Post by kristay on Feb 20, 2011 11:49:06 GMT -5
Author's Note: So this is a plot bunny of mine that has been in the works for a very long time. I've decided to re-write and write it again and I'm posting it here for opinions. Hehe.
Chapter I: In which we meet our leading lady.
-------------------
A familiar but totally unwanted guitar rift broke through the peaceful silence of the dark room. A soft groan immediately followed as a pale hand reached from beneath the dark covers, drunkenly groping for the source of the noise.
“W-what…. Do you know what time it is?!” The half growled response was an obvious testament of how displeased the speaker was to be awoken. A soft tinkling laughter filtered through the phone as a response, “Isabelle dear, it’s 3 in the afternoon. You were supposed to get your car from Nikolas 2 hours ago and he was worried about you. You sound hung over... Or, depressed?”
The familiar voice of Isabelle Wilson’s best friend made the said hung over girl groan and bury her head further into her pillows. “It’s already the afternoon? Look Ali, can you get the car for me and drop it off here? We can talk when you come up to leave me the keys…” She could almost imagine Alison wrinkle her nose in distaste at the thought of going to Nikolas’ car shop. “Izzy, can’t you get the car? You can pick me up afterwards and we can go get a cup of coffee or something.” Izzy’s groan of protest was her obvious answer, “Please Alison? My head’s killing me and I can hardly move…”
Alison’s sigh of reluctance could be heard through the phone, “Fine… But you owe me an explanation.” Isabelle smiled sleepily at that and nodded even if no one could see the action, “Okay, but bring aspirin... And vodka.”
It probably took Alison less than an hour to walk to Nikolas’ and pick up the car with some half-assed explanation that Izzy, their friend, was currently incapacitated. Nikolas had let out a bark of laughter as a response to that, “That little spitfire? Incapacitated? You better not be lyin’ to me Ali!” leaving Alison with the car, still laughing.
Alison hated the dark blue fifth generation Camaro that Isabelle owned. Well, technically the girl hated most cars that were too fast and usually destroyed whatever style her hair was in if the top was down. People would probably have mocked her for being too girly if they didn’t know her personally. At first glance, that was probably how everyone saw her: the typical beautiful girl who hated getting herself dirty. Well, some of that was true… She was a particularly noticeable person what with her platinum blond hair severely cut to just above her chin, straight, fluffy bangs almost covering her dark blue eyes. She had a dusty gold complexion from spending too much time in the sun and her lips were always in a perfect pout. She was beautiful, she wouldn’t deny that fact but that wasn’t all she was and it annoyed her to no end when people simply took her for face value.
She stifled a laugh as she made her way to the apartment where Isabelle resided, clearly remembering the shocked expressions of her male friends when they realized just what a good shot she was with a rifle. That had particularly made her day, especially when she beat the cocky Marcus, a friend of the entire group’s, at a game with the rifle. Even months from the incident, Alison still loved to ruffle his feathers about it.
The girl quickly ascended the steps to her friend’s apartment, opening the front door with a spare key she had been given the first day that Isabelle had moved in. Stepping inside quickly, Ali’s nose perked up at the mouth watering scent of a very late breakfast. “Izzy, you in the kitchen? I smell food.” She briskly walked passed the surprisingly tidy living room to reach the kitchen decorated in warm colors of cream, red and gold. Izzy was by the stove, one hand poised on her hip as she poured a bowl of what looked like beaten eggs into a skillet, “Hey Ali, do you want some? I’m just having a late breakfast.” She turned to face her friend, a weak smile on her obviously tired face. Alison nodded and offered her a tiny smile in return as she set the vodka, aspirin and car keys on to the bar’s surface before sliding into one of the stools near the nook. “So why did you drink yourself to a stupor?”
Isabelle merely shook her head, flaming red tendrils of her hair shaking with the movement, “I’ll explain while we eat. Did you get my car?” She turned to her friend, her green eyes sparkling with intelligence as she picked up the sliced vegetables and grated cheese from the chopping board, dumping all of it into the egg mixture. “Yeah, Nikolas wouldn’t believe me that you were hung over.” Izzy snorted in amusement as she finished cooking, setting the large omelet onto a white, square-shaped plate before grabbing a couple of pieces of toast that had just finished browning. She set the plate on the bar next to Alison, grabbing a couple of forks along the way. “Tequila.”
