Blood Rose (5 page)

Our hostess- Angelica Maurice or Angie rather, is very much Sicilian in looks and attitude both. Hair so dark chocolate it was almost black. Olive skin, heavy cheeks on a not too thin not too thick curvy figure. Big brown eyes and all natural ruby colored heart shaped lips.

Angie watched me as I stood there holding the book and still looking at the doors as if they had just slapped me.

“Um... did he say anything to you when he left, Angie?” I turned to her trying to appear only professionally curious while my heart fought the hammering down to a dull thrum. “He asked for Mike tonight.”

Her brow rose curiously and she shook her head, before looking back to the reservation books to set up the next day’s tables. With a sigh, I shoved the book into my apron and started to turn around. “He didn’t say anything. But you should go clean off his table.” She didn’t look up at me but I could see her teeth bite down on her lip in a grin.
Oh hell… She saw it
. The only reason my foolish heart had continued on the rampage while my brain screamed shut up.

Without another word, I walked up to the now empty table. The wine glass was nearly full. Just as he always left it. And just like always, under the wine glass was a napkin with a beautifully sketched black rose on it. Only this time in a perfect elegant script,

Best wishes for your birthday. Sorry I missed it. Until tomorrow, Damien.

“How the hell did he know?” Of course I hadn’t mentioned it was my birthday to anyone at work. Neesa and Ryce knew but neither had spoken to him. Mike knew but surely, he wouldn’t go telling a total stranger details about his employees.

Clenching my eyes shut I glanced up at Angie who just grinned. As I walked past her, I laid more than her normal percent of tips down on the stand. “You didn’t see this.” I stuffed the waded napkin into my pocket.

Angie went on grinning and made a show of zipping her lips as she pocketed her tips without another word. She wouldn’t say anything I was sure. She liked holding other peoples secrets. My philosophy teacher would have said she liked feeling the power of knowing things that others didn’t. She would have been right.

III

“ARMED AND DANGEROUS”

Work ended quickly after that and before long, I was walking home in nervous anticipation of seeing Neesa soon. There wasn’t a great deal of reason for me to be worried about the reading really. I trusted her well enough to know she kept my business to herself. Not even Ryce knew the details. Even if he knew she was giving me a reading he would never know more.

It had rained most of the day though it was dry now and the heat of the day had caused a thick fog to settle into even the slightest valley. This was a common event throughout all of Vermont. Common or not though it was still eerie.

Half way home, I was questioning if I should have just taken a ride from Ryce to their place and let them drive me home after her reading. But I’d really wanted to go home and scrub the work off me.

The air was dank, making my skin crawl and the hair on my arms rise. It wasn’t long before I felt nervous and I began turning more corners. Uncertain why my nerves were so tense I listened to them anyway. Detouring about a half a mile there was a convenient store I ducked into that some friends of my father’s owned. Harper’s Corner Store. I’m not a chicken. I like to call it cautious.

It was eleven thirty in the evening and the shop was closing but I walked in anyway. Widow Barbara Harper owned the store and they usually never minded when I came in late.

Melody was working tonight. She was Barbara’s oldest daughter and with age came beauty. She was a natural bombshell by the age of fifteen. Before that the most awkward looking kid imaginable. We’d been in school together. Well, I had graduated early during her freshmen year but we’d known each other before hand for years anyhow.

Her sisters were sweet. The youngest Tiffany, otherwise known as Tippy, was an actress. Or at least hell bent on becoming such. The middle child, Daphne always popular but not because of the fact she was pretty and had money but for how nice she was.

Melody was their opposite. She could be nice. However, she was a strategist. How did being nice benefit her in each scenario? She practically ran the store now at seventeen and she hadn’t even graduated. She reorganized the books when her father died and had actually done a better job than he’d ever dreamed. Her mother was astonished as she was proud. Melody was miserable knowing she’d never be able to leave because of it.

She knew Paul of course too. That was a strange relationship I have no intention trying to decipher let alone explain now.

