Starlet

43. Pink Bear

I wake up late on Saturday. I guess, no matter how bad a week is, it's not as bad as a week in the dungeon. I can find something else instead of theater. My magic studies are going well. At 1, I get bored with staring at my apartment, so I make a door to my porch. I step through and Jack, Oliver, and Leo are on the porch. "Ugh." I keep going.

"What was that about?"

"I'm afraid to walk in my house, boys. How many whores do you 3 have in MY HOUSE today? Are they sleeping in my bed?"

"Lindsay said..."

I grab a handful of rocks and throw them. "I AM DONE WITH YOU PEOPLE. YOU ARE f****d UP."

"STAR." Marcus runs for me and I run away. 3 of my servants block him, but he gets through and picks me up over his shoulder. He carries me into the house with me fighting the whole way.

"LET ME GO. I HAVE TO GET AWAY FROM YOU."

"WHY?"

"YOU'RE AS f****d UP AS THEY ARE."

He puts me on my feet. "What happened?"

I throw a side table at him. "I HATE YOU ALL."

"STAR. ENOUGH."

"LET ME LEAVE. I'M TIRED OF BEING A HOSTAGE."

"YOU ARE TOO YOUNG."

"BUT I'M NOT TOO YOUNG FOR YOU TO SEND YOUR MATE TO f**k PEOPLE IN MY BED? YOU PEOPLE ARE ALL f****d UP. I WANT OUT." I throw a vase at him.

"I never thought that."

"I'M DONE. LET ME GO." I run out the back door and keep going.

I go into the woods, then turn into a dragon and fly. I fly for a long time. I end up sitting on the side of a cliff. I have nowhere to go. No family. No real friends. No mate. Why am I even here? I look down. I would die if I jumped and my dragon didn't save me. I don't think she would. She's broke about our mate. No real purpose for her now.

Dipak sits beside me. "What are you thinking?"

"Admiring the view."

"Try again."

"I could end it all right here. No more fighting."

"Then Jareth would win."

"I wish he had won a long time ago. I wish I had never made it out of my daddy's office. I wish I was with my family."

"What happened with Collin?"

"I found him with someone else at a party. He talked me into giving him another chance, then he took her out instead and left me to be a fool."

"What happened at the theater?"

"They hate me. They say I'm useless and worthless, just like Jareth used to. You read the note."

"What happened with Leo?"

"Nothing... Well, I guess he had s*x with some w***e in my house. Seems like everyone does that though. I've been working on getting a different house for a while. I can't find 1 I like."

"And with dance?"

"The instructor says I can't hit a mark to save my life. I'm not good at it. I have to believe her. I broke half my ribs yesterday."

"What hurt the worst?"

"Losing Collin."

"Why?"

"I thought he liked me. I really liked him." I throw a stone. "It made me realize they're all going to leave me for someone else. I'll never be enough for anyone. They'll always find their soulmates and forget about me. It's not even worth trying. I'll only get hurt like that over and over."

"What could make everything better?"

"Nothing." I shake my head. "Going back in time and saving my family."

"We can't do that. Anything that could make it a little better?"

"A chef from Rome that follows me around, cooking spaghetti whenever I'm hungry."

He chuckles. "If you could have Jareth erased from your memories, would you want that?"

"No. Then my life would be like a big hole. Everyone who loved me is gone. I would have no idea why. 70 years gone with no explanation. Not knowing that my mate is never going to show up. How long would I wait? Never knowing what he did. Hoping he's a nice man. I'd rather know the truth."

"What about forgetting your family?"

"God no. I would never want to forget even 1 minute of them. Those memories got me through everything. They're all I have."

"What are you going to do now?"

"Drop dance and theater. I'm sure I can find other things to do. Maybe I could find something I'm good at, this time."

"You're good at both those things. Who cares if you can't find a mark? You're better at dancing alone, is all that means. And you are good at theater. Those old bitches are threatened by you. You're so good, and they know you're going to take their spots in the next play. They're trying to get rid of you."

"I don't know about that."

"I do." He stands up. "Come on. There's spaghetti at your house and a very confused Rome chef."

I laugh. "Are you serious?"

"Yea. You can't keep him. But he made you some spaghetti and brought wine. You'll have to eat with Leo though. He's refusing to leave. That boy has some issues."

"Yea, I think he has more issues than me."

He chuckles. "Let's work on making things better a little at a time."

"I guess we can start with spaghetti. It does sound good."

I follow him back to the house.

Marcus and Leo are still there. Marcus gives me a hug and I bawl.

"It's ok." He rubs my hair. "We'll figure it out."

We eat spaghetti and Leo looks like hell the whole time. He doesn't say anything though. Then we go up to the royal boxes to watch the races.

Luke is bored out of his mind. Not that I blame him, this is boring. Leo stares into space. I plop on the couch and think about taking a nap.

"Luke, knock it off."

He throws something.

"BOY."

Thora goes to the edge of the box. "That i***t better have my bear."

Nadine walks over. "What?"

"I told Mario to get me a stuffed bear. He better get it. I can't find him."

"Who are you looking for, mom?"

"Mario."

"He's right there." Luke points.

"Wow you picked him out fast."

"We would always sit there together. That's where all of us sat." He goes over and plops on another couch.

Nadine spins around. "I have an idea. Whisp, come with me. I need to talk to you anyway."

Leo stands up.

