Page 12 of Shattered Fears

CHAPTER FIVE

Isobel wasn’t sure how she let Kingsley talk her into this: a party with loads of his friends. It was the last thing she felt like doing especially as it was apparently a means of setting her up with one of his mates. The music was loud, and people were drinking. She’d had a bottle of beer but wasn’t impressed. Alcohol wasn’t something high on her list of priorities. She preferred a nice cup of tea. Somewhere in a past life she must have come from England with this habit.

“Izzy,” Kingsley poked his head out of the kitchen and called her. “Come here, I want to introduce you to someone.”

She reluctantly left her safe, secluded spot on the high backed chair in his lounge and ambled over into the open plan kitchen. Her brother was standing with a man who was a similar build to himself — although he was still smaller than Zain would be now, she noted. He had brown hair, shaved at the sides and long on top, and a tattoo of what looked like a snake’s tail that started behind his left ear and disappeared into his vest. She wondered where it continued to down his body.

“Here she is! Izzy, let me introduce you to Ian. Ian, this is my sister Isobel. Izzy, Ian studied English Literature at University as well. He’s a writer now.”

“Hi.” Ian held his hand out for her to shake, which she did. “Kingsley tells me you work at the Montana University library. I think I spent most of my time in there when I was studying. Is old man Bennett still there?”

She smiled at him, “Yes. He’s my boss now. If he’s having a good day, then my job is fun, but if he’s found a student putting a book back in the wrong place, then you would think the world was ending.”

Ian laughed.

“What do you write?”

“Crime books. I got picked up by a publisher a while back; I was indie until then. They’re working on re-branding. Hopefully, we will be re-releasing my first series soon.”

“That’s fantastic. Well done, you.”

“It doesn’t exactly pay the bills, yet, but I write part-time for a newspaper, so I have some money coming in.”

“At least you’re doing something with the degree you got.” She bit her tongue when she thought about what she was doing with her life. She’d never left university, really; she was the librarian there, now. It was either that or the janitor, probably.

“You haven’t written?”

“I tried a few times. Guess I’ve got writer’s block.” They both went silent this time.

“Hey,” Kingsley broke the quiet. “Why don’t you two go back in the other room and get to know each other a bit better. I’ll bring you a drink. Izzy, another beer?”

She shook her head. “Just a coke, please.”

Her brother raised an eyebrow at her.

“Actually, I’m not feeling too well. I’m going to get a breath of fresh air. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

Before someone could say anything to stop her, or to offer to come with her, she was out the kitchen door and into the garden. Ian was nice enough, but whenever she looked at him, she compared him to Zain. Why couldn’t she get over her first love? She walked down the small garden toward a woodland at the bottom. Her hand went instinctively to her neck. Around it, she wore the necklace Zain had given her for her sixteenth birthday. She hadn’t taken off the infinity symbol with a diamond ever since, for it was as much a part of her as her soul mate was. This was a stupid idea; she should never have agreed to come to this thing. She’d phone her father’s driver and ask him to come and get her. He was available at all hours of the day for her needs. Well, when he wasn’t ferrying her mother to whichever beauty appointment she had that day.

“I’ll walk you home, if you want.” The deep baritone voice came from the woods in front of her. She looked around but couldn’t see anyone, not until a shadow moved into the moonlight that was illuminating the garden. Her breath caught, and for a brief moment she thought that the one beer had gone straight to her head; surely, he must be a hallucination. Zain stood in front of her. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, which showed he’d bulked up even more since he’d been gone. He’d gotten a tattoo sleeve and grown a wild beard. He looked even sexier than she remembered.

“Are you real?” she asked.

“Yes,” he replied and stepped even closer to her. She swallowed deeply.

“You can’t be.”

“I am. I’m real, and I’m standing in front of you.”

She placed her hand over her mouth to stifle the sob that had formed in her throat. She’d dreamed for years of the moment that she’d see him again. It was never as intense as this; her whole body shook with the emotion coursing through it.

“Why now?”

He looked down at the ground and didn’t answer.

“Zain, you walked out of my life five years ago. I haven’t heard anything from you since then, bar one letter. Now, you’re here in front of me, and you can’t give me an explanation. You owe me that much at least.”

The sobs came this time. There was no holding them in any longer.

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