Chapter 13

Tottenham Court Road

La Cumparsita tango club

The place was packed. Archie was looking around, taking the atmosphere in. He hadn't been to a place like this before. The light was soft, diffused by big brass chandeliers and walls of pale terracotta colours in this magnificent, two-tiered dance club. Black marble columns held the upper tier from where a grand curved staircase with gold metal banisters led to the big dance floor. It was full with people having gathered to dance to the songs of Gardel. The impression this place gave to him was only matched by the stream of colourful, daring or flamboyant outfits most of the ladies wore. The men were classically dressed in their tuxedos. But for the ladies...fashion seemed to be quite forward on this side of the pond because he had not seen so much flesh in display.

The big group of Candy's friends all sat at a table on the upper floor overlooking the dance floor already being full with couples dancing. They were a high-spirited bunch of people who had put Archie at ease from early on since they met and for that he felt grateful. Gardel had not showed up yet, but the band was playing beautiful music to which Candy and Christian were swirling to its rhythm, holding each other tight.

Archie was staring at them move on the dance floor. He was wondering whether Candy had ever noticed Christian's similarities with Terry. Because for him, from the moment he opened the door of his suite and came face to face with Candy's lover, from the way he moved and talked, his mannerisms...everything were reminding him of Terry. He chose to say nothing to Candy...though it was obvious at least to him that Candy had found herself a Terry lookalike to spend her time with. He was polite, smooth and knew how to hold interest in a conversation. However, he found him annoying...maybe because he could sense too much Terry in him...but it all boiled down to the fact that Christian was behaving in a way that was making clear of how sure he was of himself. Great! Another self arrogant English prick, he thought. Most definitely some things had not changed and Candy's ability to choose annoying boyfriends was one of them.

And he couldn't miss Candy's excitement or her obvious crush with Christian. He knew she kept smiling even when situations would turn dire in her life. Next to Christian though, her face was awash with happiness like the cat who had got the cream and swam in it. He kept trying to spot signs of fake behaviour from Christian's part towards Candy, but he couldn't find anything. Committed or not, those two looked, in all honesty, very much in love. So for now, Archie was happy too with his first impression of Christian, even if he found him a tad annoying. Hell, no one likes everyone they meet and if Candy was happy and Christian treated her right then it wasn't something serious for Archie to be frowning upon.

The song had finished with a loud clapping from the dancing couples and the audience. Candy and Christian came back to the table. She sat next to Archie, patting her forehead, commenting on the music.

"Are you enjoying yourself my dear Archie?", she turned and said to him.

Archie smiled to her, wanting to reassure her he was having a good time.

"Of course I am sweetheart!", he said with enthusiasm back to her.

"Haven't seen you dance yet though...this is unlike you", she said back to him.

"Oh! Not to worry about that! I'm just warming up...and to be honest, I haven't tried dancing the tango many times with Annie, so I'm a little nervous", he said and chuckled.

"Practise makes perfect though...", he heard Christian saying just as he took his seat next to her.

"Indeed it does...", Archie said with a half smile.

Damn English...having an opinion about everything, he thought to himself.

"Nonsense! Archie is a great dancer", she protested to Christian and turned to see her cousin.

"You'll be perfect Archie! There is no need to be nervous", she said and smiled wide to him making him chuckle.

"I could see from your dance that you had a lot of practise"

"You know me...always loved to dance", she replied.

At that moment, Gardel came to the stage, taking his place in front of the orchestra. The crowd burst into thunderous clapping and cheering. For the tango aficionados this man was god. After saying a few words of appreciation for being there, thanking all those people who came to hear his songs, the notes of "Mi Buenos Aires", his signature song started floating in the air. Candy turned and looked at Archie with enthusiasm.

"Let's go!", she said and grabbed his hand.

"What?!", Archie said surprised with wide eyes.

"We're going to dance my dear cousin! Come!", she said while already up, waiting for Archie.

