A Different Kind of Love

Chapter One

    " Class, your projects from the science fair were noticed by some special guests," Ms. Blake states, exciting a few of the students.
    " Jonathan Richards and Sarah Glen, there is a news crew here to interview you two about your projects. Jonathan, you go first, right in the hallway." Ms. Blake says, pointing to the door.
    Jonathan stood from his chair and quietly walked out of the classroom and into the hallway. There the news crew starts talking nonsense that Jonathan couldn't fully understand. They sat him in one of the chairs within the hallway and were quick to get the interview started. After a couple minutes, the interview was now on the right track, and then there came a small stop. A girl came running through the hallway, looking rather lost within the school. Jonathan felt bad but he thought maybe a little help could make her day.
    " Excuse me? Do you need some help?" Jon asked to leave the chair, seemingly to annoy the news people.
    " Uh, yes I do. Can you please tell me where room 214 is?" She asked, Jon seeing her eyes, a golden honey color, stunning him in words.
    " Y-yes, that is right up those stairs, third door on the left." Jonathan said, stuttering for the first time.
    " Thank you!" She said, to then speed up the stairs and to her class.
    " You know, from what I have heard around, you already have a girl, Sarah?" The news reporter stated.
    " What? We aren't together, she's nice and all but she isn't the one for me." Jonathan says, making his way back to the chair.
    They finished the interview and throughout the day, those girls' eyes were stuck in Jonathan's head. He wanted to go home and tell his parents, hoping that this girl could be his good friend even more if it happened. Once home his parents seemed to rush him into the study and started talking quickly just like the news reporters. They kept going on about how they were going to be rich when it was Jonathan's work, that should be his money, not theirs. Jonathan tried to speak up but was shot down immediately with them saying that they need all the "help" they can get for his younger sister. Jon wanted to shout at them, before he could even get a word out, they made him feel guilty, so he kept quiet.
    For the rest of his senior year he tried to find those eyes again. He wanted to be able to tell her that her eyes were magnificent but he never did seem to find those eyes again. Graduation came but Jonathan wasn't happy or thrilled about it. Ever since he made that project nothing has been his decision. His parents started to take everything for themselves, leaving nothing for Jonathan; couldn't even buy things for himself.
    College came and went, a master degree in whatever his parents said. Once college was over, he was able to run his new business with a bit more confidence than before. As much as his parents made him feel bad about it, he used the money to make a custom house to hopefully get some space from his parents. Yes, his parents were mad about him spending money, even after they have done the same thing with the money that wasn't theirs.

   " Hold my hand sweetie, we're crossing the street now." Her mom said, holding her hand out.
    " Coming!" Emily says with a cheerful grin.
    " Don't forget about your dad." Her dad says, grabbing her other hand.
    " Never daddy!" Emily says jumping off the sidewalk and onto the road.
    The three crossed the road and went into a building that Emily did not know. Her dad had picked her up and held her on his shoulders to show her around. Her mom smiled and continued to fill out a few papers. Once she was done with the papers, they met back at the front desk. There they got to Emily's eye level, her mom having tears in her eyes as Emily was clueless to what was happening.
    " Emily, sweetie, you are going to stay here for a couple days while me and your dad take care of a few things." Her mom says.
    " But we promise to come back for your sixth birthday. When we get back we can do anything you want cause you will be a big girl then, won't you?" Her dad said, tickling her stomach.
    " Daddy, I am a big girl, I'm five." Emily says with a smug look.
    " Of course you are sweetie. Come give us a hug goodbye." Her mom said, opening her arms wide.
    Emily hugged both her parents and the lady behind the desk led Emily up some stairs. At a certain spot she stopped and waved goodbye to her parents, where the tears finally fell for her mom as they waved goodbye and left. The lady led her to a bed next to the window. Emily quickly jumped onto the bed to get a better look outside and watched as her parents left from her view.
    A couple days went by, her sixth birthday was today. She sat on the stairs watching the front door for her parents to come in and take her from here and celebrate her birthday. Hours went by but no one came through that door.
