A/N: um where to begin... basically i've been busy. here's more.
Chapter 2
"Hey." Andrew said as I shut my door. He was dressed in sweats and carrying a soccer ball. "Where are you guys going?" he asked, slinging an arm around Ana's shoulders.
"Dior for a dress for Izzy." Ana smiled back, accepting his kiss on her cheek.
"You too." I added.
"What's coming up?" Andrew asked as we walked downstairs.
"Charity ball." I answered with a shrug.
"Where are you going?" Ana asked him.
"I'm going to meet some friends for a pick up soccer game," he answered.
"Want a ride? We're taking the limo." I offered.
"Sure," he agreed as we headed outside. They climbed in and I followed in suit. The chauffer shut the door behind me.
I fiddled with the radio as Andrew put his arm around Ana across from me. I watched them happily look out the window and grumbled, "I need a boyfriend."
I hadn't been aware that I had spoken aloud until they both looked at me. Ana looked faintly sympathetic while Andrew looked faintly smug. "Mourning period for the last one over?" he asked dryly.
"Shut up." I snapped back.
"Don't provoke her." Ana jabbed him in the side.
"Quit getting me in trouble!" he whined at me.
"That's the part I enjoy the most." I shot back.
"It's just so easy," he whined to Ana, who was trying to suppress a smile at our antics.
"I'm gonna kick you out of the limo." I warned.
"No need, we're here." Andrew answered as the limo slowed.
I looked out the tinted window and felt my jaw drop at the sight of several shirtless, gorgeous guys running around, kicking a soccer ball. "Holy shit." I exclaimed faintly as Andrew and Ana kissed goodbye.
"Bye Iz," he knocked me on the head (of course) as he got out of the car.
"Where to, miss?" the driver asked.
"Hold on," it was go time.
I pulled down my pale yellow v-neck t-shirt just shy of my bra and pulled up my white skirt just shy of indecent exposure.
"Isabella-" Ana began, voice filled slightly with warning but also confusion.
But I was a woman on a mission. I grabbed the soccer ball Andrew had left in the limo and pulled my white framed sunglasses down on my nose. I opened the door, putting out one white Jimmy Choo stiletto-ed foot out the door, and then called, "Andrew!" as I stepped out completely.
The boys all turned as I began to walk over. Their eyes raked over my body but I advanced proudly… I knew exactly what I was doing. "Work it, work it, work it…" I repeated over and over in my head.
Andrew, in his experience of being my twin brother for now eighteen years, knew exactly what I was doing. I, in turn, knew my twin well enough to know when he was shaking his head inside at my display. "Yes, Isabella?" he asked dryly, putting his hands on his hips.
"You forgot your ball." I offered it to him with a slow smile that was not for his benefit.
"Got one," he jerked his chin at where the ball must have laid, untouched, in the grass. I was too busy scoping out the nearest muscled chest to look at the ball.
"Oh, just checking!" I shrugged lightly. "Have a nice game!" I turned on heel and sashayed away, acutely aware that every single eye was on me.
A few of them said goodbye faintly as I walked away but they mostly remained quiet. When I got back to the limo, I tossed my hair over my shoulder, which I'm sure was golden in the sun, and waved at the boys. Andrew was the only one who lifted a hand for a millisecond, now not even bothering to pretend he wasn't shaking his head at me. The rest of the boys only stared. I climbed in the limo and shut the door with a satisfied sigh.
"You amaze me." Ana said lowly as she shook her head as well (she undoubtedly got it from spending too much time with Andrew of late).
"I am pretty amazing, aren't I?" I grinned widely as I pushed my sunglasses up on the top of my head. "Dior please, Larry."
She smiled back, continuing to shake her head, as we rolled away. "I'm surprised they were able to pry their jaws off the ground," she looked out the window and my eyes followed suit. Some of the boys were starting to play again but most of them were still staring at the limo, talking amongst themselves. "You were working it for sure, girl," she smirked at me.
"Hey, it's what I do best." I replied airily.
"Well that and shopping with an iron fist," she agreed, sitting back in the leather seat.
"Yep." I nodded in agreement. "Nobody shops quite like I do."
"Or quite as often," she added.
"This is true." I nodded solemnly and then smiled.
We climbed out of the limo a little while later at Dior boutique. "Miss Isabella!" my personal shopper Lynette exclaimed, holding out her arms.
"Hi Lynette." I smiled back and air kissed her as she did the same to me.
"You remember my best friend Ana."
"Of course, hello, Ana!" she smiled back as though Ana were the Pope himself.
"Hi Lynette." Ana echoed me, smiling back politely.
