Black Rose

Rest Stop.

Silence hung over the car like a plague. It seemed that we'd both grown tired of talking. I didn't have the strength to fight Blake any longer, and he couldn't be bothered to screw with me. At some point, I tried to start a conversation about caviar, out of sheer boredom, but he shut it down with a look.

I spent the rest of the drive watching the scenery out the window.

It was a long drive, but a pretty one. We wound through the mountains, past bare aspen trees, and sheer cliffs of rock. Then we dropped into the foothills for a while, then through valleys on the edge of the mountain range.

Blake put on an alt-rock playlist at some point, and I couldn't help but notice how into it he was. I wouldn't have picked him for an alt-rock kind of guy. At one point, when Wonderwall was playing, he nudged me and gave me a small smile.

"You have a pretty voice, my rose." He said. I blushed and looked down. I hadn't even realised I was singing along. He gently took my hand and rubbed my thumb with his. I felt a lump rise in my throat, so I quickly looked away and back out the window.

I kept waiting for us to pull off the highway, onto the side road towards the house, but it seemed that we never did. How far south was the house?

The sun began to set, and we kept driving. I watched as the sky morphed into an array of pink and gold. The dark clouds from before hung behind us even still. It was as though they were chasing us, taunting us, waiting for the right moment to invade, and unleash the storm.

Finally, as the sun was well and truly gone over the horizon, I felt the limo start to slow, and I prepared to turn onto Blake's road. But it wasn't pulling onto Blake's road. It was pulling into a rest stop and gas station, with a cartoon light up pancake above the door. The carpark was utterly barren. No one was dumb enough to travel with the impending storm.

When the limo was stopped, Blake yawned and stretched, then leant across and opened the doors to let us out. He climbed out first, then offered his hand to help me out. "Come, Rose. Let's go get freshened up before the big night."

I silently nodded, and took his hand, climbing out, careful not to step on my dress. It was freezing outside, and I quickly reached in and grabbed my fur coat and draped it around my shoulders. Blake chuckled.

"Go on inside to the warmth. I'll bring your costume change in for you." He said.

"Costume change?" I puzzled. He nodded, smiling.

"Yes, your other dress. You've been in that one all day; you didn't think I would bring another?" He said. "Head inside, and I'll bring it in for you."

I bit my lip, wanting to ask more, but I was freezing my butt off, and I figured they would be answered soon, so I just did as told and headed inside. The diner was empty, just like the carpark. The only person in sight was a young waitress, standing by the door to what I assumed was the kitchen, her phone in her hand. She stared at me warily when I walked in, looking me up and down.

"You're a bit overdressed. Especially for a road trip to the middle of nowhere." She said, raising an eyelid. I shrugged, and looked away, back out the window. I watched Blake pull two black clothes bags out of the back of the limo. The waitress cleared her throat. "Sick ride, too. Is that your boyfriend, or your dad?"

I glanced back at her, cautiously tucking my bruised wrists under the fur coat. I didn't say anything. She didn't get the hint.

"My guess is that he's your handsome sugar daddy," She said, looking back out at him. He had started talking to the driver and was leaning against the car casually, so I figured we had some time to speak. "Let me guess, he bought that boujee dress you're wearing, you two are heading to a party with all his rich friends, up at the glass house in the hills. Am I right?"