Chapter 8 A NOBODY

~Rose

I felt Amanda's hands clamp down on my arm firmly that it stung. She dragged me out of the ballroom and out to the lobby.

"I'm very-"

The resounding effect of her palms against my cheek, stopped any more words from coming out of my mouth. It was so painful that I immediately felt it burn and by the time I would remove my hand from my cheek, I knew that a blazing red tinge- deeper than the blush I had on my cheek-, would appear.

"I begged you, didn't I." She said with anger, a very palpable one etched in her voice, "I begged you not to bring shame to your father's memory, to me, to our name."

She yelled into my ear like everything she was telling me at that point needed to stick so badly so I wouldn't cause any more slip ups.

"What did I say from the get go that was so hard for you to understand?" She asked.

There was nothing I could do. I just stood there with my hands to my cheeks, fighting the lump that threatened to climb up my throat and morph into a pool of tears that wasn't very far from my eyes.

Amanda sighed and closed her eyes, monitored her breathing as she tried to control her anger. She was still in the middle of that when I heard footsteps running towards us in the corridor.

By the time the steps came to a halt in front of Amanda and I heard the voice of who it was, I knew it was David, "We cannot stay out here anymore, they are beginning to whisper."

He was talking to Amanda while I slowly put down my hand from my cheek where it had been resting. But I didn't dare to look up at either of them.

"Alright, I'll go back in there and try to make them calm." Amanda said breathlessly to David.

Then she walked up to me, each sound which the heel of her stilettos made as they collided heavily with the smooth surface of the marble floor made my heart jump with trepidation.

Her hand found it's way underneath my jaw and she held it firmly and forcefully pulled it up so that I would look her in the eyes,

"Go and get yourself in order and come back to the party in the next ten minutes." There was venom in her tone as she spoke and all I could see in her eyes was sheer hatred.

Where did all that hatred emanate from?

Most importantly, where did all her loving and calm nature disappear to?

A few weeks ago, if I was told that Amanda lashed out on anyone, I would have sworn with everything I held dear to me- and they were very few- that she would not do such a thing.

That was just how deeply I thought of her in high regards but then this?

"When you're back at the party, do everything you can not to mess it up because if you do-" she paused and the remnants of her unspoken words hung over my head like a dark smoky cloud that threatened to choke me.

With those words, she turned around on her heels and walked away with David in tow, the receding sound of her heels on the marble floor was the only thing that filled my ears for the next few minutes while I just stood there rooted to that spot, unable to will my legs to move.

My hands were balled to fist at my sides with my nails digging into my palms,so that I could feel it grow white. The pain was all I tried to focus on.

That way I would be able to fight back the pool of tears that were just waiting to fall freely from my eyes like a dam let loose. But it didn't seem to be working.

A hard knot sat in my chest as the emotions swirled inside me, and the unyielding lump sat in my throat, like a hard, unyielding rock. The air around me thickened, making each breath I took a struggle. My eyes grew heavy, weighed down by the tears that were fast making their way to my eyes.

My eyelids tremble, like delicate leaves in an autumn breeze, as I fight to maintain self control. Just breathe, Rose. Breathe. I told myself internally.

The muscles around my eyes constrict, a desperate attempt to dam the impending flood.

A stinging sensation suddenly builds, a burning pressure that threatens to consume me and I could feel my face contort, a mixture of pain and restraint, as I battle to keep the emotions in check.

Time seems to slow, each second an eternity, as the internal struggle intensifies. My body tenses, bracing for the inevitable release. And then, like a dam finally breaking, the tears burst forth, streaming down my face in a warm, salty torrent. The sobs follow, a cathartic release of all the pent-up emotions of everything I have had to deal with for the past weeks.

I heard a group of chittering ladies all giggle as they made their way to the lobby and I felt my body become even more tense with panic as Amanda's words suddenly flooded back into my mind.

I couldn't let them see me like this.

I found my way into one of the elevators and made my way up to the penthouse.

It didn't take me very long to get there. I got to the door and inserted the key but my hands were trembling a lot.

"Are you okay, miss?" I heard a voice ask me from behind.

"I'm fine." I sniffed and managed to say.

Finally, the lock clicked and I was in.

I couldn't tell for how long I stayed inside but then as I made my way back to the door, it flung open and Amanda, David and Charlotte walked in.

My breath hitched when Amanda looked at me with a murderous glint in her eyes.

"Why are you up here when you should have been down there after what I told you?" She asked me with fury and a hint of exhaustion lacing her voice.

I kept mute. I learned over a few days that it was better to stay quiet whenever they were speaking because if I tried to speak, it only made the matter worse.

Amanda let out a groan and plopped into the couch.

"I am so tired. Thankfully, no one noticed you were gone and the ones who did, David was able to take care of them with his smooth replies." She said dismissively.

I was about to turn to walk back into my room before she called me back again,

"David will fill you in on the briefs about tomorrow's meeting. You have a very important client which you have to meet after you're done signing the necessary documents." She added.

What documents were she talking about this time?

"I'll send you some money so that you will go shopping earlier during the day. You have to be prepared and this time, I don't want any slip ups. You're going to be doing the only right thing you've ever done in your entire miserable life." She remarked cruelly.

I pursed my lips together.

"You may leave now. I'm having enough headaches from having to do too much. I don't want to add looking at you to the list of things I have to deal with."

I turned and walked out of her sight, and just like the previous days, I was only expecting the worst from whatevers it is that she or David wanted me to do.

In the end, there was nothing that I did for them that would ever work out or be perfect in their sight.

To them, and probably everyone else, I was nothing but a low life-the irony. I could only hope that whatever it was they wanted me to do, wasn't going to get me into trouble like all the rest which I always seemed to mess up.

I sighed and rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling and waiting for sleep to take me.