Carbon: Devil's Rose #8

Chapter 5: Gabriella Jordan

It's been about two days since I last saw Roman. Not because I'm avoiding him (though that's part of it), but I've also been extremely busy avoiding Olympia's phone calls. Apparently, someone she knew at the bar saw the whole thing with the bodyguard guys and told her about it. 

Now, she's blowing up my phone, asking for details and questioning if I know who they are. Of course, I know who they are. Roman (who I think was also called Carbon at some point), Rubble, and Slasher. 

I mean, she's right in saying I don't know them that well, but that doesn't mean that I'm clueless about their names. I honestly don't get why it's such a big deal that I met them. I do know about the motorcycle club that is around here, so I figure that they are part of it. 

I don't get why she's kind of freaking out about me having met them though. They're just people. People who protect this town, ride motorcycles, and most likely kill bad people, but the MC members are people just the same. Olympia freaks out about everything. I don't get her.

It's like she thinks that I should be afraid of them or something. I would be if I was doing something bad or I was a horrible person, but I'm an innocent girlie. I have no reason to be on their radar, and they have no reason to know who I am. I don't need her all in my business either. 

She left me last night anyway, and she dares to call me like nothing happened. She thinks that she has no consequences for her actions because she has never been given any. My father has always protected her from the negative outcomes of her actions. 

While I know parents are partly supposed to protect their kids from harm, there's something to be said about them learning from their shitty decisions. Since Olympia hasn't had to deal with bad outcomes, she thinks she can get away with anything, including being rude to me and treating me terribly. 

And here's the thing, I'm too tired to fight her. I've been trying since I was a kid to develop boundaries in what I'll put up with and not put up with, but it's exhausting.

I'm not her parent. I shouldn't be trying to teach her lessons about her life. She's twenty-five, three years my senior, she should know how to not be a complete dumbass by now. Why do I feel the responsibility to parent her? 

Maybe because I know she could be a better person if only someone helped her, and I feel like I could be that person. I haven't the slightest clue where that comes from either. I could probably benefit from therapy, but books are good enough for now.

I should stop zoning out and get back to my job regardless.

I shake my head to jolt myself out of my thoughts and back into the reality that I'm living in right now. Pushing books aside, I thread the F. Scott book into its place and silently thank Zelda for her beautiful words. 

I hear the door of the bookstore open and peer around the corner to see Roman. How did he find me? Did I tell him where I work a couple of nights ago? I don't remember saying anything about it, but I was sort of out of it with everything that happened. Inducing the morning after. 

There were a lot of thoughts going through my head, so who knows exactly what I said. 

I'm pretty sure I didn't tell him about Vellichor. Maybe he's not even here to see me. Why was I assuming that anyway? He might just be here to buy a book. There's no reason that he would be here for me. I'm sure he's not. I'm not expecting anything.

I see him beginning to walk around the store, running his eyes over shelves up on shelves of books to disappear into. I step away from the books that I'm organizing and casually make my way toward him.