Her friend raised a curious brow as she took the offered fork from Isabelle before taking a bite, “You finished the rest of the bottle?” Izzy simply nodded before taking a bite of the omelet. Alison laughed as she grabbed a piece of toast and popped it into her mouth. She chewed it over thoughtfully as she glanced at her friend, “You gonna tell me why?”
“I’m getting married.”
Alison’s eyes bugged out as she choked on the toast, “W-what?!” Isabelle only nodded solemnly as she focused on her food, “My dad… He wants to have a good merger with SimCorp and if I get married to Alexandre Simmons, he gets half of the shares, and vice versa.” She shook her head as she fumbled with the bottle of vodka that Alison had brought with her. She poured some into an empty coffee mug and sipped quietly.
“And you’ve met this Alexandre Simmons before?” Isabelle shrugged a bare shoulder as she sipped the vodka, sighing as she felt the liquid fire burn her throat, “When I was little… I remember my dad introduced us…” She laughed a bit shakily, “Yeah… I think they planned the engagement since then… I just didn’t believe it. I kicked him in the shin if I remember correctly.”
“You’re letting your father rule this over you? You’re letting him make the decision? Come on Izzy! This is the 21st century! “ Izzy smiled sadly, “I know… I just don’t have a choice here Ali… Father holds a lot of things above my head… I think ever since Mom died he hasn’t… I don’t think he remembers that I’m his kid… That he’s supposed to love me or something.” She angrily wiped at a tear that had betrayed her and was trickling down her cheek. Izzy downed the contents of her mug quickly, trying to forget her grief; she had cried enough for herself last night. No more.
“There’s a small engagement party later tonight to formally announce everything. You’re invited of course, as a representative of Walker Industries.” Alison shook her head in disbelief, only the rich and totally devious could come up with something so insane and still manage to pull it off in style. She took the bottle from her friend and poured herself a shot, sipping it thoughtfully.
“Alright, let me get this straight.”
“M’hm?”
“Your dad arranged you to get married to some guy.”
“Mmm.”
“In this century?”
“Mmm.”
“For business and money?”
“Mmm.”
“And you’ve never met him. Ever.”
“Sort of.
“But you’re meeting him for the first time in…”
“14 years.”
“Tonight?”
“Mmm.”
“When your families are going to announce the engagement to everyone?”
“Mmm. Pass the Vodka please.”
There was a momentary pause in the conversation as she took the bottle from her friend and carefully filled her coffee mug with the clear liquid.
“And you’re simply going through with this calmly?”
“I never said that.”
“Why do I feel like this will be a lot of trouble for a lot of people?” Isabelle ignored her as she downed the vodka and Alison couldn’t help but sigh.
“Pass me that bottle will you? I need some of that.”
--
Alison had carefully allotted 30 minutes for Isabelle to continue drinking before taking the bottle from her; she didn’t need to take care of a drunken bride tonight. She forced her friend to take a cold shower while she fixed up some coffee and cleaned up the kitchen. Izzy came out of the shower her hair still dripping as she dried it slowly with the towel in her hand, “How are you feeling Iz?” Izzy snorted at her as she sat on one of the stools, “Like hell, but I’ll survive.” She was surprisingly only buzzed, her alcohol tolerance sometimes scared her but that was just how she was. The cold shower did help her out and it gave her time to think. Izzy took the cup of coffee from Alison with a tiny smile of thanks, sipping slowly to prevent burning her tongue.
“You’re coming tonight right?” Alison nodded, “Of course I am honey, you’re my best friend in the entire world and come hell or high water, I will be at your sham of an engagement party.” Izzy merely snorted in amusement, she didn’t need to thank Alison; her friend already knew just how grateful she was. “So do you have something to wear?” The red haired girl shrugged, “It’s going to be at the estate, so I’m pretty sure that Father has arranged for everything, even what I’m to wear.” You didn’t need to ask to know how much she hated all of this and how helpless she was. Alison would never say it for fear of hurting her friend’s pride but she pitied her.
