LOVE AT FIRST FIGHT

ROSES AND THORNS

AELLA'S POV

"Life is not a bed of Roses. And even if it was, Roses have thorns". I am unfortunately being reminded every passing day of this phrase by the reality that is my life. Ever since "that" incident (which shall not be mentioned for I have an immense desire to avoid sob stories that attract pity parties) happened, my life has become a downward spiral. Experiencing one unfortunate event after another and now it just feels like I'm numb to the pain and I get by each day by savoring the darkness which consumes from within me. This, I could say is the safer way to go as it helps you lower your expectations from the universe and life itself, except, you will always fail to see colors and beauty and butterflies and rainbows. You hear other people talk about them and all you can do is wonder what they are. They all just feel like a myth. Because all you can see is red, and black. But mostly red because the darkness from within has transcended into anger. Anger at everyone and everything because how dare they allow themselves to be happy when I can't even remember the last time I got to smile genuinely and feel happiness. How dare God and man still have the ability to create beautiful objects and images and memories when I can't even recount any time something ever went my way. So yes, I'm angry and if we're being honest, my anger is justified.

Okay. For someone who tries so hard to avoid pity parties, that was way too much insight into my life and how I feel about the world. I guess the ideal thing to do was first introduce myself and how I get to live this life by barely even living it. So here goes. My name is Aella which apparently means "whirlwind" in Greek. It was given to me by my mum and I honestly do not know what inspired it, but judging by the turn my life has taken, I'm really living up to it. So thanks mum. I guess..?? I am a 21 year old college drop out for obvious reasons (I couldn't afford to go to college because, in case you haven't figured out yet, I'm poor. Seriously, no one complains about having a shitty life when they're rich rich so I'm sure you got that figured out early on). I work as a cleaning agent in a bid to make ends meet. Even though the ends are pretty much worlds apart so there's no meeting for them in sight anytime soon. Ms Grace owns the cleaning agency and I could say that she made life a little less shitty for me by offering me the job and making sure I get the best paying clients. I see how she looks at me most of the time. It's almost like she pities me. She says I'm a fighter for being able to take what life throws at me and I'd rather not be called that because now I'm expected to really expect the worse for myself. But nonetheless, I'm grateful for Ms Grace. She offers me something I can use to get by. Offering me the best paying clients also means that I have to put up with the rich folks and dare I say, the stereotypes might just be true. Having to deal with the snobby,rude pricks who are mostly out of touch with reality while living their perfect lives,in their perfect mansions with a live-in chef who cooks them three course meals daily which they get to eat in custom made China plates around their dining table which might I add, is often unnecessarily ginormous and makes something as common as having a meal feel like a ceremony. Yes, these are the type of people I get to meet on a regular day in the line of my job. I can't really blame them though, what else is there to worry about when you have the type of money that can afford all the luxury and comfort that you need in life. I'd also feel like floating if I were in their shoes, but come on, money shouldn't take away ones ability to just acknowledge that there's literally a breathing human in front of them and they're meant to treat that person as such.

Enough of my rants. Even though I seem to be doing too much of that today. I just got to witness an earful of tantrums from the 17 year old daughter of one of my clients for today who felt that life was unfair to her because her daddy got her a blue birkin for her birthday instead of the pink one she wanted because in her words, "pink is her new vibe". I know right? Beats me. Different strokes for different folks I guess. Now I'm heading back home, trying to think of what is available for me to eat. It will probably be left over pizza from last night or some frozen yogurt tossed into the freezer days ago. I hum to the tune of "love story" by taylor swift during the walk home and for a splitting second I wonder if I'll ever get to experience true love like I always see in the movies or read in books and if I'll ever really allow myself to trust a person well enough to open up my heart to him and take down these sturdy walls that I've had to put up for years. By the time I'm done wondering, I find myself right in front of my home. It's not as equipped or furnished or as spacious as a home should be, but I feel safe and at peace in it. It really is my comfort place and I'm even grateful that I get to be able to live in a house of my own after being in and out of foster care and shelter homes for as long as I can remember. I open my door and head straight to the refrigerator so that I can know what I'm having for dinner and the leftover pizza slices really called out to me. I ate the remaining 2 slices and downed a can of diet coke and called it a night. Ms Gracie informed me at the close of work today that it's going to be a long day tomorrow and I have to start preparing for it tonight by sleeping earlier than usual. No one wants to start a long day at work being sleep deprived.

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DERRICK'S POV

"Derrick !!! In case you haven't noticed, age is beginning to tell on us and we won't be able to rest in peace after dying knowing fully well that we didn't get to meet our daughter in-law, much less our grandchildren." These are the words my mother never fails to repeat whenever we get the chance to talk. It's beginning to become her mantra at this point. Who even talks casually about dying ? I swear this woman just has a way of causing me stress and I don't think she realizes that. And I don't know how to break it to her without breaking her heart that I don't think I'll ever get to find true love or even get a woman to settle down and start a family with. Of course I also dream of meeting someone and falling in love and getting to do all the mushy lovey dovey things that my parents never seem to get enough of. But being in my position makes all of that seem like an unattainable feat. The date I went on today, the first thing that

Popped out of the missy's mouth was "I so can't wait to be dressed in the fanciest designer brands like my friends do,now that I also get to date a loaded man like them. I think I'll be even more spoilt because you're obviously the richer one". I didn't even know which was worse, the fact that she actually said that out loud or the fact that she said it with a big grin while clapping her hands and stomping her feet like a little child who just got offered her favorite meal. We couldn't even hold a decent conversation without her referring to how much money I have and how she couldn't wait to be called "The" Derrick Lucas' girlfriend. I couldn't wait for the date to be over and so ,after the most excruciating one hour thirty minutes of my life, I stomped out of the restaurant after clearing the bills of course with an empty promise of calling her later on. I blocked her as soon as I got into my car.

Another reason why I needed to leave early was because I made a last minute decision to host my family and friends to dinner at my house tomorrow. I live alone in a penthouse and sometimes the loneliness comes creeping in which is why I make these random hostings so that at least for a little while, I get to be surrounded by people I love and care about and certain that they feel the same way about me. During the drive home, I do a mental rundown of my to-do List to make sure that every aspect of the dinner has been taken care of. My chef is in charge of catering but with the help of assistants obviously, because they'll have to feed at least 20 people. I called Ms Gracie earlier today to book an appointment. She's a sweet lady in her 50s who runs a cleaning agency and she has the most trustworthy and disciplined employees in her staff list. I've never had a case of missing wrist watches or other designer items that I own ever since I started working with them. Which is a first for me as that has always been the price I had to pay for wanting a clean house. So I always try to leave the cleaners a generous tip whenever they're done with their jobs.

I get home, take a shower and after being satisfied that I've got every aspect of tomorrow covered, I go to bed excited for tomorrow. Seeing all my loved ones in a room at the same time is the one thing that brings me happiness and I never pass on the opportunity to get to experience that.