Bookish (17 page)

He had just told Isaac about a short job in New York, but it was starting tomorrow and would go over the weekend. He wouldn’t be back until Sunday evening, and my birthday was Saturday. We’d planned a small party to celebrate.

He looked at me and rubbed his chin, he had some stubble growing in and the small action of his hand moving over it made me squirm in my seat.

I wondered if I’d ever get tired of looking at him, if I’d ever get bored of his incredible hotness.

My clenching, wet pussy said the forecast was not bloody likely.

“I can’t do it,” he said, “I don’t care who it’s for.”

“Calvin won’t like this,” David replied, “this might mean you’re bumped off next season. I know it’s not convenient, but you have to understand that the best photographers are booked years in advance, when they get an opening, the team has to take it.”

“It’s Aubrey’s birthday,” he said and grabbed my hand, “I can’t turn my back on her.”

“Bring her along then,” David said, “make a weekend of it.”

“I’ve got inventory Friday,” I interjected, “I promised Marta. She’s short staffed as it is…sorry.”

“It’s not going to work,” Isaac insisted, “tell Calvin to give me more notice next time.”

“Isaac,” David said, “I don’t think you quite get this.” He looked at me, shifted in his seat and looked extremely uncomfortable. “I know you think you’re in love, no offense Aubrey, but this is your career. This could make or break you. If you want to stay in the US, you need to go where they want you.”

“He’s right,” I said and sipped my drink, “photographers are booked forever. I mean, the good ones are.”

“Yes,” David said and looked at me to mouth, “thank you” under his breath.

“Your father was a photographer, wasn’t he?” Isaac asked me.

“He was. Harold Britton, photographer to the stars,” I said and smiled, “he was a pretty cool guy.”

“Oh my god,” David said, “I had no idea! I worked with him. I mean I worked within some of the same circles, but we all seemed to orbit around him. He was his own little world, on his own level of greatness. I’m sorry about what happened.”

“Thank you,” I said and sipped my drink again. I always hated it when people made the connection, that my parents had been murdered and I’d been left orphaned, but being with Isaac was taking the sting off. Knowing his life only added to accepting my own life story.

“So that means your mother was Vivienne Reynolds. Oh, it’s all making sense now. You look so much like her, have you ever modeled?”

“Oh god no,” I snorted, “I have my mother’s height and my father’s grace. Or lack thereof. It’s not exactly a printable quality.”

David turned to Isaac and said, “Wow, she’s in the business. This is fashion royalty right here, did you know that when you snatched her up?”

Isaac was looking at me strangely and said, “No, I had no idea.” He smiled, as though discovering me for the first time, his face full of wonder.

“I wouldn’t say royalty,” I blushed and stuck my face in my martini glass yet again. Sipping my Manhattan was a convenient way to avoid the conversation. I might be drunk if they kept flattering me like that.

“I would,” David said, “I had a poster of your mother when I was a teen…wait, that sounded creepy. I mean I admired her work.”

I laughed to let him know I wasn’t offended. Almost anyone over the age of thirty told me that when they found out who my mother was, man or woman, it didn’t matter. My mother had been one of the very first super models, a known humanitarian and constant advocate for the oppressed. She’d been an amazing woman really.

“It’s quite all right that you had the poster,” I said to David, and to Isaac I added, “and that you will miss my birthday. Just promise to Skype with me and read me a bedtime story and I’ll be okay.”

“Just okay?” Isaac said and looked at me as if to gauge my sincerity.

“More than okay,” I laughed, “I’ll be fine.”

“There’s my girl,” he said, “but I’ll only go if you’re absolutely certain.”

I looked at David, gave him my most serious face and said, “Make sure he goes to New York, but also make sure he gets me an amazing birthday present.”

“Sounds good, I promise,” he replied, laughed and shook my hand.

Isaac still seemed reluctant, but I’d be damned before I let him put his career aside because of me.

***

“You’re serious, he didn’t show up for your birthday?” Chloe whined for the tenth time that night.

We’d decided to do inventory on Saturday since I’d be kicking around town anyhow.

