When Rain Falls

Chapter 6 | Belle and the Beast (Part 2)

     "That's so freaking cool," Deidre glanced at me before backing away from the parking spot. "You know, how you and my boss had met before?"

"Yeah, it was two years ago," I nodded. "It was at a wedding that I crashed. Vincent Sterling's wedding, to be exact. Took my dad's wedding invitation after we..." I trailed off. She doesn't need to know what happened that day between my father and I. It was better to just forget about it. Deidre clearly saw the hesitation in my eyes.

"It's okay," she reached for my hand and squeezed it. "I get it. There are some things we just can't share with the world."

"Sorry. It's just hard for me to talk about him," I swiped the moist building up underneath my eyes. "It's been two years. I should have moved on by now."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Raina," she reminded me. "Everyone grieves differently. Maybe one day you'll be able to accept it that he's not here anymore. I know how it feels to lose a loved one. It's not easy. They may not be here with us, but they'll be forever in our hearts."

"You're right." I nodded, staring outside the window. My hand went directly to my right wrist. I've completely forgotten that I had lost the charm bracelet my father gave me the day I ran away from the party. I had that silver charm bracelet since I was a little girl. It was filled with customized charms made by my father's friend. My favorite charm was the star with the words You are the star in my eyes.

"Is this why you needed to stay at your old house?" Deidre asked.

"Pardon?" I turned to look back at her. I could feel a tear bubbling up on my right eye.

"You need to find something at your old house, right? That's why you needed the job?"

"Yeah," I nodded, trying to swallow the huge lump lodged in my throat. It doesn't help that Deidre's car was playing the saddest song that could make you ugly cry in seconds. "I guess you could say that I needed some kind of closure from my dad."

"Don't worry," Deidre gave my hand a few pats. "I'm sure your father's really proud of you right now."

Proud? If he was proud of me, then he shouldn't have given everything to her. He did this to simply get back at me. He knew how I felt about Mabel. My head started to hurt again. Forget her. The most important thing right now is I have complete access to the mansion. I don't need her anymore. The only problem right now is Rain Sterling, and his cameras. I'm sure he'll be checking his cameras on his phone every now and then like what most people do on their phones. I have to be careful when I start doing my search.

*

We arrived at the mansion at six thirty in the morning. That would give me enough time to put away my stuff and get ready for my shift. For some reason, I was happy that I got this job. It's like the universe was helping me out. As soon as we entered the foyer, I heard noise coming from the stairs. Sure enough, Cosmo was running toward us with its tongue out and its furry tail wagging with excitement.

"Aww you missed me already?" I said, giving him lots of scritches. "Well, I missed you, too, little buddy."

"That doggo had been crying all night," Dale pointed out as he stepped out from the kitchen with a white mug in his hand. "I thought he was just missing Deidre, but I guess not," he started laughing. "You're no longer Cosmo's favorite, Deeds."

Deidre ignored him. "Raina, do you want to have a quick breakfast before you start? There's a waffle maker here."

"That's okay," I waved my hand. "I'm not hungry. I just want to take my stuff to my room and get ready." I grabbed my bags and started walking toward the stairs. Eating is the last thing on my mind right now. I don't want my boss to see me slacking off on my first day of work.