CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

"So," Anna started after swallowing a piece of the store-bought pretzel in the car. "Should we beat around the bush or go straight to the point?"

Rose considered the question seriously. She really didn't want to think about Laurent yet. She just wanted to forget and keep smiling like she'd been doing. 

"I'm still too sober," she replied indirectly.

Her friend whooped before she said, "Let's break out the joint then." They awkwardly poured their drinks into the plastic cups they'd remembered to pick up, laughing at nothing and everything and participating in stupid competition. 

"When last did you eat?" Anna asked her with a laugh when she started trying to count all the bottles in the different languages she knew.

She belched and covered her mouth in the background of their laughter. "Uhm, maybe a sandwich for lunch?"

"You're already drunk, then. I win"

She waved her hand around her face, "Noooo, I'm not yet drunk." She actually was. Maybe they should have gotten something to eat other than snacks.

"Oh yes, you are," Anna argued, collecting the already empty cup from her hands.

She stared at her friend suspiciously, "Why are you sober?"

"One, while you were sitting your cushy ass and working, I was building a tolerance to this shit. And two, you're practically gulping the thing. I'm drinking mine the normal way."

"Fine, you cheat. You deceived me." Tears sprung into her eyes, and her friend cooed and rubbed her shoulder.

"Is that what that asshole did?" her friend asked out of nowhere, making her tense and then forcefully relax. It was better this way. She'd been wondering how she would bring it up. This way, she just had to answer questions. 

She sniffled and nodded. "Yes, or no. I think so."

"Is he the guy you were talking about on the phone?"

She had to force her head back into the game. Shit, she really was drunk.

She had to force her head back into the game. Shit, she really was drunk.

"Yes." Her lips trembled. "What do I do? I think I was in love with him."

"Was?"

"Is, am, were, I don't know," she wailed. When Anna's lips twitched, she actually burst into tears. "You're laughing at me. No one is taking me seriously, and now I'm all alone."

Her friend hugged her, "I'm sorry, Okay. I wasn't laughing at you. You just looked so cute."

She sniffed and asked seriously, "What am I going to do?"

"Okay, let's think about that." Her friend said in that take-charge voice she rarely used, "But first, tell me everything."

So she did. She told Anna as much as she knew. Starting from finally giving in and going into his office that night, and then meeting someone entirely different in her father's room. She might have gone into more personal details, too. Like the fact that he was capable of giving her pleasure till she dropped, and he'd never let her touch him. She might have used more descriptive words, though.

When she was done, she had more than one tissue squeezed beside her, and Anna was patting her hair. "He's an ass," she said, but even through her drunken haze, she could tell that the animosity wasn't genuine. After all that sobbing, she was feeling a little better too, less drunk and more logical in her thinking.

"Maybe it's a misunderstanding," Anna said and she lifted her head to look at her, "neither of them explained anything to you after all."

"You think so," she asked hopefully but Anna grimaced.

"I mean. The guy you just described sounds like a great guy, nothing like the criminal that tried to do me in."

She hiccupped a laugh, "They're one and the same, you know?"

Her next words were more genuine: "Then he's an ass."

They fell into a comfortable silence after that. She had no idea what Anna was thinking about, but she was thinking about sleep. Her sleep had been cut short by her subconscious, and it was catching up with her. She didn't want to go back to the hotel, though. The thought of forcing herself to sleep in the bed where she'd felt so cared for was more painful than depressing. 

She lifted her drooping eyes to see Anna on her phone, "What are you doing?"

She waved her phone and answered drolly, "Research."

"On what?"

"Your lover."

She shook her head and left her to it.

She didn't know how much time had passed when Anna tapped her. "Hmm," she answered sleepily. 

"You can't sleep in the car. Where are you lodged?"

"M' not going to the hotel tonight," she mumbled, tucking her head to go back to sleep. 

"No hotels, then. You can spend the night at my place."

She looked up in horror, "Your parent's place?"

