HEAR ME TOO!

PART TWENTY-THREE

Ben watched Isabel from the corner of his eye like he had been doing all night. He had been waiting patiently for the opportunity to talk to her but one hadn't presented itself yet so he just thought he would ask her to go somewhere more quiet with him as soon as she received their latest guest. After a few minutes watching her just stand and stare at whoever it was that knocked, Ben thought he should go to find out what was taking so long. He stood up and headed to the door and got there just as a man spoke.

"Come on Isa, let me in."

Ben recognized the voice. He had heard it before. Ken!

Placing a hand on Isabel's shoulder and grabbing the handle of the door, Ben pulled it open. He saw Ken standing there with flowers and wine, looking at Isabel, a smile curving his lips. Ben motioned Isabel to close the door so as not to interrupt the party and when she did, he came to stand directly in front of Ken. He really hated using violence and would rather talk sense into people than fight, but if this situation required him to throw hands, he might just give in. He was a bit taller than Ken and hoped that would give him an advantage. He mustered all the threatening looks he had, joined them into one and looked at the other man.

"What are you doing here?" Ben asked.

"I can't see how that is your business," Ken replied, and turning to Isabel who was just standing there, he said "I want to talk to you not him, so please get him out of my face."

Isabel said nothing and just looked from one to the other.

"She clearly doesn't want to see you so that means you were not invited," Ben said. The dislike he felt for Ken increased with each passing second but he reigned it in and remained calm.

"If she really wanted me to go, she would have said something a long time ago but she didn't. which means she does want me to come in."

They both looked over at Isabel, Ben waiting for her to say the words so he could kick this guy to the curb. She took a deep breath and then spoke.

"It's fine Ben, he can come in. I don't want to ruin Winnie's party."

"But-" Ben started but she shook her head at him.

"It's okay, I can handle it."

Ben sighed and stepped aside, not wanting to make Isabel any more upset than she already was. Ken passed him with a gloating smile, and went into the house. Isabel gave Ben an apologetic look before following Ken into the house. He stood outside for a while, feeling terrible before he headed into the house.
*****

Ken's arrival set Winnie on edge and the look on her face went from friendly to murderous within seconds. She stood up without a word to him and dragged Isabel into the room downstairs.

"Isa, what do you think you're doing?"

"He showed up suddenly and I did not want to disrupt your party so I just let him in."

"And you think letting him in will not disrupt the party?"

"I know how persistent Ken can be. If I didn't let him in, things would have gotten messy."

"Did you see Ben's face just now? This is already a messy situation!"

"Ben shouldn't be upset. He's the one who's living with his ex," Isabel said, looking away.

"He what?!"

"Well, when I called him earlier today, his ex answered the phone. I don't know why she's there or why she picked up the phone. He hasn't told me what's going on yet."

"Exactly, you don't know what's going on. There might have been a reason why she's there. Just wait until he explains before you conclude. But as for this current situation, you need to fix it. Ken doesn't belong anywhere around you Isa," Winnie said and then left to join her guests.