"Oh! Dear! OK!", he replied and got up, while watching Christian smiling.

"I know, I know...practise makes perfect...", Archie said to him in response to his smile.

"You got that right out of my mouth Archie. Enjoy yourselves!", Christian replied before ordering some dry martinis to the waiter who had approached their table.

The two of them entered the dance floor. It didn't take long for Archie to feel at ease while she was giving him gentle pointers every now and then. Dancing felt great. For the first time, he could let himself move to the music without having a worry in the world. A real soothing feeling spread wide inside of him.

"So...", he heard her voice brushing his ear. "What do you think of Christian, Archie?"

He started laughing when he heard her question.

"I knew there was some ulterior motive when you grabbed me to dance!", Archie replied.

"Archie! You know that's not true!", she objected.

"I know...I'm just teasing you...you know me Candy", he confessed and took a deep breath before he continued. "You know too that I don't have a big sympathy for English idiosyncracies...but he's alright...", Archie replied as honest as he could.

They twirled around the dance floor in a maze of moving bodies and faces. Gardel had enchanted everyone with his velvet voice and songs full of melancholy fused with passion.

"Because I know you...I also know that I couldn't ask for more Archie", she responded, "He's a terrific guy and he makes me happy", she added.

"I can see that...that's why I like him...", he said back and left a faint laugh.

The song came to an end. Candy looked at her cousin while clapping.

"See?! It wasn't too hard!", she said.

"Nope, it wasn't!", Archie admitted.

"Do you want to stay by the sides, to hear what the next song will be?", she asked him.

Archie agreed and they stepped off the dance floor. In the distance, one of her previous admirers, Alexander, had spotted her. He moved quickly towards her.

"Rose! Really great to see you here!", he said to her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Alexander! Fancy seeing you here too! How have you been?"

"Dancing the nights away as usual", he replied.

She introduced him to Archie before he asked her if he could have the honour of dancing the next dance with her. Candy looked at Archie, asking him with her eyes if it was ok with him. He did not mind. After all, he had drunk a few drinks already, and he felt hot. A break would be most welcomed at that moment.

The notes of a slow, melancholic song were heard coming from the orchestra. The poignant sound of the Argentinean bandoneo was piercing the air. Such intense music. Archie had fallen in love with it. Standing there, he made a mental note to buy some tango records when he would go back to Chicago. Bringing Chicago back to his mind while listening to the music, seeing the couples dance, filled him all of a sudden with deep sadness. His eyes stung. He clenched his jaw. There, was not the time to feel sorry for himself or his life back home.

He brought his hand up in an attempt to loosen his tie. While doing so, he spotted a young woman, standing next to the stairs, looking at him. She looked Mediterranean and was beautiful. "Maybe she is Spanish", he thought to himself while staring at her. She had a petite hourglass figure, wearing a black sparkling fringe dress with fishnets stockings. Thick waves of jet black hair were falling down to her waist. Looking at her big hazel eyes full of sparkle and expressive ruby lips against her olive complexion, he found her very sexy. Despite his continuous stare, she had not turned her eyes away. In fact, it was as if she was studying him from afar. A wave of goosebumps travelled up his spine. Not knowing why, he pushed his left hand down his trouser pocket, hiding the wedding band he wore on his finger, feeling flustered.

Needing a distraction from the view and his thoughts, he turned to watch Candy still dancing with Alexander until he felt a presence next to him.

"Such a shame to have Gardel coming all the way here...and not to dance...", he heard a slightly hoarse but very sensual sounding woman's voice coming from his side.

He turned. The woman he was staring before was standing next to him now, watching like he did at the couples dancing. From her accent, he gathered straight away she was French.

"You think so? Some people may not be as good dancers as others...", he replied. His heartbeat was wild. He thought this wasn't happening.

Without taking her eyes from the dance floor, her slender fingers squeezed his thigh. Her provocative gesture threw him off completely. Never he expected to be rendered speechless by a woman, for he was lost of what to say back to her in response.

