hey, honey," Laura said with a smile. "I called around. Mack's offer really is the best option available to us at the moment. I've already gone over and talked to him. We'll need to get a few things though... like a bed. Once we pay him, we'll have a month to try and figure things out."

Dan sighed. It made her wince. "Alright, are you already over there?" he asked.

"Yeah, I have everything ready... I know you... well, sorry to ask this, but I don't have enough to cover what he's asking for."

"Cash, right?" Dan asked.

"Yes, sorry," she repeated.

"It's no trouble. I know we need it," Dan replied. "I'm headed that way now."

Laura hung up and hugged the phone to her chest. Closing her eyes, she took deep breaths before setting the phone down and driving back to their... temporary apartment.

A knock on the glass made her jump. Laura jumped and let out a little squeak as she swung her head to find the source of the sound. Her son, grinning like an idiot, looked down at her from her driver's window. "Oh, you!" she gasped, her hand over her chest. "You scared me," she greeted as she got out of the car. "I've got everything ready and filled out. We just need to get him the money and we can... move in," she finished as her voice trailed off.

"We got this," Dan consoled as he hugged his mother. Laura was a little shocked but welcomed the affection. She desperately needed a hug.

"That's everything," Dan said as he passed a cashier's check across the desk to Mack. The older man nodded and passed two simple documents back.

"Sign those. It's an agreement to not trash my stuff in the most basic language I know," the older man joked. "I don't think I'll have a problem with you two, but hey, you never know. Always be safe."

Laura led her son to their new apartment. He took one look inside and looked at her. "It... looks good," he lied.

"I'll just be for a month," Laura said as she rubbed his back. She put the shopping bags with all of their possessions in them down on the counter by the fridge.

Dan grimaced at the bags. "We'll need a bed," he eventually said, looking around the small space.

"Mack is getting in touch with someone he knows about a mattress. Maybe we should stop by Big Bucks on this side of town to get an air mattress for now," Laura suggested. "We'll stop by the second-hand shops in the area to see if we can't get things like pots and pans. Plastic plates and bowls," she rattled off from the mental list she'd made.