Just Rose

5

Before long it was the day of the dance and despite being in town a lot beforehand, she never ran into Rob Munro again. Seeing him again, dressed in Black tie and in his own opulent setting made Rose shiver in anticipation; a dread overtaking her already stretched nerves. He would be on his home turf surrounded by his own friends and belongings and she would be like a fish out of water. Facing him again was not really something she was looking forward to. He had a knack for making her feel awkward and out of her depth and she wasn't entirely sure if she even liked him.

Abby had promised to wait on her out at the front entrance, so she would walk her in and they had agreed on eight pm to meet. At least that way she did not have to look around nervously, trying to find a friendly face. She could walk confidently with her friend's arm and smile and look radiant instead.

Rose had woken that morning with a very strange churning feeling that followed her through the hours. Excitement and dread at the same time. She was looking forward to a proper night of wine and dancing, good music. But her heart was thumping every time she thought about that handsome face and his cold steel grey glare that did crazy things to her insides.

Now she had made more friends in the town and had Abby, she felt more confident about going, but that feeling of nervous anticipation in the back of her mind followed her. She was so restless, she could barely concentrate on anything.

She tried to sketch some ideas in her art room, tried walking Muffin to town and back to get rid of some of the pent-up energy and only felt more restless. She took a bath at lunch and slathered herself in every expensive product she owned. Shaving and moisturising, pruning and preening and throwing on a light sundress to go sit in the garden. She felt like her nerves were on edge and kept checking her watch every five minutes. Listlessly aware that she was counting the minutes until the ball began.

She had cooked a full breakfast and lunch, trying to kill time through the morning, but only picked at both, her appetite had deserted her. She had the cottage looking spotless and neat and nothing on TV held any interest for her.

Abby was helping with the big house today, so no morning visits from her either.

Maybe that's why she felt so agitated?

Maybe she needed some company that was not furry with four legs. Maybe she just needed human interaction to distract her and jumped in her car for the second trip to town that day. Poor Muffin was exhausted from their walk, so she left him asleep on the rug in the living room, snoring and dreaming of chasing some poor cat. His little legs twitching as he lay stretched on his side and small whimpers and growls as he snorted through a closed mouth.

The short car journey was pleasant as the sun still shone brightly in the sky, the weather had been glorious these past few weeks and had given her such a deep tan and healthy colour in her face.

She spent half an hour in Bella's bakery and finally reunited with the woman after all these years when she popped in to check on things. Lots of laughs and cuddles and reminiscing. The large round woman was exactly as she remembered, only with a few greyer hairs and laughter lines. The conversation pulled towards Olivia and Bella gave her many condolences and a bag of cream confectionaries.