CHAPTER 15

  He wanted her to tell Charles… For some reason Natasha was holding back on telling him. She didn’t know why she was so hesitant, maybe it was her mother that was scaring her. She knew her mother would hurt Isaiah, she wouldn’t even think twice about. Natasha returned home and decided to tell her mother. She needed to reason with her mother first. She found her sitting at the computer. “Mum… I need to talk to you.” “You were with him again.” Said more like a statement. “Yes. Mum, I… I love him… Look, why can’t we just work with that. Isaiah will give me the life I want.” “But under his thumb, under his rule right?” It was the truth. “I can handle him.” “You can handle him until he doesn’t want you any longer. He’s not stupid Natasha, as soon as he grows bored of you, you are out the door. He won’t have you in his life. He doesn’t need to spend on you. Only reason he’s doing it is to get back at me. You are such a fool child. Has he even asked you to marry him? If he loves you too, he would want you to marry him right?” “He’s not like that. I promise.” No, no he didn’t ask her to marry him. “Has he ever denied you something you’ve wanted?” Well yes… “Has he ever said no to you? Had the final say?” Yes… “Has he ever told you he’d have you on the streets if you don’t do what he wants?” Yes… “That was before we were together.” “You are a fool. I am doing my best to look out for you. Why do you need to beg him to buy you things? It’s your money… Yours, he stole it from you. I don’t get how blinded you are.” “I’m not blinded… I know he loves me.” “Does he? Has he told you so?” Well no… “Has he told you that whatever is his is yours?” No. “No, no he hasn’t, didn’t think so. You are but a pawn in his game.” “I won’t marry Charles. He makes me sick.” Caroline nodded her head as she looked her daughter up and down. “Okay. It’s your life.” “So is this the part you kick me out again?” Natasha held her breath. “No, I won’t do that. I am going to ask you not to tell Charles just yet. There is a ball, I want you to be seen with him, at least people will know you are still a force to be reckoned with. You show up as his fiancé, get everybody talking, it’s good for business. Your face, your body is your business. You can make a lot of money by being you. But you have to show the world that you are still important. After the ball you can tell him that it’s over.” “When is the ball?” Isaiah was going to lose his shit. “In two weeks.” “Mum…” “Two weeks. Suck it up.” Natasha rolled her eyes at her mother. Jesus… She was going to cop and earful from Isaiah. Not knowing what to do, Natasha decided not to answer Isaiah’s calls. She didn’t want to explain the situation to him. She messaged him that there was a slight hiccup but all will be well soon enough. He called and called and called. Natasha switched her phone off. She would tell him her phone died or something… She wasn’t brave enough to come clean just yet. The next morning Natasha sucked it up and called Isaiah. He was very quiet. “Yeah.” “Hey… How are you?” She was so nervous. “Why aren’t you answering your phone?” “I… I lost battery… It was too late to call you when I had it charged.” Lamest excuse like ever. “Right. And what exactly are you avoiding telling me?” Asshole was too quick for her. “What is it this time?” “Two weeks. I swear, give me two weeks.” “Two weeks? You fucking with me right now?” He sounded so cold, so hard. “It’s only two weeks Isaiah.” Silence. She didn’t know how to explain the situation to him. “I promise… You just have to trust me.” “Trust? You throw that word around like it means nothing.” “Isaiah… I’m doing what I have to do. It’s two weeks. I swear on everything.” “Do what you want Natasha. Stop wasting my fucking time.” With that he ended the call. Natasha tried to call him but he refused to pick up. Not the first day, not the second day nor the third. It was better this way. As soon as the two weeks were up she would return to him and explain it all. She needed to keep her head screwed on, she would end all ties with Charles and be done with him, she would be done with him and her mother after that. The ball was upon them and Natasha knew she looked amazing. She dressed up in a white dress adorned with crystals. It was a short number, it fitted her body like a glove and was completely backless. She left her hair down, it was very straight, not a single hair out of place. Her makeup was done as she liked it, her makeup artist was the best, knew exactly how she liked to wear her face. Natasha was the talk of the party, she played the part her mother