Page 85 of The Blue Rose
Dad rubs his arm, a sheepish look crossing his face., “Sorry, I just don’t want my daughter with a deadbeat.”
“He isn’t a deadbeat dad; he actually makes a lot of money, but I can’t tell you what he does without his permission.”
He points his fork in my direction. “I want to meet this Aster guy, see if he’s good enough for my little girl.”
“I’ll talk to him; maybe on my next trip I’ll bring him with me,” I say as I take another bite. This really is in the top meals I’ve eaten; I’m absolutely adding this to my list of foods I will be making frequently.I hope Aster likes it.
The rest of the meal we talk about everything, how my painting is going, why Dad was so mean about my business and having to keep up a face of Mean Dad to make me hate him so I wouldn’t remember. Which doesn’t make sense to me, but whatever. I want to turn over a new leaf, let the past stay in the past. He said he is actually really proud of me and has bought a couple of my pieces under different names and sent them to his friends. He shows me his pieces, and I can’t believehe has been secretly supporting me this whole time.So weird. Dad says business is booming, and Sharon says work has been going steady. She became a vet after Mom died, and couldn't be a nurse anymore. She said watching animals pass is hard, but easier than watching someone you love go. I didn’t know that, which makes her even more lovable. She gets to help and see animals all day long, and she told me I could come to her clinic and hang out sometimes. Being around the animals really lowers stress levels.I may take her up on that offer.After Dad shows me my paintings, we all say goodnight.
“I really wish you would stay longer,” Sharon says.
I give her a hug. “I know, but I need to get home and figure some things out with Aster.”
She holds me at arms length, holding my arms, and searching my face. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes, it’s just we both opened up to one another about some big things, then I left without warning, so we need to talk.”
“Okay.” She eyes me skeptically. “Promise me you’ll be back soon, or we can come down there.”
I give her one last hug, enjoying her embrace. “I promise.” I shut the door to my room, stumbling over, and laying down in bed.
That was a lot of information to digest, but I’m glad they’re giving me time to process everything. That talk was exactly what I needed, and I now have a newfound respect for them both, bandaging some, but not all wounds on my heart. It will take time to become arealfamily, but I know we will all put in the work to get to that point. I know they’ll both love Aster. He is quite the charmer, and I can’t wait to get back to him. I can’t wait to talk about everything and grow with him. He may be a killer, but he’smykiller, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
TWENTY-NINE
ASTER
Birthday kills always give me the best high. I feel like I’m soaring, covered in blood, watching the soul leave their eyes. There truly is nothing like it.
It wasn’t my intention to cash in my birthday gift early, but my conversation with Serena had me on edge, and my hands wereitchingto get some blood on them. After I drove away, I turned the car around back to Graves; I had a feeling Sherry would still be there. My suspicion was right; as I pulled up, parking further away, I saw the dumb bitch trying to get back inside. At first I was pissed, wrapping my hands around the steering wheel at her audacity, watching as Sam opened the door. I couldn’t see what was said, but I could tell they were fighting. Sam was about to join her for my birthday celebration, until she slapped him in the face, and he slammed the door shut as she stormed back to her car.I knew I put my trust in him for a reason.
Rain started to drizzle, and, lucky for me, she wasn’t parked very far from where I waited. While she was in her purse digging around for her keys, I stepped out of my car and walked up behind her. My adrenaline racing, and hands twitching, wantingto be wrapped around her dainty little throat, sapping the breath from her lungs.
The rain started to pelt harder, my approach was drowned out. It wasn’t until I was behind her, lighting a cigarette, that she saw me and spun around yelping.
“Hey,” I say, blowing smoke into her face. She coughs and waves the smoke away.
She squints, unable to tell who is in front of her because of the downpour. She fumbles for her phone, turning on the flashlight. “What do you- Wait, you're the asshole who got me fired!” Turning around she opens her door, visibly shaking.From the rain or from me?
My hand shoves it closed. “Yeah, sorry about that.” I say in a charismatic voice, leaning down, I push her back against the car. “I decided I wanted to celebrate my birthday early and thought you might want to join.”
“Fuck off,” she growls and her eyes harden, and reaching for the door handle once again.Got to give it to her; she seems fearless.A sadistic smile threatens to wrap my face.I can’t wait to bring that fear out of her eyes later.
“That depends; are you fucking off with me?” I ask, giving her my signature panty wetting smirk.
She smiles right back. “You know, you’re kind of cute for an asshole.” She jabs her finger in my chest, her pupils dilating as she meets my gaze through her lashes. “I’ll celebrate your birthday with you on one condition.”
Here we go. I just know she’s going to ask for her job back. I’ll give it to her willingly. She’ll be ecstatic, but she doesn’t know she won’t have a life after tonight. People will look for her, no doubt. Signs will go up. Posts will be made, but eventually, she will fade away along with her memory.
Grabbing her hand, I move it away from me. “Yeah, and what’s that?”
She steps into me, her french whore house perfume invading my senses. “You give me my job back; since you have so much power, it shouldn't be hard for you.”
I grab her hand, making her drop her purse, her phone, and keys still in it, and pull her to my car.
“Hey! You didn’t answer my question! Do we have a deal or not?” she whines, trying to plant her feet.
“Deal.” I open the passenger side, looking around ensuring no one is in sight. Then go to my side and quickly shut the door.
