15
Lauren
No time like the present to take a huge leap of faith. As I turned on my cell phone, I sucked in a deep breath.
I had hundreds of missed calls and texts from Isaac and my parents. After everything happened, I had called them and explained the situation. While they respected my need to be alone, that didn’t stop them from calling me every day. Thankfully, Melanie was at my rescue and fielded most of the calls and talked to my mom for me. She kept her updated on everything that happened.
The next day at work, I kept myself busy with working the cash register, cleaning the stock room, and taking inventory. By the time five o’clock rolled around, I was exhausted and ready to head home.
I tried calling Melanie to see if she wanted me to pick up anything for dinner, but she didn’t answer. I decided I would try to create a meal from what we had in the kitchen or I would order delivery. I needed to do something nice for Cole and Melanie for everything they were doing for me. Maybe I would have a dinner prepared for them and then I could go see a movie so they could have some alone time.
I numbly pulled into the parking lot and parked my car in the guest spot. I kept my eyes glued to my phone as I walked to the apartment Melanie and Cole were renting until they bought their dream home. I was catching up on e-mails and social media notifications as I strolled into the apartment.
Only, as soon as I walked through the front door, I felt all of the air get sucked right out of me. Standing in front of me was Isaac. His face was distraught and he had large circles under his eyes from obvious lack of sleep. Cole was standing next to him and his eyes were pleading with me not to be upset.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as I stared at Isaac.
I was fighting an internal battle as I looked at Isaac. Part of me wanted to smack him and scream at him for destroying us and another part of me wanted to jump into his arms and have him kiss me. I hadn’t realized until that very moment just how much I had missed Isaac. So much of my heart was filled with anger that I hadn’t allowed any other emotions to show themselves until now.
“Please don’t be angry,” Isaac said softly. Even his voice sounded defeated.
“I tried to tell him to wait, but he said he had to see you. I rushed over here so you wouldn’t be alone. Melanie is in a meeting and couldn’t leave work,” Cole said as he carefully watched me.
The way both men looked at me as though they were afraid I would explode any minute. I wasn’t sure they were wrong.
“Isaac...” I tried to speak, but I couldn’t seem to form the right words to say.
“Lauren, just give me five minutes. I need to see you. I am dying without you,” Isaac said, his voice shaking with heavy emotion.
“I’m going to be in the kitchen, yell if you need me,” Cole stated as he walked out of the room.
Isaac and I stood silently as we stared at one another. We were both too afraid to speak or move.
Finally, Isaac broke through our icy silence. “Lauren, I missed you,” he said softly.
“I missed you too, but I am still very angry with you,” I cried.
I couldn’t control my emotions and I was angry that tears were now falling down my cheeks. I didn’t want Isaac to see me this way. I wanted him to think I was strong and not breaking from his lies. But, I couldn’t hide my true feelings.
“I know you are, and you have every right to be upset with me. What I did was wrong and stupid. But, please believe me. I only did it because I thought I could help us build a life. I didn’t realize Marco was a psychopath,” Isaac stated.
“I understand, but apologizing won’t change what happened,” I spoke through my tears.
Without warning, Isaac rushed across the room and pulled me into his arms. My body slammed against his chest and while I tried to fight his embrace at first, I wasn’t strong enough to do it for long. I felt my body relax into him as I inhaled his sweet aroma. I felt like I was home again and his arms could protect me from anything. Only, Isaac was who I needed protection from.
I cried into his chest as he held me. I cried for the anger I felt. I cried for the damage he had caused to our relationship. I cried because I couldn’t resist him.
Knowing all of this, Isaac just stood and held me. He didn’t try to offer any consoling words. He just held me and allowed all of my emotions to flood out of me.
Finally, I lifted my head and looked at Isaac. “What do we do now?” I asked as my voice cracked and broken from the tears and hurt.
Sighing, Isaac squeezed me tight as though he were afraid I would somehow slip away from him. “We talk. We work this out. I love you more than life itself, Lauren. I will do anything and everything you want to get you to forgive me. I called the police and told them what Marco was doing. I explained the blackmail and how I wasn’t aware of what he was doing with the illegal cars until it was too late. I admitted my faults and they granted me probation since I alerted them to Marco’s activity. Apparently, they have been looking for a ring of car thefts for some time now,” Isaac finished talking and kissed the top of my head.
“Lauren, I am broken inside. It’s all over now. Please, forgive me and come home. I need you.”
I couldn’t stand to hear him beg me anymore. “Isaac, I am still mad at you, but I love you too. I need you to promise me this will never happen again.”
“I swear,” Isaac said.
He leaned down, carefully as though he wasn’t sure if I would strike him or not. His lips hovered above mine and as I moved closer I could feel his warm breath against my cheek. Our lips finally met and I couldn’t hold back any longer.
It was like electricity flowing through me as Isaac’s tongue invaded my mouth. My hands went to his hair and I pulled him closer to me like he was my lifeline. Isaac let out a moan as he deepened our kiss. It had felt like forever since we had touched and now that we were embracing, I never wanted it to end.
“Um, I’m going to give you two some privacy,” Cole interrupted us as he picked up his truck keys and made his way to the front door.
I smiled at him and thanked him for what he had done by bringing Isaac back to me. While we couldn’t forget what had happened, and we had a long road ahead of us of repairing our relationship, I knew that our love could bring us back together.
Scooping me up in his arms, Isaac carried me toward the guest room. As I wrapped my arms around his neck, I allowed him to take me to the bed where we spent the next few hours making up for lost time.