It was almost sundown, the house was basically a furnace. And there was power outage due to the heat,so there was no air conditioning.
The heat was a bee, biting their skin like a warning that the night was going to be worse.
Rosaline sat in front of the refrigerator, contemplating whether to open it and sit inside.
The fan in her room was not helping at all, it was like it was blowing hot air.
A week had passed and there was no sign of Toby. Kenneth had been keeping watch on her. Following her everywhere when Shaan was not around or her galpals were too busy to accompany her.
Since it was Sunday, everywhere was unusually calm.
She'd been with Shaan in his room, when he and Noah had to go fix a problem they had at work.
Rosaline smirked....funny how Noah didn't ask her what she was doing in Shaan's room.
Maybe Shaan told him....
It didn't matter, since they decided that they'd tell announce to the family that they were going to get married.
It'll raise suspicions, but it was for the best.
After a year, she was going to be better and pick herself from where she left off, probably as a single mother.
What about Shaan...you ask?
She was attracted to him, flings quickly fade. She might not be in love with him,maybe she just wanted to feel.
Maybe she was lying to herself because she was heartbroken. She wouldn't dispute the fact that she needed someone to lean on.
"Why are you sitting there staring at the refrigerator like that?"
Rosaline chuckled at her father's squeaky voice.
"Why do you always sound like that?"
He laughed " let me join you...scoot over" he said in his normal voice.
"There's enough space ,Sean" Rosaline tried to mimick her mother's voice.
He laughed and sat beside her.
"We should probably open the fridge though"
"Dad!" Rosaline laughed
"Weren't you thinking the same?"
"I was" she giggled
"So what thought replaced that?"
"I'm gonna get married again, papa"
" Normally,you should,you're still very young..kinda"
She gave him a look...he laughed.
"But you should "
"I should, but I mean I'm getting married again before the end of summer "
" Shaan?"
"Yeah...."
"Is it what you want, nobody's pressuring you...we love you and I want you to take your time and choose wisely "
"Because I chose foolishly the first time?"
" That's not what I mean baby, just because something is wrong doesn't mean it wasn't meant to be."
"Yeah"
"So why the long face, I've seen you with him and your eyes had the prettiest glow "
"I'm scared, what if it's just like what happened with Toby ...I don't want to go through that again"
"Nothing's perfect but nothing's the same. It may be better....might be worse. It's your will that matters. Have you ever thought maybe you had also fallen out of love for Toby that was why you let it go...that was why you didn't try to fix it. Or you knew that he was better off with someone else"
Rosaline had never thought of that....she looked at her father, maybe he was right.
" Right now, you're scared because you might want to give it up as easily as you did with Toby. In my opinion, I think you love Shaan. It takes a years to realize you never knew who you thought you knew, but it takes mere seconds to fall in love someone so bad that it hurts...even though you don't accept it."
"What if I'm mistaking wanting to feel or depend as love and I'm making it look like that"
" Wanting to feel and depend is a part of love. Would you depend or feel something loving for someone you hate?"
" No"
"Exactly....it's all a process. Rome wasn't built in a day. To make heaven you need a whole lot of faith and works. To love ,you need your heart,soul,mind, body and time."
" But it takes seconds to fall in love"
"It takes time for that love to grow. You've planted, you need to water it, nurture it till it matures and is enough to withstand any storm"
"How'd you know with mom?"
"Your mother was a lot, she made me feel butterflies ...still does. Had me confused and frustrated most of the time. Despite all of that,if she was hurting...I was hurt. When she was happy ,I was happy. I just knew. What I mean is,you don't need to play it by the book or by how your parents played it,you need to find your own something"
"I've always wanted my marriage to be like yours"
" But you're not me or your mom. You need to write your own story. Everyone is different"
Rosaline sighed.
He was right, she'd been so focused on finding what her parents had that she lost sight of what she wanted and needed.
" Juice?"
" Hell nah...you've been drinking that alot. Heartbreak does change people "
"Papa!"
" I'm not wrong , Rosaline" He placed his hands on his hips and bent to the side .And stared at her wide eyed.
"That is one heck of impersonation,she does the eye thing all the time...lemme do you-" Rosaline cleared her throat "- Bea,you don't have to push out your eyeballs to get your point across"
"Ohh, honey. You don't love me anymore do you?"
They laughed....
"Are you guys having fun?" Keisha walked into the kitchen
"Keish.. don't tell your mother"
"I would never,but you..."She pointed to the both of them "...are definitely and absolutely not getting any ,not even a lick of my famous pumpkin pie.....Kabaam!" She stared at them wide eyed.
They burst out laughing..
"That was a good one, it's always the eye thing "Rosaline said
"It's the highlight of every holiday i spend at home" Keisha said
"It's the highlight of my day, all day, everyday. All year round!"
