Black Rose

Mean streak.

Blake's room was upstairs, but further into the house than Gwen's. We walked past a whole lot of open doors — a laundry room, a study, two guest bedrooms, and a guest bathroom. Then there was one door that was closed. When I paused and tried the handle, it was locked. Blake noticed me stopping and turned, frowning. He noticed my hand on the door and nodded.

"Nothing interesting behind there, Rose. Just my office. I just keep it locked in case Jackson finds his way up here. Don't want him playing in my files," He said. He smiled at me, but it didn't meet his eyes. I could tell he was hiding something, but I didn't know what. He shrugged, "Hurry up, Rose, I'm hungry."

He continued on and I reluctantly followed. The hallway opened up into the main area of the house, with the lounge room, dining area, and kitchen below, and Gwen's room to the side. I could hear Jackson giggling from somewhere downstairs, and I couldn't help but smile.

Then Blake cleared his throat and yelled out, ruining the moment. "Iris, I trust that you cooked us breakfast before slacking off."

The giggling stopped, and after a moment Gwen came out from the hall, holding an action figure, looking annoyed to be interrupted.

"I wasn't slacking off, Blake, I was with my son," She said, giving him a pointed look. "I'm not your maid."

"Last I checked, you were." He raised an eyebrow at her. "You'd do well to remember that."

Her eyes flashed with shame and she glanced at me before looking black at me. "Are you threatening me, Blake?"

He let out a long sigh and turned away, walking to the couches and slumping down in one. "No, I'm not threatening you. I'm just hungry."

Gwen looked at me, her face shifting into a look of annoyance. "Well get Ophelia to feed you, sir. I'm sure she'd be happy to have a turn holding the fork."

With that she spun on her heel and stormed back down the hall, shutting Jackson's door with a bang. Blake huffed.

"I ought to go knock some sense into her, Rose," He said bitterly. "Take her down to the basement. Show her who's in charge."

"Please don't sir," I said quickly. As much as I disliked Gwen, I still didn't want to see her get hurt. Especially not over something as trivial as breakfast. "There's no need. I'll cook you breakfast."

Blake looked up at me, his face passive, thinking. After a moment he gave in. "Alright, Rose. I'll watch some TV and you get cooking. I'll have my eggs over easy, with bacon, fried tomato, and buttered toast. Understood?"

"Yes sir," I said, shocked at the sudden change of heart. He smiled at me.

"Good girl," He said. I turned to go to the kitchen but he stopped me. "Oh, and Rose?"

I paused and looked back at him. "Yes, sir?"

"I love you." He said, loudly. His gaze stayed on me, but I know why he was doing this. It wasn't to mess with me, or reconfirm what had already been said. He was doing this with the full knowledge that Gwen would be able to hear him.

I nodded.

He grinned, and looked away, grabbing the TV remote. I took that as my cue to go.

I didn't really know my way around the kitchen, so breakfast took a little longer than anticipated. Not to mention every time I looked at the sink I was filled with dread and nausea, remembering what Gwen had done to me. But eventually I was done. I plated up three full plates of breakfast, along with a small plate for Jackson, then took them to the dining table with a handful of forks and cleared my throat.