“Well… Since you don’t need me to get ready then I’ll see you there?” Isabelle nodded as she sipped at the coffee, “Yeah, do you want me to call you a cab?” Alison nodded and Izzy went over to her phone to call a cab for her friend. Once she was finished she padded back over to the stool she had vacated and sat on it again. “I don’t understand why you like riding cabs so much, you have a car… Two, last I recall.” Alison grinned at her, “Matt borrowed the Bug and the other one’s being repainted.” Ali walked over to one of the large windows by the oven and peered down, seeing the cab she had called. “Hey, the cab’s here. I’ll see you tonight okay?” She walked over to Isabelle and gave her a big hug and a swift kiss to her cheek, “Take care of yourself love, and no more drinking!” And with that she disappeared out the door.
--
8 o’clock came far too soon for Isabelle and she repressed a hateful little sigh as she removed the cuff earring on her right ear to replace it with a tiny pink diamond stud. She’d dress appropriately, but nobody was touching her earrings. Nobody. She glanced at her reflection in the large mirror and smiled grimly. Izzy looked more like the rich heiress she was supposed to be: Isabelle Marie Wilson, no longer Izzy Wilson the apathetic writer/reader who loved her friends more than life itself. No longer Izzy Wilson the girl who had a volatile temper and mouthed off to anybody with no fear of repercussion.
She tucked a stray lock of her flaming red hair behind her ear and stared hard at the mirror. Her long crimson hair was artfully arranged in a side bun with a few tendrils of the curling hair left to frame her oval shaped face. Her pale skin contrasted quite well with the emerald green sheath dress they had chosen for her. It was a beautiful silk creation with a simple sweetheart neckline that revealed her neck and slender shoulders. It ended just above her knee and was overall a very simple dress but really showed off her beauty. Isabelle’s sparkling green eyes greatly complimented the green of the dress. Her feet were encased in black, strappy 4 inch heels that were bedecked in jewels and showed off her long legs. Her right wrist was encircled with a simple arrangement of light pink diamonds while the only jewelry on her left arm was the platinum engagement ring that had been left with the dress and shoes. A simple 2 carat pink diamond sat in the middle and she couldn’t deny that it was a beautiful ring. But it still sat heavy on her hand and her heart.
The door opened but Izzy didn’t bother to check who had come to get her. She was too lost in her thoughts to bother. “Izzy are you ready? We have t-…” Allison stopped midsentence and looked at the beauty that was Izzy Wilson. There were only a few things that could make Alison Walker lose her poise. A war could be going on in her midst and she would still look extremely fashionable and confident. But seeing her tomboyish best friend dressed up like a princess was one thing that could make her gape. Like a fish.
“Ali, stop gaping; you’ve seen me like this countless times.” Isabelle shook her head as she glanced at her friend who struggled to hide the surprise on her features. “But Izzy; you look ah-mazing!” Isabella wouldn’t deny that she did look pretty good for someone who hated dressing up but it was all part of the game she played as a rich heiress and she had no say in the matter.
“You ready?” Alison’s question broke Isabelle out of her reverie and the girl gave her a look. “Who’s ever ready for this kind of bullshit anyway?” Alison grinned and gave her best friend a quick hug, “Look… Everything will be fine. If he’s ugly, you can punch him in the face and run as fast as you can. And besides, I know you Isabelle Marie Wilson and you never do anything you’re told. You’ll put up so much of a fight that they’ll regret ever planning such a ridiculous arrangement for you. Now let’s go out there and look fabulous, yes?” Izzy had to smile at her friend’s reassurance and nod slowly.
“You clean up well too, Walker.” Alison sniffed as she checked herself out in the mirror, feigning an insulted air. “Of course I do.” And she did look fabulous with the black long gown that seemed to cling to her curves like a second skin. It was a simple dress but that didn’t matter because Alison made it more than it was and she looked beautiful in it.
