Arabelle

Chapter 8 - Handsome with Green Eyes

Unknown POV

I still can’t find her, the smell of her magic is close, very close but it’s like something or someone protects her, I cannot find her, but it’s only a matter of time before I do and when I do that will be the end for her, she will die on the spot and then I will finally be happy, only her death will bring me happiness, when I see the light slowly drain from her eyes and she draws her last breath and I will make sure that whatever magic binds her to this world, I will break it and make sure she stays dead for good.

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Bella’s POV

“What do you mean Aunt Marla is coming over with her son for lunch Mum, this wasn’t the agreement, I was supposed to see him some other time, not for him to come over for lunch with his mother” I said to Mum,

She shrugged innocently and said “Marla called and said she wanted to come over with Ian, was I supposed to turn her away?

“Mum!” I said, exasperation very evident in my voice,

Mum flipped through another page of the magazine she was reading “Honestly honey, I think you are over reacting, you have been cooped up in this house for almost 2 weeks now, you need to see more people so you can completely recover, so I suggest you put on something nice and wait for our guests to arrive” she said casually,

I was loss of words to say at the moment, she had kept me locked up saying I needed to rest and now she was saying I needed to see more people to recover, I was beginning to wonder she kept getting all these medical directives,

She looked up at me from the sofa she was sitting on “Sofia is already making lunch and it’s only 2 hours until lunch time, so I suggest you start getting ready” she said, a coy smile on her face,

It seemed like she had planned this out very well, I couldn’t get out of it even if I tried, exhaling deeply, I looked at  mum, “I will get you back for this, I promise mum” I said and stormed away,

The sound of her mocking laughter followed me out of the room.

2 hours later

I was standing in front of the door welcoming Aunt Marla in, she was looking beautiful as always, I couldn’t help the smile that split my face,

“Bella, honey I am so glad to see you looking much better now, I really got a scare at the party, I visited you at the hospital but you were still unconscious then and I am sorry I couldn’t visit you sooner, the company has been taking too much of my time recently, I was so ashamed when your mother called to ask us over to lunch, I just couldn’t say no her and I had to practically drag Ian from the office” Aunt Marla said and gave me a warm hug which I gladly returned,

One thing she had said sounded very interesting to me “you said mum called you over?” I asked,

Aunt Marla pulled away and looked at me with her beautiful eyes “of course Honey, she called me first thing this morning and asked if I would like to come over with Ian and I told her we will be here and here we are” she said,

Mum was getting sneakier as each day went by it would appear, seems like I will have to evolve as well

“Marla I am so glad you made it, come in, lunch is ready, let’s head to the table” Mum said as she walked into the living room in a red jumpsuit, her hair was tied in a loose bun on top of her head, she looked so comfortable liked she hadn’t tricked me into having a date right in her house,

“Melissa you look great, I love the jumpsuit, I am starved, I can’t to taste what Sofia whipped up, that woman is a kitchen Goddess” Aunt Marla said and ran over to hug mum,

“Thank you Marla, Sofia is totally worth her weight her in gold I usually say, wait a minute, where’s Ian?” mum said,

“I left him outside to park the car, he should have been done by now, Bella dear, why don’t you go check what’s keeping him?” Aunt Marla said, a sly smile playing at the corner of her lips,

“Yes Bella, we wouldn’t him to get lost, it’s a big house you know, we will be waiting for you kids in the dining room” Mum said,

Before I could say a word, they were already out of the living room giggling like naughty school girls,

I exhaled, I was doing this a lot today it turns out, with a sigh of resignation, I walked out the door and went to find Ian.

I noticed the car parked in the garage, I walked over to the front of the car, I saw the faint outline of someone inside the car talking on the phone, I couldn’t see clearly because of the tinted glass, stepping forward I knocked on the car window, the outline of who I supposed was Ian turned around, he shuffled around for a while then finally the door opened and he stepped out of the car,

I stepped back, the guy standing in front of me looked nothing like the Ian Langrove of my childhood, before me was strikingly handsome guy with eyes so green they reminded me of summer, and a face that belonged on a renaissance painting, he was tall, I always considered myself average and I never small when standing close to any guy but standing here in front of Ian Langrove, I felt small and tiny, I suddenly felt self-conscious in my blue sun dress that stopped just below my knees,

“Wow, mum certainly wasn’t lying when she called you beautiful” he said, his voice was deep, very deep, he had a tiny trace of British accent when he spoke, a beautiful smile played at the corner of his perfect lips,

Gathering my wits around me, I cleared my throat and said “well you look very different from the boy I remember from our childhood”

He laughed, it was a rich sound “I can say the same for you, you have come a long way from the chubby little girl with pig tails” he said,

I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped my lips “Says the kid who wore sweaters with elbow patches at age 10” I said,

He laughed again and put his hands up as a show of surrender “You win, there is no excuse for my past failure in dress sense, I could blame it on my mother but honestly I picked my wardrobe since I was six, I felt no one had the proper skills to pick clothes but I can say I have also come a long way since as well” he said and flashed me a smile,

Looking at what he was wearing right now, I couldn’t help but agree with him, he looked breath taking in the black jacket he wore over black trousers, a crisp white shirt was worn under the jacket, the first two buttons of the shirt were left open and his hair was tousled up in an appealing way, he had a pair of shiny cover shoes on, he looked very interesting indeed,

I nodded my head and said “A very long way indeed” a smile playing at the corners of my lips,

He laughed and said “it’s nice to hear you say that, it’s really nice to see you again Bella” a warm smile on his face,

I returned the smile and said “It’s nice to see you too Ian”

“I guess we better head inside before they send search party after us” he said

I laughed and said “It’s something they are completely capable of carrying out”

“Believe I know” he said and we began walking towards the house and discussing just how crazy our mother were.

