Get Her Life Back - Chapter 5

Rose's Outfit - 

Get Her Life Back - Chapter 4

Abe's Town House - 

Onion

“What’s wrong Buttercup? Did you end up in the men’s restroom again?” asks Casper.

I shoot him a withering glare. I’m sitting on the park bench in our neighborhood and he just plopped down startling me. “That happened two months ago AND it was an accident. So stop bringing it up unless you want to get castrated.” I mean seriously! I’m over here worrying about my job and he is bringing up that embarrassing moment in my life. 

It’s not my fault that they didn’t repair the sign at the wall between the restrooms that made it look like BOTH were women’s restrooms which in turn made me walk right in when Casper was doing his business in one of the urinals that fortunately hid everything down there. But I could hear it though which unfortunately, can’t be unheard. That wasn’t even the mortifying part. The embarrassing part was when I couldn’t move because I was shell shocked and I kept staring at him wide – eyed while he did his business. He looked up and asked what I was doing there. I might’ve spluttered out something. I don’t remember what I said but he started guffawing. And he hasn’t stopped teasing me ever since.

“So what has gotten your panties in a bunch?” He asks unfazed which brings me out of reverie. And I glare at him some more. That’s when Onion, the sock puppet Casper carries but treats him like a person, steps in and says, “So what’s wrong, sweetheart?” He asks “Forgive Casper, He’s a brainless dumb – wit.” I burst out laughing. “Even your puppet thinks you are an idiot.” I remark. Casper and Onion both give me the stink eye. “I’m not a puppet.” He says in a scary voice. I never thought I would be more scared of a puppet than his master. I decided to just answer the question instead of offending the sock again. 

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen to my job. The economic downturn is kicking our butt. They are laying off so many people now and it terrifies me.” I open up. That’s the thing about Casper. No matter how much we argue and tease each other, he’s like my brother I never have. I can always talk to him about my problems.

“Don’t worry about that Buttercup. Everything will be okay.” Casper says, serious all of a sudden. He’s been calling me that ever since we were little.

“Easy for you to say, Professor Casper. Your job isn’t on the line.” I say, getting snarky.

“Exactly, that’s why you don’t need to worry. I can take care of you if push comes to shove.” He says bumping my shoulder.

“Thank you, that’s very sweet but I’m not your responsibility.” I said, smiling.

“And I need to take care of my brother.” My brother is twelve years old and I’ve been taking care of my brother ever since our parents passed away two years ago when I was twenty – four. It was a learning process for both of us.

“And Casper has always told you that you guys can move in with us.” Says Onion. I give them both a look that says you know why I can’t move. “Which you won’t because it’s your parent’s house and you don’t want to relocate Dave.” He adds simpering. I give him a smile.

“I always say Onion is the smarter one between the two of you.” I tease, nudging Casper’s knee. Casper folds his hand and brings out his wrist a little so it looks like Onion has puffed out his chest. Casper just pouts I couldn’t help but giggle at his antics. He has been doing this since he was little. He named it after a comment I made in the past about his sock smelling like onions and even though he is 30 years old with 2 kids and a wife, he still carries that thing around with him in his pocket. 

We gaze at the kids playing for a while. “Come on let’s go to mine and you can tell us all about you getting you getting your butt kicked.” He says getting up. I get up giving him a little shove. 

When we get to his, Bree and Bella come running out. Casper kneels down and has his arms wide open waiting for them to go to him. They totally ignore him and come to me, yelling, “Aunt Lily!” I laugh and bend down to scoop them up but end up falling on my butt as they crash into me. They both give me fierce hugs with their little arms. Casper just stays there like an idiot. I hear a giggle near me and look up to see Alice standing there with an apron on. Casper finally gets up from his position, looks at us and mutters, “Traitors” with a scowl on his face. And I just couldn’t let go the opportunity to tease him, “Your puppet AND your daughters love me more than you.” I say carrying both said daughters in my arms. Japer just glares at me while Alice, Bree and Bella giggle. I felt bad about it for a second until I remembered the time where he put spiders in my sleeping bag when we went camping. I was happy again. The rest of the evening goes down the same manner. We have dinner and I leave to pick my brother, Dave up from his friend’s house.

I arrive at his friend, Timothee’s house and knock on the door. Someone opens the door and I look up see he is REALLY attractive like People’s sexiest man alive hot that I didn’t notice the glower he’s sporting until he starts yelling at me, “I told you not to come here you imbecile!” I just stood there stock still not knowing what to do for a few seconds. Then I get angry like if I had a super power like Superman I’d totally use it right now angry. I mean just because he is so alluring doesn’t mean he has to be such a douche about it. “Excuse me!?!” I said with a snap of my fingers to his face. He takes a good look at my face and his eyes widen and he just stares at me. I snap my fingers at him again. Because good looking or not, the dude is creeping me out. 

