by Paula Kay
“Right. Not really. Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll get a clue today, I guess.”
“Yeah. Maybe she just wants a chance to get to know you. I’m sure Thomas has talked a lot about you to her, so there could be a hint of jealousy there.”
“Really? Natasha didn’t strike me as the jealous type. She seemed so confident and sure of herself. And she’s so much older than us. I’m the one who should be jealous of her. She really seems to have her act together.”
“Yeah, but that’s all surface stuff, right? She might be solid with her career but floundering in the love department.”
“Ugh. I really hope we’re not going to get too personal—when it comes to her and Thomas, I mean. That would just be weird.”
“Well, time will tell, and on that note, you better get going, right?”
Isabella looked over at the clock. “Yes, I gotta run. Are you going to be around later?”
“For a debriefing? Are you kidding? I will await your return and take you to lunch as a reward for surviving.”
Isabella laughed. “That’s a plan. Okay, I’m off. Wish me luck.”
“Just be yourself. She’ll adore you just as everyone else does.”
Jemma gave her a big hug and Isabella walked out the door to make her way to the tube station.
Isabella smoothed her skirt down and then glanced in the window of the large building before entering. Thomas had texted her that the place Natasha was taking her was quite fancy—code for don’t show up in your jeans. Now she wished that she’d have taken a bit more time with her hair and put on a little more make-up. She rode the elevator up to the top-floor cafe, feeling out of place the moment she stepped off.
She scanned the room as the hostess came over to her, and gestured to where Natasha sat at a table by the window. “I see my friend is here.”
“Follow me, please.”
Natasha glanced up from her phone just as Isabella came up to the table. She stood up to kiss her on each cheek.
“Isabella, thanks for meeting me. You look lovely.”
So prim and proper. That was what felt stuffy to Isabella.
“Thanks for inviting me. And you look great too.”
Natasha was wearing her suit; Isabella knew that she was meeting her during a work break. She willed herself to calm down. It was just a coffee, and everything was going to be fine. She sat down across from her and looked out the window.
“Wow. You weren’t kidding about the view. This is fantastic.”
“Yes, it is quite nice. I bring clients here often for meetings.”
The waiter came over to take their espresso orders, and Isabella could feel Natasha studying her intently. Just be yourself, Isabella.
“So, how are you and Jemma enjoying the city so far? Have you had a chance to see a lot?”
“Yes. We’ve done the tourist things—rode the double-decker bus and all that. There’s still a lot we’ve not seen but Jemma’s been here before and I’ve been pretty busy with some work.”
“Oh yes. Thomas tells me that you’re working on your first novel?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Isabella really didn’t want to talk about her book. She’d not even shared that much with Thomas, so she wasn’t prepared to talk about it in any detail with Natasha.
“Who’s your publisher?” Natasha asked.
Isabella felt her face grow warm. She hated this question. With some people there seemed to be such a stigma when it came to self-publishing. She had the sneaky suspicion that Natasha might be one of those types of people.
“Oh, I’ve decided to self-publish. I didn’t even try to get an agent or anything. My book is really more of a personal goal, so it’s not like I have huge expectations for it.”
“Oh. I see. Well, I hope that it will do very well for you.”
“Thank you.” Isabella was happy for the distraction of their waiter back with the coffees. “And what about you? Thomas told me that you are in the financial industry. Do you enjoy your job?”
Natasha put her coffee down and wiped her mouth with the cloth napkin from the table. “Yes. Yes, I do very much. It’s more than a job to me, though. It’s a career that I’ve been building over the past ten years. I’m sure that Thomas has told you that.”
No, Thomas really hadn’t told Isabella much of anything about Natasha’s career aspirations. Thomas hadn’t told Isabella much of anything at all about his girlfriend.
Isabella nodded in response, trying to think of a new topic of conversation. Before she could think of what to say, Natasha was speaking again, her demeanor very serious all of the sudden.
“Isabella, there’s a reason why I wanted to speak with you.”
“Okay.”
“I know you are Thomas’s best friend—which quite honestly I do find a bit odd—but that’s besides the point.”
“Why do you think that’s odd?” Isabella was genuinely curious.
“Well, I mean it’s not normal that your best friend is of the opposite sex. Quite frankly I have a hard time believing that you and Thomas have never been more than just friends. It’s just not something that sits well with me.”
Isabella felt her heartbeat quicken as a dozen responses entered her mind, one of which was to throw her glass of water across the table onto Natasha’s perfectly groomed hair. Instead she took in a deep breath before she responded.
“Well, you’re wrong about that, Natasha. There’s never been anything between Thomas and me other than friendship. I’m sure he’s told you that.”
“He has. Yes.” She looked at her from across the table and Isabella felt distinctly uncomfortable at the direction their conversation was going.
“Okay, so what did you want to speak to me about then?” Isabella was proud of the fact that her voice didn’t waver. She could hold her own with Miss Fancy-Pants.
Isabella swore that she saw Natasha flinch slightly. She hadn’t been expecting Isabella to speak her mind. She could tell that from the way the woman seemed a little less sure of herself.
