Authors: Karli Perrin
Chapter
Two
After stuffing
our faces with pizza, we were relaxing on the sofa with a bottle of wine. I
hadn't realised how hungry I had actually been.
"Can I
ask you something?"
I smirked,
"I don't need another bath...yet."
He laughed, "I'm
only asking this because I'm trying to be responsible..."
"Go on."
"I know
you're an intelligent girl but are you on the pill?"
"Oh, so
now you want to be responsible? It's a little too late for that. No I'm not, I
assumed that by not wearing a condom you wanted to be my baby daddy."
He grinned,
"I do but I also want you to graduate and have a career first."
I cocked my head
to one side, "Have you thought about this before?"
"I'm in
love with you, of course I've thought about it. Any guy who denies it are liars
or are with the wrong person."
I grinned
like a complete idiot, "Well yes, I'm on the pill. Luckily, I carry them
in my bag so they weren't destroyed in the fire."
"So mini
Isaac's can wait for now."
"I don't
know if the world could handle mini Isaac's."
"Hey,
why not?"
"They
would probably be heartbreakers just like their Dad."
His mouth
fell open, "I don't break hearts! If anybody's a heartbreaker, then it's
you."
"What
did I do?"
"Look at
you acting all innocent."
"I'm not
acting, I
am
innocent."
"What
about the stockroom?" he asked.
"What
about
the stockroom?" I shot back.
"Is that
your idea of being innocent?"
"
You
kidnapped
me
, remember?"
"And
you
rubbed up against
my
leg, remember?" I rolled my eyes and he
laughed, "That night was all your fault, you came in wearing a long white
dress. What was I supposed to do?"
"What
did my dress have to do with it?"
"You may
as well have worn a veil to match. You're lucky I didn't kidnap you for real and
take you to Vegas."
I narrowed my
eyes, "So that's why you were so angry that night?"
"I
wasn't angry, I was upset. Everything that I'd ever wanted was being flaunted
in my face and I didn't know what to do. I thought that I'd lost you for good."
"Hence
the kidnapping?"
"Hence
the kidnapping. Desperate times call for desperate measures."
I laughed,
"Even though you scared the shit out of me, I'm kind of glad I chose to
wear that dress now."
"Because
you know how much it tortured me?"
"No,
because it led us to this moment."
He nodded,
"That night was a turning point for me. When I looked into your eyes, I
knew that I hadn't lost you."
My heart
fluttered at how true his words were.
I
had been lost but Isaac never
lost me, not once. "Eleven days" I whispered.
His eyes
twinkled with emotion, "Eleven days" he repeated "...until I get
to kiss the shit out of you in public."
"Oh no,
are we going to be one of those annoying PDA couples?"
He nodded,
"It's happening."
I rested my
head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. There was no place I
would rather be.
Chapter
Three
"Are we
nearly there yet?" I asked for the hundredth time.
He grinned, "Are
you trying to annoy me on purpose?"
"That
depends, is it working?"
"Yes."
"Then
yes, I'm doing it on purpose. I could never be this annoying unless I tried
really, really hard."
"Well
for the record, it was actually kind of cute the first fifteen times you asked."
I shrugged,
"I wasn't even
trying
to be cute, that was all me."
He chuckled, "Of
course it was. And the answer is yes, we're nearly there."
About ten minutes
later, we turned down a road marked as private.
"It's
okay if you're lost." I pointed to the sat nav, "I don't trust her,
her voice is creepy."
He laughed,
"You don't trust her because she's a woman."
I sighed
dramatically, "Well what am I supposed to think? She's always following
you around, telling you what to do. There's a word for people like her, you
know."
"A
girlfriend?"
I scowled at
him, "Very funny. I was thinking more along the lines of a stalker."
"What's
the difference?"
"Be
careful, be very careful."
"We're
here" he announced with a huge grin on his face.
"Stop
trying to change the sub...wow." We pulled up in front of the most
beautiful house. It had an all white exterior and a huge wooden door. "This
place is beautiful."
"I
thought you might like it, I used to come here when I was a kid." He
switched the ignition off before jumping out and walking around to my side. He
opened the door and reached out for my hand.
"Where
are we?" I asked.
"Let's
just say that I know the owner."
My eyes immediately
darted to his, remembering the last time he used that line, "Wait, do you
own this place?"
He laughed,
"No, not this time. The owner is a family friend."
"Where
are they now?"
"He's in
New York. He said that I could come out here whenever I wanted so I decided to finally
take him up on the offer."
"Well it's
gorgeous."
"Wait
until you see the inside."
***
Each room was
more impressive than the last. Even though the exterior was traditional, the
interior was modern and had quirky artwork and furniture. The downstairs was open
plan and had the most amazing fireplace. I could picture us sitting in front of
it, all cozy on a cold winters night.
"There's
one more thing that I want to show you." He led me over to a wall made
entirely of frosted glass. "This is my favourite part of the house."
He pushed a button on the wall and the glass instantly turned clear. I gasped as
I took in the breathtaking view. We weren't just in a beautiful house. We were
in a beautiful lake house. The lake was surrounded by trees, making it
completely private. It was so perfect, it looked like a painting.
"Do you
like it?"
"Like
it? I love it! I want to live here."
"He was actually
going to sell it a few months ago but I talked him out of it."
"Why
would he want to sell this place?"
"He
spends most of his time in New York these days." He took hold of my hand
and led me outside. I was thankful that it was a dry, sunny day. We walked right
up to the edge of the lake and as I looked out across the water, I felt the
craziness of the past few weeks begin to float away.
"Fancy a
swim?"
I raised my
eyebrow, "I've not brought my swimming costume."