He comes out of wherever he was on his head and starts apologizing to me, “I’m so sorry! I thought you were someone else. He just keeps knocking on the door and he just wouldn’t go away and I didn’t know what else to do…” he looks like he’s about to cry as he continues. "He was so insistent. He keeps ringing the doorbell. It keeps pranking me. I'm at my why's end…" He's so cute when he rambles. "I mean Dave and Timothee -" Their names bring me out of la la land. He still rambles on, "- were playing video games and it kept bugging them and when they get interrupted, they bug me. I'm really sorry, I didn't realize you were someone beautiful, I mean someone else. I didn't -" I had to stop him right there. As adorable as he is rambling, he's going to pass out if he doesn't breathe. 

“Okay okay! Calm down unless you want to pass out. If you fall, I’m not in the mood to catch you. No matter how much I love saving damsels in distress.” I say raising my hand. He finally stops, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. 

“Again, I’m sorry.” He says. 

“It’s okay. You are not going to start yelling or rambling again, are you?” I tease. Oh there it is again. That adorable blush. 

“No, I only do that to unsuspecting girls who come knocking on my door as soon as I see them. After a while, the novelty wears off.” He says sarcastically with a mock serious expression. We looked at each other and burst out laughing. He even has a sense of humor! A man after my own heart. 

After we’ve both calmed down, I introduce myself. I put my hand out for him to shake, “I’m Lily. Dave’s sister.” He takes my hand, “I’m Anthony, Timothee’s step brother. So what brings you here?” He asks. “I’m here to pick up Dave.” I answer. 

“Oh come on in! The kids are in the basement playing video games.” He says. I follow him downstairs. “So you are the sister he keeps talking about.” 

“Yup that’s me. But don’t listen to anything he says about me. He lies. I’m not dramatic.” I say as we go. 

“Actually he said you are the best sister in the world.” He responds, smirking. 

“Well apparently he can be very honest when he wants to be.” I say and give him a big smile. He chuckles. 

The kids look up when we get there. “Hey there, Drake and Josh! What trouble have you guys gotten into today?” I ask.

“We’ve been perfect angels.” Dave and Timothee say at the same time Anthony asks, “Drake and Josh?”

“Uh-huh. Right and I’m a billionaire.” I say rolling my eyes. “I call them Drake and Josh cause one’s a nerd, the other’s the jock. And they are the best of friends.” I inform Anthony. Dave is my cute little bookworm and Timothee is the jock who is also a musically gifted child. Clapping my hands, I add, “Keep up buddy!”

“Right. It’s so obvious.” Anthony says sarcastically. 

“Don’t forget the annoying sister!” Timothee says and I throw a pillow at him. 

“Alright time to go, Dave” I say. Timothee and Dave both groan and begin to pout. Knowing I won’t be able to resist their pouts, I stop them before they start to get to me. I raise my hand and say, “Oh don’t even go there. It’s a school night and unless you guys want to have your video games taken away, I would suggest you guys start moving.” They both looked so horrified at the prospect that they got up the couch before I could even blink, they had fled away from the room. Anthony and I both chuckle looking at each other. 

“So I thought you were off to college?” I ask Anthony.

“I was. I just got back yesterday and since I’ve been gone so long, they stuck me with the babysitting duties. They told me that they haven’t gotten a chance to spend time with each other.” He says.

“You know they conned you into babysitting. Your parents went to a date yesterday. I looked after the kids.” I giggle. I laugh out loud at the shock on his face. We talked for a while and exchanged phone numbers.

We went upstairs to see Dave and Timothee were waiting for us near the front door. Dave with his backpack and Timothee holding the door. They both look at us exasperated. 

“We've been waiting here like forever!” Timothee says theatrically. I just roll my eyes. We’re only down there for like 20 minutes. The kid is just dramatic.

“Sorry. We’re just talking.” Anthony says. They both scoff.

“Come on chipmunk! Let’s go home.” I say.

When we get home, Dave goes straight to bed after giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I clean up a bit and go to bed. As I’m lying down, my phone pings. I look to see that Anthony just texted me.

Hey there Buttercup! Asleep yet? Eyes bug out of my socket reading it. 

How do you know that nickname!?! And no I’m not asleep. I’m texting you. I reply.

What nickname? 

BUTTERCUP! I hate that name! How do you know that? Was it Dave or Timothee? Or both? You know they do that weird speaking together thing. I’m going to kill them.

Whoa jeez calm down!! And NO it wasn’t them. I was watching this YouTube video where these three girls were acting like powerpuff girls and you reminded me of buttercup. That’s all, Buttercup. And who calls you buttercup?

Oh. Okay. And I just told you I hate that name. Stop calling me that. My pain in the ass friend, Casper calls me that. You’ll probably meet him soon. He and his wife, Alice babysit Timothee and Dave sometimes. He is also my neighbor and also like an annoying brother I never wanted.

Wow you don’t know anything about stranger danger, do you? What if I am a serial killer? And you didn’t TELL me. You TEXTED me. Big difference, Buttercup.

