Forty six

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Isobel P.O.V.

I arrived home a little before 9am, and quickly put my things down before stripping off. I raced out the door after getting dressed for work, and arrived there by 9:30am. A little late, but hey, at least I'm coming in today.

"Isobel!" Lucina, the receptionist greeted as I entered the Red workspace. "Welcome back!"

"Good morning, thankyou." I smiled, strolling into the offices. I sought comfort in my familiar surroundings, the busy atmosphere, the sounds of keyboards tapping away and the light sounds of laughter, chatter and shuffling papers to get me through.

"My bitchhhh!" Drew squealed, bursting into my office, immediately tackling me into a hug.

"Heyyyy!" I pulled him in tightly. "Missed you so much."

"Missed you too!" He exclaimed before perching himself on top of my desk as usual. "So. I want details! Surely some things must have happened at this wedding?" He wiggled his eyebrows devilishly.

I chuckled softly as I rounded the table and sat down. "Yeah it definitely was eventful. I caught up with friends and family pretty much, it was really tiring, but very fun."

"M-hm, m-hm," he nodded, listening eagerly. "Please continue with the juicy stuff."

"And well you know that guy I was trying to avoid? Well uh that didn't really work out..." I smiled coyly, biting my lip.

Drew gasped loudly. "He is so honestly, drop-dead gorgeous. I don't know why you even tried honey."

"Yeah," I laughed. "It never works."

"So, was he any good?" Drew quirked an eyebrow curiously.

I simply raised my eyebrows in return cheekily, licking my lips as I nodded. Phenomenal. But I already knew that.

Drew gasped again, holding his hand over his heart. "You go girl!"

We both burst into giggles like children at my admittance.

"What about you though?" I asked, eventually calming down. "Any special someone's in your life?"

He sighed loudly, wincing as a thought crossed his mind. "We will 100% need to go out this Friday after work for drinks if I wanna start getting into that."

"Aw," I pouted sympathetically, "I hope you're okay! And yes definitely we need a proper catch-up."

"Okay great! We are definitely on hun. So anyways, this guy- Kade, right? I stalked him on insta," he admitted, shooting me a playful wink. I chuckled nodding for him to proceed. "So what's the go? Wedding fling or is his ding-a-ling coming back for another round?"

I clutched my hand over my mouth as I gasped and chortled simultaneously. "Drew!" I chastised amusedly.

"What?! Come on, I'm dying to know." He laughed.

My cheeks flushed. "Well same. I'm hoping he calls... BUT- I'm not holding my breath on it..." I sighed in dismay.

He nodded in understanding. "I'll be praying for you girl. One of us at least needs to land a mans."

"Drew, if someone isn't appreciating you like you should be, they are missing out, okay?"

"You're right, I am fabulous." He finally said striking a pose to boost his confidence.

"Damn right."

A knock on the door sounded, causing us both to redirect our attentions.

"Come in!" I called.

Marissa's kind face came in, smiling happily. "Hey Drew, Isobel! Welcome back, it's nice to see you."

"Hi," I greeted in return. "It's good to be back. How is everything going?"

"Great, great, I'll go through everything with you now if you'd like?"

"Well I probably should get back to work now, and let you two catchup." Drew said, sliding off my table. As he let himself out, he quickly called over his shoulder. "Rissa we are doing drinks Friday after work- be there or be square!"

"Okay!" She chuckled, before taking a seat. Quickly unfolding her dossier of papers and things, she set it out in front of her. I picked up the glossy magazine cover, flicking through it casually until I found the article we had worked on. I smiled in approval, reading over the pages and taking in the design.

"Soo... do you like it?" She asked nervously, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"It's great Marissa." I assured her, "It turned out nicely. Thankyou, you did amazing!"

"Yay!" She beamed, her eyes twinkling with excitement. "It was all you though, you literally had everything thoroughly prepared. Made my life very easy."

I chuckled, shrugging at her compliment. I liked to be quite organised, I wasn't a fan of mayhem. "Thanks. So, whats on the agenda for next month's issue?"

~

I kicked off my shoes, throwing my keys and bag down before settling myself on the couch. Tapping away on my phone, I ordered myself dinner, seeming as my fridge was completely empty and I needed to do groceries. After devouring my takeout meal, I tiredly changed out of my work attire, and then had a nice, hot shower before collapsing on my bed.

Ah, it's nice to be back in your own bed.

