Counterpoints Book 3 Page 14

  “This book is coming out in September” he said and slowly took out a manuscript from the bag. It was a first print, a mockup, with no hardcover but Isabella’s eyes caught Christopher’s picture on the front page immediately.

  Christopher and James, Isabella stared at it speechless, as she rubbed her fingers on their closeups, her hands holding on tight to the manuscript.

  “A biography?” she looked up, searching Christopher’s face.

  He was standing in front of her, at some distance now, hands tucked in his pockets.

  “It was meant to be a biography, yes. About me and my father, from my point of view” he told her, registering confusion on Isabella’s face.

  She looked at the cover again, at how James’ and Christopher’s pictures were strategically placed side by side to stress their resemblance.

  Like father like son. Memoirs of legend race driver James Taylor and the ultimate ‘son of’

  “Why meant to be? What is it then?” Isabella glanced at Christopher again.

  My private life, Christopher thought. Tell her, just tell her.

  Christopher ran a hand through his hair and looked down, searching for an easy way to say it and found out there wasn’t one. No easy way, just the truth.

  And he told her everything. He told Isabella how he had agreed to having a biography written about him and his dad. How he wanted to talk about their relationship, how it felt to be his son, to bare his surname, his legacy.

  What a great way to honor him, Christopher had thought.

  Maybe talking about it, agreeing to some sort of interview about my father, would have finally stopped the press from asking the same questions over and over again.

  “Here is it is, I thought. The whole truth was going to be in here. Journalist would talk about the book and get over it. I guess that plan blew up in my face” Christopher paused, his eyes dark. “I trusted the wrong people with my story”

  “Why? What’s inside this book that’s torturing you, Christopher?” Isabella stood and walked over to him, her hand wrapping around his wrist, covering his tattoo.

  He looked down at her, his hands clenched into fists in his pocket as he pondered the words.

  “Every stupid thing I’ve done in my life, is in here and it is being used to make me look like a unworthy son of a champion”

  “But” Isabella shook her head, confusion written all over her face “How did they manage to…”

  “Get the information?” Christopher finished her sentence. “They paid off almost every person that knows me- every school friend, every woman I went out with- to have a piece of me, a piece of information, a story to tell, a scandalous episode to write about. Do you know what it feels like to know that some of the people you thought were your friends, accepted money to be featured in a book, this book about you? For money, Isabella. For fame, for vanity. Call it whatever you want. They sold me off, to the highest bidder right here”

  Isabella looked down then, her eyes stinging, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

  So many emotions were stemming from her heart – confusion, stupor, anger, sadness.

  “That is terrible” she said, looking into his eyes again and saw the scariest of emotions written all over Christopher’s face.

  Disappointment, the delusion of having his trust betrayed by those closer to him.

  That’s why he doesn’t trust people, he doesn’t usually welcome people in his life.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about this before, but I didn’t want to ruin everything. I wanted our relationship to be trouble free. Because Isabella, I am in love with you and what I am about to say will change the way you see me. I wasn’t always like this, Isabella. Calm, confident, in control. It took me a while to get here”

  He is in love with me, Isabella took in a breath.

  He took her chin in his hand gently and made sure she was looking at him again, straight into his eyes. She needed to hear what he had to say.

  “Almost every woman I fucked, fucked me right back. It’s all in there. What we did together, how I like to do it, how I partied hard, the things I said, how I kept at a distance, my mind on one thing and one thing only. Beating my father’s performances, arriving a second before him, a second faster than him”

  “Chris” Isabella murmured and watched his face harden.

  “Read it” he said pointing to the book.

  Isabella shook her head.

  “I don’t want to”

  “It’s better if you do. That way you’ll be prepared for when it comes out”

  “I don’t care what’s inside that book” she shook her head again, her voice hard.

  She truly didn’t. Whatever was written in there, had been taken from Christopher through betrayal.

  Christopher’s private life, his memories of his father had been taken from him. He had been misled and Isabella didn’t want to have anything to do with it.

  “I am not going to read about your private life. If you want to tell me something, I’ll listen but I won’t read about it from others”

  “Read it Isabella. This is me in here. The press is going to be all over you when this comes out. They’ll ask you questions”

  “I won’t answer them” Isabella cut in. “I’ll ignore every single one of them”

  Christopher looked at her and shook his head, a hint of a smile on his lips.

  “I’ve taken drugs, partied hard. I was a shit head in my teens and thought that I owned it all. The attention I received, the interest in me for being a Taylor, I let it get to my head. I’ve had more than one woman in my bed at once. I splurged money here and there. I once destroyed a hotel room because I was out of my fucking mind” he paused and took in a deep breath. “My relationship with my father wasn’t an easy one. He loved me and I adored him, but it wasn’t perfect by far. He was a perfectionist, cold hearted when it came to racing. He wanted more from me, every single time he came with me on track. More, more. He pushed me to the limit, he demanded my attention. He wanted me to be like him. And I have become like him. I am cold blooded in that car, just like he was. You have no idea how many times he made me cry, because I was too slow, too disconnected from the track. He was hard on me, but I owe him everything. He started training me to become like him, better than him. I’ve achieved so much thanks to him and now this book will make him look like an ogre. His private life is in it, too”

  “Oh, Chris” Isabella mumbled, as Christopher’s words echoed in her ears.

