The exiled Rose

The light

My father is a ruthless man. He’s tough, a little too tough, at least in this world. He’s not only the big guy of the marketing world but also the crime world as well. That’s how he made his money before I taught him to use the marketing world to cover his tracks. And a lot of people knew him as Dodger the crime boss. In public settings he was Mr. Giovanni Simon, CEO of Simon Marketing.

Even though I was the light of his eye, he was not to be messed with. He leads with a hard hand first before the loving father part. So, naturally, I am afraid to disappoint him. I cleared my throat one more time before I answered.

“Hi dad” I squeaked.

“Vanessa, what is this I hear that Bortelli walked out in the middle of the meeting?” He yelled.

“He didn’t quite walk out, more like stormed out but dad…”

“No buts Vanessa, I want that contract signed by the end of this week do you hear me? Hey watch out jerk off!” Screaming.

“Yes daddy, I understand, but he refuses to hear me out.” I could feel tears swelling up in my eyes.

Was I really going to cry right now?

“Vanessa, is that a fuckin excuse I’m hearing cause it better fuckin not be. Ain’t no way my daughter trying to give me…HEYY!”

“Daddy, what is going on over there?” I asked.

“Ah, just jerk off Gino, not paying attention on where he’s going. Get off here, what are you doing?” He keeps yelling.

“Listen… Vanessa, get it done and don’t forget your mother is making dinner tonight no exceptions.” He hung up before I could even answer.

I sighed. Not as bad as I expected, actually. I slid my high heels off and sat down at my desk. I catch a glimpse of myself in my monitor before I reach down to rub my sore feet. Then I realized that my used to be perfectly curled long brown hair is sticking up in the back and is losing its curls. Ugh, I quickly grabbed my purse in the upper left drawer and grabbed my little compact mirror to try and fix my hair. Of course, my hair would be a mess as I had just got out of a heated argument with Finnegan. I just giggled as I attempted to tame it down.

In the high fae world I would have had ladies waiting surrounding me when it came to business affairs, but here, I am all on my own. I sighed even louder because someone could have told me in the office. A light knock at the door had me quickly sliding my heels back on and standing in no time.

“Ms. Simon, I need a signature.” Marcy walks in.

Her beach blonde hair is tied back with a claw clip and a few straggling strands are pulled out to frame her face. She is a shorter woman with a fuller figure, but she looks beautiful in her own way. She has worked for me for three years and I have yet to break down that professional side of her. I’ve tried to get personal with her, but she’s my most loyal employee thus far.

“Oh, um Ms. Simon, your hair is.” She gestures her hands around her head. “A little messed up.” She giggles. She quickly rushes over to help straighten out my hair.

“Oh my god still!” I leaned down so she could reach.

“Where were you when I went into that meeting like this?” I just laughed.

“I am so sorry, Ms. Simon.” Marcy is now stepping back from my hair.

“Oh please Marcy, not that I am blaming you for the wind messing up my hair.” I giggled and reached for the files in her hand.

“Of course, Ms. Simon,” she gave me a little bow.

“Please call me Nessa Marcy.” I asked her as I signed the few papers she needed.

“Of course, Ms. Simon.” She just smiles at me every time I say it.

“Okay, here you go, Marcy. After you’re done with those, you may take the rest of the day off. I am heading out so clear the rest of my schedule.” I returned to my desk.

“Thank you Ms. Simon, but unfortunately we have a team meeting in twenty minutes, so I cannot leave just yet, but I appreciate the gesture.” She bows again.

“Oh right, team meetings every Thursday. In that case, Marcy, take tomorrow off I will not need you.”

“Thank you Ms. Simon that actually works out perfectly. I wanted to visit my mother.” I can see the excitement in her face.

“Have a good weekend then Marcy. If anything comes through for me at all, I am busy.” I gather my things to leave.

“Yes ma’am,” Marcy bows one more time before walking out.

I don’t know what I would do without Marcy. She takes care of everything I need. Literally my right hand of this life. I am more than thankful for her most days.

As I slowly walk through the office, I look around at everyone working. I am so glad that my father doesn’t come into the office so much because the atmosphere I created here with everyone is very laid back and very open. You can tell just by seeing everyone interacting with each other that we have good chemistry here. I smiled and said my goodbyes as I walked to the elevator to leave.

The taxi ride to my parent’s house is silent as I ponder how this is going to go since I disappointed my father. To my surprise, my mother had already warned him to not ruin her dinner, so no business talk tonight. But, of course, it’s because my mother had a guest over. Spencer Caruso, a 28-year-old mechanic from down the street. My poor Italian mother is forever trying to connect me with someone new. I feel bad for her because, unfortunately, I am the only one she had, so naturally, she's trying to get some grandkids out of me. But because of my banishment, I just cannot give her any. So I play along with her dates and let them flourish for a bit before breaking up with them. Just to give her some kind of hope.

After dinner, I helped wash the dishes and let Spencer walk me home. We talked about the basics of where we grew up and what kind of music we like and, of course, what baseball team I am rooting for. It was a pleasant walk for the most part. I said my goodbyes and watched Spencer giddily walk down the street when I noticed a strange light in the sky above the city. It was a bright blueish-colored light that hovered over the skyline. I was going to just walk into the apartment and not mind the light, but a small little voice in me egged me to go see what it was.

I slowly walked down the street and kept an eye on the light in the sky. As I approached the bridge at the end of the street, the light got closer to me. I couldn't stop thinking about the small fairies back home. They are about a foot tall and glow at night when they are in flight. This light resembled those fairies from what I could remember. But, that was impossible because only elves can walk between realms, so this couldn't be a fairy. I took a step onto the bridge to see if I could get closer when all of a sudden a dark figure appeared halfway down the bridge.