Second Chances (71 page)

They didn’t speak of how he offered to purchase one of the pots Isabella was so taken with and have it shipped back home. 

“You know I will be moving into my apartment as soon as we get back,” he remarked.

“Yes, it looks like I will be available to decorate for you after all, huh?”  Isabella joked.  She couldn’t believe that she had once been so scared of her future, so scared of Gabriel expecting her to be around.  And yet, he still unnerved her in so many ways, as recently as yesterday even.

“If you think we can use that in the apartment,” he said seriously, “then I’ll buy it.”  He held her close.  “It will be our first art purchase.  We could do that.  Pick up some work everywhere we go.  We’d have the most amazing collection some day, eh?”

Isabella studied him.  He spoke as though they were going to be together always, but Isabella could not see that far into the future.  She couldn’t even imagine her children all grown up.  She certainly couldn’t imagine where she and Gabriel would be thirty years from now or a mere thirty days from now.

“I don’t know,” she had said slowly.  Then she excused herself to go to the restroom where she stood for several minutes staring at her reflection and focusing on controlling her breathing. 

When she met him once again in the lobby, they left to return to the hotel.  Gabriel hadn’t addressed the idea of the art purchase again, but on the way out, she noticed the piece was no longer on display.

That night, a heavy rain came down while they were returning to the hotel from the dance club to go to sleep.  Everyone else ran for cover, but Isabella and Gabriel simply grabbed each other and began to tango their way to the hotel entrance.  By the time they met up with their friends in the lobby, the air conditioner hitting their wet skin and clothing caused Isabella to shiver almost uncontrollably.

Gabriel frowned with concern.  His friends noticed the protective manner in which he held her close in the elevator.

“Geeze man, she’ll be fine once she’s dry,” Sebastian remarked irritably.

Her teeth were chattering as Gabriel carried her to bed.   “Lay still,” he instructed quietly.  Isabella felt ridiculous.  She could hear bath water being drawn and the jets running in the tub.  Gabriel walked out to her and began to undress her.

“I can do it, you know,” she said quietly.

“I know that, but I want to.”  His brow furrowed as he concentrated on getting her warm.

“What if you get tired of taking care of me just about the time that I grow accustomed to it and then we’re miserable?”  She asked with a furrowed brow.

Gabriel smiled and wiped the worried look on Isabella’s face away with a plush hand towel.  “What if I never grow tired of taking care of you and you grow accustomed to it and we live happily ever after?”

Isabella shook her head disbelievingly.  “That’s only in fairy tales,” she said miserably as her panties were being pulled down her legs.

“We’ll see.”  Then he carried her to the tub, and placed her gently in the water before disrobing and joining her.

December thirty-first promised to be unseasonably hot.  The average temperature for that time of year usually topped off around 83 degrees; however, it was expected to reach the low nineties this afternoon.  No one wanted to do anything but lie around at the pool.  Gabriel canceled their trip to Corcovado to see the famous statue of Cristo Redentor.

“We could just buy post cards like the rest of the tourists and say we went there,” Eric suggested lazily.

“No, let’s just wait until it cools off, like right after dinner.  We need to end our year right, eh?”  Gabriel asked, trying to rouse some interest from his friends.

“Looks like you’re ending your year just fine,” Ben said, winking at Isabella.

The day at the pool actually was a perfect way to conclude their trip, since they all had to leave for the airport after breakfast the next
morning.  The weather, though hot, happened to be welcome by all of them, since they knew they were returning to freezing temperatures and little sun for months in the cold northeast.

Everyone finally adjourned to
their rooms to rest and prepare for the holiday late in the afternoon.  New Year’s Eve had been regaled as amazing in Rio.  There were to be fireworks lighting up the sky around the hotel later.  Everyone would be out in the street partying and welcoming in the New Year.  Their lively group would, of course, do the same.

Isabella emerged from the bathroom wearing nothing but her bathrobe to answer the door.   She smiled when she saw it was Gabriel, carrying several packages.  He glanced at her attire and expelled a series of low curses in more than one foreign tongue.

“Is that how you answer the hotel room door in a strange city?”  He asked, more than a little concerned.  “It could have been anyone.  A rapist.  A murderer.  Anyone.”

“Relax,” Isabella whispered.  “I looked through the peep hole first.”  Then she saw the packages he had brought into the bedroom and placed on the bed.  “What’s all this?”

“Your attire for tonight.  I wanted us to match.”  He stood there smiling widely as he waited for her to open the packages he had laid on the bed for her inspection.

