"What?? I don’t understand, someone slaps you and you don’t slap her right back. Instead you go into the bathroom and throw up?" Jessica said as she shook her head in disappointment.
"It wasn’t my fault, I was never expecting a stranger to just attack me out of nowhere; I assumed she was sane or would act like a normal person. Then I threw up at that moment because all the alcohol in my stomach was making me feel sick." Rose said in her defense."You should have at least thrown up on her that would have been some pretty awesome payback." Jessica said with an evil grin."Ewww, that's disgusting Jess. Plus that means I would have thrown up on Wayne too because he was holding on to her." Rose said pointedly."That would have been his fault for standing in the line of fire, he's just lucky that you didn’t throw up when you guys had been making out. I’m pretty sure you would’ve melted into the ground with embarrassment." Jessica said with a naughty gigWhat was Rose going to say next? Did she eventually sleep with the billionaire or at least strip for him; like she had been sent to do?"I honestly did not mean for things to turn out that way Jess, you have to believe me. But it seemed like everything was out of my hands, I just broke." Rose said, her voice was just above a whisper."What are you talking about Ro?" Jessica was getting worried now."I told him about Victor." Rose said as she finally confessed."What exactly did you say about Victor?" Jessica asked as she tried to keep a lid on her anger. How could Rose have been so stupid?She had portrayed Cinnamon as some sad sack who was pining after her missing fiancé; and wore her engagement ring as a symbol of love to him. Who would want to hire a stripper with that kind of back story?She should have just taken a risk and gone there herself; maybe her stomach would not have bothered her. She had not wanted to send any of h
It was clear to see that Rose was on top of the moon as she prepared to leave Jessica's apartment with a huge smile on her face."I am so excited Jess! I really needed this break and this money is going to help a lot with other things." Rose said as she twirled around with joy.She was not a lazy person and did not spend money frivolously but she had a lot of necessities to pay for. Her car was a major thing on that list; it was one problem after the other and at this point it would be cheaper to just get another one. She had nicknamed it ‘Chelly’ and would have hauled it off to the scrap yard a long time ago, but it did the job of getting her to work.There was also rent, it was a little expensive because of the area where the apartment was located. But Rose really liked it there and the only cheaper options were farther away from work. She also had to make payments on her student loan every month. By the time you added gas, groceries
Rose left Jessica's apartment and made her way to the elevator. There was a slight bounce in her step and she whistled a cherry tune as the lift took her downstairs. She exited the elevator and was soon standing next to her car.It was red and an old model of the Toyota Camry. Each time she tried to start the car, it reminded her of a Russian roulette; because you were never sure what the outcome would be until you pulled the trigger. She was never sure what the outcome would be until she put the key in the ignition switch and turned.Would the car start or would it sputter and go dead on her? She wondered how many people had their mechanics on speed dial; it certainly did not seem like a common thing.As she sat in the driver's seat now, she prayed the car would just come on and not put a damper on her good mood. She took a deep breath to steel herself and then turned the ignition switch."Come on Chelly, please be a good girl for Mama now," she
The next morning, Rose was up and about long before the sun rose. She considered showing up at the private investigator's office by 7am and just waiting until they opened up by 8:30am. But that seemed like a "crazy person" move and she wanted to appear sane to the private investigator so he would at least take her seriously.She had sent in an email about her being a few minutes late to her office's official email address which she knew Jane Mayo checked almost every hour. Jane Mayo was her boss' secretary and she knew that Jane would inform him if there was any need to.This seemed like a lot of procedures to follow for just being a few minutes late for the first time in practically forever. But she knew how Jack could be, so it was best to take all necessary measures to ensure that there was no backlash.She decided to wear a dark green pantsuit with a black camisole and matching black pumps. She packed her hair up in a ponytail and completed the look wi
Rose took a deep breath as she reminded herself that this was a step in the right direction. In these circumstances, this was as good as she could get in finding out where Victor was; or what had happened to him.Jerry looked at her patiently as he waited for her to say something; he could wait all day if the other appointments did not interrupt them. He was used to this, not everyone came in here feeling all chatty. It was not so easy to find the words when you suspected your spouse was having an affair and you wanted them to be caught in the act. People would rather not come to him, but they eventually did when they had no other choice.He was getting ready to discreetly push forward the box of tissues on his desk, just in case he was in for a delivery of water works this morning."Well, I was referred to you by Detective Aaron Rich." Rose finally began in a strong voice after a short pause.Jerry knew that she had been referred by Det
