Chapter 115: Double Date
Chapter 29 - Double Date
Rosie’s POV
I stared at my reflection in the mirror, looking down at the matching gray couple’s outfit Jude had forced us to wear. We were both dressed in identical matching sets, but the back of each shirt had a bold font printed across the shoulders. Mine proudly read, I’m taken, while Jude’s shirt read, She’s mine, back off.
I had rolled my eyes when Jude first brought the outfits into the bedroom and suggested we wear them out. When I attacked him by saying, ’This is unnecessary,’ he had simply shrugged his shoulders. "I just didn’t want anyone to think they even had a chance with you, wifey," he had said before walking closer to me, leaning down, and pressing a kiss to the edge of my hair. "You are so beautiful."
I had blushed at the compliment, silently picking up the clothes to change while his chuckles echoed behind me.
We were going on a double date with Kira and her boyfriend, River. The idea had started a few days ago when Kira invited me to a swimming competition that one of her top students was competing in. Jude and I had gone to the pool to honor the invitation, and while we were there, Kira suggested that the four of us should go out on a double date. Today was finally the day.
As I sat down at the table to start doing my hair, Jude walked up right behind my chair. He reached out and collected the hot curler from my hand, standing tall behind me. Our gazes locked in the mirror reflection, and I noticed his brown eyes were hooded. His fingers raked softly through the strands of my hair, and a shiver ran down my spine from the gentle contact before he bent down and kissed the top of my hair again.
I didn’t understand his obsession with my hair.
He then began to work on my hair, carefully curling the front pieces a little bit before reaching over to secure a few stray strands with hairpins. I was surprised that he knew how to do this, but I didn’t say a word to ruin the quiet moment. After he was done styling the curls, he rested his hands on my shoulders, tilting my head back slightly. He stepped around to my front, staring down at me intently. Slowly, he raised his hand and used the pad of his thumb to smudge the red lipstick off my lips, ruining the application, before he leaned down and smashed his mouth against mine.
I stared up at him in shock when he pulled back; he smirked, looking proud of himself. What the heck was wrong with him?
"If you take those plump red lips out in public looking like that..." he started, his voice dropping into a gravelly tone that was different from his playful teasing. "I don’t think I would be able to stop myself from ruining them."
He adjusted his stance before turning around and walking out of the bedroom, leaving me rooted to the spot with my chest beating against my ribs. What did he even mean by that? I quickly grabbed a makeup wipe to clean the smudged red mess off my mouth, deciding to just use a clear lip gloss instead.
After finishing my look, I left the bedroom to find him waiting for me out in the hallway, wearing a face cap pulled low over his eyes. He walked over to me, gently placing a matching second cap onto my head.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see a text message from Kira. Where are you, darling? I quickly typed back, On our way now.
Kira had suggested we should go to the theater because there was a new movie out that was trending everywhere, and I didn’t really have a choice in the matter, though I secretly wanted to go anyway. I had never been inside a cinema before.
When we finally arrived at the cinema complex, the building was packed with people. I quickly spotted Kira and River waiting off to the side. Kira’s face was pulled up into an annoyed scowl as she immediately marched over to us, pulled me into a hug, and then pulled back.
"You two are late!" she admonished.
"I’m so—" I started to apologize, but Jude quickly pulled me back behind his frame.
He faced Kira, unfazed by her glaring. "We are here now, aren’t we?" he said bluntly.
Kira opened her mouth to snap a response back at him, but River quickly reached out, grabbing her hands with a soft smile that melted her anger. She settled for throwing one last glare at Jude before walking over to my side, yanking me away from Jude’s grip, and pulling me toward the ticket counter.
We grabbed our tickets and walked down the hallway to the assigned room, but when we pushed the doors open, I was shocked to find the theater completely empty, comparing it to the crowd of people swarming the lobby outside.
We walked up the stairs and took our seats in the middle row. "Where are all the other people?" I asked in a hushed whisper, looking around the vacant room.
"I rented out this theater room for us," Kira responded casually, shrugging her shoulders like it was no big deal.