"Come, come, come inside!" she waved us into the cool boutique. I thought I saw a celebrity duck down behind a stack of clothing but I couldn't be sure. "What are you looking for today?"
"Formal wear." I answered, all business now, years of wielding a Visa coming out to take over my body.
"Of course, the dresses are upstairs," she told me, gesturing with a sweeping arm to the staircase to our left.
"Thanks." I answered and then began climbing the stairs, Ana trailing me.
I glanced down leisurely back to the everyday wear section of the store and… hey wait a second, wasn't that…? I could've sworn that was… no, it couldn't be. The male actor in question glanced up at me, aviators mostly obscuring his face, and then ducked behind a display. It probably was, and I wanted to go back and say something, but we were on the second floor already. When I saw the dresses, the male actor slipped out of my mind.
Beautiful dress after dress was before me and all for me to try on… I was excited. Shopping, as you can tell, is one of my favorite past times.
"You pick first, Iz, we'll take turns." Ana instructed.
"I want to try on this one." I picked up a yellow strapless dress with a black hem.
"I'll wait." Ana smiled back and sat down on the divan.
"Would you like something to eat?" one of the saleswomen asked her anxiously as I headed off to the dressing room.
I put the dress on and examined it critically in the mirror then came out. "I'm not feeling it." I announced flatly.
"It's a pretty dress," she answered thoughtfully. I gave her a look then turned around and showed her the huge black bow. "Okay… not so much," she was no longer thoughtful as she stared in horror at the bow.
"Yeah…" I nodded and then headed back into the dressing room. I tried on a few more dresses before finally finding The One. I twisted my hair into a makeshift knot and then ran out of the dressing room.
Ana was in the middle of trying to politely push away the cheese and crackers a man was holding in front of her when she looked up. "Izzy!" she exclaimed, standing, just barely missing the tray with her shoulder.
"I love it." I told her honestly.
"Me too," she nodded in agreement, still staring at it.
"It's a 1950s vintage Dior cocktail dress." Lynette supplied for me.
"It's gorgeous." I answered, turning slightly to the left to see how my back looked in the light blue knee length dress. I brushed my hand over the full pleated skirt and then lightly touched the bow on the front. "I'll take it." I nodded in satisfaction.
"An excellent decision." Lynette nodded vigorously.
"Now your turn, Ana." I turned on her.
"All right," she got up, her soda in hand, and we walked over to where the dresses were.
After trying on a few duds, she came out in a slimming satin cream dress. "I love it," we both said at the same time and then smiled at each other. "Look at the back," she turned and showed me the crisscross in the back.
"I love it." I nodded in agreement. "It makes you look tan and not bridal," she nodded in agreement, beamed at me, and then hurried back into the dressing room.
As I sat waiting, my cell phone went off. I pulled it out of my bag and checked the caller ID. David. He knew me too well.
"Your phone's ringing!" Ana yelled helpfully from the dressing room.
"Yeah I know." I replied with a sigh as I got up; walking over to the door, phone still ringing.
"It's David," there was no question in her voice.
"Yep." I answered as the call finally went to voicemail. "He knows me too well… he knew I wouldn't return his call."
"Well he doesn't know you well enough to know that there wasn't a chance you were going to pick up when he called again," she pointed out in reply.
"That's true." I mused softly. My phone beeped after a few seconds… new voicemail. Yeah screw that. I tossed my phone into my purse and heaved a sigh, leaning against the wall next to the dressing room.
I straightened up when Ana came out. She looked at me, dress over her arm, and then made a sympathetic expression at me. "This will pass," she said softly, putting her arm around me.
"Thanks Ana." I said softly as we hugged. I pulled back and, in an attempt to lighten the mood, smirked as I said, "Ana Banana."
"Ana Banana," she snorted, looking pained at the nickname. "How do you like Dizzy Izzy?"
I shook my head, hiding a smile. "It's just not as good as Ana Banana." I told her seriously.
"Shut up," she muttered as she handed the dress to the saleswomen. We headed downstairs to make the purchases.
I caught sight of the skulking celebrity in the corner again as I waited for the saleswoman to ring up our purchases. He ducked behind a display again, clearly trying to make me think I hadn't seen him. Whatever, I wasn't blind.
Ana's phone rang, bringing me back to her. "It's Erik, I'm gonna this," she told me and then headed outside. Hopefully it wasn't serious.
The saleswoman told me the total of the two dresses (you don't even want to know), and then asked me, "Anything else, Miss Walters?"
I handed her my American Express black credit card (that's the only way to seriously shop) as I answered distractedly, "Yeah, hold on a second, I think I see something I want." Then I headed over to the skulking celebrity. What can I say, my curiosity overcame me.
