It was quiet, too quiet. There was always a phone ringing, the neighbour’s dog barking or just the hum of the house appliances in the background at home, but here, in the quiet of the hotel room, my mind decided it wanted to engage in everything and more. Pulling on my knickers and then my t-shirt, I took my cigarettes and stepped out onto the balcony, lighting up immediately and appreciating the stimulant to my blood as well as the crisp cool air to my lungs. I missed my morning workout routine and pondered waking Kade up to drag him around the block with me just to get my muscles motivated and my mind roused. The smoke in my exhalations mixed with the heat from my breath and curled around me in a mist of steam and nicotine as my addiction started to calm my crazed thoughts and motivate more coherent theories and deliberations. There was no way out of involving Grant and I grit my teeth as I contemplated numerous ways to deal with him. It wasn’t good, in fact it was a nest of bloody mayhem and I pinched the bridge of my nose as I took another drag on the cigarette and turned my thoughts back to Mona.
