Bagel watched the sedan leave impassively. She took another nibble of her bagel and stared at Haydrian, rubbing her nose on the back of her hand. She furrowed her brows slightly as he laughed and approached. She stank to high heaven. It was a rancid mixture of halitosis and body odour. Her hard gaze remained fixated on his expression as he spoke and with every word she became stiffer and less responsive. “Naw, that’s too long,” she shot down his suggestion with clear distaste and wrapped up her bagel. “Who’re you to name a stranger? I’m Bagel to you now.” She flashed him a nervous grin and stood up as he leant back. “You’re-...a good man, but I gotta get going,” she mumbled, hastily tugging on the straps of her backpack. “Thanks anyway.”

Abigail took long strides down the road and kept going until she was pretty certain that Haydrian wasn’t following or staring at her. Once she had strolled out of view she ducked behind a corner and took a few deep breaths. Her fingers trembled as she clicked open her flip phone, checking the time and her phone signal. “God. [i]God.[/i]” A quiet rattle of shifting debris made her look back and forth; old tin cans, bits of chipped cement and various trash out of the bins had started to bob up to the surface and drift into the air. “‘Ey-...Ey! You-...get back down in there, you trash!” she snapped, waving her hands at the floating objects. Her growing anxiety was ruptured by another racking coughing fit as each bronchiole exploded, hefting clumps of phlegm up her trachea in shuddering spasms. With it each piece of detritus fell flat onto the dirt as she slowly sank against the wall, wiping her brow. “Gawd-[i]damnit,[/i] Abi. Ya fucked it. Bad case’a bad judgement.”

She remained prone against the wall until her ribcage stopped trembling then wearily got up to her feet, following her footsteps towards the borders of Brightwell. She was so busy making sure she wasn’t being followed that she hardly noticed the pastel walls of the motel until she stood in the car park and realised precisely where she was. Her tummy vibe had subsided so she took another chance and stepped inside.

Almost immediately upon setting foot in the threshold, some kid not much older than she was greeted her. She nearly jumped out of her skin at the promptness of his hello and it triggered another coughing fit. “JAY-sus CHRISTman-...” she rattled. “What message? Wuh-...Did I walk in on sommin’?”