Romance: A Dirty Secret: Just Can't Stay Away (Bad Boy Escort Romance Series) (3 page)

Isabella sat in front of Cassie. It had been 35 minutes since Elijah had gone and Cassie made her sit on the bed. She quietly looked at Isabella and paced across the room, trying to decide what questions to ask first. She inhaled deeply and started attacking Isabella with infinite questions.

“Is he the same guy who dropped you home last night?”

“Did you meet him at the club for the first time?”

“Are you guys sex buddies?”

“He is handsome! You guys look great together! How is he in bed?”

“He was pretty good at it as much as I saw.”

Isabella interrupted her. “You saw? I thought you were covering your eyes.”

“I did cover my eyes but not really,” she winked at Isabella.

“You’re crazy, Cassie. Now calm down and, please, one question at a time,” Isabella said, laughing.

They talked late into the night.

The next morning, Isabella was immersed in her assignment. The assignment was to paint the best memory of her life. She had been working on it for four days. The deadline was two days away. As she smeared blue onto the center of the canvas and picked up yellow to fill the space, she realized that she had run out of paint. She furrowed her eyebrows and sighed. Yellow was an important element in her painting. She hurried to her closet, changed into neat clothes and rushed towards the door, grabbing her wallet. She walked to the road so she could catch a cab, and stopped when she saw a familiar car parked on the side of the road. It was Elijah’s car. She started walking towards it with a wide grin on her face to meet him but what she saw changed everything. He was with someone else. A girl.

She took a step back and breathed deeply. Thinking that she might have seen wrong, she rubbed her eyes and looked again at the people sitting inside. It was definitely Elijah getting physical with another girl. Isabella’s vision blurred as tears welled up in her eyes.

Her past was repeating itself all over again.

Elijah saw her. Their eyes met for a brief second and she ran. She looked back but Elijah did not even follow her to explain himself. His indifference made Isabella feel miserable. How could she bring herself to trust a guy she had only met a few times? Why did her heart feel like someone just stabbed it? Is it normal to feel this hurt by someone she had only just met? Isabella went inside and dropped down to the floor.

She had fallen for him. She realized she loved him. His touches were not the only thing Isabella craved; she craved his love, his attention. She wanted Elijah to only look at her and no one else.

Isabella’s mind was frantically searching for reasons that could explain the situation she saw. 

“Lust. Lust. Lust,” she murmured.

“Lust was all that he felt for me,” she cried out.

Isabella dragged herself to the bed. She could never paint her best memory after experiencing one of the worst moments of her life. She cried herself to sleep.

The next morning Isabella opened her eyes and kept staring at the ceiling blankly. She did not know what to think. She felt numb. Her eyes were swollen from all the crying she had done the previous night.

“Do I wear pink or blue?” Cassie interrupted Isabella.

“I think blue looks prettier, but at the same time pink suites me better.” Cassie continued to blabber.

“You know what? I’m going on a blind date tonight! Oh my god, I am sooooo excited! Do you want to come?” she questioned Isabella.

“Oh, why would you? You have Elijah!” Cassie frowned.

Isabella winced as his name came up and closed her eyes.

“And you are way too boring to go behind his back.” Cassie answered herself.

“I think I should wear that red mini dress instead. Okay, yes. That dress is perfect.”

Isabella opened her eyes and blankly stared at Cassie. She was too hurt to tell Cassie what had happened.

How does she stay so happy all the time? She thought to herself.

Cassie disappeared into the bathroom to change into the dress and came out wearing a royal blue dress instead of the red one.

“I’m going to wear this. This is perfect for tonight. I think it makes me look elegant. Yes. This dress it is then!”

“How do I look?” she happily exclaimed. “I think I look great!” she grinned.

Isabella smiled at how childish she was.

“Red is better,” she said dryly, confusing Cassie even more.

“Okay then. I’ll wear that.” At last, Cassie decided on her dress.

“By the way, why is all your painting stuff scattered on the floor?” Cassie asked while trying to reach the zipper at the back of her dress.

Isabella eyes widened, “Oh, shit!” and she ran to complete her assignment.

