Just Rosalie

Running Into Blair

Rosalie had gotten an offer from her mother to exhibit a collection of her artwork at the Mavana in Dubai-one of the most popular art galleries in India. She said that she'd have to think about it, but it was an offer that she couldn't refuse.
"Ma'am?"
Jennivine cleared her throat and rested the glass down onto the table. Rosalie snapped out of her thoughts and gave the blonde a smile.
"It's Rosalie. Call me Rosalie."
Jennivine tightly smiled and nodded. She'd been asked by her boss to take a glass of passion fruit juice over to Rosalie.
"Okay, Rosalie. The boss sent..."
"She always senses what I'm craving. Thanks, Jen."
Rosalie looked around the restaurant and noticed that it was empty.
"Sit with me. Let's chat." Rosalie insisted and Jennivine gave into the temptation. Those blue eyes indulged in dark brown as Jennivine took a seat on the chair opposite Rosalie's. "So, tell me about yourself? Other than not being fond of mysterious women walking into restaurants, what else don't you like? Or what do you like? Or would you like me to start?"
Rosalie realized that she was rambling and stopped to take a breath. She closed the book that she'd been reading and clasped her hands over it.
"I really am sorry about that."
Jennivine apologized, still embarrassed about what happened.
"Don't be. It's your job, never apologize for that. Okay, let me start. I'm three quarters British and one quarter Indian. My mom was born in Milan and my dad in Pennsylvania."
Rosalie took a sip of her drink and smiled brightly-it was one of her favorite fruits.
"That's cool. So you're from England or America?"
"Neither. I was born in New Zealand, but I have dual citizenship in England and America."
Jennivine was puzzled. Rosalie seemed to have an extravagant life.
"Double taxes, right?"
Rosalie nodded and sighed. Talking about herself made her think about her family.
"Yeah. It's a bummer. So where were you born, Jen?
Jennivine pressed her lips together. Her life was pretty normal and stereotypical, other than having a dead wife, but that sadly was normal too.
"Born and bred in Queens. Moved to Texas to attend Kesh State, dropped out of college. It's been..."
"I've never been to college."
Rosalie said and smiled. She realized that Jennivine probably felt bad about not finishing college.
"Why not? You're pretty smart."
Jennivine pressed her lips together, knowing that she probably said it offensively, by mistake.
"Didn't think it was necessary. My mother had no problems with it. She encouraged me to travel instead."
Rosalie wondered if Jennivine knew-everyone in the restaurant knew about her mother.
"My parents insisted that I go, then after my girlfriend got cancer, I dropped out of college, we got married and I spent every moment I could with her."
"Wow. I'm so sorry to hear."
Rosalie stretched her hand across the table and placed it on Jennivine's arm in comfort. She knew what it was like to lose someone. Jennivine felt her insides tingle from the contact. She'd never thought that her pain could result in so much pleasure.
"One step at a time, right?"
Jennivine knew that what she was feeling was wrong. It had been weeks, yet she couldn't forget about those dark brown eyes. And at that moment, as she looked into them, she realized that she didn't want to.
"Yes. It's hard. But life goes on."
Rosalie removed her hand, making Jennivine frown, which she noticed. It made Rosalie wonder-how many people felt that way?
"When's the wedding? Or is it going to be a long engagement?"
Jennivine's tone was questionable, at least to Rosalie. She didn't realize it before, but the waitress had a thing for her, and that made her uncomfortable. Rosalie couldn't deny that she was flattered, though Lee wouldn't appreciate it.
"It's in the making. We're both busy. But we'll find the perfect schedule when the time is right."
Rosalie took another sip of her juice and reopened her book. She was midway through Tales of a Forbidden Heart-a romance novel. She'd spent most of her free time that week binging on it as much as she could. It was an extraordinary book-one that reminded her of her first love.
"I should get back to work then."
Rosalie lifted her eyes as Jennivine got up. There was a couple coming into the restaurant-two men.
"Of course. It was nice talking to you, Jen."
Jennivine smiled and walked over to the customers, and Rosalie closed her book again. She wanted a couple for her and Lee to hang with, but not when both women in that couple currently or previously had a thing for her. That would've made things awkward.
She decided to head into her studio, at the back of the restaurant, to get some work done. Lee was in the kitchen preparing pastries, else she would have happily spent time with her instead.
Rosalie looked at the painting that she'd been working on for a few months. She'd taken time out of her usual schedule to add to it, but only a few hours a week at a time.
It was a portrait of someone who meant a lot to her-his skinny face and shaggy, black hair almost covered his eyes completely. But his smile was identical to hers. Rosalie picked it up and took a seat on her stool. She hadn't created a portrait of her twin brother in years. And she missed him terribly.
Grabbing a paint brush from the table in the corner, she dipped it into a light brown color of oil paint.
After a few hours of working on the piece, she decided to call it a day and head out of the room. She felt like catching the last rays of sunlight before the sun would set.
Rosalie headed up to the loft to shower. She changed into something appropriate for a late afternoon walk-sneakers, a pair of hot pink shorts and a white tank top. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail and she slipped her phone inside the pocket of her shorts.
