Better Sorry Than Safe

Isabelle had hoped that at least some of the happiness she knew she should be feeling would have sat in by the next morning, but it didn’t. She felt exactly the same way about the engagement as she had the day before. It can’t just be shock then.

Looking down she noticed how beautifully the ring sparkled in the light and sighed. Yet again she’d ended up doing exactly what she had swore she would never do.

“You can’t really believe that Belle.” Valary laughed as the entire group lay in the grass of Matt’s backyard.

“Oh but I do believe it Val,” Isabelle began as she relaxed against the slightly wet lawn that morning. “I believe it with every ounce of who I am. The best part being even if any of you don’t the idea you still know I’m right. Just think about it for a second, a wedding is the funeral of your single life.”

“But you aren’t really single before you get married, you are in a relationship.”

“That is true, but if you want out all you do is walk away. If you are married then you have to go through some long complicated legal process to get out. Then you are bound to them as one and blah, blah, blah. Besides most people only have ceremonies because that is what everyone else does with no real knowledge of why there are certain parts of it. For example how many people in the yard know what the real purpose of bridesmaids are? Or more accurately the purpose used to be?”

“Enlighten us.” The girls were now sitting up, Valary suddenly very interested in where this was going. The boys were still stretched out comfortably on their backs even as they looked at the two girls.

“Other than helping with decorating and getting ready they played another important role. They were to dress like the bride to confuse evil spirits and jealous people who wished to harm her. Same goes for the groomsmen. I guess when you think about it in the olden days had in not been for the wedding party they could have easily turned into a funeral.”

“I like her reasoning!” Jimmy sat up, looking between the girls with a large grin.

“And how do you know all this?”

“Easy, I had a research paper to do last year for English on traditions. Unfortunately the teacher stuck me with weddings.” Pleased with her explanation she returned to the her previous position on the lawn and closed her eyes.

“Why are we even talking about this? It is the first day of summer and we are 16 years old.” Matt reminded everyone, earning simple a “no clue” from each of the guys.

“So you aren’t ever going to think about marriage?” Valary asked as she fell back onto the grass, kicking Isabelle’s feet in a friendly manner.

“Nope, I highly doubt it.”

Without bothering to eat breakfast Isabelle left the apartment, having no idea where she was going. With well over two hours before she was due to go to work she just drove around aimlessly, ignoring her phone every time it rang. For the first time in a very long time she felt restless.

Her cell phone began ringing again and she reached over to turn up the music. Even though she knew that if she didn’t answer then Chris would eventually show up at the café she couldn’t bring herself to care. She’d have to face Lilly and Zacky when she got home so she would ignore her phone until then.

As she pulled onto Paradise it finally hit her the last time she’d had this feeling in the pit of her stomach. The last time she had felt like this had been the day she’d left California. She’d felt it from the moment she had crossed the city limits of Huntington Beach until she hit Vegas. The problem this time was where would she go to rid herself of it now?

***

“Isabelle your boyfriend is in the shop. He looks worried and he’s acting like he is trying to catch a glance of you.” Samantha informed Isabelle when they both found themselves in the kitchen.

“I guess he’s just going to have to wait until I get my break in an hour. I’m swamped right now.” Isabelle grabbed the next order as she spoke, preparing to go back out into the dinning area.

“I’m about to take my break. Do you want me to tell him that you are swamped today?” Isabelle smiled, wishing that her hands weren’t full so she could hug Samantha.

“Sam you are a hero. Can you tell him that I’ll call him when I get off tonight?” Samantha smiled and left with a nod. Isabelle, hiding all traces of her true feelings, went to deliver the customers their orders.

On her way back to the kitchen she caught a glimpse of Chris exiting through the front door and smiled, until she saw him return two seconds later. Knowing that he’d changed his mind she hurried back to the kitchen to grab another order and so she would appear to be too busy to take on another table. She just couldn’t face him yet, she needed to figure out what she was feeling and how to hide that before she did face him.

