"You must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing." --Andrew Jackson
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On the drive back to Washington D.C., somehow Roselle got stuck as the driver once more. She just thought of James the whole time, and how good of a kisser he was. Tsk. He was such a conceited man, but he had a soft spot as well, didn't he? Plus, his body was carved by angels. Out of all the vain things he's told her, that was the only thing she could really attest to.
"You okay?" asked Michelle. "I can't believe we got the nicest hotel suite in the world and you didn't even stay there last night. Where were you?"
She blushed. "Doesn't matter." She changed the subject. "I have a question. Dan, don't you work as a bodyguard for the governor of New York? Why are you coming back home with us?"
"Oh, she didn't tell you?" he asked.
"Tell me what?"
"Dan is going to move in with us!" Michelle squealed.
Roselle's blood boiled and she was prepared to become high-strung and crazy, but she was too exhausted to be starting this. Instead of losing her mind, she approached calmly. "Michelle, don't you think you two are moving a little fast?" asked Roselle. "I mean, I know you always tell me I play it too safe, but you always jump into things. How many days ago did you two meet?"
"Well, I just think Dan is a really great guy, and I know we just met, but we think we're soulmates."
"It's true," said Dan. He rubbed his nose on Michelle's. "I just love my little seashell Michelle."
"And I love my man, Dan."
"But don't you worry," he said, getting serious. "I'll be helping out around the house and paying rent. The last thing I'd want to do is freeload off of you, Ro. And I'm only staying with you guys every other week. I'll be working in New York on the weeks I'm not with you."
Roselle sighed. Normally she wouldn't be okay with this, but Dan seemed like a nice guy and he was easy to get along with. Plus, it'd be nice to split the rent. "Okay, fine. You can stay."
The couple cheered.
* * *
Two weeks came and went. It was about midway through December, and only two more weeks until Christmas. Life was adjusting to its new normal. Dan had proven himself to be a great addition to the apartment. When he was home, he'd cook and clean. He'd also help fix things and would escort the Reyes sisters to their clients' appointments.
* * *
"And that's it," Michelle said, finishing her list of people they needed to buy presents for. She handed the piece of paper to her sister. "Think you can handle it by yourself while Dan and I visit his parents?"
"I guess so," Roselle shrugged, taking the list. When she eyed it, her pupils blew up like balloons. "Why do we have so many people on this list?" Roselle asked. "There's gotta be like a hundred people on here."
"There's more than that."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah. Most of these people are past clients or potential clients. You just gotta order mini gift baskets to send them individually from that one place at the mall."
"Even excluding clients, some of the people we have on the list are ridiculous." She checked it. "Why are we sending an apron to some random Secret Service guy named Paul?"
"It's always been his dream to quit his job and become a baker, and I want to encourage him to follow his dreams."
"WHO EVEN IS PAUL?! And who's Winnie? Why are we buying her a silver-plated tiara?"
"She's the receptionist of that building we went to at that fashion place in New York. Tiaras will remind her of when she used to do pageants."
Roselle rubbed her temples, unable to fathom the idiocracy coming out of her sister's mouth. "Do we even have the funds to buy all these things?"
"We're plenty rich, sis. Especially after doing James' hair and makeup in New York. Trust me."
"Even still, I don't know if we should be spending so much."
"Aww, come on. It puts me in the Christmas spirit. It's nice to be festive. Stop being a grouchy grinch and just get the stuff. Dan and I will be the ones to wrap all the gifts and decorate the house."
"Whatever."
* * *
Roselle was at the mall, beginning her quest to get all the gifts on her sister's list. She had just finished ordering the gift baskets for her clients, but then she faced the new problem at hand: buying the several individual gifts for all the people Michelle had picked out. Thinking about how much back and forth she was going to have to do gave her a headache. She decided to get a slice of pizza first to calm her nerves.
The food court at the mall was jam-packed, so every table was taken. She frantically walked around in circles waiting for a table to open up, but none did. There was a large thud on the floor behind her. She turned around, but there was nothing there. It was probably nothing.
A young man with white streaks in her hair walked up to her. "Excuse me, miss," he said. "I've noticed you've been looking for a seat for a while, and I wanted to offer you a place to sit at our table."
"Well . . . Okay." She smiled at the stranger. "Thanks."
She followed the man to the table and sat down. There was another man with shades and a turtleneck sweater. "Hey, Ro," the guy said. He put down his shades for a second to reveal himself. "It's me."
She did a double-take. "Eliot?"
"Shh, do you want the whole capital to hear you? Keep your voice down."
Roselle rolled her eyes. "Right. And who's this guy?"
"This is my bodyguard, Antonio. Grandma trusts him a lot, and it sure as hell beats walking around with ten guys following me."
She gnawed on her pizza, finishing it as fast as she could. "Well, it was nice to catch up, but I should be going."
"Where are you going?"
"Christmas shopping." She got up "I've got a lot of things to buy, so if you'll excuse me--"
"Hey, me and Antonio can come with you and carry your stuff."
If these two came along, it would just be a bother. "Oh, no. You don't have to do that. It'll probably take all day."
"Nope, I'm free!"
'Great', she thought to herself.
Eliot got up too. "I need to buy a present too . . ." He turned away. "For Grandma."
"Oh alright." She sighed in defeat. "You can come along."
"Yay!" He was happy-jumping.
* * *
Eliot, Roselle, and Antonio were at the jewelry store looking for a silver-plated tiara for Winnie, apparently. Roselle was taking her time going over the pros and cons of each tiara for a considerable amount of time.
"Jeez," said Eliot. "You women sure are picky about the kind of stuff you buy even when it all looks the same. We've been here forever."
"No one asked you to come, dummy!" Roselle scolded.
Eliot gave her puppy dog eyes. "Do you want me to leave?"
She sighed. "Just stay if you want, but stop pressuring me."
"Well, while I'm here, I think I'll get a gift for my grandma."
"Good idea."
"What should I get her?"
"I don't know. She's your grandmother."
"Well, what about you? What would you like?"
She looked to the side in thought. "Personally, I'd like something pink. I also like flowers. I don't know if we have the same taste though."
"That's exactly what I'll get!" Eliot exclaimed. He turned to the shopkeeper. "Hey, lady. Do you have any jewelry with pink flowers?"
The shopkeeper muttered under her breath, but mustered a smile when she dealt with him. She showed him a selection of jewelry of which he described, and Roselle tagged along to watch him pick.
"Hmm," said Eliot, looking at her. "You don't wear earrings?"
She pinched her earlobes. "Ah, no."
"Why? Your ears are pierced."
"I don't really have a reason."
"I think I'll get earrings for my grandma."
The shopkeeper nodded, and showed him the pink flower earrings she had.
"Which is the best, Ro?" he asked.
A glimmer caught Roselle's eye. A rose gold pair of earrings in the shape of actual roses. It didn't look like Grandma Scott's style, though. It was also pretty expensive. She caught Eliot in the corner of her eye, gauging her reactions to the jewelry.
"I don't know," she said. "Really, it's up to you."
"I'll take this one, lady," Eliot said, pointing to the one Roselle was checking out.
"It's not very polite to call women you don't know 'lady'."
He pouted. "Sorry."
The woman rang him up and wrapped it for him.
"Anyway, I think I decided which tiara I should get." She pointed at the cheapest one. "I'll get this one, please."
The employee nodded and rang her up. "That'll be twenty-one fourteen."
Roselle reached into her purse for her wallet. Wait a minute. Her hand kept rummaging around, but she couldn't find it. She emptied out her purse on the counter and looked for it. She checked her pockets. She looked all around the room. Her wallet was gone.