by Unknown
“You must be mistaken. None of my buildings are managed that way.” He frowned. “What building exactly do you live in?”
She told him the address and he opened his phone again, dialing a number. “Hello Marv, I need you to take care of something. The apartment building on Lincoln Ave, have we been getting any emails regarding it? Yes? Yes. Alright, please fire George as soon as you’re done filling out the paperwork, send someone over there to fix up the building as soon as you can. Alright.” He hung up and smiled at Rose. “All taken care of.”
“Thank you so much Mr. Greyson.”
“Your welcome young lady. Now I think that boy over there is waiting for you.” He glanced past her and she turned to look. James was waiting nearby, leaning against a booth. She turned back to Mr. Greyson and nodded then walked away.
“What was that about?” He asked he walked beside her.
“Oh, just apartment stuff. I think I just got my building manager fired.”
“Wow, look at you being all influential, Getting people fired.”
She laughed and they walked out of the building, waving to Claudia as they did.
The ride to her apartment was quiet, both of them enveloped in their own thoughts. When they got to her apartment Rose paused before getting out.
“Thank you for tonight. It was wonderful.” Before she could change her mind she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Night.” As she pulled her bike out of the trunk and locked it to the rack by the building she smiled, then waved when James drove away. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice the room for rent sign in the window of her apartment building. When she finally got to her room the door was wide open and she frowned, and then stepped in.
“Hello? Is someone in here?” She turned around to close the door and jumped in surprise. George stood there holding a big empty box. “Oh, George you scared me! Do you know why my door is open?”
“Yeah. You’re being evicted and I need you to pay me this months rent now!” His face was red.
“What? You can’t do that! I literally just had a conversation with the landlord. He said you’re fired.”
“I’m not fired, you must be mistaken.” He scowled.
“No George I don’t think I am.” She scowled back, hands on her hips. He grumbled and set down the box then pushed his way into her apartment.
“I’m not fired, and I’m not leaving here until I get this month's pay.”
“You can’t do that! I have rights.”
“No, you don’t. I own this place and I can do what I want.”
“Everything all right in here?”
Rose turned to see James standing behind her in the doorway holding his camera. The red light was on, it was recording.
“You might want to get out of Rose’s room now George. Unless you want to be in more trouble than you already are.” He smirked and George practically growled at him as he stormed out of the room and down the hallway.
“Wow, good thing I came in huh?” James laughed.
“Yes, thank you so much! Come on in for a sec.” She pulled the door open wider for him to step in.
“Oh, thanks but I really do have to go now. I just saw the room for rent sign and I was worried. That guy’s nasty.”
“Yeah, definitely. Thank you for checking on me. I appreciate it.” She smiled. He smiled back and nodded.
“I’m going to send this to your landlord as soon as I get home. I’ll see you later.” He waved and walked away down the hallway.
***
When James got home to his apartment he told Jordan he was feeling tired and went to his room. He didn’t feel tired at all, in fact he felt like he could run a mile uphill. As he closed his door his phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that it was his Mom. He groaned, and then clicked the button to accept the call.
“Hi, mom.”
“Hello dear, how are you feeling?”
“Fine.”
“Ok.” a slight pause. “That’s good. Did you get the mail we sent you?”
“No, hold on a second.” He moved the phone away and opened the door to his room. “Hey Jordan! Did you get the mail yet?”
“Yeah! There’s a fancy letter for you from your parents. It’s on the counter.”
He silently walked to the counter and grabbed the letter, then closed the door to his room and turned on speakerphone.
“I got it mom.” He said, placing the phone on his nightstand and sitting on the bed, holding the envelope.
“Oh, great dear! We’d love to see you there, let us know if you plan on coming. It’s being arranged by the new family in town and I think it might be good for you to meet them.”
“Alright mom, I’ll let you know if I decide to come”
“Wonderful James! Talk to you later.”
“Bye mom.” He reached over and hung up. Then began opening the invitation. His parents always felt the need to forward an invitation to the parties they were invited to. For some reason they still thought he might come, even though he had told them many times before that he didn’t really enjoy them. He yawned and pulled the invitation out of the envelope. It was written in fancy lettering with swirls, inviting his family to the Felson's estate for a large party.
They were inviting nearly all the upper class families in the area. It was a formal wear event and James rolled his eyes at the thought of going to it. Then something on the invitation caught his attention. Down at the bottom was a fancy pattern drawn in silver. Swirls and intricate symbols, and it looked exactly like the design on Rose’s necklace. His mouth fell open and he snatched the phone off the nightstand, dialing her number. The few seconds he waited for her to answer felt like an eternity.
“James?”
“Rose I just figured out where I’ve seen the symbols on your necklace before!”
“You did! Where?!”
