I just wanted to wish everyone a happy new year and say thanks to _fairytale for making a wonderful cover!
-------------
"Well I didn't know!" Bobby tried to defend as Alana stormed to her bedroom, throwing her phone onto the pale chocolate covers on her bed.
"That's why next time, you shouldn't jump to conclusions." Alana urged.
"The man was just dropping me home." She added, when someone knocked on the front door. Frowning, Alana stole a look at Bobby who simply shrugged and left her room. Having been exhausted, Alana collapsed onto her bed, closing her eyes in an attempt to ease the headache that she knew was coming. However, once she heard the high pitched voice of Rosie, she instantly went on alert as the conversation that she had with Veronica instantly replayed behind her eyes.
"Rosie insisted that I were hard on you from the moment that you walked into our office. When you messed up the other night, I begged Jill to give you a second chance but she wouldn't allow it and Rosie didn't even try to back you up either."
"We were all worried sick Alana-May! Don't ever do that to us again!"
"What's she doing here?" Alana growled, her eyes catching the hurt and confusion in her friendls blue depths.
"What do you mean what am I doing here? I've been looking everywhere for you!" Rosie cried, sharing a concerned look with Bobby who simply watched, not sure about what was happening.
"Well as you can see Rosie, I'm fine. In fact! I'm ecstatic after what Veronica told me yesterday!" Alana replied sourly, deciding to confront Rosie about the matter. It was not the idea of Rosie telling Veronica to be hard on her that had hurt her feelings, but the fact that Rosie had not defended her when she needed it most.
"Alana I'm even surprised that you listened to that witch after everything that she's done to--" Bobby scowled, getting cut off by Rosie's hand. Alana didn't understand why she listened to Veronica either, except she had hoped that there was some truth in it since it would give her a reason as to why Veronica had been mean to her for the past year.
"No Bobby. Lets hear what Veronica said. What exactly did she tell you?" Rosie wondered, curiosity evident in her voice as she watched Alana, wearily. Usually, Bobby would have left the girls to argue alone but he wanted to know, this time, what exactly they were fighting about.
"She told me about how when I first started, you insisted that she should be hard on me." Alana started.
"Well for once she didn't lie." Rosie confirmed to Alana's surprise. She did not understand why Rosie would do that and when she didn't elaborate, it made Alana even angrier.
"Why would you do that? I thought that we were best friends but I guess that all you were thinking about was yourself! That must mean that you didn't try to defend me when I got fired either. To think that I hated Veronica this whole time when the one I should have hated was you!" Alana ranted, leaving the room. She could no longer look at her friend after everything that had just been revealed. It felt as though their entire relationship had been a lie, yet Alana had no clue as to why Rosie would do such a thing. She was sure that she may have been being over dramatic but she was hurt.
"Alana I'm sure that's not what ---" Bobby tried to rationalise only to get interrupted a second time.
"It would make sense if you let me explain first, Alana!" Rosie complained.
"I don't want to hear it and I think that you should leave." Alana insisted, keeping her hands busy as she began rummaging through the cupboard to find something to eat even though she was far from hungry.
"Here we go! You don't want to listen, as always! Well you are gonna listen this time, Alana." Rosie commanded, swinging her around so that Alana had no choice but to stare into her angry blue eyes as she used her arms to block her between her body and the kitchen counter. Too shocked to speak due to Rosie's attitude change, Alana remained silent and Rosie took that as her cue to continue.
"Jill did exactly the same thing when I was working for Veronica and look where I am now. I'm a planner, no longer an assistant. I was trying to do you a favour and as for not backing you up, that's the biggest lie I've ever heard! Fair enough, I told her to be hard on you, but she took that to a whole other level and saw to it that you were fired. Jill tried as hard as she could but Veronica brought up things that convinced her otherwise." Rosie explained, before moving away from Alana.
"I'll speak to you later Bobby and when your ready to apologise Alana, you have my number," Rosie sighed, heading towards the door.
"I'm glad that your safe." Rosie added before slamming the door closed.
As the new information soaked in, Alana felt stupid for letting herself believe a word that came out of Veronica's mouth.
"I hope that your happy with yourself. Making something out of nothing after how scared we were that---. Do you know what? I'm not even going to waste my breath." Bobby spat, his voice reeking off disappointment which made Alana feel even worse. Alana heard the door slam a second time and she couldn't help but break down in to tears. She had let that witch try to ruin her life a second time. She now knew that she couldn't afford to make any more mistakes to do with that woman. She had to fix up her act. Fast.
Wiping her tears as she made her way towards her bedroom, Alana heard her phone ringing and jumped to pick it up, not reading the caller ID.
"Rosie? I just wanted to ---," Alana began, the sound of crying still in her voice.
"It's not Rosie. Is everything alright? Are you crying, Alana?" Cain's voice boomed on the other side of the phone. Only God knew why he was calling at such a time, Alana thought.