wanted her to play. She smiled, she danced she did whatever she needed to do to get her mother off her case. Natasha was laughing away, pretending to be enjoying her night, she allowed Charles to parade her, to kiss her, to do whatever needed to be done. The night was almost over, another few hours before she ended this farce of a relationship. Charles was holding her so close to him on the dance floor and Natasha was forced to smile and endure it. He was on something, he was always on something. She pretended that they were in love. Charles kept making comments to her about how he was going to fuck her, how hard he was going to take her, how he was going to bend her and take her ass. She was disgusted but didn’t let on. A few more hours of this… Then it was free sailing for her and Isaiah. Everything was working to plan. Natasha left the party when it was over and headed home. She was going to speak to Charles in the morning and just end this already. Speaking to him tonight would be futile, he was so doped out on narcotics that she wasn’t going to bother. The next morning as Natasha was making her way downstairs she heard voices. Her mother was angry, what on earth? Natasha hurried to see what the problem was and found Isaiah there. He looked ready to pounce. Natasha had missed him so much, she wanted to run into his arms but something about the way he was sitting with his back so rigid told her not to make that move. “Isaiah?” He tossed over a newspaper… Natasha picked it up and saw the headlines. Oh… Oh dear god. Pictures of her and Charles all over the paper… Shit. “It’s not what it looks like.” She said freaking out. “No? What is it then?” “It’s none of your goddamn business…” Her mother snapped. Oh god. “Mum, stop.” Natasha was in some shit. “Why? Why do I need to stop? Who is he to come in here and demand to see you? Demand an explanation?” “That’s right Tasha, who am I?” “Isaiah I can explain…” “Can you?” He tilted his head as he eyed her out. “I would really love to hear this.” “Natasha you don’t need to say anything. He needs to understand that you are not his property. You do not belong to him.” Her mother needed to stop talking. “Mum, please just give us a minute.” “I don’t trust him Natasha. Don’t be fooled. He will never give it over to you. Don’t you see that? You were right to keep Charles in the picture. You know that Charles will look after you…” “Mum!” Natasha was about to die. Her mother needed to go. Caroline looked over at Isaiah as she came to leave. “You will always belong on the streets. I told you back then and I’ll tell you again, you are not up to our standards. She is worth more than you will ever be. You cannot afford her.” With that said, her mother left. Natasha wanted to cry, she could see how angry and hurt Isaiah was by her mother’s harsh comment. “Please, just hear me out. I’m sorry… But…” “Before you talk, have you ended it with Charles yet?” Fuck! “I am going to do it today.” He laughed. Isaiah didn’t believe her. “Isaiah, I swear on everything…” “You swear on everything? What can you swear on? You have nothing that means shit to you. You are so fucking hung up on money that you worship the dollar sign. I’m done Natasha. Good luck to you and Charles.” Isaiah stood up, he was leaving. “Isaiah, don’t do this. Please…” She grabbed his arm to stop him, but she was shoved so hard that she hit the wall. “Stay the fuck away.” He warned her. She felt her tears falling. “Isaiah, I am going to tell him now. I just…” “You just nothing. Don’t bother ending it baby, we are nothing to each other.” “You don’t mean that.” “Yeah, yeah I do.” “Isaiah, I’m begging you. Please. I… I love you.” The way his dark eyes looked at her was a clear warning to run. “Don’t you ever say that again. You don’t know the meaning of the word.” “I had to go to the ball. Please… My mother…” “Enough! I don’t give a fuck! I don’t care. You are dead to me now.” “Isaiah… I can’t lose you.” She was literally weeping now. He was never going to forgive her for this. She felt it in her heart. She was losing him. “See princess, this is not something you can buy… You cannot buy me, your mother could never buy me… You love money so much, keep Charles, he will make sure you have the best of the best. You will not see a dime from me.” “I don’t want the money. Isaiah… Please.” “Fuck off Natasha, you stay the fuck away from me.” “So what? It’s over? Just like that? You don’t even want to listen to why I did what I did?” “No. Nothing that comes out of your mouth is worthy for me to listen to.” “You are not willing to fight for what we