by Nanette Fox
Chapter 26
Beginnings
Julia and Rebecca were sitting going through a bundle of forms from the previous day and were pleased to look up and see Isabella arrive smiling. Izzy was dressed in a man’s navy shirt over her jeans. Rebecca whispered, “She didn’t come home last night.” Tim arrived not long after her and seemed in good spirits. Julia was relieved.
Rebecca asked, “Busy day again Tim?”
"Hmm this morning definitely, if I have time this afternoon, I will give Izzy a hand with some unpacking of all the stock. Rebecca, I have to head out for a couple of hours to a site. There is a special delivery coming for Izzy can you make sure she gets it straight away. Izzy came out to where he was standing, trying to look business-like with a bundle of papers for Rebecca.
He winked at her and said, “That shirt never looked so good.” She blushed, and her friends twittered. Tim almost jogged to his desk, grabbed a file, and rushed back out with the SUV keys, kissing Izzy on the cheek as he went past, “Sorry ladies running late.”
Rebecca grabbed Izzy’s hand and asked, “So everything is good?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“You didn’t come back to the townhouse last night?”
“I think if you look on your phone, I messaged you, but it was quite late about eleven when I decided to stay.”
“Rebecca, do you want to come shopping with me at lunch?” asked Izzy.
“Why Izzy, sure no drama?”
“Buying anything special?”
“I have to replace that really expensive black lacy underwear?”
Julia piped up, “I don’t want to know all the details but why, did he rip your clothes off?”
“No, I couldn’t get his attention, so I stripped off and went swimming in them, and I think I have wrecked that set?”
“You spend an absolute fortune on matching lacy underwear, why don’t you buy yourself some day to day stuff that you can go swimming in,” suggested Julia.
“No, l like beautiful underwear, it makes me feel sexy, my body is so skinny and bony it makes me feel better about myself.” They both just looked at her, both thinking to themselves ‘yes you are thin but you’re beautiful’. Izzy just looked back at them and put on her serious working cap, “I have to go to the storeroom and work on the deliveries.”
“We will have to assess the displays and rework quite a lot of them over the next week.”
“Perhaps Monique could take some photos with the iPad, so I can start working on display design plans.”
Julia looked at Rebecca and said, ‘Well, I don’t think we are going to get any more details ’about last night’ from either of them, let’s just get to work.’
Early afternoon, Tim came back into the office, he was looking tired but relaxed. Julia was sitting at the desk surrounded by mountains of paperwork and a very long ‘to do’ list. Rebecca was with customers in the gallery. “Hey Jules, did that delivery arrive for Izzy?”
“Hmm, it did, bit of a romantic, aren’t you?”
“Maybe,” he was grinning.
“So, tickets to the theatre, a first night, that musical she wants to see, in a box full of heart shaped chocolates, interesting baby bro, I will have to tell my Antonio…”
“Jules where’s Izzy?”
“In the storeroom, actually I haven’t seen or heard from her for an hour or so.”
“Okay, I’ll go and find her.” Tim went bounding off down the warehouse to go through to the storeroom.
It was just as well he had wanted to find Izzy as he found her in a little heap on the floor near some shelving. “Izzy, what happened?”
“I was climbing the shelving, and I tumbled back.”
“Why were you climbing the shelving, there is a perfectly good ladder, a proper ladder over there?”
"Then I would have had to move all these boxes, she gestured to the ones surrounding where she was sitting.
“So, are you hurt?”
“No, but I had this flashback of me tumbling down some stairs and I was trying to remember that is why I am sitting here.”
“I can’t remember and it’s bugging me.”
“Well actually my ankle hurts a little, but I think I just twisted it.”
Tim crouched down and said gently, “Let me have a look at your ankle?” She stuck her leg out and he looked at her ankle, there was no swelling obvious, and she could still easily rotate her foot. Tim decided there was no major damage, and she was more puzzled by what she remembered. “So, do you want me to sit here and help you remember?”
“No, it’s okay.”
