Chapter 3: Waiting Room
The next day, Rosalie woke in the up late afternoon, showered, washed her face, brushed her teeth, dressed, made coffee and fed her cats. Then she made herself a slice of toast for a late lunch. Her fridge was running low on food but with the rent bill coming up she didn't have a dime to spare.
After Lucky stole a bite, she pulled out her book Exile and began to kill time reading until her nightshift started at eleven o'clock that night. Rosalie read and napped the entire day until finally 10:45 rolled around when Rosalie was out the door and on her way to 7-Eleven. She had dressed in her new Armani dress but she felt utterly ridiculous in it. She didn't have the right shoes?and was wearing her scuffed job-hunting shoes with low heels. She knew the outfit would look better if she wasn't wearing her glasses but since she couldn't see a thing without them she put them on anyways.
The black Armani tube dress was knee-length and had thick vertical white stripes running down it. The dress was very tight and formfitting. Three inches above the knee - this was probably the shortest dress Rosalie had ever worn! She self-consciously kept pulling the back of the dress down worried that her underwear might be showing.
Rosalie speed-walked the few blocks to the 7-Eleven and kept her head down self-consciously. She could feel eyes upon her and didn't want to look up and see peoples' disgusted looks and sneers.
Rosalie chewed on her lower lip. This was such a bad idea. Rosalie inwardly moaned. I can't believe Carrie convinced me to wear this dress. I feel so?uncomfortable in it. I don't feel like myself at all! I probably look like a complete idiot.
Rosalie finally reached the 7-Eleven and took a deep breath before she entered. Was it just her imagination or had some random guy whistled at her as he drove out of the 7-Eleven parking lot. Naw?
It was 10:58 when Rosalie entered the 7-Eleven and Carrie was already standing behind the counter. She had a large, thick book open out in front of her. It looked like an ancient spell book. Rosalie didn't know it but it was indeed a spell book: Carrie's Book of Shadows. Rosalie shuddered and made a mental note to never piss Carrie off.
Carrie looked up at the 'bing' sound the automatic sliding doors made when someone entered the 7-Eleven. Carrie's jaw dropped as she looked Rosalie over. The Wicca witch had threatened the shy, timid, bookworm-ish, frumpy girl to wear the dress but she didn't actually believe that Rosalie would have the guts to do it! Perhaps, she had underestimated Rosalie.
Rosalie's wild black hair had been freed from its usual ponytail and so hung in loose chaotic waves around her face, shoulders and down her back.
The Armani dress showed off Rosalie's slender figure and her long, skinny legs. With Rosalie's height and weight she could have easily been a model, Carrie determined. But those nerdy, round glasses would have to go! And her shoes?were so wrong. But other than that Rosalie looked smoking hot!
"Mmhm." Carrie hummed happily as she propped her chin on her hand and looked Rosalie over with a critical eye. "I knew you were hiding curves under those baggy t-shirts of yours! You look great, Rosalie!"
Rosalie looked up at Carrie, flushed with embarrassment and frowned. "I feel?like a slut. This dress is too short?you would think that with all the money we paid for this dress that they wouldn't skimp out on the material." Rosalie groused.
Carrie laughed at the silly comment. "Hun. That's what we girls today call 'fashion'. The shorter the better, these days." Carrie shrugged.
Rosalie continued to frown. "It's totally indecent. I can't bear to be seen like this. I look like a prostitute. I'm going to go and do inventory." Rosalie declared as she stomped her way to the back room.
Carrie watched Rosalie go, incredulously. "Rosalie." Carrie whined. "That's such a waste! No hot guys will see you back there!"
"That's the idea!" Rosalie called back over her shoulder. "Geesh?" Rosalie entered the back room and let out a sigh of relief. "Phew." She felt much better and more herself when she was alone. She didn't feel like she was pretending to be someone she wasn't.
Rosalie began to take inventory and was bent over with her butt in the air when her manager Chuck entered the back room to check on her.
Chuck periodically went to the 7-Eleven during the girls' nightshift to see how they were handling things and to make sure they weren't slacking off. He had been surprised and pleased when he had encountered Rosalie cleaning up a storm. It meant less work for him.
Chuck sure had a surprise when he entered the back room to find Rosalie in a short black and white striped dress, bent over so that he could see her blue underwear! Chuck allowed himself to enjoy the view for a few minutes before he cleared his throat loudly. "Ahem."