Mischief radiated from Anna's face. "They'll be asleep. If they're not, I'll sneak you in."

"Into the house?" She asked, beyond horrified.

"Come on. It'll be fun."

She didn't really have a choice, so she settled in for the continuation of the most unforgettable day of her life. She really hoped they were asleep, though.

"Shit!" Rose cried out when she felt someone land on her. As soon as she opened her eyes, she wished she hadn't. It felt like the entire heavens had opened up on her face. She cried out again and shielded her eyes, breathing deeply to reduce the nausea churning in her guts.

From above her, she heard a clear melodic voice ask, "What's wrong with her, Anna?"

Anna's distinct laugh echoed through her skull, and from behind her closed eyes, she saw the motion of the earlier glory of heaven sliding back and forth, but remaining on a part of her face at all times.

"Why don't you ask her yourself, Lizzy?" Anna answered her younger sibling. Even with a 17-year difference between Anna and her sister, it was obvious to everyone how much each adored the other. She remembered times she'd gone to sleep while they were talking on the phone and woke up to still meet them laughing about the most unimportant things. It made her wish for a sibling sometimes.

"What's wrong with you, Rosie? Aren't you going to look at me?"

Covering her eyes with her hands, she peeked up at the 8-year-old, "Hi, sweetheart. Could you beg your sister to get that light off my face?" Even though she was whispering, her head still protested the movement of any part of her body, and she whimpered and clutched her head.

Anna eventually turned off the light she'd been flashing at her, but not before she heard the click of shutters.

"Alright, sunshine," she said after examining the pictures with a grin, "It's time to kick some asses."

"Can I join?" Lizzy asked excitedly and she huffed. That was her hungover translation of full-blown laughter. As much as Lizzy was an angel sometimes, she was also that kid you met and decided, 'nope, not having kids'. The girl had an undue obsession with violence. Watching, learning, practicing, she didn't let her age or gender limit her.

"Not today, kiddo," her sister responded with a laugh of her own, "Now why don't you get Rosie a glass of water and the aspirin in the drawer."

"Alright," she said enthusiastically and then she was gone.

"You're a demon; you know that, right?" she asked softly when the door shut behind the girl.

"I try," Anna said with a smile in her voice. "But really, we do have to go soon."

"Why?" she moaned, "My head is still pounding so what's the hurry?"

"I think we should go back to the hospital."

She groaned. "I thought about it, and I've decided to hide my head under the grass and pretend everything is still fine," she said, only half joking.

"Not while I'm alive," Anna responded just as Lizzy bounded straight into the room and on the bed again. 

Seeing the futility of struggling, she took the bottle that was being handed over and poured out two of the pills, placing it on her tongue and washing it down with what was definitely not water.

She smiled at the gratified look in Lizzy's eyes, "Thanks, sweetie."

Lizzy only threw herself into her arms, causing her to grunt at the weight. Anna pulled her off before long, her curiosity getting the better of her. "What did you do?" she narrowed her eyes at them both.

Already feeling fractionally better, both because of the drug and the glass of juice she'd had, she shrugged her shoulders slightly.

"Fine then," Anna said, standing up from the bed, "I just remembered that Mom needs me. I'm sure she'd love to be told to add more food for her guest.

"You're mean"

"What did she do?" Anna insisted, and she sighed and gave in.

"She brought me a glass of juice instead of water. Happy now?"

Anna cocked a brow at her sister with a small smile, "That was thoughtful."

The girl grinned broadly and then, without warning, dashed back out of the room with a "Bye. Let me know when you're leaving."

The two of them looked at each other and shrugged. Who knew what went on in 8-year-old girl's heads.

"Do we really have to go?" she asked after the light moment had come to a natural end.

"Yup, so get your ass moving."

Grumbling, she went about doing that, but her phone rang, stopping her in her tracks. With unease in her heart, she collected the phone from Anna, only to see Laurent's name flashing on her screen.