Chapter Two

Standing in her kitchen, dressed in nothing but an oversized cream T shirt, Iaabelle stared at her open fridge with a slight frown on her face as she considered her limited options. She'd freshened up and hoped to have a decent meal but obviously, that wasn't going to happen, she thought gloomily, staring at the mouldy sandwich, eggs and ginger bread she didn't even know she had. Taking the sandwich, she closed the fridge and tossed the sandwich in the dustbin. Great. One more thing she was going to have to see to. Grocery shopping. So she was stuck with chips and the orange juice she'd left on her dining table in the morning. Just perfect, she thought in disgust. As she stood sulking and bemoaning her fate, her phone rang. Seeing the caller, she smiled and picked the call.

"Hey Barb"

Barbara Hanks, proud mother of three and owner of a minivan was Isabelle's best friend in the whole world. She didn't think anyone could be as crazy as Barbara. That was one of the reasons she loved her.

"Yeah, hey Isa. What's up?"

"Jesus, Barb. Why'd you sound like you've just run the marathon?"

"Having three kids kinda does that to you. Those twins are making me go out of my mind. Breaking things, spoiling things... And there's Anna. She's barely a year old but she seems to be everywhere with her tiny legs and- Cooper, stop strangling your brother right this instant! Sorry, that was Cooper. I'm thinking of buying a hamster cage and putting them in it."

Isabelle laughed at her best friend.

"Well no one asked you to fall in love Barb. What about Bernard?"

Barbara huffed, "Don't even get me started on that one. He just sits and smiles like an idiot when they do these things. I'm telling you, they could break his entire collection of LP records and he still wouldn't bat an eye"

Isabelle smiled. She knew that beneath all the grumblings, Barbara loved her husband very much. With Barbara getting pregnant at the age of 20, Bernard's parents had refused to accept her. Even her own parents had disowned her but Bernard stood by her against all odds. Their parents had eventually let it go but even if Barbara said she was okay, Isabella knew that Barb still resented her parents.

"You can't be serious about the cage stuff. They're not that bad"

"Is that your way of telling me that I could bring them over for the rest of the week?"

"No!... I mean no, I'm uh, busy. You know... Work stuff." Isabelle said, panic filling her as she thought of the horrors the twin brothers could make her go through.

"Uh huh. That's your excuse, you stick with it. And by the way.... Carl"

Uh oh. Isabella could sense what was about to happen but she kept her voice neutral.

"Yeah, what about him?"

"Isa! You ditched him"

"I didn't exactly ditch him. I just canceled my date with him... Twice"

"Nuh uh... You ain't giving me that nonsense. 'Sorry but this won't work out between us so it's in your best interest to just move on.' Does that statement ring a bell?"

It did. That was exactly what Isabelle had told Carl the last time he'd come to her house. Isabelle pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"What do you want me to say Barb? I knew it wouldn't work out. And I had a lot of work to get done. I didn't want him feeling like I didn't have time for him."

"That's a lie. A bloody lie. You just didn't want to go out with him in the first place. I hooked him up with you because I thought you liked him considering the way you both talking the first time you met him in my apartment. Its been six months. You don't know how happy I was thinking you've finally found the one. You....."

Isabelle had seen this coming. Since she was getting her ass chewed out, she figured she might as well tidy up her kitchen. Wedging the phone between her shoulder and ear, she set about washing the dishes she'd dumped in the sink in the morning.

"..... You've done that and Carl says that was the last straw. He says he's done with you"

"Oh well" Isabelle said drily, "I tried"

"Isa! You've been like this for over ten years. Ten years Isa! Aren't you tired? Can't you just move on from Jake?"

At that, Isabelle felt her heart squeeze a bit.

"I'm not in love with Jake anymore." Isabelle said quietly, "What happened between us was in the past and I've let go of it." She said it so firmly as though to convince herself that it was true.

"You know, it hurts when you lie to me like that"

"I'm sorry" Isabella said, drying her hands and leaning on the counter, "I just can't talk about this now. Please?"

Barb sighed

"Stupid man. Didn't deserve you at all"

Isabelle tore open a bag of chips and munching on one, she said, "Doesn't matter anymore. Barb... Wait, what's that noise?"

The sound of crashing and breaking came from Barbara's end.

"Wait a sec.... Holy Mother! James! Cooper! What are you doing there?! Go to your room now! No, no I don't want to hear anything. Just go... Go! Bernard make yourself useful for once and pick Anna before she crawls right into the washing machine. Cooper! You little..."

Isabelle had another call coming in. It was Josh. God, what did he want now?

"Barb dear, we'll talk later. Josh is calling and it seems you've got your hands full"

"Okay. Call me when you get the chance. I'm tired of talking to your voice mail. Bye"

Isabelle could still hear the twins laughing and Barbara cursing as she cut the call and answered Josh's

"Hey Isa"

Josh Dwyer was Isabelle's boss. A well built man even in his late forties. Half of the time, he got on her nerves but she had learnt to live with it. After a while, his attitude kind of grew on people.

"Jeez Josh, it's like" she glanced at the clock, "9:30pm. I got off since 7 which in the first place is a violation of my work contract which said closing time was 5:30pm"

"I was just calling to ask about you. Is that wrong?" Josh asked, feigning innocence.

"You? Care about anyone? Oh please." She scoffed, picking a chip from the bag. "It's about a new case right? There's no need. My answer's no"

"You haven't even listened to me. Trust me, you'll like it. You like cases with challenges, don't you?"

"So do Martin, Charles and Katherine. Why don't you give it to one of them? You know I have a lot on my plate as is."

"They can't handle this. You're a brilliant lawyer Isabelle. Top notch. Refined. Only you have the brains to do this"

This man and his sweet talks, Isabelle thought as she started to consider the possibilities. She was quiet for a moment, doing some quick thinking. Then she said, "Fine Josh, I'll take the case.... But.... There's a catch"

"Must there always be one?" Josh mumbled. Isabella chose to ignore that.

"After this case, I'm taking a break. And no, it's not bargainable. It's either that or forget about the case"

"Okay." Came Josh's simple answer. Okay? Isabelle thought, taken back by his immediate answer. Josh never just accepted such a deal. She'd expected him to haggle over it.

"Do you really mean it? I can take a break?"

"Yes Isa, I do very much it. Do I brief you on the case over the phone or tomorrow at the office?"

Isabelle was still suspicious of the immediate answer. Josh obviously had something on his sleeve and she would find out. At the right time.

"At the office would be better." If the case was as serious as he said it was, she wanted to be in her best working mind when she heard it. "How's Nora and the kids?"

"They're fine. Off to visit Nora's parents. I love them but I wish they'd stay there for a long, long time. No nagging, no noise. Just me, my television and beer"

Isabelle wisely bit back a retort. Josh had been married several times. None lasting for more than two years.

"You know your marriage would be a lot better if you actually made effort"

"That's what they said about Lina, Grace and Melissa"

"No one asked you to have psychopaths for wives. Nora's the best. I do like her but you're the boss. Do whatever you want. I need to at least catch a little bit of sleep. So goodnight Josh. And do greet Nora for me"

"Will do. Night Isa"

She dropped the phone, wondering what the case was about. She could think of a number of things. She would find out tomorrow but now, she needed good rest. Leaving her unfinished bag of chips on the counter, she switched off the lights and trudged to bed.