Izzy smiled, regardless of the torture she felt she was going to be in for, the entire night and linked arms with her best friend who led her out the door.
“Let’s get this over with.”
Chapter I: In which we meet our leading lady.
-------------------
A familiar but totally unwanted guitar rift broke through the peaceful silence of the dark room. A soft groan immediately followed as a pale hand reached from beneath the dark covers, drunkenly groping for the source of the noise.
“W-what…. Do you know what time it is?!” The half growled response was an obvious testament of how displeased the speaker was to be awoken. A soft tinkling laughter filtered through the phone as a response, “Isabelle dear, it’s 3 in the afternoon. You were supposed to get your car from Nikolas 2 hours ago and he was worried about you. You sound hung over... Or, depressed?”
The familiar voice of Isabelle Wilson’s best friend made the said hung over girl groan and bury her head further into her pillows. “It’s already the afternoon? Look Ali, can you get the car for me and drop it off here? We can talk when you come up to leave me the keys…” She could almost imagine Alison wrinkle her nose in distaste at the thought of going to Nikolas’ car shop. “Izzy, can’t you get the car? You can pick me up afterwards and we can go get a cup of coffee or something.” Izzy’s groan of protest was her obvious answer, “Please Alison? My head’s killing me and I can hardly move…”
Alison’s sigh of reluctance could be heard through the phone, “Fine… But you owe me an explanation.” Isabelle smiled sleepily at that and nodded even if no one could see the action, “Okay, but bring aspirin... And vodka.”
It probably took Alison less than an hour to walk to Nikolas’ and pick up the car with some half-assed explanation that Izzy, their friend, was currently incapacitated. Nikolas had let out a bark of laughter as a response to that, “That little spitfire? Incapacitated? You better not be lyin’ to me Ali!” leaving Alison with the car, still laughing.
Alison hated the dark blue fifth generation Camaro that Isabelle owned. Well, technically the girl hated most cars that were too fast and usually destroyed whatever style her hair was in if the top was down. People would probably have mocked her for being too girly if they didn’t know her personally. At first glance, that was probably how everyone saw her: the typical beautiful girl who hated getting herself dirty. Well, some of that was true… She was a particularly noticeable person what with her platinum blond hair severely cut to just above her chin, straight, fluffy bangs almost covering her dark blue eyes. She had a dusty gold complexion from spending too much time in the sun and her lips were always in a perfect pout. She was beautiful, she wouldn’t deny that fact but that wasn’t all she was and it annoyed her to no end when people simply took her for face value.
She stifled a laugh as she made her way to the apartment where Isabelle resided, clearly remembering the shocked expressions of her male friends when they realized just what a good shot she was with a rifle. That had particularly made her day, especially when she beat the cocky Marcus, a friend of the entire group’s, at a game with the rifle. Even months from the incident, Alison still loved to ruffle his feathers about it.
The girl quickly ascended the steps to her friend’s apartment, opening the front door with a spare key she had been given the first day that Isabelle had moved in. Stepping inside quickly, Ali’s nose perked up at the mouth watering scent of a very late breakfast. “Izzy, you in the kitchen? I smell food.” She briskly walked passed the surprisingly tidy living room to reach the kitchen decorated in warm colors of cream, red and gold. Izzy was by the stove, one hand poised on her hip as she poured a bowl of what looked like beaten eggs into a skillet, “Hey Ali, do you want some? I’m just having a late breakfast.” She turned to face her friend, a weak smile on her obviously tired face. Alison nodded and offered her a tiny smile in return as she set the vodka, aspirin and car keys on to the bar’s surface before sliding into one of the stools near the nook. “So why did you drink yourself to a stupor?”
Isabelle merely shook her head, flaming red tendrils of her hair shaking with the movement, “I’ll explain while we eat. Did you get my car?” She turned to her friend, her green eyes sparkling with intelligence as she picked up the sliced vegetables and grated cheese from the chopping board, dumping all of it into the egg mixture. “Yeah, Nikolas wouldn’t believe me that you were hung over.” Izzy snorted in amusement as she finished cooking, setting the large omelet onto a white, square-shaped plate before grabbing a couple of pieces of toast that had just finished browning. She set the plate on the bar next to Alison, grabbing a couple of forks along the way. “Tequila.”
