Rosalinda Romero
The cushy room they put her in was private, with a remote and cable. For a while Rosalinda occupied her time watching Animal Planet, unable to fall asleep. As soon as Julian had left they ran a few tests, got some results on others. "Tell me it all at once, I don't have much fight left in me." She'd admitted to Brenda.
Sweet Brenda, a saint of a woman. She worked a double shift just so that she could see Rosa to a comfortable location. That and Rosa had grown an attachment to her much like an infant to their own mother. Brenda assured her she didn't mind, but Rosa understood that she was getting special treatment. In way she resented it, because it meant that Brenda pitied her, and if she pitied her than Brenda had a reason to do so.
Even when she eventually had to go home, Brenda stopped in and made sure to leave her number. "I look forward to hearing from you." She said.
When the phone rang, Rosa almost thought it was Brenda checking in on her. But she knew Brenda wouldn't risk waking Rosa on the slim chance she might be asleep. Only one person was selfish enough to call her at this time and not care if she were sleeping or not. The only reason she considered Brenda was because she would have expected Julian to call sooner.
"How'd I know you end up calling me?"
She could hear his smile in his voice, and Rosa imagined his adorable dimples that he always scorned but she found absolutely endearing. Even though he called her a weirdo she had to laugh, his juvenile jest stirring the joker in her. However her soreness caused her to wince, her laugh coming out as a weak chortle. She closed her eyes, tipping her head back to look up to the ceiling, resting her head onto the pillow. Rosa had always thought of herself as invincible to a perverted man, yet here she was in the most pathetic state she had ever been in her life with the man who beats her on the other line of the phone.
When he began to confess his love she sighed, honestly she was done with the vicious cycle they called love. She felt like a fool for falling for it every time and nothing ever changing. Sensing him stiffen, Rosa pieced that someone had caught him getting gushy with her on the phone. Using this as a moment of opportunity, Rosa played with the phone cord as she spoke. "I love you too Julian, but I can't keep acting like nothing is wrong with us."
His silence was an indication that he was swearing her up and down in his mind, and when he agreed, Rosa felt herself buckle under his spell. How could she love someone so much when they didn't deserve her? She felt like an abused dog who just was so desperate for their a users love. It was sickening.
So when Julian suggested sleep, Rosa obliged, unable to expose herself to another minute of his bullshit. Julian would never change, and if Rosa wanted to leave she would have done it already. She was a grown adult who made the decisions that would make up the mold for her life.
If loving Julian meant bruises and broken bones were a side affect, well the euphoria was damn worth the lows.
Tesla Marie Basov
She was thankful for the bomber she had remembered to shrug into on her way out. It wasn't even hers, but backstage was like a big closet to her, especially under the circumstances. Goosebumps rose along the back of her thighs, a shiver running down her spine. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Tesla was too uncomfortable around the girl in the car to allow to show her vulnerability and on the other hand fear of what was going on just out of sight made her feet glued to where she stood.
This job was definitely not paying her enough, but she was not only charged with fear that if she seemed like a liability she would be eliminated - but also with a overwhelming urge to prove to herself that her family had been wrong about the sharks on the street eating her alive. Tesla was strong in some ways, when it came to her heart no one could phase her. However when it came to seeing people killed as if it were all just a part of business, Tesla had a hard time keeping her cool.
As she wiped her now dry eyes, movement in her peripheral vision made her sharply turn to face a non-threatening Jackson. Relief flooded her expression, paranoia causing her to prepare for the worst. Her eyes ran from his hand that was raised as he approached her, then to his chiseled features, darting away when they locked eyes momentarily.
God, I look like a wreck she thought.
"Are you alright?"
Instinctually, she looked back to him, slightly amused by the vague question. "I mean...I'm alive aren't I? ...That's more than I can say for most of the people who walked through the doors of Windy City last night." It was late, Tesla could feel her mouth begin to run - perhaps a combination of shock and lack of sleep. She sat on the hood of the car, staring ahead. "I just...I don't know - I'm fine...just....I don't know." Unable to articulate herself, Tesla buried her face into her hands, rubbing her temples.
Tesla was not fine or alright. She was not bred for this, Tesla had been destined to be a model or a trophy wife. Perhaps have steamy affairs with the gardener or her dance instructor. She wasn't meant for this life, and she felt like she had dived head first into it. But Tesla never could ask for help until normally it was too late.
A million things were on her mind at once, reflectively Tesla paused, fingers brushing across her lips. "It just sucks that my dad is always right," she chuckled, "He said - Tesla, I could give you five thousand dollars and one month later you'd end up in some shit hole too damn deep to dig yourself out." In exasperation, Tesla threw up her arms, letting them fall back to her side. A grim smile sparked her features, taking a bittersweet expression. "I didn't get quite 5 grand, but I did take the stack in the Bear's mouth over the fireplace when I left...guess he wasn't too far off."
She was a stripper, using her body much like a common whore. Her brother would yell at her for letting herself go so low. Not only that, but now she was a murderer. If mommy and daddy had thought she was out of control then, what if they knew the truth about now? Knowing Ana and Alexander their first priority would be how to not trace it back to them. Once Micah and Tesla had joked how if they were to commit murder, their parents would do everything in their power to cover it up - for their own selfish reasons of course.
Shaking her head, Tesla looked back to the handsome man towering over her. "Sorry, you don't want to hear this. Some brat throwing a tantrum because she can't make daddy happy." She almost laughed at herself when she spoke. Yes, Tesla knew she was over zealous for her fathers attention, but it was only because he had made his approval into a golden ribbon of honor of sorts. Micah and Tesla pined for his compliments, perhaps the children's indifference to their mothers appraisal had been what had triggered the root of their problems. But Tesla always just blamed it that her mom was a first class bitch.
She bit the inside of her lip tentatively, as if she was holding back more words. Sighing, her fingers traced patterns on the fawn skin that stretched across her toned thighs. "It's just a lot, I was raised as an elitist, not a criminal...ya know?" It wasn't too far off base, and although Jackson might not have really cared, Tesla felt better getting it all off of her shapely chest.