For the next few days, Isla felt home alone. Cade was always in the kitchen, and from there, his bedroom, watching his shows and even ate there. He didn't say a word to her.
Isla missed the days she was married. There was always a good morning kiss, and a good night kiss. Brian was the most loving, of all the men she had fallen for. He cared about her, and professed his love to her in the most gentle way he could.
But he was gone now. He was never to be seen again. She couldn't help but cry silently. Even if she had raised her voice, the stupid house manager wouldn't have done anything.
A month passed, and Cade hadn't said a word to Isla.
"Hey." She walked in while he was doing his laundry.
"My bathroom tap's faulty." Isla put on a sad face.
"What should I do about it? I'm a house manager, and not a plumber." Isla was mad at his rudeness, but calmed herself down.
"What if Dad comes home and sees the tap? He'll be enraged that you didn't call a plumber."
"Its your tap. You should call a plumber." Cade raised his voice.
"Don't raise your voice at me. I'm your boss' daughter." Isla snapped back.
"You know what, I'm done with this unnecessary conversation. I'm doing my job. Stop forcing me to talk to you, alright? I was employed to manage the house, and not babysit you."
"I'm all alone. Why don't you wanna talk to me?"
"If you're all alone, then why don't you go get married?!" Isla's heart broke into a million pieces. With that, he pushed her and walked out on her.
Isla was boiling inside, at the same time, broken. She could only express her anger by crying. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks, and her lips quivered. She stormed upstairs and slammed her bedroom door hard. Cade heard the sound and went upstairs to check. He could hear Isla grunting and struggling with the bathroom tap. He heard the sound of a tool box, and barged into the bedroom.
"How dare you?" She was panting, and her eyes were widened.
"What do you think you wanna do with those tools?"
"I forgot Dad had tools. I was bothering myself earlier calling you."
"Do you know how to use them?"
"I do." Isla boasted.
"I did plumbing works before I became a model." Cade laughed, mocking her.
"You don't know how stupid you sound right now." Isla became angrier.
"LEAVE ME ALONE! You wanna focus on your job right, you're not a plumber! You're not a babysitter! You don't wanna talk to me, then let me be."
"Fine." Cade sat on her bed.
"Are you just gonna sit there? GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" Isla snarled.
"Do your plumbing job. I wanna learn a few things from you." Isla turned to the tap, knelt before it and started trying to fix it. Cade couldn't control his laughter as she handled the tools.
"Why are you laughing?" Her eyes were obviously red with tears already. Few minutes later, Cade noticed blood oozing from her thumb.
"Hey!" He entered the bathroom and held on to her right hand.
"Let go!"
"Shh. Drop this." He took her to the bedroom and searched for the first aid kit, dressing her wound as fast as he could.
"Don't you know it hurts, when you're being so rough? Brian was always gentle with me. He treated me like a fragile object." Cade investigated her eyes. Isla was crying.
"If you miss this Brian so much, then why didn't you invite him over or probably go to his house?"
"Brian died about two years ago. His death ruined me. I felt just as lifeless. Do you think there's anything I can do without him, even this plumbing work?"
3 YEARS BEFORE: NEW YORK CITY
"Do you know the most beautiful thing about you?" Brian and Isla were wrapped in heavy sheets. Brian was stark naked while Isla had a lingerie on.
"What's that?" Isla asked in her soft, sweet voice.
"Your eyes. They are dreamy. Your eyes say a lot about you."
"What does my eyes say about me then?"
"It talks about your beauty, your intelligence, hardwork and self-worth. It talks about how special you are." Brian praised, stroking her hair gently.
"I'm not sure. Your eyes don't say that."
"Well, we were created with different qualities. Applicable to eyes too."
"I never knew our eyes were different." Isla bit her lower lip.
"They are. I can assimilate the study of your eyes, much more than the studies of Physics and Chemistry." Isla laughed hysterically at Brian.
"What a joke!"
"Its not a joke. I'm serious about it. Not only those, every part of you is amazing. I feel like the luckiest man in the world." As he was about to kiss her, there was a strange sound from the bathroom.
"What's that?" Isla jolted in fear.
"Stay right here, babe. I'll go check." Brian wore a jacket and pants. He entered the bathroom and saw that the fixed tap was loose.
"Oh no!" He was annoyed.
"Is there a problem? Darling?"
"The tap we called a plumber for got loose."
"Oh, hell. The plumber is a freak for getting money for this shit he claimed to fix." Isla got off the bed and went to the bathroom.
"What do we do?" Brian took some tools from the drawer, knelt before the tap and started fixing.
"What do you know about plumbing works?" Isla laughed.
