| Nathan |

My brother's words still echoed in my mind 'she sounds perfect for you' and even though what he said made me want to call her, I still wasn't able to pick up the phone and do it. Part of the reason was that she lived three hours away and was probably busy, seeing as she hadn't made any efforts to contact me herself, thought that may be due to the fact that she gave up or she was more likely waiting for me to call her.

I was still working all the time, investing with different people and pulling out of other investments because the company which had once been so great when it came to me was going under. My company was in no danger of any such thing, in fact I didn't think it was possible now we had become so great.

I was looking into more charity work as well, and was even considering starting my own school somewhere, probably overseas, that desperately needed an education system. It was actually one of the only things that got me excited of late, work in general was something I was happy to do, but this work was changing people's lives, and I honestly enjoyed it.

It wasn't until late one Wednesday morning that I finally decided I needed to go see Isabella. She was always in my thoughts, I wasn't getting any sleep and honestly, I missed her snide remarks and sarcastic comments. But I would never admit it.

"Martha." I say into the intercom, buzzing her to come into my office. She appeared, opening the door quickly, and looking expectantly at me.

"I'm going out." I say standing and grabbing my car keys from my desk, I also slid my phone inside my front pocket. I check my watch, 10 am. "Please have my 4 o'clock meeting prepped when I get back."

She nods and bows out again. I collected a few more things, like my wallet, from my desk and then marched out of my office, shutting the lights off behind me. I rode the elevator down to the parking garage, walked to my Lamborghini, I had driven myself today, and climbed in. With the keys in the ignition, I revved the engine and took off into the busy New York streets.

The drive was long, but luckily after a bit, the traffic wasn't that bad as I got closer to the school. She had to be working there, it was still fairly early in the day and I had lost her number, whether or not that had been on purpose, I didn't know. This was impulsive and would probably end up being pointless, but...it was too late now.

I didn't really have a plan, which was odd for me, but I needed to either confirm we weren't going to speak anymore. I wasn't any good for her, I knew that much, but I wasn't getting any peace of mind knowing she might still be waiting for me to call her.

I pulled into the parking lot and saw some kids playing in the playground, it must be recess at this point in the day. I stepped out, marching through the glass doors and down the hallway to where I remembered the front office was.

I pushed the door open and saw a squat woman shuffling papers around on the one of the desks behind the tall counter separating the waiting area from the offices in the back. She looks up at me suspiciously, she seemed shocked and yet, intrigued by my appearance.

"Can I help you?" she asks in a soft voice.

"I'm looking for Isabella Smith." I tell her firmly and her face falls, maybe she had hoped I was looking for her instead.

I hear the door open from behind me and the click of heels echoes in the office.

"Nathan?" asks someone behind me. It was her, it had to be, I knew that voice. I turned on the spot and sure enough, her wide blue eyes were looking up at me. She was dressed in a plain white button down shirt, which was tucked into her short kaki colored pencil skirt. She looking a bit stressed, her hair, which had been pulled back, had wisps falling around her face.

"Isabella." I breathed, somehow, seeing her made things ten times worse. What the hell was I doing here? Holy shit what was wrong with me? But it was too late now to turn back.

"What-Did you need something?" she asks slowly, shifting from foot to foot nervously. She had clearly been going somewhere before she saw me and had obviously not expected me to come all the way out here.

"I-I wanted to talk." I say firmly and she nods.

"Well I was about to go on my lunch break." she says and I nod.

"We can go down the street to a restaurant here. Its good." She states, slowing getting her bearings again.

"Alright." I say and she smiles.

"I just have to get my bag from my desk. I was just subbing." she says motioning to the folders and binder she was carrying. I follow her to her office behind the counter, the woman who had greeted me following us with her eyes, still frozen in one spot. Isabella grabbed her black purse and then looked up.

"Okay, ready?" I ask.

"Yep, let's go!" she says cheerfully, seeming to have recovered from her shock in seeing me. We walked out of the building, and out into the mid-day sun. The streets of the town were fairly busy with people going to and from places.

"Okay, it's just down one block that way." she says pointing to her left. I nod and we walk together, not talking, but in what was comfortable silence. We stopped outside the café, which was called 'The Coffee House' and went inside. We sat ourselves down in a little booth and waited for a server to come and give us our menus.

A girl approached us, coming from behind the dessert case in the restaurant. She was carrying menus and was smiling at me too cheerfully, I braced myself. Most woman flirted shamelessly with me, and I hated it, maybe it was why I was so intrigued with Isabella, she didn't throw herself at me.

"Hi! I'm Ashley, and I'll be your server for today." says the blond with, her high pitched voice annoying. Her eyes were coated in thick makeup and her self-tanner had clearly been a shade darker than was probably intended.

She resembled an orange.

I saw Isabella giving her a look and I tried to stifle a smile.

"Would you guys like to start with some drinks then?" she asks.

"Yeah, I'll have an ice water." I tell her, not feeling like much else today.

"I'll have the same." says Isabella.

"Sounds super refreshing!" says Ashley, flashing a big smile at me. She leaned in. Her breasts nearly spilled out the front of her already tight fitting uniform. I made a face. "Would you like to order something to eat or do you still want a few minutes to look at the menu?"

I turned to the glossy menu, trying to decide and ignore the show that was all for me.

"I'll wait." I say harshly and she straightens up, looking dejected.

"Alright I'll be back." she says, sounding haughty and she walks away making sure to purposefully swish her hips in those tight jeans she was wearing. I felt my eyes widen and I looked back at the menu.

"Are women always like that around you?" Isabella asks.

"Most." I say shortly.

"Well clearly, it just helps your ego." she says laughing softly.

"Actually it's rather annoying." I say and she nods. We continued to look at the menu until Ashely came back took our orders. I ordered the breakfast special because it was more of a brunch place, and Isabella ordered an omelet special of some sort and orange juice with her water.

"So, Nathan, what did you want to talk about?" she asks and I let out a breath.

"Well..." I trailed off not knowing how to start.

"I have been meaning to somehow get in touch with you." she says honestly. "When are you going to take me out? I like you and I think you like me too, or you wouldn't be here."

She had a point. What the hell was wrong with me? Now she would think that, I did drive 3 hours just to see her, for no particular reason, other than that I liked being around her, or so she thought.

I clear my throat, this had been a bad idea.

"I don't date... I am not the boyfriend type." I tell her. We needed to establish this.

"You wouldn't even take me on one date?" she asks, not effected by my statement at all.

"You would get too attached. Every girl does." I say. "Plus, you're so...innocent, I'm not going to be good for you."

"So because I don't act like our server you won't date me?" she asks, sitting back. Nothing in her voice was offended, she just sounded curious.

"Yes, because you don't act like her, like I said, you're so pure and I would ruin that." I say truthfully. "I know I'm no good for you."

"I'm old enough to know what's good for me and what's not Nathan." she says.

"How old are you?" I ask, suddenly realizing I didn't know that.

"I'm 23, but I'm plenty mature Nathan, I know what I can handle and I'm not nearly as innocent as you think." she tells me, as if there was this whole past I didn't know, which was true. I didn't know anything about her, sure I knew what all her 'favorites' were but that counted for very little.

"It's not that. It's that... you, this...it's not what I am looking for okay?" I say.

"Well, you wouldn't ever give it a try?" she asks and I shake my head. "Then, are we friends at least?"

"Yes we can be friends." I say. That's not what I wanted either. I never wanted to be around her again. She had this pull to her, something I wasn't going to be able to resist forever, and I knew the only way to get over her, was to not be around her. But, I tried that and things only got worse.

I honestly did not know what the hell I was supposed to do for once in my life and I hated it.