Depths of a River

Chapter 21- Romantic Gesture

"I don't want to, but I will. All I want is for this to pass, like it never happened." She said looking at her fingers entwined with each other.

She stood up from the couch and walked upstairs. I turned on the television and lie down on the couch. I wanted to talk to her and be there for her but she is a closed book. One thing I have learned about my sister is that if you make her feel like she has a problem she will cut you out of her life and I wanted to avoid her doing it to me.

It was only eight at night and I wasn't tired because I slept almost the whole day. I threw the blanket over my legs and watched television with my two cats sitting with me. I fell asleep on the couch later that evening.

The whole week was great having someone with me in the house for a change. I dropped Cleone off at the campus each day and fetched her after work. She had to stay with me for a month before she could go back to campus again.

She was a very energetic child and was always with our parents while we were still staying with them and they were still alive. She talked a lot and sang songs to them. I was the quiet one. She wasn't the same little girl anymore. She was quiet and didn't talk to me about anything. She just sat with me and watched television without saying a word. In the evenings, after we got home, she would sit outside until the sun went down.

The therapist, she was seeing, said that she didn't talk to her about what was happening in her life, but she could figure out that something was bothering her. She won't know what it is, unless Cleone told her.

Cleone asked me on Friday if she could go to Maisie for a few hours. I agreed on terms that Maisie would call me if Cleone left. I drove to campus and dropped her off. Maisie stood by the gate waiting for her. They walked inside together, and Maisie waved to me before they disappeared behind the gate. I drove back home.

Galilani was with Clayton, and Jason went to his parents for the weekend so I was all alone. I didn't want to see Jason after what had happened. I wanted things to be normal again, like before.

I got home and went inside. My phone rang as soon as I closed the door behind me. It was Rodrique. I pressed the answer button.

"Hello." I greeted him.

"Hi, go outside." He said to me over the phone.

I didn't say anything back to him and walked to the front door and opened it. I saw Rodrique dressed in a white button-up shirt with a tie and black pants. He held a large bouquet of red roses and stood against his red Audi. I walked up to him, stunned.

"I thought I could surprise you by coming back early." He said and held out the roses to me.

"I...I don't know what to say, this is the most amazing thing that anybody have ever done for me." I said and took the roses from him.

"I want to put them in water; do you want to come in?" I asked him while pressing the bouquet to my face to smell the roses.

"I just want to lock my car and get my phone. I'll meet you inside." he said.

I turned around and walked inside to the kitchen. I got a vase from the cupboard and filled it with water. I put it on the counter in the kitchen with the roses inside. I saw Rodrique walk down the stairs.

"Sorry, I quickly went to the bathroom while you were busy." He said while walking to the kitchen where I was standing next to the vase of roses.

"What do you say you put on something pretty and I take you to a fancy restaurant up town?" He asked while moving closer to my face.

"I would love that. Let me just quickly wash and dry my hair. You make yourself at home. I won't take long." I said and smiled at him.

I ran upstairs to the bathroom and hopped in the shower. I rinsed my hair and stood on my toes to reach my razor on the window by the shower. I felt something else and picked it up to see what it was. It was a blue lighter. It wasn't mine, so it had to be Cleone's. I put it back and grabbed the razor. I wasn't going to let my thoughts spoil my evening so I shook them off and continued showering. I quickly ran the razor over my legs, so they would be extra smooth. I got out of the shower, wrapped a towel around my hair and walked to my bedroom. The door was closed; I never close my door so I got suspicious. I slowly opened the door and walked inside. On the bed lay the most beautiful dress. It was a long red, tight fit dress with a slit up the leg. It was backless and had a string of diamonds all the way from the top to the middle of the dress. It was so glamorous.

There was a note next to it that read: "I saw this dress and immediately thought of you. Xx Rodrique."

There were rose petals all around the dress on the bed. I quickly dried my hair and fixed my make-up then put on the dress. It fitted perfectly. I put on silver heels and walked downstairs. Rodrique stood up from the couch when he saw me.

"You look, wow, I don't have words." He said while walking towards me.

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