“Well, I just wanted you to know that I’m very serious about Thomas—about our relationship. To be quite frank with you, I want to be married and having kids within the year.”
Isabella nearly choked on the sip of coffee she’d just taken.
“Oh, I’m not telling you anything that Thomas doesn’t know. He’s well aware and completely on board.”
“Really?”
“Why are you so surprised by that?”
“Well, Thomas is my best friend of ten years. I know him pretty well. I find it hard to believe that he’s ready to settle down at this stage in his life. Obviously he’s a lot younger than you and I’m not sure it’s fair to be putting that kind of pressure on him.”
“I’m not pressuring him, Isabella. Thomas loves me.”
Isabella felt sick to her stomach. She really didn’t know quite how to respond to this conversation, and all she wanted to do was run out of the building. She wasn’t liking Natasha any better at all.
“Natasha, why are you telling me this?” Isabella looked at her intently. She could be straightforward too.
Natasha looked slightly taken aback. “I just wanted you to know in the hopes that you might back off a bit with Thomas.”
“Back off? I’m not sure what you’re getting at. I haven’t even seen Thomas since we arrived. And furthermore, I actually think you have a lot of nerve saying such a thing to me. He and I have been there for one another for the past ten years, and I’m not about to promise you anything when it comes to my relationship with him. I’m pretty sure that Thomas can tell me himself if he thinks things need to change in our relationship.”
“Oh? So why do you think he’s not seen you since you arrived here?”
The look on Natasha’s face was smug, and it was all Isabella could do to keep from slapping her across the face. She refrained, getting up quickly from her chair.
“Look, Natasha. I don’t know why you seem to have suc
h a problem with me. I was really hoping that you and I would be friends. I think it would be in your best interest and mine, since we both care about Thomas so much. I’m not going to sit here and listen to you insult me or try to tell me how Thomas feels. Thomas can tell me himself, which I’m sure he will do. Thanks for the coffee and have a lovely day.”
With that, Isabella turned away, walking quickly out of the restaurant and onto the elevator. She was desperate to get some air and calm her anger, which had surprised her. Apparently she could be quite defensive when it came to her relationship with Thomas.
The moment she stepped outside and walked around to the side of the building, she burst into tears. This was a nightmare. Natasha was a nightmare. How could Thomas possibly be in love with that woman? She wouldn’t believe it. It was time for him to be straight with her.
Isabella grabbed her phone out of her purse and punched in a text to him.
Thomas, we need to talk. When can you meet me?
She waited. He’d get back to her. At least he had been replying to her texts. Unless, of course, he was hearing otherwise from Natasha right this minute. She couldn’t escape the ugly thought that Natasha would be so bold. Her phone dinged with the incoming response.
Are you okay? Coffee didn’t go well, I take it?
No, it did not. And I want to talk to YOU about things. Lunch tomorrow? Please?
She waited another few seconds for his response. She rolled her eyes. Checking his busy calendar. Yeah, right. More likely it seemed that he might be checking with Natasha.
OK. I’ll come pick you up at 1 tomorrow.
Perfect. See you then.
She’d get to the bottom of this nonsense and hopefully knock some sense into her best friend’s apparently lovesick brain.
Chapter 13
Isabella sat at the kitchen table across from Jemma, fuming still from the words Natasha had said to her.
“I mean seriously? How dare she think that she can just declare my friendship with Thomas to be over? She’s got some nerve, and why she thinks that would ever fly with Thomas is beyond me—”
“—Bella, slow down. Good grief, girl. Tell me what happened. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this angry before.”
Isabella took a deep breath to keep from crying. She was angry—very angry—but deep down she was also afraid. Could Natasha actually take Thomas from her? The thought sickened her. More so that he’d ever let that happen, but he’d been acting so weird lately that she was more than a little confused about their relationship.
She finally sat still for a few minutes and Jemma waited without saying anything, most likely waiting for Isabella to gather her wits about her enough to speak about what had happened. She filled Jemma in on the entire conversation and waited for her response. Jemma would help her to know what to do—how to handle things. She’d become a good voice of reason to Isabella over their past months together.
“Wow. I don’t know why I’m so surprised, but I guess I am. Who does she think she is anyway? Don’t you think she would wonder how all this was going to fly with Thomas? I wonder if he even knew what she was going to talk to you about.”
“Well, I know. That was my thought too. I did text him—right afterwards, actually.”
“And? Did you talk to him?”
“No, we’re having lunch together tomorrow.”
“Well, that’s good.”
Isabella couldn’t keep her emotions in any longer, as hard as she was trying to.
“Hey, don’t cry.” Jemma came over to the other side of the table to lean down and hug Isabella. “I’m sure everything’s going to be fine—that it’s just some massive misunderstanding.”
Isabella wiped at her eyes with her hand. “Do you think it’s true? What Natasha said about Thomas being in love with her?”
“I don’t know. It could be. But do I think that’s gonna make him stop being friends with you? Not a chance.” Jemma sat down in the chair next to Isabella, watching her quietly for a few moments before she spoke again. “Bella?”
“Yeah?”
“Be honest with me.”
