Elias

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Now I see her.

Not mine though. She is beautiful.

But not as beautiful as mine.

Who is she, I do not know....but I will. Like a flower, she dances, her voice filled with songs.

But I will wait for mine. My beautiful flower.

How long must I wait?

—𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘴

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By the look on her face, it seemed as if a faint sound of ringing echoed in the back of Ambrosia's mind. Her world was twisting and turning in the arms of a stranger...a stranger that whispered to her. Told her every mistake, every insecurity.

She grimaced in a vigorous attempt to push down the noise into the silence of her dream, however, it persisted, getting louder, and louder.

Ambrosia's eyes slowly fluttered open, the streams of morning light hit her instantly and as if it was a reflex she retracted her head into her white sheets. She rubbed her eyes and yawned while the ringing called for her attention.

Her phone.

Ambrosia peeked under the cover and reached for her phone resting on the nightstand. She quickly grabbed it, seeing she was being called, she answered.

"Hello?" came a high-pitched voice.

"Hey.." Ambrosia croaked as she tried to make out who it was.

"Where are you, I called you five times Ambrosia?!" the voice yelped.

Ambrosia winced away from the phone, this voice was excessively annoying.

"Ambrosia...please come home, dad said-"

A light bulb flashed in Ambrosia's head, it was her little sister 's voice, a voice she had not heard in years.

"Why are you calling me Ivy?" Ambrosia grumbled whipping the sheets over her head.

"It's grandma she's..dead."

Ambrosia licked her lips and blinked twice, her outer appearance was not fazed. She took a sharp breath of air and spoke bluntly.

"I'll be there in an hour."

With that, she ended the call and climbed off the bed. A gruff voice called out to her as she moved.

"You're up early, baby."

Ambrosia looked over her shoulder while she slipped on her tattered pair of blue jeans.

"What did I tell you about calling me, baby..."

Her brown eyes met her partially naked friend who sat up and stretched. The white sheets slipped off his glorious light brown, toned body.

Dante looked like each of his rippling muscles were handcrafted by God himself, and it was taking everything in Ambrosia's power to prevent herself from jumping back in bed. However the thoughts of her sister's words slapped her back into focus. It was too bad they were only friends with benefits.

"Yeah, family stuff," Ambrosia mumbled under her breath while slipping on her tank top.

Dante pouted and watched her fix her mess of kinky hair.

"You sure you can't stay just a little bit longer," his heavy voice drifted to her ears.

"No I can't I-" Ambrosia's voice struggled to carry on as Dante's arms appeared around her waist. His chin rested on her shoulder and he rocked her side to side. Ambrosia felt like melting in his embrace, and it was infuriating. Dante knew all the right things to say to make her melt and all the right places to touch her and hold her. She knew she was getting to close to him, and it was time for some distance.

"Please Dante, I need to go, seriously," Ambrosia managed to grunt as she wiggled out of his hold. She turned to him and chuckled as she sized him up.

"Put on some pants."
She grabbed her purse while sliding into her sandals.

Dante looked down at his nakedness and smiled cheekily and when he looked up Ambrosia was halfway out the door.

"Text me!" was the last thing she heard as she walked out, and it was very unlikely that she would.

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Ambrosia drove as quickly as she could to her father's house but made no haste to get out of the car once she was there. She knew the moment she walked in a fight between her and her dad would insue.

As always.

Ambrosia trudged up the walkway towards the apartments. She wandered her way down until she found the door 78. She knocked softly and waited.

There was a good long pause and Ambrosia lifted her hand to knock again but the door unlocked. A teenage girl opened the door.

It was Ivy. Ambrosia stared her mouth opened as she tried to piece together words to say at the moment. Years had passed since they've seen each other, and in Ambrosia's eyes, her little sister had grown so much without her.

Ivy looked at her and rubbed her tear stained cheeks, she gave a sad smile and welcomed Ambrosia inside silently.

"Thanks..."Ambrosia said in a voice lower than a whisper. She shuffled in and took in the deep scent of cinnamon that filled the apartment. If she wasn't careful a tear may have come to her eye.

It smelled just as if her mother was here.

"Ambrosia?" her father's voice grabbed her and she turned to meet him.

The man had shrunk in size and the small patches of grey she remembered had spread like a fire over his head turning it into a bush of white hair.

He smiled softly and removed his crooked glasses.

"Welcome home Ambrosia"

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