Three
After riding in silence for almost an hour, the lack of conversation started to disturb the woman who happened to be very talkative. Isa squirmed in her seat, moving from sitting on her hands to placing them in her lap, wringing them around each other in a nervous action.
She felt Adrian continuously glancing over at her every few minutes before he kissed his teeth, shooting her a dark, "Be still Isaline."
Wrinkling her nose at the use of her full name, Isa shook her head, "It's Isa, or Sweetie. I don't go by Isaline," She informed him.
"I know what you go by," He muttered, steel eyes flashing to hers.
"Well where are we going?" Isa asked, crossing, then uncrossing her legs, "I need to use the restroom,"
Adrian groaned, muttering unintelligibly under his breath, "We'll be there in about ten minutes."
Isa slumped down into her seat, grumbling to herself.
"I still have to go into work, you know." She told him minutes later as she held her phone up to her ear calling Ryan, the manager that worked underneath her to tell him he would have to take over for a while.
"Is everything alright, "Sweetie?" the blonde haired, blue eyed employee asked, his deep voice giving way to a hint of worry.
Isa smiled, nodding before answering Ryan, "Everything's fine, Ryan. I just need some time to myself." She murmured, glancing over at Adrian who was gripping her steering wheel so tightly she could see his skin, pulling taught and paling in protest Ge looked as if he could snap the steering wheel in half with one squeeze.
"Yes ma'am," Ryan chuckled, "Well take care of yourself Ms. Ford"
Ryan Shaw was thirty nine years old with a wife and a fourteen year old son who adored Isa. She had taught him how to read and write, as he had a tumor his kindergarten year, and his parents agreed to let him heal completely and make sure there was no threat to his health before putting him in school. From sixteen years old, Isa had spent almost all of her time at the hospital, consumed in worry for the young boy. She tutored him as they both grew older, to that day. Ryan's family loved Isa, and she looked at them with just as much adoration. All three were amazing people. When Ryan had been laid off when Isa was just going on twenty and had just opened the bookstore with the help of her parents, she hired him without a second thought. He had been forever grateful and felt as if he owed Isa everything, which she believed he did not. She was just helping out a friend in need.
"Thanks Ry, I'll see you later!"
"No problem dear. Have fun and be good." With that, they hung up, and Isa had never been more thankful of her sweet and understanding employees.
The sound of Adrian scoffing pulled Isaline from her benevolent thoughts, causing her to settle her honey eyes on him, "What?" She inquired.
"You belong to someone," Adrian deadpanned, stopping her car in the middle of the country road they had been traveling on. Isa's eyebrows drew in as she stared at him, pursing her lips as she voiced her confusion, "Like a man?"
"You should have told me," Adrian ground out through gritted teeth. Isa's eyes drifted away from him as she watched a car drive around them before continuing down the road before landing back on the now livid man. He was shaking. "I'm not in a relationship with anyone," She finally murmured.
Adrian didn't calm as she thought he would, but pushed his long hair from his face violently, as he turned to the side, now facing her, as he yelled, "Who the fuck were you on the phone with then?"
Isa blinked at the man sitting in the driver's seat in shock, leaning away from him, "O-One of my employees," She squeaked, "He's my manager at the bookstore.He's married with a child, and I'd never even-"
"I swear to God, Isaline, if I find out that you're lying to me, I'll kill whoever it is. Understood?"
Isa nodded, staring at the man in fear,"I-I understand."
She lied, she didn't understand. This was a man she had just met, why was he so upset? Is she was with Ryan, or any other man, that was her business anyways and had nothing to do with Adrian. The two were strangers.
He let his foot ease off the brake, Isa's car coasting down the road again as he spoke quietly, "There is nothing I hate more than mendacity, Isaline."
"I'M NOT LYING!" She snapped, "God damn, if I had a man, don't you think that I wouldn't have been all over you like I was?"
"Actually I do. I know you would still be all over me, even if you were taken." He stated with a smirk.
Isa gasped, her nostrils flaring as the stranger got under her skin, "No. I'm a g-"
"A good girl, which rides over to good girlfriend in suppose?"
She nodded in complete agreement, "And a good person in general. I'm nice."
Adrian scoffed, "I'm not,"
"I know you're not, but maybe that's something you can learn and grow into. Someone as beautiful as you are shouldn't be so....cross."
She watched as Adrian rolled those steel eyes, forever carrying an antagonistic air in his attitude towards Isaline,"I am not cross,"
"Yes you are," Isa argued, "I've known you for less than a full day, and I have yet to see you even smile. You seem very unfriendly in my opinion." She shrugged.
Adrian mimicked Isa's action, his eyes focused on the road, "Good thing your opinion isn't a valid one then." Isa snapped her mouth shut at that, turning away from the angry man. She didn't know why that statement had hurt her feelings as much as they had.
Isa sat in the silence, now appreciating it, before remembering they were in her car.
"Stop the car."
