Counterpoints 2 (Counterpoints #2) Read online

  She stood there, only inches away from him, loving and hating every second of it.

  Loving and hating how her skin tingled being so close to his.

  Isabella tried to ignore the heat that spread across her chest. She tried not to think of how her heart seemed so restless in his presence.

  “You don’t want to talk to me” Christopher began to say.

  “So you decided it’s okay to lock me up in a restroom”

  “I want to talk to you”

  “No” she raised her voice a little and then quickly lowered it again, trying not to lose control “If it’s not work related, I don’t want to hear it. What if someone saw us getting in here?” Isabella put her hands up “ Oh mio Dio” escaped her lips.

  She felt her stomach twist in a knot, as their eyes met again.

  “Just listen to me for a second”

  “No”

  “I won’t stop until you listen to me” Christopher said, giving her a look that meant he wasn’t kidding.

  Isabella shook her head and made a sound.

  “You are not used to rejection, are you?”

  “That’s not the point…” he began to say but Isabella interrupted him.

  “I don’t want to talk about Cannes…”

  “Fuck Cannes. I can’t stop thinking of you” he said “All I can think of is you” and his hand moved slowly towards her, cautious, hoping she would let him touch her.

  Isabella didn’t stop him. She froze, waiting to feel his hand on her cheek. She froze, like his hand was as cold as ice.

  It wasn’t. It was warm and a little rough like she remembered, with all the blisters on his hands from gripping onto the wheel.

  She kept her eyes on him, not a single thing on her mind but the pleasure of their skins touching.

  Hate him, hate him. Why don’t I hate him?

  All she wanted to do was give in, knowing she would hate herself later for doing so.

  Isabella tilted her head to the side, letting him cup her face, embracing the familiar warm feeling in her stomach, despite her head was screaming at her for letting him so close. Again. But her heart, her heart was begging for more.

  “I can’t get you out of my head”

  “You can’t do this to me” she shook her head slowly and lowered her eyes.

  Don’t look at him, don’t look at him, that’s when you lose the battle.

  “Shit, I don’t know how to do this…” he cursed under his breath.

  He ran a hand across his hair, searching for the right thing to say and then looked at Isabella again “If you don’t want to see me again, that’s fine” his voice was low, Isabella noticed his breathing had changed. “All I want to say is that I am sorry. I made a mistake. Nothing else happened, you have to believe me”

  For once he sounded unsure, maybe afraid Isabella would turn him down. And he knew she had every right to do so. He had kissed another woman, even though it had been Giselle who had kissed him. But it didn’t matter, what difference did it make to Isabella?

  Christopher knew she had every right to send him to hell, once and for all.

  “Stop” she took his hand and gently guided it off her cheek, down to the side of his body. “I don’t want to talk about it”

  “Isabella” he tried to say but Isabella shook her head.

  “I said I don’t want to talk about it”

  “Okay, fine let’s not talk about it” he told her.

  “Okay, fine. Good” she nodded, her face hard.

  She looked back up at him, into his deep green eyes and saw they were dark and confused.

  Isabella watched his jaw tense, his arms rigid alongside his body – like Christopher was holding back, like he was fighting the need to reach out for her again.

  They were what? Inches away. His chest was so close to hers, she felt blackened into the small wall beside the sink.

  Isabella took in a deep breath, as this time her hand reached out for Christopher’s arm.

  It was like her body had a mind of its own and it wanted something different, something completely different from what Isabella had rationally decided.

  He stared into her honey brown eyes and grabbed her shoulders.

  It had become unbearable to hold back. For both of them.

  As if they had a life of their own, Isabella’s hands went up his stomach, all the way to Christopher’s chest and he wrapped his strong arms around her, Isabella’s small shoulders disappearing almost completely into his.

  Without thinking it through, in the small surroundings of that bathroom -in the unaware presence of hundreds of passengers- their lips found their way to one another with a certain need, the need to make up for all the days they had been apart, for every instant they hadn’t touched, for every moment they had felt alone and betrayed.

  I’m going mad, I’m going mad, they shared the same thought.

  Christopher’s hands reached for Isabella’s face and his fingers dug into her curls. As Isabella tilted her head back, she opened her eyes to look at him, just a second before he kissed her again.

  Maybe it was wrong of her to give into him like that, but It felt liberating, it felt amazing.

  “I’m sorry” he whispered against her mouth. “Nothing else happened” he tried to explain, as his thumb touched her soft, red lips.

  Isabella listened, her eyes still closed from the kiss, her heart pounding in her chest.

  “I never meant to hurt you” he said softly.

  Maybe it was because of his words, maybe the memory of what had happened was ruining the moment, but what Christopher was saying was taking her back to reality.

  Isabella listened to him, how he explained that Giselle had kissed him-cringing a little as he said her name- how he had let her do it at the beginning, only to truly realize he wasn’t the least bit interested.

  “It meant nothing” he repeated.

  Why had he let her get so close to begin with? Because being close to Giselle in public seemed like a good cover up of their relationship.

