ROSEWhen I finally felt like it’d be fine to get out of the bathroom, I opened the door and stopped short. Michael was standing against the opposite wall with his arms crossed over his chest.“You didn’t tell him.” There was a hint of accusation in his voice.And, I was afraid that somehow in the moment of weakness I had lost my friend. My very genuine and kind friend. The friend who has been there to hold me up when everything was crumbling down to nothing around me.“Michael, I…”He raked a hand through his hair as he pushed back from the wall. In two long strides he was standing in front of me. “Rose, I know whatever happened wasn’t what you wanted… it just happened, and I also know that now you’re beating yourself for it. But…” He took a long breath. “You have to tell him.”I nodded my head, agreeing with him. “I know.”He chucked me under the chin, smiling. “Good.” His eyes flickered to my stomach as he placed his hand on it. “How’s the little bean?”“As demanding as his father,
RYAN “Why are you here? Don't you have somewhere to run off to?” As soon as the words left her mouth, I watched the guilty look that creeped up on her face and the wince she tried to hide. I rubbed a hand down my face, I was at a loss here. I didn't have a first clue to how to make her understand that I had made a mistake by leaving her, and I was not going to repeat that mistake. Because at every turn she refused to listen to me. I had spent the whole night pacing about my house, and at one point, I had even started to clean it. Collecting the bottles. Hiding the antidepressants. Removing every trace of my negligence. I was so restless. I felt so alone all of a sudden, but for once I hadn’t tried to drink my loneliness, instead I had gone to my daughter’s room. There, I had sat down with her picture in my hand. And, surprisingly sleep had come much easier. It had only made me realise that even though I had left Rose behind for the sake of my daughter, to be with my daughter,
ROSE “Please, stop crying, princess. If you’ll just let me, I’ll go there and kick his ass,” Michael said gently, his thumbs wiping away my tears. “You know I can’t let you do that…” I clung to him, sobbing into his chest. “I don’t know, Michael… I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m terrified of giving him another chance. What if it just ends with me breaking all over again?” His arms wrapped tighter around me, grounding me with quiet strength. “Just be strong,” he murmured. “Just be you, princess. And do whatever it is your heart needs to do.” His palm moved soothingly along my spine, and when I lifted my tear-soaked eyes to meet his, the air shifted. There was no warning, no moment to prepare. It happened slowly, almost gently. A flicker of something else entered the space between us. I wanted comfort. I wanted someone to be there for me, and he was. Involuntarily my eyes flickered to his lips and his did the same. “I—” I licked my lips. “We shouldn’t, princess,” he
ROSE The moment Michael opened the hotel suite, I rushed to the bathroom and locked myself inside. And then, I had a long, messy conversation… with the toilet. “Rose?” Michael’s voice came from the other side of the door. “Not now, Michael,” I groaned, slumping onto the cool floor tiles. “Just tell me you’re okay.” I’m not. I’m not okay. How could I be? It took every ounce of strength I had to walk away from him. Every fiber of my being screamed to run back, to stay, to hold him, but I didn’t. And I don’t even understand how he did it, how he left me behind and managed to live with it. Because walking away from him felt like cutting off a part of my soul. “Rose…” Michael tried again, gentler this time. “Michael, please. I know you care about me, and I appreciate that, I really do… but just... leave me alone for a moment." I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I didn’t look like someone who had just won. Not at all. I didn’t feel victorious. I didn’t fee
ROSE I walked out of the trailer, achingly aware of my nakedness beneath his shirt. His shirt—that somehow felt like it belonged to me now. Like it had branded itself into my skin. I didn’t want to take it off. I couldn’t. As I stepped into the daylight, Winter came rushing toward me, holding a robe in her hands. The moment she reached me, she wrapped it around my shoulders, cocooning me in its thick warmth. It wasn’t the same robe from earlier. This one was heavier anc longer more like a gown, covering me from my toes to my neck. Concealing what he had touched. What he had claimed. “Are you okay, ma’am?” That was a nice question. One I didn’t have an answer to. So I just shrugged and asked my own. “Where’s Michael?” “He’s waiting outside in the car. Said you’d want to leave as soon as possible,” Winter replied, slightly breathless as she hurried to keep up with my steps. Because I was practically running. But not fast enough, apparently, as I heard him yell out my n
RYAN This woman. So excruciatingly beautiful. Brave. And right now? Absolutely fucking furious. And did I say beautiful? Goddamn it. I can’t even think with her this close. She unmakes me in ways I don’t have words for. No logic. No reason. Just a hollow ache that only she could fill—and lately, that hollow had become a goddamn void. And while she screamed and accused and bled her fury all over me, all I could do was stand there… watching. Listening. Taking all her rage. Because I deserved every ounce of her wrath. Every pointed word. Every tear she fought not to shed. I didn’t even want to close my eyes afraid that she’d disappear. And, I knew I deserved every bit of her condemnation. __ When I had exited the car I was attacked with the paparazzi and media, they had surrounded me like swarm of the bees. “Mr. Ryan, do you have anything to say about your wife?” “Is it true that she's Indian?” “Is she really going to be featured in your next RK fashion magazine?”