Love Me Or Hate Me

Love Me Or Hate Me [04-J]

When she walked into the dining room, I half expected to see her in a her big framed glasses, some baggy shirt and a long pair of loose fitting pants, but what I saw was something completely different. Her face wasn't being hid behind a huge pair of a windows, her hair wasn't tied up, and her clothes actually complimented her body. For a geek, she actually looked... Hot.

She must have known what I was thinking because her eyes instantly met mine and you could see both shock, and anger in the mix. Why she was mad, I honestly had no idea, but I couldn't let myself look away. This was a side of her that I've never seen before, and I was going to enjoy as much of it as I could. Does this mean that I had intentions of falling helplessly in love with her, have a set of twins that look just like her and move into a big house with a white fence? Hell no; I'll just hit it and leave like I always do.

We stood in silence for a while, but her mom decided to bring that to an end. “Isabelle, you know James right?”

Opening her mouth to speak, she quickly shook her head and narrowed her eyes. “Hell no, mom. It could have been anyone else and you pick him?” Without giving her mom a chance to say something, she placed a bag on the table and ran up to her room. I couldn't help but stare at her butt when she did that; she looked good in tights.

Again, a silence fell upon the table and my dad took it upon himself to say something. “Um,” he cleared his throat, “I guess you told her the surprise then?”

“I'm sorry, Rory, it kind of slipped out.” Putting her things down, she excused herself from the table and walked up the stairs to Isabelle's room.

Once she was out of earshot, I turned to my dad and raised an eyebrow. He never told me that there was a surprise, and considering the way Is acted, I'm guessing it involves me. There's only two things that you can do to piss me off: Become a stalker, or keep secrets from me. Since I knew Isabelle wasn't the slightest bit interested in me—or so she says—I didn't have to worry about her being a stalker. So, that means, there's a secret.

“Dad, what the hell is going on?” He shrugged, and took out his phone; most likely answering a business email. Me, being the ass hole that I am, couldn't have cared less because I stood up and walked over to the front door. Since this so-called dinner was a disaster, there was no reason for me to be here. Of course, I could stay just to see if Isabelle would crack, but if she didn't, it'd be a waste of my time. Today was Friday and I didn't want to spend it cooped up in a house for a dinner that's almost nonexistent.

But right as I reached the door, someones hand landed on my shoulder with an all too firm grip. “Where are you going, James?”

“Well, since my dog is nowhere in sight, and there's no food on the table, my presence isn't really needed, now is it.” When he didn't say anything, I pulled my shoulder out of his grip and opened the door, but he slammed it shut and looked me right in the eyes. “Dad, let me go-”

“-you can't leave without having her say yes!”

I raised an eyebrow and looked at him with a confused look on my face. “Say yes?” He nodded. “Say yes to what?”

Without answering, he grabbed my arm and pulled me back to the table just as Isabelle and her mom made their way down the stairs. Her mom was staring lovingly at my father, which made me a bit curious, but I brushed it off and looked at Isabelle. She still looked at angry as before, but something must have calmed her down because there was an almost nonexistent smile on her face. Someone must be PMS-ing. With mood swings like that? I laughed at my own stupidity, and waited for her to take the only available seat at the table.

The one right next to me.

She was hesitant at first, but when her mom gave her a stern look, she sucked up her pride and took a seat next to me—that of course didn't stop her from moving as far away from me as she could, but what can you do? PMS-ing virgins will be PMS-ing virgins.

“Sorry about that,” Isabelle's mom began, “We just needed to have a little talk about something, right Izzy?” With her jaw clenching, she nodded and looked down at her hands; ignoring everyone at the tables existence altogether. Her mom must have known that that was all she was getting out of her, because she excused herself again and began to bring out the food. From what I could see, there were steamed peas, some mashed potatoes, and a big ham cooked to what seemed like perfection. My mouth watered at the sight, and I was so close to just digging in that I forgot I was supposed to be well behaved tonight.

Oh well.

Isabelle seemed to have known what I was thinking because she quickly grabbed my hand and sent me a stern look; mouthing the word 'don't' before pulling away and looking back down at her hands. I was going to question her, but when I saw the look on her mothers face, I already knew what was going on. She was one of those control freaks with OCD. My dad had mentioned something about that earlier, but I wasn't really paying attention. Why? Because I honestly didn't care.

“OK, everyone,” we all looked at her mom, “eat up and when we're done, I have something to tell you two.” Isabelle's fist clenched on the table, but her mom ignored that and began to serve herself. I followed her example and put as much food on my plate as humanely possible. Sure, it seemed like I'd get fat for pigging out for the first time all week, but that's why they invented the gym. I can just go burn everything off.

As everyone finished serving themselves, I noticed that Isabelle hadn't even begun to yet. Her plate was bone-dry and not a single piece of food had touched it yet. “Is, aren't you going to eat?” Her mom questioned her.

“I'm not really all that hungry.”

“Are you sick, dear?”

She looked up at my dad with a sad smile and shook her head. “Not in the way you'd think...” He must have understood because he nodded and continued eating as if she hadn't said anything. From what I could see, everyone here knew something that I didn't and it was really starting to get on my nerves. Whatever happened to 'Family doesn't keep secrets from family'? Whatever happened to there's no happy life when it's full of lies?

Finally annoyed to the point where I felt like throwing something, I put my fork down and let out a sigh loud enough to catch everyone's attention. “OK, you all clearly know something that I don't, and I want to know what it is, now.”

“James, where are your manners-?”

“-forget the damn manners! Why am I here, and where is my dog?”

Isabelle looked over at me with a sad look in her eyes. “He's in my room, sleeping. After he tried to maul me today, I guess he got tired and wanted to lie down for a bit.” Excusing herself from the table, she walked up to her room again, and came down a few minutes later with Duke right behind her. When she stopped walking, instead of running to me like I expected him to, he made himself comfortable at Isabelle's feet and tried to go back to sleep. She shrugged and took her place back at the table.

I stared at her for a while, but then I averted my eyes back to my father and sighed. “Why is he here, anyway? You said you left him with a close friend of yours.”

“Yes, and if you hadn't noticed, Elaine is a close friend of mine.”

“OK, but why am I here?”

We all sat in silence for a moment, but Elaine being the person she is smiled a big smile and looked from me, to Isabelle, and back to me. “You're here tonight because I wanted you to formally and properly meet my daughter.”

I looked at Is in confusion. “I already knew your daughter.”

“As a friend. Starting today, you know her as you fiancee.”

My mouth fell open and I looked at her in shock. “Isabelle is my what?!”