You are not a stranger. You are Timothee’s brother. AND I know where you live and what you look like. I even have a photo just in case. Semantics Mister. Semantics. STOP calling me Buttercup!

Smartass. How did you even get my photo? Are you stalking me? 

Well, he has at least stopped calling me Buttercup. As I’m typing out my message, another text comes in.

Buttercup. I growl in exasperation. Why do I always end up with assholes?

Again – STOP IT!! You’re getting on top of my shit list real fast. And don’t flatter yourself! I have Dave take a picture of any new person he comes in contact with. He’ll send it to me later. 

Wowwy you really are a smart little munchkin, aren’t you? Where did you get that idea, Buttercup? Oh this is getting worse and worse.

You better stop or you’ll find yourself walking very uncomfortably the next few days. And what can I say? I’m a Police Chief’s daughter through and through.

Oh you remind me of an angry little kitten. Down kitty! And what’s wrong with Buttercup? It’s a cute name. Chief’s girl, huh? Interesting.  Oh hell no! This man is dead. I start typing Is that supposed to make me feel better – Wait! Why am I still talking to him? Why am I even acknowledging his existence? I erase the message I just typed out and write FUCK OFF! I put the phone to charge and go to sleep. 

The next morning, I’m 10 minutes late for work. They say, “Mondays are the worst.” But they are wrong. Whoever they are. It’s Tuesdays. It reminds me of that song, ‘They Call It Stormy Monday, But Tuesday’s just as bad.’ Anyway, back to the present. My co-workers are already here. Thankfully my jerk of a boss isn’t here. His name is David Menzel. The man is a freaking CEO and looks like a god but he’s a devil. His office isn’t even on this floor, yet he comes here and torments everyone. Especially me. I quickly go to my cubicle and start organizing the files that are left there by the assistants before working on them.

I had just finished working on the first file when the devil himself shows up. Well now I know why everyone scrambled to their cubicles so fast. He looks around, making sure everyone’s doing their jobs. His eyes then land on me. His glare plastered to his face. He walks toward me and asks, “Did you get here late today?” 

“I umm… I I I I maybe… a little bit.” I stutter out. Gosh I’m always such a mess when he is around. Well not just me. Everyone. I think he made Josh who also works on this floor, pee his pants last month.

“So you were late.” He stated. His eyes were intense.

“I was only 10 minutes late because I had to drop my brother off to his school this morning –” I got cut off by him.

“Don’t you do that every morning?” He asks. I stare at him in shock and splutter out, “Ye…Yes, sir” I wonder how he knows this. “but it was also the traffic.” 

He hums and looks contemplative. His look sends a shiver down my spine. Good and the bad kind. I didn’t know that was even possible. “You’ll stay back an hour today to make up for your tardiness.” He says. 

“But I have to pick up my brother from his school around 4.” I say, trying to reason.

“Your friend Casper, can pick him up, can’t he?” He states more than questions. He spits out ‘friend’ as if the word personally affronted him.

“I guess.” I mumble out. I’m already in trouble as it is. I don’t want to risk anything further.

“So you can after an hour.” He says, raising an eyebrow. Challenging me to say something.

“Yes, sir.” I say. His eyes darken when I say that. He turns around and walks away.

I send a text to my brother that I will be stuck in the office for an hour longer and that Casper will probably pick him up. He texts me back saying he’ll just go to Timothee’s house and he’ll text me when he gets there. Oh he’s like a dream child.

I’ve been in this office for 7 hours now. Everyone is starting to leave. 5 minutes later, I’m the only one remaining. I start on my last file when Mr. Menzel comes in. He totally ignores me. No hello. No how are you? Nothing! So rude. This is the person I can’t stand. I don’t know how his family deals with him. There was Anthony last night who was adorable. Pain in the ass but nothing I can’t handle. Then there’s this guy who’s as evil as they go.

These were the thoughts I had the day EVERYTHING changed. I didn’t know this would happen. The day where my eyes opened. Everything I knew or thought I knew changed. My perspective changed. 

A month later, I married the man.

 

I wrote this story for my cousin who likes plot twist and she LOVED it!!!

 

When I'm Gone

When I’m gone and you’ll be mourning,

I will be the wind that blows through your hair

I will be the sun that kisses your skin every morning                   

I’ll be the rainbow that occasionally appears

I’ll be the brightest star shining

I will be the mountain you hike

I will be the direction you are walking

On the day you feel hopeless, I will be the thought that brightens your day

On the day, you feel ecstatic, I will be the grin you are sporting

In the loneliness, the anger, the betrayal,

In the flare of emotions you are feeling

I’ll be the erratic emotions

I’ll be with you crying

I will be your best memory

I will be your worst pain, excruciating

I’ll be the tears in your eyes

I’ll be the heartbreak

I will the distress

I will also be the tranquility

I’ll be your best medicine

I’ll be the serenity

I will be the courage you show

When I’m gone, I’ll be A part of you