As Rose answered all the questions Jerry Jones asked and listened to the replies she gave, she realized that something was wrong. Something just seemed off about the whole thing and it was sad that it took so long for her to have realized it."Yes, I was the one who paid for his phone." Rose tried with difficulty to swallow the lump which had slowly formed in her throat as the answers became harder for her to give."Why did you do that Miss Cohen? Did he not have a phone? From what you said, he had enough money to pay his bills." He was asking his questions in a soft voice now because he was seeing how close to the edge she was. The last thing he would want to do was push her off.She had realized all on her own that something seemed fishy about the habits Victor Reeds had exhibited. He simply was not acting in the normal way someone with nothing to hide acted."When we first met, he did not have a phone actually.""What was his
Rose had left Jerry Jones’ office with her purse considerably lighter than when she had walked in."Your bill is $4,500 Miss Cohen, it is non-refundable and frankly your case will not be an easy one to crack; but I will do my absolute best." He had confidently promised."That much Mr. Jones and it also has to be non-refundable?" Rose had asked a little hesitant.That was nearly half the money she had gotten from Wayne. In fact, if not for his generosity, she would have been left with only $500 after footing this bill."I am afraid so Miss Cohen. Another reason the previous private investigators were not able to get anywhere with this case, is because your payment was too small. You should have realized by now that this case might simply not be solved in Manhattan. I will have to travel to Ohio for further investigation, so my travel expenses are to be considered.There will also be the matter of hotel bills and feeding; not to m
Wayne was glad to be in the office that Monday morning. He had spent the entire weekend thinking about Rose and needed to get her out of his head.He wondered if she had seen the money and letter he had typed out for her. He had made a quick call and arranged it all when he had gone back to his closet to get her the pair of slippers. He had sent a text message just before getting in the elevator to ensure that everything was set and going according to plan.He wondered if she had appreciated the money. He had thought about giving her more but had a feeling that she would have shown up at his house trying to return the money. It was a good sign that she had not come yet. Why had he even considered giving her more? Since when did he start freely handing out dollar bills which had not been requested for, by the way?Another annoying factor was that he was financing the search for the man who could get in his way if found. But he had to get her to tr
Rose thought she was unconscious because reality had taken a dark turn.There was a probability that the man she loved had almost killed her on purpose. Now, her best friend was holding a scalpel to her throat.“Jess what’s going on?” Rose’s voice was shaky and she didn’t want to make any sudden movements.“Jessica, step away from her. I know everything so you can’t pretend anymore.” Wayne slowly stepped into the room, Tom, Winifred and Amanda followed him in.“Lock the door!” Jessica snapped and Tom slowly obeyed.“Jessie? I still don’t understand what’s happening. Please talk to me.” Rose looked in Jessica’s eyes but it didn’t feel like she was staring at her best friend.There was so much hate and anger in Jessica’s blue orbs.“Jessica has been trying to ruin your life. She has been trying to break us apart and make you lose your job. But today, she took it a step further and tried to kill you.” Wayne’s voice was hard
Wayne was considering having his ears checked since he was already at the hospital.It sounded like Jessica just said that Rose thought he was a threat to her.“What the hell do you mean?” Wayne’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.“Wayne, the thing is Rose said she started feeling sick after she ate a cake you sent her. So she’s scared that you tried to poison her or something.” Jessica said sadly.“But I didn’t send her any cake!” Wayne protested and he struggled to remain calm. “Look, there’s something going on and I want to get to the bottom of it as well. Just let me get in there and explain to her. It was Amanda who gave her the cake.” They might let him in if he remained civil and stayed calm instead of hollering like a mad man. But it was hard to remain calm when you were innocent and fingers were being pointed at you.Tom was searching for Amanda, because she was currently the only one who could shed light on the sit
Jessica instantly noticed how terrible Wayne sounded and she was excited to hear it.Yes!This was what she had been waiting for. Wayne was finally reaching out to her. He was sad and she was the person he was calling for comfort.Who else was he going to call when Rose died? Both of them had been really close to Rose so Wayne probably felt that Jessica was the one who would understand most how he felt.This was an avenue for her to weasel her way into his arms. Two people consoling each other and trying to get over the death of a mutual loved one.There was no hard and fast rule when it came to getting a man. It was best to use whatever worked for you.“Wayne? Jeez why do you sound like this? What’s going on?” Jessica’s voice was filled with concern.“It’s Rose. I’m not sure what happened. But she… she… we are at the hospital and she...” Wayne sounded confused.“Yes? She what?” Jessica was trying not to sound too eager.Wayne took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Rose needed him t