"I'm not ---. I'm fine." Alana quickly answered, not wanting to lie, when it was obvious that she was crying.
"Was it your boyfriend? If it was, I hope that you haven't forgotten that I'm a police officer. I'll be there right now to bust his butt, Alana. Without hesitation." Cain reminded her and Alana was sure that she could hear rustling in the background.
"No! No! Bobby is not my boyfriend, he's just a close friend. Plus, it wasn't him that caused my problem, it was me." It was obvious that she could not blurt out that it was his girlfriend but she realised that it was not fully her fault either.
"Oh. Well...do you want to talk about it?" Cain asked, the sound of moving around having stopped.
"Not really. There's not much to say, except that I was stupid enough to believe something that someone said and it might have ruined one of my best friendships." Alana sighed. Holding the phone to her ear, she looked through her wardrobe for pyjamas, since the only thing that she could do was go to bed.
"Do you want to know what I'm going to say to that?" Cain questioned, his husky voice fading for a second before returning to normal.
"No," Alana answered bluntly, not surprised to hear a chuckle on the other end of the phone. She did not want any advise at that moment. All she wanted to do was go to bed. Forever, hopefully.
"It was a rhetorical question. I think that you should call whoever it is and apologise, instead of talking to me." Cain stated.
"You don't think I know that?" Alana retorted. It was an obvious solution.
"What if she's so pissed off that she doesn't want to speak to me right now? I'm trying to give her time and you called before I even had the chance." Alana informed him, changing into her pink pyjama set one handed.
"Hey! I was just trying to make sure that you were still alive after your guy tried it on me. If you want me to leave you alone, I can go away right now. I'm at work as well so ---," Cain replied, his voice angry. Alana did not want to upset anyone else that day and realised that taking it out on him was not doing her any good.
"Cain, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. If you have to get back to work, then don't worry about me, I'm just fine." Alana said, breaking into a sob. She was becoming a mess and she knew it. All she did ever since she had been fired was cry.
"Oh c'mon Alana. Don't cry on me. Do you want me to come around and let you do my hair?" Cain attempted to joke. The thought of doing his hair simply reminded her of Veronica, since she had done his hair at the engagement party, which made her cry even more.
"That's it. I'm coming around. Ben, I'll be back before one," Cain ordered on the other side of the phone.
"No! Cain, don't worry. I'll be fine. I'm just being silly," Alana sniffled, knowing that it was the truth.
"Are you sure? I'm just a minute from my car you know?" Cain insisted and Alana couldn't help but notice his sincerity. He had only known her for a couple of days and wanted to rescue her for an hour when he knew that he had to work.
"I'm sure, Cain." Alana smiled sadly.
Cain stayed on the phone with her for another hour, cheering her up ever so slightly before she decided to call it a night. Just as her head hit the pillow, Alana heard the front door slam closed. Bobby was home.
"She's asleep, I think," she heard him say behind her bedroom door.
"I know. It sucks..." he grumbled before going into his room, leaving her alone once again. She would have to speak to him tomorrow.
It had been a week since Alana had an argument with Rosie and the two women were still not speaking to each other. Alana had tried to apologise on many occasions, calling her best friend's phone but repeatedly received a busy tone. She had guessed that Rosie still needed time to calm down. It had been the first time that Alana had been in the wrong. She finally knew how it felt to be on the other side and she didn't like it.
It had also been a week since Alana had been fired. Searching for a job had been hard and Alana constantly found herself wishing that she could replay that fatal day that had put her in her position. Unfortunately she couldn't. The only good thing that had come out of being arrested was that she had met Cain. The kind, funny, older man that had helped her get through the week. They had spoken every other day and whenever their conversation ended, she always felt slightly better.
"Alana! Rosie's here!" Bobby yelled on the other side of her door. Hesitant, since Alana had no idea that Rosie was coming to their house, Alana moved away from her laptop, where she had lived for most of the day and left her room. To her surprise, Rosie stood in front of her, her ombre hair tied into a neat pony tail with her long tan coats secured around her waist with a thin black belt. The November nights had started getting colder as the end of the year began to approach them and Alana could not wait for the new year.
"I just came here to tell you that you've got an interview tomorrow at Leaf Events. It's nothing big, its just for a receptionist but I know that you've probably been bored stiff. There's a chance that you could move up, so it shouldn't be that bad. If you still want another job you can always look yourself. Here's everything that you need to know about them." Rosie informed Alana, handing her sheets full of writing. Her blue eyes were hard as she watched Alana, causing her to sigh.
"How's everything been going at work?" Alana wondered. She had always thought of that place as her second home and even though she no longer worked there, she still wanted to know.
"It's fine. Veronica hasn't gotten an assistant yet but we don't work together anymore. I work with Carrie now. I asked Jill to move me." Rosie shrugged. It was only then that she realised that Rosie had only been working with Veronica so that they could work together.