"That's because she's your wife "
"A plus... to get first row seat for premium effortless comedy" Sean chuckled.
"Well, girls. I gotta go practice ping pong with Nate "
"Practice but you're good at pingpong "
"Apparently I'm not" He opened the refrigerator and took a can of beer.
"We're never gonna understand that guy" Keisha said
"I agree....what's the happs, how's...um... everything?" Rosaline asked.
Rosaline felt like Keisha hated her because of Renee.
Even though Renee and Keisha were twins, they were not close. One would think Rosaline and Renee were the twins.
"So-so....things are not going great but they're not bad either"
" I hear ya on that"
Keisha interlocked her fingers....now would be a good time to catch up and connect with her sister, but how would she start?.
" You...you wanna ask me anything?" She said
" Um...no, not really...unless you just wanna talk about random stuffs..you're probably busy being beautiful and all that glamour...."
"Oh..kay. I'm gonna go" Keisha stood up dejectedly
Rosaline,shut up!
Seeing her expression as she was about to leave the kitchen. Rosaline sucked her breath
" I'm sorry...I didn't mean that. I was just ....it's awkward. We don't talk and now we're like trying to connect and all that. And you're honestly really beautiful in a glamorous way...am I blabbing?" Rosaline chuckled nervously.
"No" Keisha chuckled.
She sat down , and took Rosaline's hand in hers.
" Okay ,this feels awkward..." She let go of her hand ".....it feels so much better when those rich grandmas like Aunty Gina does it"
"Word" Rosaline smiled.
"Renee's not around?"
"Yeah, she went out with Zoe and Jordan to get a few things"
"You didn't tag along?"
"Yeah, didn't really feel like."
"Hm"
"Didn't see Jamari after we got back from church"
"He had some goods coming into town, so he went back to New York"
"Oh, that's cool...in a way"
"Yeah"
There was a long silence, Rosaline was search her entire being for something to talk about, she couldn't find anything.
"I lost my baby"
Rosaline held her belly and gasped.
" Oh Keish..."She embraced her " -what happened?"
"I killed her...it was almost my due date and I thought it was okay to have a bit of fun..I knew it wasn't but I convinced myself it was and I killed my own daughter "
" No ,honey....you didn't know that was going to happen"
" I knew ,Rosy. I felt it throbbing but I didn't want to let my friends down. She was in pain and I ignored her"
Rosaline didn't know what words to say to console her ,she just held her as she cried while fighting back her own tears.
I wish Renee were here.
It was late when they got back from their shopping and what they brought back didn't look like a " few things".
Rosaline was tired from all the talking and crying, she stayed for the unpacking of some stuffs before going back to her room. She wasn't sleepy,she just felt like lying down.
Shaan wasn't back yet, Renee was busy unpacking and raving about how fun it was at the mall.
"What a boring world I live in" She sighed and held her pillow closer to herself.
*. *. *. *. *. *.
Shaan skimmed through the documents on the table,they were all looking the same to him.
"You get anything?" He ran his hand through his hair.
"Nope"
Shaan looked at the secretary, beads of sweats embraced her features.
"You can relax, Alex. We don't bite" Noah said.
"Yes sir"
" No..we bite. Explain why the report is basically the same" Shaan said holding up the report.
She stammered and fidgeted with the papers.
" We didn't bring you here to go sight seeing or shopping. You're here for work..I'm finding it hard to understand why the reports from all the branches in Ohio look the same. Down to the statistics and some of 'em don't even offer the same product or services ...and why does the report keep indicating that stocks and sales are low"
"Sir i-i..."
"Siri?" Shaan raised an eyebrow
"Alright ,that's enough... don't grill her....."Noah said to Shaan "....Alex you have a week for a do-over, get the reports straight,no mix ups okay?"
"Yes sir" Alex nodded
"Dismissed" Noah waved his hand.
Shaan closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. He'd been so irritable lately, everything felt disgusting to him. He should go to the hospital for a quick check up.
"What's up man?"
"What?"
"You're....how do I put this...you seem peeved. Everything okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just tired"
" You wanna get some rest in the car on the way home?"
"I don't feel like sleeping,I just want to lie down..."
" That kinda tired"
" Yeah"
"Let's wrap things up quickly then"
Also, he wanted to be with Rosaline, he couldn't get her out of his mind. The past week he'd spent with her was divine. They didn't go on dates or all that romantic extra.
They'd stayed indoors, they talked most of the time,but admist all the talking and endless laughter, there were light kisses, whispering of how much they meant to each other in such short time.
Shaan smiled to himself at thought of Rosaline's laugh. In 3 weeks from now,she was going to be his wife.
He had to work hard ,he wasn't going to lose her.
Her just being a contract wife wasn't a secured deal,it was a life time deal he needed.
What is she up to.....
He dialed her number..