Almost as soon as we got home, all of us went to bed. Seriously, travel is exhausting. But after a good night's rest, it seemed most of us got busy - Zach and Jere headed off to work first thing in the morning, Drazen called up Veronique and invited her to come visit us here in Bridgeport, Eulalie got a job working at the science facility with Zach and Jere, and Quin called up Raul to see if he could come visit. Unfortunately for poor Quin, Raul 'didn't feel like coming over'. That's the excuse Marcelo gives me - except Quin reacted better than I do. He just went to go paint, cheerfully, like he does most things he does. Where was I, you ask? Well, that's an easy question.
I was at the library. Because I should basically just get a bedroom there, and stay there, because it's my one true love. That sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? But really, it was always there for me, and it didn't say 'I don't feel like having you come read books in me today' or 'stop visiting, I feel like you're stalking me'. Not that it could. Maybe if it had a voice, it would say that, but.. I like to think it wouldn't.
I stayed there literally all day, reading as many books as I could - I still wanted to read twenty books in total, after all.
Then, when I got home I wrote. I was still working on 'Until My Last Breath', and it was coming a lot less easily than 'Dazed and Confused'. Partially because I had tried making it completely from scratch, rather than basing the relationship between the two main characters on Marcelo and me.
The day when Veronique was supposed to show up.. she didn't show up when we expected her to, so Drazen decided to work for a while. He got a promotion while he did so, so it was probably a good idea, huh? He had a stake out at the library, but didn't find any criminal activity, so made sure to tell me that it was safe. I made sure to thank him, though I could have told him there was no criminal activity - there were barely any other people.
Quin also worked on his job - he'd started writing a romance novel, 'A Tryst in Time'. Made me wonder what it was about - I'd heard about people woohooing in time machines. Or maybe it was about someone going somewhere in time and finding someone they love but can't really be with.. I dunno. I'll just have to read it when it's published.
I'd been wanting to play the drums for people for a while, and to get tips for my playing, so that night - Veronique still hadn't shown up, and though I wanted to be there for Drazen, he slept at night and I slept during the day, so.. - I took my drum set to the salon first, and played outside. I played and played, and people passed by, but not one of them stopped to listen. I guess a solo drummer isn't nearly as 'fascinating' as a solo guitarist, or keyboardist, or bassist. I played for while, before heading over to the library; I know you're supposed to be quiet at a library, but really, at night in a hustling, bustling city based on the night life? And really.. I'm a vampire. Who's going to say no to me?
When I got there, I started playing on the drums, but I didn't play nearly as long as at the salon, because inside I spotted someone familiar. I gasped, and paused in my playing. "Estiu! She'll know what to do!" I whispered, and practically leaped off my stool, running inside.
"Estiu! Hi!"
She turned to look at me in surprise, then a small smile rose to her lips. "Dahlia, how are you?"
"I.." I sighed deeply, and shook my head. "Oh, Estiu.. I wish I was better. Are you absolutely sure that I'm the heiress? 'Cause Drazen seems to be getting his way far more than I am."
She rolled her eyes. Really? She rolled her eyes at me? I felt kind of insulted at that, but didn't say anything. "Yes, I know you're the heiress. You know why you're not getting what you want? You give in to others too easily. I didn't give your grandmother and your mother and you and the next four generations after you this power for you to become lazy and expect everything to be handed to you on a silver platter. It comes easier to you than others to get what you wish, but only if you go for it."
I stared at her. Had she ever told my Grandma and Mom this part? Oh, who am I kidding, they probably actually had it figured out. I looked down at the floor and scuffed my toe against it, then looked back up at her. "So if I want Marcelo, I have to go after him?"
"Yes!" I heard a small voice come from Estiu's right, and I looked over her shoulder to see a little girl with dark brown hair and blonde streaks. I frowned in confusion at her. Who was she?
"Oh, excuse me, I should have introduced you," Estiu said, then motioned at the little girl, who just kind of smiled at me, so I smiled back. "This is my daughter, Tamera. The one I've been waiting to age for - now that I've had my own heiress, I'm aging. I'm teaching her everything I know - she'll take over for me when I die."
Whoa. That was a shock. I thought she wasn't going to ever die. She was just waiting for an heiress to take over for her.. difficult to comprehend. "Oh. Okay.. it's a pleasure to meet you, Tamera. I should probably get going, Estiu, I've been up all night, and since the sun seems to have come up, I should probably get home." I gave her a quick hug, then went home - yes, I did remember my drum set.
When I got home, I wasn't quite ready to go to bed yet, so I kind of meandered around the house, thinking about our conversation. If I wanted Marcelo, I'd have to be more determined. I could do that. I could. "Yes! Go Dahlia! You can DO this! But only after you get some sleep!" I cheered myself on, before heading downstairs to go to bed.
Turns out, shortly after I went to bed, Veronique finally showed up, but at the park rather than going to our house. It made it difficult for Drazen, since there was no shade from the sun. I can tell he truly loves her, though, because he went to the park for her anyway. He didn't give me the details this time, and that's fine by me - I mean, I think they're adorable, but I don't need to know the details of how she kisses.
When I woke up, it was almost sunset. The perfect time to woo my man - I was going to take Estiu's advice, and not just sit around waiting for him to come for me. Sure, it was usually the guy's job to do it, but it didn't happen with my Grandma, so why should it happen that way for me? Sure, I had a lot of insecurities, and if he turned me down I'd probably lose what little self-esteem I had left, but.. I was still going to try. As soon as I got up, I dialed his cell number, and waited. "Dahlia?"
"Yes. Hi, Marcelo. Where are you?"
"Uh.. I'm at the diner."
"Good, stay put. Don't go ANYWHERE." I hung up quickly, and then left even quicker. I was going to claim him, hopefully.
