The Final Rose

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Girl in Gold

A/N: After another tough week in the news, I think we all deserve this little break from reality.

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"What are your plans for the day?" My mom wore her white, red, and black uniform from the grocery store. I sat at the table, eating sugary cereal for breakfast.

"Work. Then I'll probably hang out with Travis later once he's done at the shop."

"Tonight's the season premiere," she observed as she finished packing herself a lunch for the day.

She didn't have to be specific about it being the season premiere of what show. We both knew this day had been coming like a giant X on my life calendar.

"What's your point?" I mumbled around a mouthful of cereal.

"You'll be back to watch it, right? It's tradition."

I dropped my spoon into my cereal bowl and sighed. I'd been dreading this day for months. I knew my mom was excited, but watching myself on TV-watching Lee-would only cause me fresh heartache. I'd worked so hard to move on, and this would only drag me back.

"I dunno, Mom," was the best answer I could supply.

My mom left for work at the grocery store soon after. I washed my breakfast dishes and returned to my bedroom. Between sleeping, sulking, and working at my computer, I probably spent too much time in the room, but it made no sense to waste money renting office space when the desk in my childhood bedroom would suffice.

I sipped my morning coffee and scrolled through my e-mail inbox for reminders about which projects I had to work on that day. But even as I dove into the workday, the internet was filled with advertisements for that night's season premiere. Pop-up banners of Jacob's smiling face littered my computer screen, and an unsolicited mass e-mail from the show's producers urged me to keep in touch for the upcoming reunion.

I made the mistake of visiting the program's website where each contestant had a profile page. As if I wasn't already tormented enough, I clicked on Lee's page. The profiles were brief and superficial and filled with information like each contestant's favorite flavor of ice cream. Lee's was mint chocolate chip. I stared at her full-body profile picture for probably longer than was necessary. It had been taken on our first night at the mansion so she wore a shimmery gold dress and matching high heels. Her white-blonde hair was piled on top of her head. It made me recall my first impression of her. Beautiful, like the angel at the top of a Christmas tree.

I shut my laptop knowing that I was going to get no work completed that day. My brain was too busy with lingering thoughts of What Ifs and Could Have Beens.

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I left the house later that afternoon for my standing date with Travis. At night my friend could be found eating pizza rolls and playing video games in the trailer home next door to his parents, but during the day he was a grease monkey at the local body repair shop. He'd always had a knack for fixing things, which had translated into full-time employment at the auto repair shop after high school.

The abrasive sound of power tools and the clanging of metal filled my head as I walked through the main garage. I shared a glance and a quick wave with Mike, the man who owned the shop. He pointed me in the direction of where Travis was working that day. Even without the information, I recognized Travis' long legs and his worn leather boots sticking out from underneath a four-door sedan. I knocked my foot against his boot to let him know I was there.

He rolled out from beneath the car and grinned. "You got my lunch?"

I held up a brown paper sack. Since I'd returned, we'd fallen into a routine of eating lunch together on the floor of the auto shop. It gave me an excuse to shower and leave the house, and Travis got a free lunch out of the deal.