“There’s a particularly rich family that moved into town recently, they’re having a big party and the symbols that are on your necklace are on the invitation!”
“What! How is that possible?”
“I’m not sure, but they might have something to do with it. Maybe they have a jewelry company or something. I wasn’t going to go to it but since it has to do with the necklace we have to go!”
“But I wasn’t invited.”
He waved his hand in the air dismissively “They’ll be so happy I came, they won't complain about me bringing a guest.”
“When is it?”
“This weekend.”
“And you’re sure they won't mind?”
“I’m positive.”
“Alright, then let’s do it!”
“Awesome, I’ll meet you there tomorrow. And it’s formal so wear something nice.”
“Ok. Thank you James! I’ll see you then.”
“Bye Rose.”
“Bye.”
They hung up and James lay on his bed staring at the invitation in his hands until he fell asleep.
Chapter 6
When Saturday evening finally rolled along Rose was feeling desperate. She had been so busy looking for clues about the medallion that she hadn’t spent much time looking for work. She tried not to think about this as she waited for Kelsi. It turned out that this was the same party that Kelsi had invited her to, and she was ecstatic to find out that Rose was going. She also insisted on buying Rose a dress for the party, which was greatly appreciated since
Rose didn’t have much formal wear. She ended up buying a dark blue strapless dress with decals at the waistline and an a-line skirt. It poofed out when she twirled and she did this quite a few times in her apartment giggling to herself.
Her phone buzzed with a message from Kelsi that she was there. Rose practically flew down the stairs out the apartment building.
“Hi!” Kelsi said as she got into the car.
“Hey! What do you think do I look ok?”
“You look perfect.” Kelsi smiled.
“Thank you
for helping me.”
“No problem, girl. You just let me know when you want fashion advice and I’m there.”
“Good to know.” Rose laughed.
***
Kelsi pulled into a long gravel driveway, the neatly trimmed green yard was enormous and there were beautiful exotic flowers all over. Elegantly dressed men and women walked through the grass, enjoying the cool night air.
Finally the driveway ended at the front steps of the house and Rose gasped in amazement. It was three stories high, had stone pillars on the doorstep, and appeared to be made out of marble. It was all smooth stonework, pristine white walls, and large glass windows. They got out of the car and a valet took it away to park it nearby.
“Amazing isn’t it?” Kelsi asked beside her.
“Yeah.”
“Wait till you see the inside.” She giggled and linked arms with Rose; together they walked up the steps and into the house. As Kelsi had said, the inside of the house was just as breathtaking. Velvet red carpet went throughout the room, with marble stairs leading upstairs. Antique and Modern paintings hung on the walls for guests to admire and an enormous glass chandelier hung on the ceiling, casting a warm glow on the scene.
“This place is incredible.” Rose gasped as Kelsi led her through the crowded room.
“Yeah, it was custom built for the family.”
“Wow.”
They walked through a few hallways, occasionally stopping so Kelsi could say hi to someone she knew. Rose mostly followed her and watched the people around her. She didn’t know anyone here and felt out of place.
“I’m going to go find something to drink.” She whispered to Kelsi and she nodded. Rose weaved her way through groups of people. The house was large but she remembered seeing a table of drinks and appetizers a few rooms back. She passed through 3 rooms and then finally spotted it against the wall of the next room. She started weaving through the people, headed toward it when a couple intercepted her, blocking her way.
“Excuse me, are you Rose Belmont?” The man asked, he was tall and stately looking. With neatly cut brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a gray suit and a red velvety tie that matched the carpet oddly enough.
“Yes. Do I know you?”
“You’re familiar with our son James yes?” The woman asked. She was much shorter than her husband, just a bit shorter than Rose. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a fancy updo, and she was wearing pearl earrings that went well with her light blue dress.
“Oh, you two are his parents? How did you know my name?”
“We keep tabs on our only son. It’s important that we also know who he associates with.” The man answered and his wife gently whacked his arm.
“Now Edward you make it sound worse than it is.” She smiled at Rose and held out a hand. “My name is Violet and this is Edward.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Rose replied politely shaking her hand.
“Would you walk with us for a bit?” She asked.
“Of course.” Rose smiled and followed as they led the way to another room where there were couches set up throughout the room. They sat down on one, gesturing for Rose to sit on the one next to it.
“So, what do you do for work Rose?” Edward asked, and Rose tried her best not to appear embarrassed as she answered.
“I’m currently unemployed.”
“Oh.” He glanced at his wife and she could see they were both trying not to show anything by their expressions. But it wasn’t working.
“But you are studying for something at the University?” Violet asked.
“Yes, I’m studying to be a teacher.”
“An...Interesting career choice.” Violet looked away. “Our son is pursuing a career other than what we would prefer. You are aware of his situation, yes?” She turned back to look at Rose expectantly.