have?” “We have? Are you kidding me? We have nothing… You are nothing. I think your mother is right, you should marry Fairway. Otherwise you will be just a nobody. You don’t want that now do you?” “Isaiah, I just want to be with you… I don’t care what I have…” She meant it, she meant every word. “We can’t always get what we want.” He left. Natasha was devastated. She was so upset by the entire situation. “Good riddance.” Her mother said when she found her crying. “You can carry on and look after yourself now. He gave you up the first sign of hardship. If he loved you, he would never have walked out on you.” Despite hating her mother for what she had done, she did have a point. Isaiah just discarded her like she meant nothing to him. It broke her heart to think how easily he could switch on and off. She was broken on the inside. Natasha ended her relationship with Charles, her mother was livid. She just didn’t want anything from anybody. Isaiah had done some lasting damage to Natasha’s heart. She tried to call him, she tried to visit him, he had changed all the locks to the gates, she couldn’t get in. Natasha was not knowing how to deal with this. Her didn’t want her any longer. After everything, after all the obstacles they had overcome, he just turned his back on her. Her heart was nowhere as strong as she had first thought it was. She was vulnerable, she was afraid and she had never in all her life felt this lonely. When her father passed, she sort of always knew that Isaiah was going to be there for her, but now… Now nothing was making sense. Natasha was fresh out of ideas. She was going to try and move on. What choice did she have? Moving on meant needing to date again, her mother was all over it. “Give Charles another go. He still wants you.” “Never. Mum, just let me do what I need to do.” “You are not getting any younger. Twenty three? You understand that men are always looking for the younger woman… You won’t stand a chance soon. Take what you can now. You cannot afford to be picky.” Fantastic. “I will work it out.” She needed to get her mother off her case. Her mother was suffocating her. Natasha was not up to the task of meeting anybody. She didn’t want to be with anybody else. Isaiah had fucked that up for her. She was going to be alone for the rest of her life, all thanks to that asshole who dumped her. She was rejected, and being rejected was hard, she was always the one being chased, always the one that everybody wanted to please, not the one being rejected. Natasha was doing her best to forget Isaiah, he didn’t deserve her, didn’t deserve her tears. He left her. He didn’t hear her out. She was angry at herself for letting him get to her. She was pissed as hell how she was still crying over that stupid breakup. She wanted to hurt him like he hurt her. Go figure, he mother had been right, he was never going to keep her for long. Isaiah never did the full time relationship, she was no exception. It was funny how once upon a time, Natasha believed that she was able to handle it, she thought she was so high above the world that nobody could hurt her. Turns out she was nowhere near as high as she thought she was. Isaiah was the first man she loved, and defiantly the first man to break her heart. Apart from her father that was. But no matter what Natasha did, no matter how hard she tried to get him out of her head, it was futile, she was not getting over Isaiah any time soon. Natasha wanted a way to see Isaiah, she went to the hotel and asked to see him. She was told he was not in… She waited and waited and nothing. She was not getting anywhere fast. Natasha was losing her nerve, she didn’t even know what she was going to say to him. After the second hour of doing nothing but wait, Natasha decided to leave. She didn’t want to be at the hotel… Too many memories… She didn’t know how to reach Isaiah, and really didn’t know why she was so hung up on him. He made her beg and still rejected her. Love… Love nothing. Her mother was so right. Love had no place in this world. You had to get by using any means necessary. It was hard, Natasha no longer wanted to explain herself to Isaiah, she wanted to see him to abuse him. How dare he fuck her up? How dare he mess with her heart? She was not going to take this lying down. Her father entrusted that dickhead to look after her and he was not doing his job. Seemed that a lawyer was in order. If he wasn’t going to hold on to his end of the deal, well she would just have no choice but to take matters into her own hands. He didn’t deserve her. Again, her mother was right, hell she had been