New Rogues In Town

Epilogue: Chapter 1

"Dru, can you please stop? My parent's are right down stairs." I asked trying to pry my current boyfriend off my neck where he was obviously under the impression he was a vampire. 

"Come on Catie. We've been together for almost 6 months now and we haven't done anything."

Well, we aren't soul mates or anything are we?" I bit back annoyed.

"But, I love you. So that's all that should matter." He responded solemnly while looking into my green eyes that I inherited from my mother. 

"What's love got to do with it.." 

I pushed him off of my bed. He landed on the floor with a thunk. I laughed. He didn't. 

I heard the footsteps before the door knob ever turned.  

"What's going on in here?" My dad asked with his "angry face" on. 

"Nothing, obviously." With my arms crossed, I glared at him. Privacy is an issue in this home. Just because I was the CEO's daughter, I was expected to be a certain way. 

My mom inherited the company after my aunt and uncle died in some type of tragic murder. They don't talk much about it but from the stories I hear, rebuilding the strength of this company has been in their hands. The few people that remained with the company respected my mother and father and would do anything to help them.

'DRU?" My dad's voice boomed.

"Sir?" Dru asked while he was laying on the floor still.

"Out."

"Yes sir."

Dru walked out without so much as a goodbye. I uncrossed my arms and laid back on my bed with resolve. 

"You okay?" Dad asked laying back on the bed beside me.

"Sure." I stared at the skylight above. The white stars danced among the midnight blue sky. This was my favorite place in the world.

"You can talk to me about anything Catie. You know that right?" 

"How did you know that Mom was the person you wanted to be with the rest of your life?

"I didn't." He answered. "But, sometimes tragedy changes things in a person's heart. Before your uncle died, I would've never even imagined dating you Mama. He would've killed me." Dad laughed. "But in the end, after everything happened, all we had left was each other. Your mama was so brave, took charge, rebuilt an entire company out of the shadow of her brother. You know your mama was really sick as a child and teenager and now she's perfect. Your aunt, well she was like a doctor and helped your mom. She was like a phoenix rising from the ashes and I was drawn to her flames.

I smiled. The way my dad spoke about my mama was so intense. I could tell he loved her. I wanted a love like that. And at the rate it was going, I wouldn't have one.

"If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't." Dad stood up and stretched his arms. "Come downstairs, it's almost dinner time."

I got up and followed him down. 

"There's my beautiful girl." My mama beamed. Her auburn ringlets bounced as she worked around the room setting the table. We had butlers that did that for us but she insisted that even though she was CEO she wasn't above anyone else. Her hair was cut short, to her shoulders, while mine, identical in color to hers but not in length, fell straight and halted in the middle of my back. 

"Hi mama." I beamed while grabbing a piece of bacon from the plate already on the table.

"Catie!" My dad exclaimed, "You're mama hates when you do that." He was also plucking a piece of bacon off of the plate with a smile so big it accentuated his dimples. 

Mama swatted both of our hands away and shooed us to our seats. 

"I just seen Dru leave. Seems a bit early for him to be by the house." Mama questioned.

"He just wanted to see me before I go to this new school. They are leaving early to travel to Southwest for Lacrosse." I shrugged. Dru was alright, dark hair, tanned skin, dark eyes and physically fit. He just didn't have too much going on upstairs wise. Intellectual conversation was hard to pull out of him, which was a turn off for me. However, he was so sweet. That should be enough right?

"It's a good bit of a drive. Are you sure you still want to go to school in Ambrosia?" Dad questioned.

"Yes, for like the bazillionth time. You said if I maintained a 4.0 GPA, which I did, that I could go."

At the end of my Junior year, our Archery instructor, Mr. Howard, passed away. Not because anyone accidentally shot him with their arrow though. He was 85. However, instead of hiring a new instructor the school thought it best to end the program to save funds. Hence, I after continous begging, my mama finally agreed to let me go to Bromwell Academy. My dad, well, he wasn't exactly on the band wagon yet. I overheard them talking about it last night.

"What if she finds out everything?" My dad asked. "How are we supposed to protect her if she isn't withing our radius?"

"Lower your voice. You know she can hear everything." My mom whispered. "I don't know Toby, but we promised. She's worked entirely too hard for us not to let her finish her Senior year completing her Archery. Besides, the story is really too old for anyone to remember." 

"And you've talked to Cale? You made sure she would be safe?" He asked.

"Of course. She's going to know everything eventually, you know. I feel like you and I should go ahead and tell her."

"We've had this discussion so many times. She may never find out. She may be like us, not like her Aunts or Uncle or her grandparents. Everyday, I pray that she doesn't have to go through any of that. I'd like to keep her away from all of it and as innocent as possible." Dad replied.

"I know. I get it. I do. But when the time comes..."

 "If the time comes." He corrected. 

"Yeah IF the time comes, we have to support her."

"Okay." He sighed.

I couldn't exactly ask my parents what they meant by their private conversation so I decided another strategy would have to get the answers out of them.

"Dad, why don't you want me going to Bromwell?" I asked innocently.

"Because it's filled with freaking we....."

"Weirdos." Mama finished for him. "All those preppy academy kids. We just don't want you to get bullied or in with the wrong people. You know how us parents are."

I looked from mama to dad. That obviously was not what he was going to say but, I would let it go for now.