Forever Yours (3 page)

Two

The next morning, I wake to blinding sun beaming in through
the window. I frown and cover my eyes, as I reluctantly pull the
covers away from my body. I slump out of my bed and I slide across
the room to my chair, I lift my navy bathrobe. I throw the robe
around my shoulders –making sure that I tie the string tightly and
then I make my way over to the door and I smile when I see pebbles,
lying sweetly in the corner. I lean down and I gently stroke the
top of my cats head and then I push open the door and I march along
the hallway, in the direction of our one bathroom. I reach the dark
oak door and I frown as I notice that the door is firmly locked. I
gently knock on the door and Rachel isn’t pleased with my
actions.

“Go away, Rose,” she screams through the door. I laugh and
then I knock again –just to annoy her. “Seriously Rose, go away.” I
laugh again and then I double knock on the door and I am stunned
when the door bursts open. Rachel is standing in the door way, with
her cute pink robe loosely tied around her tiny waist. Her huge
blue eyes are narrowed and raging as she looks at me. “Seriously
you’re so annoying.” Rachel says in a whiney voice. I smile at her
and then I push my way into the bathroom. Rachel squeals and then
she slams the door shut. I don’t look at her, as she stands with
her hands graced onto her hips, instead I take out my toothbrush
and I begin to brush my teeth. “You are so rude, I was in here and
I need time to get ready for my date.” Rachel says as she moves
closer to me. I finish brushing my teeth and then I rinse my mouth
with some cool water. I roll my eyes at Rachel as she stands in
front of me.

“C’mon, how many dates have you had this week?” I say
sarcastically. Rachel narrows her eyes at me.

“A lot more than you, let’s put it that way.” I laugh at her
feeble attempt to hurt my feelings. I have a very –weird
relationship with Rachel and sometimes our playful bitch-fights can
turn into full blown arguments. Like one time, she and I were
talking about some new TV show and then all of sudden we disagreed
on something, and we started to scream the place down. She is
everything that I am not, she is pretty and feminine and she loves
all the girly stuff and then there’s me, I am plain and awkward. I
always say the wrong thing and most of the time my mouth runs away
with me. But Rachel is my cousin and despite the fact that we are
total opposites and always will be, I still love her to pieces. I
love that we have so little in common that we find it hard to
actually have a conversation, but at the same time, I have grown up
with her. I looked after her so many times and she feels like my
little, annoying sister, who I love to hate. I wouldn’t change her
for the world, and I have come to accept that we aren’t always
going to agree on everything, but as long as I live here, I will
love her unconditionally.

“I have a date tonight, actually.” I say as I brush past her
and wipe my wet hand on her robe. She squeals at me and then she
pulls me back around to face her.

“Details, now,” she snaps. I roll my eyes at her and then I
loosen her twig like arm from around my wrist. “Oh let me guess
you’re going out with that loser Ryan again, aren’t you?” I frown
at her use of words.

“Ryan isn’t a loser,” Rachel releases a puff of air from her
mouth in disgust.

“So I was right, it is him?” I shake my head at
her.

“No it isn’t him,” Rachel’s eyes bolt from her head at my
vague answers.

“Then who is he?” She snaps. I laugh at her urgency and then I
think of him. Dalton is the most gorgeous guy that I have ever seen
and I cannot believe that I have agreed to go out with him. He is
so far out of my league that our incompatibility reaches to the
moon and back. He is perfect in every way possible and here I am
plain, boring Rose, who works a dead beat job at Subway. He drives
a Porsche, so he is obviously from some rich family who has just
moved to town. I am sure that he has girls lining the block to date
him, so how I can compete with that?

“His name is Dalton,” I finally say after a few moments of
silence. Rachel’s eyes pop out of her head as takes in my
words.

“Hold on, you’re going on a date with Dalton Clark?” I narrow
my eyes in shock –how does she know him? I need to know
more.

“Yeah, do you know him?” Rachel smiles and then she
laughs.

