A second chance...At first love (Second Love Series Book 1) (13 page)

Izzie

She cried the whole way home, she couldn't believe he would keep something like this from her.  She didn't know what to do.  When she got home, she curled into a ball on her bed and cried herself to sleep.  She wasn't sure how long she slept but when she woke up she had thirty texts messages and eight missed calls and six voice mails from Ellington. 
"Please talk to me," "I'm sorry," "I love you," I need you," "Please don't leave me,”
were the tone of the messages.  The voice mail messages were much the same.  She was so confused. For the next few days she went on auto pilot.  She went to practice or to her performances.  She ate, showered, and watched TV all without any real emotion. She felt lost.  A week went by and she hadn't even talked to Teddy.  Ellington showed up to her apartment everyday but she wouldn't buzz him up.  He was distraught but he refused to give up.  The following Sunday morning, Izzie was still sleeping when her phone cell phone rang, she almost ignored it, but she looked at the screen and saw it was Mrs. DeSantis. 

Oh my goodness! It’s Sunday!
She thought.

"Hello Mrs. DeSantis."

"Hello dear. How are you? I missed you last week.  I figured that you were off with that new beau of yours and I didn't want to disturb you, but when I didn't hear from you all week I started to get worried. I just wanted to call and check on you."

"Oh, um...I'm ok, Mrs. DeSantis."

"You don't sound ok, Izzie.  What's going on?"

"No, really, I'm fine."

"Isabella Chloe Bunton, you know I know you better than that.  What's wrong sweetie?"

Izzie started crying as she told Mrs. DeSantis about her conversation with Ellington last week.

"I've been numb all week. I can't bring myself to look at him, let alone talk to him.  I just can't, not right now."

"Then when Izzie?  You know I love you like you were my own daughter, right?"

"Yes ma'am, I do."

"Good, because I want you to listen to me very closely.  What he told you, what happened is horrible.  Absolutely awful. It's a fate that I would never wish on anyone, whether mother, child, lover, whatever.  You are right to be upset about the fact that he didn't tell you but you can't hold something against him that happened fifteen years ago. I know what happened reminds you of Timothy.  Izzie, it wasn't him.  He wasn't the one that hurt Timothy.  And it sounds to me like he has changed his life around and become a totally different person.  Am I right?”

"Yes ma'am. He is a good person."

"Ok great! Now let me ask, do you love him?"

"Well, umm...I...I don't know."

"Sweetie, Timothy has been gone for fifteen years. I have never expected you to not to find love with someone else.  Just because you do love someone else, it doesn't lessen the love that you had for my son.  Do you understand me?"

"Yes ma’am."

"So, do you love him?"

"Yes ma'am, I do.”

"Then you need to talk to him.  Give him a chance. People really can change.  If you feel bad right now, imagine how he feels.  He lives with what he did every single day.  I never told you this Izzie, because I knew how sad you were about Timothy, but about a year after the accident, I received a letter in the mail from the young man that was driving the night of the accident.”

“You did?”

“Yes, he wrote to tell me how sorry he was.  He said he knew sorry could never cover my loss but he truly meant it.  He said he dreamt about Timothy every night.  He explained that after the crash he got out of his vehicle and tried to help Tim but it was too late.  He also told me about himself before the accident.  He was going into his senior year at the University.  He's the oldest of three and the first one in his family to go to college. He worked his way through school and he was out that night celebrating a friend's birthday.  He made a stupid choice and it cost Timothy his life and he would forever be sorry for that.  It took me a few more months before I was able to write him back, but I did.  I wrote him and told him that I forgave him.”

“Did you ever hear from him again?”

“Yes, I did.  Right after he received my letter.  He thanked me for writing back and more importantly he thanked me for my forgiveness. We´ve been in touch a few times.  While he served his time for vehicular manslaughter he finished his degree in marketing and when he was released he went on to get a degree in para medicine.  He said he wanted to devote his life to saving others. He knew it would never bring Timothy back, but he hoped to make a difference.  He also said that my forgiveness meant more to him then I could ever imagine. It wasn't an easy thing to do, Isabella but it needed to be done, not just for him but for myself.  Izzie, Ellington made an awful, terrible choice that night that cost everyone involved but he is a different person.  You need to talk to him”

“Mrs. DeSantis, why did you never tell me that before?"

“Izzie, sweetheart, Timothy's death was hard on all of us. By the time I got the first letter you were already off at college and trying to move on with life.  You had a hard enough time as it was getting over it.  Telling you would have just brought it all back.  You need to let him go sweetie.  It’s ok. Forgive your friend and move on, it doesn't mean you love Timothy any less.”  Izzie started crying again.

“Thank you, Mrs. DeSantis.”

“You're very welcome.  I love you dear.”

“I love you too.”

Izzie contemplated what to do next.  She got out of bed and jumped in the shower.  She let the hot water run over her to help her clear her mind. When she reached for her loofah, she caught sight of her charm bracelet and started to cry, not tears of grief this time, they were tears of release.  She remembered the love she had for Timothy, a love she never thought she would find again until she met Ellington.  She knew what she had to do.  She got dressed and left her apartment.  She wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but she knew what she had to do. 

Ellington

Ellington had a late start that morning.  He had been sleeping even less than usual over the past week.  He woke up, grabbed his phone, did some light research, checked email then just laid there.  He wasn't sure what to do about Isabella.  She wasn't returning his messages or phone calls.  She wouldn’t open her door, he was at a loss.  He had just stepped out of the shower when his doorbell rang.  He wrapped a towel around his waist and opened the door.

"Isabella!"

"Hi Ellington." she said sheepishly

"What are you doing here? I mean, I'm so happy to see you. I've missed you so much." He leaned in to hug her but she put her hand on his chest to stop him.