Adrian barely glanced over at her, "What?"
"Stop the car!" Isa snapped, watching as the man slowly did as she said.
Once the car was at a complete halt, she climbed out, walking to the driver's side and opening the door. Adrian just looked up at her. "Get out." Isa murmured, standing in front of Adrian who merely sighed, glancing down at his phone before looking up at her, "Excuse me?"
"Get. Out."
She was surprised when he actually climbed out of the car with a sigh, watching Isa with an unamused glare as she climbed in, buckled up, and drove off, turning around, and heading to her job like she originally had been, leaving Adrian to slowly disappear in the rearview mirror.
Isa was ten minutes away from Sweetie's when her heart started to pound, her hands growing clammy with the guilt that she was feeling for just leaving that terrible man like she had. She tried to shake it off, and when she pulled into the parking lot, she didn't even make it all the way out of the car before she jumped back in, turning around and going back to him....
He was standing in the same spot, arms folded across his chest as he watched the nice, grey car come back into view. Isa screeched to a halt on the shoulder, jumping out and running to him, on the verge of tears from how bad she felt. "Adrian, I'm so sorry I left you, I just...You-You're so mean, you hurt my feelings and I left, but then it was killing me! I can't believe I just did that!"
Adrian scoffed, silver eyes holding Isa in place, she couldn't let go, "You really are a sweetheart," He chuckled, leaning against her car, "I knew you'd come back."
"I'm sorry," She said softly, running her fingers down his arm, feeling the goose bumps that rose anywhere that her fingers grazed along. Leaning up on her tiptoes, she pressed her lips to his cheek in a sweet gesture, before stepping back, looking up at him, suddenly unsure of herself for a reason she dint know. Adrian was sporting pink lip prints on his cheek from her lipstick, "W-We can still go wherever you we were if you want." She offered, handing over her keys.
He shook his head in negative, pushing the keys away from him,"No. You ruined the moment, and I would have been late anyways. I hate being late." He muttered. Isa nodded in understanding, going to step around him to get back into the car, but stopped when Adrian's hand latched onto the back of the shirt she had tucked into her slacks, pulling her to a stop.
"What?" She asked a faint smile on her lips, which always graced them. She truly was a happy person most of the times.
An unsure look crossed over Adrian's face as he stared down at the smaller woman, fisting her shirt before leaning down in just the slightest, baring his cheek to her, "Do...Do that again," He whispered, his intense eyes on her.
Isa bit her lip, looking up at him before leaning in towards him, resting her small hands on his muscular chest before pressing her soft lips against his cheek once more. Her warm tongue came out, and she gently licked at the skin of his cheek before sucking gently, the corners of her lips lifting up in the slightest when Adrian groaned, his large hand sliding down to the small of her back as she kissed and sucked down his cheek to his neck, her left hand coming up to cup the opposite side of his neck.
When she pulled away, she inspected the purple love bite forming with satisfaction, feeling a pull of possessiveness over the man she had never felt before.
Isa looked up, studying Adrian's calm face, taking in just how perfect the man's features were. He had a beauty mark over his upper lip, on the left side, his jaw was chiseled, but not severely so, and then there were his eyes, which Isa couldn't get out of her head. With those eyes closed, she wasn't as scared of him.
"Where did you come from?" Isa asked quietly, still standing in his grip. Adrian didn't answer for a moment, before those slate grey eyes locked on her, "You are a very curious woman," He told her as his hand slid down to her backside, making her heart lurch, "I've told you once I don't like being interrogated, Isaline."
She sighed, closing her eyes as she shrugged, "I just want to know more about you,"
That statement did something to Adrian. He pulled away from her then, stuffing his hands in his pockets as his face hardened to the most emotionless state she had seen it in. He never responded to her.
Adrian made Isa drive home, where they walked inside, Adrian walking through the home as if he owned the place.
Isa plopped down on the couch with a sigh, kicking off her heels as she lay down. Her eyes landed on a very expensive looking duffel bag. "Is that yours?" She finally asked Adrian, pointing to the bag.
He nodded, picking it up and walking to the back of the house that the master bedroom occupied. When he came back, Isa sat up, frowning at him, "When did you get that?"
Of course, he didn't answer her. He never did.
"Are you staying here tonight?"
Adrian chuckled at that, straddling Isa, and grabbing her hands in one of his large ones, holding them above her head, "I'm staying for more than another night."
A week. He had been staying at her house for a week, and quite frankly, Isa didn't care, she enjoyed the angry, silent, hostile man for some reason. He pulled her in, in a way no one ever had before.
"Adrian," Isa stood in the entrance to her bedroom one afternoon after she had gotten home from work, arms folded across her chest. He didn't answer, tapping away on his phone, though she knew he had heard her. "Adrian Lew!"
"What, you little pest?" He muttered darkly, dropping his phone to look over at her.
"Do you want to come to the museum with me?" She asked, her intense eyes focused on his.
