Chapter 4

Rose was seated nearest to the window inside a cafe with her eyes staring outside the window. It was snowing lightly in the morning with the skies slightly gloomy. Her soft hands gently pressed against the mug of hot cocoa to provide warmth to her hands. She gently sipped on her hot cocoa before she spared a quick glance at the wall clock above the entrance door.

She bit her dried up lips and wondered what was taking him so long to get here. She wanted to see him yesterday but apparently he didn't come back home last night. It wasn't anything surprising though. Stephano wasn't one who was not punctual at any occasions but it seemed to be the exception in her case. Rose didn't mind it though as long as he did show up.

The waiter who attended to her a couple minutes ago returned to her table. “Would you like to start ordering now miss?” He politely asked to which Rose smiled and humbly declined. “He'll be here soon. We'll order together when he's here.” The waiter nodded with a smile before walking off towards the counter. Just when Rose decided to zone off her attention back to staring at the snow outside the window, her ears faintly heard the sounds of the glass doors opening with a thud. She glanced over at the entrance to see Stephano panting while circling his neck around the cafe.

He seemed like he was looking for her and when he did, he smiled and was walking towards her table. His wide smile was too infectious that Rose couldn't help but smile back at him. He was late but his smile already compensated for his tardy lateness. Rose stood up and they both shared a nice friendly hug. Rose clinged more to him as the scent of pinewood and musk flooded through her nostrils to sip into her brain. She felt her heart racing as always whenever he was this close to her. Apparently he never realized that or just didn't think much of it.

Even she felt him inhaling her scent which brought a smile to her lips. They pulled away and Rose could still hear his heart pounding from having raced down here. “I apologize again for being so late.” He pulled both his ears with an apologetic expression. Rose shooked her head and forced him to take his hands off his ears. “It's fine. Am sure you had your reasons.” She smiled and he looked at her amazed. “Don't you ever get mad at me for anything?” He asked as they took their seats.

Rose smiled and now had her face down to see her blushing reflection through the stir clear brown liquid inside her mug. She could easily answer that question of his. No matter how late he was, no matter how unkept and untidy he was with his room or how inattentive he was towards her feelings. None of these could make her get mad at him. It wasn't just possible for her in any sense. She could get angry and even lash out at anyone but not to the handsome man seated opposite her.

“You know I can't ever be mad at you.” She replied still keeping her head low. She heard him hum out with a wide smile. She stared at the mug in front of her when it suddenly disappeared after a large hand grabbed it. Rose looked up to find him sipping her hot cocoa. It wasn't a surprise to her. Stephano had the habit of sipping and taking bites of her food and drinks. Part of it was a way to tease her and get her to rant about something at least but the girl never got upset. On the contrary, she felt all giddy inside whenever he would even want to take a bite from her things.

“It's kinda weird for it to be snowing at this time of year, right?” Stephano asked to which Rose hummed. “By the way I couldn't congratulate you on winning the tender yesterday.” Stephano smiled to this. “It wasn't really anything special. I just was lucky in winning.” He said not bothering to self praise himself. “But you did secure that land which your father always wanted so badly. Am sure your dad and mom are extremely proud of you.” Rose instinctively placed her hand on his to which he squeezed it tightly.

“Yes they are, infact mom wants to throw a party to celebrate it. It's unlike her to throw parties but apparently she wants to. And as am the main reason for the party, it is my duty to invite my best friend.” Stephano smiled and Rose also smiled. She still felt like she had to tell him the truth about her feelings. Maybe afterwards, Stephano won't address her as his best friend but something more. Something more intimate and passionate. Her heart raced again at the thought. Surely Stephano should feel something at least.

“Shall we order. Am craving for some hot croissants and cream rolls. Waiter!” In less than five seconds, the nearest waitress was at their table with her notepad ready to jot down their orders. “You're not pregnant to be having cravings.” Rose chuckled. “Your orders please?” The waitress asked.

“I would like three hot croissants and five cream rolls with black coffee.” Stephano replied and Rose tried to hold in her laugh. She always knew Stephano had a large appetite but him also hitting the gym afterwards was a necessity to maintain that juicy muscular body of his. Rose just stared at him as he was talking about his order to the waitress before she slightly had her eyes wide glance at the waitress who was battling her lashes at Stephano while she took his order down on her notepad.

