Prologue
“Ciara!”
Ciara shakily sighed from where she was huddled inside her closet, fearing what her brother might do in his drunken rage.
“Ciara! Come on out whore, we need to talk!”
She shuddered after hearing her brother’s loud, fuming voice accompanied by crashing sounds.
She waited for the silence before she took the courage to leave her hiding place.
Not even a few moments later, she could hear her brother’s loud snore coming from the room across hers.
She carefully grabbed her to-go bag and packed what she could in her small, beat-up little blue car.
She glanced at her home one last time before hopping into her car and driving off toward her new life in another small town in Colorado.
Ciara was startled awake from her long-forgotten memory of her old life with her abusive older brother.
She stretched and yawned, preparing for the day’s meeting with her close friend at the local café.
She quickly showered and dressed in slim jeans and a flowy blouse. Her red hair was pulled back into a messy bun, and she wore flats.
She grabbed her tiny purse, phone, and keys and left her apartment to meet her friend.
Ciara finally arrived ten minutes later, wang at her happy friend, who was waving her over to their table.
She walked over, feeling a little nervous to meet someone else, of whom she had no idea who they were, who was talking to her friend Cora.
“Ciara, glad you made it. I want you to meet Aaron. He owns the local animal shelter in town, and I told him about how you are a freelance photographer.”
Ciara shyly smiled, sitting beside her friend with Aaron across from them.
“Cora told me a lot about what you can do, and I was wondering if I could hire you for my charity event with the local Fire Department and Firehouse One,” Aaron happily says, sipping his coffee.
“I would love to,” Ciara softly says, shyly smiling and inwardly screaming with happiness, knowing her business will get some notice.
“Good. I would love for you to come with me and meet with Firehouse One, and we can work on the Charity Event with the Fire Chief.” Ciara happily agreed and gave Aaron her phone number. She agreed to meet with him at the end of the week to discuss more about the Charity event happening in the next few months.
Ciara and Cora happily celebrated Ciara’s new job, which was to help with the upcoming photo shoot with the local fire department for the animal shelter charity.
“I cannot believe this is happening. Thank you, Cora!”
Cora giggled, hugging her dear friend and waving goodbye, telling her she would see her when she returned from her work trip.
Ciara happily sighed, making her way home. She was thinking of doing something good for once with her job and hopefully getting more clients for her business.
