Consequences

Part 57

Seeing the tears track down her cheeks was unbearable. Doug stepped closer. Isabelle backed away. Again.

He clearly did not like to see women cry, but she was not going to misconstrue that as being a sign that he cared for her. He didn't. She knew that. She'd made enough mistakes misreading his actions before, she was not about to compound that now by making even more mistakes.

Isabelle sniffed, then looked up at him and added, "I," She swallowed the lump in her throat, "I'd forgotten to factor in one crucial thing." Her voice was clogged with unshed tears. "You know what that one thing was?"

He shook his head, a barely perceptible movement. He was having enough difficulty coping with seeing her in tears. He couldn't be expected to figure out what it was that she hadn't factored in!

Isabelle sniffed and tried to stem her tears. "Think about it."

Doug frowned as he considered his options but nothing registered. What was she hinting at? Something that clearly mattered, but he could not fathom out what it was that she was driving at.

"What didn't I have in common with your brother, your employees, the people you've gone in to bat for?" Isabelle sniffed again and prompted with growing indignation. She fought off the tears. "One crucial thing." She blew out a breath, dashed at the tears by rubbing the heels of her hands against her cheeks. She gave up trying to stem the tears.

"I don't know Isabelle." He mumbled, knowing that she was about to burst into floods of tears again and he was powerless to stop her from becoming so upset.

Isabelle said quietly as the tears once again coursed down her cheeks. "Your brother meant something and your employees meant something, to you." She folded her arms across her chest and fought hard to keep the tears at bay.

What she said was true. His brother, his employees, they mattered to him. Of course they did. But why would that be crucial to her?

She did not leave him guessing for much longner. "I made an assumption. A wrong one as it turned out. A serious error in judgment on my part" Doug was baffled. She looked completely devastated when she said, "You didn't care about me. Why would you? When you thought I was a whore."

"Isabelle." Doug tried again to interrupt when he realized where she was going with her reasoning.

She waved his interruption aside. "Oh, you worried about it, because you cared about your family's reputation and the reputation of your company." Isabelle sniffed as she added with a growing sense of injustice, "But my reputation meant nothing to you, because I meant nothing to you." Her eyes conveyed her misery.

She was so wrong. The trouble was that trying to persuade her now, was going to be near on impossible. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to try. "Isabelle, I over reacted." He reached for her, his hand heading for her hand. "I'm sorry."

She stepped away, avoiding his touch. "Yes, so you said." She interrupted and brushed at the tears.

"Just give me a chance to explain!"

"Like you did?" She asked. She shook her head. "No. I don't need your explanation. Not now." She told him. "Over the last couple of months, yes, maybe. But now. No!" She shook her head. "I really believed when I saw you at that Police station, I really believed that you cared. I tried to tell you, tried to explain and you didn't want to hear. The women told you and you ignored them. You looked at me that night and made up your mind! Everything that had gone on between us before that evening just vanished. So it clearly wasn't important to you. But then why would it be? You didn't care about me?" She shook her head. "I guess despite claiming not to want to use the Sojour-D'Sa name, that is exactly what you did, until you thought the name was trashed! I don't need fair-weather friends, Mr Hawke." Then without another word, she turned and made her way down the steps.

"Isabelle, wait!" Everything felt wrong. This was wrong. Ok, so he'd made a wrong call. But surely she would cut him some slack. Surely. But she was walking. Brisk quick steps taking her further and further away.

Without turning Isabelle said softly, "Good bye Mr Hawke."