I gulped, sinking back into the plush chair. I sometimes forgot that Kira was a wealthy heiress.
The movie started playing, and it wrecked my emotions. Throughout the showing, especially during the climax when the male lead finally found out his love had died, I was sobbing hard into my hands. I glanced over and realized that even River, sitting quietly beside Kira, was shedding tears over the plot. God, it hurt so much to watch. I knew logically that it was just the writer’s twisted imagination on a screen, but my heart broke thinking that there were probably people actually going through this kind of grief in real life.
The lover had tragically died in search of the male lead’s corpse after there was news of death at the war front. Unknowing the male lead was alive when the male lead had gotten back home, he found the house empty and the handwritten letter. And he went back to see the corpse of his lover, and the male lead killed himself also out of grief. Singing in another life, they should be born in a world free of war and death.
Who the fuck wrote a tragedy movie like this?!
Jude reached over and grabbed a soft tissue, gently wiping the wet tears off my cheeks. He mumbled softly into my ear that it was not real, but I was already hiccuping and sniffing against his shoulder.
After the credits rolled and the lights came back on, I excused myself to go to the ladies’ room to wash my blotchy face. Jude immediately stood up, offering to follow me to the bathroom, and I just stared at him in disbelief, asking if he seriously planned to follow me into the women’s restroom. Kira chuckled loudly from her seat, playfully jabbing Jude in the ribs for his clinginess as I walked out.
I went to the restroom, turning on the cold tap to wash the redness away from my face. As I was drying my skin, I noticed a stray pen sitting at the edge of the washing basin. I grabbed it, figuring I would just drop it off at the front desk on my way back. But as I was walking out of the ladies’ room, still holding the pen in my hand, a man suddenly stepped into my path and grabbed my wrist aggressively.
I stopped dead in my tracks, raising a brow at him. "How can I help you?" I asked sharply, trying to swat my hand away from his grip.
The man grinned at me, ignoring my tone. "I saw you earlier out in the lobby. This is my number," he said, shoving a piece of crumpled paper toward me.
I rolled my eyes in disgust, staring at him while I noticed a group of his men standing a few feet away, snickering loudly among themselves like this was some kind of entertaining game. I ignored the paper, yanking my wrist free, and began walking away from him. But the second I turned my back, the man let out a sharp whistle and smacked my ass.
What the fuck!
Blinding rage vibrated through my body, and without thinking, I spun around and used the thing in my hand and stabbed the man in his chest with the sharp end of the pen.
The man screamed out in shock and pain, stumbling backward. "You bitch!" he roared, raising his hand into the air to strike my face.
Before his hand could swing down, a figure appeared behind him. Jude grabbed the man’s raised arm midair, and I quickly took a step towards him, standing behind Jude’s back.
"What the fuck is going on here?" Jude demanded, his voice dropping into a low register.
The other men in the hallway stared at Jude and immediately turned their backs, scurrying away down the corridor like they didn’t know their friend.
I quickly explained what the man had just done to me, and when I finished, Jude smiled, but it wasn’t a friendly one at all, and Jude twisted the man’s trapped arm backward, tilting his head slightly as the man screamed in agony.
"Just because a woman is walking alone doesn’t mean you should ever put your fucking hands on her," Jude sneered dangerously. He twisted the limb further, and a loud, sickening crack echoed through the hallway.
After Jude finally dropped the man’s broken arm, letting him slump against the wall in pain, I stepped right back out from behind Jude, and I went directly up to the crying man, slapped him hard across the face, and then drove my foot right into his shin.
"Next time don’t touch a woman without her permission.’
I scrunched my face in disgust, took a handkerchief from Jude’s pocket, then used it to wipe my leg and threw it at the man’s face.
Jude’s smile, filled with pride, as he reached out, pulling my body back against his side before we casually walked out of the corridor together. When we turned the corner, we found Kira standing there, happily holding a cone of ice cream and a pot of popcorn.
**
Just thought of the movie story idea