Free Brida Pact by Leora Gonzales Page B

cup of
coffee.
    “As I’ll ever be…and you’d better have gotten me a cup too. My
coffeemaker broke this morning and I haven’t had any caffeine since I finished
the first pot.” Poppy stood and cataloged what she’d scattered on the floor.
Three suitcases and one duffel bag, courtesy of Pixie.
    “Did you say you’d already had a pot of coffee before you
broke it?”
    “Yeah, I couldn’t sleep so I got up at four and made a pot.
Then the coffeemaker decided to break on me like the piece of crap it was. And
don’t give me that look. I can’t take your judgment this early in the morning.”
    She walked to the bathroom to get the smaller duffel she’d
filled with her toiletries. Shampoo, check. Deodorant, check. Tampons, check.
Birth control pills, check, although she wasn’t sure whether she would need
them or if she was even allowed to take them with her. She only had one week of
pills left, so surely it wouldn’t be a problem. Endless amount of hair ties,
check.
    “Damn, Pops, you pretty much packed every single piece of
clothing you had. Couldn’t you at least leave some of the yoga pants?” Pixie
laughed when Poppy pretended she was going to throw the small duffel at her.
“Just kidding, jeez.” She set her cup of coffee down on the nightstand and
jumped over a bag to give Poppy a hug. “You still sure this is what you want to
do?”
    “Absolutely. I think packing helped me step over the ‘I
don’t know’ feeling that may have been floating around inside my head. Pix, my
life literally fits into these bags. Everything else is disposable.” Poppy
turned around and scanned the room again. “Is that pathetic?”
    “No, Poppy. It’s not pathetic. You just haven’t set down
roots yet. I would be in the same place if I hadn’t met Brian.” Pixie brushed a
kiss on Poppy’s cheek. “It’s time to go, slowpoke. We need to leave in the next
ten minutes to be there on time, and that means we can’t get you a coffee if
you don’t hurry. I’ll grab this bag and head down to the car, so don’t keep me
waiting.”
    Pixie jumped as Poppy smacked her ass on the way out the
door. “Let’s hit the road then. I have a new life waiting for me.”
    One cup of coffee and a drive through traffic later, Pixie
was pulling up to the Intake Center. The building appeared more militarized
than the previous day—if that was even possible.
    “I can’t believe you had the balls to go in there and apply,
Poppy. Those guns are freaking me out,” Pixie said, leaning forward to stare
out the window.
    “Apparently they had a bomb threat and the government
flipped out. Do you think we just leave all the luggage here and they’ll come
out to get it when I leave? I don’t want to walk through all those protesters
carrying all my stuff.”
    “Yeah, let’s just head in and figure out what they want to
do.”
    As the girls walked up to the doors, the protesters began to
sneak steadily closer with their signs.
    “C’mon, Pops, let’s keep moving.”
    “Why does that guy have an anti-gay sign? That literally
makes no sense.” Shaking her head at her sister, Poppy moved faster up the
steps, trying not to trip on the stairs and yet at the same time unable to take
her eyes off the crowd that was slowly descending on them.
    “Ummmm…maybe because he is crazy. Hurry up, bish. They’re
getting closer,” Pixie murmured as she grabbed Poppy’s arm and tugged to
increase their pace. She let out a sigh of relief when the guards opened the
doors enough for them to enter before quickly slamming them shut on the
protesters.
    “Whew, that was kind of scary, Poppy. I didn’t realize there
were going to be protesters.” Pixie had wide eyes by now and her hair was
beginning to frizz. They always joked the higher the stress levels, the more
frizz popped up. It was the “hairdicator” that both the girls laughed about
when they noticed one was getting poofy.
    After checking in and heading up to Valerie’s office,