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Let the Games Begin

Author: Bella Moondragon
last update Last Updated: 2024-10-29 19:42:56

Waiting for his wife to get back from a date was the most unnerving experience of Rome’s life. Well, maybe not quite. Being locked in his parents’ house in Verona, and then in their apartment in Milan, had been pretty unnerving, especially when he’d been told Ella had killed herself. Also, witnessing Mark’s murder and Tim’s drowning had also been unnerving. But other than those tragic incidents… sitting on the sofa in the living room, waiting for Ella to come through the door, was more difficult than anything he’d ever done.

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  • Ashes and Rose Petals   The Way It Really Is

    “It’s a shitty movie, Rome,” Jeannie Stokes, the director of Cop with a Side of Robot, declared standing next to the new set that was just completed, her hands on her hips. “It’s a shitty script, a shitty concept. Everything about it is shitty, shitty, shitty, Rome.”“Tell me how you really feel,” he muttered, looking at the robot in front of him as if it was a plate full of vegetables he had to eat before he could get up from the table.

  • Ashes and Rose Petals   Wisdom

    “If you use an angled brush, like this,” Fae was saying as she showed Ella how to create a specific textured look in the sand on the painting they were creating together, “you’ll get those darker clumps of sand to really pop off of the canvas.”Ella watched carefully as Fae demonstrated the technique. When the mentor handed the brush over, the student did her best to mimic the same style. “Like this?” she asked.

  • Ashes and Rose Petals   End of an Era

    For the first time in almost three months of filming, Rome walked onto the sound stage with a smile on his face. Granted, he was a good two hours late, but that was actually early compared to his recent schedule. He had been coming in anywhere from three to four hours late. He knew it was driving the director, Jeannie, insane, but for the most part, he hadn’t made them wait on him. Every day except for two or three they hadn’t been ready to start filming when he walked in because there was some sort of issue with that stupid ass robot, and he’d ended up waiting anyway.

  • Ashes and Rose Petals   Sleeping In

    Rome slept in late the next day. So relieved was he to be done with the robot movie that he determined not to set his alarm and to just wake up whenever he wanted to. It was a freeing feeling, one he knew wouldn’t last forever, but at least he could enjoy it for a day or two.When he finally opened his eyes, the sunlight was already pouring into the bedroom window, and Ella was gone, her side of the bed cold. He looked around, wondering where she might be, and checked the clock. It was almost 11:00.

  • Ashes and Rose Petals   Alternatives

    It wasn’t like Henry to be late. If anything, it was Juliet that was the one running behind schedule most of the time, even though that drove Ella crazy. She checked the time on her phone again and took another drink of her cocktail. The vodka wasn’t well mixed, and it stung the back of her throat slightly. Where the hell was he? If he didn’t show up soon, she was just going to go. Maybe it would teach him a lesson about wasting her valuable time.“Juliet? Juliet!”

  • Ashes and Rose Petals   Sister Sister

    “Oh, my God! Henry! How are you!” Drew Main’s voice echoed in her ear, followed closely by her sister, Anna, exclaiming almost the same thing.The two made their way to the table, flutes in hand, dressed in trendy nightclub clothing, with lots of sparkles and more jewelry than Juliet owned. Henry stood and kissed their cheeks, grasping their hands as if they were old friends. Perhaps he was making such a fuss because he hoped Juliet would have the same pangs of jealousy he had had watching her with the famous quarterback, Parker Thompson. It wasn&rsq

  • Ashes and Rose Petals   Solace

    “I don’t understand,” Rome said, sinking down on the bed next to her. Ella had taken a shower and washed the night club off of herself before she put on an oversized T-shirt and joined him in the bedroom. He had been pacing as she recounted most of the night’s events to him, but now, when she told him that she’d given Parker Thompson permission to call her, he was confused. She couldn’t blame him. She was a little confused herself. “What exactly is bringing a third guy into this supposed to accomplish? I’m not willing to be part of one of those weird reverse harem trendy things people have going on now.”

  • Ashes and Rose Petals   The Interview

    Waiting backstage in a green room was an experience Rome had dreamt about for a long time as a young boy. He used to watch the late night talk shows, but not to be entertained or hear the newest political jokes. He watched in order to study the process. How did actors behave when they weren’t on set? How did they move? How did they speak? How did a regular person sit in a chair on a stage in front of an audience and give off the impression that they were somehow larger than life--more important than the hundreds of other people in the room--so that they could entice viewers to rush out to the box office to see their next film?

