Beyond Redemption

Chapter Fifteen

"Once the water starts to rise and heavens out of sight, she'll want the devil on her team." -All the Good Girls Go to Hell by Billie Eilish.

Scarlet's POV

The rest of the week went by pretty fast. Nothing much happened, which was a normal occurrence in the life of Scarlet Rose.

I hadn't seen Phoenix after the library calamity. I guess he finally took the hint that I wasn't interested. Thank God because he was beginning to get more and more on my nerves.

And maybe I sort of ish had a little crush on him but nothing a little distance couldn't fix.

Finally, Saturday came around and my mom and I decided to go for brunch instead of the dinner that we had initially planned.

So she drove us out to Malibu and we went to this little cafe on the beachfront. Basking in the warmth of the Californian sun and the cool ocean breeze while we ate our food was very relaxing.

Relaxed.

I haven't felt relaxed in a while. For the past few days, I felt a lot of things but never relaxed. And I could only thank one person for that.

All in all, the day was pretty good and I was particularly happy about the fact that I got to spend some time with my mother.

Granted, there were times when an uncomfortable silence fell between us for longer than I appreciated but when we did talk, it was nice. We spoke about the normal stuff. School. Work. Friends. Or rather lack thereof.

However, during our time spent together this aura of uneasiness loomed between us and it did not go unnoticed. I could tell something was resting on her mind, itching to be told. I wasn't sure what exactly it was but I had a gut feeling that she was holding something back.

I ignored my intuition, sometimes I read too much into situations and even if she did want to say something then there was probably a valid reason as to why she chose not to.

As soon as we got back to the house at around 8 in the evening, my mom went straight to bed while I took a shower and got ready for an evening in my own company. Forgoing my pants, I quickly settled in bed dressed in an oversized, spider-man t-shirt that I got when I was eight years old and a obsessive newcomer to the wonders of the MCU, and my favorite silk panties that felt like heaven against my crotch.

I switched on the television and began my marvel marathon for the tenth time this month.

Nights like these were heaven-sent.

With my three quarter eaten bowl of popcorn in hand, I was nearly halfway through Iron Man 2. My eyes stuck to the screen awaiting the scene where Tony suits up on the racetrack. It made me laugh every single time to see it unfold before me. Because it takes so damn long for the suit to get on. How did Whiplash not attack him? Or even straight up laugh at him because I know damn well I would have.

But as soon as Pepper threw the briefcase to Tony I heard the soft ping of my phone.

"My Phoenix Bear aka the sexiest man alive❤️🥵"  flashed across the screen.

Ugh. In times like these, I regret not having a passcode on my phone.

I should have declined the call or let it ring out but I couldn't stop myself from pressing the answer button after pausing the movie.

Again, it was like my mind was telling me one thing but my body was doing the complete opposite. Something that I'd come to realize occurred in every situation Phoenix was involved in.

"What do you want Phoenix?" I tried to sound annoyed but I was actually intrigued as to why he would be calling me this late in the night.

Wasn't he supposed to be at Jason's party? So why don't I hear noise in the background?