Counterpoints Book 3 Read online

  “Perfect day to get ourselves killed” Isabella made a face and then smiled, as Christopher began to laugh hard- the look on Isabella’s worried face too funny to resist.

  Sarcasm, he thought and smiled to himself. That was the sign, the sign that she was coming through.

  Isabella was giving in, slowly to the idea. She was checking the surroundings, reasoning with her fears and evaluating the pros.

  “Look” he said, his deep, green eyes locked with hers. “These past few days you have been by my side, you have helped me deal with a lot of things… I trusted you, I believed you and what you said to me. I want to give something back to you. Trust me, believe in me”

  “I trust you” Isabella mumbled and Christopher nodded.

  “Do you trust me with your life?” he asked then and Isabella searched his face.

  She nodded slowly, the butterflies in her stomach uncontrollable. Even if her feet were still on the ground, it felt like she was flying already.

  “I trust you with my life”

  “Then say yes. Jump with me. Do something reckless for once. Let me be responsible for both of us. Let me clear your head, ease the weight you carry on your shoulders. You’ve been carrying it for too long” he moved closer and brushed his lips on hers, Isabella’s mouth on fire. “It’s going to be great”

  “I haven’t said yes, yet” Isabella bit her lip again and shook her head, as Christopher took her by the hand and looked deep into her eyes, her worried and excited eyes.

  “Then say it, say yes. Trust me on this. It’s going to be incredible”

  “My legs are shaking” Isabella let out a nervous laugh and looked around, not sure of what to say, what to do.

  She saw Sylvia peak from the briefing room and smile. Isabella tried to smile back, but Christopher searched her face, his stare so intense again.

  I need time to think…

  “Don’t say it. Don’t say you have to think about it. You don’t need to think about it. This is exactly the point. This is how I do things, this is what works for me. Don’t say ‘let’s do it another time’. There is no other time. Now is the time. Together”

  This is crazy, she looked down and breathed out. Crazy like anything and everything we have done together so far.

  When she looked back up and met his stare again, Isabella knew it wasn’t true.

  That wasn’t the craziest thing they had done. Being together was.

  She had never met someone so different and yet so in harmony with her.

  It was as though they were constantly taking each other by the hand, never forcing, never invading each other’s space, never oppressing each other’s personality, but always pushing the other to achieve more.

  We compensate each other, Isabella thought and understood why he had taken her there, to that skydiving facility.

  He needs this, he needs it to feel alive, to free his mind from the checkup, the races, the blackmailing... And he wants me to feel it, too. He wants me to feel free, to feel him, his soul.

  “What about your health conditions? You were in hospital just three days ago”

  “I feel great” he said quickly.

  “No pain?”

  “No pain. I feel okay.” he shook his head. Then he smiled wide and lowered his voice a little “Come on, Isabella. You said you wanted to look at the sky, let’s go check out the sky” Christopher winked.

  “Okay” Isabella smiled and took in a deep breath, the excitement so palpable she felt her legs go soft a little. “Let’s break the rules”

  She raised her finger to his lips, as soon as he smiled wide. “Those hooks there better be strong enough. I am putting my life in your hands”

  Christopher nodded and kissed her finger. Then, he looked up at her, as he took her by the hand, and said:

  “I’ve never held anything so precious in my hands before”

  …five, six, seven, eight, nine…

  Isabella counted the people in the airplane again and again and thought that the excitement must have been playing silly tricks with her head.

  She counted twelve people and it couldn’t be right.

  “How many on this plane?” she asked Sylvia, who was sitting right behind her -all buckled up and secured to Isabella by four, large, blue hooks.

  She heard Christopher chuckle then and she shot him a dirty look.

  As she looked away from him again, one of the hooks on her left shoulder caught her attention. For an instant, she thought it was unhooked.

  It’s fine, it’s closed. I’m safe, she told herself and closed her eyes a moment.

  For now, at least.

  Her thoughts did absolutely nothing to calm her nerves, to ease the pain in her stomach.

  So, my good sense is long lost. But what about my defense mechanisms? Quick, think of something else. Isabella looked around, hoping to find something else to focus on and found absolutely nothing.

  Who was she kidding? She was flying at god only knew what speed, what altitude and with how many other crazy people like her and Christopher, waiting to jump off the plane with their pretty colorful parachutes.

  I might be the craziest one of them all.

  “There are twelve of us in here” Sylvia told her and explained how it was okay to be cramped inside the plane. They would all be jumping off in a few minutes.

  “And I’ll be all alone during landing” said the pilot up front.

  “If you want company…” Isabella began to say and then grinned at the man, as he chuckled.

  “Having second thoughts?” Christopher squeezed her hand and then moved a little closer, his warm breath tickled her ear. Isabella’s stomach tightened.

  “No. It’s called ‘survival instinct’ but I don’t think you two have met” Isabella said and saw him smile to the side.

  “One minute to the launch” shouted the pilot and he turned a little, making sure they were at the exact spot planned ahead of the flight.

