Chp 4

Howie opened the door of Rockos Music Sore and looked over the store. He didn't see and bright colored hair, so he ventured slowly into the store. He walked slowly to the rock and pop sections while still keeping an eye out for Rose. He stopped and looked over and saw himself staring up at him. The sound of Roses voice had him dropping the CD and hastily turning around. He could hear her loud voice perfectly even across the room and above the Beatles that played in the background.
"BW, somebody fucked up the Jazz section, if you could please fix it" she asked of the younger girl beside her. The girl went off to the back of the store while Rose took something behind the register. He watched her walk back around to the singles section, not even looking up. She had on a short red pleated shirt, black tights, chunky black shoes and a black sweater. He hair was in 2 braided pigtails. She grabbed something and spun around to go to the register. Howie grabbed a random CD and put it on the counter.
"Hey Rose" he said. She looked at him, one elegant eyebrow raised.
"Hi. What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Shopping" he replied, waving the CD. She took it from him and grinned.
"Peter Paul and Mary? Long time fan?" she asked trying to suppress her laughter.
"So, maybe I'm down here to badger you into going out with me. You could pretend like it's just a couple friends hanging out..."
"I don't know..." she started.
"Rosie, dear, did you find out what happened.." Rocko came out of the back and stopped dead when he saw Howie. "Howie? Son of a bitch!" Howie smiled as Rocko came and enveloped him in a huge hug.
"What do we owe this visit to, my boy?"
"Well, I'm actually here to see Rose."
"Rose? Our little Rosie? Interested?" he asked as if she wasn't standing there.
"Well, I am, but I don't think she's decided whether she's interested in me."
"Hello. I'm standing right here" Rose said impatiently.
"Was it her voice? I fell for her as soon as she opened her mouth and started singing." Rocko said ignoring Rose.
"Actually, I didn't even knew she sang." Howie responded
"Beautifully! And she's so dedicated. All those chumps at the labels are idiots for not scooping her up yet." Rocko said, patting her on the back. "Now, Rose, why don't you like the boy? He's handsome enough, smart, talented. He could probably help you with the labels. You still have some ties, don't you boy?"
"Well, ah, um." Now it was his turn to be embarrassed. "Rocko, enough about me. Maybe you can help me convince Rose to come out with me."
"Rose, go out with the boy. He's a gentleman."
Rose gave them both a dirty look. "I will not be bullied into this"
"He came all the way down here, to practically beg at you feet. Come, now, Rose. At least you'll get a free dinner." Rocko smiled at her.
"Exactly, a free dinner, and I'm an excellent conversationalist." Howie interjected smiling.
"Fine! I'll go out with you!" Rose shouted exasperated. Howie cringed as all eyes from the store turned to them.
"She has tomorrow night off" Rocko said. Rose only stared at him like he'd lost his mind.
"Great, I'll pick you up at your place at 7." Howie said. Rose just looked at him blankly. "I'll take that as a yes. I'll see you tomorrow." He patted Rockos arm and left. As he walked by the store window he looked in to see Rocko smiling and Rose scowling. He couldn't help but chuckle as he walked off.
He got to Roses apartment at 7 sharp, wearing dark jeans and a dark gray sweater. He went to 2D and knocked loudly. Seconds later, she opened the door, looking stunning in a pair of slim black pants and a vinyl leopard print top.
"Hey, you found it."
"Yeah. I had to call Rachel and ask her which apartment. I bet you thought since I didn't know your apartment number, I wouldn't come."
"Either that or sit in the parking lot all night."
They made small talk on the way to the restaurant. Once they were seated, Rose started asking questions.
"After you left yesterday, Rocko mentioned you are a songwriter."
"Well, I used to be"
"You aren't anymore?"
Howie picked up his glass of wine and swirled it thoughtfully. "Let me ask you something. Has something ever happened to you that's so major it completely changes your outlook?" Rose nodded.
"That's what happened to me." He continued. "My life has been pretty mixed up recently. I don't really have anything to write about anyway."
"I bet you have a lot to write about. But, I know what you mean. I lost one of my friends to drugs six years ago. Before she died, she blamed everything on me. It took me forever to get back on track."
"Is that when you decided to start singing"
"No, that was about 2 years ago that I really started pursuing it" Their food came and they dug in.
"It took you 4 years to get over your friend.?" He asked. He saw her tense up slightly.
'Well, no. I started pursuing after my divorce. I decided to do what I wanted, not what was expected of me." She said quietly.
"You were married?" he asked, trying not to choke on his steak."
"Yeah, for 10 months. The biggest mistake of my life."
"I'm sorry." Howie said, not knowing what else to say.
"There's nothing to be sorry about." She looked at him and saw discomfort written on his face. "I'm sorry to bring it up, but I would have had to told you sometime. I just hope this doesn't change how you feel about me."
"No, I just never would have thought. You're so young." He said slowly.
"I was a baby when I got married. But, that's the past. You live and learn from your mistakes"
"Rachel said you were a strong person.." he changed the subject. This was definitely not first date material.
"So, you and Rachel had a talk about me?" she asked.
"Yes. She wanted to make sure that I had the best of intentions. She said you wouldn't change for anyone, and if I didn't like you hair that I'd either have to live with it or move on."
Rose laughed heartily. "Rachel would say that, too. She's such a dear. I really like her."
"I do too. Not as much as I like you." Rose seemed to ignore him. He paid the check and drove her home.
"Listen, Howie. I had a lot of fun tonight. But, I was serious when I said I wasn't looking for a relationship. Could we just try being friends?" She asked him, looking across the car at him.
"Yes, if that's what you want." He replied almost regretfully. She gave her number and went in. He was really starting to like her a lot. He was drawn to her, for reasons he didn't understand. But, if she wanted to be friends, he could deal with that. He had as feeling it would save his heart in the long run.