“Well I don’t actually know him, but I have seen him and his
brother… around.” I take a seat onto the toilet as I take in her
words.

“He has a brother?”

“Yeah, I think he is called Nicholas. I’m pretty sure that
they have just moved to town. Every girl is swooning over them, and
here you are going out on a date with the hottest brother. How did
you meet him, anyways?” I gently laugh at Rachel’s words and then I
run my fingers nervously through my hair, as I begin to tell her
about my first meeting with Dalton.

“I met him at Wal-Mart, he rescued me from a puddle and then
my truck wouldn’t start, so he gave me a ride home.” Rachel shakes
her head at my explanation.

“How can you bag a guy like Dalton, without even trying?” I
press my lips together and then I rise from the toilet seat, as I
feel that this conversation is over. I push open the door and I
step out into the narrow hallway. I clasp my hand on my forehead as
I begin to panic about tonight. I rush towards my room and I
franticly rummage through my clothes. I select a red checked shirt
and my comfiest jeans. I quickly change into my outfit and then I
run the flatiron through my hair. I slip on my converses and then I
through myself down onto my bed. How I am going to survive tonight
and my heart is crippled by the thought of seeing him
again.

The hours slowly pass by and now it’s five o’ clock. I sit
nervously at the small kitchen table as I chew on an apple. My
knees are shaking and I am dreading the moment, that I tell my
uncle I have a date. Uncle George has really looked out for me
since my parents died and I feel that he sees me as more than just
his niece. My dad and Uncle George were brothers and very close
brothers at that. They spent almost every day together –working at
AL’s garage. George was devastated when my dad died and I feel that
he holds onto me, as the final piece of his brother. He welcomed me
into his family, with open arms and he has treated me with nothing
but love and respect ever since I got here. I don’t have very many
memories of my parents, so George would sit me down at least once a
week and he would tell me about them. He would show me pictures and
videos of their wedding day, honeymoon photos and even pictures of
when I was born. My mom was the most beautiful woman that I have
ever seen, and my dad was adorable. He had dark brown hair and
brown eyes, just like mine and George says that I have so much of
him in me, that it scares him sometimes. He said I have the same
smile and the same personality and I feel that he sees me as the
next best thing to having his brother back. Knowing this, I try to
be the best that I can be for him, as I don’t want to hurt him any
more than he already is. I would hate to ruin our relationship, by
making a decision that I know he would hate. I don’t want him to be
disappointed with me, so I am dreading telling him about
Dalton.

“Hey bugs,” George says as he rushes into the kitchen. I place
my half eaten apple down onto the table and I turn to face him. He
is just home from work and he is still in his oily overalls. I
nervously tap my foot against the wooden floor and my uncle notices
my anxiety and he quickly questions me on why I am so nervous. “Is
everything, okay?” He says as he marches over and takes the seat
next to me. The chair creaks loudly as he sits and I watch him as
he glugs down a beer. My heart is racing and my face is flushing
hot –I need to just tell him and get it over with.

“I have a date, tonight.” I say in one long syllable. My uncle
places his beer down onto the table and he cocks his head to one
side as considers my confession.

“I see and who is this date with?” I clear my throat as I
choke out his name.

“Dalton…you met him last night, remember?” George shakes his
head and then he reaches out grabs my hand.

“That yahoo from last night,” I frown at my uncle’s choice of
words.

“Don’t be like that, he seems… nice.” My uncle scowls and then
he nods his head.

“Rose, you know that I see you as my own. I’m just looking out
for you and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I really appreciate you looking out for me, but it’s one
date. I promise that I won’t stay out too late and I will even call
and reassure you that I am fine, okay?” George smiles and then he
leans over and rubs the top of my head.

“You are good girl, bugs.”

