Chapter Twenty-Three
Isla definitely couldn't get any resting done while she waited for Martina to come and help her into the dress. She constantly sent off texts to Jane, knowing she would get them when her phone turned back on. Isla couldn't wait to give her all the details.
Martina arrived about an hour before Isla was expected to leave and meet Arturo and Sam. Isla had never had anyone help her dress before, not since she was a little girl, at any rate, so Martina gave instructions for what Isla had to do in the bathroom. She didn't have to wear a bra. The dress would keep her breasts high all on its own.
Isla looked herself over in the mirror of the bathroom. No bra, just her panties. Red, just to match the dress, because that seemed like the proper thing to do in this occasion. Some men that Isla had dated had liked it when she'd gone commando, so for a time, there had been a period in Isla's life when she hadn't worn any panties. Only her bras, because she liked those.
Isla got the feeling that Arturo was a man who liked a girl in nicely fitting panties. He'd mentioned at one point that he would buy her some lingerie, and he certainly seemed to enjoy tearing her panties apart.
Her decision was made. She was wearing her panties, but no bra. That was kind of a switch, but apparently the dress called for such a decision.
Then there was her jewellery. Arturo knew that Isla took pride in designing her own necklaces, rings, and earrings, so why would he buy her expensive jewellery when she would just think that hers were better? The answer, of course, was that he wouldn't. Arturo was a smart man. Smart enough to know better. Isla was only a little hesitant to admit to herself that his foresight was impressive.
Really impressive.
Also, the dress was going to be enough of a statement. Isla had the perfect set of earrings and matching necklace to go with this dress. They were in her bag, and she was going to get them once Martina was finished with the red ribbon laces at the back.
She tied them tight, and Isla was starting to see why she didn't need to wear a bra, even while wearing a dress that had only one sleeve, her tits had never been so high before. She probably looked like she had a Hollywood actress's chest. It was amazing.
"Do you have any idea where Arturo is taking me tonight?" Isla asked.
What in the world could warrant needing a dress like this?
Isla looked over her shoulder, and Martina smiled as she finished tying off the ribbons. "He wants it to be a surprise, but yes. I know where he is taking you."
"Can I take a guess?"
"You may," she said, nodding and pulling her hands back. "Your dress is not finished. If there were any jewels you preferred, we can lay those out while I do your hair."
Her hair, too? Where the hell was Arturo taking her?
Isla went to her makeup case, and when inside, she pulled out her rose necklace and earrings.
These were her favorite things to wear when she wanted something elegant but simple.
She wondered what Arturo would say when he say that her chosen jewellery for the night was actually just a couple of roses on a chain, and some dangle earrings with rose buds on them.
This dress screamed high class, and she was choosing to wear something that could just as easily go with jeans and a t-shirt.
Oh well. She hoped he wouldn't mind.
At least the bracelet looked a little more expensive. It was a thick metal shackle made up of intertwining green rose stems. All of which were metal, of course, but the look was pretty good, especially the red painted roses that were dotted throughout the stems. That looked good.
Isla set them out, and then sat down in the chair that Martina had pulled out for her.
Martina had dry shampoos from name brands that Isla didn't recognize, but was willing to bet were incredibly expensive. She also had mousse, hairspray, spray on conditioners, and pins various hairpins that would no doubt keep her hair in place. There were also a number of other items on the table, clips and thick bun elastics.
"So, you know how to do hair, and clean up after Mr Arturo?"
Was it rude to ask something like that? Isla wasn't sure, but she needed to ask after seeing all of this.
Isla watched Martina smile again through the mirror. "This is a skill that rarely gets used, so when it does, I am happy to be of service."
"That must be a killer resume. You went to hairstyling school so that Arturo might have someone to do his hair?"
Isla laughed. "No, he knows how to wash his own hair and pull it back. He rarely wears it differently than that ponytail you see on him."
Isla thought about that ponytail, and her entire body warmed up from the inside out, starting down at her sex.
"I noticed," she said, and did her absolute best to not look at Martina in the mirror.
She thought she saw the woman smiling out of the corner of her eye. Great.
But then Isla got lost in what Martina was doing to her. It was like a mini trip to the salon. She sprayed Isla's hair to keep the curling iron from damaging her hair, and then painstakingly pulled back, up, and around so that Isla was left with something that looked a lot like a french twist, but a little on the messier side.
The type of messy that was purposely done, with locks of curledhair leaving the twist to frame her face. Isla had only ever looked like this after visiting a salon and paying a ton of money, and to make things even better, Martina also had her soak here fingers so she could trim her cuticles and buff her nails.
"There's not enough time to paint them or give a proper manicure, luckily, you have very healthy fingernails.
"Yeah," Isla said, looking down at her nails, and already very impressed with what was there.
"You're a miracle worker. Are you sure you didn't go to school for this?"
Martina shook her head, though it was clear that the praise was making her preen. "I had many sisters. I was always the one to do their makeup for them, and their nails. I have much hands on practice, though I did want to go to school for it. I still might. Arturo thinks I have a talent for this."
Isla was so caught up in what Martina had been saying about her family, and that she might go to beauty school, that for a few seconds, she missed the part where Martina explained that she'd had sisters.
As in not anymore.
Isla bit her lips together to keep herself from doing something stupid, like asking what had happened to them. It wasn't her business, and Martina probably hadn't even meant to share that detail with her. It was too private for someone she barely knew.
Martina didn't seem to notice that she'd let anything slip. "Would you like me to do your makeup, Miss King?"
"Sure, and call me Isla," Isla said.
She didn't want Martina to feel like she had to be formal with her. Especially not after something like that was just revealed.
Martina smiled and nodded, and she got to work applying primers and concealers and lipstick.
