The Promise

Chapter Five

The next morning, the sun streamed through the window greeting Isabella, waking her up to another day. Yawning and stretching, she felt resistance and blinked her eyes as she looked around. For just a moment she didn't recognize where she was until she looked to the arm that was loosely slung around her. Turning her head, she saw the sight of a peaceful, dozing Tom. Slowly, she twisted under his arm, careful not to wake him. He looked amazing, even asleep. She bit her lip, feeling so lucky to be in this position, watching him sleep. His face was so relaxed with no sign of stress. She took a moment to drink him in, every line, every scar. As he got older, he only got more good looking and being so close to him now made her want to reach out and touch his face to make sure he was real. As if on cue, his eyes fluttered opened and she was met with gorgeous blue eyes. They were so deep she felt like she could drown in them and she gladly would if she could.

"Good morning," she said with a whisper.

"Morning," he replied in a groggy voice, rubbing his face as he woke up. "How did you sleep?"

"Pretty good actually," she said, surprised by how rested she felt.

"I hope I didn't hit your foot at all in my sleep?"

"No, I'm ok. No damage," she said as she wiggled her foot around.

They laid there for a few moments, just looking into each other's eyes.

"What are you looking at?" She teased.

"Your eyes. They're such a beautiful shade of brown."

She snorted. "Are there shades of brown? I always thought they were the same shade of boring."

"Not at all. They remind me of caramels. Warm and sweet," he said, his smile soft and serene.

She was taken back by the compliment.

"Thank you. That's very sweet of you. I've never really thought of them that way before."

"Of course. I-"

Tom was cut off by the ringing of Isabella's cell phone.

"Who could that be this early?" She wondered as she looked around for her phone. "It's probably Lana wanting to know if we've done the deed yet," she surmised, chuckling about her friend.

Tom got out of bed and found her phone sitting on the bathroom counter. He looked at the screen and the name stopped him dead in his tracks.

"What? Who is it?" She asked.

"Um, it's Jackson," he said, unsure if he wanted to hand the phone over to her.

She reached for it, her body tensing up in an immediate reaction to the mention of his name. Her body language screamed "uncomfortable", but he gave it to her as it continued to ring. She stared at it as it rang, her finger hovering over the accept button. Tom stood there, not sure what to do. It stopped ringing and she felt as though she should be relieved, but she knew that he would continue to call until she answered. Looking back up at Tom, she tried to convey to him that she needed him with her eyes and thankfully he understood. Sitting back in bed with her, he nodded, letting her know he was ready for whatever she wanted to do. The phone began to ring again and she answered, unprepared for whatever she was going to say.

"Hello?" she said with trepidation.

"Hey, babe, I'm still waiting for your flight info. What are you doing that's so important that you can't send me one fucking text?"

"Jackson, I have to tell you something. You're not going to like it, but I think it's the right thing to do."

Her voice started to waver as she held the phone to her ear, her whole body trembling.