    " Emily! Wake up, we are almost there." Savannah barked out, making Emily shoot up from her spot.
    " Yeah, yeah, I'm up, and please call me by my middle name, Rose." Em-Rose said, leaning her head on her hand against the window.
    The car pulled into the driveway of this mansion sized house. Rose wasn't impressed, she figured the house belonged to some snob who didn't care about anything but money. Savannah demanded that Rose get out of the car, Rose rolling her eyes and grabbing her bag to exit the car. Rose followed Savannah up to the door, hearing her knock on the door. An African American man, about the same age or just a bit older, opened the door to give a soft smile.
    " You must be Ms. Savannah Blake. Welcome, my name is Marvin Gillian, come in please." Marvin says, gesturing inside.
    Savannah walked in with Rose following behind. They followed Marvin through the house to a room with a table and a few other things along the wall. Marvin took a seat at one side of the table as Savannah forced Rose to sit in the seat opposite of him. Savannah leaned down to Rose's ear, telling her to do the normal interview answers. Rose barely cared but knew if she didn't do it, Savannah would be mad.
    The interview was quick and simple; even when Savannah kept her eyes close on what Marvin was writing down. Marvin stood from his chair and told the girls to wait there so he could discuss this with the owner of the house. Once he left the room, Savannah smacked the back of Rose's head, scolding her about the interview. Rose stayed quiet and let the onslaught of insults hit her. She hoped that Marvin would come in soon and witness this and stop her. Marvin walked in as soon as Savannah had stopped her insults.
    " Mr. Richards says that you would make a great addition to the house. Welcome to the job." Marvin says, holding his hand out for a shake. Rose shook his hand right back with a smile, a fake smile because of the words said by Savannah.
    " Ms. Blake, Mr. Richards says it's great to see you again. Rose, follow me, please." Marvin says. Rose follows behind and notices that Savannah left, looking to answer a fake phone call.
    " May I ask something, Rose?" Marvin asked.
    " Uh, sure." Rose answered.
    " Is Savannah your mom? Not to be rude or anything but, you don't seem to look anything like her." Marvin asks, looking pretty awkward to ask.
    " Oh no, don't worry. She's been my foster mom since I was about fifthteen." Rose says, clearly not wanting to talk about it.
    " I apologize, Rose. I didn't mean to ask about personal stuff." Marvin says, feeling bad about asking.
    " It's okay, don't worry." Rose says trying to make it better.
    " Okay, Miss Reyes, this is Jonathan Richards, the homeowner." Marvin says.
    Jonathan had his back towards them, as he was writing something on a whiteboard. He turned around and came right towards them, holding his hand out. Rose took his hand as they stared into each other's eyes. Jonathan was staring into the most beautiful eyes he had seen. Rose was staring into the most unique pair of eyes she had seen.
    Jonathan cleared his throat, " Hello, I'm Jonathan but, you can call me Jon."
    " Rose, it's nice to meet you."
    Marvin took her around the house showing her around and to show her to her new room. Rose then asked if she could grab her bags before they looked at her room. They walk to the driveway to see no car parked there. Rose could see her bags were left on the ground; thanks Savannah, not even a goodbye. Marvin could see the despair enter Rose's face. He felt bad for her, felt bad about earlier and wanted to make sure he could make it up to her.
    " Would you want me to help you with your bags?" Marvin asked.
    " That would be helpful, thank you." Rose answers.
    They grab the bags and walk back to her room. The room was bland with no color, and had more of a hotel look to it. They set the bags down while Marvin explained how living here worked.
    " That should be everything," Marvin said, heading to the door.
    " If you need anything from help or just need a friend. You can call me, okay?"
    " Thanks Marvin, I will." Rose said with a smile.