A little over an hour later she noticed when Chris got up to leave and sighed in relief. When he opened the door things suddenly went from bad to worse for Isabelle. There was another man standing on the opposite side of the door from Chris, someone that she didn’t want to believe was actually standing there.

“What the hell is he doing here?” She asked herself, quickly moving out of his line of sight. Mentally cursing the fates, she went back to work, praying that she wouldn’t get stuck with his table. Today just is not my day. What can I expect next? Flying pigs?

The second that she entered the kitchen there was a series of “Watch out Isabelle!” yells, which caused her to look around in curiosity. Just as she looked to her left she saw a sandwich flying her way. She jumped back and it landed on the floor in front of her, where she had just been standing, and she noticed what was inside it. Pork.

Well now I can add tripping waitresses and flying sandwiches to my list of things I saw today. Does flying pork count as flying pigs? She swallowed the tiny giggle that threatened to escape and grabbed her next order. There were some days that she thanked her lucky stars and others when she cursed the universe; today was definitely a cursing type of day for her.

She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d felt this way about work. Even thinking back to when she first started she couldn’t remember ever praying for the day to end. The only thing that made sense was that it was somehow tied into her feeling of restlessness that she’d woken up with.

It was around 7 that night when she got off, and she hadn’t felt so thrilled in weeks. The day was over and she had managed to avoid talking to anyone she didn’t want to all day. “I’ll see you tomorrow Sam,” She called over her shoulder. The plan had already formed in her mind that she’d take the long way home; it would give her more time to prepare to deal with anyone who might be waiting for her.

She could see Chris’s car the moment she turned into the parking lot of the apartment complex. He was already there and waiting for her which meant that there would be no way around this. A huge part of her mind was saying to turn around and drive off, say she had to work late, and come back when she knew he was gone. The other part was saying to just get it over with.

“Why didn’t you answer your phone this morning? You had me worried sick!” Even though Isabelle knew that Chris was saying this because he loved her it rubbed her the wrong way.

“Well if you don’t like the fact that I don’t answer the phone then stop calling. I don’t report to you Chris, what I do is up to me.” Isabelle was convinced that this was something that Zacky had taught her. When they were growing up he had always been the more rebellious one, the one who got caught and didn’t care, and she envied his spirit. He rebelled, got in trouble for it, and then did it again because that was just how he was. She had always viewed him as brave for that; she could never bring herself to face getting caught let alone repeating it. Over the years this had become her own form of rebellion; she did what she wanted, when she wanted, and made sure everyone knew she did.

“I’m not telling you that I expect you to report to me! I’m saying that I want you to answer your phone so that I know you are alright.” The words that Chris was saying should have touched her somewhere, in someway, she knew that, but they didn’t. It didn’t matter that it showed he loved her enough to care and worry. Isabelle didn’t like being checked up on.

“Alright lets say I’m not alright, then you are just going to ride in on your white horse and save me? Oh, please. I can take care of myself just fine Christopher, I took care of myself for many years before I met you.”

Chris looked at Isabelle, noticed the anger almost visibly running beneath her skin, and sighed. It was a fight he would never win no matter how hard he tried. Besides they had been fighting a lot lately and that wasn’t what he wanted; especially this soon after they got engaged. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I should know that you don’t like being checked up on. I won’t do it again, alright?”

Slightly disappointed that he’d backed away from the fight, Isabelle simply said, “You better not.” That had always been one thing about Chris that bothered her, he never fought. She wished that for once he would stick to what he thought and argue with her when she infuriated him. Then again she’d spent the last year and a half waiting for that to happen and it still hadn’t.

“How was your day? I stopped by but I guess you were swamped.” He took a step toward her, silently praying that she would give him some sign that she wasn’t mad, and reached out towards her. Isabelle didn’t even take a minute to think before she backed away.

“It was like that all day. Just one of those chaotic days. I almost get hit with flying pork today too, I guess flying pigs is no longer something I can use. You want something to drink?” Even though the flying pork comment had tugged at the corners of his lips she could see disappointment in his eyes.