"Excuses...I've seen you move just before and you've got strong legs by the feel of it", she said seeing him keeping silent and laughed. She turned and looked at him straight into his deep blue eyes. "I'm a dance teacher", she said excusing her previous gesture, and stretched her hand to introduce herself.

"Isabelle Dupin", she said to Archie with a wide smile. He took her hand to a handshake, feeling her cool smooth skin. "Archie Cornwall", he replied.

"A Yankee...", she said with a teasing sound in her voice. "Hmm...much to our dislike to this term...yes I am", he answered back with a light hearted comment. She kept laughing making Archie feel more at ease. He was not a man to be impressed at the drop of a hat, but this woman did impress him in the most unexpected way possible.

"I could have said the nickname the French have...but I won't...given the fact that you look nothing like a frog", he repaid her teasing and let a sincere laugh that was mixed with hers once she heard him teasing her back.

"Oh!..a Yankee...and with humour! That must be my night!", she replied.

For a few seconds their eyes returned to the packed dance floor. He was nervous to ask her for a dance as herself was a dance teacher but he decided to take the plunge.

"Since I can't bare being the shame of the tango club by not dancing, will you give me the honour of dancing with me? I don't want to cause any more offence to the great Gardel by keeping still on the sides", he turned and said to her with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"But of course!", she replied to his proposal, "And I won't try any fancy dance steps...", she added by sensing his nervousness. He took her hand and led her to the dance floor, putting his arm around her waist, holding her tight on his body.

"My, my!...a French...and with modesty. Lucky night indeed!", he continued flirting with her as their bodies moved in unison to the slow dragging sounds of the bandoneo, before hearing her soft laughter in his ears.

The songs followed one after the other. Candy had already gone to join Christian at their table having seeing with a smile that Archie had found his dance partner for the night. Embarrassing as it was to admit it, Archie did not want for the dancing to end. Both he and Isabelle were lost to the music. Having her into his arms, leading her on the dance floor. Her movements were elegant and fluid. They mirror imaged his own which filled him with an awakening feeling as if electricity was passing through his body. All his senses were heightened. Her hair smelled of jasmines and the naked skin of her back felt velvet and alive under his fingertips. Just like with tango being a finely tuned, sensual battle between the bodies of lovers, he could feel the attraction too strong the way their own separated and came back together, touching each other, leaving nothing in between. He felt the heat of her body immense, burning him inside.

The fourth song they danced together had come to an end. They parted, looking at each other with feverish eyes, smiling. Isabelle took a deep breath, her face and skin glowing with light perspiration.

"Archie...looks like you were underselling yourself! You are a good dancer", she said to him.

"I think it all comes down to the teacher...", he said back to her with a half smile.

He knew they had to part, both having come there with groups of friends. He decided to make the start. "And it was my utter pleasure to dance with you Isabelle", he added. "I better go and see what my friends are doing...they must be thinking that I vanished"

"Or that I kidnapped you...", she added and burst into a laugh.

"That too...", he said, while thinking it would have been a treat.

He blushed to that thought. It was so unlike him...always being in control, keeping his feelings in check, trying his best not to reveal anything and now...the outrageous possibility of being kidnapped by this French woman he had just met made him feel very strange, for he thought he would not have shown any resistance. His mouth felt dry and all the nervousness from before came back with a force. He'd like to see her again but the wedding band in his finger didn't let him translate that into words. It would have been totally untoward to her.

"Wait a second Archie!", she said suddenly and disappeared before he could reply.

He waited for a few seconds while his uneasiness grew. He wanted to smack his face for being such an ass. Back in Chicago when thinking that his life with Annie could not get any worse, he counted himself as living dead...and now when an attractive woman danced a few dances with him, pulling him out of his misery for a little while, all he wanted to do was crawl under a rock and stay there. He hadn't done anything wrong. Strangers danced together all the time...his mind though was sending him alarm bells as if it had been on fire and there was no one to put it out. In the distance, he saw Isabelle running back to him.

