Rosemary's P.O.V
The secretary had been following me all the way from the gym. Not that I exercised, I was only in there looking for a classmate who had my notes for the next test.
When I went into the dorm room, she followed me into it too.
She could not have been looking for me. Otherwise, she would have called out to me from the beginning. "Are you looking for anyone?" I asked either way.
"Yes, you," I was taken back by her response. I froze. "And Violet," she added. Violet, Lucy, and Rachel were talking on her bed.
"What I do now?" Adorably, Violet's eyebrows furrowed as she hugged her pillow tighter.
"Nothing," the secretary assured. "Your parents granted permission for you to leave for the weekend," she explained and handed her the permission form. "Your parents have emailed yours too," she handed me the form.
My parents did not tell me about it.
"Are you sure?" My forehead creased.
"Yes, so get ready because your ride will be here shortly," she assured and snapped her fingers for me to hurry.
"What ride?" I was confused.
"You're leaving with Violet and her driver," The secretary knocked the wind right out of me.
Before I could react, Violet screamed, "She's what?" She jumped off the bed and stood in the secretary's face. "Why the hell though?" Safe to say that she hated the idea of it.
"I can't go with her, she'll kill me in the car," I worried for my safety.
"I'll kill you now," Violet scoffed and gave me a push. She stomped to her nightstand and grabbed her phone. "I'm calling my dad right now to get this figured out."
"As you can see, we cannot be next to each other," I smiled at the secretary.
"Your parents guessed this would be the reaction, so they told me to tell you that they will not speak to you until they see you at home with Rosemary," the secretary passed down the message.
"I gotta go to her house?" My mouth dropped.
She assured with a nod, "Your family is having dinner with the Delaney family."
For starters, why did my parents not inform me about this? Only took a minute to call me and let me know what they planned. A little heads up. Especially when it came to anything involving Violet. It would have given me time to put on a bullets proof vest.
"Anyone got bubble wrap?" I requested. No one nodded to my misfortune.
"Why do you need bubble wrap?" The secretary wondered.
"For when Violet pushes me down the stairs," I explained, predicting my fate.
Well knowing that it was not far fetched, Lucy and Rachel laughed. Scared me how Violet didn't deny it. Oh no, I should not have spoken it into existence.
Violet retorted, "We don't have an extra dog bowl for Rosemary to eat," she complained to the secretary.
"You guys eat with dog bowls? Nasty," I gagged.
Violet rolled her eyes, "No but our pets do, I thought you were eating with them while we ate in the dining room?"
"Haha, you're so funny!" sarcastically, I laughed and gave her a stink face.
"Or y'all can just eat something else," hinting at something sexual, Rachel murmured. Red in the cheeks, Lucy nudged her in the ribs to silence her. "Ouch!" Rachel yelped.
"What was that?" The secretary tuned in.
"Nothing," Rachel gave a innocent and cheeky smile.
Enough of it, the secretary distressed, "Your ride will be here soon, so the both of you need to be ready!" And with that said, she stormed out of the dorm room.
What the heck? She left me alone with the lions! I was about to be torn apart to pieces! With the exception of Lucy, of course... hopefully!
"I'm gonna go get my things ready..." nervously, I chuckled and backed away slowly.
Before I could run up the stairs, Violet blocked my way. "Listen here! You're taking an uber!" She stated. Finding her to be hilarious and absurd, I burst out laughing. That was a funny joke. "Stupid bitch! You're not riding with me!" she insisted, raising her voice louder.
Wow, yet she wanted to ride my face the other night...
That would have been a good response to get on her nerves but I didn't want to make it awkward. After all, I was gonna have to ride with her. Have dinner with her and our families.
"You wanna explain that to your parents?" I raised an eyebrow, pretending to not be intimidated by her. When in reality, I was a little turned on by the attitude that she was giving me. I don't know why but it intrigued me. "They love me so much that they'll get upset with you," I added to add pressure.
"Eww, you get on my nerves!" Violet's face scrunched as she whined.
"It's not that much of a big deal, Violet," Lucy put her two cents in, which I appreciated. In disapproval, Violet shot her a sideways look.
I cleared my throat, "So meet you down there in five?" I held five fingers up.
