Isabelle's Story, A Bentley Sisters Novel

by Lauren Beaumont

  "What's up?" his tone puzzled and then, with an exaggerated sniff of the air and a grin, asked, "Have you been cooking? It smells good in here!"

  "Well, I wouldn't bother if I were you. We may as well go out!" she snapped.

  "What do you mean? It smells great, and I'm really hungry… I can open some wine for us if you fancy?"

  "You're late. It's all burned now and, besides, the recipe didn't work out," she slammed one of the empty pans into the sink.

  Utterly bemused, he turned to one of the bubbling pans and, snaffling a spoon from the drawer, tasted the contents. "But Bel, it's not burned at all, it tastes great! I'm really sorry I'm late. I did send you a message to tell you I'd be running over, and I sent you another one when I was leaving to let you know I was on my way home."

  Bel knew she'd left her phone in her purse and so hadn't checked to see if he'd sent any update on his timing, but she was frankly past the point of caring, particularly when he was blatantly lying over her cooking skills!

  "There's no need to be so bloody patronising!" she bit out at him as he moved to the cupboard to pull down some wine glasses. "And I didn't get your damn message!"

  She pulled the bubbling pan from the hob and slammed it onto the counter, letting the sauce fly everywhere, clearly getting ready to bin the whole lot before he quickly took it from her grasp and placed it to one side safely, moving her back a few paces in the process, away from the pan.

  "Bel," he sounded strained, "I don't know what the problem is here. I promise you I did send you a message, and there's no way I'd patronise you about your cooking. It tastes great. There's no way you should be throwing that away!"

  Wanting to kick and scream at him and his reasonableness, she did the next best thing, which was to pick up one of the big serving spoons that sat on the counter next to her and lobbed it straight at his head, missing him but smashing the wine glasses that were next to him.

  With a strangled cry of frustration she pushed past him and stormed upstairs to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

  A few minutes later the bedroom door opened and she felt him sit down beside her on the bed.

  "Tell me what all this is about, Bel, please."

  "Dinner went all wrong," she muttered, "and you're lying if you tell me otherwise. I'm not some kid that falls for any faint praise you know."

  Deliberately, he pulled her hands from her face. "I wouldn't lie to you Bel. I don't know why you think dinner was ruined. Did you actually taste it?"

  Silence.

  "Was there really any need to throw things at me?" he asked mildly.

  She shrugged, avoiding eye contact.

  "You do know that you've been deliberately provoking me for over a week now, hmmm?"

  Immediately, a denial spilt forth from her lips and she shoved him away from her, pushing against his chest with her hands, frustrated when he wouldn't budge and, instead, wrapped her closer to him.

  "Bel," he grimaced, "you were the one who wanted this kind of a relationship, where you seem to think you're freer to do what you want regardless of others, so why are you trying to bait me into telling you off, or reverting to the kind of relationship that I'd had in mind?"

  "I'm not baiting you," she muttered under her breath.

  "Really? What would you call it then? Throwing things at me? Swearing at me? Staying out until all hours without even telling me you're safe and will be home late? I doubt that they're things you would do to your friends, so why to me?"

  She shifted uncomfortably, "I'm not stopping you saying what you think, it's just the other stuff that we said you wouldn't do…"

  "And I've told you that I don't like you doing those things, Bel. If I remember, we argued about it last night and you then turned away from me in bed and refused to talk about it anymore. If you want to argue more over it, we can, but it's exactly that kind of prolonged unpleasantness that I'd really like us to try and avoid. I can't help thinking though that there must be some reason why you've suddenly started to behave like a brat with me. Are you just trying to make me go back on my word and spank you?"

  "No!" she denied it vehemently. "Why would I do that?"

  "I don't know, Bel. You tell me?" he said quietly. "You've stopped talking to me properly, so I don't know what's going on in your mind. All I do know is that up until a week ago we seemed to have the foundations of a good, solid relationship. Then, we decided to try a different way of doing things, and you seem to have become more unhappy than I've ever seen you, going out of your way to goad me and needle me into reacting at every opportunity. Why, Bel?"