"I'm really sorry about jumping to conclusions. I was upset and I was trying to find a reason to justify everything, even if it was a stupid reason." Alana apologised just as Bobby entered the living room. All eyes turned to him and his green eyes looked between them both before he slowly backed away, going back the way that he had come.
"It's fine Alana. I forgave you days ago. I've just been really busy which was why I couldn't answer your calls." Rosie sighed, falling onto the sofa behind her. She slumped, immediately relaxing out of her stiff composure and closed her eyes.
"I wanted to kill that stupid woman the other day!" Rosie continued, growling loudly as she released some of her built up frustration. Alana simply sat down on the leather sofa beside her friend and lifted Rosie's legs on top of her lap whilst she ranted about Veronica.
"But let's not talk about me. Are you still speaking to Mr. Officer?" Rosie teased, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Alana shook her head, laughing at Rosie as she began to sit up.
"Yes actually, I am still talking to Mr. Officer." Alana smiled, not surprised when Rosie's eyes brightened, hoping to hear gossip.
"Alana that's not fair! You can't just say that and leave me hanging!" Rosie complained after a few minutes silence.
***
Cain had gotten a call about yelling and arguing outside of a hotel near the city and pulled Ben with him. To his surprise, the cause of the complaint had been Veronica and the girl that was apparently her work colleague, Rosie. Growling underneath his breath, he dragged his feet over to them, just as Rosie was about to jump his girlfriend.
"That's enough girls!" Cain instructeded, Ben grabbing Rosie before she inflicted any damage.
"This is none of your business Cain, so leave us the hell alone!" Veronica scowled at him, her grey eyes darkened as she glared at him.
"Veronica, calm down." Cain commanded as people walking past stared at the scene in front of them. Except, he didn't care about them. He cared about his crazy girlfriend, that had only seemed to be getting crazier over the past few weeks.
"I'm not finished with her Officer, so if you'd like to unhand me, I'd really appreciate it!" Rosie insisted, fighting against Ben's grip around her waist as he controlled her, effortlessly.
"Cain, move out of my way! I have to remind this girl who she's messing with!"
"I know that you're not talking about to me! I swear! If this cop didn't have his arms around me, I'd kill you! Twice over for what you did to Alana!" Once Cain heard Alana's name, his eyes instantly snapped to Rosie who ignored him.
"That's enough." Cain repeated, finally taking charge of the situation. In a swift movement, he had Veronica's wrists in hand cuffs and was pulling her towards the police car. He frowned when he realised that Ben had not brought his car and so the women had to sit beside each other in the back seat.
"Where are you taking us?" Veronica cried, her voice shaking slightly but Cain refused to pay any attention to her, too annoyed to listen as he drove them back to the women's work office. Both of the men helped the women out and removed their hand cuffs.
"If we hear any more complaints about the two of you arguing, I'll book the both of you." Cain stated, struggling to control his anger. Driving away, Cain was grateful for Ben's silence beside him and took his irritation out on the steering wheel.
"So...that was fun." Ben smiled.
***
"Her name's Rosie, they're usually partners but only God knows what happened," Cain sighed, knowing that it had something to do with Alana. Cain knew that she was Alana's friend, since she had mentioned Rosie a couple of time when they were on the phone, which had been more often. She was easy to speak to and allowed him to escape his crazy life for a while.
"Her friend is the one that got called in a couple weeks back." Cain added, trying to shine a light on who he was talking about.
"Who? The girl that you talk to? Is it, Alana?" Ben remembered. With a simple nod in response, Cain continued to gulp down his beer, the cool liquid soothing his burning throat. He had just had another yelling fight with Veronica and was glad that it was a guy's night out, so that he could forget for a couple of hours.
"Then fix me up man! Get her to put in a good word for me and boom! I'm in." Ben insisted, causing Cain to chuckle.
"Why do you like her so much anyway?" Cain wondered.
"She's beautiful, even when she's angry. I know that you couldn't see it cause you were having problems with your girl, but I was mesmerised." Ben stated.
"Your crazy Ben."
"Crazy in love." Ben winked, his brown eyes brightening as he too continued to drink from his beer bottle.
Dressed and ready half an hour early, Alana waited for Bobby so that he could drive her to her interview at Leaf Events. She had reasearched all night, reading up on the company and also looked through the papers that Rosie had given her. She was ready and could only hope for the best. Her last interview had been over a year ago, so Bobby had kindly helped her tighten up her appearance.
"Good luck Alana," Bobby said, softly kissing her on her cheek. Smiling thankfully, Alana looked at the building which was smaller than her previous job, but would do for a new start. She was sure that she could do it but all of her hope fell into her stomach when she saw who was also getting out of a car across the street. A familiar one.
"Alana-May, what a surprise to see you here." Veronica sneered.