Chapter 26 – Letting Go, Taking Back
Speeding down Belt Parkway, Izzy glared in her rear-view mirror as she cut off another driver. She was late picking up her sister from JFK airport and had visited nearly every New York airport in four days, surely that deserved some kind of reward. She rolled her eyes as the sat nav woman spoke up again, if she could figure out how to turn her off and not get lost she would have done that by now. She was driving her Moms Porsche, it had been a while since she had driven but it was all coming back to her, kind of. She could hear her phone vibrating in her bag on the passenger seat as she battled with the busy Saturday afternoon traffic. She finally turned off onto Van Wyck Expressway and into the Cell Phone Lot to wait for Josie to ring her when she was ready to be picked up. She pulled her phone out of her bag as soon as she was parked up, 1 missed call from Stephen. She suddenly wished she was back at her parents' house eating ice cream. She didn't ring him back; she set the phone on the dash and stared out of the window. A few moments later her phone was vibrating again, she picked it up and sighed. She didn't want to talk to him, she didn't even know if she could talk to him.
The vibrating stopped, and her phone flashed that she had a new voice message. It took all of her strength to listen to the message, 'Iz, let me know yeh safe. I'm worried.' She scoffed as she deleted the message. Good, she was glad he was worried. She was again brought out of her thoughts as her phone vibrated, this time Josie's name flashed up on the screen. A smile spread across her face as she spoke to her sister. She was making her way through the terminal so Izzy didn't hesitate to leave the parking lot straight away. She parked up in front of terminal 1 and climbed out of the car locking it behind her. She looked down at the Christian Louboutin pigalle spiked ballerina flats on her feet, she knew Josie would approve. Black Alexander McQueen jeans covered her long legs which she had teamed with a Markus Lupfer perfume bottle sweater. She stood next to the car scanning the mass of people exiting the building. She soon spotted her sister dragging a Louis Vuitton monogram suitcase behind her with a matching holdall hanging from the crook of her elbow.
"Josie!" Her sisters' head shot up as she shouted her name, they immediately rushed towards each other though the surrounding commuter's carelessly elbowing people here and there. As soon as she was in reaching distance, Izzy wrapped her arms around her slender frame and squeezed the life out of her. She was a little bit shorter and slimmer than Izzy and her once blonde hair was now a deep shade of brown.
Minutes later they were soon on their way back to Brooklyn Heights. Izzy drove straight to the hospital; she had been there most of the previous day and today before she had to leave for the airport. She linked arms with her sister as they stepped through the front doors; she pulled a face at the smell.
"Hospitals creep me out." Josie whispered whilst Izzy pressed the up button for the elevator.
"Me too, but Dad should be able to leave soon." She smiled reassuring Josie before the elevator doors opened.
They walked onto the ward and Izzy led them through to where their Dads room was, she knocked before pushing the door open. Her Dads eyes lit up as he saw his youngest daughter appear, Izzy could only smile as she looked on at her Mom and Dad greeting her younger sibling. Her Dad was fine and she was surrounded by family. That's all she needed right now.
-2 months later-
"Izzy! You're coming, end of conversation." Cas was frustrated as she watched her friend continue to type away at her computer.
"You know, I think you've asked me to come 10 times now. Why haven't you gotten the hint?" She was tired of Cas asking her over and over again.
"Because you need to live a little and stop working!" Izzy sighed as she tore her gaze away from the computer to her best friend. She had been living on auto pilot. Work, eat and sleep made up her everyday routine, throwing in extra hours whenever she could. She had however earned a raise during New York fashion week, a lot of hard work eventually paid off.
"Fine, but do I have to dress up?" she turned her attention back to the computer.
"Of course, that's the whole point." Izzy groaned, it was Halloween on Sunday and Cas' cousin was throwing a party on Saturday night, "But don't worry, I have the costumes all figured out." Izzy shook her head; she didn't even want to know what Cas had planned.
The following evening Izzy stood at the foot of her bed staring at the costume Cas had brought her, "I'm wonder woman?"
"Yeah, I thought it was fitting." Izzy rolled her eyes; Cas had been there for her whenever she needed her. But she knew she was feeding information to Stephen through Cody.
"And you're going as..." She watched as Cas revealed her outfit from under her trench coat.
"Rawr." Izzy couldn't help but laugh as Cas held up her hands as if she had claws.
"Ahh, original." She looked at the outfit she had on. Black leather hot pants, bodice and thigh high boots apparently equalled a cat.
"Ugh. Shut up and put your costume on." Izzy shooed Cas out of the room. She changed into the costume that had kindly been picked out for her and stood looking into the full length mirror. Blood red Louboutins fit perfectly on her feet, bright blue hot pants and a red and gold corset made up the rest of the outfit with a gold belt accentuating her slim waist. She applied another coat of red Lancôme lipstick and smoothed down her poker straight hair. She strode through into the living room. Cas sat perched on the arm of the couch, her blackberry pressed against her ear. She hastily said bye and hung up as she caught sight of Izzy.
"Who was that?" Izzy asked as Cas stood up and smiled.
"No one. You look good, ready to go?" Izzy sensed something was up but didn't question her any further. She looked down at her costume again, then at Cas. Apparently legs, ass and a lot of cleavage were the themes for the evening.
"Sure am." She picked up her Alexander McQueen Britannia patent-leather clutch, the red and gold matching perfectly with her costume, then draped her Burberry trench coat over her arm.
The ride down to the lobby was silent, Izzy watched the numbers count down. As the 5th floor lit up Cas broke the tension, "I invited Cody, he's waiting in the lobby."
