Isaac

I am trying to focus on David's secretary, and apparently I'm making sense because she's smiling and responding. The woman is very pretty. She has short-cropped hair, wide brown eyes, a generous smile. Normally I might find her fluttering eyelashes and obvious interest flattering, but all I can think of is Beth. I feel her gaze boring into my back.

David steps out and wraps Beth in a bear hug. An irrational desire to punch David sweeps through me, and I am shocked by the way my body tenses possessively. My reaction isn't his fault. He has no way of knowing what Beth and I once were. It doesn't make sense to me either, reacting so strongly after this long. I guess she wreaked more havoc on my emotions than I realized.

Beth isn't mine, I remind myself, and she hasn't been for a very long time. Unless Beth told David about our engagement, which is very unlikely considering how private we were, there was no way he could know there had been a time when I wanted to be with this woman more than anything in the world.

Clearly David and Beth are close, and that bothers me. It shouldn't. They are friends after all, even if the way things ended between Beth and me makes friendship impossible. I feel an uneasy twinge. Surely what's going on between them is nothing more than friendship, not with Carrie and the kids in the picture. Both of them have too much integrity to do anything that would hurt them.

The door closes behind them. I check my watch. Time to go. I have a date with a gorgeous silver haired lady with a heart of gold.

I say goodbye to David's secretary, who seems a little disappointed I'm leaving so quickly, but my date with Gran can't wait. Knowing Gran, she's been slaving all day in the kitchen to cook the perfect meal for me. I wish she didn't push herself so hard for my sake, especially since I've lived off simple meals for years, but there's no stopping Gran when she's determined. I know the thing that will bring her the most happiness is if I relish every bite and lay out lavish compliments, and I fully intend to do just that. I can already imagine her flushed cheeks and beaming eyes as she watches to make sure I'm eating enough. Knowing that I'm warm and well fed and okay brings her more pleasure than anything, especially after Polly turned out to be such a royal screwup. I wish Gran didn't blame herself so much for that.

I glance at my watch and frown. I had planned to help Gran cook the meal, but my conversation with David had gone on a lot longer than I had expected. It had been good to catch up, even if I'm still not sure about his latest idea. Inviting the public to bring in any invention for a chance at distribution through Solere, well, he was likely to get some crazy stuff. Seems like a headache to have to sift through all that to find the diamonds in the rough (his words, not mine), but since I sold my portion of the company, it's not likely my opinion will hold much weight. I sit on the board, but I haven't been to a meeting in years. At least I won't have to do the sifting. All I would have to do is mentor, which could be gratifying, unless I get stuck with some prima donna who is impossible to work with. Still, this contest will draw attention to my charity work, and I am always looking for fresh ways to do that, even if it means possibly dealing with drama.

Besides, I owe David. The terms of the sale of Solere stipulated that one of us had to stay on as CEO, and since David was willing, I was able to pursue my dream to travel the world and see first hand how our products enhanced lives. Not that David's complaining. He's America's corporate wonder boy, even made it on the cover of a business magazine (although there is a small picture of me in the article if you're good at squinting). Beth is reduced to one paragraph, which blows my mind because she was so vital in those early days. I don't think she has any clue just how much she contributed. It wasn't just the name of the company she came up with, although that was important, but she doggedly pieced together the business plan that landed us funding. David, Heidi, and I all know we never would have been successful if it weren't for the groundwork Beth laid.

David's a billionaire now, while I'm just a lowly millionaire. That's what happens when you spend a decade investing versus giving away, but I don't care. I could get by on next to nothing if I had a roof over my head and a loving woman by my side. These are things that most people I know take for granted, but these are things I've denied myself the last ten years as I traveled to primitive places and lived in leaky buildings and never allowed my relationships (what few there were) to get too permanent.

I'm also back to keep an eye on Gran. Her doctor reached out to me, concerned that she'll work herself to the bone unless there's someone to watch out for her. She's had two cases of pneumonia this year already, and I want to make sure she doesn't do anything to undermine her health. Now that I'm back home, I wonder what was driving me all those years. Yes, I wanted to make a difference and I accomplished that, but why couldn't I ever let myself rest? Who was I trying to prove myself to? Beth? Her family? The kids at school? Polly? Was I trying to prove that I wouldn't end up like her? A burning mess that destroys everything in her orbit?

I am done trying to prove myself.

There's no one I need to impress anymore.

I leave the building, and as I walk to my car, my attention is drawn to Beth's blue BMW convertible. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised she's still driving it, but it catches me off guard. I pause, rest my hand on the hood, and am transported back in time as the memories flood in. We drove around everywhere together in that car. One trip in particular comes to mind. We were hiking Monument Mountain. We got soaked in a thunderstorm and waited it out in a cave. It was one of those moments every guy lives for, when the girl of your dreams gets sopping wet and it doesn't leave a whole lot to your imagination. Beth used to tease me that it was the moment I finally started to see her a woman. I let her think that, because the truth would probably scare her.

Truth is, I've been crazy about Beth since I first laid eyes on her. I fell for her standing on the outside of the circle, watching me curiously. Her hair was shorter then, cut to her shoulders. She didn't wear any makeup, and I found her barefaced beauty fascinating. Best of all were her eyes, sparkling and lovely, but also a little guarded and sad. There was just something about her. There's always been something about her that has always drawn me to her. But she was always a little guarded, and kept emphasizing our friendship. So I played it cool, not wanting to scare her away.

That hungry look in my eye in the caves, oh, it had been there plenty of times before she saw it. I had always been good at concealing it, but standing there, drinking in her beauty, there was no way I could have hid what I was feeling. After she caught me staring, I discovered I didn't want to hide it anymore. I would have kissed her in the cave, came close to doing it too, but I knew how much she wanted to go to the prom. She'd been hinting it at it for weeks, so I'd decided it would be more memorable if our first kiss happened on prom night. 

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First chapter from Isaac's POV. Anyone else dying to know what went down on prom night? All will be revealed next Tuesday.

If you enjoyed it, I'd appreciate if you take a moment to vote. 

Dedication goes out to @Monrosey, a dear friend here on Wattpad and a fellow Wattpadre. She's a fabulous writer. I highly recommend you check out her Strawberry Wine (which will be published a year from now) and The Secret, which has a character named Sarah named after me. Okay, not really, but it's fun to tease Darly :)

If you're interested, there's a pic of Beth's car in the media box above. The song included this week is a beautiful one that fits Beth perfectly, I think. I'm including a few of the lyrics below and I think you'll see what I mean:

Sometimes life just slips in through a back door and carves out a person who makes you believe its all true.
Now I've got you.
You're not what I asked for.
If I'm honest, I know I would give it all back
For a chance to start over and rewrite an ending or two.
For the girl that I knew.

When she's bruised, and gets used, by a man who can't love
And then she'll get stuck
And be scared of the life that's inside her
Growing stronger each day
til it finally reminds her
To fight just a little
To bring back the fire in her eyes
That's been gone
She used to be mine.