Chapter 18

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Rose

“THANKS FOR TONIGHT. IT was a great ending to a pretty crappy day,” I said to Brock as we stood outside my aunt’s apartment building.

“I still can’t believe you got stuck in an elevator.” He laughed.

“Oh God, please don’t remind me! It was so bad I was actually looking forward to watching baseball.” I grinned.

“Were you, now?” He inched closer and grabbed my waist, pulling me into him with his hands moving up my back.

“More like I was looking forward to the company,” I whispered.

“Are you referring to me?” He lifted my hair and trailed his lips up my neck.

“I am…but don’t be too flattered. If you met who I was stuck with for most of the day, any company would be better,” I teased.

“Oh, why’s that?” He raised his head, suddenly taking an unusual interest in my horrible afternoon and the person I spent it with.

“Just some asshole I work with who hates my guts for no particular reason.”

A slow smirk spread across his face. “How could anyone possibly hate you?”

“I know, right!” I laughed. “Now, I really don’t want to talk about him, so can we continue where we just left off?”

“No problem.” His lips meshed with mine and our tongues collided. “Tell that guy he’s crazy for hating on you,” he whispered in my ear when our kiss ended.

“Don’t worry. My feelings for him are pretty mutual.” I scolded myself for even thinking of Alex. It was like letting the evil villain invade my thoughts when I was in the arms of Prince Charming.

“We’ll get together again sometime this week?” he asked.

I nodded and smiled.

He leaned down and gave me a peck on the cheek. “I’ll text you.”

“Sounds like a plan.” I smiled up at him. “Good night.”

The doorman to my aunt’s apartment building opened the door for me, and I turned around to get one last glimpse of Brock before I went inside. The adorable smile on his face and the flirtatious wink of his eye made me wish I had my own place and could invite him in to spend the night. But for now, I’d just have to settle for hoping I’d see him in my dreams.

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“I think I’m in love!” Lucy was grinning for ear to ear as she stood in my office door bright and early Monday morning.

“Oh…do tell.”

“I met Declan for coffee yesterday afternoon and we’re going out to dinner tomorrow night!”

“And by Declan, you mean…the FedEx guy?” I feigned naivety.

“As if you didn’t know. After all, you’re the one who staged that mysterious envelope that needed to be picked up.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about!”

We both busted out with laughter.

“But I’m freaking out a little.”

“Why?”

“I have nothing to wear and, look at me.”

I pulled in my bottom lip and mentally scanned my closet. My denim embroidered halter dress would look adorable on her. “No worries. I’m gonna make you an appointment at my aunt’s hair salon for tomorrow afternoon then come back here for makeup and wardrobe.”

Her eyes widened. “I can’t get my hair done.”

“Why not? It will be my treat…besides, we can use it for the makeover article. Which reminds me, I should see if I can get Marisa an appointment too since you guys are both my models.” I laughed.

“Rose! I cannot get my hair cut just hours before a date. What if it comes out awful?”

“First of all, this is one of the best salons in the city that I’m sending you to, so it will not come out awful. But if you’re that afraid of a major change then just get a trim and some highlights.”

She sighed heavily. “Okay.” She finally relented.

“Cool. I’ll call once they open and get an appointment for you.”

“So, how was your weekend?” Lucy asked.

“Well, since you asked…” I grinned and gave her the whole play-by-play of my time spent with Brock.

“Wow, he sounds perfect.”

“He is…he really is.” I took a deep breath and came out of my little fantasy of his lips pressed against mine. “Ready for our Monday meeting?” I asked as I stood up and grabbed my notebook.

“You mean, ready to watch you and Alex go at it for a couple of rounds?” She giggled.

Alex. Ugh. Just the mention of his name reminded me of being trapped in that elevator less than twenty-four hours ago. We walked past his office, and Lucy and I both stared at each other in disbelief when he called my name. Normally he avoided me like the plague at work, especially before our Monday morning meetings.

