into the lock and open her front door. No need for some lens to read the letter over her shoulder or something.
She dropped her purse on the end table and ripped the envelope open. Three pages of words melted and jumped all over the place. She had to grab the edge of her couch and suck in a slow breath through her nose and out her mouth as the room tilted back into place.
One word had been crystal clear. In capitals and a huge block font just to be sure she saw it.
Eviction.
She slumped onto the couch and put her head between her knees.
No. No. No.
It couldn’t be right.
Was there a cosmic cloud over her head full of flaming meteorites set on destruction?
Chloe slid off her couch to the floor. She wrapped her arms around her shins, then pressed her forehead to her knees. The urge to rage and scream was so close to the surface.
Closer than it had ever been.
Why? She was a good person. She paid her taxes, started a college fund for her son, donated what she could to animals.
It wasn’t an astounding life, but she’d at least made her mark on the earth with a beautiful child. So, why did she keep stepping in steaming shit piles every time she turned around?
She dug out her phone and texted Ivy. Again, her text went through, but didn’t show delivered. Jinx wasn’t exactly her first choice on the disaster front, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.
The little bubbles that signified a return text came alive on her screen. Chloe blinked to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.
JJ: What’s up chica? I’m boarding a plane for Jamaica. Dr. Nerdgasm is amazing.
Chloe slumped against the couch. Hey, I’m evicted. Can you bail me out? Yeah, that wasn’t exactly the text she could shoot back to one of her best friends as she’s having the time of her life.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuckity-fuck-fuck.
CA: Have the best time! I’m so jealous.
JJ: I’m going to try. I miss you guys. I’ll be home in ten days, I promise. Maybe fourteen. ;)
She could call her dad, but his little apartment was an efficiency at best. A bed, a television, and a shower the size of a closet. No place for a child to play. And obviously Lori was out since she was literally her neighbor in the duplex.
She raked her hands through her hair, pulling at the roots until the pain cleared her stupid head.
Michael.
No. No way was she going to ask him.
He’d help.
It wasn’t his place to help, dammit. She had to help herself.
What choice do you have?
She bounced her head against the cushion of the couch. None. No choice at all without emptying out her savings. First month, last month, security, on no notice? Yeah—thousands of dollars even in the crappiest parts of town. Not to mention moving.
She forced herself to read the letter. The legal jargon was hard to wade through, but the gist was that she’d become a nuisance. Gee, there was that lovely word again. That the neighbors around her—she’d bet ten dollars it was Mr. Zulinski—had complained enough that her landlord had no choice but to evict her.
She didn’t want to be a nuisance. She would love to tell the reporters to take a hike, but the more she spoke to them, the more they wanted. The only recourse had been to ignore them. Why wouldn’t it blow up in her face?
Shocker.
Well, one thing was for sure. She hadn’t had this problem until Michael. Sure there had been a three-ring circus after Snake died, but it had died down as quickly as it had bubbled up. Michael was a rising star, with a famous family added into the mix. And it had taken two of them to make this mistake.
She hauled herself up off the floor and up the stairs before she could think about it. She’d talk to him. Maybe she and Axl could crash at his place until she found work. Then she could get a place. Michael kept asking her take advantage of the perks of being married.
Perks that didn’t include her being naked.
Though, honestly, that was a damn good one. She pushed that aside for practical matters. She had forty-eight hours to get her life on track. She took a minute to call Lori and update her on the mess. She agreed to take Axl for the night so she could feel out Michael.
Yeah, you’ll feel him out all right.
She dragged her old hardback suitcase out of the closet,