Alice’s apartment, 20:00

Alice darted inside her place, bags precariously hanging on her reddened hands, slipping through fingers.

It’d been a long, tiring work day. She’d spent it listing new topics for an article due next week; barely listened to boring staff meetings; mechanically spoke to whoever her bosses told her to.

The one thought that would bring life back to her features was of travelling, of accepting Marina’s request and going right away. She’d seen that invitation in her inbox first thing upon arriving in the office.

Italy. Firenze. In December, with her friends, beloved ones, her real family, the ones she felt truly connected to.

It would be good to take a month off to herself as well. Working only through a computer, spending days in the beautiful italian landscape instead of inside an office…

The possibilities, the adventures, the change of scenery… All of it inspired her, made her pirouette in the heels of stilleto shoes, arms spread, freedom coursing thorugh her veins.

She fell in the couch, threw handbags nearby, sighed in relief. She needed to get away from that job atmosphere as well. It was utterly corrupting her mind, in a way that when she wasn’t writing, she was thinking about what to write about next.

Relaxing was important, necessary. Or else her articles would start lacking witty humor, creative spurts.

Money wasn’t a problem at all. Although completely exhausting, her work did get back as very good income. Based on her finances, Alice could do a tour of Europe and still have a solid backbone when it ended.

How many times hadn’t she paid her mom’s debts? And it never had made her any poorer.

Indeed, the ammount her Mother owned her was enough to cover the entire trip plus the crazily expensive Christmas gift she was thinking about buying for Marina.

The phone rang. She retrieved it from under her purses, pressed the answer button. An extension to her thoughts. An overly sweet, too familiar voice spoke up.

‘Hel-loo my darling! It’s Mom!’

‘Hey, Mom. I was just thinking about you.’

‘Oh, really? Isn’t that nice?’

‘Are you ok?’ Alice realized that her mom sounded a bit… off.

‘I’m completely fine! I had my tenth shot of tequila and I’m totally tired. Today we went through so many scenes, I feel that the world around me is spinning out of control.’