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Derrick’s Pov

I had an envelope laying on the table before me, I had asked Alfred to get me all the information he could find on Arabelle a few days back, and he had submitted all the information to me earlier in the morning but I was still contemplating whether to read it or not, I knew that I would die of curiosity if I didn’t read it but on the other hand I was scared of what I might see inside, I had no idea what to expect, I just knew her was Isabella mavericks now and that was it,

Taking a deep breath, I picked up the envelope and opened it, inside was a folder which I pulled out, it was brown and plain, opening the cover, I was met with a pair of shining blue eyes, and a smile so bright it reminded me of the mid-day sun, a photograph of Arabelle was looking right at me, I looked at the picture for a while before flipping to the next page, this page contained personal information, it said she was currently 24 years old, she was final year student college, her mother was Melissa Mavericks and her father was deceased, she had no siblings, she was born into a very rich family and her family had a company that dealt in the production of fabrics, my family and her family did business together, they supplied the fabrics which we used in our clothes manufacturing company.

I flipped again, the next page contained the people she normally associated with, friends and relatives, their wasn’t very much here, she had a few friends, it said she was very popular in her college but she hardly socialized, her closest friend was someone named Daniel Winston, he was also an only child and heir to a fortune, his parents did business mostly in U.A.E because they dealt in oil, he was mostly left alone with the maids since he was little, a picture of a young man with green eyes, black hair and an easy smile looked back at me, he looked like a good person, I thought,

The next page was just a bunch of pictures of Arabelle with some people, obviously people she interacted with, she looked so happy in all of them, she was always smiling and had a bright countenance in all of them, there was on particular one that caught my eye, it was a picture of Arabelle on the day I had seen her, on the day of the party, that was by far the most beautiful I had ever seen her, I always imagined what her hair would look like when it wasn’t tied up in those intricate knots, I had always fantasized about it but seeing it now, I knew my fantasies stood no chance, her  hair was like a raging waterfall, even though I had been shocked to see her, I couldn’t stop myself from noticing how beautiful she looked, even when she shooting balls at me, I still thought she was beautiful, my feisty Arabelle, she always had a temper and I am sure she still did, taking a deep breath, I closed the folder and placed it  back in the envelope, I stood up and walked over to my safe, pressing in the code, I opened the safe and placed the file inside, it was dangerous to leave such documents lying about, I never knew what or who was lurking in the shadows, I closed the door to the safe and walked back to my chair, sinking into it, I rested my head in my palms, I felt like I had become a restless soul, I was doomed to suffer eternally for my crime and I had no choice to accept it, I had done the deed and I must pay for it, I will make sure it ends this time, I promised myself once more, this will be the last time this story will be told, Arabelle will have her revenge and everything will come to an end.

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BELLA’S POV

I lay on my bed long after Aunt Marla and Ian had left, it turned out to be a very interesting affair after all, Aunt Marla and Ian were very fun and bubbly, Ian had a lot of stories to tell about life in London, he found life there very interesting but he said he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life there, he found it a little too slow for him, he was more accustomed to fast paced life while Aunt Marla said she always found London rather dull, she loved the sun and bright skies so she wouldn’t be going back there any time soon, she was here to stay for a very long time, it seemed more like a family affair than the initial arrangement mum had planned but it seemed like she didn’t seem to mind as well because she was busy laughing and sharing stories.

Discussions went on and on until we drifted to the party, this was where things got really interesting, I still remembered everything very clearly,

“But it was a really nice party, King’s Enterprise always knows how to throw a good party” Aunt Marla was saying,

Mum nodded her head in agreement, “I completely agree, it was fun indeed but no party is fun enough without Bella, honey I got quite a scare when that young man picked your call telling me he found you unconscious, I felt my heart beat wildly in my chest, I thought I was going to pass out as well” she said,

She looked a little shaken up, so I stretched my hand and squeezed hers from across the table, she gave me a small smile and squeezed my hand as well,

“I still haven’t been able to see Derrick anywhere so I can thank him for keeping an eye on you, he is normally a very difficult person to meet” Aunt Marla said,

My head whipped in her direction “You know who the man who found me is?” I asked, my heart beat slowly increasing,

Aunt Marla nodded and said “Of course that was Derrick King, he is current CEO of King’s Enterprise, I was momentarily distracted that day at the party when we saw you lying on the floor like that and plus, he was looking a bit dishevelled when I saw him, I couldn’t be sure if it he was the one or not, but I later asked around and he turned out to be Derrick King”

My heart was pounding in my chest, this was it, I had found him, I knew who he was and how to find him,

“Hey Bella, you look a little pale, are you okay?” Ian asked

I turned to look at him, his green eyes were watching me closely and a look on his face I couldn’t decipher,

Forcing a smile to my face, I said “I am okay, I just felt I needed to thank him for what he did for me at the party, who knows what would have happened if he hadn’t found, I should thank him somehow, don’t you think so mum?”

“Yes honey, you are right, we should pay him a visit and thank him” mum said,

I felt Ian’s eyes on me, turning to look at him, I found he was still watching me with same look on his face, I also looked right back at him, suddenly, the noise around us died down and everything faded away, it was like we were someplace else, my eyes were stilled fixed on his and in them, a flash of green light passed, I felt a gasp escape my lips and just like that the noise returned and we were back to the dining room,

“What the hell had just happened?” I thought,

Ian looked away and continued the discussion with Mum and Aunt Marla, his easy smile on his face like nothing had just happened,

I watched him closely for a while but nothing happened so I just concluded I had imagined things, after all my mind wasn’t very sound nowadays, telling myself this, I turned my full attention back to lunch.

That was the affairs that had transpired this afternoon, I stood up from my bed and walked over to my closet, I needed to pick an outfit, a visit to my lover was long overdue.