A/N: hey all! back with another story... if you're just walking in now, i strongly advise you to read my other story The Shadow (don't be afraid of the 91 chapters, they really aren't that long) and then read Nice Guys Finish. you probably won't really have a clue what's going on if you don't read those first. yep.
oh and PS - for those of you who can't remember or didn't catch it, isabella and david broke up some time in Nice Guys Finish.
The Search For Something More
Chapter 1
Pound.
Pound.
Pound.
Pound.
That wasn't the door. That was my head.
I cracked open 1/16th of my right eye and immediately squeezed it shut when the bright sunlight that was streaming in through the uncovered window hit me. I'd forgotten to shut my blinds again the night before when I had come in.
I sighed and sat up, running my hand into my long, tangled, blond hair. I'd done it again… I had drank too much.
Oh my head…
There was no way I was getting anymore sleep, unfortunately with my hangover usually came insomnia, especially early in the morning. I winced as my stomach turned over… how many vodka shots had I downed? Ooh vodka, shouldn't have thought about that…
In need of some comfort, I grabbed my fluffy white bathrobe off the back of my bathroom door. I yawned widely as I pulled my hair back into a messy bun and then shuffled out the door.
I nodded to one of the maids as she polished the staircase handrail. The marble floor was cool under my feet as I shuffled over to the kitchen and I faintly wished I'd put on my slippers before leaving my room. But there was only one thing predominantly on my mind at that moment:
Coffee.
I needed coffee.
ASAP.
I pushed open the kitchen door, caffeine on the brain, and stopped at the sight in front of me.
Ana and Andrew sat at the kitchen table, eating breakfast. He had his arm around her as he looked over the sports page with his free hand. Ana sipped her coffee as she read a book and leaned against him. He lowered the paper for a second, turning his attention to her, and nuzzled the side of her head. She smiled faintly, marked her spot in her book with a finger, turned, and kissed him.
"You guys are nauseating." I deadpanned as my feet went back to shuffling. It was far too early to be dealing with that much PDA and I was definitely not in the mood.
They broke apart with embarrassed smiles. "Morning." Andrew cleared his throat.
"Oh I wish it wasn't." I answered dryly, taking a seat across from them.
"A little hungover?" Ana asked, raising her eyebrow at me.
"A little." I snorted and then caught sight of the maid. "Coffee. Now." I barked.
"Yes ma'am," she hurried back into the kitchen.
"No need to be testy, Izzy." Ana teased lightly.
"I need my fix." I shot back and then began to drum my fingers impatiently on the kitchen table only to stop with another wince. Not a good idea when one has a small headache. Oh who was I kidding? This headache was roughly the size of Canada and pounding like the bass drum line in a marching band.
I looked at my twin brother and my best friend across the table from me. Ana kissed him softly on the cheek and he smiled without taking his eyes off the paper he'd lifted back up. She returned to her book, look of bliss on her face. After quite the rocky start, they had finally worked through their problems, and now seemed quite happy. It never fails to get a rise out of my stomach at the cute crap they did all the time though… though it may have been my jealousy talking.
I flopped over onto the table, burying my head into my arms. Oddly enough, once my head joined my arms, the pounding echoing in my ears got louder. I lifted my head, pissed off about my headache and about to whine, only to see Ana sharply admonish Andrew as she grabbed him hand that was pounding on the table. He began to laugh at the sight of my venomous look. "I'm sorry." Ana said apologetically before shooting a glare at her boyfriend.
I flipped Andrew the bird and then asked Ana scathingly, "Why can't my brother, who is identical to me except for the whole male/female thing, be more like yours?"
"Because Erik doesn't enjoy rattling my cage as much as Andrew-" she jabbed him sharply in ribs when she said his name. He had the decency to look scolded… for a millisecond. "-likes rattling yours."
The door opened behind us. "Morning kids.' Mom said as she breezed in. She kissed the top of my head as she sat down next to me, clad in a silk blouse and slacks, looking irritatingly perfectly dressed for so early on a Saturday morning. The maid brought me my coffee. "Can I have a cup of tea, toast, and a fried egg over easy?" Mom asked, rubbing my back affectionately.
"Of course, Mrs. Walters," the maid hurried off again, though she didn't look as terrified as she had after I had barked at her.
"You look tired, sweetie," she commented to me softly, pushing a few stray bangs out of my eyes.
"Up late last night." I lied shortly, quickly pouring in three spoonfuls of sugar into my coffee, milk added already.
"What did you do?" she inquired of me, taking the tea the maid handed her.
Andrew smirked and hid behind his newspaper. Ana subtlety jabbed him in the side again and we shared a quick look.
"Was up late watching a movie." I lied again, quickly stirring my sugar into my coffee.
"That sounds nice." Mom picked up the paper.
I glared at Andrew over my coffee cup, who smirked back at me. "I'm going to go shower," he announced breezily as he stood. I kept on glaring at him as he openly smirked at me after kissing Ana on the top of her head. He sauntered out of the kitchen. Ana and I exchanged an eye roll.
"What are you girls going to do today?" Mom asked distractedly, clearly engrossed in the paper.
"Snort cocaine. Have lots of unprotected sex. If we're lucky, we'll both get knocked up. And then maybe we'll do a round of abortions together." I replied breezily.
"Hmm…" she answered, still distracted. Ana hid her smile in her book until Mom realized what I had really said. "Isabella!" she swatted me on with the newspaper.