He looked up (well I think he did, his aviators covered his eyes) and then looked around quickly, looking like a caged animal. I raised an eyebrow at him for a moment as I stopped and picked up a shirt, looking it over. He seemed to relax slightly, thinking that I wasn't coming to talk to him, and went back to going through the rack between us. "Don't I know you?" I asked him (and probably just when he thought it was safe too).
"Probably not," he tried to lie.
"You look familiar." I answered him calmly.
"Miss Walters-" the saleswoman began to call me over sharply, clearly seeing that I was bothering their celebrity guest.
"It's fine, Valerie," he smiled ruefully and took off the sunglasses. "Caught."
It was Cole Thomas, of all people… the one who had just starred in that TV show with the… oh hell, I didn't know, I rarely watched TV. But he was on that show and he dated… maybe Lindsay Lohan for a while?
I realized he was clearly bracing himself for a squeal of excitement or glee or something so I instead slowly smiled and stated, "You're Cole Thomas."
"Yeah," he answered in agreement. He was taller in person, definitely over six feet and he was… cuter in person too. A lot cuter then I remembered from seeing pictures of him in Seventeen. He was deeply tan and his blue eyes stood out because of that. His dark hair was clearly professionally styled, short, and tousled on top. When he slowly smiled at me, he revealed clean white teeth. I shouldn't have expected any less of him but he was still pretty damn hot.
"Do you… often shop in Dior?" I asked dryly, gesturing around at the women's clothing store.
"It's for my mom," he clarified easily in reply, leaning against the rolling rack with a larger half smile. I saw his eyes drift downward and let him leisurely check me out. When his eyes met mine again, instead of getting flustered, I slowly smiled at him again in a flirtatious manner. I was surprised to see a blush quickly flood his cheeks as he looked away. Now that was adorable.
"Izzy?" Ana had returned. "Hey-" she said as she approached and then looked at Cole. She squinted at him for a second then her eyes widened as she began, "Hey, aren't you-"
"Cole Thomas," he cut her off smoothly with another half smile, offering her his hand.
"Ana Masterson," she replied with an uneasy smile then darted her eyes at me.
Luckily Cole had turned his attention back to me. "I didn't catch your name," he told me.
"Isabella Walters.' I answered and then shook his hand. His grip was warm and firm.
"You girls are cool," he said once we released hands. "I'm not used to girls your age reacting this… calmly."
"How old are you anyway?" I asked curiously. I couldn't remember from all the articles I'd read but I knew he wasn't our age.
"Twenty-two," he answered. Oops. Ana stepped on my foot.
"Well she's seventeen and I'm eighteen." I answered as Ana's phone went off.
She checked the ID and then her face broke out into a smile. "Excuse me," she ducked away as she answered.
"Boyfriend." I stated with a smirk.
"Ah," he nodded and then asked me leisurely, "Is yours going to be calling soon too?"
I felt a slow smile creep across my face. "Nope." I answered firmly.
"No?" he asked, surprised.
"Nope. Single as can be." I answered.
"Hey Izzy, we should go, Andrew needs a ride home." Ana touched my arm.
"Okay." I agreed, disappointed to be leaving.
"Hey, could I call you?" he asked as I began to turn away.
I turned back and then slowly smiled again. Ana stepped on my foot again. "Sure." I replied.
He pulled out a state of the art cell phone and took my number. "I'll give you a call sometime," he said once he was done.
"Hope so." I smiled one more lingering smile and then walked back over to the counter. I signed the receipt and then we left.
A/N: all right well i've been outrageously busy lately with school and friends and stuff... it's not like i lack direction for the story, i just lack the time. but soon enough school will be over (next thursday) and then i can focus my time on fun.
Anika Summers: thanks!
QuOtAtA: yeah too bad about him, huh?
sexy paperclip: yay i'm glad you loved it! oh i've recieved (and done) many a drunk dial... last night my friend called me becase it was his 21st birthday and just sat on the phone and rambled for like 10 minutes about nothing. the plot for the next story is thin... i really have to work at it as of right now so i can't really tell you, sorry, ha. you have a nice week too!
smoothed out: i thought it was going to take forever too but luckily it didn't. definitely typical of isabella. we all know what's going to happen come the charity ball. it IS nice to have no drama at the moment... kinda fresh, haha.
AbbeyEileen: as you can probably see from the above, not so much about isabella and david. and yes ana's still living with them, she'll move out when she goes away to college, but it's not really like she has the money to move out by herself and she's a minor still anyway. i don't think the walters mind though.
all righty i'm out, hope you enjoyed it.
until next time,
a smile that explodes