  He sighed. "We've got just under a week of this arrangement to go Bel, before we try out my way of doing things, but I don't want to see you this miserable for the next week. It's destroying me to see you do this to yourself."

  "I'm not miserable, really I'm not. Maybe it's just me getting used to having control back over my life again," she tried futilely to come up with a reason, any reason, to justify how her mood had changed.

  "Back in control?" he was amazed. "Bel, I haven't seen anything in the last week that has even hinted at you having any control. You've been flying from extreme to extreme, in your actions, your emotions, everything. Just now, you threw things at me!"

  She hung her head. "I don't know what's wrong with me," she whispered sadly.

  He cuddled her to him, "At least that's the first truly honest thing you've said to me all week," he said heavily. "Bel, whatever it is, we'll get through it. I promise you. I'll be here for you no matter what," and he held her tightly in his arms until, forgetting dinner, they fell asleep.

  Chapter Five

  Tentatively, Isabelle made her way down the stairs. Today, she knew, was the first day of their second fortnight, when they were supposed to be giving Alex's way of doing things a proper chance. Although, after the episode in the kitchen, Isabelle had felt a tiny bit better and had started to talk to Alex more about her concerns and fears, she'd still felt unhappy and despondent for reasons she couldn't truly identify. She'd finally acknowledged to him that she thought she had been trying to push him into losing his temper with her, but for what reason she had no idea. It wasn't as if she actively wanted an argument with him, or for him to go back on his word and spank her. But she hadn't seemed able to stop herself with him. Ruefully, she thought that he must have had the patience of a saint with her during those two weeks, as any other man she had dated would have walked out by now. Unless, she thought with a frisson of unease, he was saving it all up for this week.

  As she walked into the kitchen, the smell of steaming coffee and her favourite scrambled eggs hit her nostrils and she breathed in heavily, savouring the smell. As Alex turned to see her, a smile lit up his face, "Morning sweetheart," he beamed at her.

  "Uh… morning," she ran a hand through her still messy hair, trying to smooth it unsuccessfully.

  He placed full plates loaded with food onto the table and poured the coffee for them as they sat down, with him choosing the seat closest to her.

  As she sipped her coffee, glorying in its smooth bitterness, she looked at him through her lowered lashes.

  "What?" he asked as he scooped up eggs with his fork, always amused at her inability to function much in the mornings before she'd had her first gulps of coffee.

  "I… well, I was just wondering… isn't today when we kind of… well, switch over?" she asked hesitantly.

  "Mmmm…." He affirmed, as he picked up his own steaming coffee.

  "So… well… what does that actually mean?" she asked cautiously. Although half of her didn't really want to know, and would prefer to hide behind ignorance, equally she didn't want to spend the rest of the day, or the next two weeks, worrying about it.

  He laughed softly and tenderly at her. "Don't look so nervous, Bel. I had planned that we'd talk about it, but I figured you might like breakfast first…"

  "Hmmm…" she looked doubtful but picked up her fork nonetheless, "how about you talk while I eat!" she sugg
ested lightly.

  He rolled his eyes at her, but seemed happy to enough to oblige. "Okay then, if that'll make you happier!" He paused. "It's really not that complicated, Bel, and there's no twenty page typed list. I just want you to use your common sense over things. That means not taking silly risks over your safety, whether it's getting drunk in a club without having someone to make sure you're okay or just not letting me know where you are. I'm not trying to keep track of your every movement, but just as I let you know where I am and when I should be home, I'd like it if you'd do the same, so that if you don't turn up and you're in difficulties, at least I know where I should be able to find you. Keep your phone with you, switched on, when you're out so you can call me if there's a problem. Does that sound easy enough to follow?"

  She nodded, but was slightly confused, "But I was doing all that stuff anyway… well," she hesitated, "apart from the night at the club and in the last couple of weeks maybe", she admitted.