Ana broke into laughter. "I'm just kidding, Mom." I laughed. "We're probably going shopping with Nicole or something."
"That sounds like fun," she smiled at me before turning back to her paper. "Oh," she said sharply as though it had just occurred to her. "You need to call your father."
My smile immediately dissipated. "Why?" I asked shortly.
"Because… he's your father," she answered as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I know he is, Mom." I answered, now irritable, especially at her slightly patronizing tone. My headache, which had taken a minor break with the caffeine, hit me full force again (damn it). "But I believe I made it perfectly clear to both you and him last week when he finally moved out that I wasn't going to keep in touch."
"Isabella…" Mom sighed as she set down her paper then turned and looked at me. "You need to call him," she sighed and then added with an annoyed expression, "He won't stop calling me until he talks to you. He thinks I'm keeping you from him."
"Then don't take his calls. We have caller ID for a reason, you know, it's not just for our health." I snipped back, more then irritated now.
"Hey Izzy, why don't we go downtown for lunch?" Ana jumped in. I looked at her, a little surprised at her interruption. "It's such a beautiful day, it'll be nice to walk around, and shop for a while," she sent me a pointed look, clearly trying to derail an impending argument between my mother and I.
I glanced outside at the beautiful California spring day and then grumbled, "Oh all right," as I got up, coffee in hand.
"Oh, sweetie?" Mom grabbed my wrist lightly. "You need to pick out dresses for next week's charity ball."
"Anything special about it?" I asked her.
"It's spring," she answered with a sweet smile. "So pick out a nice spring colored dress," she kissed the back of my hand then dropped it as she returned to her paper.
"Got it, Mom." I answered, following Ana out of the kitchen. "Thanks for saving me from an argument with my mom." I sighed.
"Of course, I've got your back," it was nice to see Ana smiling, her smiles at been far and between in the last couple of weeks since her mother had died. They had been far from close, practically enemies if anything, but the woman had been her mother… it was hard to really be unemotional about the whole thing. There had been a time when she and her mother had gotten along and that was what kept Ana upset in the days after her death… the memories of the past and what had gone wrong recently. "How about we both grab a shower, you grab some Advil and some water-" I threw her a dirty look, "-don't pretend like you don't need it, and then we'll go out."
"Oh all right." I sighed dramatically.
"See you in a few," she smiled and then headed down the hall to her room. I watched her for a moment as I took another sip of my coffee and then observed Andrew pouncing on her. She squealed with laughter as he kissed her neck and then they disappeared into her room.
Ah… l'amour.
I rolled my eyes and ambled into my room.
I surveyed my room. The thick white carpet was scattered with my clothes from the party I had gone to the night before. Ana had half carried half walked me in last night after driving me home from the party and I had left my clothes wherever they had fallen. The maid would pick them up later.
I shut my door into my room and then stripped off my clothes. I was heading to the bathroom, nude, when I caught sight of my slim silver cell phone sitting on my makeup table. I sat down on the seat, ignoring the fact that I was naked, and checked my messages, looking for pimples in the mirror as I dialed into my voicemail.
"Hey Isabella." I jumped in surprise at the sound of David's smooth voice. "You called me last night… late," he sounded uncomfortable. Shit. Obviously a drunk dial. Bad Izzy. "And I… I was just um…" he paused, sounding really uncomfortable. "Just returning your call. Call me back. Bye," he hung up.
"Not a chance in hell." I said out loud, deleting the message. I remembered asking Ana to hold my phone and not let me drunk dial… too many ex boyfriends in the old phone book. I tend to think I can beat anyone up when I was drunk so I usually call ex boyfriends and make an ass out of myself.
I sighed and then got into the shower. Way to go, Isabella.
When I emerged, Ana was sitting on my bed, reading a magazine, totally dressed. "You take forever," she announced flatly.
"It takes a while to look good." I preened for a second and then dodged the throw pillow she chucked at me. "So I got a call from David." I announced as I entered my closet.
There was a pause. "You did?" she asked.
"Didn't I tell you no drunk dials?" I asked as I critically eyed my clothes. "I probably threatened to kick the crap out of him or something."
"Hey I played keep away with you the best I could but you were wasted," she answered with a sigh. "You got to your phone and locked yourself in a bathroom."
"What did I say?" I demanded.
"I dunno," she answered. "The music was too loud."
"Great." I muttered, grabbing clothes.
"Why did you break up with him again?" she asked me, voice dry with her sarcasm.
"It's complicated." I grumbled back.
"Meaning "fear of commitment?" she questioned innocently.
"Oh no, I have plenty of commitment." I retorted sharply. "He's an asshole though."
"Seemed like a nice guy to me," she said faintly as I emerged from the closet.
"Yeah, well, appearances are deceiving." I snapped back shortly, sitting down at my vanity table.
I felt her studying my face in the mirror. "You really liked him, didn't you?"
"Whatever," was my dismissive answer to avoid the truth. "It's his loss."
"You deserve way better," she agreed.
"Oh naturally." I agreed.
"So where are we going?" she asked.
"I'm tired of Gucci… let's go to Dior." I answered tonelessly, rubbing lotion into my elbows.
"All right," she nodded. "Do you want to drive or should I?" she asked.
"I don't have the patience to deal with traffic today, let's call the car." I replied, picking up my cordless phone, and then dialed.
I finished getting ready and then we left my room.
A/N: well i hope you guys enjoyed what i have thus far!
love, a smile that explodes