Rose

24

If I had a rose for every time I thought of you, I'd be picking roses for a lifetime. - Swedish Proverb

I felt an arm draped across my naked waist and a warm body pressed against my back. I shifted in the bed and turned around to find Aiden sleeping peacefully. The sun was barely up and I could already hear the sound of the Los Angeles rush hour traffic down below. Even though my body was accustomed to waking up at four in the morning, I do enjoy sleeping in once in awhile. It was a little bit past six in the morning and that to me was already sleeping in. I stared at Aiden's sleeping form, admiring every single feature on his face. I smiled at him before easing myself out of his arms and headed into the shower.

After I finished freshening up and had a fresh set of clothes on, I returned to the room. I found that Aiden was no longer in the bed, but the clothes we wore last night were still scattered on the floor. I put my hair into a bun before I headed out of the bedroom and into the living room of the hotel suite. There I found Aiden in a plain white t-shirt and a pair of sweats with his phone pressed against his ear as he paced in front of the glass window. He didn't notice my presence yet and it seemed like work was already causing him stress so early in the morning.

"No I don't want to hear it, you know it's unacceptable." I heard the annoyance in his voice and he waited for the person on the other line to speak. I quietly walked towards the kitchen in the suite to prepare a cup of coffee for the both of us. But the ruckus I was causing in the kitchen made Aiden turn around to look at me. I gave him a soft gently smile and he returned a curt nod at me before turning to face the window again.

"That is a pathetic excuse," Aiden's voice was stern and professional. "That's not a legitimate reason to back off from our previous agreements." He paused, allowing the person to speak. "Look into it and keep me updated. Don't contact me for the next couple of hours, if you need to find out what you need to do, contact Luke Inglis and he'll direct you to do what you need to do." With that, Aiden hung up the phone and tossed his phone onto the sofa near him. I walked over towards him with two cups of freshly brewed coffee and handed him one.

"Is something wrong?" I asked and he took the cup from me.

"You don't need to worry about it." He smiled. "Good morning by the way."

"Good morning, but I'm not sure how good your morning is after that phone call." He wrapped his free hand around my shoulder and kissed me on the head.

"Waking up with you in the same bed as me is a good morning every day." I giggled and wrapped my free arm around his waist.

"Since when did Aiden Kingsley say such cheesy things?"

"Since I met such a wonderful woman." He grinned and I laughed.

"So are you going to be heading to work today?" I asked and he nodded.

"Maybe later in the afternoon, Luke will be coming over soon because there are some things we need to discuss. I can get a driver to take you around the city so that you could explore."

"And what about your family?" I asked him, knowing that the main reason why I came with him to LA was to meet them.

"I told them we'll be visiting tonight for dinner." He replied, his voice low and cautious with a sour mood on his face.

"You don't sound like you're very happy about the dinner." I stated and he sighed.

"I told you Rose, things can turn ugly in a matter of seconds. When I visited them last week, it became a verbal war. I really want to avoid having you meet them even when I personally barely keep in touch."