  “Who goes first?” said Sylvia to everyone in the plane.

  “US!!!” Isabella shouted and shut her eyes.

  “Are you sure?” Sylvia enquired, stunned to hear her speak up first.

  Isabella nodded and locked eyes with Christopher again. He was leaning forward, his chin almost brushing against her shoulder, curiosity written all over his face.

  “I am scared I won’t do it If I see him jump out first”

  He doesn’t even have an instructor with him, for crying out loud, a shiver ran down her spine. Christopher was going solo.

  He had jumped several times before with an instructor and on his own. He knew how it worked and what to do.

  “That’s my girl” Christopher mumbled and held on to her hand a moment longer.

  Then the sliding door opened and Sylvia did exactly what she said she would do in the briefing.

  She pushed forward with her pelvis, all the way to the door, until Isabella was sitting on the edge of the plane- her legs safely pinned under the plane, like instructed.

  Isabella kept her head up, holding back from looking down like Sylvia had told her, and gasped, terrified and mesmerized at the same time.

  The view was unbelievable.

  From up there, she could see the exact point where the horizon curved, where the sky ended and land began - where dreams came into the world and where reality resided.

  Sunrays cut through the few clouds scattered around them and never Isabella had seen a sky so colored and bright. It was a slate of several blues and oranges. A thin yellow line seemed to mark the horizon, the exact point where the two worlds collided.

  I am in the sky. And I am dreaming, were the only thoughts going through Isabella’s head then.

  The world looked incredibly grand and magnificent from up there and all her worries and doubts felt suddenly tiny and pointless.

  A memory crossed Isabella’s mind and it all felt so familiar to her.

  She recalled the day she had gone on the London Eye with Christopher, how incredibly free to
be themselves they had felt, secured in that glass capsule, floating above the city landscape.

  It felt similar this time. Isabella had the same feeling of awareness, her eyes were wide open, her chest felt lighter. Nothing down there mattered, what was important was that they were up there, together.

  She caught sight of Sylvia’s hand on the side of the plane.

  They were in position.

  “READY?” her instructor screamed to the top of her lungs, as the wind blew wild in Isabella’s face.

  “YES” Isabella screamed with all her breath.

  She said yes, without giving it a meaning. She said yes, because it was the right thing to say. She said yes and felt like screaming no.

  There was a strong push from behind and Isabella felt her legs go loose.

  They leaped out of the plane and into the immensity of the blue sky- into wide nothingness.

  She gasped for air and dug the fingers in her suit, suppressing her first instinct to turn and stretch her arms up enough to grasp a ledge, a handle, anything that would help her not fall down that vortices of thin air.

  Instead, Isabella stayed still, her chest paralyzed as if her heart had stopped beating the second her feet had left that airplane.

  She let her body float into the void, like she had been told, and kept her arms crossed over her chest.

  I am going to die, this is it. I am dying.

  She gasped, searching for air. Air was everywhere, everywhere but in her lungs.

  Suddenly, the sky was not blue anymore, it was white and cold, as they cut through a small cloud and Isabella felt water splash on her face.

  Her cheeks were wet in a second.

  Sylvia extended her arms in front of her. That was the signal, Isabella could open her arms like her instructor was doing and slow down their fall.

  Are you okay? Sylvia asked with her hands.

  Okay, Isabella turned both thumbs up.

  She focused on the landscape below. It was breathtaking. Literally.

  From up there, it was all brown and green and little spots of lighter colors.

  Isabella smiled- the horizon, which had turned slightly orange, was so strangely close to her. She felt her stomach twist in a knot, the things she was seeing so intense she couldn’t think but just feel.

  How absurd, she thought to herself.

  How odd it was to realize how intense emotions were, once she stopped thinking and concentrated on the emotion itself. Reasoning was just wrong sometimes, it destroyed the beauty of the feeling.

  She felt the sky and how cold it was, she felt the colors, how incredibly vivid they were. Isabella felt the greatness of the world and the tininess of what she was. And she felt so strong. Alive.

  Christopher was by her a few instants later. He put his thumb up and Isabella did too. They smiled at each other, as Christopher pushed his body slightly forward to grab her hand. He squeezed it tight and smiled, nodding as he patted her helmet with his other hand.

  I got you, he seemed to want her to know, his fingers wrapped tight around hers.

  I got you, she squeezed his hand too.

  Christopher was right, she thought as she tried to smile, her cheeks too cold and paralyzed by the speed.

  He was right. Her mind was clear, her chest felt lighter. They were nothing but air, thin cold air and everything that worried them or scared them had dissolved.

  They had both left everything back in that airplane, back on the ground. They could see, really see things as they were. Both were free to feel, the purest of emotions. They were now free to feel, without limits, without consequences.

  I feel you, she reached for his helmet and Christopher grabbed her other hand, their arms forming a circle as they dived through another cloud.

  It lasted a moment, their closeness - as Sylvia did another one of her signals and Isabella knew her free fall was almost over- but Isabella realized the bond between her and Christopher was anything but over. They had never felt closer and irremediably into one another.