Rosalie immediately stood straight and turned around to face her boss. "Manager Chuck, good evening." Rosalie greeted nervously.
Chuck looked Rosalie over, noticing her curves and nice figure for the very first time. "Yea, good evening?what's the occasion? You going somewhere special? You have a date?"
Rosalie blinked. "Oh, no, Carrie made me wear this. I bet it looks stupid, huh?" Rosalie fidgeted self-consciously with her fingers.
Chuck let out a grunt and stepped closer to get a better look at Rosalie. "I think it looks pretty good on you. In fact, I think you're looking pretty smoking hot, Rosalie?" Chuck said as he reached his hand out towards her face to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
Rosalie instantly panicked remembering how Dr. Cole had run this thumb over her lips before then slapping her.
"No! Don't touch me!" Rosalie cried out and smacked Chuck's hand away.
Chuck put his hands up in a surrendering gesture. "Whoa, sorry, I just thought?since you were dressed like that, that maybe you?"
But before Chuck could finish, Carrie burst through the door to the back room. She looked around frantically and caught sight of Chuck and Rosalie who was trembling?and her brown eyes flashed with anger.
"You?pervert!" Carrie declared as she took out her taser that had been hidden in the cleavage of her breasts and charged towards Chuck.
Chuck shot Carrie a fearful look and put his hands up even higher. "Ah, Carrie, it's not what you think?I wasn't-" Chuck tried to explain but Carrie wasn't listening to his explanations.
"Perverted pig! How dare you touch my friend?" Carrie shouted as she jabbed her taser into Chuck's beer belly and turned it on.
ZAP. Chuck cried out as the taser zapped him and his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he lost consciousness falling back to the floor with a loud thud.
Carrie turned to check over Rosalie. The gloomy girl still looked very shook up and she was still trembling. "Hey, Rosalie, are you okay?"
But Rosalie wasn't listening. She was currently trapped inside a haunting memory. Rosalie trembled in fear and tears filled her eyes as she remembered what Dr. Cole had done to her. She had never felt so alone and so helpless in all her life that day. But she was at work and she had to remain professional. She couldn't just break down and start crying in the 7-Eleven storage room.
"Rosalie? Hey Rosalie!" Carrie called out to her friend.
Rosalie looked up at Carrie finally and nodded shakily. "Yea?I'm okay. He didn't do anything?" Rosalie looked down at the unconscious Chuck feeling a little guilty. Rosalie looked back up at Carrie and looked at the taser. "A taser? You're just like Lisbeth Salander." Rosalie couldn't help but smile crookedly at her feisty friend.
Carrie laughed and stuck the taser back into her cleavage. "I loved that movie! Anyways, you don't look so hot, Rosalie. Maybe you should go home early? I'll tell Chuck you were here the whole time once he wakes up."
"When he wakes up?won't he be angry with you??" Rosalie asked nervously, tapping the tips of her index fingers together, an apologetic look on her face. She hated that she was causing Carrie trouble.
Carrie snorted and waved her hand dismissively at Chuck. "I'm not afraid of Tubby there. Besides, I'm pretty sure he's afraid of me." Carrie grinned.
Rosalie s
miled softly. "You're amazing Carrie." Rosalie let out a long sigh. She felt emotionally drained. She decided she would go home and rest. "I think I will go home now. Thank you, Carrie." Rosalie agreed and left the 7-Eleven.
It was 12:30 at night as Rosalie began to walk down the sidewalk in the direction of her apartment building that was a few blocks away. It was pitch black out and there were only a few unbroken streetlamps lit along her way. She looked around and noticed that there weren't any other people around. She was all alone. She shivered. She was all alone in the hood and wearing this skanky dress. She had forgotten to bring her gun with her too and she was feeling vulnerable.
Rosalie suddenly felt eyes upon her from the shadows. Someone was watching her. She could feel it?but who? Rosalie gulped, a chill going down her spine, and a trickle of sweat went down her back.
Rosalie began to tremble. She couldn't stand this. She had to get out of there. Rosalie quickened her pace as she continued her way down the sidewalk until she was almost running. Rosalie turned a corner and realized her mistake immediately since this block didn't have a single working streetlamp. It really was pitch black. Rosalie looked up and saw that the hazy, gray, cloud filled sky was blocking out the moonlight.
She could hear heavy footsteps behind her now. She frowned, in fact there were multiple footsteps. But Rosalie didn't dare to turn around and see who was following her.
Rockstar Ghost PG-13 Version Page 3
