Broken Rose

Chapter 5: A Totally not Awkward and Unusual Dinner

Stove. Oven. Stove again. Microwave? Stove. I race back and forth, preparing my meal. My mind whirls with everything I have to do. I move from left to right, from one pot to another, from stirring to draining, almost like a dance. Mixing, pouring, basting. Hurrying, racing, running. All the while, Bailee is sitting in the living room watching White Chicks. I mouth the words to the movie.

"You cannot stay. There are laws against this kind of workmanship. They'll think I'm running some kind of sweatshop." I chuckle and continue.

I call out, asking if she needs anything. With a chirpy no, I go back to my work. My thoughts only focus on one thing: the food. The taste. The quality. The plating. Everything matters to me, even if it's just a meal for three people. I place the food on a plate, making sure it's perfect. Adding a sauce, I artfully plate. A spot makes its way onto the plate. I take a rag and slowly, ever so slowly, clean off the spot, dragging it from its place. On to what's next. Finally, I put the finishing touch to my dessert batter before putting it in the oven. I relax for a moment before I hear my phone ring from the living room.

"Hey, Bailee, could you get that for me?" I call out.

"Yeah, no problem." She walks into the kitchen,

"Who is it, if you don't mind checking for me?"

"Sure." She looks down at the phone. "It's a text from Luke. He says that he's almost here." Almost as if on cue, the doorbell rings. I take off my apron and head to the door. Opening the door, I'm greeted with a smiling Luke. Just as I let him in, he gives me a bone-crushing hug. I stay still for a bit until I realize that I can't breathe. He notices, too, and releases me.

I give him a short tour of my apartment and show him around. Each room was some sort of fascination to him. He would look around with wide eyes and let out an oooh or aaah loudly. And I used to think that everyone had something similar. After I finally show him around, we head back to the living room. There, he meets Bailee and brazenly introduces himself with a hug. They hit it off almost immediately. Suddenly, Luke gets a look of remembrance on his face. He races back to his coat hanging at the entrance. Fishing through one of the pockets, he finally gets what he wants.

"I almost forgot," he starts, "I brought you a little housewarming gift." I'm shocked. Are people supposed to give housewarming gifts?

"Oh, you didn't have to, really," I say as I receive... a cactus? You really didn't have to.

"Yeah, I didn't want to show up empty handed, so I brought you this cactus. I didn't know how you'd feel about house plants, but it's okay because this one thrives on neglect!" I laugh and take it, setting it on the mantel above the fireplace. I thank him and we all chit chat for a while until I hear the sound of a loud beep. Oh, no! The oven! I hurry back to the kitchen, not worrying about what's around when, suddenly, my foot lands in some spilled oil and I crash into a cupboard, headfirst. Slowly, I get back up and wobble to the oven. I hear the faint pitter-patter of feet coming my way. My vision starts to darken as I see Luke and Bailee making their way towards me, saying things that I can't hear. Finally, my sight fully blackens before I pass out.

~★~

The light of the kitchen floods my vision, increasing my throbbing headache. I can feel the pulse of pain in my head, making me want to sleep. What happened? My memory fails me for a moment. I can barely think without the pain to attack my skull. Out of the corner of my eyes, I see a figure walking about. From behind me, I can hear someone else walking around. I slowly stand, and look around at what is left on the kitchen counter. Three plates are set up, slightly cold, waiting on the counter. I turn to the rest of the kitchen to see all of the leftovers in containers and the rest is spotless.

"Oh, you're up." I turn and see Luke standing at the doorway, leaning onto the frame. He's shoeless. He turns and yells, "Hey, Bailee, Rose is awake!" He turns back to me. "Goodness, you had us scared!"

"You really did," I hear Bailee as she comes in. "We thought we'd have to call an ambulance!" she exclaims with a chuckle.

I look down to my hands to see that they're shaking and I feel my legs getting weaker. They can probably see it, too because they immediately rush to help me to the couch. The throbbing in my head starts to get louder and louder. I'm handed water and told to lay on my back with my legs crossed. For what seems like hours, the throbbing continues until it slowly stops. When my head fully clears, I ask again, "What happened?"

They explain that I was running and slipped on spilled oil, knocking my head on something, likely jarring my brain against the skull.

"You should be fine, but it's best that you rest for a while. If you want I can stay with you?" This comes from Luke. Bailee nods and adds,

"Me, too. I already called my mom. She's a doctor, you know. She said it would be fine." I agree to let them stay. Who knows what could happen while they're gone? For the rest of the night, we stay entertained by playing board games and cards, charades and Bop It!, and drinking coffee. It isn't until about three in the morning when I decide that sleep sounds like a good idea. I show them to the guest rooms and go to my room. On my way to my bed, I catch my reflection. My hair's a mess, my sweatpants are all wrinkly, and did some of my eyebrow wipe off?! The oil must have taken off the brow gel. I look simply horrendous. They probably think I'm crazy. But they stayed with you, didn't they? Hmmmm, I have a point. They had to feel bad for me, that's why they would stay. They looked happy, though. Don't you have just a little bit of faith? Maybe. It's possible.

I decide that sleeping in my sweatpants is good enough and I fall asleep almost instantly.

The next morning, I wake up calmly. I take a look at the clock.

"It's six in the morning?! Why am I awake?!" I try to fall back asleep. I toss and turn for what seems forever. I cover and uncover, trying to get as comfortable as I can to fall asleep. I peek over at the clock. It's only been five minutes! Deciding that it would be good for me to wake up early anyway, I make my way to my kitchen. I take out some cereal and milk, preparing a bowl for myself, before sitting down to watch a movie and finish some homework. About halfway through the movie, I hear a peculiar sound coming from the bathroom. I pause the movie. Nothing. I play it and hear the noise again. Pause. Nothing. Play. Noise. Pause. Noise! I hit play again. Slowly, I stand up and creep towards the bathroom. I tread with caution, listening, until I reach the door. Just as I'm about to knock on it, the door swings open, revealing a very shirtless Luke.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" We both scream as he shuts the door again. I hear him moving inside the bathroom before he slowly opens the door again. We both just look at each other with wide eyes and awkward looks on our faces. I give him an awkward smile and walk back to the living room as he goes back to the guest room. When I sit back down, I can feel how fast my heart was racing.

I forgot that they were here! Why was he shirtless? This isn't his house! I look down at what I'm wearing to see that I was only in an oversized t-shirt. With wide eyes, I run towards my room. Closing the door, I catch my breath.

"Well, that was awkward."

**************************************************************

Is my lesbian panda alive? I swear I saw it breathe...

You guys... I'm sorry. I FORGOT THAT I HAD A BOOK CAN YOU BELIEVE ME?! I'm really sorry. But hey, new chapter! But like this story is just completely reinvented. If you came back from the really crappy original, don't expect it to be like the last story at all. I did absolutely no planning for that one. The writing style was so out of it. It was mainly based on whatever I was reading. So sometimes it would be a rom-com, other times it would be a thriller, other times it would be a love triangle... ugh. I don't even want to talk about it. Also, I desperately need a new title for this book, but I have no idea. If you could please help????

Hope you all enjoy the latest installment of Broken Rose!

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~ S. Pearson