Ashes and Rose Petals

Party Time

Rome called Ella every day, sometimes twice a day if he didn’t get to talk to her too long the first time. Some days she had more time to chat than others. Every time he talked to her, he became even more fascinated with the girl. Within days of meeting her, he knew how extraordinarily special she was. He wanted to be with her so badly, but every time he asked her out, she said she was busy.

“What about your aunt’s birthday party tonight?” Rome asked Friday afternoon. He’d called her a little earlier than normal because he wanted to see if she was planning on going to the party. He hadn’t even heard about it until the night before, but Mark had brought it up. If they got caught sneaking into an affair associated with the Sinders family, they could all end up in trouble. Even though Lloyd Sinders himself was still overseas, and this was just his former sister-in-law, the Sinders and Bolts were a close knit bunch.

Yet, if Ella was going to be there, Rome would be, too.

“What about it?” He could hear the nervousness in her voice.

“Are you going?” Rome asked. “You can’t miss your aunt’s party.”

“Oh… I’m not sure. Tim asked me to go, but I don’t know if he’s planning on coming over to pick me up. If he doesn’t, I won’t be able to.”

“Call him and make sure that he’s coming to get you.”

“It’s not that simple.”

Any time Rome mentioned calling anyone, Ella had an excuse or a reason why she couldn’t that didn’t make a whole lot of sense to him. “Why not?’

“Rome… I’ve got to go.”

“No, please don’t hang up, El. I’m sorry. I just… I want to see you so badly. But I promise I won’t talk about it anymore, okay?”

She was quiet for a long moment before she asked, “Why?”

“Why? Why what?”

“Why do you want to see me?”

“Why wouldn’t I want to see you? I love talking to you. You’re amazing. I want to meet you in person, to see your face.”

“You won’t like it when you do, Rome.”

“What in the world makes you say that, Ella?”

“I’m not… I don’t look like the other girls in LA. I’m not... pretty.”

“You think I care about that, El? I don’t. Regardless of what you look like on the outside, I know who you are on the inside, and you’re beautiful.”

She was quiet again before she said, “You’re so sweet, Rome. You could date anyone you wanted to. Why in the world would you want to spend your time with me?”

“First of all, that’s not exactly true. Not anyone.” He laughed and was glad when she giggled. He loved that sound. “Secondly, I want to spend my time with you. We talk about the coolest things. I love when you tell me about France, about your work. You listen to me complain about horrible auditions and how hard it is to get a part in this town without connections—ones I’m willing to use anyway. I love that you’re a good listener, and you always know how to make me laugh. Why wouldn’t I want to be with you, El?”

“I’m going to try to be there, Rome. But I can’t promise you anything. My situation is complicated.”

“Explain it to me.”

“I can’t. And I can’t stay on the line much longer, either. They monitor the phone calls--the length, who they come from. I’ve been telling Teresa that I’m helping a customer who is unhappy resolve an issue, but eventually, she’s not going to buy that anymore.”

“Teresa? Your stepmom? She’s your supervisor?”

“Something like that. I work… from home.”

“Oh. So… what does she do, exactly? For the company?”

“She… doesn’t work for my dad, but she told him she’d make sure I got all of my work done. Not that he’s unhappy with my work. She takes her job very seriously.”

“Ella, you’re twenty-two. You’re not a child. She shouldn’t be monitoring you so closely if she doesn’t even work for SCM.”

“I told you, Rome. It’s complicated, and I can’t get into all of it. But I will try to go tonight. Just remember, it’s a masquerade ball.”

“Are you seriously saying you’re not going to let me see your face?”

“Let’s just wait and see how it goes. I probably won’t even get to go. Oh, and my gown… if I do go… it’s not that great. I couldn’t go shopping. I’ve been trying to fix up one of my older gowns.”

“I bet you could wear a potato sack and be stunning.”

She laughed but then said, “I told you, I’m not stunning. You’ll see. Maybe.”

“God, I hope so. I wish I could come and get you myself.”

“Are you serious? There’s no way my stepmother would allow me to leave the house with you. Not only are you a Verona, you’re a young man and likely dangerous. You probably only have one thing on your mind.”

“Seriously? She doesn’t let you date? What about your stepsisters? I see them out at clubs. I know they date. I didn’t realize they had a stepsister at home the last time I saw them, but now I do. Anna and Drew, right?”

“That’s them. They’re different. They grew up here and know how to protect themselves.”

“Is that what she’s telling you? Ella, you don’t need to protect yourself from me. I would never do anything to hurt you. If I ever saw anyone trying to hurt you, I swear to God, I’d kill them.”

“Thank you, Rome. I really do wish I could explain everything to you, but I can’t. It’s just… a mess. And so am I. I hope I do get a chance to see you later, though.”

“I hope so, too. You really are very special to me, Ella, and I don’t care what you look like. I hope you believe that.”

“I do--when you say it. I have to go.”

“Okay. Bye.”

“Goodbye, Rome.”

She hung up, and he felt tears in his eyes. There was something just not right about this entire situation. Why wasn’t she allowed to leave the house as she pleased? She was an adult, for crying out loud. It wasn’t as if she were a menace to society or dangerous in some way.

Rome looked across his bedroom to the suit he’d laid out earlier. It had been a few months since he’d dressed in something so nice, but he’d chosen Armani in case he did get to see Ella. He usually only wore suits that nice for red carpet events.

He couldn’t imagine Ella being anything less than beautiful. Her mother certainly had been, and her father was known for being good looking as well, not that Rome had much of an opinion on that. He wished he had Tim’s number so he could call him himself and tell her cousin to be sure to go by and get her. However, a request from Rome Verona to see his cousin would be a sure-fire way to make sure that Tim did not bring Ella. Rome would be the last person on earth Tim would want her speaking to.

The mask he was going to wear was laying on his dresser. He’d picked it up from a costume store on his way home from his latest audition. The mask covered his eyes and nose. It was a dark blue with gold around the rim. He figured he’d still be fairly recognizable unless he did his hair differently. Rather than parting it so that half of it fell over his eye and the rest spiked on top of his head, he decided to comb it all flat tonight and slick it back. He should’ve told Ella so she’d know what to look for, but part of him was excited to see if she could figure out who he was.

And, of course, he’d have to figure out which one was her, too. He figured she’d be with Tim at least part of the night. That should be an easy way to pick her out of the crowd. That and she’d said she would be wearing a dress that was out of style.

None of what she said made any sense to him. He wished he was in a position to just go over to their house and figure out what was going on, but as a Verona, he couldn’t do that.

Rome sighed and sat back down on the bed. He’d be busy with work again soon. He’d heard a few days ago that he’d gotten a part in a movie. It wasn’t a starring role, but the other people in the movie were big names, so he’d taken it. He’d start shooting in a few weeks if all went right. They still had a bit of casting to do. Would he still have time to call Ella before 5:00 in the afternoon when he was shooting?

“Maybe I should stop at the store and buy her a phone before I go,” he thought to himself. He wondered if she’d even take it. Everything was so bizarre about the way she was acting. It was like her parents had her on lockdown. He wanted to get to the bottom of it but didn’t know how.

“Just… let her come tonight…” he said aloud to no one, to the universe, to whoever might be listening. “Let her come, and let me get to see her face--at last.”