Max took Rose to the rocky side of Brighton beach. Since winter was approaching, the place had fewer people. The wind was strong and the sky was slightly gloomy.
"What do you think?" he asked.
Rose stood in awe as she was feasting her eyes on the dreary view. "A nature photographer would be so obsessed with this place."
"Wanna give it a try?" he asked.
"Hell yeah!" she answered excitedly.
He chuckled. "Go ahead. Take pictures as many as you can."
She did. She took her camera out and began to search for a good angle. After she took a number of pictures, she looked back at him. "Would you like to pose for me?"
He was actually hoping for it. He agreed with all gladness.
After she spent another hour taking more pictures with him, she finally felt satisfied.
"We're good, Max!" she yelled.
He was on the top of a huge rock.
"Careful!" she told him as he was hopping down.
"How is it?" he asked, approaching her.
"Are you attending a modelling job?" she asked in a curious tone.
He chuckled. "No"
"Really? How come you pose like a pro?" she asked, looking at his photos in her camera roll.
He felt a bit embarrassed, but flattered. "Are you hungry? I know a popular coffee shop around here. Wanna go?"
"Yeah, sure" she agreed.
When they arrived at the place, Rose ordered a slice of cheesecake and a hot cappuccino while Max asked for a butter croissant and a cup of coffee.
At their table, while they were eating, he took a small box out of his pocket and gave it to her.
"What is this?" she asked.
"I know it's a bit late, but I still want to give you a birthday gift." he told her, smiling shyly.
"Max, taking me here is enough." she replied.
"Please don't give it back." he pleaded, still smiling.
She gave in. "Thanks" She smiled back.
"Open it" he said.
She did. Inside, she found a beautiful white hair bow.
"I like your unique hair, so I bought that for you, but I wasn't sure of the color, so..." He was undone talking when she interrupted him.
"I like it. Thanks again." she said, smiling genuinely.
He smiled back as he was gazing at her face.
After they spent more than an hour in the café, they headed back home.
"I had a great time with you today. Thank you. I'll treat you back next time." she told him when they arrived at the house.
"You don't have to, but if you insist, my birthday is on December." he said, hiding his excitement.
"Yes, I insist." she replied with a smile. "I'll go now. Drive safely." She got out of the car and waved to him.
He waved back, then he drove off.
Rose was just about to enter the door, when she saw Bridgette running towards her.
"Oh, thank goodness you're finally back." she said when she approached her. She looked very stressed out.
"Why? What's wrong?" Rose asked in a bothered tone.
"It's boss. Since you left the house, he locked himself in his room. We can hear noises from the door. We think he's throwing things against the wall. We tried to call him, but he wouldn't come out, and he keeps yelling about God knows what." she told her in a scared and agitated manner.
Rose immediately went to his room and knocked aggressively on the door. "Dylan? Open the door." When nothing happened, she raised her voice. "Dylan! Open this goddamn door!"
Then, they heard a loud sound coming from a shattered glass.
"Don't you have a spare key to his room?" Rose asked Bridgette.
"We do, but sir took all the keys." she answered.
Then, they heard another ugly sound in the room.
"Do you have a hammer here, or an axe?" Rose asked desperately.
"There's a hammer in the storage room. What are you going to do with it?" Bridgette asked in a tense voice.
"Just get it." she said impatiently.
Bridgette did. When Rose got it, she quickly used it to smash the doorknob off. Bridgette went behind her and covered her ears.
She hit it several more times until it finally broke off. Then, she stepped back and kicked the door. On her third kick, it burst open.
Inside, pieces of shattered glasses of liquor bottles were everywhere. The strong reek of alcohol roamed and travelled into their nosetrils. There were also other objects lying on the wet carpet.
When she entered, she found Dylan sitting on his bed, drunk and breathing heavily because of exhaustion. He was holding a bottle in his right hand.
She carefully took her steps towards him avoiding the sharp and pointed fragments of glasses on the floor.
Bridgette stayed at the door. She had no courage to go near her emotionally unstable boss.
When Rose finally reached him, she crouched down and grabbed the bottle in his grip.
"Don't touch me." he glowered, holding tightly on the bottleneck.
"It's time to stop this, Dylan. You've gone too far." she told him in a low, but serious tone. She grabbed the bottle again and forced it off his hand, but he still refused to release it.
"I said don't touch me! Get away from me! This is what you all want, isn't it? Well, I don't fucking care!" he thundered, then he lifted the bottle of J.D. in his hand to take another gulp, but before it reached his mouth, Rose grabbed it and tried to tug it off him.
He clutched on to it tighter and pulled it back. Then, he attempted to guzzle the whiskey again.
With both hands, Rose fought against his strength and stopped him.
Devoured by drunkenness and anger, he pulled the bottle upward with force. As he did so, the thick heel of the bottle hit something. He felt it when it happened. Then, he heard Rose moaned.
"Rose!" Bridgette screamed.
Rose was shoved to the floor by the strong blow she got on the right side of her forehead.
"Oh my god, you're bleeding! Come back here, hurry!" Bridgette called, panicking.
"Rose?" Dylan called anxiously. He felt a strong pinch of guilt after he learned she was hurt because of what he did.
Ashamed and regretful, he let go of the bottle in his hand and pushed himself off the bed attempting to drop his knees on the floor.
When Rose saw what he was trying to do, she quickly got up from the floor and pushed him back to the bed. "Don't! There're glasses on the floor."
He grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms. Then, he sobbed like a shameful kid.
As Rose was enduring the pain, she took that chance to calm him down.
After a few minutes, the room finally quieted. The maids started to clean the mess from the walls down to the floor. Rose went to the bathroom to wash off the blood on her face. She winced and hissed when the water stung her wound. "Fuck" she whimpered. She badly wanted to cry when she saw how horrible it looked, but she held it back and composed herself instead.
After there, she went back to the bed and handed Dylan a glass of water. He took it, but he didn't drink it up. "How's your... your head?" he asked in a shaky and scared voice.
"I'm fine. Drink up." she bossed.
He could feel the presence of annoyance and anger in her voice. He obediently lifted the glass and gulped down the water. Rose noticed his hands were shaking.
"Where is that boy?" Mrs. Walton fumed as she was walking fast to his son's room.
When she got through the door and saw the mess, she was aghast not knowing how she would react for a few seconds. Then, she furiously approached her son. "You have a minute to explain why the hell you did all this mess." she said, seething with anger.
Dylan bowed his head too ashamed to speak.
When Mrs. Walton got her eyes on Rose, she was shocked when she saw the gash wound on her forehead. "Oh my god, Rose. What happened to you?" she asked anxiously.
She didn't answer.
Mrs. Walton looked back at Dylan. "Please, don't tell me you did this to her." she begged, disappontedly.
He felt extremely nervous. "Is it... Is it really bad?" he asked, stuttering.
Mrs. Walton covered her face with her hands trying to control herself. Then, she let out a deep breath and looked back at her son. "You want to know if it's bad? ...There's a bleeding wound on her temple, and half of her forehead is swollen! So yes, Dylan. It's bad, and I'm very disappointed you're the cause of it!" she raged.
Dylan's guilt grew more intense. He wanted to cry again.
"I need to take you to the hospital. That's a very serious injury." Mrs. Walton grabbed Rose's wrist and assisted her out of the room, but before leaving the house, she gave strict instructions to the maids. "Don't let my stupid son get out of his room. Tie him up if you have to. Do you understand?" she told them firmly.
"Yes ma'am" Bridgette answered.
*
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To be continued....
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