Dawnstar94 - Not all of them I hope!
Oreoskidz - Me and some of the others at my school say it to the chavs when they yell at us!
So, the boys have been banged up! Leaving Rosaline left to confront Angelo. I hope I've written this chapter ok, I also rewrote this one many times. I hope Angelo comes across as sympathetic. I find it hard to write him and Gabriel as sympathetic. Oh and I also just realised, it's the 7th March, which means it's Rosaline's birthday! Happy Birthday Rosaline!
He waved, and walked over to her calmly.
"Did you see that? Gabriel was just fighting, and he was arrested-"
"Yes, I saw that" said Angelo "But Gabriel can wait"
"Why are you here?" demanded Rosaline.
"I was picking up a new suit from a department store across the road. I heard the commotion. And Lord Capulet had received some very strange text messages from various students in the school. I thought I'd investigate as well"
"So I suppose you know as well, don't you?" said Rosaline "I'm dating Tybalt Capulet, resident thug of Verona. And I've slept with him. Hooray!"
"I don't care who you sleep with. It's not anybody's business but your own. As long as you do it safely, I don't care" Angelo cleared his throat "This is awkward. I suppose you don't fancy standing around here with people pointing and gossiping at you. What say we go and talk over in that cafe there?"
He pointed, and Rosaline recognised the little cafe where she and Gabriel had met up a few weeks ago.
"I suppose so"
Rosaline and her dad walked over, and Angelo opened a menu.
"This cappuccino is my favourite, but Gabriel hates this type. What about you?"
"I like it, but it has full fat so I don't drink it because I don't want to gain weight. I thought Gabriel liked it as well, but he said he doesn't want to gain any weight either"
"That boy" Angelo shook his head "I worry about him. He barely eats anything. It's not healthy the way he carries on for those ballet classes. He'll make himself sick. It's not the lifestyle I want for my son, but he's just so stubborn. I worry about him, you know. He's turning out worse than my brother Iago"
"My personal opinion is that he's starving for a bit of affection" Rosaline replied curtly.
"It's hard, being a single parent and juggling work"
"You could say that again" snarled Rosaline "After you threw mum out"
Angelo shook his head with a sigh "I did not throw her out. We divorced. She made this big speech about standing on her own two feet, and went to live in the Burry Estate. I was prepared to pay support, but she refused, and blocked me out. I tried to get into contact. But every time I did, it was blown up in the press. Not only did I want to hold onto my reputation, I wanted to protect your identity. Children shouldn't grow up in the limelight"
"So, you're saying my mother lied to me about you? You're saying that she deliberately refused your support and then told us you wanted nothing to do with us, and only cared about your new brat?"
"I'm not saying she's a liar. I'm saying she was upset. We were all upset. I shouldn't have married her just because she was pregnant. I wasn't ready for marriage in my twenties. Nor was I ready in my thirties. It's only now I think I could cope with it"
"You should have made a chastity pledge. Then you could be a forty year old virgin" scoffed Rosaline. Angelo snorted in reply.
"Now, that, I never wanted to happen. I explained to you how hard it was to be myself when I was younger, and try to rise to power as a politician. I wanted both, but I couldn't have both. I had to make a choice of one or the other. It's not like being a celebrity, where you can do what you want and people will still think you're cool. Everything I did, and still do, every suit I buy, every remark I make, the image I create for myself and the reputation I hold, judges whether or not I'll get to remain in my job. I sacrificed a lot of things for this. You can understand that, can't you?"
Rosaline thought of her phoney chastity pledge. She glanced down "Yes"
"There you go then"
"How do you know all this stuff?" asked Rosaline.
"Contrary to what Gabriel would have you believe, we do actually speak sometimes. And it doesn't usually involve me slapping him around the face for wanting to be a ballerina. Or danseur, as he keeps trying to get me to say"
"He makes it sound like you're some oppressive dictatorish Mussolini reincarnation" admitted Rosaline.
Angelo laughed, a deep charismatic laugh "Of course not! He just likes attention. Every time I'd hold a meeting at my house, he'd either pull down the curtains or kick over a pot plant. Silly boy"
"Tybalt used to pull down curtains when he was a kid" mused Rosaline "I always used to laugh at him doing so. Tybalt the Terror, Uncle Egues called him"
"Egues told me all about it. He used to tell me how you were getting on"
"He did?"
"Yes. He understood about the situation. He'd been in a similar situation, where he'd knocked another woman up whilst being married to another. But he was lucky – he got to raise both his children. It's a long story. He told me about a possible Head Girl status. Reminded me of something that happened when I was younger"
"What?" asked Rosaline.
"This teacher told me I would become a prefect if I started this mentor the younger kids program" replied Angelo with a roll of his eyes "I knew being a prefect would help me get into the university of my choice. The thing was, I hated the younger kids. I was lousy at emphasizing with them. They came to me with problems and I'd say stupid things to make them go away. I got to be prefect, but there were about a dozen year sevens with unsolved issues because I couldn't be bothered with them"
"Kids drive me nuts" admitted Rosaline "I don't want any"
"Me too. One of the MPs in my party has had a baby, and he brings in these pictures of just this thing, smothered in goo. Where's the appeal in that?"