"Fuck you!" Violet scoffed. I flinched a little. God, she was feisty. "But yeah, see you in five," she gave in and turned away from me to go back to her friends. Already on it, Rachel ran to the downstairs closet to dig for clothes. First thing she went to was the lingerie. What in the world was she thinking of and what was Violet telling her for her to make inappropriate comments and actions?
For now, I was not going to investigate and just get my things ready. Fill up a gym bag with my belongings for the weekend. Not that I needed much, I still had things at my house for when I went back. I was just going to take the necessary.
-
Up in the front, Violet and I waited for her driver. Five minutes ago, she received the text from him saying that he was only a few minutes away. Any minute now, he'd be here. I sure hope so. It would only take Violet one minute to kill me, so he needed to make it quick.
"Carry my bag when he gets here, will ya?" Violet ordered.
I looked down at her bag on the ground and then looked at her, "You have hands."
"You do too," god, there was no arguing with her.
"I mean we both know that," I was not giving up. For someone who didn't want to make it awkward, I sure did talk a lot about it. Sometimes I couldn't stop myself. I had to choose my battles and this time, I chose it!
In disgust, she retorted, "Eww, I still have nightmares!" She shivered, which seemed forced to me but eh.
I gave her a cheeky grin, "You don't say?"
Violet rolled her eyes, "You're gross," she sighed.
In the process of her speaking, I pulled my phone out and played music to dance to. Only to get on her nerves even more. Something about annoying her entertained me to a degree that I could not explain.
"Watch me move," synced with the music, I did the belly roll. I could see that Violet was holding back a smile. Encouraged by it, I did it again, "Oh, I'm hitting it harder this time!"
"Trying to become a stripper now or what?" She chuckled, watching me dance like a fool.
Hitting every beat, I danced around her, seeing her get tensed up a bit. "I'm not cut out for it," I chuckled. "And it's not my thing," I circled around her and stopped behind her. My body facing her back. Violet tensed up more. Being this close to her reminded me of that night and I started feeling a wave of warmth travel through my body.
"Rosemary?" Violet's voice was quiet and quivered.
I stopped dancing and went around her to not feel the tension anymore. If I remained too close to her, I feared that I'd pulled her around and kiss her. I was dying to! She was so close and I was scared of not being able to control myself!
Anxiously, my fingers interlocked. Trying to remain calm and in control.
As I was about to have a panic attack, the driver pulled up. Relieved, I breathed easier.
Oh it was Jeffrey! Awesome!
"Ready to go?" Beyond excited to pick us up, he asked us. First thing he did was grab Violet's bag. Then grabbed mine to place it in the trunk.
"Rosemary is going in the trunk too," Violet tried tricking Jeffrey.
Confused, his eyes shifted from Violet to me a few times.
I sighed, "She's crazy and lying."
Violet distressed, "Please tell me you have vodka in the car," she hoped.
"Um," Jeffrey stood dumbfounded. "Can you please both get in the car without fighting?" he hoped.
Violet and I exchanged a look, "No," we replied in unison.
"Either way, your parents are waiting, so you have to ride together," he instructed us to hop into the car.
Resembling grounded children, Violet and I made our way into the car and buckled up. Already, I knew she was gong to be making my life a living hell on our way to her house. From the moment we got into the car, she started pretending to be affectionate towards me by caressing my hair but was actually pulling it, painfully. Sneaky little witch!
When Jeffrey wasn't looking, she slapped my arm. In defense, I pushed her hands away. Every time Jeffrey looked at us through the rear view mirror, Violet acted innocent by pretending to be massaging my arm.
"You probably pulled a muscle by lifting all those textbooks," As if she weren't insulting enough, she joked.
"Okay don't touch me anymore," I pushed her hands off me.
"Be nice," Jeffrey warned us, mainly directed towards me. Oh please! Only because he didn't see when Violet was abusing me. Focused on the road, he stated, "We're almost there," as if hoping that we wouldn't kill each other before then.
Him and I both.
Mischievously, Violet smacked me behind the head, making me go forward a little. Just then, the Jeffrey looked at us again.
Covering for herself, Violet placed her hand on my shoulder and placed her other hand behind my head as if taking care of me. "Slow down a little please, Rosemary is like a little kid who can't stay still," she stifled a laugh as she massaged my sore head.
