Chapter 6 - Rose

Seething with rage, Rose stormed away from there as fast as she could, stomping on the bright carpet, clutching her notebooks in her hands like she wished she were squeezing that hateful bastard's neck, right now...

“Rose!” a childish voice, low and excited, called to her nearby and, startled, Rose froze at the head of a hallway she had just entered and, looking to the side, noticed Alec's smiling face peering through the crack of the door just to the right beside her, almost like he was on a secret mission to find her “Hi!”

“Hello to you too, Alec.” she chuckled softly, deeply grateful that he and his lovely presence were helping her to clear out all that pent-up anger inside her. "It's so good to see you again." bending down so that their faces were at the same level, Rose reached out and gently stroked his hair. "But, you're not going to get in trouble for talking to me now, are you?"

"Well... Jullian told me I couldn't come out to play with you anymore... But he never said anything about me not being able to have you in my study room to play if you were the one who came!" Alec stuck his little finger in the air, like he was a genius for just noticing that, and Rose could only laugh at how cute he was, even a little flattered that he enjoyed her company so much.

"Well, I guess you could be right..." Looking back to make sure that a certain rude and grumpy someone wasn't about to show up to ruin their fun, Rose tilted her head a little, to try to see inside the room where he was “So, are you studying now? I think you should finish your homework before anything else..."

“But today is math homework.” Alec whined, pouting bleakly, "And I'm not good at math, but I can't tell Grandma this or she'll be mad at me."

"Why do you think that?" she asked, although, having known Adele Vamcap, she could imagine what he was talking about.

"Because that's what my teacher told me." he related, as if he were revealing to her an unquestionable fact, “My two brothers went to school with her and neither of them ever needed a tutor in any subject, especially in mathematics. So if I have to, then I'll end up embarrassing my family when they all find out I'm stupid...” Alec's words came out faster and faster, as if he couldn't wait to get them out of his chest.

"Alec..." Leaning a little closer to him, Rose placed her hands on his shoulders, hating that such an innocent little boy was being forced to go through that kind of strain, worrying about the legacy of a family he didn't even care about. he didn't even treat him kindly “Listen, kids and adults have trouble understanding some subjects when they're studying. It's perfectly normal. Believe me, I know. I was a babysitter for a long time and many of the children I took care of, some even older than you, had one difficulty or another in math, history, science... But, you know what made all the difference for them to be able to answer all of the questions and tests alone, after a while?”

“Because they were smart?” he sniffed, his little dark eyes apprehensive.

"No, dear. It was actually two things. The first is that they put in a lot of effort, and the second is that they asked for help when they needed it.” Rose soothed him, with a reassuring smile, “So if you're really finding your math homework all that challenging, don't worry. I can help you if you want. A few years ago, I took a college course where I studied math in all subjects, so I promise you that I will do my best to help you understand.”

“What is a coliage?” Alec tilted his head to the side, confused, and looking so cute Rose wanted to pinch her chubby cheeks.

“It's a place where adults go to learn more about a certain subject and then get a job.”

"Ah, so it's like a school for adults?" he asked, as if he was proud of himself for understanding.

“It's a great way to call it.” Rose nodded.

“And why do you adults need to learn even more? Are you like me and can't learn enough before taking your older brother's place in the family business?” he asked innocently, making Rose almost laugh as she remembered that not everyone actually had to worry about looking for a job that would support them after college.

“Well… Sometimes yes. And sometimes, some don't have a family or a business to work for.” she tried to explain “But, what do you say? Would you like my help with your homework?”

"Yes! And I promise I'll do my best not to be dumb while you try to explain to me, Rose, what I'm like in the class of Mrs. Douglas!” he assured, determined, as he opened the door further so that she could enter.

“Don't say that, dear.” Rose sighed, as she followed him into the sober, book-filled room, just like an adult's office, without a single trace of color or childishness around it. “I'm sure you just need to go over your books a little more. Why don't you show me which issue you're having the most difficulty with?” she asked, as she sat down next to him in one of the chairs, craning her neck to look at the multiplications written in her notebook which, in fact, were wrong, although they were much more complex than she expected such a young boy to be learning.

Fortunately, as she'd expected, all Alec needed was someone patient who could explain the material in different ways until he finally found one he understood. In fact, he was a lot smarter than his teachers were giving him credit for, apparently, because even before Rose expected he was doing pretty much all the math himself, running his fingers up and down to review his results two or three times, still seeming to think that making a mistake was the worst thing that could happen.

“Is everything right, Rose?” he asked, after a while, bouncing eagerly in his chair as he watched her correct her homework again, full of anticipation.

“Of course they are.” she assured, causing a huge smile to spread across his face, “See? I told you it didn't take much for you to understand the material and be able to do it all by yourself.”

“I really did it!” Alec cheered, looking in awe at the notebook she'd just passed him, before directing that same gaze at her. “Thanks, Rose! You are the best teacher in the world!”

