Counterpoints Book 3 Page 22

  “Do you miss him?” one of the twins had asked her at some point.

  Isabella had nodded.

  “Every day”

  Every moment.

  Maybe it was because their relationship had been so intense. Maybe it was because they had shared so many moments together, that she missed Christopher’s presence like one misses a breath of fresh air. You can live without it, but to do so it never feels quite the same.

  That’s why she hadn’t cried. She was surviving and she knew Christopher was doing just fine.

  He was okay. Christopher was winning every race and he looked happy. He was going out with his friends around London and across the world.

  He was always surrounded by girls, at parties and galas – even though there was no new girlfriend in sight.

  Christopher was fine and she was fine, there was no need to cry. The disappointment of not making it through the lack of trust, would always be there, but Isabella could only recall the beautiful things they had done together, the amazing sensations she had felt thanks to Christopher.

  Nothing could change that. And during those first moments of her new life back home, she had held on tight to those memories, not sharing them with anyone, almost worried they would end up worn out and become insignificant.

  One morning, Isabella was sitting at her desk, writing up her article for the next issue on a motorbike freestyle show to be held in Rome, and her eyes caught sight of Noah on the blog page of MB.

  Driver Noah to be replaced next season by Robert Rowling, age twenty-two from Second Category Racing.

  Isabella blinked a few times, registering the news. A younger driver was replacing Noah and from what the blog entry said, Noah was now without a seat for the next year. No team was offering him a new position in First Category Racing.

  He knew this was going to happen, she realized at some point during that morning – her mind had kept going back to that article.

  Now she could see it all clearly, his moodiness, his lack of interest, his anger with the press, how he had lashed out on Christopher and on the other drivers. Noah had known his career was over. He had been aware since the beginning of the season, that MB was letting him go.

  Despite his attitude, Isabella couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. First Category was a harsh sport, you could only do your best and hope it was enough, until you were too old to be considered for the next season.

  Or hope for good sponsors.

  After that, for a whole week Isabella didn’t think of MB, of Christopher or Noah. She worked and then went back home one day for the opening of Maria’s nursery.

  It was a hit, the community responded with enthusiasm to the new child day care center and to the unique things Maria and Giacomo were offering- like an organic garden, where the kids could plant their fruit and vegetables.

  “Christopher sent me an orchid and a note to congratulate Giacomo and I for the opening” Maria told her that evening. “It was very nice of him”

  “Very” Isabella swallowed hard and the mentioning of his name, took her back to her limbo of unhappiness.

  “Can you let me know when he opens the academy? I’d like to reciprocate” Maria asked.

  “Of course” Isabella reassured her and then Maria asked her the usual question, how she was doing. “I’m good, thank you” she said.

  By November, Christopher was all over the sports news for two reasons.

  His academy had been open for a month or so and the courses of every age range were already fully booked. To Isabella’s surprise, Noah had started working with Christopher at the facility as one of the instructors.

  The other reason why Christopher was in the news, wasn’t the book.

  By the end of November, there was still no sign of James’ and Christopher’s biography anywhere in the press.

  All the sports magazines talked about, was Christopher winning the First Category title. He had won the championship and his smiling face was all over the TV.

  I am so happy for him.

  She watched him celebrate with the team and ached. Isabella’s chest felt heavy, she had to change channel at some point. How she longed to be there, too.

  Text him, don’t text him, text, don’t text. And in the end, she hadn’t. Isabella thought it was better that way, not to reconnect.

  It’s better this way, definitely.

  She worked extra hours that week. She did all she could, to fill her day and go home tired enough to slouch on the bed and sleep.

  Christopher was out of her head, until she stepped inside the Aquarium in Rome one day, during her lunch break and Isabella took the old habit again, of eating there most days.

  It was a cold December afternoon, when Isabella took a seat on the wooden bench in front of the jelly fish tank – her favorite- and ate her salad slowly.

  She laughed, as some of the kids stared at the jellyfish amazed. One of them, standing in front of the tank, knocked on the glass and the fish moved quicker. Some of them gasped, some of them jumped happily.

  “Would you like some desert?” Francesco, her colleague asked.

  “No, thank you” she smiled.

  “I’ll be right back” and he walked to the small cafeteria.

  Isabella’s eyes were back on the jellyfish. She sighed and put down her salad.

  She couldn’t stop thinking about Toronto, the night Christopher had taken her to the Aquarium for her birthday, with closed doors to the public.

  Of all the nice things that he had done for her, that was her favorite one. She was so jealous of that memory, she hadn’t shared it with anyone.

  “Where are we going?” she had asked him that night.

  “There is only one way to find out” he had smirked at her.

  And where am I going now? Isabella thought. Nowhere was the answer. She was stuck, in between time and she couldn’t move ahead. Not really. Her mind kept taking her back.

  It will get better with time, she told herself every day.

  She stood and walked to the tank in her black fitted jumpsuit and white button up shirt. Her hand went up to her neck, where the shirt tied in a bow around her throat, and played with it for a while, as she stared at one big jellyfish that danced before her eyes.

