Hues Of Love

4

ROSALIE STOOD in front of the restaurant, and looked over its name—Alex's Fine and Dine. It made her wonder—how many lies had she been told under that roof?

"Rosalie? I thought that's you," Pennelope stepped out of the restaurant's door. She'd noticed Rosalie from where she was standing behind the bar, and though she never allowed herself to overstep, she had to make sure that Rosalie was okay.

"Pen... I need to ask you something."

Pennelope let out a breath and nodded. It was an extremely warm day in May. The sun had set, and the clouds brought warmth to the darkness of the sky, "what is it?"

Rosalie pulled her jacket tighter around her body. Pennelope could see that she'd been crying—red eyes and pink, puffy cheeks, "does everyone think I'm a slut?" Rosalie asked.

Pennelope's eyes widened, and she furrowed her brows. She didn't expect that question, out of all things, "of course not. Why would you..."

"I was Alex's mistress. You, of all people, never considered telling me?"

Pennelope was confused. Why would she tell Rosalie that when it wasn't true? Then, as if it was timed, it all made sense, "Rosalie, I didn't know. And if I did, I'd think Alex is the one to tell you, not me," Rosalie frowned and inhaled a breath. So no one knew then? How was that possible when they'd been working at the restaurant for years? "It's too hot to stay out here," Pennelope ushered her inside of the restaurant, and to the bar. Rosalie took a seat, and Pennelope grabbed a bottle of wine, "Rosalie, the boss has always been private with her life. So, you can't blame anyone for not knowing what was going on."

"How couldn't they? Beth had to come around. Didn't you suspect something when I started coming around too?" Rosalie asked, as she took a sip of the wine that Pennelope had poured for her.

"Beth and Alex were a private couple. They didn't express much in front of anyone. So, when she stopped coming around, we didn't take it for anything. And when you showed up, we just figured that they called it quits without us knowing," Pennelope shrugged. She'd never suspected anything out of the ordinary. To be honest, it always seemed that Alex's relationship with Beth was always on the verge of ending.

"That doesn't make much sense," Rosalie said.

"It does. As time went by, and Beth's career started off good, she sometimes didn't get a chance to stop in. Caring for a kid, and work life, you know. We don't get paid to snoop. And I can tell you for sure, that I've never thought of you as the boss's mistress."

Rosalie sighed. She should have felt relieved, right? But yet, she still thought that she was a horrible person, "so no one thinks that I broke their relationship apart?"

Pennelope shook her head. If anything, Rosalie had done Beth a favor. Anyone could have seen that Alex and Beth were miserable together. Pennelope had heard rumors of Alex's affairs, and after she'd met Rosalie, it seemed as though Alex was finally content.

"Doubt it. We did think that the boss robbed the cradle, but that's about it," Pennelope laughed.

Rosalie forced a smile. She was, of course, not a saint. There were a lot of bad things that she'd done—slept with multiple women in one day, had sex on her mom's bed, or the classic, stole her father's car. But she'd never had an affair before—she'd never slept with a married woman.

She headed inside of the kitchen, and noticed Alex standing by the oven. Alex spotted Rosalie, and rushed over to her, "how was babysitting?" Alex wrapped her arms around Rosalie's neck, and placed a kiss on her lips. Their fight earlier seemed like a distant memory already. But Alex had been worrying about Rosalie spending time with Henry, not that she had a major problem with it, but it made her paranoid.