Beginning Again

1

As she blinked her eyes open to the grey haze of a beginning day she knew her day would be life changing. Today was the beginning the rest of her life, she thought as she stretched and felt the twinges in her back knowing her sleeping arrangements had put more strain on it. Her back was the least of her problems though and she knew a fresh start meant new beginnings. New beginnings can be painful. She had cut all ties in her hometown and only a very few knew she was gone from the area.

A clean break. She was grateful that only a handful of people had to be told. Her closest friends and family all given the explicit instructions not to tell anyone even in reference she where she was. Seventeen states and more than half the country separated them now. She was more than happy to have this clean slate. She had fought for it. Her life was never the same after she tried and failed once before.she always chalked that up to be so young, so naive, so trusting, but most of all not experienced in the people of the world. She paid dearly for that. A lesson learned and one she never forgot.

This place was new in every sense of the word. New for her, new things around her, and no real paper trail led to her here. She could breathe again. She could relax for the first time in years. Life was finally what she wanted.
As she stretched again and felt the bones in her back shift then make a pop she hoped she could catch it before the pain started. She moved out of the bed and shuffled to the kitchen to start the coffee she knew she was going to need. As the small apartment began to fill with the a ent of those bitter beans she went to the sliding glass door that led to her balcony and went out. She sat down and lit a cigarette in a comfortable routine that She began years prior. It was a simple thing and one she knew could lead to problems but at this point she really didn't care. Sitting back and watching the colors play out i. Front of her in the sky she smiled and nodded to her herself. This really was a new beginning.

She hopped in the shower and let the water ease the muscles in her back as she still stretched in uncomfortable ways to help move the muscles around. If she didn't catch the pain in time the day could easily be ruined. She got out of the shower and the mirror in the bathroom reflected her reality back to her. Even with the towel wrapped around her small frame she could see the angry red marks of the day that she woke up to the cruelty of people. One person in fact showed her how life really was and that it was not idyllic as she had pictured.

She tried her hardest not to focus on the the marks but in the harsh lighting of the bathroom they popped out against her alabaster skin. Red and raised the scars that never faded much like the ones in her mind only she liked to pretend those didn't exist. That she was over what had happened on the fateful day her normal life was ripped from her and she was placed back into a bruised and broken body. Those scars were to her the most dangerous but they also kept her alive in the following years. As she carefully dressed making sure none of them could be seen she finished getting ready for her new life. The one she had hoped for so long ago. As she shit the door behind her and locked it she hoped beyond hope that this was everything she had hoped for.

Two hours later she was in the conference room meeting with all the new heads of departments for the building and even more so the area she was now in. Everyone had finally arrived and had been set up in the secure facility. There were twenty or so people mingling around introducing themselves and basically getting a reading on their new co-workers. She stayed in her seat. Though she could normally pretend to be a socially normal person today was not the day. She plastered on her smile and was shocked that she was indeed the only female in a senior position. That was enough to set her mind racing. The men here were like the other. Big, string, and deadly. Her hidden fear was being to break free and she was trying to spackal the cracks shut. She couldn't show weakness, not here, not now. These were the best of the best in what they do, they would be able to break her in a few minutes if they saw the fissure for what it was, if they even took notice of her in the first place.