Page 25 of Chase

While I imagine all the games I would have played to amuse myself here, Theo shows no appreciation whatsoever for the gorgeous interior when he mounts the stairs and paces up each step. I think I’m supposed to follow, but there’s no way I’m going to not indulge in every detail of this place. When the staircase splits off into two directions, he takes the left, so I immediately take the right.

“Where are you going, Izzy?” I hear him call out with a sigh of frustration. “Your room is this way.”

“Yes,” I reply without even bothering to turn around, “but if this is Nonna’s house, I wanna have a good nose around.”

I smile to myself, knowing how irritated I’m probably making him, then continue walking around in the opposite direction to where he wants me to go. I soon feel his hand wrapping around my arm to pull me back into line, just like everyone else in my life.

“There’s only my bedroom and office in that direction, Izzy, nothing for you to look at, believe me.”

“You seem very cozy here,” I observe, eyeing him with suspicion and another theatrical crossing of my arms. “How long have you been coming to stay here exactly?”

“A couple of years,” he replies, placing his hands firmly inside of his pockets.

A couple of fucking years? What the hell? Not once did he ever…That’s it! A veil of rage descends over me, and it takes a moment or two to compose my usual mask of indifference. I thought being forgotten and abandoned by him hurt, but purposefully being avoided by him is a different pain altogether.

“Lead the way,” I utter with a distinctly cold tone to my voice. “I’m going to bed and then I’m out of here.”

He places his hand on my lower back as I step past him, but it feels like a knife, so I jerk out of it.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” I snap with a narrowed set of eyes that freezes him for a moment or two. The bastard has the gall to look like I just crushed his heart with my bare hands. Though, in mere seconds, he appears to shake it off, much like he did to the girl whom he proclaimed to love. He removes his hand and sighs as he walks out in front to show me where my room is. He’s just another jerk to add to my already long list. I’m even tempted to add Nonna, but I guess I’ll wait to see what she has to say in the morning.

_____

Izzy

By the time I come downstairs in the morning, Nonna is already sitting in the living room waiting for me. Theo is sitting beside her, wearing a black shirt and dark denim jeans, looking every bit the American movie actor with his two-day-old stubbleand flawless good looks. Meanwhile, I’ve slung on a pair of ripped skinny jeans, have nothing whatsoever on my feet, and only a loose white t-shirt to cover my top. I haven’t even brushed my hair; it’s sloppily balled up on top of my head. My eyes are dark, and my head even more so.

“Glad you could join us, Izzy,” Nonna chuckles as I glance at the clock on the wall.

It’s late, nearly lunchtime, but that’s nothing new. Sleep has always been my friend, my escape. No one can get me there, not even my own self-destructive ways. Without any words of greeting, for she still might make it onto my list of jerks, I sit down in the only spare armchair and curl my feet under my backside.

“There’s a cup of tea on the side, dear,” Nonna offers, gesturing to the chintzy, mismatched cup and saucer on the table beside me. I smile at her with appreciation, then take hold of the warm china, and hold it close to my face so the steam can fill me full of comfort.

“Now, I’ll get straight to the point,” she says, to which I pause mid-sip. “Izzy, you are keeping me up at night; you’re not happy and I can see it. Your life is full of demons, child.” She eyes me while I frown at her questioningly, silently asking if she’s gone bat-shit crazy. “And don’t try denying it, Izzy.”

“Nonna, I can assure you I am perfectly fine,” I huff, waving my hands around in the air as I speak. “I’ve been taking care of myself since I was about five. Trust me, I’m good.”

“You don’t mix with anyone in particular, you don’t tell anyone about your occupation, you don’t date, you go out at night without any concern for your safety, and you’re clearly depressed,” she says bluntly. “Now, I am going to make a proposal to you both. I have a substantial amount of money to leave behind in mywill and I will leave it solely to the both of you if you agree to spend the next six months together.”

I laugh hysterically, to the point of tears, and when I finally wipe them away, I start laughing all over again. I then look at Theo, expecting him to be laughing with me over this absurd idea, but he’s just sitting back in his armchair, eyeing me with interest and with his index finger pressed against his lips.

“Have you heard this? I mean, are you serious? Sorry, but fuck!” I laugh until my stomach hurts and I’m in danger of kick-starting a migraine. “I don’t even know where to start, Nonna, that is insane!”

“And I want you to pretend you are married; you need to convince the others you are madly in love,” she adds without a hint of mirth on her face. The old minx is serious!

“What? Why?!” I cry out, still laughing over the ridiculousness of this idea. “And since when have you had money?”

“I have five point two million pounds from my shares in the family company, all sitting in an offshore bank account. It’s all yours and Theo’s if you agree to do this,” she says, still looking completely serious.

I take a moment to stare at her, feeling stunned and as though someone’s going to wake me up soon. I’m not entirely sure if I would call this a dream or an elaborate nightmare, but definitely the stuff of fantasy.

“Ok, let’s say I believe you, and you haven’t gone crazy, what makes you think someone like me is interested in money anyway? Are you confusing me with Tilly?”

“I think I need to talk to you separately, my darlings, thenyou can come back together and make a decision,” she says. “Izzy, you first. Theo, do you mind?”

He shakes his head and walks out without uttering a single word. I watch him leave, unable to say anything remotely coherent, for he appears to be completely unfazed.

“Izzy, darling, your family are, quite frankly, despicable people. I don’t like any of them and one of them is my son; two of them, my grandchildren. They have wronged you your whole life, so I understand why you act the way you do. And while I took pleasure in it to begin with, things have developed to a level where I am gravely concerned. I want you to see what having a proper loving relationship with someone can feel like, and I have always known you and Theo were right for each other. I knew when you were fifteen that he was the love of your life and that you were his. You can’t fool this old girl.”

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