Strings Attached

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

The trip to Vegas didn't get off to a promising start. Within the initial fifteen minutes in the plane, I had gone through the first drawings for the casino complex and found a calculation mistake which resulted in a disastrous domino effect on the project plans. The calculations of the costs and time would have to be adjusted and I didn't have the access nor equipment to make those adjustments. I'd spent the entire flight raging at Emily for letting the mistake slip before she forwarded me the documents, then raging at the employee who'd made the mistake and at last, raging at myself for not having double-checked the work he had done before I took over.

The reputation of The Goliath was at stake. I didn't want to hear any excuses and I didn't care that it was weekend. Everybody had to leave whatever it was they were busy doing and make sure we corrected every single mistake so we could present the client with the plans that would be flawless. We were already heading towards the hotel in a chauffeur driven SUV which had been a courtesy of our associates and I was still on the phone with Emily, demanding her to call me within an hour to confirm that I'd receive the new project plans during the course of the night. While Emily tried to ensure me she'd take care of it, we were driving through Las Vegas Strip where our hotel was located and suddenly, I was alerted to Isabelle's presence. The way she gazed outside the window with an expression of awe and admiration distracted me to the point that I wasn't paying any attention to what Emily was saying. Isabelle seemed to have possessed the curiosity of a child and the ability to admire the beauty of things I had long ago deemed as insignificant and took for granted. Her dark chocolate eyes seemed to have drowned in those blinding lights. Observing the reactions of a person who had been so innocent and uncorrupted by the world turned out to be a humbling experience and I couldn't bring myself to look away.

The car stopped in front of our hotel and I ended the call, repeating that I expected to hear back from Emily within an hour. This trip had barely begun and I was already exhausted and irritated. We went out of the car and Isabelle followed my lead, waiting in the background as I went to the reception to collect the key to our suite. When I returned to her, she seemed confused and hesitant, but I interpreted her reaction as a consequence of her being tired from the flight and overwhelmed by the sights of one of the most imposing cities in the world.

"Come," I said softly, making a mental note that I'd convince her to get some rest while I got on with work when we arrived to our room.

The new developments concerning the Vegas project left me filled with tension, but I tried to keep my temper in check in front of Isabelle and appear calm. Still, I was way too stressed to make small talk with her. I remained quiet and controlled as my mind kept drifting to all the things that needed to be done before tomorrow morning. We were walking towards our room in silence and when I opened the door and motioned for Isabelle to enter first, she glanced at me in a strange way and then lowered her eyes, going inside without saying anything. I followed after her, intending to tell her that she could take some time for herself to relax, but the moment I came closer, her shoulders slumped forward and she ran inside the bathroom. Confused by her reaction, I remained staring at the bathroom door. I heard the lock turn and all of my instincts were alerted. I walked to the door and knocked on it softly, but there was no reaction.

"Isabelle," I called her name in a light voice. "Is everything alright?"

For a few moments, there was nothing but silence and then I heard her meek reply. "Everything is fine."

Her voice was all choked up and I knew everything was not fucking fine. After that incident when I'd ended up hitting her, I'd sworn to myself I would never allow her to lock herself away from me again. Every lock in our house had been replaced, but I'd forgotten I had absolutely no control over doors in hotels. There was nothing left for me to do but to plead with her to let me in.