“If I’m not in the meeting in five minutes, come looking for my dead body,” I said to Lucy before turning back around to see what he wanted.

“What’s up?” I asked as I stood in his doorway.

“Can you come in, so I don’t have to scream to you all the way over there? I think after being in such close quarters yesterday, you know I don’t bite.”

“No, I really don’t know that for sure.” I took a few steps forward. “Is that better?”

“Umm, William…”

“Oh, yeah. What’s up?” I took a seat, suddenly forgetting I was in enemy territory.

“I just got off the phone with the hospital. He allowed them to release his medical information to me.”

“And?” I almost didn’t want to know the answer.

“The doctor went into some long medical explanation, but the short of it is, it’s some rare lung disease.”

“Can they take care of it to make it go away?”

He shook his head and my eyes began to burn. I wasn’t sure why I had such strong feelings for William. I hardly even knew him. It was just so sad to think he had no one in life he could depend upon and no place to go, yet he still always managed to have the same toothless smile plastered across his face. “The doctor said he has about four to six months.”

“Wow,” I whispered, closing my eyes and getting my emotions in check. I pulled myself together. “So, what happens next? He’s obviously not going to be able to stay in the hospital until he…” My voice trailed off. I didn’t want to finish the sentence because it sounded so cruel.

“I’m gonna find him a place to stay,” Alex replied.

“I want to help.”

“That’s not nec—”

“No, Alex. I mean it. I really do. I don’t know why, but I just feel like I need to, so will you please just let me?”

“Okay…I guess.” He let out a reluctant sigh. “I was gonna check out a few places tomorrow night. The doctor said he’ll more than likely be released by the end of the week.”

“Fine, just let me know what time, and I’ll be there.”

He nodded, still a little uneasy over the idea of the two of us working together. He stood up, and I followed his lead. He lifted his arm, motioning for me to exit in front of him. We walked down the long hallway and into the conference room where all eyes were on us.

“Nice of you two to show up,” Mr. Andrews spoke, trying his hardest but failing miserably at sounding annoyed.

Without saying a word, I swiftly found my way to the empty seat next to Lucy.

“Sorry,” Alex mumbled, sitting down at the other end of the table.

“What did Alex want?” Lucy whispered.

I shook my head.

“Come on, Rose! I’m dying here.” Her whisper became a little louder.

I pulled out my phone and discretely sent her a text to stop her from talking during the meeting and calling out any more unwanted attention on me.

Me: I’ll tell you later. It wasn’t anything about this place.

Lucy: Now I want to know even more! I think he’s got a crush on you, and he’s just afraid to admit it…lol

Me: You’re insane. He DOES NOT have a crush on me. He tolerates me at most.

Lucy: I disagree…and judging by the way he’s checking you out right now, I think I’m correct in my assumption.

I took my attention away from my phone and locked eyes with Alex across the table. He caught himself and cleared his throat, bowing his head, pretending to be interested in the piece of paper in front of him.

Lucy: Told ya!

I tried to focus as best as I could as Mr. Andrews went around the table. My normal “piss off Alex Monday morning meeting” mantra was absent this morning, so I felt as if I didn’t have much to offer.

“Okay, Rose, and what’s new with you?” Mr. Andrews asked once he reached me.

“Oh…umm.” I had lost all train of thought as I stumbled with my words. “Well…uh.”

“Rose volunteered at the shelter, and we’re working on a little project to help a man who visits there from time to time, so that will be a lot to add to her article,” Alex chimed in, coming to my rescue.

Mr. Andrews raised his eyebrow at his nephew and looked my way with the same stunned expression on his face, while Lucy kicked me under the table. As my eyes scanned the room, everyone sitting around the table all seemed to be equally as shocked over this newly forged alliance or whatever you wanted to call what was going on between Alex and me.