“Hey, Mel.” Calling as I walked in, it surprised me she didn’t even look up. In fact, she looked absolutely irritated. Melody and I were not exactly friends so I had no wish to pry into her business. Although it would have been a good excuse to stay there for a bit longer as I had originally hoped. Oh wells. I settled with buying a Sobe and left quickly. Standing just outside the closed door, I drank down half the bottle before closing it and holding it down in my hand in an awkward angle.

Taking a quick scan across the street. A man stood cast in the shadows across the street. He stood directly beneath a burned out lamppost. I hadn’t noticed that the bulb was even blown until now. The knot in my stomach started twisting and flipping violently. The hair on the back of my neck rose and gooseflesh covered my arms. It hadn’t just been paranoia. The bottle was held at a good angle to swing and it was glass.

Half my brain argued that I should run back into the store. The other half mocked me.
And do what? Call the cops? That would be real great. Hey Richard! Just little ol me scared of the boogieman. Rescue me and please be sure to let Paul know! Uhm, no thanks.

The other possibility of me turning back that resulted in the negatory? What if I was right? I wasn’t leading him to Melody and locking us in a store with some nut bag right outside. So the other half won.

Twisting to make a sharp right, I bumped my shoulder into the brick corner leaving the stores shallow entryway. Humph. So graceful. My feet carried me at a curt walk despite the fact I wanted to bolt into a dead run.

In minutes, I made it to the next block and around another corner. For the entire block, I heard the sound of footsteps behind me.

My pounding heart came to a sudden stop hearing tires squeal behind me on the damp street.
Breathe. The streets wet. Just someone skidding is all. Keep walking
. Heart racing, my stomach started doing flips and my knees were shaking so hard I felt paralyzed. Forcing myself to look over my shoulder, I turned to see the vehicle just as it rolled up beside me. And stopped.

It was a huge black Jeep, lifted and completely tricked out with shiny chrome, a gleaming paint job and all. I had seen it every night I had worked for a few months now. The window rolled down automatically as I heard a familiar golden voice. Rougher now than it ever had been before though, “Lianna. How about I give you a ride? It’s starting to rain. Come on.”

Damien’s voice sounded somewhat strained but I didn’t care one bit. The door flung open as he spoke. He wasn’t taking no for an answer. Nodding, I eagerly moved to the door while watching the man still following me on foot turn down another street sharply.

Damien extended a hand to help me up. I paused only briefly before taking it. His skin was like ice but it made my blood boil. His Jeep was bigger than most, so I did have to most literally climb in.

Damien’s eyes seemed narrowed when he looked in the rear view mirror closely.

As he drove we both relaxed a little more at every turn. We hadn’t said two words to one another since I first climbed into the Jeep.

“It’s not tomorrow yet.” I hadn’t thought before my tongue sputtered it out. Thunder nearly deafened my words. Rain was pelting the hood and windshield with massive wet drops. The aluminum hood made a hollow plunking sound. My mind hadn’t registered the start of the rain.

Damien seemed caught off guard and perplexed for just a split second before realization hit and amusement took over. “I would have waited until after midnight but you would have gotten soaked by then.”

“In that case, thank you for the ride. It was so nice for you to stop.” Some people say I am a bit sarcastic.

Damien gave a curt laugh and a nod. “Happy to oblige, Lianna.” Fumbling with the lid on the bottle of Sobe I bought at the store, I guzzled it down and shoved the empty bottle down into my shoulder bag. My whole body was flushed with heat. “Are you alright?” His brow arched as he glanced over at me.

“I’m fine.”
Freaked out insecure neurotic and emotional.
“I didn’t think anyone else knew. You know, my birthday. I didn’t think anyone knew about my- well, you know.”
Why am I rambling? Am I really so nervous?
My cheeks burned. Just from being tired though.
Liar!

“You ramble when you’re nervous? I like that. Don’t worry about it. I won’t tell anyone.” My brow furrowed together curiously but I dismissed his strange words that mocked my thoughts. Damien’s lips curled up in his trademark smirk again and I could feel my cheeks glow.