    Marvin left and everything around Rose went quiet. She walked around the room before sitting on the bed. She looked around the room more before she reached into her bag to grab a small stretch book. She started to doodle the room and added more to it of what she would like to have in her room. There wasn't much left to do on the day when she was done with the room and unpacking. She tried to sleep but, most of the night she kept waking up, getting little sleep like she used to.
    She woke the next morning and was quick to get into the uniform and start the day. Marvin was quick to inform her about the small get together that Jon had planned for today. He apologized to Rose saying this might be a rough first day, but he was there to help. They rush to the kitchen where a mess was being made but at the same time trying to be controlled.
    Rose was asked to grab a bag of flour from the pantry. She rushed into the pantry and grabbed a bag that looked open. She carried it out of the pantry door but only to run into someone, dropping the flour. The flour bag opens and explodes onto the other person, covering them in flour. Rose opened her eyes to now see this snowman standing in front of her looking confused. Rose couldn't help but burst out laughing at this poor guy. She reached into her pocket and grabbed a rag, from there she gave it to the guy so he could wipe his face.
    " I'm sorry about that, and for laughing." Rose said.
    " Oh, don't be sorry, it was indeed funny and I ran into you, don't worry." He said, then sneezed, more flour flying off his head and hair. Rose laughed again and told him to keep the rag until he got cleaned up.
    " Rose, I need your help over here." Marvin called out.
    " Coming! See you around puffy." Rose said leaving the guy to the flour.
    After a couple hours of scrambling around the house, the get together had started. Rose had become one of the main servers at the party. She wasn't really good at serving; her balance was off and she was worried she would hit someone and or drop the food. After a bit she started to get the hang of it and was feeling more confident in it. As her confidence rose it was quickly taken from her. One of Jon's friends had backed up and tripped her. She fell and dropped the tray all over her; everyone staring and a few laughing at the mess. Her face went red and she was quick to grab the tray and run back inside.
    As she hurried inside she could hear someone call for Marvin to help him out. Once inside she could feel tears fill her eyes, she felt so embarrassed about it, and on her first day.
    " Hey! Are you okay?" Jon asked as he rushed in.
    " Huh? Mr. Richards, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry. I was trying my hardest and then I failed. I-I-" Rose stuttered, being stopped by Jon.
    " Hey, it's okay. You don't have to apologize. I should be sorry because today is your first day and I essentially threw you into the deep end." Jon said, pulling a rag from his pocket and using it to wipe Rose's face from the sauce.
    " Puffy?" Rose asked, recognizing the rag.
    " You can call me Jon, or if you want you can keep calling me puffy." Jon said followed by a chuckle.
    " Rose? Are you okay?" Marvin asked as he ran in.
    " I'm fine." Rose answered.
    " Did you grab some clean clothes?" Jon asked Marvin.
    " Yes, well sort of. I couldn't find the normal uniform in her side but one of the ladies had this dress that could work." Marvin says, showing the dress.
    " Rose, if you want you can change and take the rest of the day off." Jon suggested.
    " No. No, I can keep working, it's the least I can do since I made that mess." Rose said, taking the dress from Marvin and walking into the bathroom.
    " So, you're puffy?" Marvin asked with a smirk.
    Jon laughed, and nodded his head, " Yep, I don't think she realized it was me."
    " At least she seems comfortable here." Marvin said, confusing Jon.
    " Comfortable? How?" Jon questioned.
    " Well, you see-" Marvin says but both of their attention is caught by Rose exiting the bathroom.
    Rose looked radiant in the dress. The white torso, with the small puffy sleeves, and black bottom, the black flats, made her shine. Jon couldn't help but stare. Her now braided hair shaped her face and complemented her beautiful eyes. Marvin then had to elbow Jon to get him to stop staring.
    " Um, you look amazing-I mean beautiful, uh, you look nice." Jon said, getting flustered, his cheeks going red.
    " Thank you." Rose replied, her cheeks turning a small tint of red as well.
    " Uh, I better get back to the party, you can get back to work now." Jon said, turning his gaze away from Rose and walking straight into his glass door with a loud thump. Marvin and Rose gasp, the concern clear in their voices.
