Lavender knew she had stayed at George's far too long. She knew it the moment he came barreling into the apartment with Cecilia Jacobs suction cupped to his face while she sat stuffing her face with peanut butter swirl ice cream. That should have been her cue to exist - except she was still too afraid to walk down the street with alone.
Even now, on the crowded street, Lavender found herself checking over her shoulder. She still dreamed about those shadows, wondered who the Burning Man was, and feared that he would come back for her. Really, there was no way of knowing. Lavender just had to swallow down her fear and move forward. At least she had to try.
Alex had told her about a two bedroom flat that had just became available in the neighborhood she was looking. Or, well, where she had been looking before the attack. One of his coworkers had just moved into the suburbs with his wife. And that left Lavender with an opportunity she had to check out.
Coffee in hand, Lavender made her way to meet Mandy at the building where they would be looking. The landlord was looking to fill the space quickly. With any luck, she would be packing up her little bag and leaving George and Cecilia to their business. That wasn't something she was looking to witness again any time soon.
"Mandy, hey. Thanks for meeting me on short notice," she said, smiling over at her future flatmate. "My brother just told me about this place yesterday."