"I'll fix this now, and I'll call the plumber next week to check it out." Brian continued, and with the help of his wife, they were able to arrive at a good looking tap.
"It looks nicer." Isla smiled as she stared at it from a distance.
"I don't think its necessary to call a plumber anymore. We made our dreamwork already." Brian giggled.
"We could resign from our jobs and be plumbers!" They threw their heads back into a round of mocking laughter, imagining themselves being called the plumbing couple.
"I can confidently fix taps, even if you aren't home." Isla boasted.
"Oh sure."
"The news of his death hit me like an earthquake."
"It hurts when someone so close to you dies tragically." Cade reasoned with her.
"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but if I don't, I'll drown in this all alone. I would have committed suicide long ago. I dig myself in work so I don't recall stuff about Brian...."
"Jake and Nigel." Isla raised her head to look at him.
"What? How do you know those two?"
"You're a celebrity. Your info is all over Google, isn't? Age, Biography, House, Cars, Boyfriend??" Cade revealed where he got the information from.
"You divorced Jake when you were 26. Your wedding pictures were all over, with captions that would make any girl wish to be you. Then, he started showing what a devil he was. He made you a full housewife and maltreated you, as explained in the interview with Crystal Owen. He treated you with so much disrespect. You wanted to file the divorce to protect your image online but the love you had for him stopped you. Then, he cheated."
"He did." Isla said dryly.
"Nigel was even worse. You never liked him, and your marriage was more like an arranged one. He never supported your modeling career, and he wanted you to have a baby as soon as possible. But, you didn't, because your body shape made more sense to you. He humiliated you on stage, just like Jake Hollidae did."
"So you were avoiding me because you were secretly making research?" Isla asked with a frown on her face.
"I was just curious. I have nothing to do with you, or your personal life. I've noticed that you're not mentally alright and I -"
"You think I'm mad? You're not a plumber, you're not a babysitter! Are you a mental care nurse then? It hurts that I'm twice divorced, once widowed. It hurts more when Dad employs someone to keep me company until I resume to work and then you're not giving me attention! I feel lost and broken. The only way I can get over Brian, Nigel or Jake is by going to work. I wanna go back to modeling." Isla couldn't stop sobbing.
"Hey, Isla. I'm sincerely sorry. I didn't mean to be away from you like that. Its just..."
"What?"
"Nothing to worry about." He tried to stand up but Isla held his wrist.
"I'm curious."
"You don't need to know anything. I'll call the plumber for you."
"Right. You can't do plumbing works. No man can ever be Brian, ever." Cade could hear Isla's grumbling and he shrugged.
"The news of his death hit me like an earthquake."
"It hurts when someone so close to you dies tragically." Cade reasoned with her.
"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but if I don't, I'll drown in this all alone. I would have committed suicide long ago. I dig myself in work so I don't recall stuff about Brian...."
"Jake and Nigel." Isla raised her head to look at him.
"What? How do you know those two?"
"You're a celebrity. Your info is all over Google, isn't? Age, Biography, House, Cars, Boyfriend??" Cade revealed where he got the information from.
"You divorced Jake when you were 26. Your wedding pictures were all over, with captions that would make any girl wish to be you. Then, he started showing what a devil he was. He made you a full housewife and maltreated you, as explained in the interview with Crystal Owen. He treated you with so much disrespect. You wanted to file the divorce to protect your image online but the love you had for him stopped you. Then, he cheated."
"He did." Isla said dryly.
"Nigel was even worse. You never liked him, and your marriage was more like an arranged one. He never supported your modeling career, and he wanted you to have a baby as soon as possible. But, you didn't, because your body shape made more sense to you. He humiliated you on stage, just like Jake Hollidae did."
"So you were avoiding me because you were secretly making research?" Isla asked with a frown on her face.
"I was just curious. I have nothing to do with you, or your personal life. I've noticed that you're not mentally alright and I -"
"You think I'm mad? You're not a plumber, you're not a babysitter! Are you a mental care nurse then? It hurts that I'm twice divorced, once widowed. It hurts more when Dad employs someone to keep me company until I resume to work and then you're not giving me attention! I feel lost and broken. The only way I can get over Brian, Nigel or Jake is by going to work. I wanna go back to modeling." Isla couldn't stop sobbing.
"Hey, Isla. I'm sincerely sorry. I didn't mean to be away from you like that. Its just..."
"What?"
"Nothing to worry about." He tried to stand up but Isla held his wrist.
"I'm curious."
"You don't need to know anything. I'll call the plumber for you."
"Right. You can't do plumbing works. No man can ever be Brian, ever." Cade could hear Isla's grumbling and he shrugged.