  “When she laughed at me, about me seeing someone exclusively …I admit it, I panicked. I let the kiss happen. For a second I doubted myself, what you and me were doing. I am a fucking idiot”

  Like he had said to her already that same night, Christopher had informed Giselle he was seeing someone.

  Yes and she laughed in his face, knowing exactly the kind of man he is.

  “She probably called the tabloids herself” he said, referring to Giselle and commenting on the perfect timing of the photographers.

  Isabella gaped, unsure of how she felt about that. Why would a person do that? Christopher shook his head, as if sensing what was on her mind.

  It was something he was used to, anyway. Some people would do anything for popularity.

  That was how things went in his world. Giselle was the kind of person who had built her whole life and success on gossip.

  Speaking about gossip…

  “We need to get out of here” she said, her feet back on the ground.

  They were inside an airplane toilette and chances of getting out of there without consequences were diminishing as they spoke.

  Oh God.

  In the heat of the moment, she had almost forgotten where they were.

  It was just something that happened in Christopher’ presence, all her good sense went berserk.

  Isabella didn’t say another word to Christopher.

  She kept her lips sealed. It wasn’t the right time to talk, she needed to think things through and she couldn’t focus, with a time bomb on her chest.

  We need to get out before someone sneaks up on us and thinks we are having sex.

  “Say you believe me” he said, calm as ever.

  Isabella tilted her head and sighed. Did she believe him? She didn’t know herself.

  “We can’t talk here”

  “Okay” he nodded and slowly turned to open the door, sensing he wouldn’t get his answer by forcing her. Isabella needed ti
me.

  Nobody was waiting outside to use the toilette.

  Thank God!

  Isabella would have died for the embarrassment.

  One of the flight assistants was in the small kitchen just left of the bathroom door. Her back was to Christopher, but from that angle it was impossible to figure out exactly where the other two were.

  Were they in the aisle? And where exactly in the aisle were they?

  “Go back to your seat” he whispered.

  Isabella nodded, feeling a little sick all of a sudden.

  She couldn’t remember when she had been so scared of getting caught.

  I’ve actually never been so scared of getting caught in my whole life, Isabella thought as she willed her legs to stop shaking.

  With a swift move, Christopher went through the small curtains that separated the kitchen from the aisle and began to talk to the flight assistant.

  Isabella didn’t know what he was telling her, but she sure knew one thing. The flight assistant had recognized him and it was only a matter of instants before the woman started giggling - and probably bashing her eye lids at Christopher, like there was no tomorrow.

  Isabella had seen it happen before, during race weekends, in hotels. It was the sort of effect that a man like Christopher had on people.

  Isabella heard her giggle and rolled her eyes to the ridiculous sounds the woman was making.

  How can we even think about equality, if women like this still exist???

  Not even close as being cool as Christopher, but with a quick move, Isabella jumped out of the toilette and closed the door behind her cautiously.

  She walked into the aisle, her stride determined, without bothering to look sideways.

  Her goal was her seat.

  My seat, my seat, my seat. Please let them be sleeping, all of them.

  Isabella passed the two flight assistants with their trolley and gave them a smile.

  If not, I’ll say I felt sick. Sounds like me, anyway.

  Hillary’s head was still tilted back, her black ruffled hair popping out from behind her armchair. She was soundly asleep, even snoring a little.

  Fred was now full on sleeping. Isabella sat back down, gently trying not to shake the seat too much.

  Everything was calm, everyone was sleeping. It felt like nothing had changed, nothing had actually happened there.

  You wish, you kissed him! Despite your good sense. It changes everything!

  The situation was tragic. Disastrous. Catastrophic.

  Hadn’t she told him that night at the Charity event in London that she wanted for them to have a professional relationship, from that moment onwards?

  Hadn’t she promised herself to keep away, to avoid him?

  Did Cristina’s advice mean nothing to her?

  One hour spent with him and already Isabella was screwing up all her good resolutions.

  I just can’t think straight around him.

  The truth was, Isabella was totally out of control near Christopher.

  She lacked the stability, the reasoning she always knew she could count on. And although it scared Isabella how unpredictable she could be around Christopher, feeling her head spin like that after just kissing him, got her wanting more.

  As she struggled to make sense of her feelings, Isabella heard a small part of her giving in, while a thought tickled her mind.

  He said the kiss meant nothing.

  Isabella blushed, a little embarrassed by her own sick thoughts.

  What was this man doing to her? She could hardly recognize herself.

  He said that the kiss had meant nothing. So what? He had kissed another woman nevertheless.

  He didn’t sleep with her, he said. Did that mean it was true?

  Christopher Taylor, famous for his one night stands, said it, so it must be true.

  It had to stop now, that very instant, this craziness of hers.

  She shouldn’t have kissed him, no matter how good it had felt to be close to him again. Isabella had meant every word she had said, when she had broken it off.

  Their relationship had to go back to being merely professional. Period.

  While a third world war of emotions went on in her head, Christopher made his way back to his seat.