As much as I wanted to tackle her and put her in her place, I enjoyed her fingers through my hair, massaging my head. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I was scared of moving too much because I didn't want her to stop. I knew it was all an act in front of Jeffrey but I couldn't help but to feel the butterflies in my stomach. I chewed on the inside of my cheek to hold back a smile. When she wanted, she could be so gentle.
As I was easing into her touch, Violet brought me back to reality by pulling my hair again as she removed her hand away from me.
Violet always kept me on my toes.
**********
Violet's P.O.V
The dinner was not going to be only with our parents. My extended family was attending it too. The moment my parents told me, I rushed upstairs to my bedroom to get ready. If my cousins were coming, then I had to look my best. I did not want to give them a reason to question my fashion choices. To criticize anything about my look. One or two cousins, I got perfectly along with. The other ones were fake and were always throwing shade. They thought they were being slick but their jabs were so obvious.
Like the bad bitch goddess that I was, I stood at the top of the stairs and fixed my posture. Sliding my hand along the handrail, I walked down the stairs. Blessed by my presence, the guests watched me and smiled.
Blown away, all eyes glued onto me. My rose gold silk mini dress left them speechless. Last week, the spaghetti straps were sliding off, so I had Rita take it in to get adjusted. Came back yesterday. Perfect timing. Good thing that the cleavage cut was not messed with like my dad originally wanted. According to him, it was not too appropriate. As if I gave a fuck. I looked hot in it. I just loved the way the dress fit my body, it complimented it beautifully.
Discreetly, I scoped out the place to see who was here. Family of course. Business partners of my parents. Friends of theirs. I held back a face of disgust when I spotted my fake cousins. Whispering to each other, they watched me. Eww, already talking shit.
Standing next to her mom, Rosemary looked like she was in a daze. I smiled at that. Flustered, she looked away from me right away. As if hoping that I didn't catch her staring at me so hard.
My cousins could say whatever they wanted but the fact that I got this reaction from Rosemary already started my night off great.
God, she looked absolutely gorgeous! I wanted to keep staring at her and I wanted her to stare at me all night. My heart did that little stupid and cliche happy dance. I glanced one last time. She wore a simple off the shoulders baby blue dress, laced up at the waist, and puff sleeves. Yet, she lit up the room with her angelic light.
At the end of the stairs, my youngest aunt greeted me. "There's my most beautiful niece!" She embraced me. Everyone heard. I mean, that was her point. She was always vocal about me being the prettiest. Maybe that's why my cousins loved to hate on me.
Not my fault that I was born beautiful.
"Careful you might get in trouble," I hummed and glanced at my cousins.
"They're going to get mad at me for telling the truth?" My aunt had no chill.
A server was passing by with glasses of champagne and I grabbed one, so I could drink with my aunt. At family gatherings, my parents let me drink one glass. Obviously, I drank them throughout the night but hidden. Or lied that I had the same glass when in reality it was my fourth.
"How have you been?" I asked my aunt since it had been a while from the time I last seen her.
"Amazing! Living my best life by traveling," the grin on her face said it all.
On instagram, she posted herself around the world. Meeting boy toys at every stop. The life that she lived was fast pace and filled with adventure. No real responsibilities. Thirty years old and had no kids. Her choice. She's always said that she wasn't built to have a family of her own.
"I've seen!" Teasingly, I poked her stomach.
We took a drink at the same time.
"By the way, I brought you back a gift," she informed. Instinctively, I smiled. From the time I could remember, she was always spoiling me with gifts. When I was little, she used to come pick me up and take me shopping. Take me to go get manicures. Get our hair and make up done. I was too little to actually have make up on, so they pretended with me on that one. Regardless, I got the full experience. I loved my bonding moments with her. She was my favorite aunt and not because of the gifts but because she actually spent time with me. She went out of her way to make time for me.
"You're the best, aunt Victoria!" I hugged her. "And please try to spend a few more days here, we have to hang out again!" I really missed her.
"Violet, come with me," my cousin Ella waved me over.
"I'll talk to you later," I said to aunt Victoria. "Ella, what is it?" I caught up to her. As if it were an emergency, Ella gripped me by the wrist and pulled me past the guests. "Noah is talking to some girl," she pointed to them.