Checking my phone, I still hadn't received any calls or text from Kade. Like not even a "Hey where'd you go?" Or a "Why'd you leave?". Something that would at least get him to talk to me, well that's if he cared enough to want to. That was the risk. For all I know, I could have just been nothing to him... like I was all those years ago. He may have not cared that I'd left at all. The lines were just never clear with him. Truthfully, it did cause a twinge of hurt to ring out through me. I really thought maybe, just maybe we could overcome things and stay in contact or something.

Letting out a loud huff, I shut off my table lamp and let my room be bathed in darkness. Unable to fight the fatigue settling into my limbs and my mind from the incredibly long day, I closed my eyes to let the drowsiness take over.

~

My first week back at work had run relatively smoothly. I transitioned back to my lifestyle and continued with the pace I was used to. I got up in the mornings and I got ready for work, I read, write, edit, research and brainstorm ideas all day, I catch-up with my friends and then I head home, eat dinner alone and relax before bed.

It was what I was used to, and I had no qualms about doing. I enjoyed the simplicity of it, I worked hard and supported myself, hoping to keep climbing up the ladder. I found joy in chatting to my coworkers, and also speaking to some of my old highschool friends and college friends every now and then. I was living quite contently, I had my routine going.

But deep down however, I wondered if this was going to be it forever. I knew that one day I would long for that domestic kind of lifestyle Sophie had going on with Oliver. My soft heart couldn't deny that.

I sounded lame and cliche as hell, but everything just seemed a little less exciting when he wasn't around. Like everything was less colorful and my world is duller. I couldn't share things with him like I wanted to. It wasn't like I needed a partner per se, but they sure added a special something to my life that I couldn't ignore after having a small taste of it back in Newport. There was a part of me that craved that affection and attention, something that made me weak for it.

Briskly walking through the busy streets passing by the many commuters, I lined up inside my favorite coffee shop to start another morning.

The barista shot me a friendly smile as I approached the counter. "Hi. What can I get you?"

"A regular almond milk latte please," I beamed, eager to get my caffeine fix in the morning. I glanced quickly over to the glass cabinet to check out what was on offer. "Oh and a cinnamon bun." I chuckled, my eyes landing on the glossy golden swirl.

His lips curved in amusement as he rang up my order. "No worries. That's $5.10. And could I get a name for that please?"

"Isobel." I glanced up, swiping my card through the machine, adding a tip on the end before removing my card.

"Thanks Isobel, won't be a moment," he replied, flashing me another small smile.

I stepped aside before waiting for my order patiently. I noticed every so often the barista would look my way, smiling every time our eyes met. He was cute with soft brown curls and a dimpled grin. I was snapped back to reality however as my mind produced images of another dirty blonde man instead. Damn him. His stupid smirking face had been haunting me as of late.

My name was called and excitedly I stepped up to grab my coffee and my toasted bun. Curling my hand around the cup, I sipped the drink whilst munching on the crisp, sweet treat whilst striding towards my workplace.

I waved hello to Joe, the security guard outside the building before mindlessly strolling towards the elevators, scanning my badge to get through.

I greeted Lucina, the receptionist on our floor before making my way to my desk. The usual.
As I set the cup of coffee down, I noticed writing sprawled across the sides in permanent marker. Under my name, were numbers.

Huh. My mind flashed back to the barista. Flattered, I left the cup sitting on the corner of my desk, even once it was finished, not knowing what I should do.

I was in fact probably not over Kade yet and I didn't know if I should start dating again... every time I did, it usually ended in disaster. I chewed on my lip in frustration whilst I stared at the cup. He was so nice, and so cute. Perhaps even too sweet, he wasn't loud and in-my-face enough...

Kade's hold on me was impossibly unfair. It's like everyday I'm fighting to not let him invade my thoughts and my subconsciousness. However, it's been two weeks since I left and I've heard nothing. It's just like how it was, all that time ago, and I couldn't let that bring me down. Groaning, I flipped the cup around, symbolically removing my attention from it, and all the questions surrounding it before starting some research on my next article.

Kade was seemingly still a pain in my ass, albeit being nowhere within my vicinity.

Maybe I should write an advice column about how bloody strange men are with their mixed signals. One minute this man will hound after you and pine after you for so long, until you give in. Perhaps you may even think he has real feelings for you with all the things he says and does. Then he gets what he wants and you don't hear from him again.

Dating in the modern century is so tragic sometimes.

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