She walks into the Real Estate office with an attitude. I have been in this shithole of a town less than twenty four hours and I am ready to leave it. It was a mistake coming back here, a mistake thinking that ten years could erase the pain and the memories. She made her mind up on the drive from the Diner to just cancel the deal, to put her parents home on the market.

She tells the receptionist that she is here to see Mrs. Lang about a shop on Main Street. The poor woman must know that I am pissed as hell after the look she just gave me or maybe Mrs. Lang told her I was pissy on the phone earlier. Fuck it, I don't care. I knew this would happen, that no matter how or what the looks were about it would lead to the same place in my soul.

Crystal, the mousy receptionist, says "Mrs. Lang will see you now", in a voice that is barely a squeak. I get up to walk down the hallway to the last door on the right. My back straight and my chin held up high, I open the door.

Mrs. Lang stands as I enter the room. She is attractive for her age which looks to be late fifties. She is a "beauty parlor lady" as my mother would have said. Perfect hair, perfect nails and the perfect business suit from last season. She is the epitome of Real Estate Magazine.

She extends her perfectly manicured hand to me and I shake it firmly. Her eyes widen for just a moment, she knows that it is a power play on my part. A simple gesture to show her that I will be the one to set the tone of this meeting.

She offers me chair that is directly opposite of hers across the desk. As I am sitting down I notice a folder on her desk, it has my name on it.

Mrs. Lang begins apologizing for last night. She was helping out a friend the night before who was dealing with her juvenile delinquent son. It seems he just got out of Juvenile Hall for trying to steal an ATM by driving his truck through the front of the store.

Her friend it seems was not handling the situation at all, meaning she had been drinking quite heavily and crying most of the night. Mrs. Lang had tried to console her by listening to her and making sure she didn't hurt herself.

I begin to soften towards this distraught situation, she was only trying to help her friend. I tell her that is was really no problem, the hotel was clean and the bed was warm. She offers to reimburse me for the cost, but I tell her that wont be necessary.

We begin to talk about the shop on Main Street and she asks me if I would like to go and see it. I tell her I would like to go alone and just spend a little time there and see if it is something I can work with and make it like my other shops. She hands me the keys to the doors, front and back. I thank her and I will be back after lunch to return the keys.

As I turn to leave, she tells me that she knew my parents. I simply nod and continue to walk out the door, again thanking her for her time.

Okay so much for leaving this town, I laugh at myself. I climb into my SUV and start driving towards the town square, to hopefully a new chapter in my life. The doubts are still there, the voices still screaming at me to run, take the keys back and get out of this shithole before it is too late.

Untitled song by Mark Salling

Are you afraid

The pressures building

The ground is the future

The past is the ledge