Better Sorry Than Safe

Monday afternoon threw Isabelle back into her daily routine. The lunch and dinner rushes were more than enough to keep her mind away from the dangerous topics that were threatening to plague her every thought. Without the guilt invading her mind she maintained the fantastic mood Matt’s visit had placed her in.

She cheerfully floated from one table to the next, either taking orders or delivering them, finding herself humming softly as she did. It had been almost three years since she’d been this happy because of another person. She had always liked being a waitress because it allowed her to be around people and in a restaurant environment, but this extra pep was something that had to come from something other than work.

It was only when she had a free moment that her spirit was broken. She knew that there was something important that Lilly wanted to talk about, but she’d managed to avoid the subject that morning. But even more troubling to her mind was that she was supposed to go see Chris when she got off work.

Judging by the tone of Lilly’s voice when she’d said that there was something she wanted to talk about that morning Isabelle was expecting bad news. So like she always did, Isabelle managed to slip away before Lilly had the chance to break the news. As the end of her shift began to approach she began wishing she would have agreed to talk with Lilly instead of going to see Chris.

After their run-in Isabelle had kept contact with Chris at a minimum. She wasn’t sure how she’d react around him after spending so much time with Matt. But she’d shoved her fears aside when he’d called that morning, claiming that he needed to see her.

Later that night, when she found herself in the parking lot of his apartment complex, Isabelle felt trapped. She wanted to drive away but she knew it would only be worse. So instead of doing what she really wanted to do she got out of the car and began towards the door.

Inside the apartment Travis and Patrick were staring at the television as Chris checked his watch. Seeing how anxious his friend was, Travis rolled his eyes.

“Dude, chill. She will be here when she gets here,” Travis said, taking a sip of his beer.

“Why are you even here?” Chris asked.

“Because your TV is bigger than mine. And because my neighbors are always fighting. She bought a two thousand dollar couch when he wanted a new plasma, so she tells him that he has no taste and he tells her he needs to TV so he doesn’t have to hear her nagging. Yet people wonder why I have no desire for marriage.” Travis finished his answer with a small shrug.

“I’m just here because I’m staying with him until they finish repairing my apartment,” Patrick answer quietly. The only reason he’d tagged along was because he didn’t know his way around Travis’s apartment.

A knock at the door prompted Chris to jump up and Travis to roll his eyes again. As expected, Isabelle was standing at the door. Chris was so glad that she’d actually showed up that he put no mind to how strained the smile on her face was.

Meanwhile, Matt had just finished a game of poker with the guys. Johnny and Brian were already backing out of the driveway, leaving Jimmy and Zacky standing in Matt’s kitchen. The game had kept Matt from thinking about what he was facing with Isabelle, but now that it was over it was all coming right back.

Leaning against one of the counters, Matt asked, “So how’d things go with Lilly?”

“Fantastic! She is gonna move here in a few weeks. We figured it is the only way to give ourselves a shot at being together. Besides, she’s getting ready for a change after all these years in Vegas,” Zacky replied, smiling.

Jimmy glanced between his two friends, hoping that Matt wouldn’t slip up. He hated lying to the rest of the guys but he knew Matt needed a second chance with Isabelle. Jimmy knew that just one slip could ruin the entire plan.

“Now if only I could get my sister to move back home,” Zacky said. “But since she is getting married I doubt that is going to happen. I just can’t believe that she is actually going to marry him.”

“Maybe she won’t,” Jimmy chipped in, “I mean she could still back out. It isn’t like they are supposed to get married tomorrow or anything.”

With a sigh, Zacky said, “As long as she is happy. I mean after all these years I’ve gotten used to having her live a few hours away. Well I’m gonna call it a night guys. See you tomorrow.”

As soon as he heard the front door shut, Matt let out a groan and ran his right hand down his face. It had been months since he’d been under this amount of stress. When he’d been in Vegas things had seemed so much simpler, but now things seemed turned upside down.

Placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder, Jimmy asked, “What’s going through your mind man?”

“What if it doesn’t work out the right way? Even more importantly, how in the hell am I supposed to tell Zack? If he finds out that I’m going after his sister while she is engaged he’ll flip out. How much longer can I keep going without correcting him?

“I mean he seems convinced she is going to marry this guy but that isn’t what she told me. She got a little drunk one night and flat out told me that she wasn’t going to get married.”

“Please tell me you didn’t cross any lines.”

“Not really. I mean we shared a bed but nothing happened. Man I just don’t know what to do. It feels like I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.”

Back in Vegas, Isabelle was clapping and Travis nodding with a self-satisfied look on his face. Chris and Patrick, however, were looking towards Travis with appall on their faces.

“That is pathetic!” Patrick exclaimed.

“Don’t forget demeaning!” Chris added.

“No that is brilliant!” Isabelle gave another clap.

“It is the truth. There is a formula to getting women. I’m sure that women know tricks to get men. This is how the dating world works. Its like sharks at feeding time. All I’m saying is that if you follow the correct formula, for the correct type of women, in the correct situation she will throw herself at you.” Travis pressed the mute button on the television fully aware that this would most likely turn into a debate.

“And if they are gullible enough to fall for it then its their problem,” Isabelle said, glancing between Chris and Patrick.