Isla turned her eyes from time to time to look at her progress in the mirror. It didn't feel like Martina was putting a lot on her, but her face was starting to look amazing. Like she'd been photoshopped amazing.
Martina didn't need any schooling. She needed to open up her own beautify salon and charge top dollar for people to get into it. She was good.
When Martina finished, Isla could put on her necklace, her earrings, and her bracelet. Suddenly, they didn't seem so small and cheap now in comparison to the dress she wore. They looked like they'd been made for the dress itself.
Martina surveyed her work, a pleased expression on her face.
"Do you think Arturo will approve?" Isla asked.
Martina's lips pulled up at the corner in a why smile. "What matters is what you approve of."
"Oh, of course. I meant that, too."
"Do you?"
Isla looked at herself in the mirror. "Very much so, yes."
She was tempted to get professional photos done of herself looking like this. She might get picked up by a modeling agency if she looked like this all the time.
"Good, thank you for that," Martina said. "And yes, Arturo will most definitely approve. He has an appreciation for lovely ladies, and although you were always a lovely young woman, I doubt he'll be able to take his eyes off of you."
"Thank you," Isla said, still not too sure how she felt about all of this.
It was more strange than anything that, even after a day, she was already starting to get used to all of this.
"Very good, this way, please," Martina said. She pulled back Isla's chair so that she could stand, handed her a clutch bag, and then walked with her out of her room and down the hall.
Martina put her hand on Isla's shoulder, and they stopped before they could enter the foyer, where Arturo and Sam were probably waiting.
"What is it?" Isla asked.
The lines around Martina's eyes and mouth seemed more pronounced all of a sudden, and there was something in the woman's eyes that Isla couldn't quite place.
"I must ask something of you, Miss King. Something I have no right to ask."
"Okay, but I said you could call me Isla."
Martina shook her head. "Not when I make an important request of you."
Arturo called her Miss King when he was irritated with something, and it seemed Martina would do that very same thing whenever something was worrying her.
"Okay, not problem. Tell me what it is and I'll do it."
Martina's chest swelled as she took in a deep breath. "I must ask that you not hurt Mr Calendri."
Isla blinked. "I...what?"
Martina stared at her, as though waiting for her to understand. Isla couldn't understand. "He has me under contract to stay in his house with him, to have sex with him to get my family's business back, and you're worried about me hurting him?"
She couldn't hold back her anger, the outrage that built up inside of her when she made her conclusions. Isla clenched her fists. She wasn't about to hit the woman, but she also couldn't stop her body from clenching up like that. She could hardly contain it.
Martina shook her head. "It's not quite as simple as that. You are still here of your own free will, yes?"
"I don't care. Why would you say that to me?"
All those talks Isla had with herself about how this was her decision, about how she was taking command of herself and her own body and sexual nature by agreeing to be here, completely flew out the window as she realized Martina thought of her precious Arturo as the one who was getting the bad deal out of this whole thing.
That, she couldn't stand for. It was so insulting.
"Please do not misunderstand, Miss King, I know of the nature of your agreement with Mr Calendri, but you are unaware of the reasons behind this agreement."
"To get me in bed and get back at me. That's all this has ever been about."
"No, it hasn't," Martina said. "That has been part of Mr Calendri's reason, and I'm afraid I cannot say more, other than to ask you again, to please not hurt him."
Isla frowned, her anger still simmering beneath the surface, but it was just that now. Simmering. Still there, and her hands managed to unclench themselves, but that was about all she could manage.
"Is this because of what happened with his mother?" she asked.
Martina didn't so much as flinch. Isla understood why Arturo had kept this woman on his staff. She was good at hiding just what needed to be hidden, and not giving away anything unless she wanted to give it away.
But even she had slipped up back in Isla's room when they'd been talking.
"I'm right, aren't I? Sebastian doesn't get along with Arturo, and he's...what? Paranoid of being close to someone after what happened to his mother? I'm not a psycho killer, I'm not about to chop him up, and I'm also not a bitch. I'm not going to run to the media and tell them every single little thing I see or hear around here either."
Martina finally gave something away. Her eyes widened, and her shoulders pressed a little farther back. A look of worry entered her eyes, and Isla knew there was no way in hell that look was for her.
She could feel the eyes staring at the back of her head. Isla turned.
Arturo stood just at the end of the hall, by the stairs that would lead down into the foyer. He stared at the both of them, but his angry glare seemed to be reserved for Isla alone.
Isla's lungs seized up in her chest as she went over a mental list of the things she'd been saying to Martina.
Not going to chop him up had been one thing, which obviously was a reference to his mother, not a psycho killer, which was a reference to his father, and she had mentioned paranoia of getting close to anyone.
All of that had to sound bad. Worse than just being bitchy. It was cruel, and probably the exact thing that Martina had been worried about when she'd wanted to have this talk to begin with.
"Arturo...I'm really—"
"Not another word," he snapped. That was a harsh command Isla heard in his tone.
She couldn't resist it. She had to obey it.
"Sam is waiting downstairs. We will go now before we are late."
"Arturo—"
He'd already turned and walked away.
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Chapter Twenty-Three is finally here! It's the end of the month now, so I'm finding I'm having trouble keeping up, especially with my other writing responsibilities to get to, but I'm going to keep on trying to get these chapters up in a good time frame, so if there's a couple of days where a chapter isn't posted, that's why, and definitely not because this story is abandoned :)
Anyway! A quick reminder that I'm putting this story up for #TheWattys2015, so any votes and comments are super appreciated right now :D If the story sucks, feel free to let me know so I can fix it, if not then I'll keep going with these sexual tension moments and the misunderstandings, I like those a lot.
Thank you to everyone who has voted with the Star or the heart button already! I really appreciate those <3
Cheers!
~Mandy