Adrian sat and thought for a moment, before standing up, "Why the fuck not?" He grumbled, shoving his feet into his designer dress shoes, "As long as you don't ask a million and one questions." Isa scowled at the man, ready to withdraw her invitation already as they walked out of the house.
The ride was silent, Isa lost in her own thoughts as she drove, and the brooding Adrian sitting in the passenger seat.
When they arrived, at six, Bert greeted his God daughter, hugging her tightly and pressing a kiss to her temple, "You don't call me anymore, Sweetheart," He chastised her lovingly," Milly misses you."
Isa smiled at the mention of her God mother, Milly. She loved that woman, and she truly was a second mother to Isa. "Tell Auntie Milly I'll call her tonight." She giggled, bouncing on the balls of her feet in anticipation of entering the museum.
Bert's eyes slid past Isaline to Adrian, narrowing slightly, "Who is that, Isa?"
Isa turned, following his gaze before responding, still grinning happily, showing off those dimples of hers, "Him? Oh, that's Adrian. He's a friend of mine. Adrian, this is my uncle Bert."
"Nice to meet you," Adrian practically growled, ready to leave the cold outdoors and actually go into the building.
Bert narrowed his eyes, nodding in greeting at the man before he could say anything, Isa was pulled into the museum. When Adrian tried to turn down on hallway, branching from the main, Isa dug her heels into the ground, tugging him in the opposite direction towards the darker exhibits.
Adrian sat down as Isa proceeded to look around as she had done since she was a child, studying and analyzing the pictures, trying to figure out exactly what made the artist paint the work of art.
"So pretty," She whispered to herself, eyes wide with excitement.
Adrian scoffed at that, his voice too loud as he spoke, "This is the quietest I've ever heard you."
Isa didn't respond, no longer on the same planet as Adrian Lew, but in a world of her own, humming quietly to herself as she read the info cards under each painting, or sculpture as if she hadn't had them memorized for years.
Eventually Isa forgot Adrian was with her, until he came up behind her, his chest pressing into her back as she stared at her favorite picture, the one she had been staring at for over an hour. Bert had already warned her that there was only fifteen minutes until closing.
"Isaline, we need to leave."
She sighed, shaking her head, "Alright. You can go to the car, I'll be behind you."
He didn't leave. Adrian moved next to her, staring down the painting Isa had been gazing at for the longest.
"The artist was dying when he created this," She murmured, her voice far away as she stated the facts of her favorite work of art, "He had cancer, and refused treatment. He was a very angry man, he didn't have a family of his own, and was disowned by his biological family after not agreeing to an arranged marriage so that he could pursue his artistic dreams. I think he knew someone like me would love this work of art, would obsess over it like I have, and he made this as a gift, a gift to let me know that there are other people like me out there that are obsessed with darkness, with pain and death.
He knew this painting would be someone's paradise, paradise."
Adrian nodded, then shrugged, "It's very.... Unsettling that you would be so in love with a painting of a dead bird that's splattered in blood."
Isa flinched, at the same response she got from everyone else, "I don't know why I just told you that. You don't care."
"I don't," he agreed, taking her hand and leading her back out to the car.
She liked him. She didn't know why, but Isa was attracted to the man, though he couldn't give two shits about her. Anytime she tried to hold a conversation with him, he shut her down, or got on his phone, showing her his disinterest in her.
She was lonely. She liked it when they just sat in silence, or rode around, but every time he spoke, he ruined it, ruined the thought that maybe they could be friends, maybe more one day.
Adrian didn't care about her, and he let that be very well known. He wanted her body, and she hadn't given herself to him physically, but she knew that's what he wanted. She could tell in the way he kissed her or demanded her to kiss him, groping roughly at her body in a way that set her on fire with every touch.
"Do you think that maybe you could tell me about yourself? All I know is your last name and that you aren't homeless." Isa asked that night, as they sat in her bed.
He didn't answer, tapping away on his phone, steadily.
"Adrian."
No answer.
"Adrian Lew."
He was still ignoring her.
"ADRIAN!" She screeched, but to no avail.
With a scream of anger, Isa reached over, snatching the phone from Adrian's hands and threw it across her room, watching in satisfaction as the slim device shattered on contact with the wall before landing on the carpeted floor.
Dark eyes fell on her, and though he didn't say a word, Isa just knew he was about to kill her.
"Sorry," she snapped, not sorry at all, "But all you do is type away on that damned phone. I'm trying to hold a conversation with you, and like always, you ignore me, you don't care! Can't you just talk to me for a little while? I'm lonely, even though you've been here; don't you care about that?"
Adrian shrugged as an answer, sliding out of Isa's bed, and pulling on his pajama pants over his boxers, along with his shoes before stuffing his hands on his pockets, "Not really."
With that, he walked out of the room, and seconds later, Isa registered the sound of the front door closing.
It'd be the last time she saw him for some weeks.
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