“Ross, football practice for today’s been cancelled,” Annabelle Dumas called her friend from behind. The particular person turned her head towards Annabelle and both friends went into the class. Do not get me wrong for addressing Ross as a girl for Ross was a girl herself.
Everyone was in their seats that morning, getting ready with their English books on the tables. The teacher had not come in yet and the students were busy chatting endlessly with each other. “Ross, you know what? Our class will have a new student,” the class monitor, Drew spoke to the student who wore the nametag that bore the name ‘ROSEMARY’.
“So? What does that have to do with me?” Rosemary snorted. Drew laughed at her question. “Can’t you guess? Well, that newbie will be seated beside you, dummy”. The girl was about to object when the teacher, Miss Leona went into the class. Alongside her was the expected student. Standing in front of the class, the charming Miss Leona started to speak. “Class, today we’ve got a new friend and I hope that all of you will be kind to him. Be nice, okay?,” she said before the lad was told to introduced himself.
Julian Artemis was the lad’s name and true enough, he was seated beside Rosemary. “Hi, I’m Julian and I’m from Nice,” he introduced himself to the girl, grinning from ear to ear. “Oh, right. I’m Rosemary Robespierre and just call me Ross, okay?” she replied and did the homework the teacher just gave. She had no intention of talking to someone at the moment, especially the sissy Julian. She just thought that he should be named as Julie instead of Julian. Yes, Julie would suit him well.
('Hi, I'm Julian and I'm from Nice)
“Ross? Isn’t it a boy’s name?” Julian said, rather confused. “Can I call you either Rosie or Mary? That’ll sound a bit nicer, don’t you think?”. He hoped for a nice reply from her but alas, she glared at him and barked. “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO COMMENT ABOUT MY NICKNAME?!” and by saying that, she excused herself to go to the lavatory. She hated being criticized. Especially the name.
Days came and went by like seasons and the football was held. It was a friendly match against a school from Versailles. Ross, as the star player, made a good kick and as expected, the girl’s group won. It seemed that the proverb ‘many hands make light work’ was true all along and everyone was happy with the achievement. It was late in the evening and Ross was packing her things to go home. She was about to leave her class when she heard a faint cry of someone pleading. “Please leave me alone. Don’t hurt me, please…..”.
She went behind the building to find the big baby Julian being bullied by a group of boys. They emptied his bag and laughed at the sight of a sun block cream tube. Rosemary found it rather horrible as she made her way to the bullies. She got in front of Julian and looked at the bullies with full of hatred. “Don't you have anything better to do?! Leave him alone, you devils. I suppose that ‘the devil makes work for idle hands’, isn’t it?”. The leader of the group sneered. “Well, well, well. Isn’t this the female Romeo trying to save her male Juliet? Back off Robespierre, or I’ll grind your bones for my bread!”.
('Leave him alone..')
As for Rosemary, she liked challenges and she accepted the challenge by saying the words ‘So much for ‘Jack and The Beanstalk’, mate? I suppose you have to read more than that’. The fight was about to start but it was cancelled when the teachers came. Annabelle had seen the scene and reported it to the teachers on duty.
No one knew how it all begins, but the trios soon became friends of the friends. Julian soon no longer ran from the ball when Rosemary passed it to him and he even ran after it. Julian was actually trying to overcome the sissy behavior of his and he was improving each day. Everything was cool just until Annabelle informed that she was to move to Paris since her father had been promoted in his job. Rosemary was not pleased with the news but what could she do about it? ‘No news is good news’.
Before pursuing her studies in business, she met Julian at the gathering. “Ross,” he began. “I know that a leopard cannot change its spots but I can change myself for you. You’ve got to give me a chance to improve myself. I..I.. I love you.. I mean it,”. Rosemary could not bear the statements he gave. “You’re crazy,” she replied, pushing him aside and left the crowd of people, leaving him behind. That was the last time she ever saw him. There were no news about him ever since.
Years went by and Rosemary was to be interviewed for a job at a famous company in Paris. She went there with a cousin who lived at an apartment in the city of love. There were a lot of people applying the job and after she was interviewed, she felt that she had no chance of getting that precious job. She decided to take a part time job at a café as a waitress while waiting for the result to arrive. She was lucky that the owner of the café was her long lost friend, Annabelle Dumas.
Both friends had a warm talk and at a particular moment, Annabelle pointed her forefinger towards Rosemary’s strawberry-blonde hair. “I like the way you look now, Ross,” she started the conversation again. “With that long hair, you are a total beauty, Ross. I mean it. You are beautiful indeed,”.
('You are beautiful indeed.')
Rosemary worked hard at the café to earn money and she was able to buy garlic bread with her own francs. Few months later, Rosemary received the news that she got a job as a secretary at the company she applied and she believed that luck was on her side. On her first day at work, she wore a smart black blazer and a matching black skirt. With confidence, she knocked at the boss’s office and went inside.
Her boss was sitting in a chair back facing her and all she could see was his hair which was white-blond. “You must be the new secretary. Introduce yourself, if you may,” the man spoke coldly, still not facing her. Rosemary felt uneasy with this boss of hers, whom she thought a rude man but she did what she was told. After all, he was the boss.
“My name is Rosemary Robespierre and I’m from Marseille. You can call me Rosie if you want to, sir. I'm totally fine with it,” she introduced herself. At this moment, the man stood up and turned his back, facing her. “Well, isn’t it a girl’s name, I suppose?” he asked, smiling at her. Rosemary recognized that particular voice and face that she could not help herself but smiled.
('Well, isn’t it a girl’s name, I suppose?')
FIN..
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