THE COSTOF HIS DESIRE

I was so tired I could barely walk up the stairs to my apartment. My back ached, my feet hurt, and my hands were sore from scrubbing dishes all day at the diner. I smelled like coffee and fried food, and all I wanted was to lie down and sleep.

But then I saw it.

A paper was stuck to my door.

EVICTION NOTICE.

My heart dropped. My rent was late again. The paper said I had seven days to leave. Seven days before I lost the only place I had left.

I pulled the notice off the door and crushed it in my hand, but it didn't change anything. I had no savings. No family to call. No one to help me.

I felt so small. So alone.

My rent was two months late. I had begged the landlord for more time, promising him I would catch up. But promises didn't pay the bills. Seven days to leave. Seven days to figure out where I could go. I had nowhere. No one to help me.

I sank onto my old, worn couch, the springs creaking under me. The paper shook in my hands. My chest felt so heavy I could barely breathe. My head throbbed, my stomach churned, and my whole body trembled. I pressed the notice to my chest, wishing it would disappear, wishing someone would come and tell me it was all a mistake.

I thought about my tiny apartment, the broken heater, the chipped paint, the tiny kitchen where I tried to make my life feel a little normal. It wasn't much, but it was mine. And now it was being taken away.

I thought about my job. I worked long hours at the diner, serving people who barely noticed me. I scrubbed dishes until my hands burned. I ran on little sleep and less food. And it still wasn't enough. Nothing I did was enough.

Tears stung my eyes, but I didn't let them fall. I felt too weak, too small, too alone. The quiet in the apartment was deafening. I wanted to scream, to throw something, to do anything to make the panic stop. But I couldn't.

I rubbed my hands over my face and tried to think. Maybe I could find another job. Maybe I could borrow money. Maybe... maybe something would change.

But deep down, I knew. There was no one coming to save me. No one waiting to fix my life. I was completely alone.

I hugged my knees to my chest and stayed like that for a long time, my heart pounding so hard it hurt. Seven days. I had seven days before everything I had left disappeared. And I didn't even know if I would survive them.

The next day, I dragged myself to the diner, my legs still aching from yesterday. I hoped, just maybe-my boss would give me a little advance. Enough to cover part of the rent, enough to keep me from losing everything.

But when