Consequences

Part 44

They walked to Doug's car in silence. A silence that went unbroken for the entire journey to her place. Doug was angry. Isabelle was sad. Doug kept replaying the last half hour, over and over, wondering whether he was dreaming this. Isabelle was replaying the last half hour, over and over, wondering whether the situation was recoverable. The air in the car felt oppressive and doom laden as both reached the conclusion that neither knew the other all that well.

When they arrived he switched off the engine, and before either of them had a chance to get out of the car, he said, "You had me fooled." There was ice in his voice, ice and anger.

He'd had the car journey to think about what had just happened. And his conclusion was that he had been taken for a ride. He didn't like it, not one little bit. But this supposedly well connected, socialite had conned him, and a lot of others by the looks of things. But he should have asked questions. He should have looked deeper. Why he hadn't seen it coming was beyond him. But then he remembered she was a pro. She had conned him, just as she had conned her peers about her family's wealth. He must have been small fry for her. Gullible. That's what he was, gullible. Which was not a word he had ever thought would apply to him.

Isabelle could hear the hurt that lay just below the fury. She wasn't sure quite why he was so angry, but he was clearly very, very angry, and hurt. Surely he could understand why they did not broadcast this element of their lives. They did not want the publicity it would attract. For that might scare away the women they were looking to attract, and it might make what they were doing look like two socialites playing at being charitable and it would be seen as a novelty scenario rather than a bona fide working environment. "I was going to..."

Without hesitation Doug cut her off before she could begin to explain. "But then that was the plan, wasn't it?" He was beyond incensed. She had conned him. And it had been so easy. He'd made it easy. "It makes sense now."

She look puzzled. "Really?" She asked softly.

"What I want to know, though why it matters is beyond me, but did you and your grandmother hatch this together? Or was it all your idea?" The thought of his gullibility made him angry. Just because he could relate to what he had seen earlier, because that was the environment where he grew up, did not mean he was going to be dragged back there. "I bet you thought I'd jump at the idea. Hooking up with old money, someone with my background, my looks, my drive would do anything to get my company accepted. What did you think? That it wouldn't matter to me that you were a prostitute? That I'd over look it because I'd want what your name could give me? The doors it would open for my company? You think I'd sell myself for that?"

She blinked in utter astonishment. "Doug!" She hissed in astonishment, as his words gave her insight into his warped thinking. "I'm not..."

"You miscalculated. My mother may have slept around but she never took money for it." He announced. Isabelle went mute as she saw the anger and sadness and embarrassment that mingled in his eyes. He'd worked hard to escape his environment, she thought as understanding for his reaction began to develop. Doug couldn't help the words that escaped, "I might have a face that would crack a mirror at a thousand paces, but that doesn't mean I need to pay for sex." She shook her head wanting to tell him that his appearance was immaterial to her. Doug glared, "I've worked bloody hard to get my company up and running. There is no way I would tarnish its reputation through association with a hooker." The words were cold, flat and clearly enunciated.

Isabelle felt the words in his last sentence as slaps. The years of hiding her emotions, shielding her worry, hiding pain, was once more put into practice. She blanked all emotion as he continued with his tirade.

"You had me fooled. I'll give you that. But then, I imagine someone able to fool the community into believing the Soujour D'Sa family is still minting money, would find hiding the fact she is a prostitute child's play."

That statement was greeted with silence. They sat motionless for several seconds. Doug was lost in self-pity. He felt he should have known, should have realised that a society belle was unlikely to hook up with an ugly mutt from the wrong side of town. He hadn't anticipated how much it would hurt.

Then Isabelle reached for the door. "I guess a formal announcement about the termination of our engagement will be necessary." She stated calmly as she opened the door. "I'll leave you to see to it." She wanted to wrap her arms around her waist, double over and cry as her heart slowly crumbled, "Thank you for the ride home." She swung her legs out and elegantly walked away from the car. Caked in makeup, with her wig now in her hands, and her jacket torn at the sleeve, she still managed to walk away with class.

Her short visit with the police was not reported in Sunday's paper, butit appeared in Monday's alongside a notice regarding the end of the engagement between Sojour-D'Sa and Hawke. Ryan and Charlie couldn't believe either report. But they confirmed the stories with Doug. Understandably he was angry, hurting and furious with himself for being taken in by a pretty face. As he'd explained to Ryan andCharlie, why would a socialite hook up with a guy from the wrong end of town?