The Redeemed Soul [Dorian Gray]

A Mistake

Once they reached the street of the 'pub uptown', Rosemary fastened her coat and wrapped her shawl across her face. "Please wait for me here. I'll be back in fifteen minutes." She told Mr. David.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked, trying to talk her out of it one more time.

"I'm sure. Thank you for everything." She said as she got out.

Rosemary turned to face the dark alleyways and was immediately disgusted. She couldn't believe that people, or men to be specific, would come to such a place just to meet their demands of pleasure.

Her respect for men came down very quickly as she saw the people on her way to the inner shops. She hid her face while she did so, not wanting anyone to know who she was.

Rosemary walked the last turn and found herself at the busy yet silent side of the hedonistic place. She searched for a board with the name of the pub that Victor had told her about. He assured her that he had never been there but had overheard Henry mentioning it.

Taking a deep breath, she headed towards the front door. She opened it, her hands shaking with fear, and once she entered the pub, her decision was made.

Now, I must tell you what happened from Basil's perspective. He realised that he had left his best paint brushes at Dorian's house and that he had forgotten about it. There, he found Dorian and Henry talking about something that I should not mention here.

"Would you like to accompany us?" Henry offered.

"I must be getting home. It is getting late." Basil said.

"The dark is the time where we show our true colours." Henry stated and Basil knew that he couldn't talk himself out of it and hence, the three of them were taken out for a drink to the worst place possible.

"What is happening with your sister, Basil?" Henry asked as all of them took a seat next to the front door.

"I don't think that you should talk about her, Lord Henry." Basil said, defending her.

"Why, young man? I only wanted to know how she was!" Henry started laughing and so did Dorian.

Basil was looking at the different side of Dorian. He was seeing the young fellow changing sides like one would do while wanting to choose what to eat. Basil stayed silent the entire time that they were there, until the door opened and he heard the disapproval of his sister.

"I don't believe this." Rosemary breathed out, not even one step inside the pub. She had just opened the door and made her decision immediately.

"Rosemary." Basil breathed out as he looked at her.

It took Dorian a second to realise that she was present in the room and he couldn't believe himself. Rosemary stormed out of the place and headed to the outskirts. She was rethinking everything that had ever happened in her life.

Dorian got up to run after her but Henry stopped him. "A woman who cannot face the truth is a woman not worth our time." He manipulated him.

But that didn't stop from Basil leaving them alone, which was probably the only mistake that he made in this story. "Wait!" He called after his sister as he ran up to her.

"How could he do that?" She was teary-eyed. "I told him to stay away from Henry and this is what he does."

"Mary..." Basil whispered as he walked side-by-side with her.

"Let's just go home. I have some incomplete work to be finished." She said headstrong.

Basil tried to talk to his sister the entire way home but she was adamant. The only thing that she told him was this, "I know that you had no reason to be there, Basil. I don't blame you. It must have been very uncomfortable for you."

Once they reached their home, she rushed to open the front door and entered the living room. She pulled a brush from the water and some white paint. She painted her signature as well as the date on the right corner on the bottom of the canvas and then ran up the stairs.

She flung open the door to her room and started pulling out her clothes from the wardrobe. She pulled out a roll of money from the back that she had been saving for a rainy day. She pulled out the required money and a painting tube before she ran back down.

"Rose!" Diana exclaimed. "Is everything okay?" She asked, referring to her daughter's fast behaviour.

"I need to go to the post office before it closes. Basil will help you set the table." That's when her brother entered the hallway. "I'll be back in twenty minutes."

"I've asked Mr. David to leave. Do you need me to accompany you?" He asked.

"I think I can manage, thank you." She said, trying to be polite even though her mind was clouded with her thoughts.

Rosemary rolled up her painting and kept it in the case, along with her application and some required papers. "You are going to send it in?" Diana asked.

"There is no place for me here. There never was and never will be." Rosemary breathed out and headed for the front door.

The way to the post office was only for a few minutes but it felt like an hour to the young girl. "Ah, Miss Hallward!" Frank exclaimed.

"Good evening, Frank." She wished him despite her mood being a worse one.

"Here to finally send it in?" He asked, knowing about her plans being one of her only friends.

"Yes." She handed the tube to him. "Please be very careful with it and maybe send it the quickest way possible." She handed him the required money for a speed post.

"Oh!" He exclaimed. "You want to leave very quickly, eh?"

"Very soon."

After Postmaster Frank told her that he would send it in the next morning as soon as he opened up, Rosemary had a breath of relief. She had made her decision and she scolded herself for ever having her mind deviate from her main goal in the first place.

Reaching her home, she stared at a carriage that was waiting outside. Dorian Gray looked up as she ignored him to enter her house. "Rosemary, please!" He exclaimed. "It was just a mistake."

"A mistake?" She scoffed. "Nothing is just a mistake, Dorian." She faced him. "Leave me alone, Dorian."

"But-"

"Live your life however you want but know that I won't be a part of it. You knew that I was against Henry and I specifically requested you to stay away from him. You broke the promise. How do I know that you won't break anything else?" The disappointment in her tone broke both of their hearts.

"Rosemary-"

"Don't." She stopped him. "We should not meet each other anymore. Stay away from me." She closed the door on Dorian's face. Rosemary couldn't believe that she had done that but she knew that once Dorian went down the path that he took, she could no longer be a part of his life.

Thus started the path that Dorian took that would ultimately lead to self-destruction.

//End of Part 1//