Isabella nodded her head.
“Are you more upset about the possibility of your friendship with Thomas changing or the fact that Natasha told you that he loved her?”
“I think it’s that I’m afraid she’s going to take him away from me—that everything about the friendship that we’ve had for so long is going to change. I don’t want that to happen.”
“Okay. I understand you being upset about that, but to play devil’s advocate for a minute—if they are in love—heck, let’s say they even get engaged…”
Isabella looked up quickly at Jemma’s words. “Jem, don’t say that.” Even the thought of Thomas being engaged to that woman made her feel sick to her stomach.
“Well, I’m just saying—let’s suppose that it happened. If it were me, I’d be a little leery of my future husband having a best friend that was a woman—especially after seeing the two of you together. You gotta realize that at least somewhat, Bella.”
Isabella sighed. She knew that Jemma had a point. Relationships changed over time, and it wasn’t realistic to think that she and Thomas would have the same level of closeness once either of them were married or to the point of being that serious about their significant other. She did get that.
“I guess you do have a good point. I need to prepare myself and probably realize that Thomas and I shouldn’t be as close as we are.”
“Well, I don’t know about that, but you know I have my opinions about the two of you.” Jemma smiled. “You can only go on what he tells you, I guess. Hopefully he’s going to be honest with you tomorrow and then you can just go from there. Oh, and for the record, I hope he doesn’t end up with Natasha. Personally, I don’t think they are right for one another at all.”
Isabella laughed. “Thank you for saying that.”
Chapter 14
Thomas was holding the door to the pub open for her, waiting for her to close her umbrella and get in out of the rain. He put his hand lightly on her back and led her inside.
“What’s up with this rain, huh?” Isabella asked—knowing that a conversation about the weather was all she could handle until they were sitting down across from one another, where she could look him in the eyes.
“No kidding. I guess it’s time to get my winter sweaters out.” Thomas laughed. “You’re looking pretty cozy in yours, I must say. I love that color blue on you.”
Isabella smiled and then just as quickly felt that moment of panic in her gut. This was what she would miss. Thomas had always been the one to lift her spirits—to say the kindest things to her whenever she’d been feeling down. She just couldn’t imagine that going away. She’d do whatever she could to prevent that from happening.
Instead of saying any of that just yet, she smiled across the table at him. “Thank you. You’re always so sweet to me.”
The waiter came over to take their orders, and they continued to make small talk until their food came.
Finally, Isabella couldn’t stand it any longer. She had to just get it out. Not talking about what was really bothering her wasn’t going to make things go away, and she was a little miffed that Thomas was apparently waiting for her to bring up the subject of Natasha.
“So, does Natasha know that we’re having lunch today?”
“She does. Yes.”
Isabella thought he was already looking uncomfortable, but she was prepared to go ahead with the conversation that she’d rehearsed in her head over and over that morning.
“So, did she tell you about our coffee meeting—everything that was said? And pretty much how horrible she was to me?”
She noticed his jaw clench as she waited for his response.
“Well, she told me that you stormed out of the restaurant. She kinda made it sound like you didn’t really give her a chance to finish the conversation. Maybe if you’d stayed to talk, the whole thing wouldn’t have gone so wrong
.” Thomas ran his hand through his hair, something Isabella knew that he did whenever he was nervous.
“Thomas. Seriously?”
“Iz, what do you expect me to do? I feel like I’m totally caught in the middle here.”
“I don’t know, Thomas, but what I don’t expect is that you’d just throw away our years of friendship over a woman you barely know.” As much as she was trying not to cry, she could feel tears burning behind her eyelids.
“Iz, come on. Stop being so dramatic. Who said anything about me throwing away our friendship? Do you really think I’d do that?”
She couldn’t contain her tears, much as she was trying to hold them back. She put her fingertips to her forehead, her hands shielding her eyes as her tears fell freely.
She felt Thomas come around the booth to sit next to her, his hand immediately rubbing her back.
“Iz, don’t cry. Come on. Please stop.”
She felt his breath on her ear as he gave her a quick kiss there and pulled her in tight against his chest. She let her head relax, her sobs slowing and finally her arms going around the boy—who wasn’t a boy at all any more—whose comfort she knew so well. Being in Thomas’s arms felt natural to her. It had always been the one place she could count on when anything bad had been going on in her life. She felt his hand rubbing her back again and his kiss on her forehead.
Isabella started to giggle.
“Hey, what’s so funny?” Thomas pushed her up away from him gently, so that he could look her in the face.
“Do you think maybe this is why Natasha has a problem with me? I mean look at us, Thomas.” Isabella was still giggling. “Is this how most friends behave together?”
Thomas was shaking his head, grinning as he handed Isabella a napkin. “Here, wipe your face, goofball.”
He was still looking at her intently as she finally stopped giggling and blowing her nose loudly. She moved over on the seat a bit to create a little space between them, aware that Thomas was still watching her with a strange look on his face.
“So, are you okay now? With your breakdown, I mean?” He winked at her and she nodded in response as he moved back to the other side of the table, still watching her, all signs of the earlier discomfort between them gone.