WHAT IF?
Chapter Eighteen
Rose arrived home, along with
Rachel, Piper, Lisa, and Tara. She realized that Jack’s car wasn’t there.
"I wonder where he
went."
She picked up the phone and
called Fabrizio. He answered.
"Hello?" He sounded
tired.
"Hey, Fabrizio. It’s me,
Rose."
"Hey."
"Is Jack there?"
"Yeah, but…um…he’s pretty
knocked out, so…um…yeah. He’ll talk to you tomorrow."
"Oh, okay. Can you just tell
him that I arrived here and that he should call me?"
"Okay. Bye."
"Bye." They both hung
up.
"So..." Rachel said,
eating a chip.
"He’s pretty knocked
out." She rolled her eyes. "Guys, I think something happened when I
was gone."
"Like what?" Piper
asked.
"I don’t know, but I have a
feeling that something did happen."
"Hey, Rose. Wasn’t that the
guy who kept looking at me?" Piper asked.
"Oh, Fabrizio."
"Yeah…um…can you tell him
that the next time he looks at me, I’ll hurt him badly?" Piper grinned.
"I’m going to bed. I’m
feeling pretty knocked out." Rose mimicked Fabrizio’s voice. They laughed.
"Yo, Rose! Where are the
guest rooms at?"
"Up here and down there.
Hey, clean up after yourselves!"
"Okay!" all four of
them said at the same time.
*****
The next morning, Rose went over
to Fabrizio’s apartment. She had waited for Jack to phone, but he hadn’t
called. She knocked on the door.
Fabrizio opened it. "Hey,
Rose. Um…Jack’s not here..."
Rose pushed him out of the way.
She walked into Jack’s room. "What the hell is your problem?"
Jack got up. Rose looked at him
with anger. "Do you really want to know?" She nodded. "Okay. I
hate being in the middle of the spotlight, being chased by the paparazzi. I’m
just sick of it!"
"So, something did happen
while I was gone." She looked at his swollen lip. She walked closer to him
and put her hand on his face. He flinched and removed her hand. "Garret
did this to you, didn’t he?"
"Yeah. But we need to talk
about us."
Rose stepped back slowly.
"Okay. Continue."
"I don’t think this is going
to work out. I think..."
"No, no. Why?" Rose
began to cry.
"The whole spotlight thing
and your family is just not working out for me..." He was interrupted.
"You know what? Forget
this!" She took off the ring and threw it at him, then left the apartment.
He ran after her, but it was too late. She got in the car and rolled down the
window.
"Don’t forget to get the
fuck out of my house!" She drove off. Jack ran upstairs, grabbed his keys,
and also left. He drove after Rose.
*****
Rose sped down the street. Jack
followed. As she drove, she heard a car honk behind her. She looked in the
rearview mirror. It was Jack. She drove faster. She reached her house and got
out of the car as Jack parked. She walked up to him and punched him. Jack
almost fell back, but stopped himself.
Rose was about to throw him
another punch, but Jack grabbed her hand and held it.
"Let go!"
"You punch harder than your
brother." He walked her up to the house. He slammed the door. Rose was
about to attack him again, but he held her. He pushed her against the wall.
Jack looked into her eyes. She looked fierce and upset at the same time. Tears
rolled down her cheeks, so he let go of her. She slid down the wall and cried.
"I’ll go get my stuff."
Jack slowly backed away and went upstairs to go get his things.
Rose cried hard. She couldn’t
control herself. Finally, she got up and left. She started the car and drove to
Taryn’s house. She knocked on the door. Taryn opened it. She smiled, but it
went away.
"We broke up."
Taryn hugged Rose. They entered
the house. "Does your mom know?" Rose just shook her head. "Does
Garret?"
"No."
"Are you going to tell
them?"
"They’ll find out on their
own."
Rose sat there in silence. Taryn
call Rachel and Piper, and once Rachel found out, she wanted to kill Jack.
"I’m gonna kill that
asshole. Rose, you know how I get when shit like this happens."
"I know. Just forget about
it. It’s over." Piper sat next to her.
"Don’t forget we’re here for
you. You know that."
"Man, you were always a
mother to me."
"I never thought of
that."
They laughed, then went back to
silence. Rose’s eyes were filled with sadness. A tear rolled down her cheek.
She closed her eyes.