right about everything. It’s true what they say, always listen to your mother. *** Isaiah readied to go to the soup kitchen to help set up. He needed to keep busy, his mind always on that double crossing cheating little vixen. Natasha really hurt him, she played him and she played him well. Isaiah didn’t know why he let her get away with it. He knew from the time she refused to end it with Charles that she was up to something. He didn’t want to believe it but there it was. Caroline played her cards right. Isaiah shook himself to try and get her out of his head. Did not matter how much he tried, she was always plaguing his thoughts. Grabbing his gear, he unlocked the shelter and waited for his little crew. Flow was the first to arrive, she was the hardest working woman of the lot. An older lady, four grandchildren, and three children. She was firm but had a heart of gold. “Okay, let’s get this party started.” She was sweet. He kissed her on the cheek as he saw to following her orders. She told him to chop the vegetables and he did so without complaining. She was a machine, had the soups on in no time at all. She prepared lamb roasts, vegetables with all the trimmings, gravy, mash… Yep, she was a legend. Gia and Brenda came soon after and it was go time. Before they knew it, homeless men, woman and children were lining up to get a hot meal and place to feel a little better about themselves. Isaiah helped serve the food. He was happy to do it, was thinking of opening the shelter up at least three days a week. He was happily chatting away to Flow when he spotted Natasha. She had walked into the shelter looking around. “Darling, you don’t look like you need food, but we are willing to help all those in need.” Flow was speaking to her. Yep, she looked too moneyed to look hungry. Fuck she was gorgeous. “Food? No… No, I’m here to speak to him.” She pointed to Isaiah. Isaiah shook his head. Nope… Not going to ever fall for her again. “If you are not here to help, you need to leave, otherwise I’ll call the police.” He called out. The entire place fell silent. Isaiah was not going to hear her out. She fucked him over and he was no fool to let it happen again. He saw her roll her eyes. Little bitch with attitude. “I just need to speak to you.” “Too bad. Leave, we are here for a reason.” He was not going to back down. “Dear, maybe you should leave… I mean unless you want to clean up, pick up plates, wipe down tables, sweep, mop… Unless you want to help us out, I am going to have to insist you leave.” Isaiah wanted to laugh. Like Natasha was ever going to do any of that. She gave Flow a are you serious look. “Really?” “Yes dear. We are busy and you are in the way.” “Oh my god, I just need to talk to him. Like I just need to talk to him. Five minutes…” “Isaiah, she just wants to talk to you.” “I’m working.” He called out. “He’s working dear.” Flow was making him laugh. Natasha huffed. “Can I wait until he finishes?” “I’m afraid not. It makes the others feel uncomfortable. This is about them here, this is there place, not yours. You might have to leave and come back when we have closed shop.” “For heaven’s sake. Fine, fine, I’ll clean up.” She said surprising him. Isaiah waited to see how this was going to turn out. She picked up an apron and put it on. Before she was allowed to start doing anything, Flow insisted she wear a hair net. It was the funniest sight ever. Natasha Bronte helping out at the shelter. Isaiah continued to work, he pretended like he wasn’t paying any attention to her. She was clumsy, she was grossed out as she took the plates away and wiped down the tables. Flow continued to throw orders at her like to sweep up and she missed a spot. Isaiah didn’t think she would last more than half an hour, boy was he mistaken. She lasted three hours. Three hours of actual work, on her feet, hard work. Probably the first time she had ever worked in her life. He finished cleaning up with the ladies and sat down with a soda that he sculled in less than five seconds. “There, I’m finished… Can I stop now?” He heard Natasha ask Flow. “Of course dear, you did a wonderful job. Thank you for your help. You are very kind. God bless you dear.” Isaiah saw Natasha literally roll her eyes behind Flow’s back. She didn’t care for the compliment. Natasha took her hair net off, and was happy to take her apron off. She sat down at the table where Isaiah was seated. “Now can we talk?” “Have nothing to talk to you about.” He said looking into her amazing blue eyes. She looked tired. “I just worked my ass off, you are going to hear me out. I don’t need you