Her friend raised a curious brow as she took the offered fork from Isabelle before taking a bite, “You finished the rest of the bottle?” Izzy simply nodded before taking a bite of the omelet. Alison laughed as she grabbed a piece of toast and popped it into her mouth. She chewed it over thoughtfully as she glanced at her friend, “You gonna tell me why?”
“I’m getting married.”
Alison’s eyes bugged out as she choked on the toast, “W-what?!” Isabelle only nodded solemnly as she focused on her food, “My dad… He wants to have a good merger with SimCorp and if I get married to Alexandre Simmons, he gets half of the shares, and vice versa.” She shook her head as she fumbled with the bottle of vodka that Alison had brought with her. She poured some into an empty coffee mug and sipped quietly.
“And you’ve met this Alexandre Simmons before?” Isabelle shrugged a bare shoulder as she sipped the vodka, sighing as she felt the liquid fire burn her throat, “When I was little… I remember my dad introduced us…” She laughed a bit shakily, “Yeah… I think they planned the engagement since then… I just didn’t believe it. I kicked him in the shin if I remember correctly.”
“You’re letting your father rule this over you? You’re letting him make the decision? Come on Izzy! This is the 21st century! “ Izzy smiled sadly, “I know… I just don’t have a choice here Ali… Father holds a lot of things above my head… I think ever since Mom died he hasn’t… I don’t think he remembers that I’m his kid… That he’s supposed to love me or something.” She angrily wiped at a tear that had betrayed her and was trickling down her cheek. Izzy downed the contents of her mug quickly, trying to forget her grief; she had cried enough for herself last night. No more.
“There’s a small engagement party later tonight to formally announce everything. You’re invited of course, as a representative of Walker Industries.” Alison shook her head in disbelief, only the rich and totally devious could come up with something so insane and still manage to pull it off in style. She took the bottle from her friend and poured herself a shot, sipping it thoughtfully.
“Alright, let me get this straight.”
“M’hm?”
“Your dad arranged you to get married to some guy.”
“Mmm.”
“In this century?”
“Mmm.”
“For business and money?”
“Mmm.”
“And you’ve never met him. Ever.”
“Sort of.
“But you’re meeting him for the first time in…”
“14 years.”
“Tonight?”
“Mmm.”
“When your families are going to announce the engagement to everyone?”
“Mmm. Pass the Vodka please.”
There was a momentary pause in the conversation as she took the bottle from her friend and carefully filled her coffee mug with the clear liquid.
“And you’re simply going through with this calmly?”
“I never said that.”
“Why do I feel like this will be a lot of trouble for a lot of people?” Isabelle ignored her as she downed the vodka and Alison couldn’t help but sigh.
“Pass me that bottle will you? I need some of that.”
--
Alison had carefully allotted 30 minutes for Isabelle to continue drinking before taking the bottle from her; she didn’t need to take care of a drunken bride tonight. She forced her friend to take a cold shower while she fixed up some coffee and cleaned up the kitchen. Izzy came out of the shower her hair still dripping as she dried it slowly with the towel in her hand, “How are you feeling Iz?” Izzy snorted at her as she sat on one of the stools, “Like hell, but I’ll survive.” She was surprisingly only buzzed, her alcohol tolerance sometimes scared her but that was just how she was. The cold shower did help her out and it gave her time to think. Izzy took the cup of coffee from Alison with a tiny smile of thanks, sipping slowly to prevent burning her tongue.
“You’re coming tonight right?” Alison nodded, “Of course I am honey, you’re my best friend in the entire world and come hell or high water, I will be at your sham of an engagement party.” Izzy merely snorted in amusement, she didn’t need to thank Alison; her friend already knew just how grateful she was. “So do you have something to wear?” The red haired girl shrugged, “It’s going to be at the estate, so I’m pretty sure that Father has arranged for everything, even what I’m to wear.” You didn’t need to ask to know how much she hated all of this and how helpless she was. Alison would never say it for fear of hurting her friend’s pride but she pitied her.