Of course, that girl happened to be Rosemary. Off to the side, they were smiling. At what moment did that happen? Not so long ago, she was with her mom. Where she should have stayed at. Instead of talking to some guy. I knew that Rosemary only liked girls but eww, it disturbed me to see someone else chatting her up. Even more when I saw Rosemary smile and brush a strand of her wavy hair behind her ear. Noah probably took that as making her shy in a cute way. Pff, like if he had a chance.
Noah was the son of my dad's business partner.
"Ella, you don't have to worry about her," I assured to dismiss her worries.
Ella frowned, "But she's so pretty! What do you mean I don't gotta worry?"
I chuckled, "Because she's only into girls," I clarified.
Relieved, Ella started to smile. "Are you sure? How do you know?" She demanded reassurance.
"She's my roommate at Montgomery, so I'm positive," I explained. Relief washed over her face. Her shoulders relaxed. Ella continued to stare at them. "We just gotta make sure he knows that," I added. Mainly because I wanted Noah away from Rosemary.
"Look who else is going over there," Ella became even more relieved when she saw three of our guy cousins approaching them. Star struck, they surrounded Rosemary, basically trapping her in. Drooling idiots. "I'll go over and pull Noah away," Ella planned.
"Mhm," I grabbed another glass of champagne. I followed my cousin.
"What are we talking about over here?" She included herself. Too distracted eye-fucking Rosemary, no one looked at her. I wish I had blindfolds, so I could tightly wrap them around these dumbasses. "Noah, how do I look?" Desperate for his attention, Ella grabbed his bicep and pulled him away but Noah stiffened to remain close to Rosemary as much as he could. I rolled my eyes at that.
"Girlfriends didn't want to come today?" I asked my cousins.
Annoyed that I made it be known that they had girlfriends, my cousins scolded me.
"Don't know what you're talking about," my asshole cousin snickered. Stupid for him to deny her. I followed her on instagram and she was always posting him.
Rosemary stared at him as if he were full of shit. Ah, yes.
"My mom is calling me," bluntly lying, Rosemary excused herself. Bet she had been waiting for an opportunity to leave from the getco.
My cousins watched her walk away.
"Damn she's hot," one of them commented, eye-fucking her.
"And gay," I let it be known.
Disappointment covered their faces.
"No guys at all?" My cousin's mouth dropped.
Grinning, I shook my head, "Only pussy."
The one who denied to have a girlfriend threw his arm over my shoulders, "Have you fucked her yet?" His stupid smug irritated me.
My cousins were pricks. Not all of them but this one was the most annoying.
"Yes and it's something you'll never get to do," laughing at his misfortune, I moved his arm away from me. "Keep dreaming, little boys," I teased and walked off.
Whining, my cousins tried calling me back but I ignored them. Knowing how immature they were, they were gonna ask me for a whole bunch of details.
Now, where did Rosemary go? Too many idiots were here and she could not be left alone. People were going to hit on her if they got the chance.
As I predicted, she was already surrounded by another group. By my fake cousins! The fakest of them all was flirtatiously giggling. The bitch had a girlfriend already. She cheated on her all the time. So I already knew that she was going to hit on Rosemary. I mean, she already got started. Wasted no time.
Boiling with jealousy more with this one, I made my way over to them.
"You go to Montgomery?" My cousin Alice made conversation.
The cheating flirty bitch, Savannah, squealed, "I'm planning on transferring over!"
"No, you're not," over my dead body that was going to happen.
Annoyed by the sight of me, Savannah mugged me, "Oh Violet."
My eyes could have been playing tricks on me but it looked like Rosemary looked relieved to see me show up. Although, right away, she reached in to caress my cheek. "Little Violet has blessed us with her presence," playfully, she pinched my cheek, a little too hard.
Playing along, I forced a laugh, "You know, people have been demanding my attention," I grabbed Rosemary's hand from my face and held it down between us. Savannah's jaw clenched as she stared at our hands. From the inside, I was doing my little happy dance. I loved upsetting her! "Rosemary, did you remember to apply the ointment?" I asked to embarrass her.
"Ointment?" Rosemary's forehead creased.
"Yeah, you know, for your little problem," I glanced down, suggesting that she had a problem in a certain area.
