Read The Silver Lining for Free Online

I stopped short of saying the word prison.
    She stared forward. “Did you just come out of that strip club back there?”
    Shit. This makes me look like a douche bag, and a pervert and desperate. All I could do was nod.
    “Typical man. Gets out of jail and finds a strip club and liquor.”
    “It’s not like. I just wanted to…” Wait. I didn’t need to explain myself. “Never mind.”
    “Where am I taking you?”
    “The Palm Inn. It’s straight down this street on your right side.”
    She didn’t say anything. She didn’t look at me. She just drove. Phase two of being drunk was kicking in. It was the part where you could barely keep your eyes open. I started to drift off a few times, but the jerkiness of her driving would snap me out of it. We finally arrived at the motel. She cut the engine and jumped out of the car. I climbed out of my side, falling hard against the car. I steadied myself.
    “You good?” she asked. There was concern in her eyes.
    “I’m good,” I responded. “Thank you for driving me here. I appreciate it.”
    “Can I ask you something personal, Mr. King?”
    “It’s James.”
    “Okay, James.”
    “Yup.”
    “I overheard your mother and brother talking. You have access to all this money, but you choose to walk away. Tell me what makes somebody do that?”
    “I don’t know, Emily. What makes a girl drive a guy she barely knows to a motel in the middle of the night?”
    “It felt like the right thing to do, I guess.”
    “Exactly,” I slurred.
    She smiled and nodded like she understood.
    “Do you want to give me your money, and I can check you in. You probably shouldn’t go in there like that.”
    “Can I trust you?” I joked.
    “The better question is will you trust me? Not can you.”
    Damn, this girl. I didn’t know if it was her voice, her energy or just her, but I was standing there smiling like a fool. I pulled out my money and handed it over to her.
    “You trust me with all this. There has to be at least three hundred dollars here.”
    “I trust you.” We exchanged a look. “Get me a room for a week if you can,” I added.
    She looked at me as if she was contemplating something. She walked over and stuffed the money back into my hand.
    “Get back into the car.” It sounded like a command.
    “What? Why?” I questioned, as she opened the passenger door, stuffed me inside the car and locked me in.
    I had no idea what this chick was doing. I watched her run around the front of the car. She climbed into the driver’s side and looked at me.
    “You need a place to stay for at least a week, right? Maybe Longer?”
    “Yeah,” I said.
    “You need a place. I need money. You can stay at my place and pay me the money instead.”
    Is she kidding? Stay with her. Hell yeah. If I’m lucky, it will be in her bed. I threw that last thought out of my head. Blame it on the alcohol.
    “Um, Yeah I guess that will work,” I replied, as I tried to maintain a coolness on the outside.
    “Great! You get the couch though.”
    The couch. The freaking couch. Ugh. At least I’d be by her, near her. I’m close to her now. Why was I even thinking these crazy ass thoughts? I closed my eyes, hoping to clear my head. Somewhere between the motel parking lot and her home, I fell asleep. I was woken by a soft hand on my cheek.
    “James, we’re here.”
    She helped pull me up and out of the car. She grabbed my arm and walked next to me. I looked around at the area. I was pretty sure this was one of the poorest neighborhoods I had seen in a while. She lived in a small apartment complex, maybe ten units or less. Emily jiggled her keys inside of the lock and pushed open the door. She basically shoved me over to sit on the couch once we stepped into the place. Her apartment was actually nice inside. I wasn’t sure what I expected. It was very cozy. This was something I was unfamiliar with. Nothing about my mother or her home screamed cozy. I watched her walk back and forth doing whatever