At the end of it, they’d surprised me with a dinner at a restaurant just around the corner from the bookstore. Auntie Abby was there, so was Chloe and all my coworkers. They’d even invited Ethan and Jane and I was shocked to see them there in my world.

“He’s awfully sorry he couldn’t make it,” Jane said, apologizing for Isaac yet again.

“Don’t worry,” I told her and glared at Chloe, “I made him go. It was an amazing opportunity for him to work with a top notch photographer.”

“He’s said your father was a photographer, and your mother was a model?” Ethan joined in.

“Yes,” I replied, “but unfortunately they passed away several years ago.”

They gave the appropriate looks of sympathy, then kept talking like I wasn’t a sad orphan girl with a chip on her shoulder.

That’s when it hit me, I no longer was that girl, not really anyways.

I still felt awkward around Ethan and Jane, and even my friends on some level, but I felt more and more like I was earning my place in the world. Being around Isaac had given me confidence, but being loved by him had allowed me to open myself up and accept new experiences and people into my life.

I loved him even more for that.

“He’s really mad about you,” Jane said, “it’s so lovely for us to see. We’ve watched him through the years and always hoped he’d find somebody he was truly happy with. You make him happy, and we thank you for that.” She glanced nervously at Ethan as though she’d made a social faux pas. He nodded and agreed with her wholeheartedly.

It felt good.

“But still, he didn’t show up on your birthday,” Chloe said loudly. I kicked her under the table and she jumped, fell quiet and shot me a look of anger.

The rest of the dinner was perfect, the wine, the food, the conversation, even the presents. From Ethan and Jane I received a beautiful and elegant hand bag, something I never would have thought to buy for myself but it would be perfect with the style I was slowly adopting.

From my coworkers, I received a tea travel mug with a secret compartment for my tea bag. The hilarious thing was that it had Rebecca Hawk’s book cover printed on the side, so I would essentially be drinking my hot beverages from Isaac’s abs.

Chloe, predictably, got me nothing and Auntie Abby wanted to give me something at home later on.

We left the restaurant, Auntie Abby picked up the tab, and everybody went their separate ways.

Chloe decided to follow us home, so I reluctantly let her climb into the back seat of my shitty car.

Back at the house, Chloe and I camped out in my bedroom like the good old days, talking about her latest conquest and ignoring the elephant in the room.

Isaac James.

Finally after an hour or so, I couldn’t take it anymore.

“I saw the texts you’ve been sending him, by the way,” I said.

“Who?” she asked.

“Isaac. You’ve been texting my boyfriend some really inappropriate stuff, and I’d like it to stop.”

“Oh my god, where did this come from? You never struck me as the jealous type.”

“I’m not jealous, I’m territorial. There’s a difference. And I think it’s horribly disrespectful to send those kinds of things to somebody’s boyfriend. Especially when that somebody is supposed to be your friend.”

“I was testing him,” she said but I could see right through her, she was lying. “I wanted to make sure he didn’t cheat on you, and surprise, he passed the test! He’s awesome and loyal to you.”

“I know that, and I didn’t need you to send him anything to find out. Just stay away from him now,” I said, “and never contact him again, okay?”

“Oh my god, Aubrey,
rowr,”
Chloe said and made a cat claw motion with her hand. She noticed my angry expression and said, “Okay, I swear I won’t send him another message.”

“Thanks,” I said, “I was just surprised that you would do it, but if you were just testing him, that makes sense.” I obviously didn’t believe her, but thought I’d offer her the dignity of a way out.

“Aubrey,” Auntie Abby called from down the hall, “could you come here?”

“I’ll be right back,” I said to Chloe and left the room. She was working on the blog, and I had to admit, she was doing a really good job with it. Sometimes her stories leaned more into the gossip side of the book world more than pure reviews, but readers seemed to like it. Our total views were through the roof since she’d taken over.

Auntie Abby had her hand in a fist when I walked in. She held it up and said, “open your hand,” when I walked in.

I did and she dropped three absolutely stunning rings into my palm.

