Table for Two (11 page)

"Isabella?" A deep voice called out from down the hall, breaking the two apart.

Isabella's hand flew to her mouth, touching her lips, the lips that had just been connected to Parker in such a divine kiss. "Oh, shit."

Parker laughed softly. "It's okay, just tell him that you got lost and went into the wrong room." Bella nodded, leaving so much unsaid between the two of them. "I'll see you at the concert tomorrow night."

Isabella stood there, and watched him disappear through a door at the other side of the room. She was torn…follow after Parker, or go to Thomas. In the end, fear took over and she went to Thomas.

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you. Bunny said you went to the bathroom and was worried that you'd gotten lost." Thomas said, reaching out for her.

"I did. I thought she said second door on the right, but she must have said fourth door." She continued down the hall toward the fourth door. "Excuse me." She said, slipping inside.

Thomas waited outside the bathroom for her to finish, then escorted her back to the party, to make sure she didn't get lost again. And for the rest of the night, he didn't leave her side or let her anywhere near Parker. But what Thomas didn't know was that even though he kept her away from Parker physically, after that kiss, Bella's mind was on Parker for the rest of the night.

*****

The next day, Isabella called Jason as soon as she woke up. "Hey bitch, you have plans for tonight?" She asked him when he answered the phone.

"No, but I'm not helping you clean your bathrooms. That's what tonight is, isn't it? I know it's not laundry night or kitchen night." He said, somewhat distracted.

"Well, you're right, it's bathroom night, but I wasn't going to ask you to help me with it. I was going to ask you to go to a concert with me. But if that's how you're going to be…" She told him, teasing.

"Concert? What concert? The one of the stud you're constantly drooling over now? And how much will it cost me?" He asked, now fully interested.

"It's Parker's concert, and I haven't been drooling over him. We're friends now, that's it. He gave me two free tickets, and who better to take than my best friend?" She replied.

"What about Tommy Boy? You two have been rather cozy lately." He questioned, rolling his eyes. He still fully believed that Thomas was a 'closet queen'.

"Um, no, I'd rather have you there with me. So are you going to just say yes, or are you going to make me beg?" She asked, starting to lose her patience.

"As much as I love hearing you beg, I love seeing hot, sweaty guys up on stage even more. So, I'll go." He told her with a big smile. He was glad that she was getting out a little more lately. It had definitely improved her mood.

"Great. I'll pick you up at 7:00 then. Be ready and waiting." She warned before hanging up the phone. She looked at her watch and tried to plan out the rest of her day. Maybe she could squeeze in a quick bathroom cleaning before getting ready for work, but then she'd have to leave work early too, so that she could get ready and go to the concert. She sighed. Another crazy day.

*****

Isabella and Jason made their way into the huge auditorium, already packed with thousands and thousands of screaming fans. As they made their way to the very front row, she noticed a lot of women giving them dirty looks, envious that she had better seats than they did. She just smiled. If only they knew…

Jason scanned the crowd, looking to see if anyone peaked his interest. His eyes locked on a man, and immediately he elbowed Isabella in the ribs.

"Ow!" She yelled. "What the hell was that for?"

"I'm going to go talk to him. He's going to be my new boyfriend." Jason told her, pointing to a man, who in Isabella's eyes looked very straight.

"Jase, what makes you think he's even gay?" She asked, not wanting her friend to make an ass of himself, or even worse, get pummeled if the guy wasn't gay.

"Look at his hat. It has a rainbow on it. Hello!" He yelled to her and rolled his eyes, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Isabella looked more closely at the guy's hat and nearly died laughing. "Jase, have you ever heard of Pink Floyd?" She asked him.

"They're a band, right?" He asked and when Bella only nodded her head, he continued, not enjoying all of her laughter. "What the hell do they have to do with this?"

"Oh, honey." Isabella tried to get herself under control. "That may be a rainbow, but it's not a 'gay rainbow'." She told him. "That was a symbol on the cover of one of their albums. It means the guy likes Pink Floyd, not that he's gay."

Jason narrowed his eyes, not really understanding, then his eye brows shot up in surprise when he finally comprehended. "No shit! I almost made a big mistake then, huh?"

Isabella nodded and laughed again, just as the lights dimmed and the opening band came onto the stage to play. They were pretty good, no one she had ever heard of before, but they had promise. She was starting to get antsy by the end of their set, impatient for Parker to get started. She'd never seen him perform before, but had heard his songs and couldn't wait to hear him live.

Finally, he took the stage. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. He was always full of energy and confidence, but when he was on stage, it was so much more raw and intense. He had such a magnetism when he performed, it was no wonder he was so popular and successful.

Isabella looked around the crowd and noticed that most of the women were singing along, and a lot were crying. The guys were jumping around to the music, pumping their fists and singing too. Everyone looked like they were enjoying the show, and it was no mystery why. She turned her attention back to the stage, and allowed herself to be captivated by Parker's presence.

After the show, Bella and Jason showed the VIP passes to the security guards and were led back to a large room with a bar and buffet set up. The room had a lot of people in it already, and more filtered through after Bella and Jason got there. But there was only one person she was intent on seeing, the one person who had managed to capture her full attention not too long ago.

But she hadn't found him yet. The room was full of half-naked women, and a lot of questionable looking men. It was a completely different crowd than Bella was used to, and she was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable. She knew that there would be a lot of groupies, but she wasn't prepared for exactly how many there would be.

Making their way further into the room, Isabella finally found the one that she was looking for. He was the center of attention, all eyes were on him. He was laughing at something that someone had said, looking truly happy. He had a beer in one hand, and what looked like a cigarette or joint in his other hand. She hesitated for a moment, not sure if she should approach him. Just when she was close enough to be able to say something and get his attention, someone, a woman, pushed her out of the way from behind and went up to Parker. The tall blonde, with mile long legs to die for, walked right up to Parker and shoved her tongue down his throat. Bella watched as Parker pulled her onto his lap, and rested one hand on her ass, and one on her cheek.