“Well… Since you don’t need me to get ready then I’ll see you there?” Isabelle nodded as she sipped at the coffee, “Yeah, do you want me to call you a cab?” Alison nodded and Izzy went over to her phone to call a cab for her friend. Once she was finished she padded back over to the stool she had vacated and sat on it again. “I don’t understand why you like riding cabs so much, you have a car… Two, last I recall.” Alison grinned at her, “Matt borrowed the Bug and the other one’s being repainted.” Ali walked over to one of the large windows by the oven and peered down, seeing the cab she had called. “Hey, the cab’s here. I’ll see you tonight okay?” She walked over to Isabelle and gave her a big hug and a swift kiss to her cheek, “Take care of yourself love, and no more drinking!” And with that she disappeared out the door.
--
8 o’clock came far too soon for Isabelle and she repressed a hateful little sigh as she removed the cuff earring on her right ear to replace it with a tiny pink diamond stud. She’d dress appropriately, but nobody was touching her earrings. Nobody. She glanced at her reflection in the large mirror and smiled grimly. Izzy looked more like the rich heiress she was supposed to be: Isabelle Marie Wilson, no longer Izzy Wilson the apathetic writer/reader who loved her friends more than life itself. No longer Izzy Wilson the girl who had a volatile temper and mouthed off to anybody with no fear of repercussion.
She tucked a stray lock of her flaming red hair behind her ear and stared hard at the mirror. Her long crimson hair was artfully arranged in a side bun with a few tendrils of the curling hair left to frame her oval shaped face. Her pale skin contrasted quite well with the emerald green sheath dress they had chosen for her. It was a beautiful silk creation with a simple sweetheart neckline that revealed her neck and slender shoulders. It ended just above her knee and was overall a very simple dress but really showed off her beauty. Isabelle’s sparkling green eyes greatly complimented the green of the dress. Her feet were encased in black, strappy 4 inch heels that were bedecked in jewels and showed off her long legs. Her right wrist was encircled with a simple arrangement of light pink diamonds while the only jewelry on her left arm was the platinum engagement ring that had been left with the dress and shoes. A simple 2 carat pink diamond sat in the middle and she couldn’t deny that it was a beautiful ring. But it still sat heavy on her hand and her heart.
The door opened but Izzy didn’t bother to check who had come to get her. She was too lost in her thoughts to bother. “Izzy are you ready? We have t-…” Allison stopped midsentence and looked at the beauty that was Izzy Wilson. There were only a few things that could make Alison Walker lose her poise. A war could be going on in her midst and she would still look extremely fashionable and confident. But seeing her tomboyish best friend dressed up like a princess was one thing that could make her gape. Like a fish.
“Ali, stop gaping; you’ve seen me like this countless times.” Isabelle shook her head as she glanced at her friend who struggled to hide the surprise on her features. “But Izzy; you look ah-mazing!” Isabella wouldn’t deny that she did look pretty good for someone who hated dressing up but it was all part of the game she played as a rich heiress and she had no say in the matter.
“You ready?” Alison’s question broke Isabelle out of her reverie and the girl gave her a look. “Who’s ever ready for this kind of bullshit anyway?” Alison grinned and gave her best friend a quick hug, “Look… Everything will be fine. If he’s ugly, you can punch him in the face and run as fast as you can. And besides, I know you Isabelle Marie Wilson and you never do anything you’re told. You’ll put up so much of a fight that they’ll regret ever planning such a ridiculous arrangement for you. Now let’s go out there and look fabulous, yes?” Izzy had to smile at her friend’s reassurance and nod slowly.
“You clean up well too, Walker.” Alison sniffed as she checked herself out in the mirror, feigning an insulted air. “Of course I do.” And she did look fabulous with the black long gown that seemed to cling to her curves like a second skin. It was a simple dress but that didn’t matter because Alison made it more than it was and she looked beautiful in it.
Izzy smiled, regardless of the torture she felt she was going to be in for, the entire night and linked arms with her best friend who led her out the door.
“Let’s get this over with.”