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  • Ashes and Rose Petals   Epilogue

    Nervous energy bubbled throughout the theater. Dressed in probably the most amazing gown she’d ever seen in her life, including her wedding dress, Ella sat next to Rome holding his hand, and waiting for his award category to come up. The long red ball gown shimmered in the dim light, its full skirt moving and flowing when she walked like butterflies’ wings. If Rome’s category didn’t come up soon, she thought she might explode with anxiety. It already seemed like they’d been waiting for half a day, even though it had only been a few hours since they’d gotten into the limo and made their way to the famous theater in Hollywood where the biggest award show of the year was always held.

  • Ashes and Rose Petals   Endings and Beginnings

    It was a gamble. Attending Henry’s funeral was a risk because there would be people there who knew her as Ella Sinders, and as Juliet stood on the periphery, watching the black clad mourners gather around the casket where the pastor was speaking, she spotted the one person she most needed to avoid in the whole world--her father.Of course he was there. Even though Henry’s father had disowned him after he stabbed Rome and then killed himself, refusing to even fly his son’s body back to his native France or attend the funeral himself, Lloyd Sinders had

  • Ashes and Rose Petals   Awake

    The fuzzy feeling in his head radiated down his entire body as Rome tried to open his eyes and found it much more difficult to do so than he’d ever experienced in his life. The realization that his arms and legs were heavy, that there were tubes protruding from various body parts, and that there was a steady beeping sound in the darkened room reminded him of what had happened as his eyes finally opened a crack.“Oh, thank goodness!” His mother’s sobbing voice was not at all what he wanted to hear upon realizing he was still alive, that Henry ha

  • Ashes and Rose Petals   Room to Wait

    Sitting in the hospital waiting room, Ella was doing her best to keep herself together, but she was struggling. The ambulance had arrived quickly to the scene at Capressies, where Rome lay in her arms, bleeding from the wound in his back near his lung. Henry had buried a six inch steak knife to the hilt. Whether or not it had collapsed Rome’s lung, she didn’t know. No one would tell her anything.The police had arrived a few minutes after the ambulance. While the EMTs worked to stabilize Rome, the officers had asked her a slew of questions about what had h

  • Ashes and Rose Petals   Shocked

    Not seeing Henry had become nearly impossible. Juliet had absolutely no desire to see him whatsoever, but his constant calling and insisting that she go out with him was getting old. Now that he no longer had control of Rome’s contract, she decided it was time to rip off the band-aid. She’d already told Parker that they were just going to have to be friends, a realization he hadn’t taken well, but she thought he’d get over. She wasn’t sure how Henry would react.She walked into Capressies knowing he was there already. She was purposely tw

  • Ashes and Rose Petals   Changes

    Rome walked into the sound stage building, dreading every step he took closer to another day of pretending to chase around unicorns and annihilate them. Drew’s acting was almost as atrocious as the script. The little girl wasn’t bad to work with, but she could only be there for a few hours each day. He spent most of his time listening to Guy argue with the set construction team, hating his life, and praying that the lawyers would hurry up and process the sale of his contract from Henry to Lloyd. It had been two weeks since the Montage show, and so far, nothing had changed, even though he’d only given Lloyd one week to get it done initially. Every day, he walked past the Vinune, wrapped and stored in his living room so that if and when the sale went through, he

  • Ashes and Rose Petals   Confessions

    “Well, tell me all about it!” Fae insisted as Ella came into her room at the nursing home and settled onto the couch. She had two cups of tea ready on a silver server. Ella wondered how she’d managed that without a kitchen but figured Fae had her ways. The staff absolutely adored her, for good reason. “Did you have a nice time?”Ella smiled at her, slightly amused that she was most concerned about whether or not Ella had had a pleasant experience. She honestly couldn’t say that she had, but she’d choose her words carefully for

  • Ashes and Rose Petals   Solutions

    Walking away from his wife when she clearly wanted to talk to him wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but Rome knew it was more important for Juliet to speak to Henry at the moment. She could talk to him later--at home. Besides, he wasn’t sure he wanted to speak to her considering what he’d done. The bottom line was, they’d gotten what they wanted. Or, they would, as soon as Sinders sent him the finalized contract.He stood in the back of the gallery, speaking to actress Chrissy Indiana, not hearing a damn word she was saying, despite the fact that

  • Ashes and Rose Petals   Another Form of Evil

    Schmoozing the filthy rich wasn’t something even Juliet enjoyed (Ella despised it) but it was part of her job as owner and chief executive officer of Montage, so she put her head down and did it. So far, it had made her a lot of money. After her first show, months earlier, she didn’t think it was possible to bring in much more revenue at one event, but she’d been very wrong. Even without the Vinune, she was going to make three times more money than she had at the first show, in profits alone. She was sitting in a good position to be able to buy Henry’s entire company outright if she wanted to.

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