  “That’s not all, Isabella. I want you to listen very carefully to everything I have to say. Cause I want you to know everything” he ran a hand through her hair and then let it slide down his side.

  No more secrets.

  “When I found out that this book was coming out last year, I went out my mind. When I found out who had betrayed me, I lost it. I partied for days, with several girls, and took any shit I could find. Alfred saved my ass, like in so many other occasions. He helped me keep things a secret and he covered up for me, saying that I was ill. I had to sit out a whole month of races, because If they tested me I would have been positive to the drug screening”

  “Oh my God” Isabella mumbled. She felt a shiver run down her back, like the room was suddenly so cold, like Christopher’s honest words had just slapped her hard in the face.

  She blinked at him, trying to imagine how someone so strong, so focused like Christopher could have lost his mind completely. And why.

  I wanted to know, Isabella reminded herself, before asking Christopher to carry on.

  “He tried to cover up everything, told Mr. Johnson that I was ill” he said and his eyes didn’t leave Isabella’s. “He paid off some girls I partied with”

  She held his stare and swallowed hard, keeping her face as straight as possible, while she felt her stomach clenched tight.

  Girls you fucked with.

  “But It was useless. It ended up in here, in that book anyway. I guess everyone has a price, what I offered was n
ot enough” he let out a bitter laugh.

  “Now you know everything, what a fucking mess I am” Christopher said “The door is over there, Isabella. I don’t blame you if you want out” Christopher said then, his jaw twitched as he studied her dark face.

  Her honey brown eyes lit up instantly, as he said the words, her full red lips parted.

  “I am not moving” she looked back up at him, while she grabbed on to his arm, tighter this time.

  “If you think you can ignore this, you are wrong. We’ll have three times the attention on us that we have now”

  “We’ll find a way to control the situation” Isabella told him, her mind taking over, quieting her heart.

  “There is no way out of this” Christopher said. “The publishing house offered me a solution: authorize the biography and have some control on the content. To be defined” he laughed it off. “Some control. I don’t want some control. I don’t want any of it out”

  “We can talk with them and find a solution”

  “You can’t find a solution with them. They’ll print it like it is, If I say no anyway. It’s their way or they’ll print it. I am not going to authorize it, I am not going to compromise with them. I already tried to pay for their silence”

  Oh Chris, Isabella thought.

  “They can write all they want. I don’t care what you did, what took you to become the man you are now. Because you are amazing, not just as a driver. What you are going to do with the academy, helping so many less fortunate young drivers live their dream, is fantastic. This is the Christopher I care about and whatever it is you did in the past, it helped you become who you are now”

  He shook his head and mumbled something under his breath.

  “I am going to humiliate my mother, my father and you too. If you stay, you’ll be dragged into this, too”

  “We’ve all done things we are not proud of” Isabella started to say but Christopher didn’t let her finish.

  “Things are a little different when they are in the spotlight”

  “I don’t care, I am not going. I am staying”

  “They’ll stalk you”

  “Io ti amo” “I love you” the words just flew out of her mouth, without thinking twice.

  They came out as soft as a whisper and it warmed Christopher’s heart, like a hot summer breeze.

  “I love you” she said again, in English this time, and saw Christopher smile, his hands up to her cheeks in an instant.

  “And I am not walking away. We’ll take the blow. Together. I’ll help you every possible way I can. I am not leaving”

  She stretched up on her toes and kissed him, her lips sealing the deal. She was staying, no matter how rough things would get in a few months’ time. They had been through the ‘other girl’ moment – Giselle- the crash and all the doubts and fears of getting involved in a dead-end relationship.

  I am involved now, there’s no going back. I don’t want to go back.

  “I don’t care what they say. Your words are the only thing I’ll listen to. The hell with everyone”

  “Once you are involved, your name will be connected to mine for a long time, even if you walk away at some point. I want you to understand this” he said, holding her close against his chest.

  He wanted to be sure, sure that Isabella knew what she was getting into. He knew too well how things worked with the press. It took just one moment to be in the spotlight, but running away from it took longer. Sometimes it was impossible.

  “It’s going to get nasty” he warned her.

  “I can be nasty, too. We are in this together”

  He played with a strand of her hair, as he guided it behind her ear and smiled.

  “What did I do to deserve you?”

  Isabella’s shoulders went up a little and she shrugged.

  “You must have done something right, Mr. Taylor”

  Chapter 12

  I wish you could be here right now, Isabella texted Christopher and opened the car door.

  The hot summer breeze hit her instantly and she breathed in the saltiness of the sea air.