  He eyed Isabella, who was now wearing her headphones, pretending to watch a movie- the butterflies in her stomach in utter turmoil.

  At some point, she looked his way. His face turned in her direction and Christopher smiled, that sexy smile to the side of his, sending her heart in chaos.

  Get a grip.

  She smiled back, for an instant. It was almost an imperceptible smile but it was something. It was definitely something. It was a start, he thought.

  Something shifted out of the corner of Isabella’s eyes, while she was still staring at Christopher. Her lips settled in a straight thin line, when she realized what was the figure that was moving in the background.

  Three seats ahead Noah was looking at her and smiling. He nodded solemnly, like he knew it- as if he finally got it, like all his doubts had been confirmed- and then turned away.

  Chapter 4

  As soon as free practice ended on Friday afternoon, the music went up on the stands. It was so loud, it covered the sound of the cars going by.

  Right behind the boxes, Isabella could see the dancers doing their routine on the pedestrian walk, where hundreds of fans walked by, engaging in some last minute merchandise shopping.

  The stands were packed for being just Friday.

  The music echoed inside Christopher’s helmet, as he sped past the stands in front of the boxes and waved to the fans.

  He caught sight of the British flags and smiled, proud of being the only driver representing his country in the championship.

  Burnout, he thought and went off track a little at a curb- on a wide escape route- right in front of a big, crowded stand. He turned his wheel and the car spun, drawing circles on the ground.

  Christopher laughed hard, seeing the crowd stand up to cheer, enjoying his fans’ excitement. That was the real boost for him. Beside the adrenaline, it was the passion of the fans that really made Christopher passionate about racing.

  All that cheering pumped him up.

  Isabella watched him go wild on screen and felt a fire spread in her chest.

  His excitement was so contagious. Christopher was contagious.

  He was the sort of person who was always in the spotlight, even if he did very little to intentionally be there. Even when his performance on track didn’t reflect his potential.

  Like that Friday in Toronto.

  The cars were all heading back to the boxes and Christopher had only barely made it in the top six chart.

  As Isabella watched Christopher’s car enter the box lane on screen – mechanics already out on the lane to help push his car back in- she thought of how hard it had been to keep away from him since Tuesday. Since that unexpected close encounter they had had on the plane.

  Hillary quickly put the notes under her armpit and clapped.

  “Good job guys” she shouted over the sound of the engines – Noah driving in right behind Christopher. Hillary raised both thumbs up and then clapped her hands again.

  While Christopher disentangled from all the wires in the car, he lifted his visor and let out a deep breath.

  He’s disappointed, he didn’t perform like he knew he could, Isabella realized.

  She stood right behind Hillary, camera in hand ready to take a picture of the two MB drivers that were now standing next to each other.

  Christopher gave out his hand to Noah, who clasped it tight and then shook it hard.

  Christopher’s hand knocked gently on his team mate’s helmet and gave a thumbs up.

  Her hand was quick to react. Isabella took a snapshot and then looked down at the screen of the camera. The picture was absolutely fantastic, she couldn’t wait to put it online.

  Noah deserved the cheer, his time had been the best all day.

>   For a while the guys in the box exchanged a few comments on the driver’s performance, as Noah and Christopher both spoke to their engineers to evaluate their flaws- if any- and their strengths.

  Isabella caught sight of Christopher wiping his face with a towel- a little tense and glum- just before Hillary turned to speak to her.

  “Okay, make sure you always wear the pass…” Hillary turned to say to Isabella

  “Around my neck, don’t worry” Isabella reassured her boss.

  “Good” she smiled at Isabella. “Now, I have to talk to Christopher about this photo shoot he has tomorrow but two reporters want to speak to Noah. Could you please go with him and record the interviews?” Hillary asked.

  “Sure” Isabella said, but deep down she had been dreading that moment since the airplane ride.

  Actually, she was secretly dreading both moments, being alone with Christopher and Noah.

  I don’t know what will be worse.

  “Great. I’ll meet you at the car pick up location. Don’t forget we are going out to dinner tonight” Hillary said and they parted ways.

  It was very sunny, Isabella squinted a little as she left the shade of the boxes and walked into the sunlight, on the box lane, hunting for Noah. He had been there in the box a second ago, but she had lost sight of him.

  Isabella looked both left and right, one hand on her forehead to shield her from the sunlight.

  There he is, she strode past a camera man and walked up to the control station opposite the MB box.

  As she approached him, Isabella thought she had done everything in her power to avoid being alone with both Noah and Christopher, since they had arrived in Canada. For very different reasons, of course.

  Even if Christopher had tried to make eye contact with her several times - during last night’s dinner with the team, during that morning’s briefing - Isabella had done her best to mingle with other MB members.

  It’s good to get to know everyone, she had lied to herself again, as if she hadn’t been deliberately avoiding the two drivers like the plague.

  Only now it was all over, Isabella’s game of hide and seek.

  It was time to seriously get back to work and stand face to face with Noah, after that weird look he had given her on the plane – whatever that look had meant, anyway.