Chapter 2
Cruella opened up her eyes to find herself in Isaac's arms. She needed a moment to recall what had happened a few hours earlier. She tried not to move. She didn't want to wake him up. -What do I do now?- she thought to herself. What seemed like the right thing by her was to vanish before having to give any explanation to him. But something was holding her back. She didn't want to leave. She couldn't admit it to herself though. She closed her eyes again trying to go back to sleep. She wanted him to wake up first and then she would decide what to do. Hardly had half an hour passed when Isaac woke up. His body was stuck on Cruella's and his arms were wrapped around her shoulders. He smiled but at the same time his anxiety was killing him. -What will happen next?- he thought to himself. He knew Cruella well. He was well aware that when she woke up she would want to leave immediately. He didn't want her to leave. He wanted to lay there holding her in his arms forever. He loved that woman more that his own life. He got up from the bed quietly and moved towards the kitchen, closing the door behind him.
With the sound of the door closing behind him, Cruella opened her eyes. She hadn't managed to sleep. She started thinking again. She couldn't stay. She should leave. That would be the best for everyone. For her. For him... She picked up the dress off the floor and put it on. She couldn't find her fur coat but then she remembered that she had left it in the living room. She slipped into her high heels and looked at the mirror to settle her hair with her fingers. She noticed that it was already dark outside and she knew that this would definitely delay her trip. She took a deep breath and opened the door. Isaac was sitting on the sofa reading a book when he heard the sound of the door. He turned around and saw Cruella putting on her coat, not saying anything. She was about to leave when Isaac's voice stopped her.
"What are you doing?" he inquired.
"I'm leaving, darling, that's what I am doing!" She exclaimed and opened the door.
"But it's dark outside. It's dangerous to travel alone in the woods!" he said and got up from the sofa.
"Don't tell me that you're all worried about my safety! After all, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. It's not like I will get attacked by any wolf or something!" Her tone was sarcastic but Isaac was pretty serious. He didn't want her to get hurt. There were bandits in the woods and Cruella couldn't kill anyone, so she was basically defenseless.
"Why don't you stay the night? You can sleep in the bedroom and I will use the living room" He suggested."You can leave tomorrow morning" he added.
Staying the night didn't sound so bad after all. Cruella was aware of the dangers the forest hid. She also knew, of course, that she would have to deal with him for a few more hours and that was causing her to be more nervous than she had ever been.
"Alright then" the woman replied, removing her fur coat once again.
The author's face broke into a smile. It was a smile of relief. He wouldn't bear it if anything happened to her. They had spent only a few hours together and his heart was beating again the same way it did that night at Murray's. She moved towards the kitchen and started going through the cupboards. Isaac was observing her, trying to find out what exactly she wanted.
"Are you hungry?" he asked her trying to be of assistance.
"Oh, please! I was hoping you would at least have a bottle of gin." she cried closing the cupboards.
"Well... I do have one..." he replied with a naughty smile.
"Don't stand there like an idiot! Go get it!" He commanded him, even though her tone was more excited. Isaac moved towards the big closet near the armchair. He pulled a drawer in the bottom of the piece and sprung a bottle of a transparent liquid. Cruella brought two small glasses and placed them on the small table.
"Why two glasses?" he asked curious.
"You're drinking with me, darling!" she announced without taking no for an answer. She poured plenty of gin in each glass and then she took one bringing it close to her lips. She waited for a moment until Isaac grabbed his and then she took a sip.
"It's been a long time since I've drunk gin." He revealed and his expression changed completely.
Cruella just sat on the couch without speaking. She knew that he was talking about that night at Murray's. After 7 shots of gin they were both a little light-headed. Cruella was the one to break the silence which prevailed during their drinking session. She was in a good mood. Drinking always made her feel good.
"So... what did the author do over the last 20 years?" Cruella asked amused with a bit of curiosity.
"Nothing... just surviving" he admitted taking a sip of gin.
"Surviving?" "Living a life without the person you love most is the hardest thing anyone can do" Isaac said bending his head. "And may I ask who that person was?" Cruella inquired acting like she didn't know the answer. "Don't you know?" he asked surprised. "It's you" he added then. "You broke my heart... You betrayed me… but if I knew that I had a chance to be with you I would do anything." His confession was the one which made her realize what she had actually done to him. Not only had she betrayed him but she had also crashed every hope he had for the future. She was the one who had completely destroyed him. What he did to her was not that important. After all, he did it for her own good. "I never stopped loving you, Cru" he finally confessed. "And I don't think I ever will" Cruella was sitting opposite him. He was looking at her as she was the most precious thing in the world. She couldn't utter a word. She didn't know what to say. She had just pinned her gaze on his.