  He smiled, "I know, Bel. I'm not trying to set a whole load of rules for you that are dogmatic or unrealistic, just basic common sense concepts for your own safety. And I know that generally you would do all those things anyway, even if the last couple of weeks were a bit of a blip… but the difference now is that, if you do discard those basic principles, you know that there will be consequences. Not," he emphasised, "so that I can humiliate you, or demean you. That would be the last thing I would want to do. But so that I can reinforce to you how important those basic things are, and so that you know I care enough to make sure you abide by them."

  "And that's it? Just those things?"

  "Bel," he exhaled slowly, "it's not a definitive, all singing all dancing list. That's why I said it was 'common sense'. If you really want us to try and map out every single thing you could possibly do that could jeopardise your safety, we can, but it seems like a pointless exercise. You're a highly intelligent woman, you don't need me to tell you that going out without your phone, or not telling anyone where you are could put you at risk."

  Reluctantly, she nodded, knowing he had a point.

  "And as for anything else," he added, "the main things I would ask are that you eat properly, as it's been obvious that over the last couple of weeks you've been neglecting your health, and for me that goes into the same category as personal safety, and that you treat me and others around you with respect, Bel."

  Surprised, she began to protest, "But, I do, Alex… really, I do…"

  "No, Bel. Not always. When you're feeling confused or frustrated you hit out at the people closest to you rather than try and talk it through with them, and that has to stop. That means no swearing at people, no throwing things and no lashing out unnecessarily."

  She sighed; this might be tougher than she had thought.

  "So you don't think I'm a nice person?" she asked, somewhat petulantly.

  "Bel," he replied seriously, "I think you are a lovely, adorable, wonderful person, but you bottle things up and then look for a fight, and that's just not fair to us, or to anyone who cares for you. Any relationship has to be based on honesty and trust, including honesty about how you feel."

  Grudgingly, she couldn't deny the truth of his words. "So it begins now?" she asked, trying to lighten the impact of what he'd said.

  "Yep…" he confirmed. "Unless you want to back out…?"

  "No! I said we had a deal, and I meant it. I'm not a coward you know!"

  "I never thought you were, sweetheart, but I wanted to check you were still on board."

  "Yeah, I guess," she grumbled. "But," a thought suddenly occurred to her, "this is only about stuff going forward isn't it?"

  His brow furrowed. "I don't get it, what do you mean?"

  "Well… what you said about me being maybe off-sorts in the last couple of weeks. You don't get to apply your new rules to that do you?" Her eyes widened at the prospect.

  "Hmmm…." He was thoughtful. "That's not a bad idea… I did say you were an intelligent woman didn't I?" But then he laughed as he saw the look of horror on her face. "I'm teasing you, Bel. No, it would hardly be fair of me to apply them backwards, would it? Unless of course," he was contemplative, "you think you deserve it, and want me to?"

  "You're crazy, right?"

  His shoulders shook with silence laughter as he took in her incredulity. "I didn't think I was, but maybe the next two weeks will be the best judge of that! Anyway," he got up to retrieve the pot of coffee from the counter and refill her cup, "I have to head to the hospital now, but you know the offer's there if you want to take me up on it!"

  "Hardly!" she retorted, burying her nose back in her coffee cup.

  He continued to laugh as he kissed her forehead lightly and left the room, swiping his car keys as he went. "Be good!" he called as he left, "I'll be back by seven tonight", leaving her to stare contemplatively at her coffee as she began to think about what the next couple of weeks might hold in store.

  * * *

  It was odd, she thought to herself, how quickly the last few days had flown by. She'd expected that she would have been a nervous wreck, constantly terrified of putting a foot wrong, and that he might turn into a pedantic fiend, watching her every move and just waiting for her to trip up.

