05 - 'Strawberry-scented star'

Joshua Scott

I drove back home. Throughout the way, my thoughts felt like they were going to explode my head. Even in Los Angeles, where I thought I could have some peace, it was able to make me relive the past. Everything reminded me of her. And even though I didn't want to, something or someone, like Marcel, for example, made it happen. And I was already tired of it. I urgently needed something or someone to occupy my mind.

"Alice?" I heard Betty's voice as soon as I entered the house.

"Oh. Joshua." She smiled. "Are you back already?"

"It's a bit late and... I'm a bit tired." I smiled weakly.

"I understand..."

"Where's Alice?" my father approached. "She needs to lock the back gate." he said.

"A-Alice?" Betty spoke sounding frightened. "She... she's sleeping. She... said she was quite exhausted, so... I let her go." Her nervous smile could be perceived from afar. "But - emphasized. "I'll lock it. Don't worry." She affirmed and then left the room.

I chuckled when I realized her small or big lie to save the girl.

"You should rest too, son." My father said.

"I will. And don't forget to do that too, okay?" I said goodbye to him. "Good night."

I left my father in the living room and went to the backyard of the house. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep. The time difference always attacked me when I returned to Los Angeles. I just wanted to be alone when I met Betty because the goal of my night had taken a different turn. I planned to have some fun. Julie was part of that fun, but it ended up not happening, and what was left for me was to wander around the house until sleep came.

I sat on the doorstep of the back kitchen door, which gave access to the yard that was conjugated with the front entrance gate of the house.

If Jack had already arrived in Los Angeles, he would tell me not to cause trouble, as lately he had been saying that I had acquired trauma from the end of my two-and-a-half-year relationship. But I don't see any trauma. Just because, in these last few months, I've been a little turbocharged with flash relationships, taking everything just for fun. But there's nothing wrong with that. That's what I lived before I got into something more serious, and since nothing was stopping me at the moment, I wouldn't lose anything by going back to my old adventures. Although I was trying to deal with my problems my way, and I didn't care if I had to carry the ‘womanizer’ name more than once a day.

It was almost midnight. The house was already quiet. Probably everyone was already sleeping or at least in their rooms. The cold of the night was already painfully running through my body, making me think about retreating. As I was about to go back inside, I heard a noise at the front gate, indicating that someone was coming in. I glanced at it.

Stumbling on her own feet, the girl walked to the front door. I slid my gaze to my wristwatch, checking the time. It was already quite late for someone who had to work the next day. I locked the back door and walked to the living room, meeting her.

"Do you usually come home this late?" I asked, perplexed by the time. The girl almost jumped when she saw me, but because she wasn't in her right mind, she rebelled against me. I shook my head, noticing the deplorable state she had imposed on herself.

"Did you drink?" I asked, even though it was obvious.

"And so...what if I do?"

"Do you not care about your commitments?"

"And do you...care?" she leaned towards me.

"You have bad breath," I complained, feeling the smell of alcohol almost directly in my face, although we were apart.

"Ha...ha...you say that as if you've never been drunk before," she rolled her eyes.

"Alcohol? No."

I wasn't one to get wasted on alcohol. I drank, but not to the point of stumbling around.

"Argh..." She made a face and moved closer to me. "You're rude, Scott. How dare you treat someone rudely...when you're worried about yourself?" she said, tense, but because of the alcohol, her voice sounded hilarious.

"When?" I asked, not remembering when she had ever been concerned about me.

"Are you going to tell me you don't remember?"

I shook my head. The only thing I remembered was that she hadn't been worried about me, but rather curious about my argument with Marcel, as she had said herself.

"What?!" I was surprised by her words, spoken unexpectedly.

"That's right! What did you hear!" she approached me even more. She tried to make an angry face, but ended up looking cute instead of irritated. "Like you told me, remember? Don't...get...involved...in...my...life..." She let out a second laugh between her lips.

"You're going to wake everyone up," I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"I don't care...Huh..."

Suddenly, Alice lost her balance to the side.

"Alice? Hey!" I said as I saw her almost fall.

She let out a brief laugh and suddenly her eyes rolled and her eyelids closed. She was about to fall to the ground when I caught her in my arms.

"Hey! Hey! Wake up!" I lightly tapped her cheek, trying to get her to wake up.

"Betty, let me sleep..." she grumbled.

"Shit..." I sighed, seeing that if I didn't try to do something, we'd be on the floor all night. "Where's your room?" I picked her up.

"In the stars..." she buried her face in my neck. "I didn't know the stars smelled like strawberries..." she murmured against my skin. "Can I bite them?"

"What's your room number?" I asked again.

"I was going to clean the third son's room, but...he thinks just because he has a nice chest...hair that makes you want to pull it...attractive eyes, face...lips, I would let myself be carried away by his charms? No. If he didn't want me to clean his room when he was ordered to...then I won't clean it anymore and... I'll cut off what he uses to urinate."

I furrowed my brow at seeing her talking to herself. I ended up snickering when I saw how vindictive she could be after complimenting someone. I realized that I would have to take her to one of the upstairs rooms, since I didn't know which back room was hers and leaving her on the couch didn't seem like a good decision, as it seemed like she carried the recognition of being a ‘good girl’.

I climbed the stairs to the first floor. She continued to whisper some things and ask if she could bite the "strawberry-scented star", as the aroma came from the skin of my neck.

It wasn't exactly the scent of strawberries, but it was sweet and apparently, she liked it, as she wanted to play the vampire and bite me.

I opened the door to the room and headed to my bed, lying down on it. As I returned to my upright position, I felt her pull my arm. I thought she was going to say something, but soon realized that she had fallen into a deep sleep.

Returning from the room, I headed to the couch in the living room. At least it was comfortable and I could spend the night well. Letting her sleep in my room served as an excuse for me not to have to sleep in my bed, as the mattress was too soft and ended up giving me back pain.

***

Six in the morning and I was the first to get up. The day still seemed like it hadn't dawned yet. I got up from the couch and headed to my room. I would prepare for my morning routine and soon wait for the boys to arrive.

I entered the room and came across a very unusual scene. I didn't know if a hurricane had passed over my bed or if Alice was to blame for it. Of the four pillows on the bed, only one remained there. The sheet was all messed up, the mattress cover was half off, the duvet was on the floor and the last sheet was tangled in her hair, while she was snoring loudly.

"Is she human?" I snickered at her situation.

I approached Alice slowly, watching her sleep in my bed. I smiled at the memories of the night before, all the things she had said. It seemed like she was going to bring me a lot of fun.

Slowly pulling the sheet entwined in her hair and silently putting on the mattress cover, I tried to alleviate the mess that Alice had made on the bed. Even though I made a little noise, she didn't even move. She seemed like a rock.

I tried my best to leave the bed as it was before Alice slept, so that when she woke up and recognized the room, she wouldn't feel guilty seeing the mini mess she had made with the bed sheets, leaving it completely messed up.

After completing my task, I gathered the clothes I would wear after my shower and my towel, which I usually left on the bed, but this time it remained in my suitcase.