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Enjoy!
"Hey give that back!" Chloe demanded as she jumped up and down, trying to reach for the picture. Owen held it up a bit higher, although I didn't understand why he would have to do that. He was at least three feet taller than her. Maybe more….
"Not so fast, kiddo. I just have a few questions first for Rose, if that's okay." He looked at me with a hopeful look in his eyes. I frantically thought of ways I could weasel my way out of this.
Chloe stomped her foot on the ground and look impatient, "No fair! I came to see her and talk to her, not for you to hog her all to yourself. And don't grip that picture too hard, you'll ruin it!"
Their bickering was interrupted by a sudden door slam. We all looked back at the door and saw Marina standing behind me with her hands clasped together. She looked starstruck as her gaze drifted from me to Owen, then to me again.
She opened her arms wide open, "Well hello there! You must Owen, I have heard sooo much about you." She purposely dramatized the "so much" bit and she finished her welcome with a flirtatious wink aimed at Owen.
Owen dryly laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Well hello. I take it you must be one of Rose's….cousins?" Marina abruptly wrapped her arm around my shoulders and pressed her face next to mine. I felt my face tighten.
Why Marina…why….
"Her cousin?! Ah we don't look alike very much do we? We get that a lot!" She squeezed my cheek, resulting in me smacking her hand away.
"Marina, don't do this to me now-" I was interrupted as Marina quickly put her hand over my mouth.
"I was always the darker and prettier one, but Rosie and I are actually sisters!" She wrapped both arms around me and squeezed me. I just kept my arms limp around my sides.
"She's a little resistant but I love her so much!"
"I hate you." I replied flatly.
Marina threw her head back and laughed heartily, "See? But trust me Owen, with just enough effort, she can be an absolute sweetheart!"
"You're the bane of my existence."
Owen shook his head and grinned, "Well it's very nice to meet you Marina. You were also very impressive on the dance floor. I know a girl that belly dances too actually. But personally," he leaned a bit towards us and kept his voice low. "I think you were much better."
Marina delicately placed a hand on her chest and gasped, "Really? You must have good taste then!" She giggled and tossed her hair back, "Why though? Was it my outfit? How I shook my hips? Or was it because I got an encore?"
Are they really flirting in my face?
"No, because she is his ex." Chloe bluntly said as she crossed her arms and grimaced. My eyes opened wide.
This day just keeps getting better.
I looked at Owen almost immediately who looked back at me with a bashful look on his face. "Uh, that's a reason but not the biggest. Anyway, I should go. I have to get back to work. It was nice to meet you Marina, take care now," he said quickly.
Chloe held out her hand, "Owen, the picture."
"Oh yeah…" Owen stared at the picture for a bit before he somewhat reluctantly handed it to Chloe, who quickly snatched it away. She then squealed in delight and turned towards me, "I guess I have to go back now. But when can I see you again?" Her lips formed a pout.
I nearly forgot why I was so annoyed when I saw the longing in her eyes. I felt my facial expression soften and I smiled at her as I took her tiny hands in mine, "Anytime you would like, sweet pea. I don't really have work tomorrow since it's going to be the guys' turn to dance. We can do anything you would like. So," I grinned. "What's it gonna be?"
Chloe swayed a bit as she shyly said, "Well, I really meant it when I said if you could teach me anything like what you did on your last performance. I like K-pop tons!"
"What's your favorite song? Pick any, I don't care how hard it is." I laughed.
Chloe's face lit up, "Wonder Girls! Wonder Girls!"
I literally felt the room turn cold at that instant. Goddamit Rose, look what you did….
I nodded, "See you tomorrow then, Chloe." I hugged her one last time before she happily ran towards Owen and grabbed his hand. He smiled down at her before he looked back at me, "I wish I had more time to talk but…"he coughed nervously, "When can I see you again?"
I shrugged, "I don't know. We have Gents' Night in two days." I pointed at Marina, "She'll be there." I didn't know why, but for some reason I wanted him to want to see me again but I also didn't want to see him again. The ambivalence I felt towards him forced me to react with indifference.
"Will you be there?"
I was taken back, "Me? I uh…I guess. I kind of have to."
"Great! See you there then! Although," he grinned, "something tells me I will be seeing you much sooner than that." He waved and walked away with Chloe, who turned back and kept waving at us vigorously until they walked out the door. I waved back and turned back to walk to our room, only to have Marina standing right there in my face.
I made a face, "Woman, you almost gave me a panic attack." Marina placed her hand on her hips, "You think I didn't see that, Rose?!"
I took a step back and held out my hands in defense, "What are you talking about, Nina?"
Marina shook her head in frustration, "That! What just happened! I totally saw that chemistry between you!" I crossed my arms, "Nina, you flunked chemistry two times when we were homeschooled. How would you know what chemistry is between two people if you can't even tell the chemistry between an acid and a base?"
Not the best comeback I had, but it was the only thing I had to stall for time.
She frowned, "I may not be a scholarly person, but I am a people person. Comes with the job, you know. You know what else comes with the job? Men. I've seen plenty of guys interested in me and in love with me. Even obsessed, or crazy about me. Whatever, there's a difference. And I can tell you one thing, he's definitely interested."
