JUST LIKE HEAVEN; NIKKI SIXX

iii. FLOWERS

CHAPTER THREE

Rose stared at the clock on the dashboard trying to read it. Her arms were folded across her chest and her head towards the window. Eventually, when she had expended all of her concentration, she shifted her eyes back towards the window as well.

The dark city raced past beyond her window, the blur of it all made her stomach turn. Rose closed her eyes and probed blindly for the button so that she could roll down her window. Maybe the cool air would alleviate her churning stomach.

Rose let out a sigh of relief as a sudden gust of wind entered the car from the now open window. She could still faintly hear the conversation in the background, something about a party? She wasn't sure, the only focus now was keeping chunks from painting the interior of the SUV.

"Would you like to be taken home?" The driver asked, peering at the sick blonde in the passenger seat. He grimaced at the thought of scraping vomit from the unforgiving polyester floor mats.

"Yes," Rose responded quickly, her tone unintentionally sharp. "Thank you." She added, hoping that the man wouldn't think too much about her impoliteness.

The silence once again settled over the two, Rose kept her eyes closed and tuned out the muffled voices behind her.

"Can I get your address?"

"Huh?" Rose furrowed her eyebrows at the question, "Oh," Her cheeks burned as she told him her address.

After she did so, her eyes remained open as she watch the familiar scenery roll past the windows as nothing more than dark smudges. Rose had lived in Los Angeles her whole life, she was fairly confident she could find her way around the city in the dark.

Finally, the car stopped in front of her dingy apartment building, she popped the door open and with a quick "thank you," she was out of the car.

Nikki watched her from the back seat. She stood for a moment outside of the door, punching in a number he assumed was the key. After half a minute or so, she disappeared behind the gated door.

Rose descended the deteriorating staircase quickly, she prayed her foot wouldn't catch one of the poorly carpeted stairs. God knows how many people would come out after hearing someone take a tumble down 19 steps.

Luckily, each flight came easy and soon Rose was throwing herself through the unlocked door of her apartment.

Rose tossed her purse onto the couch that, despite seating only two people, took up nearly her whole living room.

She made her way quickly to the bathroom, hurling the contents of her stomach into the porcelain bowl. As she did so, she cursed herself for going out and drinking as much as she did. For someone who drank a lot, Rose was very much a light weight, it didn't take much to make her blow.

Rose wiped her mouth with the back of her wrist followed by her brow. "Nasty!" She groaned to herself as she realized she now had vomit smeared across her forehead.

After cleaning herself up and changing her clothing, she settled into bed. Yellow light from her bedside lamp painted the regularly cream colored walls.

She looked around for a moment, her eyes finding the street lamp just outside her window. Rose often stared at it as she drifted off.

Tonight though, she couldn't seem to sleep. After turning off the bedside lamp, Rose rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling as she had thought about the events of the night.

Watching the Mötley Crüe play had been pretty rad, but spending time with the men wasn't something she felt comfortable with. The high energy constantly buzzing between the four made her uneasy and she was glad she had been driven home before any real shenanigans could unfold.

Rose then found herself thinking about Nikki, he was a very, very tall glass of water and it was a hot July day. She shuddered at the thought of a crush.

He had been nice to her though, she reasoned but soon shook off the silly way her brain tried to rationalize the purely physical attraction she held for another person. Nikki Sixx was a famous rockstar, he had many options for women. Rose was sure he had seen a thousand of girls just like her and he would soon see a thousand more. With that though, Rose pushed the suave bassist out of her mind and sleep finally came.

-

It was 9:05 am when Rose unlocked the front doors to Chantilly Bakery. She pushed the glass door open and used a rubber block to keep it from closing.

Rose wasn't sure if it actually worked or not, but she liked passerby's to smell what she was baking. Not too long after, the morning rush began.

She was all over the place making coffee, bagging pastries, and taking orders that she didn't notice the delivery man standing at her counter with a clipboard and a small bouquet of assorted flowers.

This was a common occurrence when it came to mailmen or anyone delivering any kind of boxes, Rose was always so up in the cloud she often didn't notice the men or women who waited so patiently to deliver the post for the day.

Quickly, Rose signed his form and took the flowers to the back, not giving them a second glance as they were set on the granite countertop. She would inspect further when she had the time

At 10:13, Rose served her last customer of the rush. She smiled, her bakery was busy and she couldn't ask for anything more.

Flowers!

The thought crossed her mind and she bounded to the back of the bakery.

As she looked over the bouquet, Rose finally spotted the small baby blue card attached. She unfolded it and read the message scratched in black ink.

"I would love to see you again, maybe not in a group setting. when you get the time, give me a ring and we can plan a date

-Nikki "

-

[WC: 1016]

Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has stuck around, i know it's been a fat minute since i updated but life has been going by wicked fast and i haven't had the time.

- mea