"Here...", she said and stretched her hand, holding a card.

He picked it and glanced at it. Her name, the address of the dance studio she taught and the phone number were all displayed in elegant calligraphy. For some reason his heart sunk. He pulled his eyes back and looked at her. "Recruiting students tonight Miss...Dupin...?", he asked her sounding more like a blatant sarcasm.

Inside, he regretted saying those words the exact moment they left his lips. He knew he sounded rude beyond belief. Her eyes widened. In those couple of seconds it took for Archie's response to sink in, a storm had gathered within them. "Is that what you believe?!", she asked him back, looking almost ready to slap him. Her stare glistened under the soft lights.

He didn't respond. Something kept him there instead of just running away, forgetting that whole night all together. "Connard...", she managed to say between her teeth, moving her face from side to side in disappointment and left without saying anything else.

Archie stood there frozen to his spot. An overwhelming sense of how wrong he was was enveloping him like a tide. The guilt by feeling a complete asshole gave its place to an urgency he could not disregard. It was impossible. Disgusted with himself he ran after her, bumping at people without giving a second thought. His heart raced to his neck. He reached her and pulled her arm, forcing her to turn back to look at him. He was almost certain he could see hate in her eyes.

"I am truly and honestly sorry...", he managed to say with his last breath, before trying to calm down. Her stand did not change. He knew she had regretted ever talking to him in the first place. He did not want to give up though, despite his mind and feelings being a mess too.

"It's just that...that...I haven't...", he began to say, trying in desperation to find the words. Let her know how unable he was in reading signals from a woman, given that he was stuck with his wife since he was a teenager.

He pushed his hair back. They were wet. Sweat was trickling down his temples. He looked a complete desperate hot mess in front of her. She took a quick impatient breath and looked at him dead straight in his eyes.

"Haven't what Archie?...we didn't do anything improper! We danced for heaven's sake!", the words stormed out of her lips.

Archie took a step back. It would have been easier to be slapped by her hand than her words. He wanted to disappear given his embarrassment right at that moment.

"I...I...", he kept saying, almost whispering.

Isabelle could see the confusion in his eyes, her anger starting to dissipate in the steamy air of the club. Her face calmed down.

"I noticed your ring Archie...and no, I did not come here to recruit students", she started saying in a softer voice, explaining herself to him, "I gave you my business card...because yes, I liked you and I was going to ask you if you'd like me to show you around London sometime...that was all", she finished and gave him a faint smile showing him her disappointment.

Archie could not believe how wrong he was in his mind. The realisation of which pushed him back, letting his body fall on the empty chair behind him, like the air had gone out of him.

"I'm that clueless then...", he said and turned his stare up from the floor and back on her face. She chuckled and knelt in front of him, taking his hands into hers.

"You're not clueless Archie...you're married...and by your reaction for a long time it seems", she answered to his worry with a chuckle.

For Archie, her last words did nothing to soothe him. Even from thousands of miles away, his life in Chicago left him incapable of behaving rationally to a situation like this. At least he was relieved she had calmed down. And that thought of Isabelle showing him around London sounded like fun, come to think about it now he had some time to think clearer. If he wanted to sort out his common life with Annie, he would have to start living life on his own for that little while he was in London. To find out a few things about himself rather than letting his forced relationship with Annie define him. His eyes were hesitant when he asked Isabelle whether they could start from the beginning as friends. She smiled back to him and stood back up, giving him her hand to pull him up too.

"As long as you don't have any other breakdowns...", she replied to him, accepting his suggestion. For Archie, it was like a heavy stone was lifted from his heart.

"Shall we dance some more?", she asked him.

"Oh!...I really have to go and check up with my friends...it's been a while I haven't been to our table", he replied. He didn't want to leave her company though.

