John Haveland (phony_king) wrote in nevermore_logs, @ 2015-06-09 12:55:00 |
|
|||
Current mood: | hopeful |
Entry tags: | isabelle darlington, prince john |
WHO: John and Isabelle
WHAT: chance reunion
WHEN: Wednesday night
WHERE: a swanky gala at a posh hotel
WARNINGS:
He'd forgotten that her parents were involved in this sort of charity work, and now it was too late.
John had been invited along to an event because his law firm had done a job outside of it's normal purview for the sake of maintaining reputation. It always looked good when successful companies gave something back. In this case, the firm had lead a class action lawsuit and won back some compensation for foreign workers. Not an easy win, but with John's resources, a win that looked astonishingly good to those who might criticise them.
It had been about twenty months since John had last spoken to Isabelle, on that Thanksgiving when he gave her back the cat. And now he could see her parents across the room, laughing and talking with Hobbs, one of John's partners. He turned away from them, hoping they wouldn't see him. He didn't want to have to deal with that tonight. It would take the shine off an otherwise positive evening.
A laugh made him look up, and his breath caught in his throat. She was there. Isabelle. On the stairs, walking down arm in arm with someone who looked like a GQ model, laughing in that way that she did, that made her eyes shine. He felt a surge of jealousy that made him almost feel physically sick, that she could shine like that for someone who wasn't him. He wanted to slide away, to leave before she saw him and reminded him of what a hateful person he'd been, but he couldn't. He felt nothing but regret and longing, and was rooted to the spot. He'd thought he'd put her out of his mind, that he'd forgotten her and didn't need her, and was perfectly happy without her, but in that moment he knew he had to have her back.
Maybe she wouldn't see his upturned face, his eyes fixed on her as she descended to the floor of the ballroom. Maybe she'd walk right past him and the spell would be broken, and that would be it for them.