The Morning Routine

Rose stretched her arms and pulled her blanket closer to her neck. She shifted to her side and, while keeping her eyes closed, yawned loudly. She knew she woke up even before her alarm could go off. She was too excited to go back to sleep. All night, she kept dreaming about Piers.

She had finally said yes to him after being asked again and again. She had vowed to herself that only after her business succeeded would she get married. And that day had finally arrived. When she met with the handsome, charming Piers Austin in college, she never even dreamed that he would become her boyfriend and love her so immensely. All her life, she was just loved by her father, and then that poor man fell into a coma. Her stepmother, Ursa Hewitt, raised her only because all of the people associated with the Woolridge family knew about her.

She knew that Ursa didn’t like her, but she had no choice but to raise her along with her own daughter, Vanessa Hewitt Woolridge. Rose never cared about luxuries or wanted to sleep on a bed made of money. She just wanted to make her father proud, and the only way she could think of was developing her own business brand.

She never knew her mother, and that always made her sad. She only had one photograph of her mother, Willette Woolridge. She died when Rose was little. The only memory she had of her mother was a vision she always had – her mother in the kitchen while Rose was sitting on the kitchen island, mixing the cookie dough with her hands, spilling the chocolate chips everywhere. She loved that scene, as in that scene both her mother and she kept laughing loudly.

That’s why, after graduating with a business degree, she went for culinary arts. There she met with her best friend, Seth Quinn. The handsome, sassy man changed his boyfriend like he was changing sheets. Rose’s head would hurt while keeping the names of his boyfriend’s straight. But all through her stepmother’s subtle hate and bullying, through her fights with Piers, Seth was the only one who kept her sane.

They both started in a small diner, and after they had secured a small amount of money, they opened a food truck. Her pastries, her doughnuts, her cakes slowly became legendary. People from all over Thornspire would come to just have a taste of her sweets. It had been just a year since Seth and Rose pooled their money, got a small loan from the bank and opened their full-fledged bakery ‘Roseth’.

She sighed loudly and smiled when she recalled their fight about which name they should choose for the bakery. Seth wanted something rocking like ‘Rizz’ or ‘Mocha’. But Rose wanted something personal. When she suggested ‘Roseth’ and explained to him that the name was the result of the amalgamation of their names, for the first time she saw tears in Seth’s eyes.

In a week, Rose’s life was going to change. Piers had booked a beautiful chapel for their marriage. She would finally become Rose Woolridge Austin. She hid her face with her blanket and kicked up her feet with excitement. She pressed her lips tightly, thinking about how good her first night was going to be. She had promised Piers that she was saving herself for him till their wedding day. She bit her lips, thinking about how Piers was going to kiss her all over her naked body.

She squealed loudly and turned on her stomach to hide her face in her pillow. She lifted her face when her alarm started to blare. She finally jumped out of her bed and shouted loudly, “Yes!!!” and threw her arms in the air.

With a huge smile on her face, she walked towards the bathroom when her door was kicked open, and she screamed in fear.

“What the hell is wrong with you? I am live-streaming my morning routine, and you are shouting and destroying everything,” snapped Vanessa. She was covered in make-up, had waves in her hair, yet was dressed in silk pyjamas. Rose shook her head in disbelief. She knew Vanessa was faking for her followers.

“Ugh!” groaned Rose, opened the bathroom and disappeared without replying to Vanessa.

“Mom! She destroyed my live stream. Ahhh!!!” screamed Vanessa loudly and stomped her foot on the ground. When no one replied to her or even came to talk to her, Vanessa slapped a vase kept on Rose’s dresser and walked away fuming in anger.

Rose heard the shattering sound and rolled her eyes. She had seen all of Vanessa’s tantrums all her life. This was nothing new. She was the pampered, spoiled brat. No one was ever going to correct her behaviours, and Rose had learned to ignore her for her own peace of mind.

Rose came out of the bathroom in a towel and sighed when she saw the shattered porcelain. She bent down and picked up every piece and dumped everything in the dustbin placed in a corner. She made sure to thank her servants for cleaning up everything in her absence.

She went to her closet and chose a pale white shirt with a bow-detailed collar and paired it with a long, flowy red skirt. After getting ready, she grabbed her mask, her favourite, green-coloured headphones, and her all-time loyal brown handbag.

She came out of her room and locked her door behind herself. It was still early in the morning, and she knew that no business would be open. But she wanted to run to her bakery as she wanted to start baking her wedding cake. She had an idea in her mind, and she wanted to surprise Piers.

Nothing could make her smile fade, but the very next second, her smile faded. She was standing before the key holder, trying to figure out which car to take. She didn’t want to walk in that neighbourhood this early in the morning. Recently, a lot of people were roaming around waving their guns. The police have been trying to curb the gang activity, but have not been that successful.

The voice of her stepmother made her lose her smile. “You are not taking any cars today,” announced Ursa.

“But…” protested Rose.

Ursa stopped her with a show of her hand. “I need to send the cars for maintenance. You can walk or take a bus! Leave!” snapped Ursa.

Rose clenched her jaw, and without replying back, she opened the main door and walked out.