"Would you like to join me for a bit? So I can introduce the girl who had almost kidnapped me if only I hadn't opened my stupid mouth", he asked her all of a sudden with a wide smile.

Her laughter, full of life, touched his ears once more. She gave him her hand to lead her to his table. On the way, he thought that this woman was made to laugh...in another life, he could have been the one man who would be responsible to make her laugh. They went up the stairs where he could see the table where Candy and Christian and the rest of the group were sitting. All of them had a fair bit to drink by the looks of their animated chatting and loud laughing. He turned to Isabelle.

"That's them, I'm afraid...", he said. They both burst into a laughter while approaching the merry group. What had happened a few moments earlier, was forgotten already. Candy saw them from afar and waved her hand to them. Archie and Isabelle, walked to the table. Introductions being over with, she sat down while Archie ordered drinks for them.

Isabelle was a much likeable person, fitting in from the start with Candy's friends. The joyful air of the place, the music and the alcohol which remained plenty in the glasses which were emptied and filled throughout their continuous chatting only helped their new addition to the table to feel at ease in a very short space of time. Archie remained as gallant as ever, taking care of his new friend with much enthusiasm.

"Not that he wanted too much persuasion on the latter", Candy was thinking by looking at them. It was as if they knew each other from a long time ago. She could see Archie having let his guard down, laughing and cracking jokes, feeling totally relaxed. She had never seen him be like that before.

When it came to bursts of anger, Archie was only coming second to Terry. His anger consumed him fast in the same unstoppable way a fire would eat away tall evergreen pine trees. But Archie's spontaneity stopped there. She didn't know whether it was his strict upbringing or a trait of his character itself, but she could never remember her cousin letting himself free to feel happiness to the point of behaving silly or out of character. The cheerful unabashed character of his late brother, Alistair, compensated for Archie's more measured behaviour. Even as teenagers, he was the thoughtful one when it came to the guys and her, planning something naughty for fun. She still remembered Aunt Elroy telling him he was harbouring an old soul, being the more serious from their bunch, trusting him blindly. Sometimes she felt sad for him. Carrying such weight on his shoulders, to always be the one that held the control of the group. Losing Anthony his cousin with the kind soul, then Alistair his brother who was the total opposite of him, being spontaneous, hilarious and up to almost everything mad that came to their minds...and then recently Albert who had been the head of the family and a wise shoulder for everyone to lean on, just managed to heighten Archie's seriousness towards life.

Candy felt tipsy. She had quite a few drinks up to that moment but despite her alcohol induced haziness, a nagging worrying feeling had nested in her heart by seeing Archie behaving in a way that was unlike him. Of course, who was she, to talk about unlikely behaviours? She was single though, and Archie was married and not only that. He was married to Annie, her best friend from back in the orphanage years. What would happen if he fell for that girl he had just met and because of whom, in a space of a couple of hours, her cousin now looked like having not a care in the world, flirting in an obvious way with eyes were smiling to each other.

They got up to dance. Isabelle held Archie's hand. Christian asked her to join him to the dance floor too. She dismissed the thoughts and worries for another time. The couples were still going strong on the dance floor. The air had become heavy with sweat and smoke. The lights were diffusing through. Everything became a collage of sounds and glances as their hearts touched each other, beating in the old sensual rhythm of the tango.

"How did it go last night Christian? Didn't time to ask...", Candy asked him while dancing.

"Oh!...sweetheart...it went very well...much better that I thought...", he answered to her with a smile.

They did not say anything else...fed by the carefree feeling of the night, their dance had become more intimate.

Christian held her tight. Pressing her body onto his with his arm wrapped around her back. She let her head rest on his chest, letting him carry her through the song. Her fingers hid under his hair, feeling the skin of his neck above the collar of his shirt, giving him sweet caresses. She could sense the effect this little movement of hers was having on him, the way she felt his embrace becoming tighter, his moves slower, relishing their contact.