  She smiled and let her mind imagine Christopher’s hands behind her head, his fingers playing with her hair.

  “I knew you would be stalking the jellyfish” his voice was a little low, like a whisper. Isabella smiled again and didn’t turn.

  Congratulations Isabella, you are now the craziest, crazy person in the madhouse.

  “I missed that smile”

  Her eyes darted to the left and saw Christopher, standing there.

  He was real. His hands were in his jeans’ pockets, his hair was styled back and he was wearing a black leather jacket.

  He smiled and his lips drew a perfect line across his upper lip.

  The scar, she thought. It’s really him.

  “You are here” she breathed out and swallowed hard.

  Her eyes filled with tears but Isabella kept them safe, locked up in her eyes, forbidding them to flow down her cheeks.

  “I am here” he nodded and kept smiling.

  “Congratulations… for winning the championship” her voice almost a whisper.

  “Thank you” he said and kept looking at her.

  Her hair was longer, even though it was tied in a bun behind her head, he could tell it was. The tan was almost gone, her lips were so sensuous in that dark pink lipstick she had on. She was so beautiful, Christopher felt something he had never felt being next to Isabella before. Jealousy. He was jealous of every man that set eyes on her perfect, round hips, on her soft full lips.

  “I saw that Hillary handled the publicity for your academy” she found the nerve to speak.

  “You are all I think of”

  “Well, she did a good job” Isabella looked down, ignoring his words, afraid all the work she had done on herself over the past months, would just disap
pear in one instant, looking into the deep sea that were his eyes.

  “I’m sorry” he said and moved closer “I’m sorry, I didn’t believe you”

  “You don’t have to say that. It’s okay. I get it” she nodded.

  “I did believe you” he said and Isabella went quiet. “Only I didn’t trust myself. It wasn’t you, it was me. I was scared I was making the same mistake again, of trusting someone and failing” he said.

  Like I trusted Camilla and many others over the years.

  “And I did fail. I failed you”

  They both went quiet, as they studied each other closely. He looked tired and a little thinner, but his shoulders also looked broader.

  He’s been doing exactly what I’ve been doing, she thought seeing his body so muscular, noticing a hint of dark lines under his eyes.

  Christopher had been focusing on work, concentrating on something else, pushing all the memories of them somewhere far away.

  And he had failed.

  He is here.

  “She gave me everything, all the nasty things she was planning to put in the book. Even the pictures. We signed an agreement and she will publish a biography. She will have the merits but my story, the way I want it to be written. She told me you threatened her”

  “I should have spat in her face, only I never learned to do that with my cousins” Isabella smiled a little and jumped, as Christopher started laughing.

  Her chest vibrated to the sound of his laughter and it shook her deep down.

  “Come back” he said. “Come back to me”

  “Christopher, I really have to thank you for coming all the way here. It means so that you trust me. The thought of you believing I could hurt you so bad, was literally eating me up inside. But I can’t come back. It will never work” she looked down at her shoes “It’s always going to be like this between us. Our relationship will always be in the spotlight. And then there is the lack of trust, the past… You are the man that flies high and I am the woman with her feet on the ground. And they are back on the ground now, where they belong. It’s better this way, we get to keep the good things we shared”

  “I don’t want memories of you, I want you” Christopher moved a little closer and Isabella took a step back.

  An arm went around Isabella’s shoulder then and she turned, realizing Francesco was back from the cafeteria.

  “Is everything okay? What is he doing here?” he asked.

  “Everything is okay” Isabella reassured him.

  “What do you want from her?” Francesco asked, his eyes darted to Christopher.

  “Francesco, can you please wait for me at the exit. I’ll be right there”

  After a moment of confusion, he nodded and walked away, but from time to time he turned to squint at Christopher.

  “Listen, Isabella. I don’t know who that man is but the doubts, the popularity is just a load of bullshit. I realize, I am a mess when it comes to relationships. I obviously don’t have a clue, I trust the wrong people, I never get attached…but I know one thing. I kept looking at that note you left me and I think It hit me then, what it is all about, relationships I mean” Christopher ran a hand through his messy hair.

  A total mess, but so perfect.

  “Relationships aren’t perfect. We are not perfect. But you and I, are what we are- perfect for each other. And I’m in love with you” he paused.

  Christopher moved closer and took her hand into his. “All I know is that I love you. Tell me you want me to go, tell me you don’t want me back in your life and I will leave now. I won’t bother you anymore, if this is what you want, if he is what you want” Christopher stared ahead and his face hardened for a moment, as his eyes set on Francesco, who was looking over Isabella like a hawk. “But I know that If I walk away from you now, I will never feel the way I feel with you. The way I feel when I hold you in my arms. I will miss everything of you, your lips, your smile. I love every single thing about you, the way you sing when you are happy, how you give yourself with all your heart. If there is one thing, one thing I am sure of, is that I will never love someone the way I love you” his eyes were on her until he caught sight of someone moving in the background and his stare darted in that direction.