Her walk was calming and soothed her brain from stressful thoughts. Her mother needed confirmation by the end of the week, and honestly, Rosalie didn't want to showcase her artwork at the Mavana unless she could be there as well. But she couldn't-not with her identity a secret. Maybe, it was time that she introduced Roses to the world for who she was. She was proud of herself, but she was still nowhere close to how famous her mother was, and probably would never be.
Mallory-her art dealer, thought that it was time to come clean about Roses' identity. And maybe she was right.
"Rosalie?"
Her eyes flickered and her body stood in place-she recognized the voice. She spotted a woman at the end of the street. Red hair. It was Blair.
Rosalie took the last few steps on the block-she stood right next to Blair. She hadn't talked to Blair in a while. Blair had visited Jennivine at the restaurant often, and their eyes would meet on a few occasions, but other than that, that was the first time in weeks that they'd communicated.
"Afternoon run?"
Blair was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a crisp white blouse. She seemed to have come from a casual meet-up, or was going to visit Jennivine.
"Walk. Sunlight's good. I've been getting pale these past few weeks."
Rosalie stuffed her hands into the front pockets of her jeans and shifted her weight onto her left leg.
"I'm heading to the grocery store. My fridge is empty, and Jenny's coming over after work."
Blair felt tense around Rosalie, even after all that time, her feelings hadn't changed-or maybe it did, and it was just awkward to be around her. She hadn't thought about Rosalie in a while. It was a one-time encounter, so it was easy to wipe from her memory.
"I could use a slushie. Mind if I follow you?"
Rosalie still wanted to be friends with Blair, so she needed to scope out if it was possible to.
"No problem at all."
They headed to Kari's a block away and the man behind the counter recognized Rosalie as soon as she entered the store.
"You're Kaitlyn Watson's daughter, right?"
Rosalie became immediately annoyed. She'd been having a good day, and then someone had to call her Kaitlyn Watson's daughter. She hated being overshadowed by her mother's fame.
"If the shoe fits."
She mumbled and headed down an aisle. Her eyes flickered around the shelves and she noticed a big pack of Hot Curls. It was her favorite snack while growing up. She'd always share a bag of it with her brother. The smile on her face faltered, but the love in her heart didn't.
"So, is your mom back in the States yet? She hasn't left England in a while. Is she ever coming back?"
Rosalie felt defeated. She grabbed another pack of the Hot Curls and looked at the man annoyed.
"Check social media."
She muttered as she walked past him and towards the slushie machine. Blair knew who Kaitlyn Watson was-what she didn't know was that Rosalie was her daughter.
"I didn't know..."
Rosalie grabbed a gigantic cup and filled it with cherry flavored slushie. She didn't want to talk about it, because out of all things-she hated when people saw her differently.
"My face is plastered on the internet with her. I guess you've never researched her name."
Blair tightened her grip around the handle of the basket that she carried, sensing that it was a sensitive topic.
"Ready for check out?"
Rosalie nodded as she gripped onto her cup firmly and threw the two packs of snacks onto the counter. She took out her phone and grabbed a twenty dollar bill from the attached wallet.
"You eat like a teenager."
Blair chuckled as the man behind the counter placed her stuff into bags. He looked upset-offended. What did he want, an autograph?
They left the store-Rosalie's eyes rolling on the way out. She'd never indulge in gossiping about her own mother to anyone-especially a stranger. If he wanted to know, everything was online-every event, every due date-it was all there for the world to see.
"Seriously though, I can't believe your mother is Kaitlyn..."
"I'm going to head home. Nice bumping into you, Blair."
Rosalie was about to walk off but Blair grabbed her by the arm. She was annoyed and pulled herself away from Blair's grasp.
"Your place is back that way."
Blair pointed with apologetic eyes. Rosalie moved her eyes back and forth between the streets and realized that Blair was right-she was heading in the wrong direction.
"Uh. Thanks."
Rosalie mumbled feeling foolish. The sun had already set, and it was becoming dark. Looking up at the sky, the clouds were grey and clustered together-it was going to rain.
"You better hurry before the rain bursts."
Blair looked at Rosalie with a sympathetic smile. She felt as though she offended Rosalie, but the reason, she didn't know.
Rosalie took a sip of her slushie and sighed. Slushie Fridays-she thought.
"I know. But the moment is so déjà vu."
Blair felt the drizzle sprinkling onto her head, and splashing onto the plastic of her bag.
"Good memory, I presume."
Rosalie nodded and closed her eyes. She could almost feel his presence next to her-his laugh, his grunt-the sounds that she remembered.
The rain began to pour, and Rosalie's eyes shot open. She got lost in the moment for too long.
"Dammit!"
She shrieked as she tilted her head downwards and stepped backward under the shed of the store.
"My place is right down the block where we bumped into each other. If we run, we'd probably make it half soaked."
Rosalie swallowed. She didn't feel too good, and the sound of a warm apartment interested her. If she had to run back home, it was about ten blocks or more. She'd never make it.
"Good thing I ran track in high school."
Blair nodded and smiled.
"Me too. Now pull your best record, because we have to make it real quick."