In the Life of a Rose

October 20, 2019

In the Life of a Rose...

"So, babe, how was the date with Chris?" Harley asked, over FaceTime as I took off my makeup.

"First of all, it wasn't a date. Second of all, it was great at first but then it went downhill."

"What do you mean?" she inquired and I could see her flipping on the bed.

"He took me to Cane's and we laughed and all—he even bought me a jug of their lemonade—and then he asked if I was going to the Oscars, which I said yes, and he invited me to this Christmas party. I said I didn't know if I could go and he got all stale with me. Like dude, it's fucking October, we haven't done Halloween yet and we're both busy people. Unlike him who has six managers and shit, I only have one who comes and goes around only when I need her to. I'm just so annoyed that he got- I can't even explain it- dry? I'm even sure he made up an excuse so we could end the night early."

"Damn, babe. He sounds like an asshole. How can he get like that when you don't know your plans for two months? But did you at least think about it?"

"Yes, I did. I even asked for him to send me the details of the party," I said. My phone dinged and the message menu came out from the top. "Oh, look, he texted."

"What he say?"

"'Hey, Thea, I'm sorry things didn't go as smoothly as either of us intended. We were off to a great start and I feel like I ruined it. I hope I can make it up sometime this week before I get shipped off to do interviews for Knives Out and some photoshoots. Anyway, I hope we can hang out again,'" I read. "Now, what the fuck am I supposed to say to that?"

"He realized he made a mistake and apologized. Most men don't do that," she told me.

"You're right. He's such a sweet guy and I don't wanna let one night ruin everything," I said.

"But what he did was a dick move so don't respond till later. You don't have your Read Receipts on so you're good."

"Harley," I began and she hummed. "If I'm available for the party, do you wanna come with me, Crazy Rich Asians style?"

"Oh no, honey. I'm spending the holidays with my husband's family," she responded. "Might get pregnant." Her last comment made me chuckle, lightening up my melancholy mood.

"Okay," I said. "Goodnight, boo."

"Night."

I laughed when I hung up first and tossed the makeup wipe into the trash can. Washing my face, I did my nighttime skincare routine and tied my hair in a bonnet to keep the curls in. I turned off the light in the bathroom and got into my bed, the silk of my pajamas squeezing onto my skin with heavy comforters.

Lowering down the brightness from my phone, I ignored Harley's advice to wait an hour and began texting Chris. I typed: 'I felt things got misplaced for a bit and I do agree we should hang out to make up for it. I think it's my turn to choose a place.' I reread it a few times before clicking send. I closed iMessage and went on Twitter, reading the threads of comments from a post.

As I laughed at some joke about Chris being called 'Jamal,' the devil himself sent me a text. I read the message on the top of my screen without fully opening it that said: 'Thanks for understanding.' Another tab then came down after as he continued to text and I finally opened it.

'Where do you have in mind?' he wrote and I hadn't thought that far. He had taken me to Raising Cane's, a place I had never heard of and it was something he liked so I wanted him to try something new as well.

'We're going to my favorite ice cream parlor,' I responded. 'It's not Baskin Robbins or anything like that. It's ice cream and a whole lotta other shit.