Where Do Broken Hearts Go?

Chapter One

The morning was crisp and the sun was barely rising.  Rose awoke to the sound of her alarm, causing her to get agitated.  Why must there have to be alarms?  Rose rolled herself out of bed, forcing herself to get up.  She picked up her phone and looked at the weather.  The day called for thunderstorms.  A typical March day in Washington.

Rose walked over to her closet, sliding open the door.  She browsed through her clothes, deciding on wearing a striped, quarter sleeve red shirt.  She slipped on her black skinny jeans with some fuzzy socks.  Rose made her way to her bathroom and looked in the mirror.  Her brown hair was long and tangled.  Her dark blue eyes looked tired from the lack of sleep.  Rose sighed as she brushed her hair out and put it into a ponytail.

She applied a little bit of makeup, covering up the dark circles under her eyes.  She added a little mascara to make her dark blue eyes pop, and hopefully to distract from the dark circles.  Rose looked at her freckles dotting her cheeks and nose, and she loved them too much to cover them up.

With herself as beautified as she could get on a rainy day, she headed downstairs for breakfast.  Her aunt was up and moving around, muttering and jotting things down on the counter.  Rose entered the kitchen, causing her aunt to look up and smile.

"Aurora, darling, how are you this morning?" Aunt Bea asked.  Aunt Bea was a business woman.  She was a lawyer for one of the biggest law firms in America, Hansen & Wilcox.  Her aunt worked hard and got her much deserved appreciation.  The employers loved her so much that every few years they would move her to a new location to help clean things up.  She was the top of the firm, close to being made a CEO.

Rose smiled at her aunt, admiring how beautiful she was.  Her aunt had black hair that was pulled tight into a bun.  Her eyes were dark brown, almost black.  She had freckles on her pudgy nose and dimples in her cheeks.  She was a thin woman, looking much younger than 40.  Beatrice wasn't married, and she was far too busy to be interested.  Instead, she worked and worked, trusting Rose could handle her own.

"I'm alright, Aunt Bea.  How are you?" Rose asked as she poured herself some cereal.  Her aunt paused for a moment, almost seeming to consider what she wanted to share.

Bea sighed and replied, "I'm busy, and actually quite stressed.  But no matter.  I have to work late tonight, again.  There is pizza in the fridge or you can order something.  I honestly don't care.  I have a big presentation today and a huge case coming up.  I'm afraid I won't be around much these next few weeks."

Rose listened to her, not surprised at what she had to say.  Every few months Aunt Bea would be assigned a huge case, and she would have to work late nights.  It was that time again, but Rose didn't mind.  She usually spent time in her room, anyways. 

"Okay, I can handle that.  I hope your case goes well," Rose said as she took a bite of her cereal.

Aunt Bea continued to rummage through papers, scribbling things down, organizing and stapling.  She glanced up at Rose, then back down at her papers.  "Thank you, Rose.  I hope so too.  So like I said, I'll be working late the next week.  You have your card and you have your car.  Can you get to and from school okay?"

Rose nodded.  Aunt Bea continued.  "I knew you'd be able to.  If you need more money, just give me a text.  You should have plenty on your card, but just in case."  Aunt Bea trailed off and went back to her work. 

The thing about Aunt Bea was that she made good money.  In fact, she made excellent money.  She could afford to take care of Rose without her working, and she could afford to live in a very nice house.  Aunt Bea had more money than she knew what to do with.  With it being just her and Rose, she could provide with much left over.  Sometimes Rose felt bad for using her money, but Bea told her many times that she is glad she can help more than herself.