“Alright then I have some plans I should work on so if you need me, I’ll be at my desk.” Her head nodded but her lovely blue eyes wore a faraway expression.
She looked up at him and said, “I don’t think it is a good memory.”
He crouched down again beside her and said, “Come and look for us, one of us, well I guess preferably me, if you want to talk about it, okay?”
Tim felt a little guilty leaving her in the storeroom as he had promised to try and help her with unpacking and sorting out the new stock to be displayed and the stock to be held back. As most of the gallery stock was ‘one off’ it was a delicate balancing act to choose what to display and what to keep back. He hoped she’d stop worrying about whatever it was she was trying to remember and continue working. The others were all a little stretched, and she just needed to get her head together and get her work done. Tim was under pressure to get some plans out to a builder for quoting, so he needed to spend a few hours working on them. He had this troubling feeling that he was becoming overwhelmed again with everything. He had to cut himself some slack and stop trying to be ‘Mr Perfect’, his dad had always advised him to try to find some down time. Tim found it extremely hard to do. He needed to talk to Paul or even his best friend Simon.
It had been stressful making the final cut with Vicky. She kept ringing and pleading to get back together. Then sorting things out with Izzy hadn’t been an easy exercise. He wanted to be with her so much; David always seemed to be in his face. He felt exhausted and emotionally drained, so he just hoped Izzy could work out her own issues this afternoon.
Three hours later, after umpteen phone call interruptions, Tim was finished. He breathed a sigh of relief and was now rushed to get out the door to the builder. He was gathering everything up and doing his usual ‘general’ tidy so that his space was immaculate, and it would set him in the right frame when he next walked in. Izzy hobbled up to him. “My ankle is bothering me, but I think it’s just sprained, I’ll go home now and put some ice on it.”
“Can you give me a cuddle, I remembered what it was, when I tumbled down the stairs, it wasn’t good, so I am not going to dwell on it, I just need a cuddle,” she said holding out her arms. “Just a quick cuddle, cos I can see you’re rushing to get somewhere,” she looked up at him pleading.
“Come here silly,” he said softly. “I am so sorry, but I am a bit rushed.” Tim gave her the requested cuddle, kissed her quickly and was away out the door.
Finally, at home after what seemed a long day, he sat in one of the family room lounges, stretching his long frame out and after grunting a ‘hello’ to his mother dozed off, falling into quite a deep sleep. Ruth stood looking at her youngest son with her hand held to her heart. Sleeping he looked at peace. He had looked totally spent when he had come in. He was so determined to make a success of establishing his career, and he was working so very hard, he was ‘a tightly wound spring’. She wished he didn’t have the girlfriend dramas. Vicky wasn’t making the break-up easy; Ruth had overheard the tearful phone calls. She had been alarmed when Izzy had turned up looking for Tim last night. Ruth was fairly sure Izzy had stayed over. Maybe that would settle Tim if a relationship started with Izzy as she knew that was what he had his heart set on. She knew he hadn’t been sleeping as she had found him wandering around the kitchen several times in the wee small hours. She couldn’t remember when he’d
actually sat down to eat. It worried her immensely. She decided she wouldn’t disturb him but planned to cook a meal when he woke up. Ruth was discovering Tim was completely different to ‘parent’ than David and Julia. Tim had relied on his father as a sounding board; Ruth had barely been aware of his life and troubles when Marco was alive.
Ruth rushed to the door when the bell rang for fear of waking his sleeping form. On the doorstep was Izzy, she looked happier certainly than yesterday but nervous. “Tim organized a special delivery for me today and I haven’t really thanked him.”
“Izzy, he is in the family room stretched out sound asleep, and I don’t want to wake him.”
“It’s okay Ruth, I don’t want to wake him either,” she blushed, “I was here last night, and he didn’t really sleep properly.”
“Would you mind if I wait with you a little bit and if he wakes up, I can thank him, if not I’ll just go home.” Her beautiful blue eyes pleaded. Ruth looked at her and assessed that it was important if she could thank him. Ruth invited her in and took her through to the kitchen. She noticed her limping and questioned what had happened. Izzy explained she had twisted her ankle at work; she’d iced it for a bit and was wearing an ankle brace.
