Who: Isabelle Darlington and Prince John What: Good little girl runs away Where: John's apartment When: Saturday, February 25th '12
They had come down on her like thunder when she came home Friday night. In a matter of days her parent's worry over John Haveland had turned into a full-fledged demand. She was not to see him anymore. He wasn't a boy, but a man with very serious issues. A womanizer, a crook when it came to using women like a prompt and not women at all. It was at least the story they had been fed by one of John's 'mistreated' colleagues. They took the words very seriously, locking their daughter up as if she was some kind of child they needed to protect. She was nineteen, not a four year old who was being preyed on by a neighborhood creeper. It distressed her and she cried all night.
When she finally got her strength back up, Isabelle had collected her things in a single suitcase. Her father grabbed her by the arm threatening to cut off any funds if she chose to leave. Freeing herself from his grip she gave her mother a confused look. "Why are you being so demanding? I could leave for college and you wouldn't say a word. I've done everything a well brought up girl should and you're treating me like a child!"
"You're acting like a child!" They both reprimanded. "He's no good for you. Staying over at his place, traipsing around his arm like a some escort. Don't you think he wouldn't just drop you when he's done?"
"Why are you saying these things to me?" She was near tears. This was just ludicrous. She had no idea what they had heard, but she did not think of John as anything more than a gentleman. He had a temper that she'd seen flare, but she had no reason to believe that he would use it on her. She was confused, shocked and hurt that her parents would treat her in this fashion when she would be twenty this year. She was old enough to be on her own.
She held her head up, rolling out the door with her suitcase. She drove for what felt like hours in tears before finding her way to John's apartment. She didn't know where else to go right now, it seemed the safest place. For a while she sat in the car, her mascara down her face. She wiped it off, controlling her weepy state before showing her face at his door.
John was quite happy to send a few emails around to his colleagues to try and get up to speed on his work before he went back on Monday. Despite his mother wanting him to rest, he felt that he more needed to get back into a routine and work was a part of it. It was where he felt most in control.
He had a file couriered to him, and had it open and was going through it when Isabelle knocked at his door. He set his pen down and went to the door, peering through the peephole. Isabelle was on his doorstep, looking red-eyed and agitated. John opened the door and gave her a once over, taking in the smudged eyes and the suitcase. Suitcase??
"What happened?" he asked, stepping aside so she could come in. "Are you alright? Did something happen at home?"
"Just for tonight," she waved her hand around, not really wanting to get into it, but her tears said the opposite. "It's just my parents," she wheeled in slowly, feeling bad for imposing on him without even calling him first. "I should have called." She usually wasn't this torn up, but her parents had been cruel in their accusations. She couldn't believe that they already felt such judgement toward her and she hadn't done anything.
John sort of shrugged, glancing around at his flat and realising how untidy it had gotten in the space of a very few days. He had a housekeeper who came once a week to sort out the random coffee mugs he left around, and the dvds left on the floor, and the books and jackets and shoes he just discarded and didn't bother picking up. His half-finished lunch plate was still on the table, along with half a glass of wine, his work papers and his laptop.
"What's the matter with your parents?" John asked, quickly moving some books so Isabelle could sit on the sofa. He didn't bother apologising for the mess.
She shook her head wiping the black circles from under her eyes. She took a seat and a deep breath. "I don't really know the whole story." Her breath shuddered between words while she tried to keep her composure. She was upset and very angry at them for being so strong. "I'm nineteen, they shouldn't be telling me what to do." She calmed herself a little more. "They heard something about you and suddenly demanded I not see you. My father threatened to cut my money," she shook her head as if getting choked up again. "they were so angry as if is done something wrong." Coming from a teenager that had been nothing but the perfect child her whole life, suddenly treated as if she were the bad child felt awful.
"About me?" John frowned. He wondered where they would be asking questions about him, but just about anyone could have some sort of lie in their heads about him. Especially after that stunt of a court case. "They don't want you to be with me?" For some reason, that rather annoyed him. It was nobody else's business what they did, and Isabelle was the one innocent bright spot he had in his life right now. "What do you want to do?" he held himself a little reserved until he knew for sure.
"They think you'll destroy me." She sniffed wiping her tears away again. She wasn't usually such a mess, but it hurt. "I don't know what they heard, I've just never heard my father so upset." She took off her coat, the smallest bruise formed from where her father had grabbed her. He hadn't meant to hurt her, but he had.
