Bound To Fall

The Sooner The Better

Isabelle

I let out a sigh as I stared at the phone on my desk. It's time to set up this meeting with Elise for Sterling. Part of me feels like this is a bad idea but it's what we need to do to hopefully make her go away.

I picked the phone up to my ear and began dialing the number to connect me with Alexandra. There's one perk of this assistant thing, I get to talk to her instead of the bitch in charge.

"Hello?" She answered after a few rings.

"Hey Alexandra, it's Isabelle." I responded. "How are you?"

"I'm well." Her tone was pleasant, signifying she was glad to hear from me. "How are you?"
"I'm pretty good myself." I kept the friendly tone in my voice but it seems to disappear with my next sentence. "I need to set up a meeting for Sterling with Elise."

Alexandra is quiet for a moment. It's like even she's on the fence about this little meeting, and she doesn't even know what it's about.

"How soon does he need it?" Her tone isn't as relaxed as it once was.

"The sooner the better." That's what Sterling and Damon both said anyway.

Alexandra goes silent again. "She's free tomorrow afternoon around one, will that work for Mr. Tipton?"

"One second." I pulled Sterling's schedule up on the computer. "Looks like one tomorrow will work."

"Would he like her to come to Tipton Enterprises again?" Alexandra questioned further to figure out a destination.

"No." That was the one thing he made clear. "He'd like to do it off the grounds of his father's company. Maybe like a restaurant again or something."
I didn't want him going on Elise's territory as much as Damon didn't want her here. Who knows what she might do if he had him come to her. It was for everyone's best interest to meet in a neutral spot where no one had the upper hand.

"There's the restaurant where they met last time." Alexandra suggested.

"That'll work out perfectly," I agreed. "Thank you."

"No problem." She responded before disconnecting the call.

I placed the phone back on the desk and stood up. I straightened my skirt and then headed into Sterling's office to let him know the update.

"Isabelle." He smiled as I walked over to the desk. "I always love seeing you come through those doors."

"Thanks." I shot him with a half smile. "I talked to Alexandra, the meeting with Elise has been set up for tomorrow at one in the afternoon."

Sterling didn't respond, instead his eyes slightly squinted as he proceeded to study me. I looked down just to make sure I didn't have any food or anything on me that I may have missed, as I suspected though there's nothing.

"What?" I asked him with furrowed brows.

"You seem nervous." He responded as he got up from his desk. "What's going on Izzy? Talk to me?"

"What if this does the opposite of what we want?" I honestly asked.

This was something that had been on my mind since last night. We have this information on her, but she could always call our bluff. She could decide to release her information earlier because we threatened her.

I may not know Elise very well, but she seemed like the vindictive type. I wouldn't put it past her to be unphased by what we have on her.

"I won't lie to you, it is a risk." He sighed. "But it's one I need to take to help protect my mother. I know she keeps saying she can handle it all just fine, but I really don't want her to have to be a target for my mistakes."

He pulled me closer to him and caressed my cheek with his hand. Those icy blue eyes proceeded to look into mine. They're so calm and confident, something I was feeling up until I got too much into my head while laying in bed.

"You trust me, don't you?" He asked softly.

"Of course." I nodded without breaking eye contact.

"I've planned ahead and thought this through." His confidence was clear in his words.

Of course I'm not surprised. He's a Tipton after all, this family was practically created with their brains always thinking ahead of the rest.

"How so?" I asked curiously.

"Either way, no matter how this goes it'll bring us one step closer to having her out of our lives for ever." He responded.

My curiosity was only increasing with each word he said. He's got to have something up his sleeve.

"Well, the best thing would be that this convinces her to shut up." He elaborated for me. "The other way is, she takes us on. No matter what damage she tries to cause we won't let it affect us. In the end she will be taken down for what she's done and what she's planning to do."

"I think it might be option number two." I could practically feel it in my gut that this was going to just provoke her.

"I think so too." He pulled me in closer. "But she doesn't stand a chance. When you mess with one Tipton, you get us all and the Tunt's don't stand a chance in hell against us."

I forced back my apprehension, he's right. Now was not the time for me to lose my confidence in the situation.

With everything we have there's no way Elise will try to push things ever more than she already has. At least, I could hope that she's smart enough not to.