Table for Two (12 page)

With every picture and every article, it was more and more evident to Isabella that Parker lived a completely different life than the one that she led. Their lives were moving in completely different directions, and Bella was sure that his life was one that she would never be comfortable in.

So, no matter what feelings she thought she may have had for Parker, reason told her that it just wouldn't work out, and that she should stop wasting her time on him and move on. Her heart, however, was a completely different story.

*****

About a month into Parker's tour, Isabella sat at the all night Laundromat a couple of blocks down from her apartment. She was reading through one of the tabloids that Dylan had left in her office, since she had finished the book she brought with her before her clothes even went into the dryer. She was studying the picture of Parker and some blonde, focusing in on his pale skin and dark circles under his bloodshot eyes, rather than what the girl was doing to him.

Her cell phone ringing caused her to jump, and since it was the middle of the night, she answered it, even though she didn't recognize the number. "Hello?" She asked, her heart thumping loudly in her chest. She was always nervous when she got calls so late.

"Hey baby, miss me yet?" A deep voice purred in her ear.

"Parker?" She asked, with a smile on her face.

"The one and only." He confirmed. "Still doing laundry?"

"Yeah, I'm almost done though. But it's kind of funny you called, I was just looking at an interesting picture of you. How're you doing?" She kept looking at the picture, in a way it made her feel closer to him.

"I'm alright. So what's the interesting picture?" He asked, curious, but at the same time a little afraid since he knew how the tabloids were.

"Oh, you know, pretty much the same as every other one I see. Some girl either kissing you or looking like she's ready to go down on you." She told him, with an air of indifference. "You look like shit though. Are you feeling alright?"

Parker laughed at her honesty. "I'm fine, just a little tired trying to keep up with my schedule. Every time I feel like I'm getting too old for this shit, I keep thinking about the Stones or Aerosmith, and think that if they can do it, so can I."

"When's your next break?" She asked, noting that his voice even sounded tired.

"I think we have one coming up in a few weeks, but I'm not sure. All the dates and all the places are blending together." He told her. Then in a sarcastic voice he said, "But we got some great news. Since we're so in demand, and everyone's loving our show, we've had a few more dates added. We get to tour for at least three more weeks now!"

"And you sound so excited about that." She laughed.

"I'm used to it, but I was really hoping this wouldn't turn into a long tour. For the first time in my life, I really miss being at home."

Isabella didn't know what to say. She didn't want to tell him how much she missed him, especially since it didn't matter anyway. "Well, at least you have plenty of girls to keep you company."

Parker sighed. "I'm sure that the tabloids have made it look a lot worse than it actually is."

"Don't forget that I've seen it firsthand." Isabella reminded him.

"You saw me kiss a girl. That's all I've done, kiss the girls. I don't sleep with groupies anymore. And still, so many of them are claiming that I fathered their babies that I'm going to need to keep a DNA sample on record to refute their claims. I've lived and learned, and I'm not going there again." Parker was getting frustrated.

Isabella was hurt. She didn't know if he was talking about her when he mentioned the DNA sample or not, if he meant that he had learned from being with her. "I'm not a groupie." She choked out.

Parker could have smacked himself. "No! I wasn't talking about you Bella. I'm sorry. That was pretty insensitive, but I wasn't talking about you. I just meant that I've grown up, and the whole rock star thing is getting a little old. I love making music, but I'm so sick of the parties, and the girls that just want to be with me because of my fame and fortune. I know you're not a groupie, and I'd never put you into that classification."

"It's alright. I probably better go anyway." Isabella told him, saddened at the turn in their discussion.

"Wait, don't go yet." He pleaded. "I miss talking to you. I'm sorry if what I said hurt you. Just a little longer?"

"My clothes are almost done, but I guess I can talk for a few more minutes." She relented.

"So, you never answered me. Do you miss me yet?" He teased.

"Yeah, I kind of do, but don't read anything into that because it doesn't mean anything." She warned.

He laughed again. "Yeah right, I know you love me. I can't wait for the day when you realize it."

"It's not going to happen. Even if I had any sort of feelings for you, nothing would ever happen. It wouldn't work between us. We're too different and would end up hurting each other." She told him honestly.

"You say that now…" He told her, leaving it open ended, like a promise for the future.

The dryer next to Isabella buzzed. "Ok, I have to go now Parker. My clothes are done and I have to fold them before they wrinkle."

"Ah, my domestic goddess." He laughed. "Ok, I'll let you go, but I'm going to call you again soon."

"I'm not going to hold my breath." She laughed. "Get some sleep. I don't want you to keep looking like hell in the only pictures I see of you."

"Yes ma'am." He paused. "Good night Bella. I miss you."

She smiled. "Good night." She told him before hanging up and closing her phone. She missed him too, more than she wanted to admit.

The next few weeks passed rather normally for Bella. Work seemed to consume her, and she was getting less and less sleep because of it. They had to change the hours, to open an hour earlier and close an hour later to accommodate the increase in business. In return, her daily chores were all pushed back by an hour, giving her less sleep at night. She was also losing weight from being on the go all the time.

Her nights out with Thomas had become less frequent much to Sasha's dismay, and to Bunny's joy. They still came to the restaurant to eat often, and Bella always sat to talk to them for a few minutes each time.

On one of their normal nights, Bella was getting ready to tour the dining room, when Bunny peaked her head into the kitchen. She looked around and quickly spotted Bella giving some orders to the chefs as she untied her apron. Seeing some of her staff looking to the door, Bella shifted her eyes in that direction. Bunny hesitantly waved at her, feeling bad for disrupting her.

