The time was nearing 5:00pm when they finally got north of Spartanburg. Julia had hoped to be in Asheville soon, but the time spent backtracking to the rest area and then driving to Spartanburg and having to pay $40.00 to get her cell phone back, really put her behind schedule.
She worried that she'd get to Asheville too late to find a motel with a vacancy. It wasn't until 6:20 PM that she finally pulled into town.
"Finally!" She exclaimed.
Julia took the first off ramp and started looking for a motel. She passed by some motels that said "No Vacancy", but spotted others that didn't make any mention of vacancy. She pulled into a few nicer looking motels and inquired about rooms, however learned that they were all booked up.
She continued to drive further around town, passing by a few older motels that actually said "Vacancy" but wasn't comfortable with the way they looked. They looked unkempt and unclean. She didn't want to have any part of them. It was already 7:00pm, and Julia hadn't found a place to stay for the night.
She pulled over into the parking lot of a bank.
"Do you think we should try some of those others that said 'Vacancy' on them?" Julia asked.
"I don't know." Lara remarked with some apprehension. "I guess it's up to you."
"Well, maybe we should get something to eat first, I'm getting hungry."
"That's sounds fine by me."
"Did you want to find a Starbucks and use your card?" Julia asked.
"Yeah, that would be good."
"I think I saw one back there."
Julia pulled out of the bank and drove to the coffee shop she remembered seeing and parked the car. The two got out.
Julia couldn't help containing a giggle at the sight of Lara walking nude towards the coffee shop. This time, Julia tried hard not to say anything to Lara about walking nude into an establishment. The two girls walked inside and proceeded to the counter and asked for a hot tea and the last Snickerdoodle cookie in their pastry case.
The girl at the counter was rather astonished to see Lara standing in the coffee shop completely nude.
By this time of the evening there was only one other customer in the shop, seated at a table looking at his laptop computer.
"Uh, OK." The girl answered with uncertainty, and charged Lara with a price of $7.69, to which Lara handed her the gift card.
"So, can I ask why you're walking around naked?" The girl asked with a smile.
"Oh. I'm on a mission to travel to California with no clothes or money."
The girl chuckled. "Oh my God! Are you serious? All the way to California, like that?"
"Yeah, seriously."
"Aren't you worried about getting in trouble?"
"No, I try to stay low key, and so far I haven't had any trouble."
"But you have that gift card, so you do have some kind of money, right?"
"Oh, I got this from somebody. I get free stuff from people because I'm naked and all."
The girl proceeded to fill the order, and minutes later handed Lara her tea and cookie.
"Well, I'm not supposed to do this, but all the cookies and pastries in the display case are going to get thrown out after we close, so if you want them you can have them." The girl spoke quietly.
"Can I really?"
"Mmm, hmm."
Lara took a look at the case.
"How about I get those other cookies, and that carrot cake?" The girl pulled them out and placed them in a bag and handed it to her.
"Sure you don't want more?" The girl asked.
Lara thought about it.
"Well, can I maybe get all the cookies?"
"Mmm, hmm. Sure!"
The girl bagged up all the cookies for Lara and handed them to her.
"What are you getting?" Julia asked.
"She's giving me all the cookies for free!"
"Oh my God!" Julia remarked.
"Thank you so much!"
"Not a problem! Good luck with your trip to California!"
"Thanks! Lara smiled.
Lara started walking towards a sofa at the other end of the coffee shop to enjoy her tea and carrot cake, opting to keep the cookies for later. Meanwhile, the store manager had walked in from the back room, and took notice of Lara...