“What are these?” I asked and turned them over and over again. There was a diamond encrusted wedding set along with an emerald and ruby ring with the biggest stones I’d ever seen.

“They were your mother’s,” G said, “I had meant to give them to you a long time ago, but the time never seemed right. Your life is taking such a wonderful direction these days, I thought what the heck. I pulled them out of my jewellery box and took them in to have them cleaned. I think they turned out nice, don’t you?”

“They’re beautiful,” I said quietly, in wonder. My mother had worn these rings. I had a sudden flashback of them on her fingers, long and elegant, caressing my hair while we cuddled up on the sofa reading a book.

“Try them on,” Auntie Abby said, “I think they’ll fit perfectly.”

“I don’t know,” I said, “they’re just too nice.”

She insisted and I slipped them onto my fingers. They were a little too small and only made it to my second knuckle on all but my pinkie finger.

“Darn it,” Auntie Abby said, I was sure they would be okay. Let’s take them back to my jeweller and have them resized.”

“I don’t think I would wear them anyways, to be honest,” I said, but when I saw a flicker of disappointment flash across her face I added, “but let’s get them sized. You never know, right?”

“Excellent, I’ll call him and we’ll do it on Monday.”

I went back to my room and found Chloe finishing up an article about some male author being exposed as a fraud, her gossip story of the day.

“Can I go make a sandwich or something?” she asked when I walked in, “I barely ate at dinner.”

“Definitely, you know our house is basically yours,” I replied. She’d been here so much since we were teenagers, she knew where everything was.

My phone buzzed and I picked it up. It was Isaac, my heart fluttered and my stomach flip flopped. I’d been on edge waiting for him to contact me and had done my best to not bother him while he was working.

Sorry love, the shoot went longer than expected. Did you have a good birthday party?
he wrote.

It was okay, I missed you.

I miss you too, so much I could barely concentrate. I love you,
he wrote.

I love you too, can we skype?

I tried, its glitching tonight for some reason.

I wanted to tell you something.

Can you tell me here?

It’s about my parents. I wanted to share their story with you.

You don’t have to if it’s too painful.

After you opened up about your tattoos, about baby Charlie, I want to.

Only if you feel the need. I wanted to share everything with you, to keep anything back feels like a lie
, he replied.

I feel the same way. We’ll talk when you get back
, I wrote, deciding that I could wait a day or so to share everything about my past. The sorrow that connected us.

I have a huge surprise for your birthday, don’t think I forgot,
he wrote.

What is it?

I’ll tell you when I see you. I can’t wait.

We went back and forth a little more, I tried skype from my end, but it wouldn’t go through. Chloe came back so Isaac and I wrapped it up.

He’d be back in a day, I wasn’t too worried although I missed him like mad.

Chloe and I chatted until we fell asleep, me on my narrow bed and her on the blow up mattress on my floor, just like old times.

I was glad I’d confronted her, and I was glad she’d opened up to me. I felt like she and I were going to be all right, our friendship would survive.

The last thing I thought about before falling asleep was how much I hoped I was right. How much I hoped the little nagging voice was wrong, and she wasn’t trying to ruin my life.

***

“You want me to make you some eggs?” Chloe asked first thing in the morning, “a late birthday present?”

“Sounds great,” I replied and headed to the shower. Isaac would be catching a late afternoon flight and arriving at the airport at three. I was going to pick him up and was already almost trembling at the thought of being in his arms again.

We’d made plans to go for dinner with friends, but I had cancelled them, begging off that I was tired or something when in reality I was dying to get him alone and show him how much I’d missed him.

I spent a little too long in the shower, thinking about him touching me, kissing me, doing all those illicit thrilling little things to me. The water started to go luke warm and I jumped out, hoping there’d be enough for Auntie Abby and Chloe.

I towelled off and pulled on my comfiest yoga pants and loose top. I was determined to have a down day until I had to get Isaac.

I walked into my bedroom humming a little tune and stopped short.

Chloe was sitting on my bed, hunched over.

“No time for eggs?” I asked and she jumped. She slid across the bed and dropped something over the side.