13 Going on 30

Rose was fuming as she stomped down the hallway to Mira's office. Rose knew that Mira had to have said something terrible to Mack for him to sign away the pictures the way he had. She had to know what Mira had lied about. She couldn't let Mack get married in eighteen hours with him thinking whatever Mira had said was true.

"What did you do?" Rose demanded as she entered Mira's office.

Mira looked up from the box she'd been piling her things in. "Oh, which one do you want to be today, Rose? The pot or the kettle? Because if you don't mind, I'd like to be the kettle. Or the pot. It doesn't really matter, though. They're both black."

"What are you talking about, Mira?" Rose asked, confused as to what Mira meant. Mira was the bad guy here, not Rose.

Mira smirked and held up the Sparkle envelope she'd found in Rose's desk drawer. "This is what I'm talking about. I know all about your little deal with Trish, Rose. If you helped them sell a million copies they'd give you editor-in-chief. That's a pretty good deal. I wish I had thought of it. So now I get to leave, and you can stay here with Poise. Maybe if you're lucky you losers will be able to salvage something…but you won't be lucky."

Rose took a closer look at the envelope. There was a piece of Sparkle stationary inside. Thanks for the idea, Rose. You'll be a great editor-in-chief at Sparkle. -- Trish Sackett. "But I've never seen this before," Rose told Mira. Mira snorted as she dropped a stack of CDs into her box.

"Wipe that Bambi look off of your face, Rose. I found it in your desk drawer, and the envelope had already been opened. You can't fool me. It's a shame, really. Aren't you a certified genius? Shouldn't you know to hide your dirty little secrets a bit better?"

Rose clenched the paper so tightly that her fingernails left five little holes in it. She fought back tears. Over the last few weeks, Rose had really thought that she had made some changes to her life. She had tried to make things right. But all this time the worst mistake she had made had been sitting in a desk drawer, waiting to be found.

"What about Mack? What did you say to him?" Rose asked in a quiet voice. She felt sick to her stomach. If Mira had messed things up…if Mack hated her… "Just tell me."

Mira smirked again. "Oh, little Beaver…I think I told him that you had decided to go in a different direction." She pretended to look deep in thought for a moment before speaking again. "I might have told him something else, but I just can't remember."

The taller woman hoisted the box into her arms and walked out of her office. Rose sank to the floor, horrified. It was too much to hope that Mack hadn't believed Mira's outrageous lies. Something had made Mack sign the release forms. Something had made him believe Mira.

Rose wanted to cry. She had lost him now, forever. And they'd gotten to be so close again…Mack had forgiven her. But now Mira had ruined everything, and once Mack and Ronny were married, he'd be moving to Florida. Rose would probably never see him again.

She loved him.

If only she'd seen it when they were children. If only Rose had listened to her mother about Mack being her boyfriend. It made so much sense. How could she have been so blind?

And then the tears did come, fast. Rose sat on the floor in Mira's office, brokenhearted. There was nothing she could do. Mira had crushed Rose's chances, and Mack had Ronny. He'd picked Ronny long before Rose had shown up in his life again. Rose had to accept that.

It was too hard.

She had to see him. She had to see him so that she could apologize. Mack could not get married without knowing the truth. He had to know he had Rose as an option.

There was no way Rose could get him alone here in the city. She would have to go back to the suburbs tomorrow morning before the wedding. She stood slowly, shaking. She would just have to wait it out.

0o0o0o0

The taxi system in San Angeles sent its cars out at eight o'clock in the morning. Rose spent a sleepless night staring at the ceiling. She tried to rehearse what she would say to Mack, but nothing that crossed her mind seemed to sound good.

Rose dressed carefully that morning. After what seemed like hours of rifling through her wardrobe, Rose decided on a red off the shoulder top and white jeans. She slipped a lightweight black coat on over her top, gathered up her purse and ran down to the lobby.

She was lucky and caught one of the first taxis of the morning. "I need to go out to the suburbs. I know it's far, but I'll pay you well." Rose settled in against the black leather of the seat, reminding herself to breathe.

