Desolation

twenty two

Picture of Aaron on the side. It's Francisco Lachowski bitches!

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Stephen's POV

I carefully watched the exchange between Rose and the brown haired guy from where I was sat. All I could make out about this guy's appearance was the fact that he was tall and muscular with light brown hair and a really structured jawline, it was hard to miss. He looked decent enough and Rose surely knew him.

They seemed to be talking about something important and the guy looked really stressed. He looked like he was explaining something to Rose and after he was done, he quickly pulled her into his arms. He mumbled something to her before kissing her on the forehead and letting her go.

I felt really weird watching all of that and wondered what must have happened because the guy definitely looked like he was trying to soothe Rose about something. He had to have been somebody extremely close to her because as far as I knew her, she wasn't the type to just let anyone touch her like that.

He held her hand before finally moving away from her and getting out of the cafe. I'd like to think that he was either her boyfriend or her brother. I was hoping it was the latter. In the middle of thinking all this, another thought struck me. What if this guy was the Blake person that I'd been hearing about? From the things I'd heard so far, I'd definitely think so.

I saw Rose walking back towards the table while frustratedly running her fingers through her hair and sighing.

That's when it suddenly hit me, I'd been calling her Rose in my head all this time without actually realizing it. I guess I really did like that name better.

She came and sat down in front of me while leaning her elbows on the table, crossing her arms.

"Are you okay?" I asked her cautiously. I didn't know what type of mood she was in and I didn't want her to snap at me.

"I'm alright. Did you find anything else that interests you?" she quickly changed the subject and questioned.

"I don't think so. Look I've got to go back to the office so do you wanna continue this some other time?" I asked softly while raising an eyebrow.

"Sure, it's okay. We could do it later," she didn't meet my eyes and scrambled to collect all her things from the table. She was about to get up when I suddenly grabbed her hand, giving it a small squeeze before quickly letting it go.

"I'll see you around, lighten up," I gave her a bright smile before shuffling out of the booth and waiting for her to get to her feet. Once she did, we both headed out of the cafe and then parted ways. She didn't say anything and seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.

I had already payed for her abandoned coffee as well as mine, thanking Mrs. Fields with a small smile. She was a nice lady.

I got in the drivers seat of my car and turned the engine on before heading to my suite. I didn't have to go to the office, I was done for the day but I could tell that Rose was extremely disturbed because of something. I didn't want her to stress herself even more with the work when we could simply continue it later someday. I didn't mind and plus we had a lot of time.

I reached within 10 minutes and after parking my car, went up to my suite. Sooner or later, I'd have to start searching for a house, I couldn't live in a suite after all. As much as I liked it here, it wasn't gonna work long term. I needed a home.

I kicked off my shoes next to the main door before locking it and going to my room. I changed into a pair of sweatpants and took my shirt off, crawling into my bed. I laid there, thinking about what had happened. Rose definitely had something serious going on in her life which she clearly didn't want anyone to know about. She always tried her best to keep secrets, keeping everyone in the shadows, wondering what was going on.