A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's been longer than usual since my last update; I'm back at school now and I've been really sick so everything is hectic. I'm feeling much better now and will hopefully be able to update a little more. Thank you so much for your lovely votes and comments, I really appreciate all of you. Now to the chapter... enjoy! :)
"Hello, Isabelle." My mother smiled tightly, holding her arms out stiffly as if she expected me to run over and hug her, yelling 'oh momma how I've missed you!' in a tacky Southern accent.
She definitely had another thing coming if that was the case.
My eyes roamed over her as I struggled to understand what was happening. Her blonde hair was pulled into a perfect french twist, pearl earrings dangled from her small ears and she was clad in a pristine grey pencil skirt and matching blazer. She looked like the perfect business woman, as per usual.
"What... what are you doing here?" I stuttered once I'd found my voice again. My mother awkwardly lowered her outstretched arms, and her gaze flickered briefly to Noah before it settled back on me.
She looked different in person than she did on TV; prettier and slimmer... I guess the camera really does add ten pounds. She looked stern though, like a strict teacher at school who would yell at me for doing something wrong.
"Cupid is doing a press tour and Connecticut was one of the destinations."
I stared at my mom with my mouth open, cutting her off."Hold on, so you knew you were coming to Stratford and you didn't even tell me? Were you planning to contact me at all?" I questioned, feeling a sharp jab in my chest as it occurred to me that maybe she hadn't wanted to see me even briefly.
She shot me a scolding look and then smiled slightly at Noah, though her eyes were narrowed and she spoke through tight lips. "Isabelle, don't make a fuss." She ordered coldly. "You always were such a high maintenance child. Plus, it's impolite to argue in the presence of company. Who might this young man be?" She held her hand out to Noah and he shook it firmly, shooting me a sideways glance as he smiled uncomfortably in return.
"I'm Noah, ma'am. Noah Jones." Noah informed my mom, and she released his hand and took a step back to regain her personal space.
"Jones... any relation to Charles Jones?" Mom questioned without any emotion in her voice, as if she were a robot impersonating my mother.
Noah nodded once. "He's my father... ma'am."
"I'm Courtney Conway, Isabelle's mom. You also might recognise me from my hit television show--"
And there she went. Of course she was rattling off to Noah about her stupid reality show.
He doesn't care! I wanted to yell.
No one cares!
She gave Noah the full rundown on the first season of the show, reciting all the couples that she'd successfully matched.
Sure she could tell you the names of every couple that she'd matched that had gotten married, but did she know that I'd gotten straight A's in all my subjects last year?
And yes, maybe she knew how many viewers tuned into Cupid each week, but did she even know my favourite colour or food or season?
I crossed my arms over my chest as my mother finished her little speech to Noah, who's eyes were constantly flickering between my mom and I. My mother's pager beeped in her pocket, and I watched as her hand flew towards it instinctively. Who even owned a pager anymore?
She smiled a small, apologetic smile that I had seen her wear thousands of times before. "That's my cue to leave. It was pleasant to meet you Noah, and Isabelle I'll be at an autograph signing over by the penguin enclosure if you'd like to come and see me later."
"Not likely." I muttered to myself, but nodded at my mom. She hovered awkwardly for a few seconds longer as if she wanted to say more, but then she turned and stalked back towards the penguin enclosure, her heels clicking on the pavement.
"So that was Courtney Conway." Noah stated, shoving his hands in his pockets as he stared after her.
"That was the wicked witch of the West." I agreed.
"She's kinda... hot. But also intimidating."
"Eww! Noah!" I turned and slapped his arm roughly, and he chuckled.
"What? She's related to you isn't she?" He asked rhetorically, and I rolled my eyes, starting to walk back towards the spinning top ride where Sam and Kiely were. Was that kind of an almost-compliment?
"I can't believe she's back-- I can't believe she didn't tell me she was coming." I mutter as I run my hands through my hair and plop back onto the bench.
"She really didn't tell you that she was coming back to town?" Noah questioned and sat down beside me. I stared blankly at the floor, overcome with emotion. My own mother hadn't cared enough about me to want to see me after two years.
It didn't matter; I didn't want to see her either.
"Nope. It doesn't surprise me really." I responded flatly before standing up and exhaling quickly. As I stood, Kiely and Sam appeared before us, giggling manically.
"Hey." Kiely greeted, and I smiled in response.
"How was the ride?"
"Issy it was great, you would have loved it! Did you guys get up to any mischief whilst I was gone?" Sam asked with a cheeky glint in her eyes, as if she was insinuating something more. I narrowed my eyes and shook my head.
"Not really." Noah answered, standing up and slouching his arm over my shoulders. I rolled my eyes at the gesture and poked him in the ribs, making him laugh. Kiely and Sam stared at us like they knew something we didn't, and then they nodded towards the path and we started to walk back into the centre of the park where all the action was happening. I couldn't help but stare at the penguin enclosure as we passed by, watching the crowd of people swarm towards my mother wanting autographs and photos.
She was like the freaking Kim Kardashian of the dating guru world.
"Hey, what's happening over there?" Kiely questioned, her auburn ringlets swinging as she turned to look at the kerfuffle.
I placed my hand on her shoulder and steered our group away from the drama. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
***
The rest of the day was spent looking at the various sea critters and keeping a steady stream of food going towards Noah, who constantly complained of being hungry. I wished I could say that I'd had fun, but in all honesty I spent the whole day terrified that I would run into my mother again.
Noah was particularly and peculiarly nice all day, which made me wonder if he could tell how much our run in with my mom had bothered me.
