ᴴᵒⁿᵉʸ, ⁱᶠ ᴵ ᵍᵉᵗ ʳᵉˢᵗˡᵉˢˢ
⁽ᴮᵃᵇʸ, ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ⁿᵒᵗ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᵏⁱⁿᵈ⁾

【 ♪ 】

ᵉˡᵗᵒⁿ ʲᵒʰⁿ ᶠᵗ. ᵏⁱᵏⁱ ᵈᵉᵉ
ᵈᵒⁿ'ᵗ ᵍᵒ ᵇʳᵉᵃᵏⁱⁿᵍ ᵐʸ ʰᵉᵃʳᵗ

⭑━━𝙤𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨━━⭑
𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩. 𝙩𝙬𝙤

The next day, Isis asked Mike and Anna to tell her mother she was fine. Well, if they saw her. She didn't want to go home. Not yet.

They ate a huge lunch before they left. Kie was more in a hurry than Isis, who absolutly wanted to finish the food that had been kindly offered to her.

She did take the time to shower, though. Then, at John B's, she dropped the others to rest in the hammock. She thought she'd just close her eyes and enjoy the peace and quiet vibe, but she fell asleep in a few minutes. She spent a lot of time talking with Kie during the night, so it wasn't surprising at all.

After the drone test in the marsh outside the Chateau, Pope, JJ and Kiara had to leave. Isis was still napping, so John B assured he'd watch over her.

When she woke up, she felt like she'd slept for years. That's what a good nap looks like.

She got up stretching. She walked to the porch.

"Hey."

John B lookep up to her.

"Hey! Slept well?"

"You have no idea," she replied with a sleepy smile. "Can I make coffee?"

"Sure."

"You want some?"

"Uh, no, thank you."

She glanced over his shoulder. He was studying the map with the Royal Merchant coordinates. She kissed his head gently and disappeared inside.

A few moments later, she was back on the porch. She sat next to him, sipping cautiously her hot drink.

"How did it go with the drone?" she asked, resting her head in her hand.

"Quite good, actually. It works well. We just decided to sail later, at dead calm. Pope said we would go tomorrow."

"All right. So the treasure hunt is finally getting started? Like, for real?"

"It would seem," John B smiled.

Isis raised her fist.

"You don't know how happy I am."

He didn't reply, but he gave her a soft glance.

Isis let him work quietly. She lay down in an armchair and kept her mouth shut.

In mid-afternoon, she saw a person walking towards them. She narrowed her eyes, but she couldn't recognize the figure.

"Someone's here," she warned.

John B frowned and turned around.

"Who's that?" asked Isis in a low voice.

"That's Sarah Cameron."

"... are you kidding?"

"It's your turn," said a voice.

Damn, that actually was Sarah Cameron. What was she doing here?

"Uh, for what?" asked John B in disbelief.

Sarah wandered around them.

"To ask me what I'm doing here," she replied. "Hi, Isis."

"Uh... hey?"

Isis was too surprised to function. She straightened up, sharing a questioning look with John B.

"W- What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I realized, I didn't get a chance to respond the other day after you spat in my face and yelled at me, and stormed off like a child."

John B frowned. Isis kept her eyes down, determined to be as quiet as possible.

"So, first of all," resumed Sarah. "I'm not a liar. I don't know how Ward found out about the scuba gear, but I swear it was not me. I'm not the reason you got fired."

"You got fired?!" inquired Isis.

So we could forget about quietness.

"You didn't know?" jeered Sarah.

Isis shook her head.

"Yeah, he borrowed some diving equipment from my dad."

"The scuba gear you took was from Ward Cameron??"

"Oh, so you knew about that."

"Don't get me wrong, I wasn't aware in the first place. He told me after."

"Right," sighed John B. "Is there anything more you wanted to say?"

"No, that's all," answered Sarah. "Good talk."

She started to leave, but stopped to search in her tote bag, and threw him some pack of crisps.

"Oh, your favorite. Good catch."

And she left without any more word.

"Okay," said Isis, her mind blown. "What the hell...?"

"I... don't know."

"My ass!" she hissed. "You better tell me right now."

He sighed, looking at her deeply. She raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, so," he started. "When I returned the scuba gear on her dad's boat, she was sleeping on it. She spotted me, and she promised not to tell anything. But I eventually got fired, and I thought it was her fault, so I may have gotten a little carried away... Seems like I was wrong. But don't worry," he added quickly seeing Isis' look. "It doesn't matter anymore, huh?"

"... yeah," she replied, hardly convinced. "If you say so."

There was a moment of hesitation.

"So, Isis?" said then John B.

"What?"

"That's your real name? Isis?"

She scoffed.

"What, you didn't know my name??"

"I thought it was Izzy!"

She laughed out loud. He giggled too.

"Yeah," she resumed. "Actually it's Isis, but almost everybody mispronounces it."

He smiled.

"So you're named after the egyptian goddess?"

"Yes, well done!" she chuckled. "I never thought you would know that."

"I may suck in history class, but I have some basics."

"That's not even history class."

"Well, who cares, actually?"

She let out another chortle.

"Yeah... My mom always said my progenitor loved egyptian mythology. i can't believe my name comes from him..."

JB didn't understand why she looked so dull.

"You seem upset."

"I am."

"I thought you love your dad."

She looked up at him and gave a wistful smile.

"Scooter was not my real dad. Or should I say he was, but, I mean... I don't come from his balls."

"Oh... Okay, I got it. I didn't know, I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for," she assured. "To me, Scooter's always been my one and true father. He took care of me since I was a baby, and never considered the fact that I didn't share his DNA. He acknowledged me as his own daughter, and raised me as such."

John B smiled softly.

"That's very sweet."

She nodded. Tears were filling her eyes now.

"I- I know it doesn't look like it, but... I really miss him," she stuttered with a broken voice.

Without a word, John B got to her, sat by her side and gently wrapped his arms around her.

"I don't know what I'd do without you. Without you all. I don't want to overlook my grief, but... I'm not strong enough," she let out in a sorrowful breath.

"You can't say that, I forbid you!" he spoke out. "You're one of the strongest person I know. I'm dead serious, Iz, you don't realize... You're smart, and bold, and funny, and just so caring!"

Isis was still sobbing, but he kissed her forehead with tenderness.

"I'm just so happy you're hanging with us right now. And you don't have to feel guilty for anything. I know your dad is proud of you. And so am I! Cause you're so important to me. To all of us."

She was really moved by John B's words. He succeeded to make her smile through her tears.

"We got you, Iz. We'll be here for you as long as we have to. Do you trust me?"

She nodded, snuffling.

"Yeah," she replied in a low voice. "I trust you."

"You can, always. I'm here for you, peanut."

She couldn't help but giggle.

"I'm starting to like this nickname."

"Good," smiled JB. "Cause I'll never stop calling you that."

⭑━━━━⭑

i must admit i like their friendship a lot

hope you liked this chapter!!

send you all my love

☀️💓