Rose's POV:
It has been 6 months, I haven't seen Leonardo and Fernando in 6 months, and I'm enjoying my life.
The driver, Aaron, had taken me to this other apartment in a small village.
When the landlord of the apartment saw me, she immediately greeted me and told me that she had been expecting me and that Faith was her friend who had paid two months of rent for me.
Ever since then, life has been going well.
I had gotten a job in this other small restaurant as a waitress.
I was known by many people in the area and had many friends.
I now even have furniture in my apartment and afford the rent, as well as treat myself to nice things from time to time.
Life has never been so comfortable.
Well, today, I was sleeping like a baby in my comfortable soft bed when I heard a violent knock on my door.
"BABE, WAKE UP, YOU GONNA MAKE ME LATE!!"
The person at the door was my best friend, Rara, is the nickname people gave him.
Aliandro was his actual name, but he hates being called that.
He was pale white with ginger hair yet it wasn't curly, he was rocking a spiky fringe cut.
He is gay and was one of the first people I met when I got here.
"I'M COMING!"
I shouted, basically jumping off the bed. I can't believe I overslept.
I very quickly splashed my face with water, put some toothpaste in my mouth, and ran out.
Hey, don't judge me, I was late.
I changed, grabbed my hairbrush, and ran out.
"It's about time."
"Don't act like you have never overslept."
He rolled his eyes at me, and then we entered his car, a Fiat 500X, but not without me noticing a navy blue BMW X6, parked on the other side of the street.
BMWs are actually very rare in Italy. There are only two people I know who have them, but I doubt it's them. Maybe someone other rich person decided to visit someone who lived across the street.
_________
Fernando's POV:
6 MONTHS AGO
We killed the female bodyguard yesterday, and now, today, we were standing in front of Aaron, the driver who took away Rose.
We had kidnapped him and tied him up to a chair.
We had knocked him unconscious yesterday, and now his finally awake but is refusing to tell us where he took her.
"WHERE IS SHE?!"
The guy had blood dripping down his lip and a black eye, but still wouldn't tell us.
"We will end you if you don't tell us her location."
I threatened.
"I have nothing to live for anyway, so go ahead."
He said and received another punch across the face from Leonardo.
He coughed out some blood and looked Leonardo in the eye.
"Rose is a wonderful person. You don't deserve her."
Leonardo grabbed him by the neck, strangling him.
"Leonardo, stop."
I pulled him away from Aaron.
"We need him alive."
I said, and he stormed out of the room.
I looked back at the driver, and he winked at me. The nerve that this dude has is unbelievable. He knows that his life is in our hands but doesn't care. This guy has earned my respect.
_________
3 MONTHS AFTER:
I could barely sleep and looked as pale as a ghost. It has been 3 months, and all I'm still thinking about is Rose, to the point that I've even started hallucinating.
We couldn't find her, we searched everywhere, sent out so many people, but nothing.
She couldn't have left the country, since she didn't have her passport, we had it, and just for in case she got one, we sent people in every airport to look out for her.
What if she's dead?
What if she was killed?
Each time I asked those types of questions, Leonardo would shout at me to shut up.
But I couldn't help it. I was going insane, thinking about the worst.
Aaron died after 2 weeks in our basement.
I can't say we killed him.
He died of starvation and dehydration.
It's not our fault his body was not strong enough to withstand that, and we did offer him food in exchange for him telling us where Rose was, of course, but he denied it.
It's his own fault that he got burnt to ash and was scattered in sand.
But now, after he died, we no longer had any leads to where Rose might be or if she was alive.
__________
Back to the present:
It has been 6 months.
6 months without Rose.
6 months of me staring blankly at the roof every night.
6 months of me barely sleeping.
6 months of going to a bar, causing a problem, and hoping that she would come and save me, but she never did.
My hallucinations have gotten worse, but not as bad as Leonardo's.
He literally broke down once, thinking he heard her.
I tried killing myself more than 10 times within these 6 months. I won't last a year without her.
Well, guess what?
Our luck finally changed for the best. We found her.
After 6 months, we finally found her.
We saw her three days ago while driving around. She was in a small Fiat 500X. Right next to us in front of a red traffic light.
I had turned my head at the right time, and there she was, smiling and talking to someone.
I couldn't believe it, I thought I was hallucinating again, but then she turned and looked right at me.
My heart stopped beating for a second, then started beating fast.
Time seemed to freeze as I looked her in the eye. She couldn't see through the tint of the car, she couldn't see me, but I could see her.
Right then, the traffic light turned green, and the car turned. I was heading straight, but I changed direction immediately at full speed, startling Leonardo.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
He shouted at me while holding the dashboard of the car, but I wasn't listening.
I followed that car. It drove for about 20 minutes and went into a small village. I followed it till it stopped in front of a crappy looking apartment.
I parked across the street in front of the apartment and saw her again, getting out of the car, smiling. Leonardo saw her too and was shocked.
"Is that..?"
"Yeah, it is."
I replied to his incomplete question.
We stared at her until a guy came out of the car after her. Rose went into the building with one bag of groceries, and the guy was holding the other.
"Could she have gotten a..?"
"No, she couldn't have. She wouldn't do that."
Leonardo answered my incomplete question as we watched her enter the building, talking to this guy, while he smiled down at her.
We used to do that to her, listen to her non-stop stories, I used to silence her sometimes, but now, they are all I want to hear.
___________
Rose's POV:
A week later.
It was my day off, and coincidentally, it was Rara's day off as well.
"Do you need anything, Boo?"
I asked, exiting the building. Since I was going to the market.
"Yeah, you can buy me some pompelmo."
"And where is the money?"
I asked, holding out my hand towards him, and he grabbed it and pulled me closer.