“It is much easier when you have a smart student.” she assured, stroking his hair again. “But I'm so glad I could help you, Alec. You can count on me whenever you need. After all, if I'm the one who comes to play with you, we won't be breaking any rules, will we?" Rose winked, making him chuckle.

"I'm so glad you're not as bad as everyone said you would be!" Alec said, still with that gigantic smile, which disappeared the moment he seemed to notice the shock on her face, “I… I'm sorry! I didn't mean you're wicked... I just..."

“It's okay, honey. I understand what you mean...” Rose rubbed her eyes under her glasses, with a sigh. “But, if you don't mind telling me... Who do you think I would be so mean to?” even before finishing that question, she had already realized the answer “Oh, let me guess. It was your brother, Aaron, wasn't it?"

“Uh… It was, yes.” Alec answered fearfully, as if he couldn't quite understand the edge in her voice “Well, actually, he, Grandma, and Jullian just told me to stay away from you because you might be mean to me. But one time I went into his office to ask him if he wanted to play with me, and I overheard him talking to Granny about how he'd been told how mean you were, that you'd want to steal all our money, and we were supposed to get together. prepare as if a snake were going to enter our house.” the little boy recited innocently, as Rose felt the anger start to boil inside her again, just like hours before, during her argument with her 'husband' “But, don't worry! I promise I'll talk to them and tell them how cool you are! Then they won't think you're mean anymore and they'll let us play together.”

“I appreciate it, dear. But, I wouldn't want you to get into trouble because of me. It's okay if they keep thinking I'm mean, as long as you know you don't have to be afraid to be my friend.” she assured, not wanting that sweet little boy to be scolded again by that insensitive family he had.

Also, a part of her can't help but wonder who could have wanted to ruin her image with Aaron, since her parents were clearly determined to make this marriage work so they could cash in on the fortune. as much of the Vamcaps as possible... But if it hadn't been them, who would?

Well, not that it mattered, really.

“But… If I don't, they might treat you badly.” Alec wailed, clearly thinking this was going to be a terrible thing.

Touched by someone caring about her in the midst of all this pandemonium, Rose was looking for a way to tell him that everything was fine, but without revealing that his brother and grandmother would never treat her kindly, no matter what. whatever she did, but the sound of the office door opening interrupted her. For a second, Rose actually froze, fearing it might be Aaron, ready for yet another argument. cussed that she had gotten close to his little brother, but luckily it was just Jullian, who surprisingly smiled at the sight of them sitting together.

“Julian! Look!" Alec let go of the chair, running to the butler with his homework in hand "Rose helped me and I managed to do my homework all by myself!"

“But this is great news, Alec. I'm proud of you." the butler praised him, and as she watched Alec's eyes light up with contentment, Rose was pleased to see that there seemed to be someone in that household who really cared for him “I'll be sure to ask the chef to make your favorite dessert for dinner tonight to celebrate.”

"Got to make Rose's favorite, too." Alec pointed at her, convinced “She was the one who helped me. We both deserve to eat candy today!”

“No need, Alec. You are the only one who learned a lot today, so you deserve your dessert a lot.” Rose got up and walked over to them, all the while keeping eye contact with Jullian, knowing she would likely be scolded. “I'm sorry I didn't obey the orders, Jullian. But, your boss arrived unannounced at the library and I had to leave, so I thought it wouldn't cause so much trouble if I helped Alec with his homework before going back to my room..."

“It's okay, Ms. Springs.” to Rose's surprise, he just shook his head, not seeming to be bothered to find her there.

"But I'm sure that's not going to be enough to convince certain people that it's okay for the two of us to get along, is it?" she grumbled, trying to be as vague as possible so as not to involve Alec in that kind of conversation.

“Well… The next few days are going to be a little hectic and I think Mr. Vamcap will end up hanging out at the mansion…” Jullian mused, with a look that let her know he wanted her to read between the lines, “Then I don't think it would be good for Alec to have a company he could play and study with, in addition, to keep him from feeling lonely...”

“Did you hear that, Rose? We can play together!” Alec bounced in front of her, elated, and Rose smiled, instantly catching her joy, though she couldn't help casting a confused look in Jullian's direction.

"That's great, but... What happened to make you realize that was a possibility?" she asked suspiciously.

"Nothing special. This afternoon, I realized that, in fact, we don't always really know things, no matter how sure we were about them before.” Jullian commented, still looking determined to speak in riddles, but his next question left Rose even more surprised, “Oh, and, just out of curiosity, Ms. Springs, I take it you don't have a passport, right?"

“Uh… No, I don't.” she replied, not even understanding what it mattered “I never had the opportunity to travel abroad.”

“So I take it you've never met Paris either, right?” the butler asked, with a condescending smile that only made everything even more incomprehensible.

“Uh… No.”

"As I thought." he smiled even wider, in a way that, for the first time, didn't seem hesitant, but friendly, almost fatherly “It's still some time before dinner, so if you're done with your studies for the day, why don't you go to young master Alec's room and have some fun? I will serve you dinner as soon as it is ready.”