Returning Red

#33: Dum Dum.

I rose up stronger than before

Isabella

"Bella, it worked. It fucking worked." Ryan was screaming from the other end of the phone. I sighed, my heart growing lighter and in excitement. "I'm emailing you the videos. Except . . ."

I frowned, stopping against the storeroom door. I was in charge of arranging the white roses by angling the already placed bouquet to the stage and not the center of the hall. People with OCD will love doing my job. Others would find it dumb. I continue talking to Ryan as I turn the vases to the stage which is a work-in-progress. "Except what?" 

"We were right with the hunch. I've got clear proof now. But the first tape ends and there is nothing further to retrieve. I still don't know what happens after because the second tape is completely clean and unaltered." Ryan tells me and I hear him typing on the keyboard of his computer. 

"But isn't that supposed to get retrieved as well?" I don't know how this mechanism works but I am trying my best. 

"No, the trails are missing. It's as if someone destroyed the film of the VHS, so we never got the soft copy for it." He exhales and I groan in annoyance. "But hey, we got what we wanted. We just don't know who it was. Everything after that is cut off. But I have something that cheered you up." 

"What?" I ask with my lips tugging up but I wasn't completely happy because I didn't get the things the way I was planning to. 

"It's a surprise. I'm emailing it to you, check it out later." He says and I'm already smiling. 

"You do know I will lay down my life for you, don't you, Ryan Porter?" I hear him laugh before I finish saying it. 

"And you do realize I'm putting my life on the edge to try and save yours, don't you, Isabella Cosmo?" He says and I can't help but grin. "Don't go on any suicide missions. We're too close to cracking this one."

"Copy that, sir," I say before we say goodbye and cut the call. 

Grace and Ethan came to the resort today. It's an alumni reunion all over again. With Grace around, I couldn't even talk to the bin properly. I had to fill Grace in on everything she missed out on while she was away. She's such a spotlight magnet these days, everywhere she goes people want photographs and autographs of her. Inviting her to the resort just made some of her fans go gaga. With only ten days left for the wedding, everything is fastened. 

When I spotted Ethan and May talking together, I probably felt more awkward than they did. I kept eyeing them but they were talking as if they were pretty good friends. It was just new to me, I confirmed it in my head. I push my phone to the back of my pocket and begin properly arranging the white roses in the vase. 

I hear a whistling sound and I turn around to see Austin walking inside the ballroom and gesturing to the store room behind me. He walks straight inside it, keeping the door open. I pull a white rose from the vase and follow him inside. He locks the door as soon as I enter and I smile at him. He leans against the door, smiling as he holds his hand out. I keep my hands inside his palms and he instantly pulls me to him. I laugh as I fall on his chest and he mouths me to keep it low. 

"Hey you," He whispers tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. 

"Hey you," I whisper back. 

I lean on his chest and he gives me a soft peck on my forehead. The original Austin Cooper instincts were back and I hugged him instantly. I hear him let out a low chuckle before wrapping his hands around me and kissing the top of my head. 

I didn't know why we were sneaking around. I didn't know why he was putting up a rude front when we were around people and softening down when we were alone. It was getting harder day by day to understand his emotions. For a fact, I knew he wasn't bipolar because he was in complete control of his emotions all the time. He knew what he was doing, how he was behaving, and probably why he was doing it too. He just wasn't telling me.