The two women sat at the kitchen bench sharing a pot of chamomile tea. “Mum Ruth I remembered something today which bothered me. It’s in the past and I don’t actually remember when it was. I was being really silly and cutting corners at work, I climbed on the shelving in the storeroom instead of moving some boxes and getting the ladder.”
“Izzy, you should take more care, is that how you hurt your ankle, did you fall?”
“It was more of a tumble and for some reason it made me remember Isaac throwing me down some stairs.”
“Bad, bad memory, don’t you think Mum Ruth?” Holding the teapot in mid-air, Ruth just looked at the young women beside her and clucked in sympathy. She had absolutely no idea how to respond to Izzy.
She patted Izzy’s hand and said, “It’s in the past, time to move forward.”
Izzy nodded, “That’s what I thought.”
Ruth said, “Would you like to stay to tea if Tim wakes up?”
“Mum Ruth can I just stay anyway, and you and I have tea?”
“Hmm,” said Ruth, “I think that I’d like that.”
“Good, can I help you? I am not very good in the kitchen, but I can try.”
“Why don’t you make the salad? I am planning just to grill or barbeque. Is there anything special you eat these days?”
“I don’t really like mushrooms, but otherwise I eat everything.”
“Well then Izzy you are easily pleased.”
“Did you cook much when you were married to Isaac?”
Izzy shook her head, “No, I wasn’t allowed to make a mess in the kitchen.”
“We had a cook mostly and all our dinner parties were catered, then the cleaners would come.” Ruth stood at the open door of the fridge and looked at Isabella in shock. She looked at the beautiful face and realized for a woman of 33, she was really very inexperienced at life.
Ruth pondered how she had managed to make such a success of the gallery, but then remembered she worked at Museums and galleries overseas as a curator, very well-known and prestigious ones. Ruth admired her lovely sea green cotton cardigan she was wearing with flowing white cotton slacks; she was very colour conscious. Izzy replied that she wasn’t sure whether she should wear it completely buttoned-up or undone just a little to reveal a hint of cleavage. She then giggled and said, “The cleavage I haven’t got, I am so skinny and flat-chested.” She confided in Ruth that she’d been discussing the practicality of lacy underwear with Julia and Rebecca earlier in the day and they were surprised she didn’t have any day to day things, cotton knickers for example, and she’d explained that she liked to have the really lacy stuff because she was so skinny and bony. “Ruth, they both looked at me like I was crazy.”
“Now that I am trying to find the real me, I don’t want to wear the dark career type clothes, I have been buying a lot of new things.”
“When Mum Lucy and I cleaned out the wardrobes at the house, I got rid of most of my clothes because they were what Isaac bought me and wanted me to wear.” ’It was all very corporate, blazers, pant-suits and little black dresses for business and play, that’s not me, I like colour."
“I mean like pretty colours, soft, like impressionist colours.” Ruth busied herself around the kitchen and reflected that Isabella was a real contradiction personality-wise. She had experienced things that people shouldn’t have to experience at the hands of others which had hardened her and made her wary of emotional connections. She was determined and strong when it came to what she wanted for the gallery. Yet, deep down, she was quite a young girl trying to find her way.
Tim had stirred from his sleep and was listening to the conversation in the kitchen. It was good to hear Izzy talking openly with his mother. Ruth wasn’t judging her or questioning her. He thought about how Julia and Rebecca tried to protect her all the time and organize her personal life. ‘The Girl Triangle’ meddling. The doorbell rang, and he heard his mother say, “David, why lovely to see you.” Tim groaned. He didn’t really want to see Dave, more to the point was he didn’t want to watch Dave with Izzy.
He heard David go into the kitchen and immediately say, “Izzy I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I love this colour; this top you’re wearing, it is lovely with your eyes.”
“Why are you limping?” he immediately asked when she moved away from him.
“I was doing something really silly in the storeroom, climbing the shelving and I fell twisting my ankle.”
