Roselle shook off her doubt and took the chair that Dan left behind. It was painfully quiet between her and Armani. He just watched the sky.
"Can't wait until the fireworks are here," she said.
"Yeah, me too." He didn't even look at her, but if he was angry his voice gave no indication. It was an agonizing; he was the epitome of neutralism.
Okay, it was killing her. "Can I say something?"
"What is it?"
She fumbled for the words a bit. "Look, I'm really, really sorry that I didn't spend any time with you today."
"Why were you ignoring me? Did I do something wrong?"
"You didn't . . ."
"Then why were you treating me so coldly?"
Honesty--it was a virtue that Armani respected above everything else, which is why Roselle knew she had to come clean about everything. She shifted around in her seat for a few seconds before she finally spoke. She closed her eyes; she didn't want to see his face when she said this next bit.
"I was ignoring you on purpose to make you jealous," she finally said.
Her eyes were still closed. There were various sounds around her: the warm background chatter of the friends and family surrounding her, the footsteps of children playing tag in the snow, laughing, the clanking of drinks, and of course, the rustle of trees from a gust of wind. The sound that was lacking, however, was the sound of Armani's response.
His silence forced her to creak her eyes open. When she opened them, his blank stare was fixed on her--the same one he gave Lily that night she caught him cheating on Dylan.
"Ar--Armani?" she asked.
"I think I'm going to go for a walk," he said, getting up. He headed over to the entrance of the forest and stared at the sky furthermore.
'Smooth, Ro," she thought to herself.
Dylan took Armani's seat. "What . . . what was your strategy there?" he asked. He scratched his head. "I really wished you hadn't done that . . . I think it maybe, probably, is going to tamper with the plan kind of."
"I think we shouldn't have done it in the first place."
"But, we have to break them up because my Grandma--"
"What I mean is, we should have had a better plan. We should have never tried that in the first place."
"Why did you tell him?"
"He knew something was up, and I don't want to be a liar, or someone manipulative. I want to be pure and honest with him."
"Pure and honest . . ." Dylan watched the airspace, which was still awaiting the fireworks. "I'm sorry I had a plan like this. I just . . . I experienced this kind of thing with Lily all the time, and it worked on me. I assumed it would work on him too, but I guess I was wrong."
She sighed.
"Well, if you want to go the honest route, what about telling him how you feel?"
"I tried that when I first got to Washington D.C.! As you can see, it didn't go so well."
"Ro?" Armani asked, approaching her. "Can you come with me for a sec?"
She darted her eyes to Dylan, who frantically shrugged, then back at him. "Alright."
* * *
The two walked over into the forest, where no one else was. They stopped by a frozen puddle. Roselle looked into it. It was dark, and her reflection could hardly be seen. She put so much effort into looking beautiful earlier that evening, but how much of that mattered in the moment of truth?
"What did you need to talk to me about?" Roselle asked, putting her hair behind her ear.
"I have to say, I was disappointed in you when you said that you were doing all that to make me jealous. I told you I hated those kinds of games, right?"
She looked at the ground. "Yeah . . . I'm sorry. I just--I didn't know what else to do, okay? Everything that's happened these past few months have been insane. First, you came to my house and told me you wanted to marry me, and then all of a sudden you were engaged to Lily? Then a whole bunch of crazy events happened! And long story short you spent Christmas with my family, who you feel at home with rather than the Strobes. And now, it's New Years Eve, and here you are, standing right in front of me before the fireworks go off."
He scratched his cheek. "I think you're right. It probably wasn't fair of me to overstep my boundaries and confuse you like this." Armani took Roselle by the hands, which were covered with her beige mittens. "Ro, I am so sorry for confusing you with everything. If I could take that day back--the one where I proposed--I would. Then maybe you'd be happier." He frowned.
She scoffed a laugh. "Are you kidding? I was a mess before you came along. Yeah, I was playing things safe and staying out of trouble, but my life was a mess. I was just a high school drop out with broken dreams. I was too afraid to even leave Michigan. Because of you, I finally got the courage to take a chance. So . . . thank you. Things are messy, but all-in-all, I think I'm better because of it."
They were still holding each other's mittens, and after she spoke, there was a moment of silence where they just gazed at one another.
Armani finally broke out of the trance and delicately moved his hands away from hers. "Can I tell you a secret, Ro?"
"What is it?"
"Sometimes, I think about 'what if' scenarios with you and me. I've concluded something from it: I'd be happier if I was with you."
She exhaled. "But you're afraid of Warren Strobe, aren't you?"
He raised a brow. "Afraid of Warren?"
"Yeah . . . I heard he's a scary guy."
"There's rumors floating around about him, but I'm not afraid of him. In fact, that man is like a father to me. I respect him, and I respect his family. I owe him so much, and I promised him I would take care of his daughter and future grandchild. I'm a man of my word. I don't want to let him down."
"Isn't there anyone else that could take care of Lily? Like, say, Dylan?" 'Way to lay it on thick, Ro,' she thought to herself.
"Things are complicated."
"They shouldn't have to be! Someone once told me that we shouldn't marry for politics. We should marry for love."
There was chanting from outside the forest. "FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The chant was followed by shouting and cheering.
Fireworks flooded the sky in all kinds of colors; it was a festive, explosive display. There were the traditional ones that would blow up as you'd expect it to, then there were ones that were in shapes. Several of them popped into the sky one by one in the shape of hearts.
"It's a new year," said Roselle. She slipped her arms around his neck. "It's not too late for us, Armani. Right here, right now can be the turning point for us. You don't have to marry Lily. You don't have to give in to something that makes you miserable. Heck, you don't even have to be president. Do what you think will make you happy!"
"Roselle . . ."
She moved her face closer to his. Slowly, slowly, slowly.
"We shouldn't, Ro. I'm engaged."
"If you don't want to kiss me, why are you leaning in too?" she asked in a smooth, raspy voice.
"I . . ."
Armani inched closer towards her. He was slowly caving into Roselle's seduction method (she had James to thank. She was copying his style a bit, and tweaking it to be her own). His hands ran through her hair and until he reached the end, then he danced his fingers around those bouncy waves. Their lips were so close . . .
"RO!" Michelle shrieked, running into the woods. "COME QUICK!"
Armani and Roselle exchanged glances with one another, then they separated.
"What's wrong?" asked Roselle.
Her sister eyed Armani, wide-eyed, and then turned back to her. "There's an emergency. You need to come with me right now."
"What kind of emergency?" he asked. "I'll come with you."
"No! Only Roselle."
Roselle grumbled. She turned to the future president. "I'll be right back."
* * *
The Reyes sisters walked down the hill for a while, then when they were sure no one was in earshot, Roselle went off.
"What on earth happened?!" Roselle exclaimed. "This better be good. I was just about to kiss Armani and finally get Grandma Scott off my back!"
"Trust me," her sister said. "You don't want to do that."
"Why not?"
They arrived at their apparent destination, which was on the lower portion of the hill. Standing there was a chubby man with thinning black hair and a mustache.
"Who the heck is this guy?" she asked.
"Hello, Roselle," said the man. "My name is Warren. Warren Strobe."