"Oh Isaac, listening to you saying how much you love me, made me realize that I don't deserve it. I don't deserve your love. I don't deserve anyone's love…"
"Don't you ever say that again!" he cried. "Just because you are a little mad, doesn't mean that you don't deserve to be loved. Yes, you are evil and yes, you enjoy watching other people suffer but this is a part of who you are. There is also another part in you. The only problem is you don't let it show." and with those words Isaac moved to sit next to her on the sofa.
"And what do you know about that part of me, darling?" She rolled her eyes.
"I know it exists. I have seen it" he moved his hand and placed it on hers. Surprisingly Cruella did not move. She just widened her eyes and looked deep into his in a different way.
"You are cold" he said
"Aww it's so nice of you to remind me of what I am!" She glared at him.
"No, I mean your hand is cold" a chuckle escaped his lips.
"Do you want me to bring you a blanket?"
"Why not?" She answered while he had already stood up and taken one of the blankets he kept in the closet. He wrapped it around her and sat next to her again.
"I think it's getting late." she said taking a look at the clock.
"I had better go to bed"
"Sure." he agreed and picked up the two glasses to leave them in the kitchen.
"Oh, and Isaac, you are sleeping on the bed" she commanded him.
"Out of the question. I'll be just fine on the couch. You need a comfortable sleep more than I do."
"Oh, but darling I didn't say I would be sleeping on the couch either..." Isaac immediately took her hint."There is plenty of space on the bed for both of us" A faint smile appeared on his lips and then he followed her to the bedroom. She stood up for a second and let her long dress fall down, staying only in her underwear.
"Cru, what are you doing?" He widened his eyes, looking at her half-naked figure. "I can't sleep in that dress! Besides I don't think you see something you haven't seen before" She lay on the bed and covered herself with a blanket.
"You know, I never expected our reunion would be like this..." He turned around to realize that Cruella wasn't listening to him. She had already fallen asleep. He could hear her breath becoming softer. He smiled and lay next to her. He kept on looking at her until the sun came up. He wanted to make sure she was okay. When he felt her judder he hugged her with another blanket and he wrapped his arms around her to keep her warm. When the first rays of light pervaded the room in the morning, Isaac got up and headed straight to the kitchen. He knew that today was the day he would say goodbye to her and that was killing him. He decided to make her breakfast so she would have something to eat before she resumed her trip. A few hours later Cruella woke up on Isaac's bed and she immediately stood up to get dressed. A splitting headache felt like hammers in her head, a side effect of the previous drunken night. She opened the door and went to the kitchen. She found Isaac sitting there, holding a cup of coffee and looking at his quill.
"What are you doing, darling?" She asked placing her hand on her head as the pain grew stronger.
"Nothing" He answered hiding his quill in its box.
"Do you want some coffee?"
"Hell yes!" she exclaimed sitting on the chair opposite Isaac. He took a cup, poured some coffee in it and handed it to her. She took a long sip and left the small cup on the table. She looked troubled and Isaac could sense it.
"So, what are you going to do?" he asked waiting for an answer like his life depended on it.
"I don't know!" She replied confused. "I should probably get going but... I don't know if there's a point anymore to what I'm going to do!"
"So, don't do it." He tried to give her a solution, even though he knew that it was really hard for Cruella to realize what she really wanted. "Why don't you stay a bit longer?"
"No, I can't. Besides, this isn't only about Maleficent"
"Maleficent? What has Maleficent to do with that?"
"The problem is not Maleficent. The problem is Regina's curse." "If that's the problem, I can get us out of it and you know it. We can go any place we want and then and only then I will do what's necessary for me to be happy" He said and looked in her eyes which were still troubled.
"I know that you don't particularly like me and if you want, we won't be together but please think about my offer."
"I think you are right, darling! I'm aware that I am not going to get my revenge and leaving this place will be the best thing I could do" She finally agreed.
"So that means that we are leaving?"
"I guess..."
"We don't have to delay it any longer, the curse could be activated any moment now" he said and took his quill on his hand.
"Can you stop it?" she asked.
"I'm afraid not." He replied honestly.
"Where do you want to go?"
"How about our world?" she didn't have to think twice."They world we both came from"
"So, our world it is!" And with a firm hand Isaac wrote what he needed to write for both of them to be taken where they wanted.
Hello everyone! Here's chapter 2. I'm so sorry I did not upload it earlier. :(
Reviews are always appreciated. See you next week :)