“Nah, I think I’ll just head out. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” She could hear that the last part was a question but it didn’t affect her the way she thought it should.

“Yeah I guess so,” Her voice was almost a whisper as he approached the door. “Chris, wait.” When he turned around she was standing there waiting for him. She pressed her lips against his and could feel the spark that was the reason she hadn’t ran long ago.

***

It was times like these that made Matt realize what he had with Valary. She knew the demons he was fighting but she gave him chance after chance. “I’m warning you Matt, don’t even think about it.” She removed her sunglasses and looked at him, her eyes screaming that she was serious.

“But why?” He smirked and grabbed onto her ankles. She replaced her sunglasses and prepared to be pulled back into the pool. She knew him well enough to know that he would never surrender. He moved his hands from her ankles and up to her hips, dragging her back into the water with him. “Now isn’t this much better than putting on sunscreen?”

“If I burn,” She playfully pushed his shoulders. “you are dead.” Matt sat on the hotel room bed now waiting for the verdict. He wasn’t sure if she had a sunburn or not but he knew he’d find out soon.

“You got lucky this time.” Valary’s voice faltered as she smiled. It was impossible for her to fake being mad at Matt.

“Whew! I was starting to get worried.” Matt sarcastically replied, chuckling at the end. He stood up and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her cheek. “I’m sorry Val.” He whispered in her ear as he closed his eyes.

She knew what he was apologizing for, and it wasn’t for pulling her into the pool. Even though she knew what he was talking about she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder. “It’s okay.”

For the first time since they’d arrived he wasn’t looking forward to going out. For the past few days the less time he’d spent around Valary the better. He felt that the less time he was around her the less he could hurt her. Tonight, however, he didn’t want to be away from her.

As they stood there she realized how long it had been since she’d felt this way. Lately it seemed like there was always something eating away at the both of them. It had been at least a month since they had found themselves completely enjoying each other’s company. Worse than that it had been a month since they’d spent this much time alone together. That was what scared her more than anything.

“We are supposed to meet the guys downstairs in five minutes Matt.” She sighed and loosened her grip around his neck.

“They can wait.” He inhaled her scent and opened his eyes. He was far too content to finally have things feel right between them to bother leaving.

They both feared the same thing for the next day. They feared that by the next morning things would return to how they’d been before. Matt felt that it was impossible to have things stay this way, he didn’t think he could shove his true feelings aside for two consecutive days. Valary only feared that Matt would push her away to suffer alone again.

“I can call the guys and tell them we won’t be coming.” Matt offered in a whisper.

“No,” Valary let her arms drop from his neck. “They are already waiting for us.”

Simply nodding his head Matt removed his arms. The peace they’d both felt was already shattering. Matt already knew the next day wouldn’t be anything like this. Valary already knew that this was the last moment of love and peace for quite sometime. Neither of them wanted it to end but they also didn’t want it to continue. If it continued it would only make the following day that much harder.

Jimmy was the only person that knew Matt had gone to the Hard Rock Café that day. Unfortunately he hadn’t gotten the chance to talk to Matt about it, since Matt and Valary had spent most of the afternoon together. Now as he stood with the rest of the group his mind was wandering. Had Isabelle saw Matt? Had they spoken to each other? The suspense was all but killing Jimmy.

“There they are!” Brian said when the elevator doors opened. Matt and Valary walked out, their fingers laced together.

Jimmy looked at Matt and knew the answers to his question. Matt hadn’t saw or spoken to Isabelle that day. Feeling only slightly discouraged Jimmy vowed to force his friend to try again the next day.

Without a word Jimmy walked up to Valary and embraced her in a hug, which she returned. That was the one part he hated in all of this. Matt, Valary, and Isabelle were all some of his best friends and one of them was going to get hurt. He tried not to think about all three of them getting hurt but he knew it was a possibility.