Maybe it was her who I needed to turn to. Maybe Isabella is the key to all my problems at work, given that she was also the key to many of my issues outside work. I wasn’t a man who had much of social life. I really didn’t get close to people. Even when it came to my family always more of a guardian than a friend or loving person; that was just my thing. Suddenly I had this beautiful woman who felt more like a sidekick and an addition to my life than anything else. For once, I felt like I could lean on her. Or better yet, I could depend on someone. Usually, I just take things in stride and try to handle them myself. But with Isabella, she encouraged me to be open in allowing myself to be vulnerable. So that’s exactly what I was going to do.
We were in my mansion. We both sat on the couch. And I looked over all the files, paper it’s, things on the internet, and everything in between that had to do with my father’s scandal. The stress was clearly visible to me. But I was going to try to see what Isabella thought about everything.
“You’re letting that consume you. It’s all just noise.” Isabella said to me while she ran to my back with one hand.
“they’re saying I’m a co-conspirator. That I willingly hid everything from the public to protect my father means I have no idea about it. The company’s stocks are dropping. That mob mentality is showing up in full force. I’m trying to handle it all, but it’s so many jobs at stake. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling the pressure. I feel like I really have to protect everyone.”
“It feels like you’ve always been a protector. When are you allowed to be the one getting protected? This isn’t your fault. And you’re making it seem like it is. You’re taking up the slack for something that your father did. How is that fair to you?”
“If I take that perspective, Isabella, I’m only going to be angry. I’m only going to be resentful.”
“Is that how you used to do it growing up? You would just put everything on yourself so that you wouldn’t get angry or point fingers word should have actually been pointed?”
In an instant, my mind replayed a lot of my life. A lot of my childhood, to be specific. It was something about Isabella that made her hit everything on the head. She just knew things about me without me having to explain them. I liked that about her.
“You always know how to make me feel better. This is why I wanted to look the stuff over with you next to me. Because it feels like my entire company is crumbling around me, and I’m supposed to be holding it back up. In many ways, you hold me up.”
Isabella smiled at me. She did this while she continued to rub my back. “That’s what I’m here for. You deserve to have someone that can keep you grounded when everyone else wants you to fly away and do what they want you to do. Screw the public for now. You’re going to handle this. I know it.
Later that night, when my wife came home, she finally brought up Isabella. “Are you seeing her?”
There was a long pause while Piper went up to her room.
“Yes, Lola. You and I have been putting up the charade for too long. And I think it might be time that we face the facts here.”
“Our marriage is over.”
“Yes, Lola.”
There was more of a relief mask on her face than anything else. Inside my chest, I was relieved as well. But I saw Piper upstairs. She had heard everything. And I could tell that there wasn’t relief on her face. It was sadness.
“You knew that we were destined for doom,” I told Piper a few moments later. We were in her room, and she was lying on her bed facing the wall.
“I thought you guys were going to work things out. I just want you to be happy. I’m tired of you jumping from woman to woman.”
I chuckled. “That was a year ago, Piper. There is someone else actually.”
She turned over to look at me. “Who?”
“Will you judge me if I tell you?”
“My stepmom already knows, right.”
“Yes, but she wouldn’t tell a soul. She knows what it would do to Oliver.”
A curious look covered her face. “What the hell does Oliver have to do with this?”
I didn’t say anything right away, and I didn’t need to because she guessed.
“Isabella. You’re dating Isabella?”
“Keep that between you and me, please. I don’t need Oliver knowing at this moment.”
She extended her pinky because she and I had this little pinky swear thing that we always did. But I was going to have to speak with all of them eventually—but first, it had to do with business.
Oliver sat slumped in my chair. It was like he was in the principal’s office. “What’d you call me here for to fire me officially? I’ve had it already. Just do it.”
Taking back his remarks, I had to take a moment to gather what I was going to say. “You really cocky for someone who did something so terrible. You know how much you hurt Isabella?”
Oliver raised an eyebrow at me. “The bigger question is, how do you know how much it hurt Bella?”
An ocean of discomfort washed over me. Did he know that I was dating Isabella? How would he know? I didn’t have time to ruminate at that moment. There was some mental sparring going on between him and me. And that required my full attention. “I don’t think I can have you back. At least not for right now. You are still suspended indefinitely. I wouldn’t say I like your attitude, frankly. I don’t like how you come in here and–”
“Honestly, I don’t care right now. Do whatever you want.”
Oliver caught up and left at that point. I couldn’t believe his attitude. And it led me to believe he knew more than I thought he did. Maybe it was paranoia. At the same time, I probably should have been nervous for my stepson to find out that I was dating his ex-girlfriend. I was a grown man in this situation. I had nothing to fear. I guess my conscience returned to remind me that I still cared what everyone thought about me. He was my stepson, after all. No matter how much he acted out, I still didn’t want to hurt him. If he had known, though, that ship had sailed.
One thing was that inevitable drama like the one I was embroiled in that didn’t just disappear overnight. It got worse.