"Who
said you need a swimming costume?"
"So
you've brought me all this way just to go skinny dipping?"
He laughed,
"Well it's bigger than the bathtub." I shook my head but couldn't
stop myself from laughing. He nodded in the direction of a little rowing boat,
"How about a compromise?"
"I would
love to, I've never been in a rowing boat before." We began to make our
way over to it when I saw a ripple in the water. "Wait, are there any
creatures in there?"
He laughed,
"Creatures?"
"Yeah,
like crocodiles or snakes."
"No
crocodiles, no snakes" he replied, trying his best not to laugh.
"So
nothing that can bite me?"
"Just
me, now come on." He stepped in before offering his hand to help me in. I
squealed when it rocked, praying to god that I didn't fall in. Isaac laughed as
I sat down very slowly. "You ready?" he asked. I nodded and he began
to row.
I quickly
became transfixed by the way his biceps moved with each stroke. The more I
watched him, the more I wanted to go skinny dipping after all. "Thank
you."
"What
for?" he asked.
"For wearing
a short sleeved T-shirt, rowing looks good on you. You should do it more often,
probably topless next time."
He laughed,
"I will if you will."
I grinned as
I looked out across the lake, "This place really is beautiful."
"It's even
more beautiful with you here."
He stopped
rowing when we reached the middle of the lake.
"Do you
need a rest?" I asked.
"Nah, I
thought that you could take over."
"Oh,
well I'll give it a go."
He took my
hands in his, "I'm joking, I just want to enjoy this with you. I know you've
been through a lot recently, you could have given up but you keep on
fighting."
I looked down
at our hands, "I remember the first football game of the season, not
because we won but because of you. I remember the way my heart sped up when I
saw you. I remember your face right before you walked away from me. I remember
how numb I felt for days afterwards. I remember how you told me that you would
fight for us. I let myself down that day and I won't let it happen again. Thank
you for not giving up on me."
"I never
had a choice when it came to you. I don't just want you, I need you."
He was right.
As much as I had tried to fight it at first, I knew all along that my heart
belonged to him.
"Do you
remember how I told you that I had a difficult time after Sienna died?" I
nodded. "Well I started to see a psychiatrist who told me to keep a diary.
They said that it might help if I wrote my feelings down. It felt weird at
first, how many men do you know who keep diaries?" His eyes turned sad,
"But how many men do you know who have had to bury their little sister? So
I tried it and it actually worked. I'd write in it whenever I felt angry or
upset. Just like song writing, it gave me an outlet for my grief. As time went
on, I started to write in it when I was feeling happy too. It made me feel like
I was sharing things with my sister. I've carried on ever since, I guess it's
just habit now. Can I share something with you?"
"Of
course."
He smiled
before retrieving something out of his pocket. He unfolded the piece of paper
and began to read,
"I met a girl today. She was
crazy. And funny. And sexy. And smart. And beautiful. I don't even know her
name but I know how she made me feel - alive. She welcomed me to the twenty
first century. Literally. She will never know how much I needed to hear those exact
words. I've been living in the past but that's about to change."
He looked up
from the paper, "I guess now you know."
I smiled, my
eyes brimming with tears, "Now I know."
***
We spent the
majority of the day in the bedroom. We also tested out Isaac's theory about the
shower. He was right, it made a lot less mess than the bath. We decided to go
home when it started to get dark, which wasn't very late now that it was October.
"Have
you had a nice day?" he asked as we pulled away from the house.
"No."
His head shot around so fast, I was surprised that he didn't give himself
whiplash. I giggled, "I've had a perfect day."
He pretended
to wipe his forehead, "Phew, you had me worried then."
After an hour
of playing i-spy and the 'would you rather' game, his phone began to ring. It
was linked up to the hands free in his car so it interrupted the quiet music
that had been playing. He frowned, "It's my mum, do you mind?"
"Of
course not."
He pressed a
button to accept the call, "Hi Mum, is everything okay?"
"Hi sweetheart.
Yes, everything's fine." I grinned when she called him sweetheart. "But
I've just had a worrying call off Abbie."
My grin faded
as Isaac immediately clicked the 'hold' button before putting in an ear piece. I
narrowed my eyes at him, wondering why he didn't want me to hear the rest of
the conversation. He pressed the hold button again before speaking, "Yes,
I'm here. Carry on." A few seconds later, he shook his head, "That's
not my problem.
She's
not my problem." He gripped the steering
wheel tighter until his knuckles turned white, "What did she say word for
word?" He took a deep breath and I watched his face flood with disappointment.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it. Bye."
I sat there
quietly, waiting for him to say something. When it became clear that he wasn't
going to, I couldn't wait any longer, "Is everything okay?"
"Mmmhmm."
"Why are
you lying to me?"
"I'm not
lying. Everything's okay, I can take care of it."
"Take
care of what?"
"I'd
rather not talk about it."
"Well I
want to."
He turned to
face me, "April, please trust me and just drop it."
"Why did
you take your mum off speaker phone?"
He sighed, "Because
I don't want to drag you into family shit."
"It
didn't sound like
family
shit, it sounded like
Abbie
shit. Why
did she call your mum?"
"Because
she's being typical Abbie."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning
I've been dealing with her childish behaviour for years. She's in trouble so she
rang my mum knowing that I would help if my mum asked me to."
"What
kind of trouble?"
He shifted in
his seat, "I don't know, that's what I need to find out."
"Why can't
you say no?"
"Because
Abbie doesn't know the meaning of the word. You know what she's like, it's best
to keep her on our side for now. Please just trust me on this one."
I turned to
look out of the window as I spoke, "I trust
you
. It's Abbie who I
don't trust."