Kristen Ashley: Fairytale Come Alive

“For God’s sake, Dougal, it’s been twenty years,” Prentice’s deep voice still held amusement. “I don’t even think of her anymore.”

“Maybe no’ but you’ll have to now,” Dougal returned.

“Aye,” Prentice agreed readily. “For a week, then she’ll be gone back to her life filled with limousines, paparazzi and posh parties and it’ll be like she wasn’t even here.”

Dougal watched his friend.

“It’ll be like she wasn’t even here,” Prentice repeated, his words low and slow and filled with meaning.

Fiona knew he’d been through this before, of course, and he had, with effort, built a life where it was like Isabella Austin had never even been there.

Dougal shifted uncomfortably.

“You should know, Annie has these ideas about Isabella –” Dougal started but Prentice shook his head.

“It’ll be fine.”

“She says there’s reasons –”

“I know she does, she’s tried to explain them to me, without making much sense. She’s Isabella’s friend, she’d try to find some excuse for the way she behaved, no’ only to me but no’ showing up when Annie nearly died. They’re good friends, it’s natural and it doesn’t mean a thing to me,” Prentice stated and when Dougal looked dubious, Prentice approached him and said, “No’ a damned thing, mate.” Prentice’s voice became low again when he continued, “It’s been a long time, Dougal, we’ve all moved on.” Then Fiona watched as her husband grinned his devastating, wicked grin. “Except you, of course.”

Dougal relaxed and smiled back. “That’s me, stuck in a rut.”

“I’ll be sure to tell Annie you called her a rut.”

Fiona laughed a silent laugh. Annie would hate that.

Dougal’s laugh (seeing as he was alive) sounded jovially throughout the room.

The door flew open nearly hitting Dougal in the back and Annie was there.

Her hair was wild (it was always wild, a long mixture of thick, dark blonde frizz and curls, it was manic and gorgeous, just like Annie). On her petite but rounded, body she was wearing tight-fitting jeans, a green t-shirt that said, “All the other kids are doing it” on the front in yellow and blue lettering and a ratty-assed olive drab cardigan that nearly went down to her knees.

“ Bella and Mikey are here! ” she screeched excitedly, then turned on her Wellington-clad foot and ran from the room.

Dougal and Prentice watched her go.

Dougal sighed before he turned to Prentice. “You know I love her.”

“I do,” Prentice replied, his fantastic lips twitching.

“You know I love her a lot.”

Prentice chuckled. “I do.”

“I didn’t love her that much, mate, no way in hell I’d walk out of this room and spend a whole fucking week trying to be nice to that bitch.”

Prentice shook his head, clapped his hand on his friend’s shoulder and they both walked out of the room.

Fiona floated behind them remembering again why she really, really liked Dougal.

They followed the screeching, Annie’s mixed with an unknown, and unusual, masculine-esque shriek.

When they approached the foyer Annie and the man from the drive were in each other’s arms, jumping up and down.

Isabella Austin Evangelista (the daft cow) was standing to the side, eyes on her friends, hugging her elbows in her hands with what looked (shockingly, to Fiona’s way of thinking) like an actual genuine (but very small) grin on her perfectly lip-glossed lips.

“Bella.” They heard and her eyes moved coolly to the stairs then Fiona watched in dismay as her face melted when she saw Fergus.

Good God, could the bitch be any more beautiful?

Fiona felt Dougal go tense and Prentice stopped moving forward altogether as Isabella’s face changed again, the small grin widened, brightened and the room lit with the radiance of her smile.

Yes, Fiona thought with irritation, the bitch could be more beautiful.

“Fergus,” she breathed softly, turned and rushed quickly to the stairs and up four of them to embrace Fergus.

There was nothing cool and disdainful in her embrace for Fergus.

Then again, Fergus was loaded and obviously Isabella didn’t have any problem with men who were loaded, it was just lowly fishermen who she had a problem with.

She’d married international playboy Laurent Evangelista and he was so loaded it was unfathomable how loaded he was. Of course, he’d cheated on her very publicly then ditched her even more publicly, paid her off with an enormous divorce settlement (just as publicly) and was still carrying on with his younger version of Isabella whilst on the Riviera and in Paris and wherever-the-hell-else famous, rich people hung out.

This had, for some bizarre reason Fiona could never figure out when she was alive (nor now, when she was very dead), made Isabella even more celebrated and famous.

She had simply been the fascinating, stylish and beautiful American heiress who had finally landed the equally fascinating, stylish and handsome French-Italian playboy Laurent Evangelista.

For some reason, people took her side in the whole messy affair, then again, no one really knew the true personality of Isabella Austin except those in a tiny fishing village in Scotland.

No one could believe Laurent would throw over his lovely, soft-spoken, charity-working, fashion-designer-muse wife for a common (but younger and it was lost on no one she looked almost exactly like Isabella) strumpet.

There’d even been t-shirts made that you could buy that said, “Up with Isabella” on the front and “Up Yours Laurent” on the back.

Since then (and it had been years), Isabella became more famous, more hunted by the paparazzi, an object of fascination. Likely, this was because no one could believe anyone who had all that money, all those good genes, all that fashion sense and a kind soul ( blech , Fiona thought) could be so humiliated. It made even the common woman feel camaraderie with her because they knew if it could even happen to the likes of Isabella Austin Evangelista, it could definitely happen to them.

It also meant they were all waiting with bated breath for Isabella’s next catch, hoping he would be devastatingly handsome, romantic and he’d sweep her off her feet and heal all her considerable wounds.

Which meant that every man she even looked at was her latest lover. According to the media, she’d had scores. None of which lasted more than a few months (again, according to the media).

Which meant that somehow, fabulous, celebrated, renowned beauty Isabella Austin Evangelista had the every-woman curse of never finding the right bloke.

Which set her up as the Queen of Lonely Hearts and that made the camaraderie extend to every woman in the whole the fucking world.

If they only knew she’d simply gotten what she deserved, well…

“Good to see you,” Fergus muttered, his voice thick, his words cutting into Fiona’s ethereal thoughts. “Missed you, lass.”

Her cheek was pressed to his and her eyes were closed.

“Not as much as I missed you,” she whispered in her breathy voice.

With her paranormal senses, Fiona felt Prentice’s body turn solid.

She looked at her husband. His face was hard, his mouth tight, his eyes glittering.

Something was wrong.

As quick as it came, his body relaxed and his eyes went blank.

Fiona looked back at Isabella.

Her eyes opened and they focused on Prentice.

The coolness hit her face like an arctic snap and she pulled away from Fergus, her gaze moving to Dougal.

“Dougal,” she said softly.

“Isabella,” Dougal returned roughly and Fiona could tell he was making an effort to be polite.