  Home, Isabella thought. She was home.

  Only six days to the race in Rome and Isabella had left London two days early, before the MB team scheduled arrival on Thursday – before the whole First Category Racing circus arrived into town. Before Christopher.

  She had anticipated her departure, hoping to have enough time to catch up with her family and friends. She knew that once the race weekend begun, she would be super busy with Hillary, organizing their work, the interviews and attending sponsor events with the drivers.

  As she got out of her car and made her way through the parking lot- into the crowd that walked the small town’s old streets- Isabella noticed how different it felt to be home this time.

  She was back, she was in Italy but her mind was somewhere else.

  Her eyes searched the clear sky and for the first time wished she was under the gray London sky, with Christopher.

  Stop it. He’ll be here soon, Isabella reminded herself.

  It was just a matter of days and the whole MB team would be flying to Rome for the race. It was almost time for cars to line up on track again after Berlin.

  As Isabella did her best to keep memories of the accident out of her mind, she thought of how different it would be this time, to walk the box lane beside Christopher, their first race weekend as a couple.

  A couple, she played with the word in her head and smiled.

  Her last trip to Italy had been before Toronto, before she and Christopher had started seeing each other again- after the pictures of him and Giselle kissing in Cannes.

  That time, she had run off to Italy to stop from calling him, to stop Christopher from looking for her in London.

  And look at us now, she smiled content.

  In just a few weeks, their relationship had gone from secret to real, from occasional to living together.

  And in just two days, they had moved all her stuff to his house in Maida Vale.

  “You could get tired of me” she had made her point several times.

  “Impossible. I want more of you every day” Christopher had whispered in her hair, his hand wrapped around her waist.

  I am not going to argue with that, and Isabella had snuggled up in his tight embrace.

  But the best part of it all was that there were no more secrets between them.

  He told me about the book.

  It was all out in the open, Christopher’s past, his struggles to become the man that he was- the crazy night outs, his ache to be worthy of his surname and the reason why he had never wanted a girl by his side. The lack of trust. He didn’t trust easily, not after his loved ones had betrayed him the way they did with the book. The truth was out and for once, Isabella wasn’t scared of what was to come- what was going to happen when the book was out and the press got a hold of Christopher.

  For some reason, she still believed that something could be done, that it wasn’t over yet, that maybe she and Mr. Jenkins could work something together.

  If we set our differences aside, Isabella reckoned but she knew she would, she would work with Alfred if necessary.

  Anything to help Christopher out of this unpleasant situation.

  “I am sorry this is happening to you” Isabella had wanted Christopher to know.

  She wasn’t holding him responsible for anything. What was done, was done and there was nothing he could do to change that. It was all in the past now and what truly mattered at that point, was that Christopher had learnt from his mistakes. They would move on from there. Together.

  We are closer, Isabella smiled as she walked onto a bigger street.

  Not too far away, Maria was waiting for Isabella, for a night out on the town, as the annual summer festival took place.

  Isabella breathed in the aroma of sweet cotton candy and smiled, her eyes a little closed, as if she could see it all over again- her childhood, her summers spent on fare rides and listening t
o live music around town.

  She stopped, just as she rounded a corner onto the main town square, and placed a hand on a wall, to adjust the straps on her sandals. She could feel the music hum through the walls of the old town hall and she could hear children giggling, running around with sweet nuts and candies.

  Those were happy days, Isabella recalled, when she was still a little girl and all the family would venture out on hot summer nights, to celebrate the Saint patron of the town.

  Those were the few times she would have the freedom and light heartedness of a child, when her parents were there, present and watching out for her brother and sister, and Isabella would feel like a child too for once.

  Her phone vibrated and she took it out, just as she spotted Maria, waiting for her near the big town clock.

  She waved and Maria started to walk towards her, moving fast through the crowd.

  Me too baby. I am in bed all alone, with a sore neck from all the weight lifting. I need your massage… Christopher texted back and Isabella bit her lip, picturing his perfect, fit body lying on the hard-wooden bed.

  She thought about the headboard, how she had grasped the edge of it, while Christopher had made his way down to kiss her body, her whole body, the night before she left.

  “I want you to think of this when you are in Italy” he had told her in between kisses, his lips brushing against the inside of her thighs.

  I’ll do more than that for you, once you get here. Hurry up, come to Italy. She texted back quickly.

  A shiver ran down her spine, down her legs as Isabella looked up and smiled at Maria.

  “Hey, you” her friend hugged her tight and sighed “It’s so good to have you around here again”

  “Aww sweetie, I am really happy we get to spend some time together” Isabella said, holding on to her friend a moment longer.

  “So” Maria grinned excited. “When will I get to meet him? What’s he like? I mean besides being man candy material. Is he reserved? Outgoing?”

  “You sound like one of the journalists” Isabella teased and then went on “He’ll be in Rome on Thursday. And he is very outgoing, laidback, attentive…” Isabella was saying, when her phone vibrated again. “Sorry”