She locked eyes with her reflection over the sink. She looked like crap. Dark circles hung permanently under her eyes, her hair needed to be washed yesteryear, and, despite the extra-strong peppermint toothpaste, she had a sour taste in her mouth.
"So, I'm going to go." A tall blonde stuck his head around the corner.
She spit out the toothpaste and wiped her mouth. "Okay, Sam. Have a good day."
"It's Seth," he hesitated and stuck his head in the tiny bathroom, "I left my number on your vanity if you wanted to meet up sometime."
"Oh," she grabbed a hairband and gathered her hair into a ponytail, "great. Thanks, Sean."
"It's Seth," he mumbled walking out of the room.
She waited until she heard the front door open and close before heading out of the bathroom. Surveying the mess in her bedroom, she began to strip the sheets off the bed. She gathered everything up, made her way to the laundry room, and dumped the sheets and blankets in with some soap and fabric softener.
Making her way to the kitchen, she started to piece together the night before. She had made the mistake of watching the news - a live report on the Power Rangers as they fought some mega monster that had been terrorizing the city of Angel Grove for several days. Unsurprising. What was surprising was that one of the Rangers was killed before the monster was destroyed, and the identity of the ranger hadn't been released if it was even known at all.
She rummaged around in the refrigerator until her hand wrapped around a bottle of water. After watching, she had immediately turned the television off and made her way to the bar down the street. That was one of the perks of this tiny apartment in Reefside. The bar. Not that she used it often. Just when the man she loved could possibly be dead.
Used to love. Then man she used to love.
She had bought the apartment due to some morbid desire to still have some kind of tie to this part of California. She probably lived here ten days out of the year, but some part of her was comforted by it. Some sad, strange part.
Finished with the water, she found her running shoes, laced them up, and headed out the door. She had a speaking engagement at a local high school this afternoon. The school had recently started a gymnastics program, and, when they found out that a world champion owned property in town, the coach had reached out. She didn't mind. It would be good for her to give something back. Besides, if it went poorly she could hop a plane to France and forget about it. Or get drunk again.