Waking up in the hotel room surrounded by plush sheets and the faint smell of lavender was unfamiliar. The pampering and breakfast arriving via room service made her feel special, especially as the room she was staying in was one of the most expensive in the hotel - she was in a suite. But she had a hard time wondering whether it was due to guilt that Noah had made her stay in a hotel that was so luxurious. When room service arrived, Sophia declined and told the staff they had the wrong room, yet they insisted and walked past her with a trolley and a couple of different meals on top. They set up the table and one of the young men held the chair out for her. As she sat down, he draped a napkin over her lap and stood off to the side. A small note was folded neatly onto her plate, the words read: Have a safe flight.
As she placed her cutlery onto her plate feeling full, her phone chimed from the bedroom. "You're leaving?" Jasmine's voice echoed through the phone and she thought back to the simple text she'd sent her best friend in the early hours of that morning.
"Yeah."
"I haven't seen you in months and you suddenly spring this on me?"
"It was a spur of the moment thing."
"You? Spur of the moment? You've got to be kidding me. When do you leave?"
"Tonight," Sophia told her.
"Right, well get ready. I'll pick you up and we'll go for lunch and hopefully, you'll tell me what's really going on. I'll see you at the McKenzie's in half an hour."
"I'm not at the McKenzies. I'm at a hotel." Sophia gave her the hotel address and after trying to convince Jasmine there wasn't anything wrong, the phone line went quiet and she dressed.
Jasmine pulled up outside the hotel twenty minutes later and Sophia slipped into the car. Jasmine's life had been on the up and up ever since they were evicted from their apartment. She'd moved in with her cousin Derek, who had his own company, and she told Sophia that she'd been working there for the past few months. Sophia noticed how happy Jasmine seemed. She had a permanent smile etched across her face as they drove. "Where are we eating?" Sophia asked.
"A cute little restaurant I found." She smiled even wider at the mention of the restaurant and Sophia instantly felt her heart warming. Her friend was happy and in turn that made her happy. She felt lucky that something good had come from their eviction, even if it was just for Jasmine.
As they sat at a small table near the back of the restaurant, Jasmine asked the waitress for two menus. Sophia took that time to admire the interior of the restaurant, and noticed the distinct British theme it had. Small square tables were lining the sides and in the centre were rounded ones. The waitress dressed in simple black, with an apron of the same colour wrapped around her waist, walked back over and placed the menus onto the table.
"So you're really doing it, huh?" Jasmine asked while perusing the menu. "I can't believe it."
"I didn't really have much of a choice," she muttered to herself while nodding.
"Huh?" Jasmine looked over the top of her menu.
"Nothing."
"Didn't sound like nothing. Sounded like you said you didn't have a choice." She placed the menu down and focused her full attention on Sophia. The waitress walked back over asking if they were ready to order. "Not quite..." She turned her attention back to Sophia. "So?"
"I've been looking into newspaper houses all over the country," she lied, though she had been looking at one house in particular, although it wasn't as prestigious as MKT. "I applied to a bunch in Pennsylvania."
"You got an interview then?"
"Yeah, a couple."
"I'm proud of you Soph, finally doing what you've always dreamed of. Glad to see you'll be putting your degree to use."
"It's about time," Sophia agreed with her. They called the waitress back over, who took their orders and disappeared into the kitchen. "So. Derek's business, how's that going?"
"So good, turns out I have a knack for flipping restored antiques."
"Is it something you want to do though, something you can see yourself doing forever?"
"You know what, it is actually. At first, when Derek asked me to help out at the shop I was a little hesitant because there was dust everywhere and you know how my asthma is. But he asked me to man the phones. He put a couple of items he was having trouble with online and asked me to see if I could flip them. Within about ten minutes, both were sold for double what Derek asked. He kept me on, gave me fifteen percent of everything I sold and just like that, I'm on my way to getting an apartment of my own," she told her friend. "Which reminds me, I was going to ask if you wanted to move back in with me. I thought it could be like old times, although we'd be in a better position. I had my eye on a couple of places. What do you say? Wanna stay in New York and be my roomie again?"
"Oh Jas. I'm sorry, but I can't."
"You don't have to go to Pennsylvania, you can just revoke your resignation at MKT."
"Jas... I lost that job months ago," she said, ashamed. "I've been working at a diner for the past few months."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I guess I just forgot. I've been so focused on Pennsylvania, I didn't really think about anything else."
"Why did you suddenly decide to leave? And don't tell me it's a spur of the moment thing. What's going on, Soph?"
"I just want to start afresh, away from everything."
"Away from Brad."
"He's still trying to find me and I don't think he'll ever stop. I just want a normal life."
Jasmine laughed. "You'll never have a normal life because you're Sophia freaking Jenkins, who fell in love with a billionaire and turned him down when things got too tough."
"What?"
"Oh, don't what me. We may not have talked in a while, but I do keep tabs on you."
"Sorry? Rewind. What do you mean you've been keeping tabs?"
"I've been talking to Kelly. She called me this morning, asking if I knew where you were."
"Now this lunch makes sense."
"Well, that and the fact that you sent me a text saying you were leaving!" The waitress made her way back over and took their orders. The friends talked a little more about Sophia's plans when she arrived in Pennsylvania and it scared her knowing she didn't have one. Applying to jobs and going to some interviews seemed like her first point of action after finding somewhere to live.
"I sent a text because I didn't want to do this..." she gestured between herself and Jasmine.
"It's not like we're never going to talk again, and you'll come back to visit." Sophia kept quiet. "You will, right?"
"No," she whispered.
"No to we're not going to talk again or no to you're never coming back?"
"Both," she confessed.
"Tell me you're joking."
Sophia sighed. "It's better this way. I need a fresh start, no reminders of my life here." It was the truth and she knew it would hurt her friend.
"Over two years of friendship, and you're willing to throw it away just like that."
"I'm not throwing it away, I would never do that. I just need a fresh start and people here in New York are tied to my past. I can't escape my past without cutting all ties. Can't you see that?"
"You wouldn't be who you are today if you didn't have your past or the people tying you to it." Jasmine pushed her chair out and stood. She placed some money onto the table just as the waitress was bringing over their food. "But whatever. Have a nice life, Sophia."
"Jas, wait!" Sophia turned in her chair and called after her. Before she could call for her friend again, she was out of the door, leaving Sophia stranded with no way back to the hotel and a painful heartbreak. Sophia pushed her plate away violently and smashed her closed fists onto the table. The waitress sauntered back over, asking if anything was wrong and Sophia told her everything was fine, apologised for having to leave and not touching the food, and assured her they still paid for everything.
Outside in the fresh air, she took her time walking back to the hotel, giving herself some much needed thinking time. Sophia had finally cut ties with the last person tying her to her past and after losing everyone she cared about, she strangely felt a weight lift from her shoulders. As if she could really be Sophia Brown, a twenty-five-year-old woman with parents living in France and a younger brother who had just finished college in a state far away. Though she couldn't see or speak to those people, she decided to imagine they existed in order to not feel so lonely in her new life.
She'd walked back to the hotel and was sitting on the couch with tears in her eyes when the door sprung open and the stomping of heavy feet along the wooden flooring grew closer and closer. As Sophia turned in her seat, a pair of arms closed around her and she could feel the warmth of the tear-stained cheeks on her bare shoulder. "You're an idiot," Jasmine whispered. "But I'll miss you."
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Only four chapters left.
Sorry this one was so short :)