The White Rose

Isabel woke up early, way before the sun rose, to fix her family a light breakfast consisting of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. By the time she was finished the sun was up and her father was walking into the kitchen already dressed with the local newspaper in hand.

“Good morning Father,” she said as he sat at the small, old table. She placed a plate in front of him and gave him a kiss on his balding head.

“Good morning my dear Isabel.” He smiled and looked down at his plate. “Ah, another wonderful breakfast.”

“You say that every day.” She was smiling but shaking her head causing her dark brown locks to sway. Her long bangs dropped in front of her eyes and she brushed them aside. Her small body moved across the kitchen to the refrigerator where she opened it up and pulled out the orange juice. She poured herself and her father a glass before returning the carton back to it’s proper place.

“And I mean it every time,” her father said as she set the glass near his plate.

She opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by the voices of her older sisters. Like usual they were complaining about waking up early and having no money. Then another topic was added: the upcoming snowstorm. Isabel quietly sat at her place and began eating, trying to ignore them and the thoughts of her work.

“The news says it’s going to be a big one,” the second eldest, Catherine, said.

“What do they know?” the eldest, Andrea, replied. She pushed Catherine with her hip causing her sister to yell out a “Hey!” but didn’t give it a second thought. “The news always overreacts when it comes to the weather.” She grabbed the last strip of bacon a moment before Catherine did and a shouting fight broke out.

Yep, just another usual morning, Isabel thought as she finished her breakfast. She smirked into her glass before finishing what was left. She stood, grabbing her plate, cup and silverware. “Well, I’m off.” She placed her dirty dishes in the sink knowing that she would probably be the one to clean them when she got home later.

“Don’t forget to brush your teeth,” her father said as she headed out the room, not looking up from the newspaper.

“Yes, Father,” she replied with a smile then turned in the opposite direction she was originally heading for.

After a quick, but proper, brushing later she was grabbing her thick jacket, car keys and walking out the front door. The chilly winter air hit her as the wind blew and the expose parts of her body were instantly freezing. Trying to stop from shaking she reached into her front jacket pocket and pulled out her beanie and jammed it onto her head, covering her ears the best she could. Slowly, she walked to her car causing her boots to crunch the already fallen snow. The sun’s light was bouncing off the snow causing a glare and she wished she hadn’t left her sunglasses in her room.

Isabel made it to her car without slipping and on the inside praised herself. Only a few days before she had fallen right on her butt. Needless to say the rest of her day wasn’t any good, especially with Adam making things difficult. She fumbled with her keys until she found the right ones and soon opened the door. She threw her purse in first, followed by the small bag containing her lunch, a book, and other stuff she may need.

“Good morning Isabel!” someone yelled, stopping her from going inside.

She turned her head and a smile appeared as soon as she spotted a young boy in front of her clear driveway. A snow shovel was in his hand and his pale cheeks where red from the work and cold.

“Good morning Anthony.” She gave him a wave and he did the same. “Working hard I see. Don’t over do it!”

“I won’t!” he yelled back. His breath could be seen with every word. “Did you hear about the big snowstorm coming?”

She nodded. “Yes, just recently.” She wondered if she was the only person in the town that didn’t watch the television.

“Be careful at the mountain. It’s gonna be really bad. They might close school!” He pumped his right arm into the air, which was hard since it was the one holding the snow shovel. But somehow he managed.

“Anthony!” a woman’s voice called. It was his mother.

“I gotta go. See ya later!” He waved before turning and running towards his house.

She waved back then yelled out, “Thanks for shoveling the driveway!”

In better spirits she got into her car, started it, put the heat on high, then back out of the driveway. She stopped to let another car go by, using that time to take a deep breath then exhale. She was now ready for the day.

Isabel walked into the Richardson mansion and quickly closed the door. The drive was worse than before when the snow started to fall. Her poor windshield wipers couldn’t keep up but somehow she got the car up the mountain safely.