Click here to go to the index page

Isabella ran to the canvas. The painting looked incomplete, just like she was feeling right now. Looking at the canvas, the painful memory flashed before her eyes. This painting was supposed to be one of the most beautiful memories she had. Instead, it became the source of one of the most painful memoirs of her life.

Isabella kept glancing at the canvas. She had run out to get yellow paint, a bright color, the color that represented life. But she never knew that life would paint her picture in the darkest color, in shades of grey.

She knew no matter how hard she tried, she would not be able to get it off her mind. Elijah had brought color to her life, color that he himself ripped away.

She knew she had to complete the painting no matter what,  so she picked it up and started working. There was no yellow, but she decided to use the other colors instead. Isabella kept working, her hands mastering down the canvas throwing colors here and there. In the end, the result was a beautiful abstract of high hues of blue, red, and pink. She knew it did not make any sense to people who saw it at first, but abstract was the only way she could define her state of mind at the moment.

Whatever the painting was, she wrapped it up and put it aside. Cassie had gone with her boyfriend to the movies. Completing the assignment had kept Isabella so busy that she did not realize it was evening already. She thought of having dinner but realized she might puke if she ate something.

All she needed was sleep, but there was so much on her mind. She got into her bed and pulled the sheets over. It was dark. She heard something tap on her window. She looked towards it and saw water droplets trickling down the window. It was drizzling. She kept seeing the water droplets falling and then sliding down the window pane joining the other droplets to form a puddle somewhere down below. Isabella fell asleep as she watched the rain.

Isabella was looking frantically for Isaac. He had left her almost an hour ago with Cathy and the rest of the gang. She had not seen him since then. Where did he go? She was missing him now. One by one people kept filling in Alex’s house

The party was in full swing. Everybody was busy with something or the other. Couples were pushed up in corners making out. Some guys and girls were sitting around the coffee table playing cards. There were laughter and giggles all around.

Isabella was searching for Isaac. He was nowhere to be seen. She thought of looking outside. He must have gone out for fresh air. She walked toward the door to the poolside.

She never knew that what she would see would change everything for her. On one of the arm chairs, she saw Alex. Her legs were parted and she saw someone come around.

She recognized the tattoo on the nape of the neck. She knew who it was. She froze right there. Alex was moaning. Isaac was on top of her. Pushing in and out. Isabella turned around and ran and then she heard a crash…

Isabella opened her eyes. It was Cassie. She had bounced on her bed, probably drunk. Then within five minutes Isabella heard her snoring. Isabella sat up in her bed. She threw a glance over at her alarm clock. It flashed 1:00 AM. It was the middle of the night, but Isabella was wide awake.

She could see that it was now raining heavily outside. Thunder crashed and it was like the lightning was falling right on her heart. She had been having the same dream about Isaac again and again.

Isaac had broken her trust. He was the first person who showed her what life really was about. It was not a fairy tale. He was now only a nightmare to her. He cheated on her with some other girl. And now, once again, she was going through the same thing.

Elijah is no different, she thought and closed her eyes.

Click here to go to the index page

Isabella struggled to open her eyes. Her eyes were felt as if they're weight down by lead. She did not remember when she fell asleep. Her head was throbbing with pain and she thought of getting out of bed to carry on with the day.

It was Isabella’s habit to sleep a lot whenever she was depressed. And she was depressed, very depressed. She thought of sleeping as an escape from the reality. It took every fiber of being to not go to sleep again. She wanted to, but she dragged herself out of bed. She had to go to class, but she could not even stand up properly without tripping. Her head was spinning.

Isabella stood up and went to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water.  She felt relief as the water made its way to her stomach. She closed her eyes and heard her inner voice say, "Come on Isabella! You are better than that. You can’t ruin your day for someone who cheated on you."

She opened her eyes and decided to carry on with her day as normal. She glanced at the clock and it was 9 AM. Her eyes widened. She had to submit her assignment and it was already 9 AM! She forgot everything that was on her mind and ran to the bathroom to take a shower. As the warm water hit her body, she closed her eyes and sighed. Who would have thought that coming to New York would change so many things? She recalled all the events that had happened since she moved here. She smiled as she remembered the conversation she had with Elijah on the plane.

“I do not like when I see a girl crying. I apologize. My actions must have surprised you.”

