A CALIFORNIA ROSE
Chapter Six
November 18, 2002
The merger was finalized three days later.
Titan Construction and Sunpeak held a formal business dinner to celebrate the
merger and announce it to the media.
Cal insisted that Rose accompany him. She
didn’t want to--she had a midterm the following morning--but Cal wanted her
there. It looked good for him to have his fiancee accompany him.
The meeting took place at Deveraux’s. Rose
wasn’t fond of the place--it made think of the night Cal had proposed to
her--but she went to the meeting without a fuss. Cal had insisted she buy a new
dress for the occasion, and had picked it for her himself. The short, red and
black satin dress was slippery--Rose had to brace her feet to keep from sliding
out of her seat--and much too short and thin for the cold autumn night.
Nevertheless, Cal had told her that it was "appropriate", and that
she looked lovely.
Rose would have preferred a long dress, but
Cal had informed her that since they weren’t going to be dancing, it wouldn’t
be appropriate. By the time Rose had shivered her way into the restaurant, she
didn’t care about appropriate anymore. She wanted a warmer garment.
The evening had been dull. Despite the
constant shouting from reporters, Rose felt her head nodding a few times from
boredom. No one paid much attention to her--she was only a secretary, after
all--and she spent most of the evening picking at her food while Cal made
speeches and talked to reporters.
The food was good enough, Rose thought,
although she had never been particularly fond of veal, which was the main
course. Still, as the evening wore on, she felt herself beginning to nod off,
and finally resorted to pinching herself every time she felt her eyes start to close.
The evening seemed interminable, and Rose was
relieved when nine o’clock arrived and the reporters and executives began to
clear out.
"I take it you didn’t enjoy the evening
much?" Cal asked her as he drove her back to her dorm.
"I was tired, and I’ve got a midterm in
the morning that I need to study for."
"Rose, it’s important that you maintain
an alert demeanor at business functions. These are for work, and to promote
your career, not for you to sleep through."
"I didn’t fall asleep!"
"You almost did. I saw you pinching
yourself several times. If you were that bored, you should have gotten up and
mingled with other people."
And if I had, Rose reflected bitterly, you
would have yelled at me for not remembering my place. I’m only a secretary,
after all. Besides, your friends are bores.
But to Cal she said, "All right. I’ll
try to do that next time."
"See that you do."
After Cal had dropped her off, Rose slowly
made her way up to her room. Her roommates were out, probably studying. She
needed to do the same.
Rose glanced at her watch. It was nearly ten
o’clock. She had to be up at seven to get to her class at eight, and she wasn’t
nearly ready for this test.
Sighing, Rose sat down at the desk with her
accounting textbook. She thought about changing her clothes first, but realized
that she needed to study before she became any more tired.
Opening the book, she turned to the section
being tested. She read the book for a few minutes, but soon realized that she
had no idea what she’d read. The words seemed to blur on the page. Rose reached
up to rub her eyes and realized that she was crying.
Rose pushed the book away and sat back. She
was tired, overworked, and miserable. Cal was on her case constantly, dictating
her life to her. The threat of being thrown out in the streets hung over her
head like a dark cloud, and Rose saw no way out.
The textbook seemed to mock her. Lying open
on the desk, the carefully highlighted sentences glowing incomprehensibly, it
seemed to symbolize to her everything that was wrong with her life.
Without even thinking about what she was
doing, Rose slammed the book shut and threw it against a wall. It thumped
loudly and fell onto her bed, half-open. Someone in the next room banged on the
wall.
Rose stood in front of the mirror, trying to
get in control of herself. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her makeup was
streaked. Her carefully coifed hairdo was coming undone, and she looked unhappy
and bedraggled. Hands shaking, she started to remove the bobby pins from her
hair.
One pin was tangled in her hair and refused
to come loose. Frustrated, Rose grabbed a pair of scissors and snipped the pin
loose.
Throwing the scissors on the table, she gazed
at herself sadly in the mirror. Her hand moved to touch the expensive pearl
necklace that Cal had bought for her a few months ago. Clasped around her neck,
it seemed to be choking her.
With a wordless cry, Rose moved to unclasp
the necklace. When it wouldn’t immediately come loose, she grabbed the string
of pearls and yanked on it. It broke, scattering pearls across the floor.
Rose didn’t notice. The room seemed to be
closing in on her. Sobbing, she yanked the door open and ran down the hall,
nearly knocking over Mari, who was returning from her study session. Mari
stared at her in surprise, but Rose paid no attention.
Still crying, Rose rushed down the stairs. A
few people turned and stared at her, but Rose didn’t notice. Reaching the front
door of the building, she threw it open and rushed out into the night.