The small card Vanessa left behind stayed on the counter long after she had gone.
Maya picked it up again and turned it over slowly.
"France," she whispered like the word itself was magical.
Stephanie was wiping the last table in the eatery, but she kept glancing at the card.
It felt strange.
Like that small piece of paper suddenly carried the weight of a thousand decisions.
"You're thinking about it too, aren't you?" Maya said.
Stephanie sighed softly.
"I don't know."
Maya walked closer.
"Stephanie… this could change everything for us."
Stephanie leaned against the counter.
"Or it could make things worse."
Maya frowned.
"You always think about the bad side first."
"Because life usually starts there," Stephanie replied quietly.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
The shop was silent except for the soft hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen.
Maya finally sat on one of the stools.
"You know we can't stay here forever," she said gently.
Stephanie knew she was right.
Running the eatery had already become difficult.
Some days they barely managed to keep up with the customers.
Other days they worried about paying for ingredients.
They were trying their best.
But they were still just two girls learning everything the hard way.
Stephanie looked toward the window.
The city lights outside flickered softly in the distance.
Los Angeles had been her escape.
But it also reminded her of everything she had left behind.
Her home.
Her brothers.
Her mother.
Her chest tightened slightly.
"She probably doesn't even care where I am," Stephanie murmured under her breath.
Maya heard her.
"Don't say that."
Stephanie shook her head.
"You didn't see the way she looked at me before I left."
Maya didn't know what to say.
She simply reached over and squeezed Stephanie's hand.
"Maybe this is your chance to start fresh," Maya said softly.
Stephanie looked back at the small card again.
Vanessa.
The name sounded powerful.
Confident.
And for some reason… trustworthy.
"What if she's telling the truth?" Maya continued.
"What if she really can help us?"
Stephanie hesitated.
The idea of leaving everything behind both excited and scared her.
"What if she's not?" Stephanie asked quietly.
Maya shrugged.
"Then we'll face it together."
Stephanie finally picked up the card.
Her fingers traced the number written on it.
France.
A completely different country.
A completely different life.
For the first time in months…
She allowed herself to imagine what that life could look like.
But somewhere in the city that same night…
Stephanie's mother stood outside a police station.
Holding a photo of her daughter.
"Please," she said to the officer at the desk.
"You have to help me find her."
The officer looked at the picture carefully.
"We'll do what we can, ma'am."
But Stephanie was already drifting further away from the life she once knew.
And she had no idea how close her mother was to finding her.