"Rose...", he whispered in her ear.

"Hmmm...", she replied having been under the spell of their dance, not stopping drawing smooth circles with her thump on his neck.

"You are playing with me...", he continued.

"I do?", she asked him with a soft laughter.

"Yes...", he said as he swirled her around in a quick move.

"Good...", she said.

Her intoxication had made her even bolder than usual and continued to do what she was doing. She loved teasing him. They moved to the edge of the dance floor next to the curved grand staircase. Her eyes glanced for a brief moment at Archie who was dancing with Isabelle, having only eyes for her.

Having not paying attention to Christian's dance moves, he twirled once more with her, bringing her behind the curve of the staircase. It was much darker there than on the rest of the dance hall, the way the staircase was casting its shadow on them. They could be hardly seen from the crowd.

Gardel had come back from his mid-break. With a voice dipped in honey, he started singing the lyrics of an old love slow song. Her back was touching the cool surface of the staircase wall. Christian didn't leave her much room to move. His grey eyes looked more intense than ever the way they glazed on his flustered face while staring at her. She felt like burning too. The sweat was snaking down her back.

He took her lips slowly, while muttering something about not being able to control himself to her previous teasing. She let herself feel his kiss that was getting deeper, their tongues twisting and tasting each other. She was getting nervous the more she would feel her senses running riot under his kisses. He was nibbling on her ear, brushing her neck with his lips. His breaths on her skin were like instant fires.

"Christian...", she whispered out of breath. He answered to her calling. "What are you doing? We'll be seen...", she warned him.

"So...?", he asked, still not stopping from his kisses. "I can't resist you...it's beyond my powers", his voice sounded muffled with his face nesting on her neck. His hand started pulling her dress up, feeling her naked thigh just above her garters. She panicked.

"It's wrong...", she said back to him, pushing his hand though thinking that her resistance was not going to last long. He escaped her and started from where she had pulled him away. His fingers were sliding upwards, diving under her underwear, cupping her ass. She drew a quick breath, her body tensing under his caress.

"Since when, something that feels so good is wrong Rose?", he whispered to her with his eyes closed. Their faces were to a breath's distance while his hand continued his game of tantalising her to no return.

"It does feel nice...doesn't it...?", he asked her. There was no way she would say otherwise the way he was playing with her. He covered her with his body completely, keeping her hidden from everyone's view.

"Two gardenias for you, will hold all the warmth of a kiss. The ones I gave to you, will never meet the warmth of another desire", he said slowly to her, reciting the lyrics of the song they were hearing in English.

Her breathing became heavy, hearing him saying those words. She pushed her hand under his jacket, feeling his strong back tensing, above his wet shirt. She left a soft moan next to his ear as his hand moved from her behind, around and under her knickers, feeling her wet curls in a relentless caress which didn't seem he had any intention of stopping. She lifted her thigh just, rubbing it on his, wanting to feel as much as his body on hers as possible.

"At your side they will live and speak to you, like when you are with me, until you believe, that they tell you I want you", his deep voice felt like desert air on her ears.

His fingers slid down, rubbing her clit. All she could hear was his voice and the music, with her heartbeats melting into them. She gasped. Her body trembled with waves of lust, holding tight on him the moment he pushed two fingers into her.

"But if one late afternoon, the Gardenias of my love die, it's because they'd guessed that your love has shrivelled because there exists another desire...", she heard him saying to her.

She shivered and whispered his name, lost into the air the moment it left her lips. He pulled his fingers out and brought them to his lips, pushing the tip of his index between them, tasting her while his eyes kept her locked into a playful stare. He was driving her insane with every daring thing he did with her.

"Mmm...", he said after, "I like the way you taste", he admitted with a naughty smile before letting her taste herself in his kiss. The song finished the same time they stopped and stared at each other. Christian's little play had turned everything upside down. All she wanted was to be with him somewhere else, just the two of them. He gave her his hand.