She'd seen enough. She didn't belong there, she didn't belong in this life of Parker's at all. That was very clear to her now. Isabella turned, grabbed Jason's hand, and left the room. Before long, she was at her apartment, in her bathroom, scrubbing the hell out of the toilet and cursing herself for being so naïve.

Isabella was rinsing the suds out of the large garden tub in her bathroom when she thought she heard a knocking sound. She turned the water off and listened closer. This time, she heard it, but it was more of a pounding.

She ran to the door, hoping that the person about to break down her door didn't wake her neighbors. She threw the door open, not bothering to look through the peep hole to see who it was, too intent on quieting the person down.

"Parker!" She exclaimed, pulling him into her apartment and shutting the door behind him. His eyes were a little glazed over, and he was slightly stumbling. "What're you doing here?"

"Why didn't you come back stage tonight?" He asked, dropping onto her couch. "I think it's rude that I invited you, and you didn't even show up on my last night in town for a while." He told her with a mixture of disappointment and amusement.

Bella could tell that he was slightly inebriated, but not enough that he didn't know what he was saying or doing. She just stared at him for a minute, not sure whether to tell the truth or not. "I was there." She admitted, not really caring if he knew the truth. She didn't really owe him anything, and they probably wouldn't ever see each other again after he left. "You looked like you were busy though, so we left."

"I was waiting for you." He told her in an almost whine.

She couldn't help it, she let the short, indignant chuckle out of her mouth. "No, I really don't think you were waiting for me. It looked to me like you were fairly pre-occupied."

"Would you just stop skirting the issue and tell me what's wrong?" Parker was starting to get annoyed.

Isabella shook her head. "This is so stupid!" She muttered, running her hands through her hair in frustration. "You want to know what's wrong? I was there tonight. I don't know what I was thinking, but I was so excited to be there, stupid, naïve person that I am. And the first thing I saw when I found you was some girl sitting on your lap, with your tongue shoved down her throat, fondling her for the whole room to see. Did it bother me? Yes! Do I know why? No! All I know is that it was wrong for me to be there, so I left. And now I'd like you to leave." Though she had started out calm but frustrated, she ended up yelling at him.

Parker looked up at her, shocked. He couldn't deny that it had happened, because it had. But he had no idea that Isabella had been there to see it. And worse, he had no idea that it would bother her. Wasn't she seeing Thomas, after all? Parker stood from the couch. "I have to leave anyway. My tour bus is waiting on me around the corner and we're leaving as soon as I get back on." He said, somewhat solemnly and walked to the door with Bella following him. "I'm sorry about what you saw tonight, but while I'm gone, maybe you should try to figure out why it upset you so much."

Isabella looked at the floor and nodded. She knew that he was right, and she hated that. Trying to find the reason she was upset would be a great idea, but not something that was easy to do. "Have a good tour, and be careful." She told him, finally looking back up at him. She couldn't dwell on all the thoughts swimming through her head at the time.

"Thanks, I will." He smiled. "Don't work yourself to death while I'm gone. Take a break to enjoy life once in a while, ok?" He smiled at her and watched her nod her head, tears forming in her eyes. He took her face in his hands, rubbing his thumbs softly over her cheeks. "Hey, I'll be back before you know it, and then you'll be wishing that I'd leave again." He told her with a small smile on his face. A tear rolled down her cheek, and he leaned in and kissed it away. For good measure, he kissed her other cheek too. Then before either of them knew what was happening, their lips connected, opening to allow them access of the other's mouth, their tongues passionately dancing together. They were both lost in the kiss, only aware of the sweet sensation coursing through their bodies.

Reality hit them like a tidal wave though, when Parker's cell phone began to ring. Isabella backed away, quickly wiping her mouth, and again running her hands through her hair. Parker answered his phone with frustration, then flipped it shut after a few, brief words.

"I have to go." He told her apologetically.

"I know." Bella nodded.

"I'll see you soon." He told her, touching her cheek again lightly. Before she knew it, he had disappeared out her door, though she could still almost feel the touch of his hand on her face.

She sat down on her couch, feeling her exhaustion engulf her. Not only was she going to have to figure out why it bothered her to see Parker kissing that woman, but she also needed to try to understand how she could hate him one minute, then have completely opposite feelings the next. And the kiss? It was all too much for her to think about. She needed a good night's sleep before she could make heads or tails of any of it.

*****

Over the next few weeks, the restaurant seemed to be busier than ever, keeping Isabella constantly on the go. And on top of more customers, she was also busy training her new staff members and opening the banquet room to the everyday, casual diners. She was finally able to fall back into all of her daily routines, with minimal interruptions.

On occasion, she would go to the theater with Thomas, or attend a charity function with him, but for the most part, her life was back to normal, and for that, she was grateful.

Her relationship with Dylan was getting back on track too. For a while, it seemed as though he was getting annoyed with her, and her lack of presence at the restaurant. But ever since Parker's tour started, their friendship was mending.

The one thing that bothered Isabella about Dylan lately though, was his never ending need to bring gossip papers to work with him. Every trashy magazine he bought had a story about Parker in it. Most had his picture displayed on the front, exposing his latest flavor of the day. A lot of the girls looked the same, and they were always in some sort of compromising position. Dylan always made sure that Bella saw the pictures, and often read the articles to her. Little by little, it was eating away at her. She knew that Dylan and Parker weren't the best of friends, but Dylan didn't need to keep pointing out how wrong Parker was for her.