The Pink Ghost

Sixty

Something in her finally snapped. With all the chaos and killing Grant was forcing her to do, it built up inside. She tried dealing with it in her own way, she tried reading to stay calm. She enjoyed her time at the café. She enjoyed looking up at the stars at night. But what she enjoyed the most was something she could never have.

Dmitri.

They've become so close over the past few months of secretly meeting and just sharing how their days were going. What Rose hated was lying to him. She couldn't tell him she was an insane chaotic murderer, whether it was against her will or not, she killed people. She hurt people. She had become a chaotic mess and was praised for it.

Chaos surrounded her life with Grant. It was only when she was with Dmirti that she had a taste of calmness. A taste of what it feels like to be wanted and cared about. She can't remember who she was before, but she knows what she is now is not who she wants to be. She wants more than this. She's meant for more than this, she knows it.

---

She watched as the life left the man's eyes in her grasp. Picking up the backpack, she slung it over her shoulder and quietly slipped out of the window. Three stories up, she scaled the wall jumping from window ledge to window ledge, landing softly and quietly as if only a feather.

She was able to keep to the shadows of the night, knowing where to step to stay away from anything reflecting the moonlight. It was easy for her to slip in and out undetected, it was why Grant used her. Her agility and spryness were her strongest traits. She's slim, flexible, and fast. No one ever caught a glimpse of her.

This was the tenth job she was sent on within the last three days. She didn't know what she was taking from these people, she never dared to look. Grant would know. He would find out and he would punish her.

No. It was none of her business, solely his.

She began questioning things. Asking what she was taking and what it was used for. He never answered her. The last time she asked, he told her to learn her place. Her role was to listen, follow orders, and not ask questions.

So, that's what she did.

Until the longing for more was no longer able to be ignored.

Tonight, she knew Grant would be gone all night. A business meeting, he claimed. She was beginning to think there's always been someone else. This was probably why their marriage was the way it was. Tonight's the night she gave up. She gave up on wanting her marriage to fix itself. She gave up on trying to understand. She gave up on feeling guilty for wanting more. She let go of the guilt she carried for falling for Dmitri.

Tomorrow she'd be working with someone Grant wanted to introduce her to. Apparently, they will make a wonderful team, an asset to the business. She didn't want to. She wanted nothing more to do with the company. Feeling depression wash over her, she did the only thing that she knew would make it go away.

Rose: I need to see you.

She immediately received a reply.

Coffee: Pier. I'll be there when you get there.

He was right. When she arrived, he was already sitting on their bench. When she was close enough for him to see her clearly, he stood and walked to her.

"Are you ok?" He immediately asked, looking her over.

"Yeah. I'm just... I just-" sighing, she looked up at him. The moonlight glistened in his eyes.

In that moment, she felt her heart both break and piece back together at the same time. It broke due to knowing Grant would never let her out of the marriage, but looking at Dmitri looking at her the way he is, she wanted to be nowhere else in the world than right there in that moment.