A Flower in War

Chapter Eight: An Array of Colors

"Cal wake up!" A banging on the door makes Robby sit up abruptly, finding Calanthe snuggled into his side. A soft smile takes over his features before he hears more banging.
"Calanthe, wake up." He shakes her a bit, watching her lashes flutter before she sits upright at the sound of harsh banging.
"Glad we locked the door now?" Robby jokes, making her smack him with a pillow.
"Ow!"
"Oh you're fine." Cal stands up, stretching a bit, making her shirt rise up her lower back. Her soft, dimpled, freckled, pale lower back.

"I'll be out in a minute Tony! I'm... changing?" She tries, hearing the younger boy ew at the mental image.
"Hurry up! Mom said she got you those jam Danish things you like from the bakery down the road!"
"Oh hell yeah!" Cal dances away from the door, momentarily forgetting Robby is still in her bed.
"Nice dance moves."
"Oh shove it."

"Danishes huh?"
"They are delicious! I can bring one up for you?"
"No, I should go. Have breakfast with your family." Robby smiles, standing up from her bed and grabbing his jacket off the chair by the balcony.
"You sure? They're really good." Cal laughs, poking his stomach.
"I'm good. Thanks Calanthe." He smiles, pushing her hands away.
"Okay, if you say so." Calanthe sighs, grabbing a robe from the hook on her door.
"What? Cover up for the LaRussos but not for me?"
"I was cold for your information! You're like a personal heater, okay?"
"I think that's you Calanthe."
"I do run hot."

"Are you sick?" Robby asks worriedly, touching her forehead.
"I'm fine." Cal laughs, pushing his hand from her, "I just run hot. Gives me a good excuse to get out of class when I need to."
"And you're sure you're okay?"
"Yeah just part of my lovely fucked up body." She laughs dryly.
"Your body?"
"Yeah. I just have a couple of conditions, run in my family and all that."
"But you're okay?"
"I'm fine Robby. Don't worry about me." Cal smiles, holding the side of his face.

"Swear?"
"Swear." She assures him, hand still holding his cheek. She rubs her thumb against the soft skin, watching red creep up from his neck.
"I should... I should go... gotta let you eat your Danish." Robby laughs, stepping backwards almost tripping on one of her many blankets.
"Well thank you for that. I'll see you around?"
"Yeah." He nods, holding his board to his side before he climbs down off her balcony and on to the trellis. He dismounts, offering a small wave before she turns back to go inside.

"Fuck." Robby sighs, he can't go around looking at her like that. She's normal and he is decidedly not. He's not even in her league! He's a delinquent who dropped out and she's a smart, rich girl. The two should not mix. Ever. But he was just enough of a bad guy to not care that she shouldn't be around him.

-

"What's with all the colors?" Daniel laughs, finding Cal in his office with different colored folders spread around her in a rainbow with stacks of paper in front.
"I'm color coding things so you can find them easier. Everything will be set up so your papers are in chronological order, if there's multiple papers for a specific date then it goes in alphabetical order. But you really should just transfer all these to an encrypted drive."
"I'm not exactly tech savvy."
"Well I could do it! I'll even make the colors the same for the folders in the drive!"
"You really like this stuff huh?"
"Yeah." Cal admits, shrugging, "I helped my dad with all his medical documents. But for that I had to sign a lot more paperwork." Cal laughs, watching Daniel nod with a smile.

"Well you do whatever you think is best, but do it after lunch. We've got some pizza and garlic bread in the break room."
"Ooo yum!" Cal smiles, standing up and following him out.

The throngs of sales associates stand around eating pizza and chatting, none noticing the new young hire in the line.
"Oh my god! See! Anoush, this is her!" Louie grabs Cal's arm, standing her in front of a shorter gentleman with a kind face.
"Hello." She waves.
"You're the talk of the town! I'm Anoush."
"Nice to meet you Anoush. I'm Calanthe but most people call me Cal."
"We've known her since she was a baby! Daniel's her godfather."
"Yeah, I've always called him my uncle."
"Louie says you're a singer?"
"Oh god." Calanthe tries to hide behind her hands.
"I've seen the video! You were really good, even as a kid!"

"What was she good at as a kid?" Daniel questions, handing Calanthe a plate of pizza.
"Thanks."
"Singing! That cute little video of her and her dad singing that song from uh some Disney movie?"
"Something There from Beauty and the Beast?" Cal offers.
"That's the one! You were in the little Belle dress and everything!"

"Do you still sing?"
"Yeah, I mean every now again. I did the school musical at my last high school."
"What musical?"
"Footloose? I was Ariel."
"That's the lead female role! I remember when that movie came out, all the girls swooned over Kevin Bacon. Didn't know they made it into a musical."
"It was a really fun musical." Cal smiles, remembering all her dad's colleagues that came to see her, trying to fill in for her father since her mother never bothered.

"Maybe you could do some jingles or something for the shop?"
"Yeah?" Cal asks excitedly.
"Yeah! Could always do with more than 'we kick the competition'!"
"I like the karate puns, reminds me of my dad's horrible jokes."
"Ah come on that's a great pun!"
"It is, it is." Cal laughs with a nod.

"I haven't seen your old man in a while! He come with you?"
"Louie!" Daniel bites.
"It's okay Uncle Dan, he clearly doesn't know. My dad passed away in December of 2015."
"Oh god kid. I'm sorry."
"It's okay you didn't know."
"Sorry for your loss, Calanthe." Anoush offers a small smile to the girl who returns it.
"Thank you."

"What's with the long faces?" Amanda asks worriedly.
"Nothing Aunt Amanda. Everything's good, just getting Louie up to date!" Cal smiles, trying to ease her worries.
"Do you mind if I take my lunch back to the office? I had planned on calling my friend to make sure they got home safe."
"Yeah, yeah of course kid." Daniel smiles, watching her leave and close the door before he smacks his cousin's chest.

"Louie! Seriously?!"
"What did he do?"
"He asked where her dad was!" Daniel explained, making Amanda put her hand over her face.
"I didn't know he was dead! No one tells me anything!" Daniel shakes his head, walking away before he says something he'll regret.
"Louie, I know you don't have the best handle on certain things. It's just a sore spot for both of them, don't take it too personal." Amanda tries, patting his shoulder before leaving to check on Cal and her husband.

"Was he really important to them?" Anoush asks curiously.
"Yeah, uh... he was Daniel's best friend. They knew each other for like ever. He knew Miyagi and trained with him and Daniel. They were thick as thieves. Ma used to say Daniel didn't need any brothers because he already had one in Jackson. I can't believe he died. Man was in the best shape I've ever seen."
"A lot can change in a few years. You said you haven't seen her since she was a kid."
"Yeah, yeah I guess you're right. God I feel bad now. Should I say something? I should say something right?"
"I wouldn't." Anoush warns, "You're not the most tactful." Anoush states, turning away.
"Hey I got tact!" Louie says loudly as he follows Anoush.