Even though Stephano had said what he wanted to say, the shameless waitress refused to walk away and often pretended not to hear some of his words clearly. Rose checked her out from her slightly plump face to her heavy boobs down to her surprisingly fat ass. Rose cringed and knew this lady wasn't Stephano's type or was it? She wondered to herself because as far as she had known Stephano, he wasn't in any relationship. Even when they were teenagers and all the girls would fawn over both Stephano and Azazel, Azazel always followed all kinds of shapes and sizes but Stephano never looked at any girls. Some even speculated whether he was gay but Rose knew that wasn't the case.

Stephano seemed not to mind the waitress not leaving to get his order and it made Rose's mind to be clouded with some possibilities. Was he interested in her? She thought to herself and continued to stare at both of them. Though the waitress tried her best to flirt with Stephano, he only remained polite with his smile when deep down he was fuming with rage. The stupid woman wasn't already on her way to get his order. He hadn't eaten anything since yesterday during the meeting for the tender. And after his hot night with Angelique last night, he drifted off to sleep when he got back home.

Stephano was doing a great job in not yet lashing out at the waitress but thank God Rose came to the rescue. He didn't know how much longer he could keep his anger in check. “Can we please get our orders? Thank you.” Rose gave the waitress a smile and the lady gasped and quickly apologized before sprinting away to fetch their orders.

“I thought she'll never leave.” Stephano huffed out which in response of Rose brought out a sigh of relief. He wasn't at all interested in the waitress and that alone brought some heavy load down her chest. She bit her lip hiding her smile. She still had a chance with him. That hope still burned within her.

.........

Rose stared at her reflection as she stood in front of the long oval mirror in her room. Her lower lip was constantly being bitten by her teeth as she looked at the dress she was wearing. “I don't know.... isn't this dress a bit too revealing?” She asked Alana who helped dress her up.

“Nah, I think it's perfect. And besides, it isn't that revealing.” Alana replied but Rose wasn't too convinced. The black lacy evening cocktail dress she adorned on her body was sexy and beautiful but it was a wide V-neck which exposed her upper cleavage as well as her thighs. She wasn't usually comfortable in such short dresses but Alana practically forced her to put it on.

“It's for a good cause Rose. Stephano hasn't seen you in such a sexy and revealing dress before. He would be stunned and wouldn't take his eyes off of you.” Alana giggled wanting to make Rose's fears go away. Tonight was the party being thrown in Stephano's honour for winning the tender yesterday. According to what Stephano told her this morning at the cafe, the tender was a huge deal for Mason as he had been wanting to have full possession over that tender for years but now he had it in his possession all thanks to Stephano.

“I told you. Stephano detests women trying to dress up as sluts at parties. And besides am not comfortable in this.” Rose said trying to pull the dress to her mid thighs but to no avail. With a loud groan of frustration, she let it go placing her hands on her waist. “And what do you know about fancy dresses? You spend all week dressed up in your loose shirts and pantsuits with a big blazer on top of it all. This is a fine silk dress. And there's nothing too revealing about it. Period.” Alana pointed out and her tone of voice said it all to Rose. She knew she wasn't going to change out of that dress.

“If it makes you feel more comfortable, you can wear a coat over it before she step outside.” Alana added afterwards. “Now let's fix your hair quickly.” But before Alana could bundle Rose's hair into a neat bun, she stopped her.

“I'll prefer if my hair is let down Alana.” She humbly requested. A bit of silence now filled the entire room. Alana understood why Rose never did ponytails nor braids nor simple buns but she hoped tonight would be different and would want something knew. “Rose my dear. Hiding the fact that you wear hearing aids won't change who you are. You are who you are. It was understandable when you were just a teenager but you're now an adult. You have to not care about what others think.” Alana said and stroked her blonde curls.

Rose only wished it were that easy to simply do. But it wasn't. Only few people knew about the fact that she needed and used hearing aids to help with her hearing disability. Though she was now her own person, the past of her childhood wasn't something she could forget. Those indifferent stares. The heard murmurs of renowned businessman Mr Foyer's only daughter born deaf. Eyes all filled with pity and worse, her being all alone. She never wanted to experience any of that anymore.