“Yes, that will be a great article to write about.” I cleared my throat and found my composure. “Also, Lucy here will be my first guinea pig for the makeover write-up. Tomorrow she will be transformed form the pretty girl she already is into a beautiful princess.” I couldn’t help but laugh when I turned to Lucy, whose face was the shade of an over ripened tomato. “Marisa, I would love for you to go with Lucy tomorrow. That way we can do yours as well.”

“I-I really can’t tomorrow.”

“Oh, okay, then we’ll just figure out another time that works best for you.” I flashed her a comforting smile and she looked away.

“Okay then, I guess we’re done for this week,” Mr. Andrews said, wrapping up the meeting. “And one last thing.” He raised his voice over everyone as they started to stand up. “I’m glad to see some of you coming together and working as a team.” Even though he didn’t mention names, it was apparent who some of you was.

I hurriedly made my way through the group. I didn’t want my coworkers getting the wrong idea. I had no intentions of becoming friends with Alex. I just wanted to help William. After William was all settled, Alex and I would be back to where we were before—loathing each other. I reached my office and took a seat at my desk, lifting my head from my emails just as Marisa was passing by my door.

“Marisa,” I called.

“Oh, hey.” She was hesitant to take a step inside.

“Come here for a minute and shut the door.”

“What’s up?” Her voice cracked as she closed the door behind her and took a seat across from my desk.

“I’m getting ready to call and make the appointment for Lucy and I wanted to see what day would work well for you.”

“I-I can’t do it. I’m sorry. I know I told you I would, but I’ve just got too much going on outside of here.”

“Look, I know it’s not my business, but is everything okay?”

She looked up at the ceiling then down at the ground before shaking her head. “I’m pregnant.”

“Oh…” I didn’t know what else to say. She was twenty-seven years old, had a pretty serious boyfriend and a decent job, so it wasn’t like it was the end of the world.

“He doesn’t want it.” She wiped the teardrop from her cheek with the back of her hand. “He told me to get rid of it or he was leaving.”

I thought back to the black and blue mark on her face and began to put the pieces together.

“Did he…did he get violent when you told him?”

She nodded and choked back a sob. I grabbed the box of tissues and walked over to the other side of the desk, taking a seat in the chair next to her.

“Let him go, Marisa. You don’t need him.” I handed her a tissue.

“It’s just…I love him and I’m kind of scared to be on my own.”

“You love him? And does he love you? Because I don’t think a man who loves a woman would strike her in the face when she told him she was pregnant with this child.”

She dabbed her eyes with the tissue. “He was drinking.”

“That’s no excuse!”

“I just don’t know what to do.”

“Do you want this baby?” I asked.

She stared straight ahead, deep in thought. “I do,” she whispered as tears rolled down her face.

“Then why are you sad? You should be happy.”

“Because I’m afraid to raise him or her on my own.”

“Don’t be. You can do this by yourself, you don’t need a man, especially not a man like that. Let him go, Marisa, and just focus on you and this baby now.”

“Thank you, Rose. I haven’t been able to talk about this with anyone. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.”

She threw her arms around me and pulled me into a hug. I knew she was strong enough to do this on her own, and I admired her for it, and maybe a small part of me was a little jealous. I wanted to be as strong as her. I wanted to be able to stand on my own two feet if a crisis arose in my life instead of running back to Daddy for help. Such a stark contrast from the girl who stepped on that plane to come here just a short time ago. I had grown so much in my time here. I felt so weak in comparison to the women surrounding me. Lucy, who was the same age as me, didn’t have her parents paying her bills, she didn’t have an Aunt Kate she could crash with. She was on her own in this big city, and she was doing it. Then there was Marisa. She had such a tough exterior, yet on the inside, she was just as weak and vulnerable as the rest of us. She was not only dependent upon herself, she was bringing another life into this world who she was going to be responsible for, and here she was embracing it fully, picking herself up off the ground and trudging forward. I may have had nicer clothes and more expensive shoes than these ladies, but I lacked something they both had—courage. The courage to know I’d be okay if I didn’t have my father to fall back on, and that was something I was yearning for more and more with each passing day.