The morning started pretty well for Wayne.He woke up with the love of his life happily asleep in his arms and carefully slipped out of bed so he could go to the bathroom to pee.He came back and quietly laid next to Rose because he didn’t want to risk waking her up by trying to wrap his arms around her.Wayne planned to go to the kitchen soon and make breakfast for his Queen. But first, he was going to scroll through the news on his phone and reply some messages.He was surprised when he turned on his phone and was immediately faced with a lot of notifications. This was his private phone and was never this busy because he liked to keep it that way.What the hell was all the fuss about?Wayne understood when he saw the latest story which had been released by Drew Davies of The Inky Apple. The headline read “High Profile Marketer Rose Cohen Leaving Wayne Blackstone (Blackstone Corp) for Damon Renick (Renick Corp)?”On the front page was a picture of Rose having lunch with Damon, his as
Wayne and Rose enjoyed their time together and it was wonderful being oblivious of the outside world and the threats it held.They watched different movies and tossed popcorn at the screen when it didn’t go the way they wanted. They played different games and Wayne tried to distract her with kisses when she was winning so he could try to quickly move the pieces to his advantage.Rose caught him each time though.They made love many times like Wayne had promised; it was like catching up with all the sessions they had missed.They talked about different things and the little occurrences which had happened in their lives while they had been apart. They were cuddled up in bed now and having one of those conversations.“I think I freaked Tom and Ben out when I told them to call me by my name; especially Ben.” Wayne barked out a laugh.It was good to be able to laugh about those things now.“Oh, the poor thing probably almost fainted.” Rose could just imagine Ben’s expression.“Yeah, but I
“Wayne! You’re staring at me again!” Rose giggled and rolled her eyes.“Really? Are you sure?” Wayne asked in feigned shock.They were sitting next to each other at the dining table in Wayne’s penthouse. Rose was trying to eat her mac and cheese while Wayne had his hand on his chin and was just staring at her; his plate of food long forgotten.“I’m pretty sure; just as sure as I was the first three times.” Rose shook her head with a smile on her face.“So what if I am? There’s no need to pretend like I wasn’t; I enjoy looking at you and I could do it all day. You’re just so beautiful.My only problem is that you’re supposed to be sitting on my lap while I feed you; I won’t let this mistake repeat itself.” Wayne said firmly.Wayne couldn’t help but admire her. It felt like it had been so long since he could freely sit next to her like this and just stare. He couldn’t wait until she fell asleep again so he could watch her; that was a totally different and exciting show on his Rose TV.W
Rose took a moment to look at Wayne. It felt like forever since she had seen him and he was still as handsome as ever.“Rose? Is there a problem?” Wayne gently pressed on.He never expected that he would see her in his penthouse and assumed that it was because of an emergency.He wanted her to tell him what was wrong so he could try to fix it as soon as possible.“Ben showed me the video of your speech after I left The Business Awards.” Rose said finally.“Oh.” That was why she was here.“I heard you talk about how I was your girlfriend and you loved me.”“Rose listen, I’m sorry.” Wayne sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He winced a little because he forgot that they were still tender from the visit to Nathan.“Why are you sorry?”Jeez, was she really going to make him spell it out?“I told them you were girlfriend knowing fully well that we weren’t together. I thought it would be easier to get them to not talk about the incident if they were under the impression that we were
Nathan felt like he was going to pee his pants but he tried to put up a brave front.“What the hell are you doing here? You just broke down my door! You have ten seconds to get the hell out of my house before I decide to call the police.” Nathan really wished his voice wasn’t quivering so much.Wayne let out a cruel laugh, ignored Nathan’s threat and continued walking towards him. Nathan kept walking backwards until his back hit a wall and Wayne stopped a few feet away from him.Wayne grinned coldly. “You won’t believe how happy I am that your arm is no longer in a sling. It means I won’t feel guilty about doing this.”Wayne gave Nathan a right uppercut and Nathan’s feet were slightly lifted from the floor. He landed on the floor in a pathetic heap.There was blood coming from his mouth and he spat out a tooth. It was one of his incisors from the front of his mouth.Nathan’s eyes widened in shock when he saw his tooth on the floor. He looked up at Wayne and shriveled back in fear.“You
Theo and Jessica spent the night with Rose because they wanted to make sure she was alright. She and Jessica had slept on the bed while Theo slept in the living room.She had tried to convince him to go home since there wasn’t much of a difference between her living room and his apartment next door.But he had refused because he wanted to be under the same roof with her.Rose barely slept a wink that night and spent most of it with tears rolling down her cheeks. Her trust had been destroyed. Her big night had been ruined.She couldn’t even bear to look at the award and a part of her wished Ben had left it onstage.Rose pretended to be asleep each time Theo tiptoed to the room to check on her. Bless his soul; he really was a sweetheart.Jessica slept soundly through the night and Rose was okay with that; she knew how much of a deep sleeper Jessica was. Plus she really wasn’t in the mood for conversation.Rose managed to close her eyes for a few minutes and woke up to the smell of Fren