Bevis stood in the quiet of her apartment, looking around. It felt like she was in someone else's home. Nothing here was her own; nothing felt like her own. For the past week, she has experienced something she knew nothing of, understood even less and lived.

Where did she go from here?

"I've been in an unknown place for so long," Bevis muttered, "it's time I took control and got myself back on the path I know."

Taking her bag into the kitchen, she pushed all her clothes into the washing machine frowning at a strange white object sticking out of the bundle of dirty clothing. Gently pulling it from the centre of the clothing bundle, Bevis frowned. It looked like an address. Was there anything else in there?

Pulling the clothes from the machine, she shook them all out and checked all the pockets. Finding nothing else, she pushed them back in and put the appliance on to wash the load. She glanced at the paper again and wondered what could be at that address and who had put it in her bag?

When had that person put it in her bag?

Walking to the ultra-modern desk, she opened her laptop and sank gratefully into the super-modern chair. She felt uncomfortable with this kind of furniture. Why had she bought it?

"Must have temporarily lost my mind," she whispered, looking around, "I don't like any of it ... nor do I want any of this."

The laptop came to life, drawing her attention to the screen, and she got to work, typing in the address from the piece of paper.

"What am I looking at?" she whispered as a property website came up, "private property sales ..." she read aloud, "...what kind of property?"

Scrolling down, she found several private homes, mansions, apartments and one wood cabin. It drew her with its charm and, more importantly, its location. Opening the picture, she found a map which gave its address; glancing at the address on the screen and the one on the paper, she smiled.

"A match," she sighed, "now the question is ... can I afford to buy you?"

Bevis read through the description but needed help finding a price. Frowning, she shot off an email to the agent assigned to selling the place and then looked up the details for the store her furniture had come from; for some reason, she couldn't remember if she had leased all of it or bought it outright.

"Let's hope I was partly sane at the time," she said, sighing as she closed her laptop and looked at the accessories on the desk, "at least that is me," she picked up a notepad and pen feeling their familiarity, flipping open the notebook she frowned as she took in pages of words in her handwriting, "when did I write this?"

Slowly moving toward the ultra-modern white lounge suite, Bevis sank into a corner impossible to get truly comfortable in and began reading.

The sun was setting when she closed the notebook. She felt stunned, blindsided as if she had been living two separate lives. She was trying to be Brad's girlfriend in one life, and in the other, she was begging to be free to be herself. She must have written this when she sleepwalked. Another thing that had only started when Brad arrived on the scene. So much was out of place with herself and her life when Brad was around. How did she not see he didn't fit with her?

A flashing light from her laptop caught her attention. Moving back to the desk, she opened the machine and clicked on the flashing envelope on her screen. Both emails had been answered. Opening the one about the furniture, she sighed in relief. Sanity had ruled, but she had paid for six months, and the lease was only halfway through.

"Hmmm," she sank into the chair once more, clicking reply, "could they refund me three months?"

Sending off another email, Bevis moved on to the one about the cabin. She inhaled when she read the agent could show it to her the following day. Replying to that email, Bevis left the computer open and wandered to the kitchen.

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"What did I do? A complete makeover?" she looked around, taking in the utensils, appliances and other items scattered on the counters, "I never liked more than two appliances, if any at all ... what was I thinking?"

Opening the fridge, she winced, "Did I call TV dinners food?"

Enough was enough; pulling out her mobile, she dialled Chelsea's number, "Hey ..." she paused, "want to go out for something to eat? I feel like I'm living in someone else's home," she paused as Chelsea answered, "great," sighing, "I feel like something substantial."

Chelsea began chattering away as Bevis gathered her keys and bag agreeing to a place and time; opening her front door, she froze, staring at Jo and Charlie standing on the other side with raised hands about to knock.

"Ah, Chels," she said, "I may be a little late ... will tell you when I see you."

Cancelling the call, she looked from one to the other.

"How did you find my address?" she asked.

"Jason gave it to us," Jo said; she seemed different from the person she had seen on the trip.

"Don't worry," Charlie said, smiling, "he didn't just hand it over; we were interrogated before he did."

"May we come in?" Jo asked.

Stepping aside, Bevis closed the door after they entered. She watched them as they wandered into the living space, looking around.

"How many bedrooms do you have?" Jo asked.

"Two," Bevis said, "why?"

"I like your apartment," she whispered, "the furniture is a bit much. I wouldn't have expected it of someone like you, but the apartment is nice."

Surprised, Bevis smiled, "I got the apartment and furniture when I wasn't myself."

Nodding, Jo smiled, "I know what you mean."

"The apartment is not why we're here," Charlie said, glancing questioningly at Jo, "Jo felt she had something to say."

Jo seemed to shake herself, "Oh ... yes... Bevis, I'm sorry for making your experience on the trip dreadful ... no excruciating."

Bevis chuckled, "If it wasn't for you, I would never have realised how bad I was myself. So ... I'm okay with it."

Jo stared at her momentarily, "Are you okay with what I did? Putting those items in your bag?"

"No, I'm not," Bevis said, "but you came clean and admitted you had a problem. I only hope you get to the bottom of why you do it."

"I am sorry for doing that, and I will talk to someone about the reasons. It all started to come together when Charlie and I had a long talk ... afterwards," Jo said, glancing at Charlie, who smiled gently, encouragingly, "one of the changes we've decided is we're going to be moving from where we're staying to someplace smaller that we can enjoy together."

"That's great," Bevis said, smiling, "I hope you find something you both like," she glanced between them, "... just because you like this apartment doesn't mean Charlie does."

"That is true," Jo said, looking at Charlie, "what do you think?"

Charlie looked surprised, looking around as though seeing it for the first time, "Garden?"

"A patch big enough to sunbathe on out there," Bevis said, pointing toward the glass sliding doors, "but don't do it European style; the neighbours are nosy."

Charlie chuckled as he began walking through the place, "Furniture?"

"You'll have to bring your own," Bevis said, "all this is leased, and I'm in the middle of cancelling it. It's not me at all."

Nodding, Charlie continued to wander, finally returning to Jo and herself in the living area, "I do like it. It's big enough to live in and enjoy and small enough to keep us close together."

"When do you want to move in?" Bevis asked.

"As soon as you can move out," Charlie said, grinning, "do you have anywhere to go?"

"I'm looking into something," Bevis said, smiling, "do you want my number, or should we swap. That way, we can keep each other up to date."

"Swap," Jo said, "I'd like to keep in touch with you."

Nodding, Bevis pulled out a new notebook handing it to them as she wrote her number on a clean page tearing it and giving it to Charlie.

"It was nice of you to drop by and apologise," she said, "but Chelsea is expecting me."

"Thank you for letting us talk to you," Jo said, giving a tentative smile, "enjoy whatever you'll be doing tonight."

They moved toward the front door Bevis opened for them, leaving with them and locking the door behind her. The trio silently walked to the parking area, waving as they moved to their cars. Bevis watched as Charlie and Jo drove away before getting into her car and doing the same.

On the street corner sitting in the shadows, Brad waited until Bevis drove past him before starting his car and following her. He would find something to pin on her to get him back for ruining his life. She had no right to do as she did, and he would show her what happened to people who thought they could get away with her behaviour at the campsite.