Upon A Star

Chapter 10

He sat on the couch and she sat in her familiar armchair. The same armchair that she would spend her homely happy hours, the armchair that was stained with Vodka and the same armchair that absorbed her countless tears.

She could smell the essence of fear and it almost seemed like solid to her. She could almost see it bounce off him, and she imagined that she could almost touch it.

"I like you Nick," she purred and even though she was sitting in a different chair from him, she could smell him and his cologne gave her a high adrenaline rush.

"I don't," he remarked harshly, and clearly, she was not pleased. But she let it go; she let the spiteful words just flow away. She was not going to give up just yet.

"I want us to be friends," she smirked as she straightened her spine against the soft chair. She was determined to succeed.

"I don't," he repeated robotically, and the frustration started to grow inside of her. Her heart raced with anger and she tried to stop herself from scratching out his eyes.

"Well, we are going to have to do something about that, won't we?" She hummed seductively and got out of her seat.

"Leave me alone you evil bitch," he spat and the drop of saliva flattened against her right cheek. Taking her index finger, she wiped away his wet sign of hatred.

Her eyes were intently fixed on Nick as she approached the couch he was sitting on. She was only a breath away from his face, but instead of confronting him face to face, she simply sat down beside him. She didn't want to threaten him directly or hurt him physically; she was planning to seduce him. Her goal was to manipulate the naïve, foolish, young boy.

"If you don't, I will kill whatever it is you love," she winked and the naïve, foolish, young boy understood. She could see his Adam's apple bob up and then down, he was clearly nervous and he clearly read her threat. She knew that he realised who she was talking about.

"What do you want?" He stuttered as if he was on the verge of tears, but the foolish boy appeared to be a better actor than what Cora gave him credit for, he was clearly hiding his sadness.

"I want you to break the heart of the one you love, and if you break her heart, she will live," she explained slowly, and he understood. And with a nod of his head, she gave him permission to leave and break the heart of the girl he loves.

Rapunzel spent her days locked away in her tower with no sign of the prince. Mother Gothel arrived day after day to bring food, but the memory of her mother brushing her once long hair was now a faded memory.

Her only company was her voice, and the walls that surrounded her, along with her paints and brushes. Her hair was now a distant friend she used to adore, a memory that seemed like a dream to her. She always took her hair for granted, she never realised how it gave her the unique quality of being her. Now, she assumed she was just like everyone else. Her one characteristic that made her special was gone.

One day, she heard a manly voice call for her, and her heart skipped a beat. Her prince had arrived once again.

She ran to her window and peered down. It was her prince, but he was looking in a different direction. How could he not see the familiar arched window he'd climb into day after day? It's not like it was dark, it was daylight with the sun shining at the peak of the duck blue sky.

"Prince, how can you not see the tower?" She asked with concern.

The soft spoken prince soon replied, "I have been blinded my love. During my fall, I thought I'd died, but I have been blinded."

And her heart sunk. At least he was alive.

During the days of his absence she'd feared the worst. She'd imagined him falling against the hard ground and crushing his skull, or the thorns piercing straight into his heart. She feared that he had died. But he was alive, just blind, a minor setback really. But how could he save her with no eyesight?

"She fooled me my love," he continued, interrupting the silence they shared, interrupting Rapunzel's shocked state.

"How can I leave-," the young girl mumbled under her breath, and she was certain the prince could not hear her from that high distance. But she didn't care. And since he couldn't see her weakness, she shed a tear that slowly led to a downpour.

She could not see, she only saw blurry outlines of the trees; the sky became wet and her cheeks dampened. Her eyelashes fluttered open and shut, droplets of tears poured and landed on her chin. But she couldn't stop. And suddenly, a whimper came out a tad too loud than she'd anticipated, because the prince had heard. His head shot up at her as if looking into her eyes. She knew that he could hear her misery.

"We will find a way my princess," and at the mentioning of princess, the tears came to an abrupt stop.

"Princess?" She mirrored with a tone full of question.

"I am begging for your hand in marriage as soon as you are free," and a spark of hope ignited back into the young girl. Determination filled her once again. She would find a way. She had to.