  Francesco was checking them out from afar. Christopher gave him a serious glance.

  In that moment, Isabella moved closer and let go of his hands. Her arms reached out for his, as Christopher’s words seemed to echo in her ears.

  Like every single time Christopher had been by her side, her mind had stopped thinking, her heart had taken in, his every word and all she could do was feel. Not think, but feel.

  She felt not what was right, but what her heart needed. What she wanted. What her heart really wanted.

  “Chris” she shook her head and closed her eyes for a moment, thinking of what to say.

  “Tell me what I can do, to win your heart back. I am on my knees” Christopher pressed on kneeling to the floor, as Isabella’s mouth dropped open.

  “Chris, don’t…” Isabella murmured and noticed people were staring at them from the benches.

  “I will never make the mistake of letting you go, ever again.” He said, holding onto her hands. He looked down, searching for the right thing to say “I have everything and yet nothing, If I don’t have you”

  “Oh, Chris” she sucked in a breath.

  Isabella was on the floor, on her knees in an instant. Her hands reached out for his face immediately, her lips pressed hard onto his.

  “I love you, too” she whispered against his mouth and smiled, as Christopher cupped her face. “All these months, I felt like I wasn’t breathing”

  “You don’t realize how many times I wanted to come and see you” he rubbed his finger on her lips and brushed his mouth against hers.

  Isabella’s pulse quickened, as Christopher’s hands got hold of her waist. He then ran them behind her back and all the way up to her neck.

  “I thought I had lost you for good this time” he pressed on, as he moved down to kiss her, his lips craving for more, his heart thumping wild in his chest.

  Then, he looked behind Isabella again, his eyes setting on Francesco.

  “Stop looking at him like that” Isabella said, brushing her nose against his, unable to hold back a smile. “He is just a colleague. And he is gay. And totally mad at you for letting me go like that”

  “He’s absolutely fucking right. I am a wanker” Christopher smirked.

  “Uno stronzo, ma sei il mio stronzo” “You are an asshole, but you are my asshole” Isabella corrected him and laughed.

  They looked into each other’s eyes again and smiled wide.

  They were together. They had found each other again and they were lost, completely lost into each other’s arms.

  All walls were finally down. No secrets, no misunderstandings, no unspoken words.

  They felt bare, exposed and they had never felt better.

  “Kiss me now, quick” she looked into his deep green eyes. “Don’t say later, baby. Later might be never” she teased, saying the exact same words Christopher had said to her when skydiving.

  “Not my style” his lips pressed gently on hers and it was like they had never been apart.

  Epilogue

  Christopher waved to the crowd and waited for the national anthem to be over. He looked up to the sky and saw there were no clouds. For the very first time since the history of First Category Racing, it hadn’t rained a single drop during the race in Berlin. Not one. There were no clouds in the sky, he could tell from where he was standing, high up on the podium, on the first position.

  He tilted his head back and laughed. How great it felt to have finally achieved the goal of his life. Win the race in Berlin, win the race his father had never won in his career and take home the trophy that was legitimately his, legitimately his father’s.

  He raised the cup high, as high as he could and enjoyed the people cheering as he did.

  As the anthem came to a
n end, he took a picture with the other two drivers on the podium and then took the Champagne bottle in his hands.

  He looked down and smiled wide.

  Christopher ran down the stairs, into the crowd of judges and journalists and went to the barriers were his mechanics, his team was all standing in his honor.

  “Take it, it’s for you guys. It’s all for you” he gave them the bottle and hugged his engineer and the other guys.

  Then he moved to the side of the barriers and pushed one open, ignoring the security guard’s warning.

  He took Isabella by the hand and let her step in, under the podium right beside him. They were surrounded by journalists and photographers, as the guys of MB started cheering.

  Isabella laughed, covering her face a little as she did, and then let Christopher kiss her passionately.

  She hugged him tight and whispered in his ear just how proud she was of him, how her heart was pounding hard in her chest, so happy to see him up there on that podium, where he belonged. He let her arms hold him tight and he leaned in to kiss her neck.

  Then he got on his knees and kissed her baby bump, both hands wrapping around it.

  He leaned his forehead on it and smiled, hearing Isabella giggle, her fingers playing with his hair as she did.

  “It’s going to be one hell of a ride James” he kissed it again “And you are going to love every second of it”

  THE END

  At this point I was in tears.

  Dear reader, first of all I have you to thank. I never thought I would truly be on this side, on the side of the writer.

  I can only hope that you enjoyed “the ride” and fell in love with my characters.

  I have so many people to thank, because a book and an indie author’s life is all about people. People you meet, people that help you and people that support you when you are high and when you are down.

  So first, I would like to thank the first person that took me to the side and told me what it was all about. Thank you Johnna Seibert, for being so kind when I was a little lost and clueless. You are a great friend.

  I have to thank Gem Louise Evans, for believing in me even when I didn’t myself. For reading, supporting and editing the book and for everything she does on a daily basis.