“But its not right! Aren’t you offended by hearing this? I mean to say there is a formula is just disgusting. Women are to be loved and cared for, not used and then thrown aside. And more importantly they aren’t objects. What Travis just said is the equivalent to putting a dollar in a vending machine and punching in a code to get a bag of chips,” Chris said, taking Isabelle’s hand in his own.

“Hey! I love women and you know it,” Travis said, tossing a bottle cap at Chris.

“Yeah a little too much.” Patrick added, preparing himself incase Travis had another makeshift weapon.

“No babe, I’m not offended. Its like I said, if they are gullible enough then its their own fault. I never fell for any of that bullshit. And its like Travis already said, women have their own little tricks too and theirs are far more diabolical.”

“I’m sure you are exaggerating a little.”

“Why is it that you seem to think that men are the only ones capable of being cruel? A women’s mind can be a very dark place. And we tend to be a little more methodical than you seem to think.”

“Well lets call it quits on the discussion about which gender plays the other more for now ok? There is something I want to talk to you about in the kitchen.”

Nodding yes, Isabelle stood up and followed Chris into his kitchen. For the first time since she’d entered the apartment she feared that things were about to revert back to the awkward air of the last few weeks. Being around Travis and Patrick had made being around Chris feel like it had before the engagement. He wasn’t constantly talking about marriage or the future and that was a relief to Isabelle.

“So what did you want to talk about?” She asked, hoping onto a counter.

Before answering her question, Chris gave her a kiss, whispering, “I love you.”

He slowly slid his hands across the counter behind her back, reaching for the small bundle of papers that rested on it. His hand latched on to them and he smiled. Just as Isabelle was about to ask what he was so happy about, he waved the papers in front of her face.

“What are these?” She asked, skeptically taking them. Looking down at them, anger surged through her veins as she saw a brochure from Caesar’s Palace. “Chris, what the hell did you do?”

“Calm down and let me explain. I know you and I know how you put planning off until the last minute. So instead of waiting for you to rush into it at the last minute I took care of it. October 14th is on a Saturday so it works out perfectly. What could be better than getting married on the anniversary of our first date?”

“I can’t believe you! I can not believe you! You know that I want to take things slow and yet you pull this shit! I clearly told you I wanted to take our time. Our time isn’t two months, Chris! This is practically tomorrow!

“How dare you! How dare you pick a wedding date without even asking me. What are you going to pick next? My dress? My hairstyle? My jewelry? Or are you going to pick out what make-up I wear? Where does this end?”

“I thought it would be a good date! Face it, the reason you want to wait isn’t because you want a long engagement. You wanted to wait because you hate planning events. You’ll still get to choose the colors, the flowers, all of that. At least we have a date now,” He reached out to touch her arms but she jumped off the counter and backed away from him.

“Don’t touch me! Just do not touch me right now!

“Who says there is even going to be a wedding? What makes you think that I even want to marry you after this. I’ll tell you what, Chris, why don’t you just plan the whole damn wedding and then see if I’m there on the day? How about we try that. Because obviously you know what I want when it comes to a wedding now, including why I wanted to wait!”

Throwing the papers on the counter in rage, Isabelle turned and stormed out of the kitchen. Chris followed behind her, almost yelling out anything he thought might convince her to stay. But Isabelle didn’t listen to Chris, instead she stormed through the living room and out the door, slamming it behind herself.

“Maybe we should have went to a sports bar,” Travis whispered to Patrick, “It would appear that I can’t get away from fighting couples tonight.”

Not feeling like facing Lilly so soon, Isabelle drove towards the Hard Rock. After finding a spot in the parking garage she lost her desire to get out of the car. So instead she cracked the windows and killed the engine. For a moment she just sat there feeling completely numb.

But suddenly the wall of numbness she’d constructed shattered and all her emotions came flying at her. Two small rivers began running down her cheeks, increasing as her crying became more uncontrollable. The part that annoyed her the most was she wasn’t sure if they were tears of sadness or rage.

Several minutes later, when the tears began subsiding, she reached for her cell phone. Hitting the speed dial, she waited until the one person she could confide in picked up the phone.

“Hello?” Jimmy’s voice was just as happy as it always was, a welcome relief to Isabelle.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do anymore. Jimmy, what should I do?”

“Isabelle, calm down and tell me what happened.”

“I don’t know what to do anymore. I need to get away from Chris but I don’t know how. He set a wedding date without even asking me! I-I can’t marry him, I don’t want to. But I don’t know how to break it off with him.”

“He set a date without even asking you? That seems like a pretty good way to get out of it. But right now you need to listen to me. Where are you?”

“The parking lot of the Hard Rock. I didn’t want to go home and this was the first place that came to mind.”

“Okay that’s good. Calm yourself down a little bit. Take a few deep breaths and wipe the tears from your eyes. Take a few minutes if you need to and just calm down.”

“Okay,” Isabelle stayed silent for two minutes while she listened to Jimmy’s advice. “Okay now what?”

“I want you to hang up with me, get out of your car, go inside the hotel or the café, and get something to eat. Spend some time alone and get your head on straight. Tonight don’t think about anything. Don’t think about Chris or anyone else. Deal with it tomorrow, after you’ve had time to think.”

“I can’t keep living like this, Jimmy. I can’t do it.”

“I know, Isabelle, I know. Just relax tonight and deal with it tomorrow.”