Rose picked at her salad with her fork. Lunch with Rachel was not very interesting today. Ryan had yet to pop the question, even though Howie had told her he'd purchased the ring. Rose was depressed because she had yet to be signed. She knew she was about through with Orlando but it would definitely be hard to leave. She had made friends, practically planted roots. Rachel was the closest friend she had in years and Howie was a good companion. The four of them hung out quite frequently and they had a lot of fun. She stopped picking at her salad and watched Rachel scarf down another mozzarella stick.
"Are you ready? We're supposed to meet Ryan at the site in 15 minutes."
"Yes, let's go." She threw a $20 on the table and they left. They walked the 2 blocks to the building and saw Ryan and Howie standing by the plans. Ryan was talking and gesturing and Howie just stood and shook his head. The girls walked into the site and Ryan looked up and waved.
"Hey gorgeous" he said as he walked over and embraced Rachel. "I just wanted you to see how far we've gotten on this project. Go put on a hard hat and we'll walk through."
"You're not wearing a hard hat" Rachel said.
"That's because I have a hard head."
Rachel scowled. Ryan pointed to a rack.
"There's only one left." Rachel said holding it up.
"Put it on. I don't care about them" Ryan joked. Rachel just shrugged and put it on. Rose looked at Howie who was smiling at her.
"What are you grinning about?" she asked as they followed Ryan and Rachel.
"Nothing..." Howie said still smiling. Rose was about to say something else when she heard Rachel scream. She looked up to see Rachel and Ryan hugging. Rachel turned around and practically threw herself into Roses arms.
"Look!" She thrust her ring finger into Roses face. On it was a beautiful diamond ring. "I'm getting married" She squeaked.
"Congratulations!" Rachel let go then hugged Howie then hugged Ryan again.
"We're taking the rest of the day off to celebrate" Howie announced.
Later that night, Rachel and Ryan got their closest friend together to celebrate.
"You look tired" Howie said, sitting beside her on Ryan's worn couch.
"I am. It's been an exhausting day." Rose sighed, leaning back.
"I'll take you home."
"I don't want you to miss any of the party."
"I'm about partied out. Plus, I have something I want to talk to you about."
"Ok, let me go say bye to Rachel." Rose congratulated the couple again then slid into Howie's car for a silent ride to her place.
"You want to watch some TV with me for awhile?"
"Sure" They went up to her apartment and Rose kicked off her shoes. She flopped on the couch and Howie sat next to her. She flipped on the TV and changed it to MTV.
"So, what's on your mind. You haven't been acting like yourself today." Howie commented.
"You are acing weird too."
"Don't change the subject. I'm asking about your welfare."
Rose huffed. "Ok, well, I've just been thinking about when I got engaged." She looked at Howie. He was watching her patiently and she could see he'd listen and try and understand her. "Well, I guess I'll start at the beginning. I met Shawn when I was 18. He was my first boyfriend, my first kiss, my first love. I fell in love with him quickly. When he asked me to marry him 4 months after we met I laughed in his face. I didn't want to get married. I loved him, but I wasn't ready for marriage." She paused and looked at the TV for a moment. "Shawn told me that when you're in love, you shouldn't wait. So, we had a huge wedding 4 months after that. The strangest thing was, as I walked down the aisle, I felt dread. Dread and regret. I wanted to run away. I knew saying 'I Do' was a mistake. I loved him, but not enough. It wasn't like I couldn't live without him, but I was young and stupid. So, after we got married, he wanted me to be a stay at home mom. I didn't want kids yet, and he did. I wasn't forbid to do anything, but I was so depressed that I didn't want to do anything. When I refused to go off the pill, he hit me and I hit him back." Howie laughed and Rose smiled. "I hit a lot harder then he did. We just rushed everything. He filed for divorce a week after the hitting incident. We didn't know each other well enough, we weren't working towards a common goal. I just don't know. I haven't had anyone serious since and this whole marriage thing with Rachel has depressed me for some reason. I'm sorry" Howie didn't say a word, just put his arm around her and made her lean on him. She put her arms around his waist and felt comfort in his arms.

Chp 5
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