Isela's Love (38 page)

“About sums it up,” Bernie said. He slapped Brendan on the back. “Well done, my man. Well done.”

“Hold on a minute,” Darrios barked. “What about the Council’s offer? What are you going to do? Are you going to stay in Celio or are you going back?”

“I’m staying. Isela needs time to acclimate to being free. To having a real home and people who love her. I plan on taking her back, to show her my world, but now is not the time.”

“The Council requests your decision within forty-eight hours,” Bernie said.

“No problem,” Brendan said. “I’ll talk to Isela and then I’ll accept.”

“We can leave in the morning.”

****

The women all looked up as the men filed through the door.

“Well?” Maggie asked, standing up.

Darrios enclosed her in his arms and kissed her. “We’re cool.” He glanced at Bernie then back to his wife. “Bernie says they’re indebted to me.”

“I’m just glad they didn’t think you did anything wrong.”

“He didn’t,” Brendan said. He took Isela’s hand and motioned toward the door with his head. “Come outside with me for a minute, okay?”

She glanced at Maggie nervously, but slowly rose from her chair. Brendan led her out onto the porch and then turned to face her, grinning.

“The Council has offered me a consulting position. They want me to stay in Celio.”

Isela gasped, clapping her hands together, but then she paused. “What do you want, Brendan?”

He gave her a puzzled look. “You know what I want. I want you.”

“You don’t have to stay here to have me. I’ll go anywhere you want to go.”

“Isela, we talked about this.”

“That was before your sister told me you were giving up Social Saviors and staying here because of me.”

Brendan blew out a breath. “Maggie said that?”

“Yeah. I don’t want you to give up your dream or your home for me. You’d resent me for it later.”

“Isela, I’m not going to resent you. Dreams change. And my home is where ever you are.”

“Can you look me in the eye and tell me you don’t want to go back to Social Saviors?”

He stepped forward, placing his hands on Isela’s hips. He lowered his voice and gazed into her eyes. “Not if it means I have to be without you. I’m willing to give them up. I’m not willing to give you up.”

The door opened, interrupting their conversation. Darrios and Evan hurried out the door.

“Sorry to crash your party, bro, but we’ve got a delivery coming in and we’re late,” Darrios said.

“Need a hand?” Brendan offered.

“Sure.”

Brendan kissed Isela on the forehead. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, babe,” he said.

Smiling, she nodded.

Brendan returned several hours later. Isela sat on the bench at the foot of the bed braiding her long red tresses. He shed his clothes and collapsed on top of the bedspread.

“Ugh, if I’d have known how much work that was gonna be, I’d have kept my mouth shut instead of volunteering.”

Isela chuckled. “Aw, poor baby. Did you work too hard?”

“I did. I probably should shower before I get my sister’s bed all sweaty.”

She sat down next to him. “I think a shower is a really good idea. Really good.”

“Okay, I stink. Got it. Heading to the shower now...except...”

“What?”

“I’m so wiped out. I don’t think I have the energy to wash myself.”

Isela feigned concern. “Oh my. That is a problem. How can I help?”

Brendan flashed her a wicked grin. “Follow me.”

****

After a long, hot shower, and not only because of the water temperature, Brendan and Isela dried off and dressed.

“I suppose we should venture out and see what the rest of the household is up to,” Brendan said halfheartedly.

“Can we finish our conversation first, from earlier?”

Brendan cocked his head. “I thought we had.”

“No, we were interrupted, remember. I still had something to say.”

“Lay it on me.”

She took a step toward him. Walking her fingers up his abdomen then chest, she said, “You said you were willing to give up Social Saviors but not me, right?”

He nodded, his eyes meeting hers.

“What if you didn’t have to?”

“I’m not following.”

Isela smiled. “I have an idea.”

****

Awhile later, Brendan and Isela came into the living area of the house to find Darrios sitting on the floor playing with Lucan. Maggie stood in the kitchen over a steaming pot of something pumping out a delicious aroma.

“That smells like your famous spaghetti, Maggie. Dare I dream?” Brendan asked.

“It’s probably not going to be exactly the same. Different ingredients here, but I think it’ll be close.”