"What?" Her eyes widened, seeing Cody lead to the possibility of running into Stephen, whom she had successfully blocked out of her life.
"I knew if I told you before you would freak out and not come, but now you have no escape." Cas grinned, proud that she had accomplished her plan. As soon as the doors opened Cas gave Izzy a little push out of the elevator, which in return earned her a glare. She continued walking towards the lobby doors.
"Izzy?" She knew that voice. Shivers ran across her body as her steps faltered. She sucked in a deep breath; all she could hear now was the thumping of her heart. She couldn't turn around. "Iz?" Her mind raced, she needed to show him didn't have this effect on her.
She threw her head around and pretended to double take, "Oh my god, Stephen. I'm so sorry, I didn't recognise you!" She felt ridiculous, and looked ridiculous too. "Well, I would just love to stay and chat. But as you can see," she placed her hand on her waist and stuck out her hip whilst pointing at her outfit, "I have things to do and people to see. Have a lovely evening." She looked up at his face before she stepped away which brought instant regret. His once bright eyes were dull, he looked tired and lost. 'He doesn't want you' she reminded herself as she forced herself to stop staring at him. She turned on her heel and quickly headed out of the lobby doors.
Tears fell from her eyes as the cool evening air whipped around her body, she instantly felt Cas by her side. She turned around to look at Cas, blinking a few times as she saw Cody stood next to her dressed as a cowboy. She knew they were getting funny looks from people walking by.
"I'm sorry Iz, I just thought if you saw him then maybe you would talk to him. You're both so stubborn." A sympathetic look spread across Cas' features.
"I should have known you two would scheme against me. And when did you ever think tonight of all nights was a good idea for this to happen?" She pointed at her clothing again, "I'm fricken wonder woman!" She groaned then continued talking, "Most girls dream of running into an ex when they're wearing that amazing new dress, or those perfect shoes. But when do I ever get that lucky?"
Cas and Cody stood silent for a moment, "Actually, something like this is every guys fantasy. Right Cody?"
Izzy watched on as Cas elbowed Cody's ribs, "Hell yeah."
"And you look amazing, you could look a lot worse." Izzy rolled her eyes at her attempt to justify their actions.
"I'm going back." Izzy moved around Cas and Cody to take a look in the lobby, Stephen had gone.
"No, come with us." Izzy slowly shook her head
"I really don't feel like going now. But you two have a fun night." She smiled at the couple; Cody had his arm around Cas' shoulder pulling her against his body. She was happy they had worked things out.
"Despite what you think, he regrets what he did Izzy." Izzy stared at Cody, she wanted to believe him. Eventually the phone calls had stopped, he had visited her apartment. Each time she curled up on her bed pretending to be out. She gave them both a hug before disappearing back into the lobby.
"Text him." Cas barked her orders at Cody as they started walking down the street to catch a cab.
"I think we've done enough, you saw how upset she was." She shook her head, she knew Izzy.
"She just needs a good hard shove in the right direction, and that direction is into Stephens's arms. They need each other, they're just too stupid to see it." Cody gave in and took his phone out of his pocket, writing whatever Cas told him to.
"And now we wait. This time tomorrow, everything will be back to normal." Cody hoped she was right.
Meanwhile Izzy had finally made it back to her apartment. She locked the door behind her before dragging herself through to the living room, she carelessly threw her coat and bag onto the coffee table then flopped down onto the couch. She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. Her eyes shot open as a banging on the door echoed around the quiet apartment. She didn't move as the banging started again.
"Izzy open up." She couldn't miss Stephens muffled voice through the door. She stood up from the couch and stared at the door, "Iz, I know yer in there! Open the door now." He continued to bang on the door. He would go away eventually, he always did.
She started to tip toe across the hall towards the bedroom, "Izzy, please." His voice sounded strained and desperate. She took a step towards the door and stopped. With all the courage she could find, she slowly walked the rest of the distance to the door. Her small hand slipped around the handle as she unlocked the door with the other. She swallowed hard as she opened the door and came face to face with a wall of solid muscle. She bit her lip as she looked directly into his grey eyes. All the pent up resentment she had been feeling subsided, her body was filled with nothing but love for the man stood in front of her. Too bad he didn't love her back.
"What do you want?" She didn't trust her voice; it was barely above a whisper. She tried to take a step backwards as Stephen reached for her, she wasn't quick enough. Both of his large hands cupped her face. She couldn't handle the rush of emotion through her body, as soon as his rough palms touched her smooth skin the tears broke free. Stephen wrapped both of his arms around her. It took all of her strength mentally and physically to push him away from her.
She shook her head, "This isn't fair. You don't just get to walk in here and act like this."
"I know, but..." He had managed to keep one arm wrapped around her waist.
"Yeah you do know. You know what I've been through and that still didn't stop you from breaking my heart." He ran a hand through her hair from her temple to the back of her neck. He was too close and as usual he was sucking up all the space around her.
"I love yeh. And I'm sorry, I handled everything wrong." Stephen pressed his forehead against hers. Her small hand gripped onto his bicep, she felt dizzy. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Instead she pressed her lips against his. A surge of energy ran down her spine, she had cracked and there was no turning back. She needed him no matter how much she tried to deny it.
A/N – Thank you miamitravel, Y2Erin, TNcountrygirl (I hope this chapter answered your questions :P), MissShelz, poisenousprincess and wwemagpie for the reviews! There should be another update at the start of next week :).