Trifecta by Kim Carmichael Read Free Book Online Page B

rep in the Los Angeles territory, and Jason insisted Hollywood inspired his creativity. 
    On their first night, Jason complained about the lights, called them boring, and the next day she and Jason drove to three different stores to find a purple light bulb to fit their lamp.  Every night since, the golden lights led her to the one purple outcast, and when she saw it, she knew she was home.
    However, tonight no purple glow met her.  The house stood dark.  No purple glow, no lights from inside, nothing.  In all the years of living with her men she never remembered coming home to a dark house. 
    She pulled into the driveway and rested her head on the steering wheel.  This couldn't be her home any longer, and they weren't her men.  All day she drove around trying to figure out what happened.  With no answers, she knew she needed to buck up and grow up, cut herself loose. They coddled her, and now she had to move on, or one day she would be left alone.
    Yes, the house was empty, and it was better.  Now she could avoid seeing them and answering questions. After last night they were destroyed anyway. 
    Though somehow she thought they would be there.
    Maybe it was hope.
    Before getting out the car, she checked the envelope she prepared while attempting to fill out an application at an apartment building today.  Every time she looked at the empty blanks on the form, or tried to compose a letter to them, her hand trembled, allowing her only to write out a check for the next six months’ rent and toss the application in the trash.
    She got out of the car and ran to the door, nearly twisting her ankle when she tripped on nothing.  With her vision blurry and her heart on fire, it took her three shots to hit get her key in the lock, and two tries to turn the knob.
    Her envelope lagged behind in joining her keys on the floor when she saw the house.
    The darkness that greeted her outside didn’t match the inside, and she didn’t need to pack.  
    They packed for her.  The lack of light outside came from the mix of boxes and her belongings piled so high they blocked the windows.  She didn’t even realize she owned this much.   The boxes seemed to bow and retreat making her dizzy, causing her to kneel down behind a row of cardboard to catch her breath.  At least the memory of having them both for one night would forever be marred by them silently agreeing she needed to leave.
    She wrapped her arms around herself and made a plan.  Tonight she would just grab some clothes and essentials and figure out how to get the rest out later. They didn't even label the boxes. 
    “There are two paths.”  Russell’s voice intruded on her solitude.
    “What?”  She turned, trying to find him but only seeing the never-ending wall of boxes. 
    “It’s your choice.”  Jason spoke this time.  “One path will lead you out the back door where we have a moving van set to take you anywhere you want to go.”
    Moving van?  Choice?  "Jason?" 
    “The other path leads to a different destination.”  Russell took over again.
    "Russell?"  She forced herself up and took in the space.  The boxes weren't haphazardly piled up as she first thought.  There were indeed two makeshift tunnels made from the boxes, one led toward the kitchen and the back door, and the other toward the bedrooms. "Where does the other path lead?" 
    "To us."  Jason answered. 
    Not understanding, she pressed her lips together.
    "You take that path, you don't move out and we see what happens with the three of us."  He answered her question.
    The three of them?  She shook her head.  Could they want her for more than one night of bad timing?  As her focus darted from one tunnel to the other, she put her fingernail in her mouth contemplating her options.
    She could leave, show up at Dr. Dalton's or any other Dr. Someone on Monday morning and try to restart her life the way her mother wanted her to, or she could go to her men and see what they meant by the