“It’ll be great, I’m sure.” He sat down at the table and pulled Isela onto his lap. “My sister makes the best spaghetti on the planet. Pretty funny huh? The Irish girl rockin’ the pasta.”

Maggie shook her head, chuckling.

“I, for one, am starving,” Isela said. “Maggie, can I give you a hand?”

“Nope. I’m all set. The sauce needs about another forty minutes and we can eat. Jezbah and Aunt Gin should be here soon.” She glanced up at Brendan and smiled. “Darrios told me about the Council’s offer. I thought we’d celebrate.”

Brendan and Isela exchanged glances, but said nothing. A knock on the door signaled that Jezbah and Aunt Gin had arrived. Naturally Aunt Gin made a big fuss over Brendan regarding the Council’s offer. Brendan glanced around the room at his family and then to Isela, who gazed back at him lovingly, and knew he’d made the right decision. Isela’s idea had been a good one. Now if he could get the Council to go along with it.

Isela set the table while Maggie put the finishing touches on her masterpiece. Gin poured Mulsket and set the glasses next to the plates. When they all sat down, Jezbah stood, holding his glass in the air.

“A toast,” he shouted, “to the Council’s findings on Darrios and to their generous offer to Brendan.” He looked directly at Brendan. “Whatever you may decide.”

Again, he and Isela exchanged a look, but said nothing. Maggie noticed. She arched a brow. “What was that?” she asked.

“What was what?” Brendan replied.

She pointed a finger at him, waving it between him and Isela. “That look you just gave each other. What was that about?”

“Nothing, Maggie. We’re merely weighing our options.”

“I thought you’d already decided what you were doing.”

“I know, but I want to be sure it’s the best thing for both Isela and me. I need to talk to the Council about this offer they made. Get some details firmed up before I commit. And I still have to return to Missouri and get a hold of Social Saviors.”

“No you don’t. I mean, if you never go back, they’ll figure it out, don’t you think?”

“Mags, you know that’s not how I roll. I can’t leave them hanging.”

Maggie sighed. “I know. I guess I’m a little afraid you’ll get back and change your mind. I really love having you here with us.”

“And I love being here, but I have commitments I need to answer to. I don’t plan on re-upping, Maggie. I want to come back.”

“Hey, hey now,” Aunt Gin piped in. “Stop pressuring your brother, Maggie. He knows we want him here, but it’s his decision. He and Isela need to decide what’s going to make them happy. Now, enough of the gloomies. This is a celebration!”

The rest of the evening went well, but Brendan suspected his sister was putting on a happy face for his benefit, but he couldn’t tell her his plans until he’d spoken to the Council. Why get her hopes up if it wasn’t going to happen?

****

Bernie arrived early the next morning. Brendan kissed Isela and bounded out the door. When he’d awakened that morning, he’d made a wish. Isela watched him go, silently hoping Avascon wishes always worked when the Council was involved.

They had walked for about an hour before Bernie spoke about the meeting. “Address them with your head down. Don’t make eye contact unless they invite you to. And make sure to thank them for their offer no matter what you decide to do.”

“Okay, got it.”

Bernie stopped walking. “What are you going to do?”

Brendan glanced at Bernie and smiled. “I’m gonna make them a counter offer.”

He continued walking, leaving Bernie standing there with his mouth hanging open. He trotted up next to Brendan.

“Are you crazy? They just made you an incredibly generous offer, an unprecedented offer. You can’t go waltzing in there asking for stuff. It would be...well, not a good idea, that’s for sure.”

“First of all, I don’t waltz. I’m more of a disco kind of guy.”

“Brendan, I’m serious. You do not want to offend these people, not if you plan on staying here.”

“Bernie, if I can’t get them to see things my way, I’m not staying here. Trust me, okay?”

“Fine, but I want it on the record that I am very nervous about this.”

“Noted.”

After what seemed like an eternity, they finally arrived at Council Headquarters. The building smacked of pretentiousness, just as Brendan had thought it would. The pillars and stairs out front must’ve broken the backs of more than one poor sap when they built them with the kind of tools Celio had. The cool white bricks did not emit a sense of warmth and approachability. The only thing missing was a moat.