The cab had nearly reached the suburbs of San Angeles when it got caught in traffic. It did not help to soothe Rose's nerves. Rose sat in the backseat, looking at her watch, and every so often she thought she felt someone's eyes watching her. She glanced up and found the cabbie watching her intently. "Rose? Rose Ortiz?"

"Yeah…" Rose said slowly.

The African-American man's eyes lit up. "Will Aston!"

Rose stared at him. He certainly looked different. She tried to smile. "Are you married?" Will asked. "If you're single, I definitely want a number…" He glanced back at her again. "I'm living at home. My wife and I just got divorced. This is what I do all day…drive people around. But you run that magazine, right? With Mira?"

"Mira was recently given another position at another magazine," Rose said stiffly. This was not the right time for questions. She looked at her watch again. She only had ten minutes before the wedding was due to start. Will started to talk again, but Rose was far too anxious to hear anything he said.

An old song came on the radio, one that Rose would know anywhere. "It's our song, Rose!" Will exclaimed, "What was his name? Rick Springer? Springy?"

"Springfield, Aston!" Rose said as she got out of the cab. She could walk to the old neighborhood from here. If she sat in the cab any longer she would be too late to talk to Mack. She threw some bills at Will and ran off, glad she had worn comfortable shoes.

Rose sprinted towards her childhood home. When she reached the front lawn of Mack's old house, Rose looked up. She could see Mack standing at the window in his old bedroom. Rose smiled briefly – she wasn't too late.

She snuck up the stairs, unnoticed by any of the guests. She heard Ronny giggling with her bridesmaids and made herself keep going towards Mack's room. Rose stopped outside of the door and took a deep breath.

The door creaked as she pushed it open. Mack turned to se who his visitor was, and when he saw Rose, he smiled. "Hi," she said softly.

It was so, so wrong to want to run to her and hold her and never let her go. But he was getting ready for his wedding, so he simply said, "Hey, Rose."

"Mack, whatever Mira said to you, you have to know it wasn't true. Please." Her eyes were begging him to understand.

Mack chuckled softly. "I stopped trusting Mira in the third grade when she broke my mother's camera. She doesn't matter."

Rose took a few steps closer to Mack. "I am not the awful person that I know I used to be. I don't know her. And I think that if you knew that, really knew that, you wouldn't be getting ready to marry someone right now…unless that someone was me."

Mack let out a big sigh. He covered his face with his hands for a moment before looking at her again. "Rose, I won't lie to you. Ever since you showed up at my apartment, I've felt things. Things that I thought I would never feel again. But I've also realized you can't just turn back time to how things used to be."

"Why?"

He reached out and took her hand, gently. "We moved on. We went down different paths for so long…I chose Ronny. I care about her. She cares about me." His heart was breaking as he continued to talk. "You don't always get the dream house, Rose, but you come real close."

Rose slowly started backing towards the door, looking at the walls, the floor…anywhere but his eyes. "I understand," she said. Her voice betrayed how miserable she felt.

"Rose, please don't cry," Mack whispered. If she cried then Mack knew there was no way he could keep from pulling her into his arms and telling her something that would only hurt both of them more.

"I'll be fine." She knew he was still watching her. "Mack, you can't be late to your own wedding," she said, trying to sound impatient. "Just go. I'm crying because I'm happy. I want you to be so happy."

He opened the closet door and took out the Rose Dream House. He stood in front of her, holding it out for her to take, and Rose saw that he looked like he was going to cry, too. "Oh, Mackie, can I have it?" she asked in a whisper.

"You're not going to throw it at me?"

"No." She tried to smile and took the dollhouse from her old friend. "I love you, Mack."

Rose moved to the door, stretching out a hand for the knob. "Rose, I've always loved you."

It was too much to take. She left the room, carrying the dream house with her. Mack's house was empty, saving her from explaining what she was doing there in the first place.

Rose crossed to her own house, sitting down on the porch. She let her tears fall. It was too late. Mack had chosen his path, and she had chosen hers. But if she had one do-over…one wish…

A light breeze blew remnants of wishing dust towards Rose, and she squeezed her eyes shut.