As we exited the park at around five pm, I started to walk towards Sam's car when something, or rather someone, pulled me back.
"No way little Cupid, you're coming with me." Noah insisted, holding my arm like I was a toddler who would run away the second he let go.
"But Sam-"
"-is a big girl who should spend some alone time with her date." Noah interrupted my protest, and I sighed in defeat and let him lead me to his swanky car. He opened the passenger door for me but then shoved me inside, completely ruining the gentlemanly action.
"Gee, thanks." I muttered wryly, crossing my arms as he chuckled and made his way to the driver's seat. He hit the gas and we sped off down the street, driving at a speed that was definitely not legal but was probably to be expected from someone like Noah, who never followed the rules.
"Where are we going?" I asked, slightly panicked as we passed streets and houses that I had never seen before.
Noah grinned at me, and I shrieked. "Look at the road!"
"You're so silly little Cupid, I'm not going to crash. I'm a very good driver." He informed me matter-of-factly, and I widened my eyes in disbelief. "I thought you could use something to get your mind off of your mom being back in town, so I thought I'd take you to my house."
I leaned back into my seat and pursed my lips. For one, I was a little shocked/impressed that he knew I was still obsessing over my mom and, two, I was wondering how going to Noah's house going to take my mind off of my mom.
When he pulled up outside a gated driveway, I didn't need to wonder anymore.
He lived in a freaking mansion.
Like, Buckingham Palace type glorious.
Okay, maybe not that excessive, but it was pretty awesome. Noah rolled down the window and leaned out to push a few buttons on a dial pad stuck to the gate, and the iron doors swung open in response. We drove slowly through the gates and through a beautiful blooming garden until we reached the turning circle, which had a water feature (!!!) within the roundabout. As we came to a stop I sat gaping like a fish at the house, my eyes probably as wide as saucers, and I didn't even realize that Noah had exited his seat and was opening my door for me.
I shook my head to regain my senses and unbuckled my seatbelt, climbing it out slowly. "Woah." I sighed, and when I turned to look at Noah his face was full of amusement.
"Would you like the grand tour?" He asked, gesturing towards the door. I smoothed down my hair, which was still frizzy and unkempt from our roller-coaster ride, and nodded, walking in the direction of the front door. The double glass doors were unlocked, and they slid open with a whoosh when Noah pushed them forward.
"Noah? Is that you?" A feminine voice called out, and a few seconds a later a beautiful woman with dark eyes and dark hair appeared from a hallway, holding a small child in her arms.
"Hi mom. Is dad home?" Noah asked, leaning over to peck the woman on the cheek. She smiled at him fondly and pinched his cheek in return.
"He just left to see Regina. Oh, hello." She said, suddenly noticing me hiding behind Noah.
"Hi." I greeted her, feeling shy all of a sudden. The toddler in her arms stirred and reached for Noah, grasping the air as he lunged for her.
"Mom this is my friend Isabelle, Isabelle this is my step-mother Amara." Noah introduced us quickly as he took the little girl in his arms and swung her around in the air. She giggled manically and squealed. Amara rolled her eyes with a smile and leaned forward to embrace me. A little taken aback, I returned the hug and then stood straight afterwards, admiring the way Noah interacted with who I assumed was his little sister.
Isn't it weird how you could see just one side to a person at school for years, and then you spend ten seconds in their home and suddenly you can see them in a whole new light?
"I'm going to give Issy the tour." Noah informed Amara, handing her back his sister.
"Don't forget to show her the pool! She'll love it!" Amara called out as Noah led me through a hallway to the huge marble kitchen, which was spotlessly clean.
I took a few seconds to marvel at its beauty before Noah prodded me forward to keep walking. In total his house had one kitchen, three dens, six bedrooms, four bathrooms, an attic and the basement which was basically a man cave. The last stop on our exclusive tour was Noah's bedroom, which could probably fit four of my bedrooms inside. I plonked myself down on his king sized bed and looked around with awe.
Like all of the other rooms in the house, his was spotless. Everything was arranged into its individual place, and the bed was made impeccably. The navy walls were covered in posters signed by footballers, and there was a whole wall-full of shelves dedicated towards football-y things (yes, that is the technical term). One photo in particular caught my eye though; a framed photo of a young Noah and Sabrina. They were stood on the football field at school, Noah in his gear and Sabrina in her usual pushing-the-school-dress-code-boundaries outfit. They were both smiling at the camera, Noah's arm wrapped around her waist.
They looked so happy.
"That was Freshman year, after my first ever game on the high school team. We won too." Noah's voice appeared over my shoulder, making me jump a little.
"You look good together." I said, running my finger over the glass. Noah's mouth twitched and he pointed towards his bedroom door.
"Want to see the pool?"
I followed him obediently downstairs and out onto the veranda, where a set of wooden chairs and tables were set up neatly. Beyond that, was the pool.
Or rather, the monstrosity that was called a pool.
Practically the Pacific Ocean really.
I walked closer, watching as the censored lights clicked on. The sun was setting on the horizon, casting hues of pink and orange onto the reflection of the water.
"It's pretty, hey?" Noah asked me with a smile, that was actually genuine for once. He wasn't smirking or grinning mischievously; he was just smiling. My lips turned up in response.
"See, I did a pretty good job of distracting you, didn't I?" He asked, taking a step towards me.
I nodded with a joking sigh. "Fine, yes, I'll give you that."
We stood grinning at each other like idiots, and I was just about to thank him for showing me his home when he took another step forward and pushed me into the water.
It was freezing.
The jerk.