“Wasn’t anyone helping you? What was that brother of mine doing?”
“David you are being ridiculously protective; he was busy off doing his work, not even in the gallery,” her voice raised a little.
“Okay, okay,” he heard David say.
“So, what are you doing with Mum? Cooking up a storm?”
Ruth said, “Izzy is making the salad I was planning a barbeque, would you like to stay?”
“Yeah I would.”
“Hey where’s the long tall kid anyway?”
Izzy piped up, “Why do you say kid all the time, he is just as much man as you?”
David whistled, “Why Izzy, protecting his honour.”
Ruth had enough of Izzy and David bickering. “Okay I want you two to sit at the bench while I finish preparing. David a beer, Izzy would you like a wine?” The two of them sat on stools, next to each other. David draped his arm along the back of Izzy’s stool, resting his hand on her shoulder.
A sleep tousled Tim came around the corner and lifted David’s arm. He then pulled an empty stool out of the way and picking Izzy up stool and all, plonked her further along the bench close to where he intended to sit. Facing her side on, on his stool with his legs astride surrounding Izzy’s, he looked at David, his eyes flashing a challenge for him to query the arrangement. To make his point even clearer, he kissed Izzy on the cheek and rested his arm along the back of her stool. Ruth noted Izzy looking a little frightened, bringing her wine glass up to sort of hide her face. David just shrugged and muttered ‘doesn’t matter to me mate.’
Tim was looking a little angry and snapped at David, “What are you doing here anyway?”
“Just wanted to see Mum.”
Izzy put her glass on the bench and said to both of them, “Are you two going to fight, if so, I am going?”
“Tim I just came around to thank you for the tickets to the theatre.”
“I realized I hadn’t done so earlier; I was distracted by falling in the storeroom and then you were running in and out with plans and things.”
“My pleasure, so is it a date?” asked Tim.
She turned and smiled shyly at him, “I think so.” He gave her shoulders a squeeze and smiled back. David crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his brother.
Chapter 27
Tongs at Ten Paces!
Ruth continued preparing the meal. She debated which of her ‘men’ she was going to ask to do the cooking. Tim was the logical choice as he would do it well. David would fiddle around, and Tim would end up finishing the cooking. But her thought process was to remove David from the room and leave Tim and Izzy to talk to each other. Her ‘men’ solved the problem by both volunteering to do the cooking together. They went out the patio door one carrying the utensils, the other the tray of meat. As the door shut behind them, Izzy said, “Tongs at ten paces!”
Ruth looked at her and said, “How is this going to work?”
She twisted her mouth and said, “I am not sure I am just hoping it will smooth out.”
Looking out the kitchen window to the barbeque, Ruth could already see Tim taking charge of the cooking. She could see David standing akimbo and planning a discussion with Tim. Ruth was anxious because she had already seen that Tim was not in the mood for David’s teasing and put-downs even if it was ‘brotherly love’. “So, what are your intentions towards the lovely Isabella?” started Dave.
Tim replied with, “What are you, her father?”
“Nope,” said David, “but I happen to care very deeply about her.”
Tim held up the tongs in warning. “Bro just watch it- I am not in the mood.”
They were all just sitting down to the meal when Julia arrived. She was straight from the airport with a very weary looking Antonio. Ruth and Tim both stood to greet Antonio with Tim breaking into fluent Italian to greet him and welcome him back to Australia. Antonio and Tim hugged and clapped each other on the back like old friends. Antonio who was olive-skinned, fair-haired and blue-eyed, was as tall as Tim and equally well-built. David was a little jealous that his younger brother had formed such a close relationship with Julia’s husband-to-be. David also struggled to remember how and when Tim had learnt such fluent Italian but guessed it must have been from Marco and their grandparents. Julia was excited that Izzy was also able to greet Antonio. Isabella likewise broke into fluent Italian. David greeted him with a handshake and warm welcome. Ruth was anxious to invite both Julia and Antonio to share something to eat. Antonio opted for a beer with some bread, cheese and sliced tomato.
