ROSALINE
I was more than surprised to see that Rick was calling me after the fight we had had the last time. He had made it quite clear that our friendship was totally over.
Had he heard about what happened to me somehow and decided to check up on me? If he had heard about it, then the call was definitely valid because the Rick I knew would call to make sure I was okay no matter how huge the fight we are having.
Still unsure of the exact purpose of the call, I picked the call and put the phone to my ear.
"Rick?" I called his name.
"Rosa" he mentioned my name like he was out of breathe.
"Are you okay?"
"No, are you okay?" He shot the question back to me, an indication that he somehow knew what had happened to me last night.
"I am fine. How do you know about what happened?" I asked because I was pretty sure that Russo didn't do things for the public to find out.
And I hadn't called any of our mutual friends to inform them about this either.
"Listen, Rosa. I am very sorry" he apologized, confusing me even more.
"Sorry for what?"
"I messed up. I know I really messed up. I don't know what I was thinking. I was hurting so bad but that is not an excuse. I am really sorry, Rosa"
"What did you do, Rick?"
"Rosa, I..." The hesitation in his voice was very evident.
"Tell me exactly what you are apologising for"
"You, Rosa. I... You know Dark Caster, right? He is my uncle"
My brows arched and I pulled the sheets off my lower body, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, my feet to the floor with eyes still clouded in confusion.
"Your uncle? How is that possible? How can..."
"I have always hidden it away from you because I didn't want you or anyone else know that I was related to the drug cartels this country but I messed up real bad..."
My heart was starting to pound and I was getting a sudden mild headache as I tried to assure myself that Rick could not have done what my head was telling me he had done.
"I did it, Rosa. I was just so angry and you should know my uncle hates your uncle and I do too. I hate Massimo but I shouldn't have done it. I told Dark Caster about you, Rosa"
Those words were like a loud bang to my head and for a few seconds, it felt like my head had gone blank. I could have sworn that no matter how big the fight between us gets, Rick would never do such a thing.
He would never do anything that would put me in trouble but I was wrong.
"Bastard" was the first word that left my lips and I ended the call immediately.
Because of him, I had been kidnapped, beaten up and almost raped. He was also the reason why Diane was kidnapped and why Karl was dead.
How could Rick ever do something like this to me?
My phone rang in my hands and I knew before looking at the screen that it was Rick calling me back. The ringing annoyed me and I knew his voice would annoy me even more.
Why the hell was he calling? What would his goddamn apologies do? Bring back Karl from the dead? Erase the memories of last night from my head and from Diane's head? Or would it get rid of the guilt Russo has been wearing like a cloak.
The phone continued ringing and I picked it up, my chest now heaving with anger.
I put the phone to my ear and got up on my feet.
"How dare you do this to me, Rick?! Is this all our years of friendship is worth?!" I yelled into the phone, hit hard by this brick of betrayal.
"Do you know what happened to me lash night?! Do you know what could have happened to me if I wasn't rescued?! I could have been raped, I could have been killed! And why?? Because you don't want me to be with the man I love?! New flash, that man is the one who pulled me out of the troubles you dragged me into, Rick!"
It hurt me a lot and I could feel the tears gathering in my eyes.
"I am sorry" His voice was broken and I took in deep breaths, trying to calm myself, trying to not let his rage consume me.
"I only came to my senses last night and wanted to stop everything that was happening but it had gone way beyond my control. It's all my fault, Rosa and... And I would spend the rest of my life being sorry for what I did. I hate myself for doing it... I... I feel disgusted with myself that I ever thought about hurting you. I hate it." There was a sniffle and his voice sounded even more broken.
I sniffled too and brushed away the drops of tears that had rolled down. I moved to my coach and sat on it quietly.
"Does Russo know you are involved in this?" I asked, my voice almost quiet.
There was a brief silence before Rick responded.
"He knows and I know he is after me already. I have... I have nowhere to go, I don't know where to hide away from him. Rosa..." He called my name, his breathing irregular.
"These past few days, I have messed things up badly. You don't know how much my life has gone down the drain over the past few days. Tim and Melinda too... Everything is just fucked up and it is all my fault"
"Rick" I called his name as gently as the anger inside of me would let me.
"Where are you right now?" I asked him.
"I... I don't know. I am parked in the middle of some woods but it's only a matter of time before I am found. I just know, I know he is after me already"
"Calm down, Rick. You are not getting killed" I said to him comfortingly but recalling Russo's words before he left earlier made the air on the back of my neck stand.
'I will be back in less than an hour and I promise I will return as clean as possible.'
Russo emphasising that he would be as clean as possible meant he was about to get his hands dirty.
"Rick, I am going to need you to call me immediately if you notice anyone approaching you. I have to call Russo right away."
"You are really going to... Help spare my life?"
"You might have hurt me real bad, Rick but... In my heart, you are still my friend and I am not letting you die." I ended the call with those words and immediately dialed Russo's contact.
He had promised me he wouldn't hurt Rick but I knew that with what Rick had done, Russo could brush that promise away real quick without letting me know of it.
My feet was tapping on the floor impatiently as the phone rang. Russo could not have gone far yet and I could convince him to not hurt Rick.
But the phone only rang and the call wasn't picked.
"Hello no" I muttered and redialed the contact but it was the same thing.
I was about to dial the contact for the third time when Rick's call came in. My heart skipped a beat and I shot up to my feet, my heart now pounding hard.
I picked the call, hoping Rick had only called to ask me how it was going.
"They are here, Rosa... They are approaching me."