The door slammed shut. The bully clearly didn’t give a shit.

“And we can’t see!” She shouted even though she realized it was useless, since their abductor had disappeared.

Aside from the odd sniff and whimper, the new girl was quiet.

“Hello.” The closest woman to her said.

“My name is Julie.” She said, to no one in particular. “Can we please introduce ourselves and try and get to the bottom of this?”

“I want to go home.” The new girl broke into a fit of sobs which lasted for about a half a minute before she calmed down enough so that they could talk. She sniffed and hiccupped.

“I’m Lisa.” The calmer one closest to her said.

“I’m Candy.” The panicky one said.

The new girl kept on crying and whimpering.

“Candy? Seriously?” There was a sneer to Lisa’s voice. “Is that your real name? You’re not on the street trying to pick up a trick you know.”

“You don’t have to be so mean,” Julie chimed in. Why did people feel the need to be so nasty to each other? Throw people in a bad situation and watch their true colors come out.

Lisa made a snorting noise. “You are a hooker, aren’t you Candy?”

“I’m a high paid call girl. I have a few select, exclusive clients so you can stop being such a bitch now.” Candy sounded much less panicked. In fact, she sounded angry. Julie couldn’t blame her.

“I am, was, a room attendant. I had a temporary position at Lofty Heights Hotel in Walton Springs.”

This elicited another snort from Lisa. “Oh my god. A call girl”—she pronounced the words carefully—“and a cleaning lady. I’m stuck in a room with a bunch of misfits.”

Julie felt irritation rise up in her. “Can we try and not be nasty to one another? Like it or not, we’re in this together. We need to help each other and band together.”

“Who made you the boss?” Lisa asked.

“No one. I’m not the boss of anyone. I’m stating simple facts. If I were you, I’d be working at becoming part of the group instead of alienating yourself. If we don’t work together….” She let the sentence die. Julie didn’t have a good feeling about this. Not at all. “I was fired last week and kicked out of my apartment this morning for not making rent. I’m essentially homeless. It’s been one hell of a day.” She felt her cheeks burn. It sucked that she couldn’t stand on her own two feet.