“She’s an artist?”
“Yes. One of the best considering she’s only twenty.”
Isaac had never heard of an artist named Noelle.
“Look, can I just come out and ask for this favour no matter how stupid it sounds?” Brad asked.
“I’m waiting.” Very few men would talk to him with a frustrated tone. Isaac found Brad’s approach amusing.
“For one night will you play at being an escort?”
He saw the other man was serious and burst out laughing. Isaac Welch was a multi-billionaire businessman. He didn’t pretend at being anything.
“I’m being serious. Noelle means a great deal to me, but she’s had one bad experience and keeps herself away from any chance of pain. For one night all I ask is you sit, talk, and cuddle a little. I don’t know, but let her down slowly and leave. She needs this, and I’m willing to provide it for her.”
Sitting back in his seat, Isaac thought about the offer.
“How do you know she won’t know who I am?” he asked. Everyone in the world knew who he was. Being in the social pages was an everyday occurrence to him.
“She doesn’t. None of the papers get into the apartment, and wealth means shit to her. She wouldn’t know who you are. Just don’t say your name is Welch, and she’ll have no clue as to who you are.”
Isaac didn’t know what was worse, the suggestion his brother had made or the fact he was considering it.
Shaking his head in denial, he said, “The whole thing is ludicrous and unfair. You shouldn’t be doing this to a woman you care about.”
“It is because I care that I’m asking the only person who I feel I can trust. There is no one else in this world that I know besides ex-abusers like me. You’re older. You’ll care.”
That was where he was wrong. Isaac felt like he didn’t care for much anymore.
“You are asking me to go and take care of, maybe even touch, a girl who’s younger than I and never had an experience with men. Is she some kind of sainted virgin?”
Brad fumbled in his pocket, and Isaac saw the other man pull out his wallet. “This is the girl you’re mocking. She’s the one who pulled me out of the gutter when she was seventeen. She’s my best friend. No one wants to date her because of that scar on her face. You can’t see it properly because she wears her hair down one side of her face most times.”
Isaac took the wallet and stared at the photo. One side of her face was covered, but the other side he saw the beauty in her features. Her hair was a luscious blonde. The shot was only of the head, and he couldn’t get a good view of the rest of her body. To him, she looked incredibly beautiful. He felt a pull inside him to know more about her. The feelings the single shot provoked within him surprised him. No woman had ever made him feel so possessive or in need to know more about a person.
“How do you intend to set up something like this?” he asked.
“Let me deal with that. Are you in?”
Taking another look down at the picture in his hand, Isaac knew in his gut turning Brad down was the wrong thing to do. He wanted to know Noelle even for just a night. Getting away from being Isaac Welch would make for an interesting few hours.
“I’ll do it.” He handed the wallet back and listened as Brad talked about the arrangements.
Chapter Four
The days passed, and Noelle felt lonelier than ever before. Brad spent a great deal of time out of the apartment. Winter was taking its grip on the city, which meant her outings were become few and far between. The dark nights were usually her favourite time of the day. She could take long walks and never have to worry about the stares and sniggers of men, women, and children.
Her painting grew more fierce and passionate as she began to crave the unknown more and more. She found herself searching the internet looking for an outlet, trying to find something or someone to see past her deformity. The desperation inside her was more than she could stand.
All she wanted was to feel close to someone. She sat by the window looking out at the cold and frosty city one morning. The sun was rising up, and in the first few moments she imagined her reflection in the window. For only a few minutes she would look at her face. The scar would dominate one side while the other would be as pale and clear as could be. Two sides to a coin. She had two different faces. The light burst out, and her reflection was gone. And she had not looked at it. A tear escaped from her eye. She rubbed the salty tear away as she heard Brad moving around. He would make a scene and stay at home if he knew her thought process.
“Morning, honey. Did you sleep well?” he asked the moment he came out of his room. She nodded her head and continued to watch the day go by. “Your dad phoned the other day. Said he left a message for you to call back.”
She nodded her head without making a single sound. In three weeks’ time her dad would be phoning constantly. In three weeks’ time it would be eleven years since the car accident which had rendered her a mess. She’d been in the hospital for months, the pain of the surgery excruciating.
Her face wasn’t the only part that still had the scars. Other parts of her body held small white lines from the collision.
Every year without fail her dad would try to get her to visit him and the family, and for the past two years she’d refused.
She felt Brad move up close behind her. He reached out and stroked her hair back from her head. “Tell me what’s going on in that mind of yours?” he asked.
“Nothing. Just thinking thoughts.”
“No hair colour change this week?”
“No. I rather like the deep red colour. I might keep it this way for some time.”
“You’ve got to get out some more,” he said.
“Brad, don’t start. I’m fine. I’m going to go and paint. I’ll see you later.” She got up from her seat, walked to her studio and closed the door. In one action she closed everything out and was alone once more. She pulled the painting she’d been working on off the easel. Pulling up another canvas, she set her studio up and began to paint the reflection of herself she’d seen in the window.
****
Brad knew he shouldn’t interfere. He set his laptop up and made all the preparations for the contact information. He’d warned Isaac ahead of time what he planned to do. The contact information was for Isaac’s personal phone. She would be able to find all the contact details.
He glanced behind him at the studio door. For the past two weeks she’d become withdrawn, rarely speaking or spending any time with him when he did make it home. He could only imagine what she was going through.