In The Darkest Hour

Part One - Chapter Fifteen: Just Friends

“You and Gerard seem close,” Antonella mused sipping on her coffee, she was pleased that Isla had met her for lunch and she was hopeful that they would become great friends; she had missed having a woman to talk to since Daniella had gone to London with Cesc.

“We’re just friends,” Isla murmured softly, she was a little on edge since she had found out that R had been in Gerard’s house; she had no idea who the person could be and she didn’t want to rule anyone out until she had more clues as to the identity of R.

Antonella nodded her head, her eyes watching Isla knowing that she didn’t quite believe that she had seen how Gerard was around the brunette and she was surprised to see how protective Gerard was when it came to the nanny.

“Come on there has to be something there,” Antonella pushed, she was sure that there was some sort of the connection between the two; she wanted Gerard to be happy and the last thing that she wanted was for him to have his heartbroken.

Isla was silent, she messed with her hot chocolate feeling on edge and she didn’t want to say something that could be used against her; she couldn’t forget that there was a chance Antonella was R.

“There’s nothing really… we’ve been through similar things that’s all,” Isla replied trying to push the attention away from her, she watched Antonella knowing that she wasn’t going to let the woman think that she was up to anything.

Antonella blinked surprised, she hadn’t known that Isla had lost someone and it made her wonder why Montserrat had hired her when she might have still be grieving.

“You’ve lost someone,” Antonella murmured wrapping her hands around her drink, she had no idea what was going on and she just wanted some of her questions answered.

“I did… he passed away a couple of years ago,” Isla replied softly, she looked down at her drink not wanting to share more with Antonella; she was sure that she would be able to tell soon if Antonella was R.

Antonella was silent taking in what Isla had said, she was surprised and she had no idea what to say to Isla; she hadn’t known that Isla had lost anyone and she was surprised that Gerard hadn’t told Lionel that.

“I’m sorry,” Antonella whispered gently, she could see that it still upset Isla and she could understand why Gerard was so close to her now. Isla shook her head, she didn’t blame Antonella for asking questions and she was wary of what she was telling the brunette in case she was R.

“It’s not your fault,” Isla said smiling weakly at Antonella, she had no idea what Antonella was going to say now but she hoped that R would slip up and reveal who they were soon; she couldn’t go on with this anymore without telling someone what was going on.

The two women were silent as they thought about what had been said, they were a little unsure what to say now and Isla worried that if Antonella was R then she would have everything that she needed to hurt her in some way.

“Do you fancy doing some shopping after this?” Antonella asked changing the subject, she was a little unsure about what to say to Isla and she knew how much the brunette meant to Gerard; she just hoped that the footballer knew what he was getting himself into.

The last thing that anyone wanted was for Gerard to be hurt again, he had only just started to recover from losing Isabel and they wanted him to be able to fully move on with his life.

Gerard deserved to be happy and Antonella was determined to make sure that Isla wasn’t using Gerard; she would be keeping a close eye on Isla.

***

“How was your day with Antonella?” Gerard asked sipping on his coffee, he was a little surprised that Antonella had wanted to spend the day with Isla; he was hopeful that the two women were going to be close friends.

Isla had been gone for most of the day and Gerard had enjoyed his day with Milan, it had been good for them and he knew that his son had been missing him so much since they had lost Isabel.

“It was fine,” Isla replied shrugging, she was still unsure about Antonella and she had no idea what to make of the other woman; she couldn’t even figure out if Antonella was R, she had felt on edge even if she had tried to relax.

“Just fine…” Gerard mused frowning, he knew that Antonella wouldn’t have done anything that could make Isla feel uncomfortable; he wanted her to have people to talk to that weren’t him or Milan.

Gerard hadn’t heard Isla take any calls from anyone that Isla knew, he was aware that she spoke to her parents yet she didn’t speak to any old friends and it made him curious why.

Isla nodded warily, she couldn’t tell Gerard about R’s messages and she was going to have to find a way to discover who R was; she would deal with this on her own, she had to since she had no one to turn to right now.

“I had fun,” Isla murmured shrugging her shoulders, she wanted to make sure that she didn’t worry Gerard since he had enough on his plate right now and he needed to focus on training; he had a new season coming up in a couple of weeks and Isla wanted him to do better.

Gerard stared at Isla, he had no idea what she was so nervous about and he knew that Antonella would be a good friend for her; she was going to need one when the season started up with.

“Isla?” Gerard asked stepping closer to her, he could still see that something was bothering her and he had hoped that spending the day with Antonella would cheer her up.

“It’s nothing Gerard,” Isla reassured wanting him to let it go, she could never tell him the truth and she feared what would happen if she did; the investigation had just started and she had to wait.

Gerard frowned and shook his head, he took Isla’s hands and made her look at him; he wasn’t going to let this go when there was clearly more happening and he wanted to help her.

“Talk to me Isla… tell me what’s upsetting you?” Gerard begged searching Isla’s face, he was desperate to help her after all that she had done for him in the past few months; she had helped him put his life together after he had hit rock bottom.

“I just haven’t been sleeping well,” Isla lied starting to feel guilty, he deserved to know what was going on but it would ruin everything; she was still seen as guilty for Isabel’s death and that wasn’t going to change for another few months.

Isla had promised Montserrat that she would keep quiet, it was the least that she could do for the woman that was trying to clear her name; she just had to be patient and she would tell Gerard when the time was right.

“Isla…” Gerard murmured cupping her face, he wasn’t going to let this go when he could help her; he wanted nothing more than to help and he wanted Isla to be happy.

Isla closed her blue eyes and took a deep breath, she didn’t want to break down and cry; she had to keep Gerard in the dark about what had happened.

“You can talk to me,” Gerard whispered holding Isla close, he wanted to talk to her about whatever was bothering her; he was her friend and she had helped him when he had needed it.

Isla looked at Gerard, she wished he wasn’t being so sweet since it was making her feel bad; she opened her mouth to say something only for Gerard to duck down and kiss her.