"Looks like I take after you then"
"I guess you do. You've turned out pretty nicely for a goo smothered thing. Well. You weren't bad. You were quite a sweet little thing. I have a picture here"
Angelo bent over, and reached into his wallet. He dug through some photographs "That's Gabriel when he was five. He used to be quite a cute kid. Stubborn, but cute. And here's you. I never stopped carrying it"
Rosaline accepted the photograph "Mum still has this dress and the shoes"
"I remember it well. It was her favourite. Pink always suited you. Those little shoes, you never used to leave the house without them"
"I know, she told me. Mum said they were lucky, as I won a baby competition and earned myself free diapers for a year"
"It's funny, Gabriel was on the cover of Baby Vogue when he was three months old. I guess I have good genes"
"Or maybe just a good taste in women" shrugged Rosaline "I don't look like you. Neither does Gabriel or Livia"
"No, you look more like my father's mother's side of the family. I have German ancestry through my grandmother, your great-grandmother. My grandfather, well, your great-grandfather, and his family lived here in Verona for all his life, for generations. I think some of them worked on a farm"
"So we have quite some history"
"Yes, we do. I've got records in my library. I should ask Gabriel to go and get them out sometimes. He has more time than me. When he's not prancing around in a tutu or spreading rumours, he's a bit of a bookworm. It's such a shame. He's a clever lad, he just cares about his appearance all the time" Angelo sighed.
"I care about my appearance. And my brains. You can care about both, that's what I've learnt in the past few weeks" replied Rosaline "I like to read in the Capulet's library. They've got loads of records. It's the only stuff Tybalt will actually sit down and read. We'd sit down together and read them"
Angelo looked sad for a moment "You really have grown up with them, haven't you?"
"Yes" replied Rosaline "They provided everything"
Angelo nodded, and then he looked down. Rosaline watched him, as he leant back up.
"I have something to confess to you"
"What?" asked Rosaline.
"It wasn't just the Capulets providing everything"
"What do you mean?" frowned Rosaline.
"It was me as well. I work with Egues on a daily basis. I already told you how I kept up with you through him. But that wasn't all he did. I gave him money, which he'd then give to your mother. I just knew Camilla would never accept it if it was from me after the way she'd screamed at me. Every birthday, I would try and make some sort of contact. I know I could have called a lawyer, fought for access, but I knew your mother would have gone broke and you would both have been put into custody with me, but I don't believe children should be separated from their mothers unless necessary"
Rosaline gasped. Tears formed in her eyes. Angelo reached over to clasp her hands.
"There, there. It's all right. We're all grown up now. Us adults as well. We can all get along with each other"
"Why did you wait this long?" sobbed Rosaline.
"You're grown up now. You can make your own choices"
He pulled her into a hug.
"What a great big, fucked up, dysfunctional family I have"
He laughed, not telling her off for swearing.
"The drama at your school will die down" assured Angelo, gently patting her golden hair "In theory, there is nothing they can do about it. You made the pledge and changed your mind. Simple"
"Yeah, but I'm just going to get dirty looks and people whispering about me. And my reputation will have been ruined. What am I going to do? I have another exam tomorrow. I can't go back in there. I ran out today, but they're going to catch up with me soon enough. Everybody was talking and gossiping, I'll never live this down. And then I just yelled at my last ally, the last person who'd ever stand by me. I shouldn't have blamed Tibby without listening to the whole story. He'll never forgive me now" cried Rosaline.
"It will be all right" said Angelo "There is nothing they can do. Sure you made the pledge, but you pledged to Gabriel. He's the only one you can get in trouble with. And I'm pretty sure he wouldn't get pissy with you for changing your mind. That's all you need to answer too. You made the pledge, fell in love, and changed your mind. Your decision, entirely. And, speaking from experience, scandals do die down. By next week, this will all be forgotten. People will have found something else to talk about. You just have to keep your chin up and head high"
"Easier said than done"
"I know, I know. But after twenty five years in politics, you get used to it. I mean, there was a chap in my party who was caught buying Vaseline and a cucumber, at the same time"
Rosaline couldn't help but snigger.
"But it was all forgotten the next week, when another guy in a different party publicly declared that they would come down harder on youth offenders, then his son was caught behaving drunk and disorderly on the streets. It could be worse, you know"
"Could it?"
"Yes. I mean...this is just a high school scandal. People do grow up. To some extent. People will look back and think...why was that even an issue?"
"But it's now! I'll never get through this!" Rosaline cried fustratedly "What should I do, reinvent myself as a slut and-"
"Now, I wouldn't go that far" said Angelo firmly "You're anything but a slut. You've done well for yourself. I'm lucky to have such a smart daughter. You are just a teenager, learning about life, learning to have fun, make mistakes if necessary. And anyway, each mistake you make, sometimes they're not even mistakes. It's called growing up"
"I suppose"
"There's miles worse stuff you could be doing at your age. You could be into drugs or drink, or partying until four am in the morning, like a certain son of mine does. As long as you stay safe, I'm happy for you to do whatever. And I will say that to whoever criticizes you, and I know your mum will too"