Save Me; I Can't Breathe Without You

Chapter Two

{ Unedited }

Rose sighed to herself, it was her first morning there and there had already been complications.
First off, her room had been given to a professor's daughter and there was no way of getting it back, so she'd had to sit on a small love seat all night. When eight o'clock in the morning came she was fast to be at the registry office, hoping that the mistake could be fixed. She wouldn't have minded sharing a room, what could have gone wrong with that?

"I'm telling you, Miss, there is no room with your name on it. You're not even enrolled in this university as far as the system knows." The quirky lady spoke up, afraid of Rose's glare.

"And I'm telling you that if I don't get a room within the next hour, I'm suing. I was enrolled here by my father and if that isn't on your system then who can even trust this place?!" She yelled, rubbing her temple in frustration. Of course, the talkativeness was all part of an act.

"Please.. Miss.. We can't give you a room with such short notice." The woman whimpered, truly and utterly terrified of Rose.

"That's it." Rose took out her phone and called her boss, groaning in frustration as it took him a while to answer, "They aren't giving me the room that they promised... Yeah.. They're telling me I wasn't even enrolled!.. Okay, I'll tell them,"
She moved the phone away, "He's about to call your superiors in complaint about you.. Helga, that's your name - right?"
She paused again, leaving the woman in shock, before going back to her phone call, "Yeah, her name is Helga... Mhm.. Okay.. I'll wait." The phone call ended soon after that, with Rose smiling triumphantly.

"Miss.. Please.. If I lose my job, I can't provide for my family.." Helga mumbled, her expression trying to appeal to the female before her.

"Well then there'll be a room free, yeah? Easy peasy. If you think I'm bothered about whatever internal problems you have – you're wrong. I'm a horrible person, blah blah blah." Rose rolled her eyes, holding her head in her hands as she lightly rubbed her forehead, "Especially when I've been awake all night."

The worker nodded, eyeing Rose with horror plastered all over her face, "Yes... there'll be a room, Miss."

It took roughly an hour for a room to be freed, Rose had almost lost her patience. A couple students had gone by and looked at her rugged appearance; her hair was in knots, there were dark circles under her eyes and her complexion was paler than snow - but a little green. Frankly, Rose looked like she'd just been dragged through a hedge.

"The room issue has been fixed, Miss. It's room number 20, by the housing estate nearby to here." The receptionist spoke sheepishly, placing a key onto the desk.

"Thank fuck, only took an hour or so." Rose murmured, pushing herself up and gathering her belongings before taking the key and heading off.

On the way, she wondered why this 'code' was so important, or what it even was. Her boss had only said she would 'know when she found it', there was practically no debriefing. It sucked, but what could she do about it? Run away to Mexico and hope to never see her boss again, for fear of her life? Nope.

"Heads!" A husky voice yelled into the open.

Rose barely had a moment to react before a mud-covered rugby ball hit her square in the face. Not a good look. Just as she was about to lose her composure and let go of the act, the same voice asked if she was okay.

Hesitantly, she looked over to find a face to match to the voice.

Oh no.

The boss' son.

Of course.

Rose cursed to herself before wiping some mud from her cheek and turning away, "Oh yeah. I'm absolutely fine. It's been a fantastic day!" Her voice dripped with sarcasm. It was far from a 'fantastic day'.

Cain jogged over and laughed, giving her a once-over.
"I don't think I hit any important organs, so, with my non-existent degree in doctor stuff — I say you'll be just fine!" He chuckled and wiped the mud off of her nose.

So far, he wasn't much of a problem to her. Maybe a little dramatic and in the way, but not a problem per say.

Spoke too soon.

He smiled at her, "I haven't seen you around before, you're new?"

Rose just rolled her eyes and began to walk away, "And what would you say if I told you I'd been studying here for years?"

He laughed again, "I'd tell you you're lying, because if a face that pretty had been strutting around I would've noticed!"

The corners of her lips rose up, just a tiny bit. He was good, she had to give him that one. But, there were strict rules to stay away from him and he was in the way of her mission. So her mouth quickly returned to a straight zipped line. She would not let her guard down again.

"Oh, come on! At least look back!" He yelled after her.

She didn't turn, nor did she even listen. All he did in response was watch her move farther away and smirk, he had a challenge on his hands.

Getting to room 20 was a longer walk than anticipated for Rose and her feet began to drag. At least it made her look a little more human, she could tell herself it was part of the act. It wasn't.

Once inside the room, she dropped her luggage like it was on fire and ran to the bed. She just collapsed onto it and stared at the ceiling, she didn't have the time to sleep - but a rest would be perfectly acceptable. Her eyes slowly fluttered shut, that's right — a two minute rest. Then she'd get up and organise the room, and make a solid plan to complete the mission asap.

Her eyes opened again and her surroundings were pitch black, earning a groan from her as she sat up.

"Fuck's sake." She sighed and rubbed her eyes.

But she didn't try to work out a way to save the time she'd lost, instead she flicked on the lights and headed to the bathroom. Luckily, they already had luxurious soaps and shampoos stocked and she didn't have to look for them in her suitcase. It was like staying in an expensive, five star hotel. Except this was all free for her. She'd taken the identity of a wealthy scholar, who was being held hostage by her boss' gang.

Thinking about it made her wonder, once again, why this mission was so important. Her boss had never asked her for a personal favour, nor had he ever looked her dead in the eyes. She remembered the look on his face, it was almost panicked. He was desperate. It actually scared her to think about what could be going on behind the scenes of this task.

In an attempt to clear her mind, she began to run a bath. She'd already stripped to just her underwear, while she'd been pondering the task at hand. Rose dipped her hand into the water as a temperature test, it was different to what she was used to. It was warm, the water even seemed to be a 'higher class' to the water she used daily.

Was this the life of a rich university student? She'd always thought that students living on campus struggled under debt and didn't own any kind of luxury. Then again, this room seemed special for that other girl and, she was receiving it all for free.

Either way, she didn't have a reason or the guts to complain — even if it was for the act. This was much more than she could've anticipated, and it was a lot better than what she was used to. Cold showers in foreign places that would only last a few minutes, that was Rose's life.

Sure, she'd travelled the world. But it hadn't been in a good way, she'd snuck into many countries and cities. She'd almost been killed by agents many times. And, no matter what, she was never allowed to speak to a civilian. Only say what is necessary, that's one of her boss' policies.

A ghastly look covered her face as she stopped the taps from running, she'd talked to the boss' son. Not only was he a civilian, but he was off limits. This was bad, what if she'd been watched? If someone had reported it?

It wasn't like Rose to worry, but under so much pressure it was only human. Even if she was a dog of the Spanish Mafia. As soon as her breathing became irregular, it found its pace again. She would not lose her composure over a mere conversation — if you could even call it that.

Luckily, she'd poured in some of the bubble bath on the side without noticing. That was classic Rose; doing what she needed to do without even thinking about it. Removing her underwear, she sunk into the bath and sighed heavily.

It had been a very long day.