The Callahan Dynasty

Suspicions

I kept telling myself the message on Alex's phone was probably nothing but I still couldn't shake it off completely.

I walked into my living room and spotted a familiar raven haired girl plopped down on the couch.

"Oh hey Isa." I greeted my housemate.

Isabella is one of Alex's and my closest friends. She actually grew up with Alex and is a close family friend of his.

We bith worked as waitresses at the same restaurant so it only made sense for us to move in together.

"Oh hey girl, are you and Alex done getting... busy." She winked.

I grabbed a throw pillow and launched it at her but she just caught it midair.

She stuck her tongue out at me childishly.

"Just get your lazy butt over here, I'm making breakfast for Alex, do you want some?"

"Do you really think I'm going to say no to food cooked by you?" Isabella gets off the couch quickly.

"Why do I even bother asking?" I teased.

I started for the kitchen deciding to go with a simple omlette because Alex was running late.

"Could you get me a couple of eggs?" I asked Isa.

She walked over to the fridge and returned with the brown tray.

I thanked her.

"Hey did you watch last night's episode of The Bachelor?"

"No! Alex made me sit through some weird French movie."

"Arg! Curse the nerd! Well I think there's a rerun coming on. You will never believe what Sarah did."

Isabella turned on the TV.

A heavily made up news lady popped up on the screen.

"....and in other news, billionaire, Frank Callahan's son, Jason Callahan is in Florence city. We are all wondering what kind of trouble he might get into this time. The twenty four year old is infamous for all his stunts and 'wild playboy behavior'. The question on all our mouths is what will he bring to our little town?"

"Well will you look at that 'People's magazines hottest male under twenty five' is in our town." I joked as I beat the eggs in a bowl.

Everyone knows Jason Callahan, his father is one of the wealthiest men in the country and not only that, he's a famous socialite known for his notorious behavior and his playboy attitude.

Isabella's eyes were fixed on the television.

I reached out for a nonstick skillet from the pots cabinet. "What's wrong Isa? Don't tell me you're star struck." I teased.

She didn't say anything, she was still looking at the footage of Jason Callahan at Florence airport.

I placed the nonstick skillet on a medium-high heat plate.

Isabella was still staring at the screen as if transfixed.

I put my hands on my hips. "Isa?"

Nothing. I took the remote and muted the TV.

She looked away from the TV and looked around absentmindedly.

"Where's Alex?" She asked all of a sudden.

"He's-"

I stopped myself when I saw Alex walk in wearing the blue button down shirt and dark pants.

"Hey Isa." He greeted her before walking towards me and pecking my cheek. "Something smells good."

"I'm so sorry it's taking so long, I know you want to leave, it'll only be a few more minutes." I told him.

He walked towards the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. "I don't mind. I'd wait a million years for your cooking."

"Alex." Isa called in a small voice, not in her usual strong and loud tone.

Alex rose a brow at her. "What's up?"

She unmuted the TV. The news lady was now talking about an incident with Jason Callahan in last month Las Vegas in which he got kicked out of a hotel.

Alex froze staring at the television.

"You okay baby?" I asked him as I put a spoon full of butter on the pan. It made a sizzling sound as it melted.

He shook his head coming out of his temporary day dream.

"Of course. Um - Isa could I talk to you in the next room?"

Isabella immediately nodded and the two of them practically rushed out of the kitchen.

That was odd. I thought to myself. Since when did they have to leave the room to talk?

I poured the mixture into the pan. Curiosity took over me, I leaned over a bit so that I could catch a glimpse of them.

They were speaking in hushed tones so I couldn't get anything.

Alex suddenly started gesturing wildly which upset Isabella who spoke a bit louder.

"....know why he's here...." was all I picked up as Isabella's voice rose.

Alex's eyes widened, he shushed her before looking my way. I pretended to be busy cooking the omlette.

When I looked up again, they had moved to another room.

What were they talking about that they didn't want me to know about? I couldn't help but frown, my mind immediately imagining the worst.

Could Alex be having an affair?

No!

I immediately scolded myself for having such a terrible thought.

But the strange message from earlier...

That was ridiculous, Alex loves me and Isabella is my friend. If that was the case, she would have told me.

They were most likely talking about Alex's family.

Again, I couldn't help but feel a bit jealous at the fact that he talked to Isabella about his family issues and not me. Sure Isabella already knew Alex's family but I still felt this odd sense of entitlement. I was his girlfriend and I knew nothing about his family except that they had a falling out years ago and didn't talk anymore.

I turned the pan and inverted the omelette onto a plate.

I grabbed the slices of toasted bread I had put in the toaster earlier and added them to the plate.

I poured some coffee from the coffee machine into a mug. I set everything up neatly providing the appropriate cutlery in the process.

Alex came in with Isa following behind. Alex looked mad and Isabella looked... distant. Like her head was in a completely different place.

Alex usually got like this when Isabella and him would talk about his family. That's one of the reasons I didn't push him to talk about it.

"I have to get going." He spoke quickly before placing a kiss on my cheek and grabbing his car keys from where he kept them in the key bowl.

"But what about your breakfast?" I asked him.

He was already opening the door.

"You eat it. I'll get something on the way." He spoke quickly. He headed out before I could say anything else.

I looked back at Isabella and she sat on the kitchen counter studying the TV intently

"Isa, are you-"

"Hey could we skip work today?" She asked cutting me short.

I looked at her in confusion. "What?"

"It's just that, I'm suddenly not feeling well." She placed a hand on her head. "Migraine."

I rose a brow at her. "Uh huh? You seemed okay a few minutes ago."

"These things can be so sudden, you know." She explained pathetically.

I sighed. "You just don't want to go to work, do you?"

"You caught me." She raised her hands. "Um honestly...I was hoping we could have a girls day in." She suggested.

"A girls day?" I laughed.

She threw her hands up in frustration. "Well forgive me for trying to do something special for once."

I really didn't understand what was going on. Isabella hates anything even remotely girly, she even refuses to watch chick flicks with me. Why the change of heart all of a sudden?

"Okay. We'll have our 'girls day in'." I said, submitting to her request sensing there was more to the story than she was letting on.

She seemed to brighten up.

"I'll just call Tom, he owes us a few days off anyway."