"I like you john. A lot." She honestly did and her world was a little flipped upside down. "I don't know what to do." It was too much at the moment. There was the smallest chance she would obey her parents, but the side that had already starter to fall for john wouldn't let her. He didn't know that.
"Darling. Did he hurt you?" he asked,noticing the bruise. He drew her in close, tucking her head under his chin. He felt angry at her father for interfering in something that barely concerned him. Isabella was his girlfriend, and John knew that by being the concerned and compassionate party then she was going to choose him over her father. " i just want you to be happy. He really said I'd destroy you? that seems kind of extreme."
"I've never seen him like that," she curled her head onto his chest, her arm wrapped around his waist. She nodded in response to his question. She was a mess, a complete wreck, how could he even look at her right now.
"In so many words."
John stroked her back, waiting for her to calm down. "He cares about you, but you're an adult now and he doesn't want to let go of you," he said gently, sounding extremely reasonable. "He's worried and perhaps a little jealous that his little girl has another man to turn to. It's natural that he would worry. You're his only daughter, and you haven't had a proper partner before."
He deliberately tried to put Isabelle in the frame of mind of wanting to grasp her independence, of making her own decisions and being an adult, and if that meant she used sex as a way to express it, then so be it. He wanted her to throw her parents' concerns away and choose him vehemently, emphatically. He wanted her to want him more than anything. On some dark, subconscious level, he wanted to be able to control her and keep her as his own, someone that nobody in the world could take away from him. Willingly, of course. He wasn't going to force her. However, he was a very good lawyer and he had an excellent way with words.
She was too much inside her own thoughts to see any manipulative scheme he was using with his words. They were comforting to her. They made her feel more empowered than her parents had. She unburried her face from his chest, smiling at him however small it was.
She didn't really know what to say, if anything. She just wanted to get this out of her mind for a little while. "Good with words aren't you?"she chuckled softly, big brown eyes focused on his. She slipped off her shoes, slinking into his lap.
John smiled back at her and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I'm very fond of you, you know," he said. On some level, he was probably right about her father, but he didn't know what the man may have heard about him. He wanted to make sure that Isabelle would listen to him before anyone else, so she didn't turn against him in that way too, like everyone else in his life.
"I would never destroy you. How could I? You are too beautiful for words. I really like having you with me. If you need to stay with me, you can. Long as you like." He was all too aware of her being so close in his lap, and he wanted her to feel it too. His hand rested on her thigh, his fingers just ever so slightly inside her skirt.
Isabelle was aware of their closeness. She wanted to be closer to him, especially when he was using his feathered words to keep her calm. She'd taken this relationship rather slow, and out of defiance she wondered if she should rethink that.
She didn't push his hand away like she may have before. She kept her gaze on his eyes letting him do as he wanted. She'd stopped crying since she'd been here. She'd stop him if anything became too uncomfortable she told herself.
"Thank you," she said softly, her words not even a whisper.
He'd rather she be more enthusiastic, but she wasn't saying no. He kissed her, hand firm on her thigh, the growing bulge in his trousers making his intentions clear. He was goiing to do this carefully and methodically, being tender and caring to her so she would open up to him. He lifted her up in his arms to carry her to his bedroom, kicking the door too behind him and setting her down on his bed.
Once she was on the bed her lack of enthusiasm was pressed, she seemed almost too eager. She wasn't sure how to react, but his carefulness put her at ease. He'd so gently placed her, touches soft, it was pleasant. The only thing that could ruin this is letting her mind get the best of her in thinking she messed up.
And John wasn't likely to give her a chance to think about things. She was willing, and he had been patient. Afterwards, he kissed her and caressed her, smiling intimately, just for her. She looked so delightfully pink-cheeked, her hair in a curly mess on the pillows. "Now who's not a child," he murmured, teasing her gently.
She curled up against him, letting his warmth wrap around her. She snuggled her cheek against his chest feeling flushed, a smile curling on her lips. He seemed pleased, she felt better. John had been everything she'd hoped, not forceful. "I was a little nervous." More like a lot nervous.
"You don't need to be," John said, playing with her hair. He felt quite satisfied with the way things were going. "You did just fine. With practice, you'll be amazing." He gave her a wink and a kiss, already wondering how far she would go. Maybe he could convince her to join him on the roof... Anyway, it was good enough that they were settled like this.