Leaving

With no choice but to leave, I picked up my suitcase and dragged it behind me. Ace was still in the bathroom when I slammed the door shut and raced down the hallway with helpless tears falling down my cheeks. 

People in the hallway stared at me as I walked past them. Intrigued to find a woman overcome with tears, their judgemental eyes surveyed me from head to toe, but for the first time in my life, I didn't care what they thought of me. All I wanted to do was leave this place as fast as I could.

Angela's words still echoed in my ears. Until now I still couldn't believe Ace got her pregnant. Perhaps Ace will want to marry her now, the fact that she was carrying his child made the idea of marriage seem possible.

I successfully exited the hotel without anyone following me and hailed a cab right away. I gave the driver an address and he obediently drove the car away from the hotel without any further question. I looked at the fading Greyson Hotel with a heavy heart; I made a promise to myself to never set foot on that place again. The hotel is now on the top list of the places I hated the most. I hated it now as much as I hated its owner. 

Painfully, I turned my head away from the hotel. The cab driver quietly offered me a tissue. I thanked him shakily before drying my cheeks with them.

Ace, that jerk, couldn't wait for us to be legally divorced before getting another woman pregnant. To think that I willingly came to his arms last night made me want to throw up. I'm ashamed that I let him touch me. I'm disgusted with myself.

"No matter how much it hurts now, someday you will look back and realize your struggles changed your life for the better." The cab driver said. We were strangers and yet I felt he cared for me. The fact that there's still kind people like him left in this world made me feel better. 

"I bet it will." I replied, forcing a smile to my lips as I dried my cheeks.

The driver said nothing more until we arrived at our destination. The cab pulled into a stop on the side of the road where cheap gigantic buildings, and rental apartments stood. I pulled my purse out of my suitcase and quickly handed him the payment, it was way more than my exact fee, but it was my own way of repaying his kind gesture, the silent sympathy he was willing to give me.

My legs clambered out of the car, pulling the heavy suitcase behind me. It rained heavily yesterday and the ground was wet and slippery. The nostalgic scent of the damp earth was all around me, it reminded me of my childhood. The days where I had nothing to worry about in life and I saw the world as a paradise. I sighed, but that was before. Now, I'm old enough to realize how difficult adult life is.

My slippered feet carefully walked down the path until I finally reached the decrepit door of a run-down three-story building.

A cheap apartment was all I could afford now. Most of my bank savings went to my mom's hospital bills. Though Ace insisted on paying them, I refused to let him shoulder everything. He's my husband but it doesn't mean I would let him shoulder all the expenses. In the end we divided the expenses. He paid for the hospital bills and I paid for mom's medications. 

I gently knocked on the door. Then I heard footsteps. The door opened and a thin petite woman in her forties came out.

"Hello," The woman greeted good-naturedly. "How may I help you?" She asked. Her lips parted into a smile, revealing her gapped teeth.

The amiable smile on her lips never left her face.

"I would like to ask if there's still a vacant room available. I would like to rent one." I replied.

I had accidentally come across the apartment's advertisement in the newspaper almost a month ago. Back then, I didn't even pay any attention to it because I thought I would never need to rent a room, but things changed. Thankfully, my memory was remarkable and I managed to remember the address. 

Her face lit up and she opened the door wider, exposing the dimly lit background and the flickering light on the ceiling. I swallowed hard and chills suddenly ran down my spine as I surveyed the surroundings. It looked as if something sinister would jump on me if I entered inside.

Not judging the place but the atmosphere creeps me out.

I looked at the landlady, she seemed kind and harmless, and she's still waiting for me to get in. I don't want to be rude and offend her by changing my mind.

There's no turning back, I thought to myself as I swallowed hard. 

This place is my first, last and only option. The rent is cheap and affordable. This building reportedly has the highest rating in terms of safest neighborhoods according to the newspaper.. Crime rates are low, and the police station was only a stone's throw away. The market was also nearby, just a couple of blocks from here.

'This is only temporary until I find a better job', I told myself, finally stepping in. 'Besides, I'd rather stay here alone, than in a mansion with Ace.' 

The lights above me flickered and the door gave an ominous creak as it closed behind me.