Isabella studied him for a moment, concerned about the contents of the boxes.  She opened one and found white, sparkly, strappy, heels.  She nodded in approval.  In the next box she discovered a white satin strapless bra and matching thong.  She smirked.  The small box contained sterling silver hoops and a matching choker.  The last box, however, took her breath away.  As she reached beneath the layers of tissue paper, she found a white sparkly cocktail dress.  It had a halter style top that attached around her neck, and a heart shaped neckline that would emphasize her chest.  The dress had been manufactured in a stretchy material designed to cling to all the right places.  Her eyes lit up.  “Oh, Gabriel!  Thank you!”  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him enthusiastically.

“I thought this would really show off your tan,” he explained.  Then he smiled.  “And everything else.”  He led her to the bathroom.  “Now shower quickly and don’t get your hair too wet.  I have someone coming in to do your hair and makeup tonight.  I thought we should do tonight right.  After all, this will be our first New Year’s together.”

By the time they were ready and met everyone downstairs, they were the last to arrive.  They could have taken the elevator all the way down, but Gabriel insisted that they make a grand entrance and get off on the second floor in order to walk down the grand staircase arm in arm.  Isabella felt like Julia Roberts in
Pretty Woman
.  All eyes were on them as they descended to the lobby.

They dined, they danced, and they welcomed in the New Year together, then while the fireworks were still exploding above, Isabella and Gabriel snuck away to watch alone from their balcony.  At last, the colorful blasts ceased and they were left with a new peace.  Gabriel pulled Isabella to the couch, where they sat facing each other. 

“I was nervous about having my friends come on this trip with us,” he began quietly.  “I pretty much had to invite them though, since we planned this trip before I knew you. I just couldn’t bear to be away from you during the holidays.  I knew that the vacation was already going to be challenging enough for you, and I would have been missing you, so I asked if you could come along.”  He paused to breathe.  “They were eager to meet you.  Too eager.  I was afraid one of them might try to steal you away from me.”

Isabella opened her mouth to speak, desperate to ease his fears.  He covered her lips with one finger.  “No, wait.  I have to finish while I still have the courage.”  He paused again, choosing his words carefully.  “You see, I was afraid that you weren’t close to me because you didn’t love me, couldn’t love me.  I thought maybe I was just a distraction to you, no one you could get serious about.   I thought that was why we haven’t...” Again his voice trialed off.  He lifted his hands in explanation.  “Now I know that you love me.  Nothing else matters.  I could wait forever, you know?” 

“You mean to…” Her eyes were wide with admiration.

“Yes, darling.  To make love to you.  I said it once so long ago.  I meant it then.  I mean it still.”

Isabella looked into his eyes.  Gabriel held her gaze.  He still willingly waited, yet suddenly Isabella wanted him more than she could ever remember wanting anyone.  She worked to keep her emotions in check.  She wanted to kiss him, passionately, but they had had such trouble stopping lately that now especially she dared not start what she hadn’t the energy or desire to end.  She laid her head upon his chest. 
Not tonight
, she thought to herself. 
Not with all your friends nearby.  Some time when it is just right.  Some time when it is just us.

Again, Isabella awoke to an empty bed.  She rose and threw a robe over her naked form.  The trail of rose petals began next to her feet and she giggled.  This time they were a pale pink, demonstrative of his innocent love for her.  She followed their meandering trail out of the bedroom, then onto the balcony.  Gabriel could be found sitting there, smiling and waiting for her.  He set the newspaper down and walked her to her seat where again a silver lidded tray awaited her attention.

Tucking her chair in for her, he said, “I hope you don’t mind.  I know we have been eating all of our meals together as a group, but this morning I wanted to keep you all to myself.” 

“Of course I don’t mind,” Isabella scoffed.

Then Gabriel lifted the lid to the tray and revealed not only strawberry crepes,
but a black velvet box propped against a pink long stemmed rose.  Isabella gazed at it nervously, but not as filled with trepidation as she had been previously.  She opened the lid, knowing that Gabriel expected her to do so.  Inside, the most exquisite diamond and platinum bracelet that she had ever seen rested upon the velvet.  The date had been engraved on a heart dangling near the latch.

Isabella’s hand shook as she removed it from the box.  She looked to him for assistance, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to hook it on her own.  Gabriel walked swiftly around the table and latched the bracelet around her delicate wrist.  He caressed the tender skin for a moment, then brought her hand to his lips and said earnestly, “I love you, Bella.  And I love that I am free to tell you as often as I want without worrying how you will react.”