Prologue

 "It's so frickin' cold!" I whisper to myself. Trying to keep my hands warm, I start rubbing them together while looking back at the closed restaurant behind me. Adam is either being held hostage by the decrepit old lady that let us use the bathroom or he is having one hellavah long piss. We still have two more hours in his truck before we even hit the hotel. Where the crap is he?!  

 "Y'all come back, now, " I hear the old woman say as Adam walks out. "Oh, we definitely will ... when you're open!" They both laugh at his corny little joke. Here I am freezing my ass off and he's over there making stupid jokes with strange old ladies. Even worse, he walks right by me to stare out at the quiet little country road. I hear him inhale deeply, "Isn't this place beautiful, Deb?"

I snicker at his sarcasm. "Funny. It's what, ten o'clock? Everyone's tucked in bed, not a single joint is hoppin' nor a street performer in sight. We'd be bored within a day." Thinking about a hot bath in a huge hot tub in our suite, I give an exaggerated stretch. "Well, I guess we should get going," I begin but Adam whirls around and I can see anger on his face. "People is this kind of place are friendly and know each other by name! You see a po-dunk town and can't wait to wipe it's dirt from your hundred dollar shoes. And why? Because there's no one here to entertain you?!"     

For a second, I am taken back by the anger in Adam's voice. But I feel myself working up a real mad. "Excuse me?! You think being a model is easy? That having a famous mother was a stroll in the park? I went through my own version of hell growing up so excuse me for feeling entitled. And in case you forgot, you have been riding on my coattails since I began and I have never heard you complain before. Damn it, Adam, we are on our way to YOUR parent's house in YOUR Godawful truck instead of taking the limo. Haven't I conceded enough?"   

My heat is up and I am ready for this fight. He turns back to me and leans in, "You didn't even want to come in the first place. Admit it!" I turn to look away because I knew it to be the truth. "Yea, that's what I thought. Can't let Miss Super Model be seen living it up with her repairman-boyfriend's family!" 

"Never mind the fact that you thought my truck was sexy when we first started dating. And I don't care that it's not new. I worked my ass off just for the down payment and I won't be ashamed of it and it's non-working heater just because you have suddenly turned into an uppity bitch!"

   

 I threw my hands up in his face to make him shut-up. "Whoa, there. Wait just one damned minute! Bitch? Really, you just went there?" I fling my arms out and look up at the sky as I try to get words from my brain and into my mouth. "This is what I get for dating a common grease-monkey. My friends told me that you would always be jealous of me and my money, now I see it was the truth." I glared intently as I waited for him to respond. 

"Truth? You want truth? Here it is, Sweetheart. You wouldn't last a day out in the real world without your famous Mother and your trust fund millions. You're just a spoiled little brat who'd go crying as soon as things got rough. And you know what? Screw this! I don't have to put up with you thinking you are better than me OR your little tantrums anymore. I'll go my parent's house ALONE." He turns and starts walking back to the parking lot.

"Adam, what the hell do you think you are doing?" I ask but I get no response. He's not really going to leave me here. He's just trying to prove a point. "AAAArrrggghhh!!!!" My scream echoes off the walls of the surrounding buildings. 

He stops and turns his head slightly. I knew he wouldn't leave me. I try to hide my triumphant smile. "Perhaps you don't want the same things as me. Perhaps ... I want too much, Deb. Either way, call your agent, let her come rescue you. It's what you always do anyway." My mouth drops open as he turns to cross the street. I watch in shock as he opens the truck door and climbs in. He looks at me one last time, cranks the truck and peels out of the parking lot.

Bastard! How can he just leave me like this? Wait until I get Bee on the phone, I am going to make his life miserable as soon as she comes .... she comes to ... wait. Damn it, I hate that he had me pegged!

I hate that he left me. A pain starts to radiate from my chest and creates a heavy sensation in my belly. I feel a prickling sensation in my nose as tears well up in my eyes.

"NO!" I yell at myself, I will not cry about him nor what he said. A plan starts to form in my mind. I will prove to him I am not some diva who can't make it on her own. I'll show him!

It took a LOT of convincing on my part to get Bee to agree to my terms, but in the end she was eager to help. Bee promised to ship some of my clothes to me soon but other than that, I have only what I carry in my pocket. Since Adam took my purse with him in the truck, that would be the change I got back from the last hundred I broke. This is how I will start my new life ...