Isabella's face lit up. "Bunny, I was just coming out to see if you and Sasha were here." She smiled, walking to the door.

Bunny stepped in, a look of uncertainty on her face. "I was wondering if I could talk to you in private for a moment?"

Isabella frowned, hoping everything was ok. "Sure, let's go to my office." Bella put her hand on the older lady's back and led her down the hall to her office. Once they were seated with the door shut, Bella tilted her head in concern. "Is there something wrong Bunny?"

"I was hoping that you could tell me that." She replied softly. Bunny reached out and put her hands softly over the younger woman's hands. "Are you doing ok?"

Isabella was taken back. Since her parents were no longer alive, she hadn't had a mother figure in her life for quite some time, and Bunny's concern made her feel like she had a motherly presence in her life again. Tears prickled her eyes as she looked at the care written on Bunny's face.

"Thank you so much for your concern Bunny, but I am fine. I've just been working a lot of hours, and haven't had much time to myself lately." She smiled, trying to reassure not only Bunny, but herself too. It wasn't just the restaurant and chores that kept her up at night; it was her thoughts of Parker too. The pictures in the tabloids were really getting to her, and each time she saw them, he looked worse and worse.

"Well my dear, you need to promise me that you will start taking better care of yourself." The older woman smiled, though worry still showed in her eyes. "If there is anything I can ever do for you, please don't hesitate to ask. Maybe we can take a girl's day out and go shopping or something."

"That sounds wonderful Bunny. As soon as things slow down here, I will definitely take you up on that offer." Bella stood. As much as she wanted to ask Bunny about Parker, she just couldn't do it. "We better get you back out to Sasha. She might think I put you to work or something."

Bunny laughed. "As if…" She linked arms with Isabella when she made her way out from behind her desk, and all Bunny could feel was bone. It seemed that the girl had lost more weight than she realized. Her uniform did a good job at hiding it.

Later that night, Bunny made a call to her son, hoping that there was something he could do. She knew there was something between the two of them; she just didn't know exactly what it was. But she saw the looks that Bella and Parker exchanged every time they were around each other, and she also noticed the challenging looks that Thomas had thrown at Parker during the charity events.

Parker answered his phone on the second ring. "Mother? Is everything ok?" He asked, a bit worried. His mother never called him when he was on tour. She didn't agree with the kind of lifestyle he led on tour, so she chose to avoid it. If that meant not talking to her son for a couple of months, then that was what she would need to do.

"I'm not sure Parker…Its Isabella- " She started to tell him, before he interrupted.

"Bella!? Is she ok? Mother, did something happen to her?" He asked impatiently, nerves and adrenaline rushing through his body.

Bunny almost smiled to herself, hearing the care and concern in his voice. So she was right after all, there was some feelings between them. "I don't think it’s anything major, I think she is just working herself too hard. She looks exhausted, and has lost so much weight. I'm worried that she may end up in the hospital from exhaustion if she keeps up like this."

"She did sound tired the last time I talked to her, but she promised to start taking it easier." He told his mother, not thinking about what he was implying, or opening himself to a long list of questions.

Bunny raised an eyebrow. "When did you talk to her last?"

"It's been a while mother, probably too long. I think it was about three weeks ago, but I'm not exactly sure." He rubbed his forehead. "What can I do to help?"

"I'm not sure dear. Maybe you should give her another call, try to talk her into slowing down a bit." She suggested, happy that she had made the call to her son.

"I was planning on calling her soon anyway, things just get so hectic on the road." She heard him put his hand over the phone and talk to someone in the background. "I have to run Mother, but I will call her to see if there's anything I can do."

"Thank you dear. I do hope that you get through to her. And I hope that you are doing ok as well." She told him. "I love you son."

"You too Mother. Bye." He hung up the phone, his thoughts on Bella and how he could help her out. But as his manager dragged him through the concert venue, his thoughts of Isabella were lost, and were replaced by his mental preparation for his concert.

Isabella fought to keep her eyes open as she sat in the laundromat. She watches as her clothes spun in the dryer, around and around, almost mesmerizing her into slumber. Just as his head dropped forward, a loud shrilling noise jolted her. She looked all around, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. She located her phone and flipped it open, not even looking at the call display.

"Hello gorgeous." A familiar voice purred into her ear.

"Parker?" She asked, surprised that he had called her again.

"Good guess. I'm glad there isn't another guy calling you on laundry night, calling you gorgeous." He laughed into the phone.

Bella's stomach flipped. She wondered if he really meant that or was just saying it out of conversation and making a joke. "Nope, just you." She told him, realizing that she sounded a little breathy. "How's everything going?"

"Not too bad, same old, same old. What about you?" He asked, not wanting to tell her that his mother had called, worried about her.

"The same, just working. We've been busier than I ever imagined. I think I owe most of that to your mother. I think she tells everyone that she meets on the street that they have to come into my restaurant and try the food." Bella laughed.

Parker picked up on how hollow her laugh sounded. He could hear over the phone how tired she was, and he knew exactly what she needed. "Listen, I had a thought, and you really can't tell me no, because you owe me."

"I owe you?" Bella asked, started to get annoyed with him. How could he think that she owed him anything?

"Well, last I saw you, I told you that it was rude of you to walk out on me and not use the backstage passes that I gave you. Not only that, but you went to those charity events with Thomas, and never even gave me a chance. So the way I look at it, you owe me." He explained.

"First of all, I told you that I did go backstage, you were just preoccupied…" She reminded him.