With a smirk, Brendan asked, “You ready?”

Bernie blew out a breath. “Guess so.”

Bernie reached for the door handle, but it swung open before he touched it. A tall, rail-thin man with gray, baggy skin stood before them. He looked down his long, pointed nose at Bernie and Brendan.

“The Council will see you now,” he said in a tinny, nasal voice.

Bernie elbowed Brendan when he snickered. They followed the man down a long, high-ceilinged corridor to heavy double doors.

Bernie whispered, “They like to make a show of things.”

“Clearly.”

The thin man swept open the double doors leading into an auditorium of sorts. A long table sat on a pedestal in the center of the spacious room. Four men and three women sat behind the table.

All seven Council members appeared to be perfectly groomed and manicured. They all had white hair and sat with their hands folded in front of them. None of them smiled.

Brendan whispered to Bernie, “You didn’t tell me they were zombies.”

Bernie shot him a look pleading with him to shut up.

The woman seated in the center stood up. “Welcome,” she said in monotone.

“Don’t make eye contact,” Bernie hissed from the side of his mouth. Brendan dropped his gaze to the floor.

“Step forward, Mr. Malone,” Monotone Lady said.

Brendan glanced at Bernie. He nodded. Brendan hesitated then moved forward to a small elevated step in the floor. He glanced down at it.

“Go ahead, Mr. Malone. Step up.”

Brendan did as he was told, remembering not to make eye contact. He began having second thoughts about his idea. The man on the left of the table stood up.

“Please look up to us, Mr. Malone.”

Brendan lifted his gaze to meet theirs.

“We are grateful for the service you provided us and the people of Celio,” he said. “Warden Guarros abused his position of power and thanks to you and your people that has been remedied. We owe you.”

“I was happy to help, sir.”

“We appreciate that, especially with you not being a citizen of our world. As a token of said appreciation, we offer you a home here, to become one of us.”

The woman spoke again. “We ask that you consider becoming a consultant so we may call upon you should we need your assistance in any future...situations.”

Brendan hesitated again. He shifted from foot to foot. The Council members glanced at one another nervously.

“May I speak freely?” he asked.

The woman nodded.

“I appreciate your offer. I really do. It’s extremely generous.”

“But?”

“Back home I belonged to an organization called Social Saviors. We helped people make better lives for themselves.”

The Council members exchanged glances. The woman furrowed her brows. “Could you please elaborate, Mr. Malone?”

“If a village had contaminated water, we showed them how to clean it up. If they had no food, we taught them how to farm. We helped kids learn to read. We gave assistance to people who didn’t know how to help themselves to become independent.”

“I don’t understand what this has to do with us or our offer to you.”

“It’s my understanding that there are people in Midland like I just described. Isn’t our duty to help others who are less fortunate? I mean, if we can do something, shouldn’t we?”

“I suppose, but I still don’t see—”

“I want to start an organization like Social Saviors here, well not in Inland, but in Midland. I want to help the families there live safer more productive lives. I want to educate their children, build fortresses to keep the monsters away, maybe engineer better weapons to fight the monsters. There’s no limit to what we can do.”

“And you want us to fund it.”

“Well, yeah, but it would be a government organization. You’d have the control over what we do and don’t do. Think of the P.R., especially on the heels of this prison fiasco.”

One of the other Councilmen spoke. “He does have a point. That nasty business with the prison has diminished our reputation with the people of Inland. They’re questioning our ability to run things. A project like this would buy us a lot of goodwill.”

The woman who’d done most of the talking before pursed her lips like she wished the man hadn’t said that in front of commoners. She gave Brendan a tight smile.

“I’ll ask you and Mr. Bell to step outside, perhaps go to the lounge and get a beverage while the Council discusses your proposal, Mr. Malone.”

The gray-skinned gofer appeared as if on cue. Brendan turned before exiting and addressed the Council.

“Thank you...for everything. For your generous offer and for taking the time to listen to me and to consider it.”

He bowed his head and followed Bernie out the door.

****

At least an hour went by before the gray-skinned man returned to tell them the Council wanted to see them again.

“That’s good right?” Brendan asked Bernie. “I mean they didn’t just dismiss us.”