This was never in the plans for Aislin and Scott. They were teenage sweethearts, inseparable and unbreakable, until one fight changed the trajectory of their lives and Aislin disappears. A year later, she returns to New Orleans with a baby. She hesi...
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─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Today is November 13th, my mom's birthday. Everyone in my family has a spring birthday, except for her.
I've always loved my birthday and celebrating birthdays with my friends. While others dread their birthday at our age, the feeling of getting older lingering over the celebration, I see it as another year of events, friendships, and happiness yet to come. My mother saw her birthday the same way.
"Can you believe I'm sixty today?" my mother said as she got ready. For her birthday, we were taking her to her favorite restaurant by the water (dressing in our fanciest of attire, of course) and then on a sightseeing tour. Although we've seen everything there is to in New Orleans, a tradition each year is we pick a guided tour to see the inaccuracies in the stories and to pretend we're tourists. Scott was invited to this celebration, but he declined as he already had a meeting with his manager to discuss the next album. He compromised by spending the afternoon with us.
"You look beautiful," he said while he helped me zip the back of a sage green satin dress. He ran his fingers across my collarbone. Scott is a mastermind when it comes to knowing how to push buttons, in both a good and a bad way. He knows exactly how to tease me when I can't get what I want, so it'll be that much better when I do. "You better get going. You'll be late."
Our evening out as a family was as eventful as we hoped. We chose a ghost tour and laughed at the falsifications of New Orleans history that were being spread to lure in tourists.
"Thank you kids for making my birthday memorable," my mom gushed on the way home. "Those crawdads were to die for!"
It was around 8pm that I got a call from an unknown number. Normally, I don't answer phone calls in general, let alone unrecognized phone calls, but I had a feeling it might be important.
"Hey baby," a familiar voice said, the venom spewing out even over the phone. "I've missed you."
"How did you get this number, Isaac?" I whispered, not to alert my family in the other room. I changed my number after returning to New Orleans.
"Don't you worry about that," he said as I trembled. "I just want to know when we can put this all behind us and you can come home with the baby. I didn't mean it."
I hung up without responding to his demand. This is his usual game: after being awful to me, he'll suddenly be the best partner I could ask for. Sometimes he brought me flowers or took me to dinner, but it didn't matter. The emptiness of the gesture was evident. He didn't mean it.
"Who was that?" Cian asked as I returned to my family.
"Just a scam call. They want to know about my car's extended warranty."
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Over the following days, Scott had noticed my anxiety from looming Isaac. We had been spending as much time as possible together, especially with Faye. It was only a matter of time before he said something.
I didn't like the phone ringing anymore, fearing that Isaac would be on the other end. Prior to the call, with Scott, I could forget him and be present. With Scott, the year with Isaac could just be a bad dream I just woke up from. The phone call pulled me back into reality, reminding me that Isaac and his maliciousness is tangible.
"What happened?" Scott interjected my racing thoughts. "You're acting weird."
"Isaac called."
Scott was perfecting the beat on the upcoming album. It didn't have a name yet, but both Scott and Ari knew they had to top Stop Staring at the Shadows. He stopped and put his laptop to the side when he heard me.
"What the fuck did he want?" he grunted.
His fists balled up at his sides and his brow furrowed. In that second, my mind took me somewhere I didn't want to be. He turned into Isaac, resentful and volatile and unpredictable. I feared him for a moment.
"I don't know," I said, in a voice barely above a whisper.
Unlike Isaac, Scott saw the panic on my face. He quickly opened his palms and held them out for me to hold. His face softened, so I could see he wasn't mad at me.
"It's okay," he assured. "He can't hurt you anymore."
Scott could say that all he wanted, but it could never be completely true. Isaac found my new number, despite it being a restricted number with no name publicly attached. There's no telling what else he's capable of accomplishing when he wants to. Even if I never saw Isaac again, his impact will still live with me.
