Forever For You 🌷

3rd February 2012

When Izzy got in from work on Friday night after a long week at the shop, she was looking forward to a long bath and maybe a glass or two of wine but even the thought of dragging herself to kitchen in pursuit of a bottle seemed too exhausting, so she kicked off her shoes and slumped her way to the sofa instead, throwing herself against the cushions with a sigh. Not moving sounded heavenly.

She rubbed her temples with her fingers to ease the slight headache. Her eyelids felt heavy and she rested them for a second before panicking she'd drift off too soon and would waste her exciting evening alone, so sat up to withdraw her phone from her pocket. She scrolled promptly past a couple of hundred 'urgent' texts from Zara which were never urgent, a breaking news notification, an instagram notification or two and then realised she had three missed calls spread out over ten minutes all from the same person, a very persistent person who she hadn't seen since the day after Boxing Day and who's presence she missed terribly.

Before she could bring herself to process calling him back, the phone was ringing again and she stared at his name for a second until swiping to answer the call.

"Yeh workin' tomorrow?" came his drawl as soon as she had picked up and lifted the phone to her ear.

"Hello to you too, Alexander..." she laughed, her eyelids closing softly again as she rested her head back on the sofa cushion. His voice was soothing immediately, deep yet soft and she could hear Matt laughing in the background, Miles cackling with him. "And no I'm not working tomorrow, it's my weekend off..."

"Fantastic!" he exclaimed, a grin obvious in the way he spoke. "Yeh're comin' teh Paris."

"No," Izzy laughed instantly, shaking her head. "I'm not."

This wasn't the first time Alex had called her with some ridiculous plan to fly her somewhere to see him. Half of the time he was drunk and it was two in the morning and even when he was sober she'd made an excuse each time, didn't want to be flown around the world to see him based on his money, on when it suited him. But she knew him better now, missed his laughter and intelligence, missed his smile, knew he was in Paris and almost considered fishing her own bank card from her bag before he dropped the bombshell himself.

"Well," he muttered, exhaling sharply. "I booked it alreadeh-"

"YOU DID WHAT?" she gasped, sitting up straight, almost dropping the phone in the process. She bit down on her lip as he explained, blinked at the opposite wall in her flat, the joy of his reveal clear in the wobble of his voice.

"-I joost called Zara... sheh's on 'er way teh kidnap yeh..."

"No."

"Go pack yehr case, luv. Flight's at 6..."

"Al, I'm not going to-"

"'s all paid for now," he continued, countering her words with quick responses and excited chuckles. "Flights, 'otel, fanceh breakfast... Zara's got the details. I'll see yeh at the venue in a few hours."

"Alex, I-"

"I'll see yeh soon..." he repeated.

The line cut off dramatically and Izzy groaned. She rolled her eyes, locking her phone and laying back against the sofa in exasperation. She could picture the smug satisfaction on his face, the curl of his lips, the sparkle of excitement in his eyes. So much for not moving.

Five minutes later, Zara was pounding on the door and once Izzy had dragged her neglected suitcase from the wardrobe, her best friend started piling in the outfits she deemed exciting enough for their spontaneous trip, chatting endlessly about seeing Miles as she packed.

"We're only going for a night," Izzy called from the bathroom, gathering her toiletries in a hurry. "Please don't go crazy trying to style me."

"Alex said he booked until Sunday..." Zara called back, folding in a dress she'd gifted Izzy and had never been worn.