"Let's get out of here", he said to her and pulled her out of their hiding.

They started walking fast up the stairs. Her mind clouded by her drunken state and the arousal she felt consuming her by Christian's ways, had forgotten all about Archie and her friends. They went to their table, now empty with everyone having taken their turn to the dance floor. Christian pulled out one of his cards, scribbled a few words on it, and left it on the table. They took their things and left the Cumparsita with one thing in their minds.

Archie had finished dancing with Isabelle. Had taken her back to their table for her to pick up her purse before returning to her friends. Everyone was there except Candy and Christian. Without sitting down, he asked one of the girls if she had seen them at all, since he hadn't spotted them around the club for quite a while.

"Yes...they left a message Archie...", the girl said and gave him Christian's note. He took it from her hand. Christian had just scrawled down that they had left...without giving them any other explanation. He put it down, feeling a bit miffed with Candy having taken off in such a way without saying a word to him. The girl saw his face turning annoyed.

"Not to worry Archie...I happened to glance at them at some point while dancing and they couldn't keep their hands away from each other...", she said to him and giggled.

Archie was not in the least amused though. Each innuendo and laughter from them only managed to fuel his anger at that point. He would never believe Candy being that rude or that lust hungry for that matter. Of course, he had accepted the fact that she was having her fun with Christian, just as being forward in her life, but there were some limits in his mind he could reach. And the way her friends sniggered to their sudden departure, hinting that they just went home to fuck, seemed to him very inappropriate to the point of Candy losing her dignity, leaving him feeling very embarrassed. He hated that thought which made his blood to thumb under the skin of his temples.

Isabelle kept quiet while looking at the expression of his face. He turned to her. All the carefree emotions his stare harboured just a few minutes ago had gone, like someone had switched the light off within them. He gave her purse to her.

"Let me escort you back to your table", he said with a restrained tone in his voice.

"It's ok Archie...I can go on my own...there is no need for you...", she said quietly to him.

"No! I insist Isabelle!", he replied, cutting her before finishing her sentence.

His grip of her hand was harder than before. They started to walk away from their table. His body was tense, his movements controlled, and his face like a stone wall. The moment they were going down the stairs, she stopped on her tracks. Archie turned to look at her.

"What?", he asked her almost shouting.

She had a serious look in her face. It looked like his dark mood was infectious because Isabelle didn't look at all happy. "Nothing Archie...I was only wondering whether you'll run after your cousin to keep your eye on her...as if you're having a thing for her...", she said in one go, her stare challenging him.

"What?!", he replied thinking that Isabele should be glad to be a woman because he really had to keep himself from slapping her. "Forget it Archie! It's not something that should concern me", she said to him.

"How dare you saying that by knowing me only for the last five minutes?", he snapped back at her.

"You forget, that through my job, I see how the body moves, the expressions a face takes...I can read body signals very well Archie...and we weren't for five minutes together...it was way more than that", she told him back.

He wasn't talking. He kept listening but his feelings would not change. What had happened had ruined one of the best nights of his life and the only reason he stood there was this woman who was telling him the way things were. Archie always flying off the handle when and where Candy was involved or threatened. Even if his feelings for Candy had changed, they still remained deep rooted and strong. Only this time his anger was pointed straight at her and her thoughtless actions.

"I can tell Archie...whether you love her in secret still or you loved her in the past, it sure shows it is something deep you feel for your cousin", she said with a voice that turned quieter.

Archie's mind was swimming with thoughts. His eyes were elsewhere when he saw Isabelle's asking stare. She was right to a degree. To hear it from a woman who just a little while ago was a complete stranger, shocked him. He never thought his feelings for Candy showed, how much he cared for her. She could see him struggling within himself. The moment he uttered a half hearted apology to her, she knew that his exact next move was to leave her there. Standing on her own, as he fled the club with only his thoughts and feelings to battle against through the night.