  But, to her surprise, it hadn't worked out like that at all. Life had become, well, easier, although she couldn't fathom the reasons why. In the last few days, she'd managed to pick up her writing again and had become absorbed in her latest chapter and the highs and lows of the relationship between her two main characters. She and Alex seemed to have settled back into their former, easy-going bond without the tensions that that had recently plagued them. She'd been out and about a bit, arranging lunch with Elena and also her sisters around the new personal deadlines she'd put in place again for her writing, but each time had made sure she'd let Alex know that morning that she'd be gone for a couple of hours midday and left him a message if there was a change of plan. It was strange, but it actually made her feel warm and cherished to think that he worried about her whereabouts, and that somebody would miss her if she didn't make it home at the time she'd planned.

  She'd had a couple of wobbly moments. For the first day or so, despite his reassurances and her own common sense, she'd felt she was walking on egg shells, afraid to put a foot wrong. When one morning the toast she had been making for them burnt to cinders, and the smoke alarms started to blare out in protest, she'd thought he would be annoyed that she hadn't been concentrating properly, but instead he seemed to find it amusing and just helped her bat away the smoke from the sensors with a grin. Another time, when she'd been trying to sort out her mess of direct debits for her bills – something she'd been meaning to sort out for months – and accidently wiped half a dozen of the existing ones in the process, resulting in her complaining to him when he walked through the door and then promptly bursting into tears, instead of being irritated at her for venting at him, he'd just sat down with her and painstakingly spent three hours helping her sort out all her accounts. He didn't even seem to resent the time he'd had to give up.

  Now, she was beginning to feel more confident, and had stopped worrying quite so much. Alex, she knew, was cocooning her in a haven of security and doing his best to make sure that her vulnerabilities didn't overwhelm her. Yet, she didn't feel smothered. She just felt, kind of cherished. It was odd, she thought to herself, shaking her head but unwilling to analyse it too much for the time being.

  The ring of the doorbell interrupted her thoughts.

  "That's weird," she thought to herself. It was only three in the afternoon and she wasn't expecting anyone to stop by. When she swung the door open, a grin materialized on her face as she saw Elena standing there.

  "Surprise!" Elena greeted her. "You've been so wrapped up in the new book lately, and I had the afternoon off work, so I thought I'd abduct you!"

  Isabelle couldn't resist laughing out loud at the hope in Elena's eyes as they strolled into the living room and Elena threw her purse on the floor and stretched out on
one of the sofas.

  "Come on, Bel! You need an afternoon off. You've been working like a slave on that book for weeks now, and you said yourself that you've made more progress than you'd expected. So, let's truant just for one afternoon, hmmm?"

  Rolling her eyes at her friend, Bel was forced to admit that she hadn't been nearly as sociable lately, as she'd been so caught up in her work, and she probably did need a bit of a break from it all.

  "We can do a bit of shopping and get coffee in that cute new cafe that opened last week?" Elena tempted her, knowing what strings to pull to entice her friend out of the house.

  Amused, Bel held up her hands, "Okay, okay! Just let me shut down my laptop."

  "Yes!" Elena clapped her hands in delight.

  Quickly, Bel saved her work, clicked log-off on her laptop and scrawled a quick note to Alex, which she left on the table, figuring she'd probably be back by the time he got home anyway, and grabbing her purse she and Elena left the house.

  Over three hours later, as she and Elena flopped in the cafe, ordering a large latte each, Isabelle glanced at her watch. "Oh no!" her heart sank. It was gone 6.30. She'd totally lost track of time. She reached into her purse for her cell phone, so she could let Alex know she'd be later than expected. "That's weird," she muttered.

  "What's up?" asked Elena, seeing the dismay on her friend's face.

  "Oh," Bel flushed, not wanting Elena to suspect just how disconcerted she was, "It's nothing much. It's just a bit later than I'd expected and I must have left my phone at home. I was just going to send Alex a message to warn him. It's no big deal."

  "Oh, I wouldn't worry about Alex," Elena replied airily. "He won't mind you having a bit of fun. After all, you deserve it!"

  "It's not that," she trailed off, wondering how well Elena really knew her older brother after all, "I just didn't want him to worry, that's all."

  Elena laughed. "Oh, he always used to try and pull that trick with me too, wanting to know if I'd be late. Thank goodness I'm not a kid anymore!"