A Wild Rose

chapter one | pleasure to meet you.

'Rosie, you promised me you'd come!' Lydia begged her friend.

'I am coming!' Rosie said. 'I'm just not excited.'

That time of the month had rolled around where the village hosts their monthly community gala. Everybody wears their best outfits, drinks expensive champagne and brags about things they've accomplished. It's a room filled with over privileged men in suits who do nothing but look down on people who aren't them. A lot of the younger generation go to see how many women they can woo.

Whilst the majority of the village loves the get together, Rosalie hates it. The sense of community isn't there in her eyes, everybody goes to put down everyone else and there's some unspoken competition of who is most successful. She doesn't see the fun in these kinds of things.

Both Rosie's father and brother work for the bank, with no interest in the world of finance, she opted for something she felt in her heart was better. Rosalie makes a living as a photographer, taking photographs of the city, the theatre shows, families, babies, engagements, and all things you could imagine. She was successful in her chosen career path, yet completely misunderstood by her entire family.

She often lived under the name of 'Dean Davis's sister'. Rosie was the 'unsuccessful' sibling, the one who had her family rolling their eyes when her name is brought into conversation. They didn't care for her, they all lived under the same roof, yet there was an evident divide between the three of them, and Rosalie.

Her best friend Lydia, was blessed with a kind family. A family who supports her through anything, and extends the love to Rosie. Lydia didn't hate their home town as much as she did, she wasn't granted the family curse that Rosalie had been though.

'Lydia, this looks like my worst nightmare.' Rosie sighed as they walked in to the town hall.

'C'mon, you've not been in months!' Lydia chuckled. 'You need a champagne, Rosie.'

'I need a dozen.' Rosie rolled her eyes, following her friend toward the bar.

The two of them stood at the bar, watching the crowd in front of them with completely different thoughts in their minds. Lydia had always been gorgeous, Rosie always wondered why Lydia was even friends with her, but friendship has always been the most important thing in life to Lydia. She would stick by Rosie until the world ended.

'You're Dean's sister?' A gentleman asked Rosie, meanwhile looking at Lydia with a smirk on his face. 'What are you doing here?'

'Who's Dean?' Lydia asked him, giving Rosie a sly nudge. 'Goodbye now.'

'You see why I never come?' Rosie chuckled, both of them turning back to the bar.

The town hall was yet to fill completely up, and yet even half empty it was Rosie's idea of hell. With arms linked and champagne flutes in hand, they decided to do a loop. For Lydia, it was to scout out any men she was yet to come across, for Rosie, it was to judge everybody who took these monthly galas far too seriously.

It was a lovely building, one Rosalie had taken pictures of many times. It's a shame such a picturesque event is ruined by all the negativities that it brings her. Even through the eyes of a photographer she struggles to see the beauty of this kind of thing.

They found two empty chairs next to one another in the corner they decided to sit themselves down in. Half an hour into this long night and Rosie was tracking her mind for any excuses she could come up with to leave as soon as it was socially acceptable.

Another woman was approaching them, Rosie had her eyes on her for a while, she didn't recognise her. She didn't know if it was because she hadn't been to these events in months, or because there were new faces in the town. The lady was wandering around, introducing herself to people, yet looked ever so slightly lost. Rosie sympathised, and when she wandered over to her and Lydia, Rosie tried to give her warmest welcome.