  I trust you.

  She closed her mouth and crossed her arms over her chest again, while Sylvia pulled the leaver and the parachute flew open. They were pulled with such energy, their legs flew up and their stomachs felt like had reached their throats.

  “Legs up” Sylvia shouted.

  They glided down slowly, the grass so close to them now.

  “Up, up Isabella” she repeated and Isabella placed her hands under her knees and lifted her legs up, as much as she could.

  A second later, she felt the grass snap against her suit and a thud, as Sylvia touched the ground first.

  “Brilliant” Sylvia said and patted her shoulder. “Great job, Isabella” she added, as she started to unbuckle the first hook.

  “Thank you so much” Isabella panted, her hand over her chest, and laughed out all the tension and the adrenaline rushing through her veins.

  She waited impatiently to be untied, her legs shaky and strong, like she had all the energy necessary to run a marathon.

  “It was incredible” she covered her face with both hands, as she stood.

  Isabella turned to search the sky and spotted Christopher, just in time to watch him land. He touched the ground with the tip of his toes and ran a few meters before slowing down his pace, the yellow and blue parachute brushing against the grass.

  “WOHOO” he screamed to the top of his lungs, as he laid down on the ground, arms and legs spread wide.

  He laughed and breathed in and out fast, his heart beat loud in his ears. When he turned to look at Isabella- his face the perfect portrait of happiness- she couldn’t stop herself from running towards him.

  She ran fast the distance that separated them, while the rest of the group started to land all around, her heart beat humming loudly in her throat.

  Christopher sat up with his helmet off, sexy crocked smile stamped on his lips, just as

  Isabella jumped on him, sending him down on the grass again.

  He laughed hard and grabbed on tight to her suit.

  Her lips were on him immediately, hard and uncaring of anything and anyone around them. She heard people laugh but it was far away.

  She noticed her mind, how carefree it so strangely was. Isabella listened to her chest and how light it felt.

  She laughed to the world that was still spinning all around her, for how her legs were shaking, how her arms were aching- as all the tension was released from her body.

  Adrenaline rush.

  “How was it?” he grabbed her by her lower back and shook her a little, the excitement still pulsing in his veins.

  “It was incredible” Isabella almost screamed and laughed, laughed so hard like she had never laughed before.

  She tried to get up but Christopher pulled her back down, back on top of him and Isabella tilted her head back and laughed again, as her hair covered Christopher’s face.

  “Did you see her? Did you just see her, how good she is? My girl?” Christopher asked, turning to look at Sylvia and to the rest of the guys, that had landed immediately after him.

  Some chuckled and some congratulated Isabella, for her first jump.

  Christopher let her stand and took her hand, squeezing it tight like before, like when they had been flying down in the sky.

  They kept eyeing each other, as they crossed the runway and headed back to the airport, smiling and giggling as the adrenaline started to wear off slowly.

  “You were amazing” Christopher went on and kissed her hair, wrapping his arms around her neck. “Absolutely amazing” his voice so excited, Isabella couldn’t help but giggle.

  “And you are incredible” Isabella said and turned to kiss him again. “You live like there is no tomorrow and you make it all seem so easy. You make everything seem possible. Thank you. For making everything possible” she laughed a little as she spoke, her head tilted back. “I can’t stop laughing”

  Nor stop my legs from shaking.

  “Then don’t stop” Christopher
kissed her again “Don’t stop laughing, ever”

  Chapter 9

  That morning of all mornings, Isabella was on time.

  She walked to the small coffee place near Bond Street Station, dodging people on Oxford street, holding on tight to her suitcase and laptop bag.

  She was going home. After three fantastic days with Christopher, she was going back to her place.

  And feeling like a stray cat again, dragging my stuff around.

  She spotted Alfred Jenkins instantly.

  In the light, brown wood décor of the coffee place, packed with people in suits, he stood out like a black sheep in a herd of whites, with his clean-shaven face and cold blue eyes.

  He was sitting at a small table at the very end of the narrow room. There was already a coffee cup on his table, but it seemed to sit there, untouched.

  He was deep in to reading a newspaper and he hadn’t noticed Isabella walk in.

  From afar, Alfred seemed relaxed, looking casual for the first time since Isabella had met him. She had never seen him wear anything but pants and button up shirt.

  That morning, Alfred Jenkins was off the clock- she could tell by his polo shirt and jeans- and he looked younger for some reason.

  Maybe work is what stresses him, what makes his face crinkle.

  Isabella moved past the counter and smiled briefly at the members of staff behind it.

  Mr. Jenkins looked up just a moment before she took a seat in front of him and his jaw tensed.

  He glared at her in silence, as Isabella gracefully placed her suitcase against the wall, her bags on the floor and straightened her pink stripy t-shirt just before taking a seat.

  “Hello” she said and watched his eyes travel from her suitcase back to her again. His lips sealed in a thin line.

  He closed the newspaper and crossed his arms.