I felt my annoyance come back, "In you."
"No stupid, in you."
I rolled my eyes, "How would you know? Look at me and look at you!" I held out my arms so she could take a good look at me. Compared to me, she was an Amazonian goddess with dark hair and brown eyes. Her dancing was quite a commodity in modern cities that have never seen such exotic women move like that before. She was the kind of person you would only read about, but when you saw her, you couldn't believe someone like that existed. Someone fit to perfection, with high cheekbones and full lips that could carve themselves into the most seductive smile you have ever seen. Then there was me: shy of strangers, always confused for the bookkeeper, and always serious. In fact, most people didn't even know I had violet eyes since I was always trying my best to avoid them in general. I didn't mean to, it's just that we always start off as strangers before we became acquainted. It can't be helped, really.
Marina grabbed my arms and looked at me with a glint in her eye, "Because I tested it out. I am way into Luke to look at anyone else so I decided to experiment by flirting with Owen." I glared at her, "Yeah… I think it was obvious to both me and Chloe."
She grinned, "Let me explain. I tried to divert his attention to me, just to test how fickle or in this case, shallow, he may be. By the looks of him, I assumed he would easily fall for someone like me who was clearly showing interest in him. I mean, he also is pretty hot and muscular. I think he knows that he could get girls easily, but I'm not sure." I made a face at her, which made her say, "PFFT, Rose I know I am beautiful, okay. Any mother like ours would only have good looking offspring!"
I put my hands on my hips, "Right, that's the reason why you believe you are so beautiful." She wasn't wrong, but it wouldn't kill her to be modest once in a while.
Marina winked at me and continued, "Thing is, it didn't work. I failed. He kind of looked at me weird. Yeah he smiled and paid attention to me like a gentleman, but the look on his face showed that…he was just waiting for me to stop talking," Her eyes opened wide, "Rosie, he didn't even care if I was going to Gents' Night or asked if he will see me around. He only wanted to know about you." I felt my face heat up.
She smiled warmly and softly said, "He wants you, Rose. So stop being jealous." I immediately snapped back and clenched my fists, "I'm not jealous! I was just waiting for you to stop talking to I could ask Chloe what she wanted!" Marina snapped her fingers at my face," You think I didn't observe you either? I saw how you kept flickering your eyes between him and me! You thought I was really flirting, and you didn't like how that felt, did you?"
Shit, she looked at me too?!
I straightened my jacket and as calmly as I could said, "This conversation is over. I have to tell everyone to pack up and you have to go help Mama with her paperwork." I was alarmed at how intuitive she was being, and I didn't want to hear more. Her explanation was actually making sense, but for some reason, I couldn't believe it.
I walked away, "Now get back to work." She yelled at me, "Man, you always pull the "Boss" card whenever you don't want to continue a conversation!"
XXXXXXXXXX
"Hey Ray?"
Ray turned back to me and smiled, "What's up, Rose?"
It was already nightfall and all of us were already settled back at the inn. Diego kept sneaking out trying to see Maya so some guys were outside the guys' room, just for safe measures. I couldn't sleep so I figured I could talk to Ray when I saw him standing outside the door with Marco and Bryce, who were already fast asleep on their chairs.
I twiddled with my fingers, "What was that Wonder Girls song you were talking about?" I braced myself, waiting for him to tease me.
All I heard was chuckling, "Can I ask why?"
I put my hands on my back, "There's this little girl. Here name is Chloe, very sweet girl. She has red hair, even redder cheeks. She asked if I could show her a choreo to a Wonder Girls song. Figured I could ask you since you mentioned that you knew a Wonder Girls son." I looked up at him anxiously.
He looked thoughtful and leaned against the wall, "Yeah, I know who you are talking about. Me and the guys signed some autographs for her, she was really into the whole breakdancing thing." He laughed, "She said she has never known people that could move like that and kept asking us if we were hurt or anything. She even handed some of us a Band-Aid."
We both laughed together for a bit until he said, "Hey, meet me in the morning. I have an idea as to how we can really impress her. Whaddya say? You down?"
I nodded, "Yeah, I'm down. Now get some sleep. Don't worry about Diego, I gave Maya my pocketknife if she needed it." I thanked him and walked back to my room.
The girls' room was still and the only thing I could hear were the gentle snores from some of the girls. I looked at the canopy of my bed and placed my hands behind my head. From a distance, the waves were gently crashing onto the cliffs and the pier. The heat from today reduced a cool chill that drifted through our window. I looked out the window, and watched as the moonlight's dim light dusted everyone's faces. But the shade of blue from the night sky reminded me of his face.
I let out a long sigh. How can you tell if someone is interested in you? And if he truly was, what are his intentions? What kind of interest is it? He strikes me as the older brother type since his personality kind of reminded me of Adam, who was always cheerful and overprotective. I looked away and faced the wall, but I could still see his face. Well…even if he was just being nice, it's a good thing that he was not interested in Marina.
I'm…I'm glad.