She first placed her keys in the bowl on a table by the door then proceeded to the closet to put her jacket away. She shrugged it off the found the hanger she usually used and put the jacket on it.

“Did you hear about the snowstorm?” a male voice said from behind, causing her to jump.

She turned and saw her employer, Adam, standing a few feet away. Surprise overtook her when she saw that he wasn’t only up but dressed as well. He usually didn’t get up until the afternoon. Looks like she’ll be making breakfast again. She took that time to look him over. Today he was wearing a nice gray, long sleeved shirt with black slacks, and black socks. He was dressed nice… as usual. His cold, blue eyes where staring down at her, waiting for a reply.

“Yes, I did hear about the snowstorm. But it’s probably not as bad as the news makes it out to be.” She was a bit annoyed with every person she met mentioning that storm. It wasn’t going to come.

“How would you know?” he asked with crossed arms. “You’re not a weatherman.”

And so it begins, she thought. “I don’t know. I just have this feeling.”

He scoffed and muttered, “Woman’s intuition.”

She ignored his comment. “Since you’re actually up would you like anything to eat?”

“Of course I would. Waffles, with eggs, bacon, hash browns, coffee, and some english muffins,” was all he said before turning on his heel and stalking off.

She watched him walk away and shook her head. The beast is out early today. She sighed. I guess it’s going to be one of those days. Still shaking her head, she headed straight for the kitchen and began preparing his breakfast.

The rest of the day progressed slowly for Isabel and the only time she had to relax was during her lunch break. And that wasn’t even long enough to fully enjoy. He certainly was keeping her busy, more so than usual. She really wanted to get home and it was that thought that kept her going through the day. From time to time he would catch her staring at the clock, she was willing it to go faster, and he would reprimand her for it.

Finally, what seemed like an eternity, the day was over. She cheered inside as she began to grab her things and headed for the hallway closet and put her boots on before retrieving her jacket. “I’m leaving now!” she yelled out.

Adam silently came up from behind, scaring her once again when he spoke. “I know that,” he snapped. “Your hours don’t change. I am the one who set them.”

Must be nice to be the boss. She grabbed her jacket, shrugged it on, then reached for her keys. She turned to him. “Goodbye Mr. Richardson. See you tomorrow.” She inclined her head.

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered as he watched her leave.

The door refused to open when she tried the first time, so she braced herself to pull harder while Adam just stood and watched. The door suddenly swung open and a blast of freezing air hit her, causing her to shield her face. Once it died down she lowered her arm and looked out. Her jaw dropped at the sight before her. Everything was white. The ground, the trees, the walkway, and even her car. The only hint that it was there was the mound it made.

“Told you,” Adam said, talking about the storm.

“My car,” she said in disbelief. “My car. It’s buried.” She turned to him. “What am I going to do?”

He just gave a shrug. “Not my problem.”

“You don’t expect me to try to dig it out, do you?”

“Do what you want.” He turned and began walking away.

“Hey!” She followed after shutting the door. “There is no way I’m going to dig it out in time before the sun sets. And even if I do, it’ll be too risky to drive down.” She followed him into the living room, where he sat down on the couch.

“Like I said before, it’s not my problem.” Adam grabbed a magazine that was on the mahogany coffee table and began flipping through it.

“Look, I only see one option for this situation and that’s me staying the night here.”

That caught his attention. He turned his head quickly to face her. “You are not staying here.” This was said in slight annoyance.

“I have no other choice.” She gave an exasperated sigh. “It’s only for the night.”

He didn’t respond for a while but she was determined to wait him out. There was no way she was going out into that storm. Finally, he responded. “Fine, but only for tonight.”

“Thank you,” she said in relief.

“You may pick a room from the first floor. Make sure not to break anything.”

“All right.” And with that she left.

He turned back to his magazine. Damn storm, he thought, irritated at what just happened.

Isabel chose the first room she found and set her stuff down on the bed. She surveyed the room and let out a long breath. “Stupid storm,” she muttered.