Consequences

Part 46

It took a lot of patience and a lot of time to convince Cara that Charlie was on the Sojour-D'Sa side! It less time to explain Charlie had found out when she had visited the docks today. It took a few seconds to explain, why she was at the Sojour-D'Sa home. But it took ages to convince Cara that Doug was hurting too! Nevertheless Charlie was nothing if not determined. And eventually she persuaded Cara to reveal where she could find Isabelle.

The first thing Charlie said when Isabelle opened the door was, "I know about the centre."

Isabelle's mask slotted into place. She knew she probably looked a mess. Her eyes were probably red. Too many tears had been shed. But that did not mean she was going to allow the waterworks to start all over again just because she saw someone she associated with a man she had feelings for. "I am pleased for you." Isabelle went to shut the door.

Charlie stopped that from happening by simply placing a palm on the door. If she knew anything at all about the red-eyed woman standing at the door, it was that she would not create a scene. "I know what you do there."

"As I said, I'm pleased for you." She moved to inch the door closed.

Charlie huffed in disbelief. "Honestly. You two are so bloody stubborn!"

"I beg your pardon!" Isabelle's eyes narrowed.

"You heard!" Charlie stepped up and into the open doorway, all but forcing Isabelle to step back.

"Do you mind?" Isabelle challenged.

"Matter of fact I mind very much! The fact I'm having to muscle my way in, in my condition is not how I planned on spending my time today!" Charlie admonished as if pushing one's way into another person's home put you in the correct place!

"Then can I suggest that you don't muscle your way in." Isabelle retorted quietly, "I'd like you to leave!"

"Not until we've had a chat." Charlie stayed put at the doorway. Neither quite in, nor out of the house.

"We have nothing to chat about." Isabelle replied.

"Yeah! We have." Charlie retorted.

Seeing that the young woman was not about to give up, Isabelle pursed her lips. "Fine. So what do you want to talk about?" As if Isabelle did not know. She knew from the news item that Doug had given no comment. That had simply inflamed the situation. He had not made any attempt to defend her name. No doubt his sister-in-law was here to chastise Isabelle for dragging the Hawke name down. Isabelle braced but was surprised by the first question.

"So why didn't you tell Doug about what you do at the Centre?" Charlie challenged with her usual brand of bluntness. The woman standing in front of her didn't look any happier than Doug. Charlie wished she were strong enough to bang their heads together to knock some sense into them. "Why didn't you tell him?" She didn't understand why Doug and Isabelle were being so stupid. Obviously Doug had misread the situation. But now, now as far as Charlie was concerned, now Isabelle was just sulking! Enough, Charlie wanted to shout, instead she asked again, "Why didn't you tell him?"

On the inside Isabelle relaxed. "Because he'd stopped listening." Isabelle replied with equal bluntness, "So it was none of his business." Isabelle stated and folded her arms, "And it's none of yours..."

Charlie wasn't put off by Isabelle's cool hauteur. "You were engaged, of course it was his busi..."

"Only short term. A few months, that was our agreement." Isabelle said coolly. She was still smarting from the fact that Doug chose to believe the worst of her. "He clearly didn't know me well and wasn't interested in the truth." Nor was he willing to defend me or my reputation. In her dreams the man she loved would always stand by her side. He would always protect and cherish her. But what she had failed to factor in was the fact that for that to happen he'd need to love her. And what she had found out at the Police station was that Doug did not love her. Shouldn't have come as a shock. Given the engagement was nothing but a fabrication. Yet his lack of support had hit hard. But not as hard as the fact that he had genuinely believed she worked on the streets. Their time together had been nothing but an illusion if the man did not know her well enough to know there must have been a reason for her dress code that night.

"Why didn't you explain at the Station?" Charlie demanded quietly not wanting to upset Isabelle further. For it looked like Isabelle was immeasurably hurt. "Why didn't you explain it to him?" She asked more gently seeing that it wasn't just a case of sulking it was genuine distress. Isabelle's haughty tone was a defence mechanism. Having been hurt by Doug's actions she had shored up her walls. Charlie sighed on the inside. This was going to be much harder than she'd expected. A fact confirmed by Isabelle's next statement.

"Because as far as he was concerned I was a prostitute."

Charlie decided to take a direct route. Highlight the clues that had lead to Doug reaching his ill-judged conclusion. Maybe that would help Isabelle see how easy it was for Doug to make the wrong decision. "What did you expect him to think? You were dressed like a hooker by all accounts. You were found brawling with hookers over turf. You were..."

"Did you think I was a hooker? Isabelle asked quietly and calmly. The tone hid the fact that she was upset, because Doug rather than listening to her explanation  had chosen to believe what he had seen from the moment he had seen her at the Police station. Everything had come crumbling down at that stage. Life a few hours before that meeting in the Police station had seemed rosy. For a few hours she had actually felt as if life was finally giving her a chance. Things were turning around for her. This was finally going to be her time to enjoy. 

"No." Came the flat response. Charlie knew that by admitting that she was putting a chink in arguing Doug's case.