Pursing their lips, my cousins stilted a laugh and turned to each other. Giving each other the look.
Nervously, Rosemary chuckled, "She's joking," she clarified.
"It's okay, Rosemary," in reassurance, I raised our intertwined hands up to hold her hand in both my hands.
My cousins couldn't see but I dug my nails into her skin. I couldn't help myself. She was over here giving other people attention and I didn't like that.
Enduring the pain, she kept herself from making a face. "Um, Violet. How about you? Have you taken your medication yet? You're starting to talk nonsense," Rosemary firedback. This time, my cousins laughed.
"May I get your attention!" Welcomingly, my dad smiled at the guests. "Dinner will be served shortly, you're all welcomed to come into the dinning room," he invited everyone.
"Ooh, sit with me!" Savannah grabbed Rosemary's hand. My jaw clenched as I felt tiny needles poking at me to attack my cousin. Pressure filled my chest. I took a deep breath to calm myself down.
"Careful Rosemary, Savannah used to rip the heads off my barbies," I hummed and walked off to find my seat at the table. Speaking of, I still wanted to rip Savannah's head off for destroying my dolls. Dumb bitch.
At the table, people were finding their places. I sat next to Ella. As if it mattered, she was only focused on Noah. Rosemary was no longer with Savannah. It made me happy to not see them holding hands anymore. Like a lost puppy, Rosemary went to her parents but there were no seats next to them.
"Rosemary, sit with Violet," my mom suggested and pointed to the empty chair next to me. As if her life depended on it, Savannah pushed our cousin Alice off the chair that was next to her.
At the sight of that, Rosemary made a quick decision, "Yeah, I'll sit next to Violet," she hurried over. Damn, she was that freaked out by my cousin? That was hilarious! Grinning, Rosemary turned to me, "Missed me?" Jokingly, she blew me a kiss.
"I haven't even ate and I already wanna throw up," I made a face in disgust.
Dinner was served.
Lobster tail smothered with butter garlic herb sauce and basil sprinkled on top of it. A side of asparagus. Decorated with circle slices of fresh lemon. Off to the side, a cup of butter garlic dip.
I grabbed the napkin and placed it over my lap. Hungry, I started to eat. Rather lifting the meat from the shell, I carefully did piece by piece. I pressed the fork into a piece and dipped it into more butter garlic sauce.
Rosemary held a butter knife and fork in her hands and examined the lobster. Seeming confused on how to get started. Curious, I watched from the corner of my eye. She tried different ways but everytime, she pushed too hard. The lobster nearly moved off the plate. She was doing it correctly but I think she was too nervous to be eating in front of everyone.
"Having trouble there?" I was planning on offering my help but first, I wanted to tease her a little.
Rosemary snickered, "I'm waiting for it to finish marinating."
"It already is," I called out her bullshit.
"Not the lemon," she grabbed a piece and squeezed it onto the tail.
The lemon juice squirted into my eyes. "My eyes!" Squeezing my eyes shut, I yelped.
"Are you okay?" Everyone was concerned.
"It's only lemon," Savannah scoffed.
"It was an accident!" Rosemary justified, sounding apologetic. Yet, sounding like she wanted to laugh too. Using her cloth napkin, Rosemary waved air to my eyes as I slowly opened them. I gave them one more squeeze and that helped.
I turned to Ella, "How's my eye makeup?" I feared.
"It's good. It's not smudged," she assured.
Part of me wanted to squeeze lemon into Rosemary's eyes but there were too many people around. Tonight her make up was popping more than the simple makeup look she did everyday. I was going to be considerate tonight and not mess with it. Ugh, she looked motherfucking sexy as hell tonight! Even though the bitch squeezed lemon into my eyes. I believed her when she said it was an accident. Something Rosemary's clumsy ass would do.
Everyone went back to minding their own business.
"You're a danger to society," I muttered to Rosemary.
"Lemon is good for you, do you know that?" Rosemary tried playing it off, as if she did me a favor.
"How about we don't experiment with that, yeah?" I was in no mood to be put in the hospital. "I want to get through dinner without traumas."
"Look, I got the hang of it," proud of her accomplishment, Rosemary presented the meat that she removed from the lobster shell. Resembling a little kid who just got awarded a gold star sticker, Rosemary smiled adorably.