“You already did tell. Wait. What? I ramble? Or about my birthday? And why would I be nervous?”
Guess I’m not the only one who has a sharp tongue. Good to know.

Shaking his head, he struggled to keep up with my rambling. “I don’t know. You tell me.” Damien gave a deep sigh as he gazed up at my apartment. At that moment, I realized I had not told him how to get there. Not at all.

My eyes narrowed as I looked at him in the dark. My hand moved to the handle, more than eager to get inside. The rain was still pouring. I would be soaked the second I stepped out. “Well, thanks for the ride. I’ll see you later, I guess.”

“Tomorrow.” Damien smirked. Thunder cracked suddenly and it made my entire body jump. Damien reached for my arm as I jumped but he stopped short of the touch. His eyes just watched me, narrow not with anger but maybe thoughtfully - intensely.

“Tomorrow.” I agreed. Pushing the door open abruptly, I moved too quickly. My feet hit the metal step bar and I went down just at another clack of thunder. The noise coming out of my mouth was between a whimper and a groan. Lightning fluttered through the sky vibrant blue white but it was faint.

My knees hurt so horribly from the fall I didn’t want to move. Not only that but my hands stung and throbbed from the hard fall and the gravel drive. To top it off I had landed in a puddle of mud and excruciatingly sharp rocks. I should mention a lot of gravel in this part of the country is mixed with broken seashell. It’s cheap. It sucks.

Hearing the driver door open I tried to jump to my feet while twisting to shut the door. Hoping I could run for the apartment building before he got to me but I wasn’t fast enough.

“Anna!” He was standing above me in less than the time it took for my heart to beat. Damien’s hands placed gently beneath my arms against my ribs as he lift me up slowly. He leaned down picking up my shoulder bag and slid it back up my arm.

The rain was relentlessly pouring and he hadn’t even shut his door in his hurry. “Sorry.” Mumbling, I tried to push past him but he still had a hand on my arm.

Damien whispered. “You’re bleeding.” Looking down, I saw my jeans were torn on each knee and indeed stained with blood as well as the muddy water. As I watched, the stains grew. My hands also had quite a few small cuts from the shells but nothing too terribly serious. “And why on earth would you be sorry?”

His hand slid down my shoulder to my wrist turning my hand gently to look at my bloody palm. Embedded deeply into my flesh was large sliver of seashell. His fingers were shaking just slightly as he carefully pulled it out
.
It was impossible not to wince but he kept my hand from jerking and tearing more skin. He was very gentle about it.

Sucking my bottom lip into my mouth, I bit down hard. It had been a long week and I was just too exhausted to deal with being banged up again. The urge to cry like a child was overwhelming which made my urge to run and hide even stronger.

Unable to speak I pulled my hand from him and just walked away, hobbling a jog to the door of the building. Damien ran in front of me and pulled the door open before I could even reach it.

My eyes narrowed as I looked at him questioningly. His smile was understanding. The rain pouring down and soaking us both to the bone took nothing away from his looks of course. I’m sure I looked like a drowned rat. I felt like one. A beaten one. In fact, the outcome was quite the opposite on him. Not saying another word, he only nodded as I walked past him.

Gimping all the way up the stairs, I ran to my window as soon as I reached the apartment, leaving the door wide open behind me. Looking down into the parking lot, Damien’s Jeep was still there but he had gotten back in. I stood at my window until he turned onto another street. Before I could turn away, I saw Neesa’s car turn onto the short road to my place and pull into the lot.

The door was left open for Neesa as I grabbed a towel to dry off my hair while she made her way upstairs. “Anna?” She called from the open door before coming in.

“Come in, Neesa! I’m just cleaning up.” Whilst drying my hair with a towel, I walked to my closet for some fresh clothes. “I just need to change real quick.” My body was shaking with a strange chill though it was eighty plus in the apartment.