"Not yet ok?" he nodded.  "I've missed you too Ellington and I'm sorry.  I won't say I over reacted but I am sorry that I didn't give you a chance to tell me everything.  I spoke to Mrs. DeSantis, Timothy’s mother, this morning and she helped me to put some things into perspective. I need to ask you something?"

"Yes, baby, anything."

"You said you are trying to make things better, what does that mean?"

Ellington told her about the AbSam foundation he started, how he paid for all of Abby and Sam's expenses from emergency services to funeral and burial.  It was his way of taking responsibility for the damage he had done.  Initially the family didn't want anything at all from the spoiled rich kid, but eventually over time they accepted it.  His family of course knew about AbSam and the expenses but they didn't know he still went to visit Abby and Sam every year on his birthday, only one person knew, Abby's mother, until he told Isabella.

"Thank you for telling me." Isabella said.

"Baby, I want you to ask me anything and I will answer all of your questions, but I'm standing here in a towel and I'm starting to get cold, I need to change." He said as he walked to his bedroom.  She followed.

"Stop..."

"Stop what baby?"

"Stop, don't get dressed."

"What? Why?"  She looked him over from head to toe. "Oh, really?" he said.

"Yes, really" she said as she reached for his towel and let it drop to the floor.  He stood there, damp and naked. She took in all of his beauty.  She never thought she took it for granted but she realized she did.  Tall, tan, toned, gorgeous and hers.  She walked closer to him and dropped to her knees.  She took his manhood in her hands and kissed the tip, then took him into her mouth.  It was so warm and wet, and he hardened at the sensation.  She took her hand and cupped his balls and with the other she stroked his shaft while she took him in and out of her mouth. She felt so good.  He leaned his head back and let out a moan.  She continued to suck and lick his shaft, and then she moved lower and licked his sac.  She took it in her mouth, so warm and wet, while she continued to stroke him.  His knees started to shake.  Their eyes met, she smiled.

"Oh my God, Iz, you feel so good."

She took him back in her mouth and tasted something salty.

"Mmm, I love the way you taste, she said."

He moaned again, he loved watching her. He relished when she did this.  It wasn't that she didn't or wouldn't do it, he just never asked her.  Unlike in the past, he was concerned with what she thought of him and he only wanted her to do it because she wanted to. 

"Iz, baby I'm about to cum."  He tried to pull away; she grabbed him by his ass and pulled him in so he couldn't move.

"Iz...baby...I'm about..." He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before he unloaded and she swallowed all he had to offer. 

"Damn, baby."

"Shh..." she interrupted him.  She pushed him back so that he sat on the bed.  She took off her long trench coat and his eyes got wide, she was wearing lacy black panties and matching bra, for a split second he flashed back briefly to that time Fiona surprised him in a similar way.  He laughed to himself, she was nothing compared to his Isabella.

"Damn Iz."

"I told you shh..." she took off her panties and shoved them in his mouth.  He smirked at her sudden need for control, the scent of her filling his head, he hardened again.  She pushed him back, so that he was lying back on the bed.  She crawled in between his legs and kissed his stomach.  She crawled up the bed, kissing him as she went.  She stopped at his lips, took her panties out and kissed him deep while straddling his stomach.  He grabbed her hips and pulled her until she sat directly on his mouth, he moaned again.

Damn she is so fucking sexy,
he thought.  He used his tongue to explore her, while his hands fondled her breasts.  She rode his tongue until she climaxed.  She rolled over and laid down exhausted.

"Oh no baby, I'm not done with you yet," he said.  He rolled her on to her stomach, spread her legs and entered her from behind, she moaned deep into the bed.  He held both of her hands and kissed the back of her neck as he stroked her from behind.  She was so wet, so warm.  There was no place he wanted to be more than right here, inside of his beautiful Isabella, the woman he loved.  They made love four more times before they both passed out from bliss and exhaustion.  Later that afternoon, they got up and were getting in the shower.

"I'd like to take you somewhere if that is ok with you?" he asked

"Sure baby, where are we going?"

"You'll see."  He said.  Isabella grabbed a pair of her jeans, a tank top, a sweater and some boots from the clothes she kept in the closet.  Ellington grabbed a sweater, khakis and loafers.  He called for his driver and told him a location, and they headed out.  He held her hand the whole drive, so grateful that she was back.  They felt the car slow and he knew they had arrived.  Before the driver could open the door, he pulled her to him.

"Izzie, I wanted to introduce you to someone," he said.

Izzie hadn't been paying attention during the drive because she had been curled up under Ellington, so when he said that she popped up to see where they were.  It was a cemetery, the cemetery where Abby and Sam were buried.  They got out and walked over to two large headstones.

"Hello Abby and Sam, I stopped by because I'd like to introduce you to Isabella." 

They sat in the cemetery for a little while and just talked.  He told her how after the funeral he reached out to Abby's mother.  She was furious with him, she refused to have anything to do with him for many years and he completely understood.  A few years after the accident she came to the cemetery while he was on one of his visits.  She knew he came every year.  They sat and talked for a long time.  She knew about not only his yearly visits but the AbSam foundation.  She admitted that when he first set it up, she thought he was doing it for the publicity, but she watched him and followed the foundation’s progress.  She was surprised that he never sought recognition for the things the organization had done in the community.  She appreciated that.  She also told him that she forgave him.  He said he remembered how hard he cried when she told him that.  She already knew about AbSam but he told her about some of the upcoming projects that were in the works and about some things she didn't know the organization had done.  He said that he thought about that day often.  It started to cool off and get dark so they said goodbye to Abby and Sam and went back to Ellington's.