The Girl Behind The Mask | Chaelisa

Chapter 33

With a towel wrapped securely around her still dampened frame, Roseanne waltzed out of her steamy bathroom and into a horror show unfolding atop her bed. Nemo, convinced that he played an innocent game of tug-o-war with his owner, must have interpreted Axel's shouts and orders as further incentive to keep on gnawing and yanking at the hem of a dress, his sharp fangs slashing through the fabric like a blade through water.

"Nemo! Bad boy!" Axel persisted, the upper end of the dress trapped between his hands, pulling in the opposite direction. "Let go, Nemo! Let go right now or we're both gonna die!"

Both blindly unaware that Roseanne stood horrified, watching the entire ordeal mere feet away.

"NEMO! This is the last time I tell you!" Axel shouted again, only spurring Nemo on to pull with even more vigor. "That's it! I'm calling animal control! This is your last- oh... hey, Rosie." Axel dropped the dress the second he saw his sister's pale face and bulging eyes. Nemo, now that Axel was no longer challenging him, spat out the remnants of the dress and lowered his ears in shame.

"That- that was my DRESS, Axel!" Roseanne screeched, waving a hand around furiously while the other still held the towel to her body. "The DRESS I was supposed to wear for my date tonight! Look at it! It's ruined!"

Axel picked up the tattered cloth, giving it a good look over. "If it's of any consolation," he spoke, shrugging, "it was pretty hideous. Nemo did you a favor."

A furious screech sent both Nemo and Axel scampering out of the room, colliding clumsily into one another as they struggled to squeeze past Roseanne unscathed.

"I swear to god, I'm gonna- ah!- FUCK!" She bellowed, fanning through her closet in search of an ideal replacement. She gave up two minutes later, once it dawned on her that the dress she had selected was her best and nothing her closet could produce at the moment could substitute it. Well... not her closet at least.

Diving for her phone, Roseanne tapped the second name under her 'Recent' tab, waiting impatiently as the phone began to dial the number. To her growing dismay, she was immediately transferred over to voicemail.

"Jen! I'm having a major crisis right now! Axel and Nemo ruined the dress I was supposed to wear tonight, and, well... I have nothing to wear. Now I know this is unprecedented and that in the past, when you'd randomly show up with a dress I'd always tell you to fuck off... but if you just happened to do that right now, I'll... I'll convince Lisa to let you have the Harley for a week! Just, please hurry!"

"Two weeks," a keen voice spoke from her bedroom entrance before Roseanne could even disconnect the call. "Two weeks, and you got yourself a deal, kid." Jennie countered with a quipped brow, leaning nonchalantly against the doorframe. Tossed over her shoulder was a black garment bag.

Roseanne scoffed, torn between relief and irritation at seeing Jennie's chin tilt arrogantly upwards in an unspoken 'checkmate'. "You were already on your way over with it, weren't you?" Roseanne deduced, reckoning it to be the only valid reason for Jennie's perfect timing. Still, she was unwilling to surrender just yet. She pulled her friend in and closed the door.

"Yep," the brunette nodded triumphantly, narrowing her gaze. "I think Nemo deserves to keep his balls after that little stunt. I'm canceling his procedure next week."

Roseanne glared, yanking the bag out of Jennie's hand. "So you already planned on giving me this," she said, unzipping the bag and pulling out a beautiful, satin black dress that made her mentally whisper remorseful apologies to Nemo, "before I even made the offer?"

Jennie nodded once again, "Yep again. But hey, I still want that deal! Been wanting to get my hands on that Harley since I saw it."

Roseanne dropped the towel unashamedly, slipping the dress over her bare skin for a test drive. "I can't make any promises..."