When I got to the diner, it took me a little bit to spot him, because he was behind the building, staring out at the water. If my heart still beat, it would have been trying to burst out of my chest. I gulped, and walked up to him, turned him around, and kissed him rather passionately. He didn't push me away - in fact, he practically clung to me, and as he kissed me back, it almost felt urgent. Like he'd been missing me as I had been missing him. That made my confidence raise quite a bit.
When we finally pulled back, I smiled cutely at him. "Did you miss me?"
"Uh, yeah. I wondered where you were, if you were okay - you are always the one to call me, I thought maybe.. I don't know, you'd been out in the sun too long." He said, frowning deeply. I just kind of stared at him, then shook my head lightly.
"Marcelo, you're the one that told me to back off." I told him, simply.
At first, confusion flashed across his features, then recognition, and he shook his head rather vehemently. "Dahlia, I really didn't mean it! I told you I didn't when we were cuddling, didn't I?"
I shrugged at that. "Yeah, you did, but I figured there had to be some truth in what you said if you said it, even if it came from exhaustion and hunger. Why else would you think that?"
"Okay, I felt that way a little, but not so much that I really wanted you to stop calling me altogether! I went to your house the other day, and all of you were gone.. I thought you'd moved away.."
"Oh, no. We were in France for Lalie's birthday." My spirits were beginning to raise - he'd been worried. Suddenly, a new desire washed over me, and I grabbed him tightly, looking into his eyes. "You know what we should do? We should go back to your house."
".. and why is that?"
"I'll tell you when we get there."
"I think I like the sound of this.."
By the time we got to his house, he realized it was time for him to go to work, and muttered an expletive under his breath. "Dahlia, I have to go to work.." he said, looking at me regretfully.
"That's okay. I'll go home for a while, and you can call me when you get home." I told him, then kissed him goodbye, and we went our separate ways.
When he got home, he did as I said, and I went back over to his house - it was light out, unfortunately, but I didn't care. Marcelo was going to officially be mine, and vice versa, and nothing was going to come in between me and my guy. I hoped.
When I got there, I told him my idea, and he seemed shocked at first, but then eagerly led me to his room. Actually, I kind of hoped it wasn't his room, because it was incredibly feminine, with flowery bed spreads and such, but I didn't say anything, too eager for other things. And those other things happened. I'm not going to put it into words, but I'll just say that it was amazing, and I really, truly felt like he loved me. We spent the rest of the day together, too, cuddling, sleeping beside each other..
The day after that, life went back to normal, but I didn't mind terribly. I knew he loved me for sure, and I wasn't going to avoid him. He was mine. I was his. I was in such a good mood that I dressed up in my finest to go read at the library.
Of course, I might have been in such a good mood because when I got home that night, an incredibly amusing sight greeted me. See, Jere and Lalie had taken to skinny dipping together - kind of disgusting, to me, but if they wanted to, whatever. Well, Mom Lyr decided, when she saw them, to join them - Lalie thought it was just gross, so quickly got out of the hot tub, and Jere was just panicked because it was a ghost, even if it WAS Mom. I was so going to tease Lalie and Jere about this all the time.
Drazen was also in a great mood, even though Veronique was more interested in visiting some family she had in Bridgeport than visiting him. I could tell, because he paints more cheerful pictures when he's in a good mood, and what's more cheerful than a colorful zebra?
Zach had started working out, because his agent told him to.
And Quin.. oh, poor Quin. I felt so bad for him, because he found out why Raul was avoiding him. Turns out that he'd found someone he loved more, some distant cousin of our's named Scotty. Ever since he found, Quin had been as mopey as I've ever seen him. The way I really knew he was upset, was because he told me that he was going to try liking girls instead of guys for a while. I told him not to go against himself, that Raul was an idiot and a jerk, but he just told me that he was just giving it a try, see if he liked girls as much as he liked guys. I still wasn't sure, but he bounced back easily.
You know, being famous and dressed up at the library when people are actually there is kinda asking for stares. There was this one older woman who just kept watching me - I could feel her gaze lingering on me even after I sat down to read my book. I felt bad for my kids, they would have to endure this, too, especially since they would the grandchildren of two five star celebrity women. Since I was NOT going to marry anyone but Marcelo.
There was a new berry that had moved into town, Amaranth Dragonfruit, and Quin decided to go introduce himself to her, welcome her to the city. Probably flirt, since he wanted to fall in love again, give girls a try. So he went one night, and he told me that they got along really well, and their signs were compatible. Before he could flirt with her, though, she told him it was rather late and then went inside. He took the hint, then came home and actually rambled to me about her - maybe he was bi rather than gay. Who knows, maybe Raul breaking his heart was a good thing? I didn't know. I was going to wish him all the best, either way.
(A/N: All of a sudden, Quin decided he liked girls instead of guys, after Raul got together with the first Sean Parodi's son, Scotty. It's really weird having two completely different families of Parodis running around town, I really didn't think when I put her into town. Hah. Anyway, I used Dahlia's free day to make her go to Marcelo at the diner, to get her wishes about him flowing again, and boooy did that work! Immediately, she rolled two wishes to woohoo with him. I actually didn't plan on having them go back to his house, but all of a sudden it was like he was reset, and was at his house instead of at the diner, so I had her go there. Then as soon as she got there, he left for work. He really has been the most impossible spouse yet! Thankfully, she didn't wish for marriage yet, because I really did want her to get to live for a while before getting married, partially because I didn't want to get rid of her siblings yet. Let's see, what else to say about this chapter.. I still really wish the TS3 forums would work for me. OH, and did you see Lillian? :D She was the creepy woman that would NOT stop staring at Dahlia. Seriously, when she finally moved away from that spot, she sat across the room and continued staring at Dahlia. I was getting a huge kick out of it.)