"Good job, now eat it," I encouraged.
"Oh what a cute little fork!" Rosemary's eyebrows furrowed as she stared at the seafood fork. She stabbed the lobster meat with it and dipped it into the butter garlic sauce. "Violet, try it! It's so good!" Ecstatic, she wanted me to taste it.
"We're eating the same thing," I reminded.
"Mine is more delicious though," Rosemary insisted and held the fork close to my mouth to feed me.
Awe, she wanted to feed me herself? My heart! The way her eyes were filled with eagerness for me to try it.
"And why is that?" But I had to keep a front up.
"Because of the lemon I added," perfectly knowing that I hated that lemon, she grinned.
Holding back a smile, I rolled my eyes playfully and accepted, "Whatever, I'll give it a try," I leaned over and opened my mouth. Gently, Rosemary fed me. Eager for my approval, she watched me and waited. "Mmmm!" covering my mouth with my hand, I nodded in approval. Rosemary's eyes lit up and her smile grew wider. "You're right! It gives it an extra juicy flavor!"
"I should be a chef," dancing in her chair like a little girl, she faced her food.
I chuckled, "Don't get ahead of yourself now, miss cocky girl," I teased.
"I'll make more," confidently, she tried removing more meat from the shell. Pushing a little too hard, she flickered the meat up. Came flying to my chest, barely missing the dress.
"Rosemary!" Processing it, I froze.
My cousins burst out laughing.
"That was an accident too!" In panic, Rosemary tried cleaning it off my chest with her napkin. "Violet, I'm really not doing this on purpose!" I could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice that she was telling the truth but damn, how clumsy could she be?
"I got it!" I pushed her hands away from my chest and stood up. "I'm going to go clean up," I excused myself, so the guests wouldn't think I was rude. For my parents.
"Violet! I'll help you," Rosemary scooted her chair back. "Excuse me," remembering her manners, she said to the guests and followed me.
In the restroom, I damped a hand towel with warm water and tapped it on my chest. "You got me smelling like butter garlic," I scoffed at Rosemary when I saw her peek her head around the corner of the bathroom.
Apologetically, she frowned, "If it's of any consolation, butter garlic is delicious," she commented, which did not help at all. "I'll clean it off for you," offering, she stepped in.
"What you gonna do? Lick it off my chest?" I snorted, moving further away from her. "You're over here saying it's delicious," maybe I was being a little too harsh on her but at this point, I couldn't put anything past her. "Stay at least three feet away from me, you're dangerous," I held my hand up for her to stop walking towards me.
Sighing, Rosemary stepped back and stood at the doorway. "I'm honestly sorry," she reassured. I shook my head in disbelief. "Violet, honestly you still look good," she added, making me freeze for a second. I damped the towel again. "You're beautiful. A little lemon and butter garlic can't take that away from you," she commented, making my heart race. Rosemary made me weak but I could not let her see that.
"Miss chef, you need to watch your surroundings," I lectured. In attempt to take the attention off the compliment. To avoid replying directly to it.
"I'm sorry, I just wanted my food to taste better," she excused. Cautiously, she stepped forward. Pausing, I didn't say a word. Slowly, she reached for the towel in my hand. I let her have it. Her eyes locked with mine. Feeling her so close, I gulped down hard when I felt the tingles shoot down my back. "I'm really sorry, Violet. I didn't mean to."
It made me nervous how she was holding my stare.
I broke eye contact, "It happens," suddenly, I wasn't so upset anymore.
Rosemary rinsed the towel with hot water. I could see it steaming. "But I should have been more careful," she squeezed the excessive water out until it was damped. "To be honest with you, I guess I got nervous with so many people around," she admitted and folded the towel.
"Why though?" I asked as she gently started wiping my chest with it.
"Because I don't know any of them," she stated. "I felt out of my comfort zone," she elaborated. I was listening to her but also struggling with the sensations running through me as she tapped my chest with the towel. The way she was being so delicate with me. "And your cousin kept smiling and winking at me," she seemed disturbed by it.
"Savannah is annoying," I commented.
Rosemary put the towel down. We leaned back against the sink counter. "I'm sorry for getting nervous and embarrassing you in front of everyone," Rosemary frowned.
