Today's excerpt comes from chapter two of Roses are thorns, Violets are true.


Excerpt from Chapter Two





ROSE

Where is the mail? The magazine told me I should get my complimentary copy
today. I haven’t talked to Violet since the magazine called me about doing their
Sisters In Hollywood interview. I was hoping Violet would have called to let
me know how things went on her end. But oh no, she couldn’t do that. I’m glad
she decided to do the interview though. Maybe this will help ease the tension
between us.

I really do love my sister, but she’s just too… what’s the word, “Ms Goody
two-shoes.” If I admitted it to myself, I might be a little jealous of her. It seems
she’s so much smarter than I am. She has the nerve to question why I do
what I do. If I didn’t, I would just disappear into the background. I can’t
have that. I think I’m good at competing for and getting good acting roles,
because I had to compete for our parent’s attention.

I do regret the last thing that I did to her, but I just couldn’t help it. No one
told David to be so sexy and wealthy. I always wondered what he saw in my
boring sister. I’m the adventurous one, and she is the boring bookworm. I felt
like he needed a woman with a little passion. I didn’t mean for it to get to the
point of marriage; but when she divorced him, I couldn’t let another woman
get a hold of him. Besides, I also had to show my mom that I really did love
him. But, I sort of went about it the wrong way; I faked a pregnancy. When
he found out, he was livid. I asked him why he was staying in the marriage,
if he didn’t love me. He had the nerve to tell me that he felt like our marriage
was his sentence for breaking my sister’s heart. I probably should divorce him,
but I can’t come away looking like a failure.

Rose noticed the magazine and threw the rest of the mail on the kitchen counter.
She smiled as she admired the cover of her and Violet during happier times.
Instead of sitting at the table with David, she was too excited to sit, so she stood
as she thumbed through the magazine to find the article. Her smile began to fade
when she noticed the title to the section about her and Violet - Roses are Thorns.
Her blood pressure escalated the more and more she read. She took a sip of water
and almost choked when she read the part about how she slept with David.

Oh my, I can’t believe Violet told them all of this. How could she violate our
family secrets? How could she do this to me? I thought she would just keep to
the facts, but she didn’t have to tell them details. If she didn’t have anything
nice to say, she should have just declined the interview.

In the past, we have had our issues, but she’s always had my back in public.
What in the world has gotten into my sister? Doesn’t she know the public is
fickle and they only need one piece of dirt to turn on you? Now I have to figure
out a way to recover from the backlash this is sure to cause. She better hope
this doesn’t cause me to lose out on this movie deal I’m negotiating or she will
have hell to pay.

She threw the magazine on the counter feeling disgusted. “David! David! Can you
believe the trash Violet said about me in this article?”

David eyes shot up from reading the paper with a look of disgust on his face. “Rose,
what did you expect?”

Rose stood with her hands on her hip and a frown on her face. “You always take up
for her. I should have known you wouldn’t understand. Your perfect little Violet
mentions your name in her interview. Now what do you think of that?”

David’s eyes shot back down to the newspaper. He didn’t look up as he responded,
“Whatever Violet said is more than likely the truth. I accept it, and so should you.”

Rose couldn’t stand it. “Can you try to show sympathy for me once in your life?”

David put the paper down and stood face to face with Rose. “I have all the sympathy
in the world, but for Violet.” He walked around Rose and out the door.

Rose yelled, “David! Don’t walk away from me. You always do this. Why do you even
stay?”

David didn’t come back. Rose sat down at the kitchen table feeling empty. She picked
up the article again and began to fume over what Violet had revealed. Instead of facing
the truth and consequences of her previous actions, she decided to lash out at her sister.
She picked up the phone and dialed her number. Violet’s answering machine picked up
on the third ring. “Violet. I know you’re there. Pick up the phone. Okay. Now you want
to play the disappearing game. Well, I got the little article you did. If my reputation
is ruined because of what you said, you will have hell to pay. How could you do this to
me?”

The answering machine clicked off, but Rose called right back. “I don’t appreciate your answering machine hanging up on me either. You need to get with the program and get
voice mail, like the rest of us. Call me as soon as you get this message.” Rose slammed
the phone down.

“How in the world could she do this to me! She knows how hard I’ve worked to
maintain my image. She has me over here stressing. I need a massage or something. I
feel a migraine coming on.”

¶ 1:51 PM

Post a Comment