"Please, baby. You did say you wanted some of my famous pampelmo muffins."
He held me close. I hate the way he reminds me of Leonardo and Fernando.
People would doubt he was gay if they saw how we acted together. We only act like this because Rara was getting bullied for being gay, and I defended him by saying I was his girlfriend and told those bullies to back off 5 months ago.
Ever since then, he has been acting like this towards me, and I did the same.
"Fine, but you owe me now, ok?"
"Ok."
He said, and I went on my tip toes to kiss his cheek.
He then let go of me, and I started walking down the street.
"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you there?"
He asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure. You can come and fetch me, though. I'll call you, BYE BOO!"
I shouted while walking farther and farther away from him, and he waved at me.
_________
Leonardo's POV:
"Do you need anything, Boo?"
Rose was talking to that guy again while exiting the building, and he exited after her.
"Yeah, you can buy me some pompelmo."
"And where is the money?"
Rose asked, extending her hand out to him. He then grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him, then wrapped his arms around her waist.
"WHAT THE..."
Fernando didn't complete his statement, also watching the scene that was happening right in front of us, and I just stared shocked.
Rose looked up at him, and he looked down at her, all lovey dovey, and I felt disgusted.
"Please, baby. You did say you wanted some of my famous pampelmo muffins."
"Fine, but you owe me now, ok?"
"Ok."
The guy said, and Rose went on her tippy toes and placed a kiss on his cheek.
"THAT'S IT!"
Fernando spoke loudly and tried to open the car door, but I had locked it.
"Not yet."
I said while watching them.
They let go of each other, and Rose started walking down the street.
"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you?"
He asked Rose loudly, and Rose turned her head to look at him but kept on walking while doing so.
"Yeah, I'm sure. You can come and fetch me, though. I'll call you, BYE BOO!"
She spoke louder the farther she walked away from him.
He waved at her and went into the apartment.
Boo... Baby... KISSES!?
Are they dating?
I started the engine and followed, closely behind Rose.
She was skipping and greeting all the people and children she walked past.
"She is happy."
Fernando said, making me feel more jealous than I already was.
"Why don't we just take her back right now so we can be happy with her?"
I spoke low to Fernando, suggesting to kidnap her.
"There are too many people around, we will be seen."
He stated out facts, but I didn't care. All I wanted was Rose.
She then entered a street looking type of market.
Greeting all the elders and people selling while buying the things she wanted. The people seemed to love her, her enthusiasm, her energy, everything.
I missed that about her. The house became dull and boring after she left.
After 30 minutes of her just entertaining kids since she had finished buying what she needed a while back, she got on her phone, calling someone.
"Enter that phone call."
I instructed Fernando, and he got into action, hacking his way into the phone call. This was one of the ways we could get her numbers, and we were successful.
He put the call on speaker, and my heart started beating faster when I heard Rose's voice.
"Hey Boo."
She said, and I sighed. She was on a phone call with that guy.
"Hey baby, are you done?"
He replied, and my hand formed a fist, I was irritated with him calling her baby.
"Yes, I am."
"What took you so long? like you were just there to buy bread, milk, and pampelmos."
His voice bugged me.
"Oh, I had bumped into your mother and talked to her for a few minutes."
She replied.
"Oh, what did she say?"
"She told me to ask you when you are going to marry me?"
I gasped, and Fernando's jaw dropped slightly.
We then heard the guy sigh.
"Well, that's my mother for you."
He said, and Rose giggled.
"When you see her again, tell her that I will make you my bride soon."
"Ooo, how romantic, mi amor."
He laughed through the phone, and both my jaw and Fernando's jaw were on the ground.
"Aww, you know me, I'll do anything to make my one and only Rose happy."
"Aww, you doing too much. All I want is your love."
Rose seemed to wink at the phone, and they both laughed.
They flirted with each other a little bit more, and I couldn't bear it. My ears were close to bleeding.
"Ok, now come and fetch me, it's getting cold, and I didn't bring a jacket.
"Ok, I will be right there."
He said and dropped the call.
Rose put her phone back in her pocket and carried on playing with the kids.
The words she said to him... the way she spoke those words of love made my heart ache.
the Fait 500X arrived with 'Boo' driving it.
When Rose saw it, she shouted: "Babe,"
And waved at him, as he got out of the car, stood next to it, and waved back at her.
Rose then ran towards the car, but when she was a few steps in, she tripped over a small rock and fell on her knees, dropping the plastic she was holding, and pampelmos were scattered around her.
"I FELL!"
She said dramatically and started laughing.
I and Fernando were about to leave the car and go to help her when her 'Boo' ran towards her and 6 more people came to her rescue.
The six people helped her pick up her pampelmos and groceries, which were on the floor, while the guy helped her up and wiped the dust off her legs and knees.
"Are you ok, baby?"
He asked while standing back up straight and grabbed both her hands.
"Yes, I'm ok, no need to worry."
She said, and one of the six people handed her her plastic of groceries.
"Thank you so much."
She said, and the people walked away say no problem and be more careful and all those things.
"Can you walk? Do you want me to pick you up?"
"I can walk, but I don't mind you picking me up."
The guy took off his jacket and put it on Rose. He then turned around, and Rose jumped on his back.
"Are you ready?"
"YES, Giddy up, Horsey!"
Rose said loudly, and the guy started running while Rose laughed on his back.
We just watched as this all happened. Rose laughing happily, which caused the guy to laugh with her.
I became more depressed than already was.
How could Rose move on?
How could she forget about us that easily?
How could she get a boyfriend so quickly?
Tears stung my eyes as I thought about it, but I sucked it up.
This was not over, I am gonna get her back, one way or another.