Three

The night sky is glooming dark and its five minutes to seven.
My heart is gently racing as I hear a car pull up outside of our
house. Rachel rushes to the front window and she is rudely staring
at Dalton, as he quickly jumps out of his car. I have a sneaky look
at him and then I rush to the front door, when I hear the doorbell.
I pull open the heavy, oak door and Dalton is standing on the
doorstep. He smiles at me as he runs his fingers through his hair.
I smile back at him and my heart flips as he raises a dark eyebrow
at me. The first thing that I noticed about his appearance was his
eyes; they are a deep shade of blue and not the scary red from
before. He is dressed in dark blue jeans, a black shirt and a
leather jacket. He is massively tall and I feel like a dwarf
standing at my five foot five inches. He looks down at me and he
places his hands into his pockets as he takes in my looks. His eyes
are scanning my body and my face is heating up from his constant
glaring. His lips are white and they are gently quivering. I clear
my throat and take a deep breath as I say hello.

“Hi,” I choke out. Dalton smiles and gently nods his head as
he moves a little closer to me.

“Are you ready?” He asks in a smooth voice. I hold up my
finger to him as I signal that I need a minute. He smiles at me and
then he nods again in agreement. I rush into the hallway and I grab
my jacket from the coat stand. I slip the jacket across my
shoulders and when I turn around to face the door, I see that
Rachel is standing in the doorway, talking freely to Dalton. I
begin to walk over to them, when I hear my uncle shout on me from
the living room. I sigh as I march into the lounge. My uncle is
sitting in his favourite grey chair, by the window, with the remote
in one hand and a beer in the other. My aunt Jen is lounging on the
beat up sofa and she is casually reading the latest people
magazine.

“Bugs, please be careful tonight and don’t let that yahoo take
advantage of you.” I blush at my uncle’s words and then I hang my
head as I agree.

“Okay,” I say in a quiet tone. Jen throws her magazine onto
the sofa, as she stands and walks over to me. Jen is a very
attractive woman, she has soft blonde hair and bright blue eyes and
it’s easy to see where Rachel gets her looks from. Jen is always
dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt, but she can really rock
those threads. She smiles at me, as she reaches out and places her
hands onto my elbows.

“Have a wonderful time,” I smile at her kind words and then I
flash my uncle a wide eyed look, as I leave the lounge. I stride
back out into the hallway, to see that Rachel is still talking with
Dalton. I march over to her and I stare into her blue eyes, as I
inform her that he is my date.

“I’m ready to go,” I say as I push past Rachel. I step out
into the damp, cool night and Dalton surprises me, when he places
his hand onto my lower back. He rushes me to his car and he opens
the door and slides me in. I sink into the leather seats and my
heart begins to race, as I realise that I am actually doing this –I
am going out with Dalton, the gorgeous, mysterious guy with the
ever changing eyes. He slides into the car and he clicks it into
drive, as the car speeds off, I look back at Rachel, who is still
standing in the doorway. I take a deep breath and then I turn to
look at Dalton, as he manoeuvres his Porsche through the streets of
Portland.

“So where do you want to go?” He says as we stop at a red
light. I blankly stare at him as he awaits my response.

“You asked me out, haven’t you planned a date?” He laughs and
then he gently squeezes the bridge of his nose.

“Would you like some dinner?” He asks as he pushes his foot
down onto the gas pedal.

“It depends are you hungry?” I ask as I look away from
him.

“I’m not hungry for food; I don’t really eat from
restaurants.” I turn to meet his gaze as he locks his eyes onto
mine. I shake my head as I have no idea what he is
saying.

“That sounds… crazy,” he laughs at my reaction.

“Yeah, it probably does, so you wanna eat or not?” I shake my
head at him.

“I’m not hungry,” I say as I gently bite my lower
lip.

“Okay, so what do you want to do?” My patience with this guy
is really wearing thin. Sure he’s stunning, but come on the guy is
a sap when it comes to talking with girls. I shake my head at him,
as I fear that this is going to be a long night.

“May I remind you again, that you were one who wanted to take
me out? I really don’t feel like tutoring you on how to date. If
you’re not feeling this, then please just turn the car around.”
Dalton laughs at my words and then he gently stops the car at the
side of the road. My heart is racing and my annoyance is building.
I wish that I never agreed to this date –this guy is
strange.