“His situation?”
“Oh dear. Edward would you please fetch us something to drink?”
Without a word he got up and left the room. As soon as he was gone Violet took Rose’s hand.
“You see Rose, James is terminally ill. And though we wish he would pursue a more...prestigious career, we don’t tell him this since he only has so much time left. I hope you didn’t have any...romantic intentions toward him. You understand why that would be unwise.”
Rose was silent, trying to take all this in. That must be why he quit the track team, and was worried when Jordan had mentioned a doctor appointment.
“When you say terminally ill, you mean…”
“He is going to die soon and despite our abundant means of living, there is nothing we can do.”
Edward must have appeared then because Rose felt a glass of champagne being put in her hand and she sipped at it, feeling like she was in someone else’s body.
“Oh dear, I hope we haven’t upset you. And I’m sure he would have told you eventually.”
Rose didn’t respond, just kept sipping at the champagne. She felt someone put a hand on her shoulder and take her other hand, and she got up. Distantly she could hear voices but everything felt closed off to her. After what seemed like an eternity she was out of the room with the couches and in a darker room. The hand on her shoulder moved and James appeared in her line of vision. She seemed to slowly pull her senses back into focus.
“Rose!”
“James?”
“Oh, thank goodness.” He pulled her close in a hug then put his hands on her shoulders to look her in the eyes. “What’s the matter with you? What did my parents do?”
“They didn’t do anything.” She paused and backed up a step, his hands leaving her shoulders. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?” He appeared genuinely confused
“You’re…” She couldn’t finish and felt tears start to form in her eyes. His expression changed with recognition and he stepped closer to her, gently grasping her arm and leading her to a chair against the wall. She sat down and he kneeled on the floor looking up at her.
“I’m sorry Rose. I didn’t realize it would affect you this much. I have this habit of putting my problems in the background until they become so big that I have to address them. Sometimes I honestly forget that I don’t have so long to live because I try to just live my life one day at a time. And I’m sorry that you had to hear that from my parents.” He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to her. She took it and dabbed at her eyes.
“It’s not fair.”
“Life never is. But its ok Rose, if you focus on the good things the future seems brighter.” He got up and pressed the light switch, trying to be symbolic, and was surprised when the lights illuminated what was in the room. “Rose I know this may not be the best time but I think we just found something important.”
She wiped her eyes again and looked up to find something incredible. The room was larger than it had initially appeared in the dark, obviously to fit the object in the center of the room. There before their eyes was what appeared to be an alien spacecraft.
It wasn’t the typical UFO type thing she had seen in movies, but it was a blue color and small and round. With a strange design on the end and a sort of fin looking thing on the top of it. This fin had Silver markings on it, a beautiful intricate pattern that exactly matched the one on her necklace.
“How?” She whispered. James stood beside her and pointed at the markings.
“They match your necklace, so wherever this...ship came from is the same place that your necklace is from!” She turned to see him grinning and she couldn’t help but laugh.
“That’s better.” He said watching her with a peculiar expression. She felt herself move closer to him and her eyes closed instinctively.
“Rose.” She stopped and opened her eyes. They were merely inches apart now and James was looking into her eyes with a sad expression. “Rose...don’t do that. I...I love you as a friend, but don’t ask me to love you as more than that.” He took her hand and looked away, at the spaceship. “I can’t.”
“Excuse me, young lady, are you alright?” The man asked.
“Yes, I’m fine, thank you.” She replied without making eye contact, she attempted to walk around them but the woman reached out to grasp her hand.
“James’ parents had a word with us. We hear you’re looking for a job.”
Rose stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at them. The man had grey hair and kind eyes; he was wearing a silver suit with a purple tie. The woman had silvery grey hair and was wearing a matching purple dress.
“Yes, I am.” She said and they both smiled.
“We’d like to offer you a job. Please come this way.” The man said and Rose followed them upstairs. They eventually stopped at a room that was open a crack and gestured for Rose to look inside. After a moment's hesitation she gently pushed peeked through the door to see a child’s bedroom. The walls were a light pink color and there was a little girl sitting on the white carpet, playing tea party with some dolls.
“We are very busy people and need a babysitter for our young daughter, Elise.” The woman said behind her. “We hear that you wish to be a teacher and guessed that you’re fond of children.” Rose turned around to look at them.
“You’ve only just met me, and you want me to watch your daughter?”
“Oh, James’ parents had much good things to say about you and we consider ourselves to be good judges of character. And of course we’d be willing to pay you a generous amount.” She said, and her husband reached into his blazer, pulling out a wad of bills which he placed in her hand.
“This is an advanced payment. You see we are also in desperate need of a babysitter.”
Rose’s eyes widened as she looked at the bills in her hand.