to talk, you can shut up and listen.” “I’m not interested in anything you have to say.” He said leaning back in his chair. She tilted her head and looked into his eyes. Her could see her mind working. She was thinking hard how to approach this. “Okay well, you need to give me money to live. My father specified in his will that you will be in charge of the money. But he said that you were to hand it over when I needed it.” “Yeah? When you need it. You don’t need it. It’s my call.” “No it’s not. I need it to live.” “When you are on the streets, when you can’t have a hot meal, when you have holes in your shoes, only then are you in need. For now, you are well above needy.” “You are giving me no choice Isaiah, I will have to call in my lawyer.” “You do whatever you need to do.” “Why are you being this way for? You are taking this entire thing way too personally. What happened between us has nothing to do with anything. The money is mine.” “No Tasha, it’s mine. Mine to give you when and if I want to.” “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe you.” “You can’t believe me? You are very funny. Stupid, but funny.” “Why are you going to make this ugly for?” “Because there is nothing nice about it.” “You have no right.” Isaiah didn’t bother on replying to her. He picked himself up and left. Flow would close shop. Isaiah continued to replay Natasha working at the shelter in his head. He didn’t believe it. Had he not seen it with his own eyes, there would be no way under the sun he would have ever taken anybody’s word for it. But he saw it. She shocked the fuck out of him the following week when she showed up again. She didn’t wait for orders this time, nope, this time she knew exactly what to do. It was funny, one man was talking to her, she took a chair and sat with him. Elderly black man. Natasha seemed very interested in what he had to say to her. She sat there listening to him. It was only after a while she returned to cleaning up the empty plates. Once again she waited until it was closing time and approached Isaiah. “I need money.” “For?” He was going to keep this very professional. “To live.” “Sell a ring or two.” Natasha looked at him before she left. She didn’t argue with him, didn’t put up a stink, she just left. She showed up every week, every week at the shelter she would do the same thing. Flow told her that she could cut the bread this week. “I think I’ll stick to things that can’t hurt me. I will slice myself if I work with a knife that big.” Well at least she was honest. The fourth time that Natasha showed up to the shelter, she didn’t even wait for Isaiah, she finished off and left. He didn’t understand what her game was. He would see how long she would continue to show up. She did so every week, even if Isaiah was not there, she would help Flow and the girls work. She spoke to the people and even listened to their stories. Isaiah hated that he couldn’t get his eyes off her. She was just stunning. For over two months and every Saturday, Natasha came into the shelter and did her thing. She no longer made it about Isaiah, she kept to herself and did what she was doing. Isaiah waited for her to finish one night, she had walked out and he followed her. “Oy, wait up.” Natasha turned to face him. “What?” She looked downright exhausted. “What’s the deal?” “What deal?” “Why are you coming here? I’m not going to change my mind.” He said wanting her to understand that this game was a waste of her time. “Fine.” She said turning away from him. She continued to walk on. “That’s it?” He asked following her. “Yeah.” Isaiah grabbed her arm, he didn’t hurt her, but he needed her to stop walking. She looked at him and frowned. “What? I’m tired, I need to go home and rest.” “You are wasting your time.” “Okay.” “Explain to me why you are here again?” “I don’t know.” She said shaking her head. “I’m not in your way, what’s the problem?” “The problem is I don’t trust you.” “You don’t trust me to wipe tables down?” She was making fun of him. “I don’t want you in here again.” Her face looked so sad. She looked disheartened. “What? Why? What is the problem?” “I’ll pay you for your time, you have worked hard, but I don’t want you to be here anymore.” “You are telling me that I can’t help them?” She pointed back at the shelter. “It’s not fair for you to use these people to try and get to me. They are people too, they have hearts and souls and are flesh and blood like you and me.” “How am I using them? You make me out to be this evil monster. Surely you don’t believe I am that heartless to hurt them?” “When it comes to you, I don’t know