"Honestly, I couldn't care less of what my cousins think or say," I waved off her worries. "My parent's friends and business partners remained respectful, so who cares," I shrugged it off.
"On the bright side, it didn't get on your beautiful dress," Jokingly, Rosemary chuckled.
Aww, she thought it was beautiful! It made my heart smile.
"Yeah, I'm still flawless," I played along.
Agreeing, Rosemary nodded and chuckled. "You don't seem to get along with your cousins, why?" Rosemary's eyes filled with curiosity.
Easy to answer. "They're fake and I don't trust them," I answered. "All they care about is themselves and what is given to them," I added. Folding her arms, Rosemary turned her head to me to make eye contact. "I know, I know, sounds like me in your opinion, huh?" I wasn't stupid, I knew the kind of image that she had of me.
Immediately, she shook her head no, "No, not exactly," she denied. "I don't really know them but from the vibe I've gotten from them, you feel different compared to them," she believed, which made me smile and this time I couldn't hide it. In return, Rosemary smiled, making my heart flutter.
"I don't like the way they judge others, especially the less unfortunate," feeling safe to open up to her, I went into it further. "One time when I asked them if they wanted to donate anything for one of my charity acts, they laughed and mocked me for giving poor people what belonged to us," I air quoted and shook my head in disbelief. All over again, it upset me.
Rosemary's eyes widened, "They really said that?" she couldn't believe it.
In reassurance, I nodded, "They said that they need to buy it themselves."
"If they didn't want to donate then fine but why go as far as saying all of that?" Rosemary didn't understand. "They shouldn't discourage others to help," she snorted.
"But they don't care," I repeated. "They don't care if someone is starving," I hated to be related to people like that. "So I rather keep my distance from them."
"It sucks because they're family but that's good. Do what's healthy for you," Rosemary encouraged. "Don't ever let anyone change who you are. You know, the good qualities," she added with a chuckle.
I laughed slightly, "I know, there's a few things I gotta work on," hold up! Did I just admit to that?
Instantly, I froze.
Amused, Rosemary chuckled, "And that's okay!" she assured. "It's a good thing to spot it and admit it," she encouraged. "I have to work on myself too. I think everyone does. No one is perfect and we never stop learning" she stated.
"You really think so?" I wanted to hear more from her.
Comfortably, Rosemary loosened her crossed arms. "People make mistakes and it's up to us to learn from them, so we don't do them again," she believed. At ease, I kinda leaned closer to her. Our shoulders nearly touching. "Violet, no matter what your cousins say, just keep being yourself and continue to help people."
"I wouldn't let their ignorant opinions stop me," I stated firmly.
"Good because as long as you're not hurting anyone, always be yourself," Rosemary strongly advised. Instinctively, I smiled and I was forced to break eye contact. I looked down to the floor. "You love helping others, huh?" She brought up.
Looking up to meet her eyes, I nodded, "I wish I could do more though. Especially help the kids."
"You know you can visit a children's home and personally take them clothes and toys," Rosemary informed. It was music to my ears!
"Yes but I don't know who'd want to go with me," I was so anxious to go though. "I want to go so bad and see the children's faces light up when they see all the gifts!"
Rosemary's smile spread across her face, "That's adorable," she commented, making me feel butterflies in my stomach. "If you want, I'll go with you," she offered.
I felt my eyes widen, "Really? You'd do that?"
"Yes!" She chuckled. "Violet, I'd be more than happy to help you with that," she assured. "I know this one home where a friend from my old high school went to. She mostly did it to fill up her college application with community service," she explained.
"Well when can we go?" I was beyond excited.
"I'll look into it and let you know right away," Rosemary planned.
Someone was calling for us to come back to the dinner table but I didn't want to. All I wanted was to stay in this bathroom and keep talking with Rosemary. Make a list of what we'd give to the children. Honestly, I was so excited and I wanted to go all out!
I was so comfortable with Rosemary. Rather being surrounded by selfish people out there who didn't care about this topic, I wanted to stay in here with Rosemary. Just the two of us. As if no one else existed.
I felt so at ease with her that I nearly forgot about everything else. Tonight none of that mattered. Ever since we had sex, it had been so hard and awkward to have a conversation with Rosemary but tonight, it was nothing like that.
We were talking and laughing like nothing.
Thank you for reading!