    " I'm- I'm okay, I'm fine." Jon said, grabbing the door handle and opening it with a small chuckle.
    Marvin and Rose watched as he walked outside, rubbing his head. The two couldn't help but snicker at what happened.
    " You know Rose, Jon is usually a very confident and clear guy, until you came into his view." Marvin said, Rose questioning what he meant.
    " By that you mean?"
    " I mean, that for how long I've known him, no other girl or anyone has caught his attention so much he runs into a door." Marvin says, getting them both to laugh.
    " Come on, let's grab more food." Marvin said, making his way towards the kitchen.
    Rose stayed behind. She stared out of the glass door, thinking about what Marvin said and how Jon acted. Jon was a very sweet guy, as much as she could tell but; she didn't want to be in that situation again. Even if Jon liked her, once he found out about her past, then she would lose him. As much as Rose worried she didn't even consider if he was already in a relationship.
    " Rose?" Marvin called out.
    " Oh, coming!" Rose called back with a small sigh.
    Rose was given a new try of food and she followed Marvin back out to the party. Rose made her way around with the tray but she felt odd. She could feel eyes on her as she walked by. He was about to walk back inside when someone came up behind her and squeezed her butt. Rose yelped, getting the attention of Marvin and Jon.
    " Hey there, beautiful. May I be the first to say you look sexy." The gut said, creeping Rose out.
    " Jason. Leave her alone, or get out." Jon said with a dark tone, grabbing his shoulder and gripping it tightly.
    " Uh, psh, fine. Get off me." Jason said, shrugging Jon's hand off his shoulder and exiting the backyard.
    Marvin came up and seemed to calm Rose down, a small panic attack occurring. Marvin gave Jon a glance and a nod to come and get her somewhere she felt safe. Jon nodded in agreement coming closer to the two.
    " Rose? Are you okay?" Jon asked. Rose immediately launched herself into a hug on Jon.
    " Thank you." Rose said, Jon hugging her back with a small smile.
    " Come on, let's get you out of here." Jon said, leading her inside away from everyone.
    Jon led her across the house, far as possible from the party. He felt horrible about what happened but felt proud of himself for trying to protect her.
    " I'm okay, by the way."
    " Hm?" Jon asked.
    " You asked earlier if I was okay, I never answered you."
    " I'm glad you're okay, but I'm so sorry that happened."
    " I'm glad I had you and Marvin there to help me." Rose said, with a small smile, making Jon smile.
    " You can stay here until the party's over. I don't want anything to happen to you anymore." Jon said, seeing that it made Rose blush.
    " Um, if you need anything, text me, please." Jon said, handing her one of his business calls that had his number.
    " Thank you, see ya puffy." Rose said, taking the card from him and making him smile from the nickname.
     Jon left the room and it was Rose, alone in the room with silence and her thoughts. She took a seat on the couch and stared out in front of her. She didn't like this loneliness, she used to enjoy her time to herself but she didn't feel right about it. Rose pulled out her phone and entered Jon's number into her phone. She was quick to write a small message and hit send.
Jon walked back to the party, feeling bad and stupid for what he did. Just as he reached the door handle his phone went off. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw it was from Rose. He felt even worse leaving her alone in the room so he texted back telling her he was sorry about that.
    Rose was quick to reply back. She told him that it was okay but she wanted to talk with someone; that someone being him, if he wanted. Jon quickly replied that he would love to keep texting. From that they kept texting each other.
    Throughout the party Jon and Rose texted, their conversation was about random things, nothing personal. Jon didn't want to make things awkward so he kept the conversation light and fluffy. The party ended and soon the day ended.
    As Jon got ready for bed, he couldn't get Rose off his mind. From texting her all day they had a lot in common but at the same time had many things that were different from each other. He wanted to know more about her, he wanted to keep her safe and make her happy. With one more text sent by Rose, the conversation ended with a good night and another thank you. Jon smiled at the text, and was quick to reply with a good night as well.