what to believe.” “Okay. You don’t want me here, fine. No worries. I won’t be coming here any longer.” She once again turned and left. Isaiah didn’t understand anything, she just agreed, just like that, she never even mentioned the money. He was not sure what game she was playing at. He had to admit that the following Saturday when she didn’t show up at the shelter, he was a little disappointed. Yes, he told her not to come, but when did she ever listen to him? What surprised Isaiah the most was when the people started asking for her. They asked for the blue eyes… Isaiah was confused as hell. She had made an impact on these people. At first Isaiah thought it was her looks, always looking so damned gorgeous, but they wanted to talk to her. Said she was a great listener. He wasn’t sure if they were speaking about the same person… But well, there was only one blue eyed woman who wiped down the tables… Isaiah resumed his life, he tried to get on with it, needed to get back on track. He was hating being at the hotels, the only reason he didn’t sell them was because Chris loved them so much. His pride and joy. He didn’t have the heart to sell them. He tried to stay on top of it all, but if truth be told, he lost that passion, that drive to keep it up. He didn’t like working there, hated being the boss, hated that his time was being spent doing paperwork and shit like that. He was a hands on man, he needed to be the one to doing things, not the one sitting behind a desk waiting for meetings and all the bullshit that came with running a fucking empire. He thought long and hard about his next move. He was going to speak to Natasha, ask her to run the hotel again. Full time job, he would not be there, she could do as she was doing when her father was alive. He wanted to see her again, he missed her a lot, but he didn’t want her to think anything more was going to come out of this. He wanted her to resume her job and then maybe he could see to doing other things… Like living. He called her up on a Friday afternoon and asked her to meet him for dinner. “What?” She sounded sceptical. “I want to talk to you.” Long pause before she replied. “I thought you had nothing to say and didn’t want to hear anything I had to say?” Yep. “Are you free tonight or not?” “What’s this about?” “About me needing to talk to you.” She remained quiet for a while. “Tasha, yes or no?” “Fine… Where?” He gave her the details of where they were to meet before he ended the call. He prayed he was making the right decision. This was a ballsy move but one he felt he needed to do. He waited a good hour before Ms fashionably late showed up. She looked smashing. She wore designer jeans, a designer shirt, heels, her bag looked worth thousands of dollars. She was a sight for sure. She was ushered to the table and sat down facing Isaiah. “You look beautiful. He found himself saying. She put her bag down and pulled out her phone. “So, what is this about?” She was acting as though this was of no importance. Much like when she first showed up at the factory. All snobbish, thinking she was too good for him and the world. “First of all, drop the fucking attitude.” He snapped quietly. She looked into his eyes then. “That’s right, don’t be sitting there giving me sass. This is a business meeting. I suggest you tone down the attitude.” She rubbed her lips together as her blue eyes looked directly into his. “Business?” “Yes…” “This meeting is about business? What business do we have to discuss?” Was it his imagination or did she think this had something to do with their relationship? “I want you to run the hotel again. I want you to do what you were doing before your father passed. I want you to manage it, run it…” “Whoa… Whoa… Are you messing with me right now? You want me to run my hotel? The same hotel you took away from me. The same hotel you changed how I ran things? You want me to run it again?” “Pretty much. You will be paid…” “No.” Isaiah wasn’t expecting her to reply so quickly. He was most certainly not expecting her to reject the offer. “What?” “I said no. Thank you for the offer but I must decline.” “Are you serious?” “Yes. Is there anything else you want to discuss?” She was killing him. She just threw him off. She said no. “I am giving you a chance to get back on your feet. To be paid, you know the money will be worth it.” “Isaiah, my answer is no.” Isaiah stared at the beauty before him, she just shocked the hell out of him, she said no… Like did she understand that beggars could not be choosers? Apparently not…

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21