Thora pushes him down. "Just sit. You can't even complete your thoughts right now. We'll bring her back."

I go up to Nadine's office with her.

"I'm sorry. I never even thought about it like that. It was another house for us in the village. Somewhere else to be."

I shake my head. "It's fine."

"No it's not. I won't take any more girls to your house. That wasn't fair. I should never have done that. You deserve your own place."

"I'm trying to find a place. I can't find anything I like."

"What would make it nice?"

"A place for a garden. I could grow fresh ingredients. Some place quiet." My eyes fill up with tears and I shake my head.

She nods and Thora comes in. "Dipak told me where her office is. He said we can show her."

"Let's go look at your office. I still need to summon Mario too."

"You are not taking my f*****g bear."

Nadine laughs. "I want to ask him about spending some time with Luke in the royal box. Luke is about to get his ass beat. Having a friend up there may help him behave."

"That is true."

We get to my office, and it's exactly the same as hers. Only down a couple floors.

"Well, sit at your desk."

"I've never had an office." I sit in my big chair and run my fingers over the desk. "It's so pretty."

Thora smiles. "My office is a couple rooms down. But yea, we all have big offices. You have your conference table. The sitting area with the couch and chairs. There's even a fridge over there to keep drinks cold. There are bathrooms on the level too. Down by the elevators."

"It's perfect." I go over and sit at the conference table.

"No. It's your office. You sit at the end in here." They move me to the end. Then they sit on the side.

"I don't even remember why I wanted an office."

"You like the idea of having a resort. Someday you'll need an office for that. Or keeping track of the wine stuff. That seems like it could be a lot of work."

"Mario is here for you."

Thora smiles. "The guards announce everyone. I'm staying to protect my bear."

"I will not take your damn bear. Send him in."

"Leo is here for you, ma'am."

They lose it. "That boy can't function today."

"Send him in. I'll put him on the couch or something."

Thora nods. "Going to have to guide him around, I guess."

"Oh, he's just sorry. He always liked her, then he f****d up royally."

Collin and Mario come in. Me and Collin stare at each other but don't say anything. Everyone looks back and forth between us. Then Nadine finally breaks the silence.

"Hi boys. Come in and have a seat."

Thora smiles. "Oh there's 2. I thought we only summoned 1."

"Apparently, neither of us can count. So, you must be Mario?"

"I am ma'am."

"No ma'am. I hate that. So you are Mario with a pink bear. Collin, I have met you briefly before. You are both familiar with Luke, right?"

"Yea."

"Great. Have you seen him recently? Do you know about the age regression?"

"Yea we have. And yes, we noticed he's acting younger."

"Good. That is due to some abuse that he's having some problems dealing with."

"Yea, sometimes he talks about his... I don't really know... Her name is Tori." Mario shrugs his shoulders. "We fish on Tuesdays. He calls you his mom."

Nadine stares at him for a good minute before Thora pushes her arm.

"Luke is my favorite boy. I didn't realize he was opening up so much to you. I'm going to have to inform his dad of this. Marcus will probably want to talk to you more about what he's been saying. It'll happen later in a private meeting."

"That's fine."

Leo walks in and goes over to my couch. He lays down and stares at the ceiling.

I watch him for a few seconds and scratch my head. Then I turn back to them.

Nadine shrugs her shoulders. "As for this meeting, I'm really kind of lost now. I was hoping you had known about the age regression. But he will come out of that eventually. But it may take years."

Thora smiles. "Take a second. You're all over the place." She smiles at the boys. "You really threw her when you knew so much."

A brain hands her some water.

"I was up in the royal boxes before this. Luke asked me if he could bring a friend. Honestly, we have problems getting him to behave up there. It's quite boring at times. I told him I didn't mind. Marcus said we could try it tonight for a couple of hours to see if he behaves. Then Luke pointed out where you were sitting. He said you always sat there. I asked him if he wanted to sit with you. He said kind of." I look at Thora. "Why is this so damn difficult?"

"Because I don't think you know what you're asking."

"What am I asking?"

"At this point. Nobody knows."

The boys chuckle. "We don't care if he sits with us. If he needs a break, send him down."

"Well, thank you for that. And I will keep it in mind. I will run it by Marcus, and see what he thinks about it as well. Sending our prince into the stands has risks. So it needs to be discussed. Would you be willing to sit with him until dinner tonight? As a trial. To see how he does? That would be about an hour and a half."

"Yea that's fine."

Tre walks in and puts a bottle of blood wine in front of me. "This is the new... I did not realize you were in a meeting. I'll come back later." He walks out.

"How did he not see us?" Nadine scratches her head.

Thora smiles. "So, why are you carrying around a pink bear?"

"It's for a girl. She likes it."

Thora puts an eyebrow up. "I like pink bears."

Nadine laughs. "You are not taking this man's gift for his girlfriend. Leave him be."

"I'm just saying I like it too."

"Well, go get your own."

"I can't throw anything. Never have been able to. I always lose at those games."

"Me too. You'll be fine. Go order the guy to give you a pink bear."

"I guess I could do that." They laugh, and the boys follow them out. Well, Thora pushes Collin out. He's busy glaring at Leo.

Leo is still staring at the ceiling.

I actually do need a nap. He didn't care if I slept on him before. He doesn't seem to be doing anything.

I lay on top of him and play with his hair. He relaxes and puts his arms around me.