Isabella cringed when she remembered what he said. Now Elijah was the reason for her tears. A simple thought crossed her mind, It would’ve been so much better if we had never met again.

Deciding not to listen to her thoughts anymore, she decided to focus on the shower, and she opened her eyes. She got out, dried her hair, and took out a loose pink top and jeans.  As she walked out of the bathroom, she glanced at Cassie, who was sleeping with her mouth open. Isabella lets out a giggle and thought to herself, I hope she stays the same. So carefree.

She smiled and carried on with her work.

“Good morning, beautiful!” Cassie said between her yawns.

Isabella turned. Cassie was now sitting on her bed. She was stretching her arms and yawning endlessly.

“Good morning, sleepyhead!” Isabella replied and turned to face the mirror. She brushed her hair and pulled it in a loose pony.

“Did you sleep well?” Cassie asked falling back on her bed.

“No, not so well, but it’s okay. I’ll sleep when I come back. How about you?” Isabella said and paced around the room to gather all the stuff she needed.

“Yes, I slept like a baby,” Cassie squealed and jumped out of the bed.

“Don’t you have a class today? It’s getting late,” Isabella said facing her.

“I only have one class at 11 AM,” she said, happily.

“Okay. I’m heading out. Bye!” Isabella rushed out without waiting for Cassie’s reply.

As soon as she stepped out of the door, she saw Elijah standing in front of her dorm. He was wearing a white shirt with black jeans and was leaning on his car.

Isabella decided to ignore him and she walked away. Elijah grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. She tried to push him away but Elijah was too strong for her. Elijah pinned her to his car and trapped her by putting both of his hands on either side of Isabella’s shoulder. Her canvas and bag were now on the ground. She stopped struggling when she realized she could never push him away. She folded her arms on her chest and completely ignored the piercing gaze of Elijah.

“Why are you not answering my calls and messages?” he said with low voice.

“I thought I might disturb you and that bitch,” Isabella snapped at him.

“Clear my way, I’m  late,” she added with a harsh voice.

“Isabella don’t behave like a child. We’re grownups.  Let’s discuss this.” Elijah’s voice became soft. He was clearly afraid of losing her.

“You should have thought about that when you saw me run away,” Isabella said and tried to push him away again.

Click here to go to the index page

“Isabella?” Elijah took her name gently.

She gave him an angry and upset look.

“I am sorry?” He said with a very guilty look and in a sheepish voice.

Isabella did not answer. She kept quiet instead and looked away from his face. She did not know what to say. All of a sudden, every single pain from her past flashed before her eyes. A lonely tear streamed down her face.  She wiped it using the back of her hand. Elijah was looking at her continuously while she did this.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I 'm fine,” she said in a second.

An uncomfortable silence filled the space between them. Elijah was looking at her. He was thinking of ways to convince Isabella to listen to his excuse. He moved one of his hands and gently touched her cheek in an effort for her to look at him. Isabella abruptly looked the other way, avoiding his touch. She wiped another tear that had made its way out.

“Elijah, please,” she said somewhat sternly

Elijah pulled back his arms, freeing her. “What we have is real, Isabella.”

Isabella looked at him. He stepped back. “I deserve at least one chance to explain myself.”

Isabella’s expression softened. She instantly regretted her rude behavior. She only saw them from a distance, maybe something else was going on in there. She looked at him and noticed that his expression was hurt.

“I can explain,” he said in a low voice.

“It’s getting late Elijah. I have not been concentrating on my studies because of our complicated relationship,” she said in a soft voice.

“I have a deadline to meet. I have to submit this before 10:30 AM,” she said pointing at the wrapped canvas.

Elijah’s lips were pressed into a hard line. He nodded and did not say anything.

“I will stop by your house once I’m done with this and we can talk,” she said while touching his face softly.

Elijah closed his eyes as soon as Isabella’s hands came in contact with his skin. He let out a sigh and smiled weakly at her. “Okay. I’ll wait for you,” he said.

Elijah picked up her stuff up off the floor and handed them to Isabella.

“Can I give you a ride?” Elijah asked her.

“I’ll manage. I need to be alone,” she said and turned to walk away.

“Take care,” Elijah said with a worried voice.

“Take care.”

Click here to go to the index page