Bound To Fall

What Did She Do Now?

Sterling

"Hey." Isabelle greeted me as I walked towards the orphanage entrance.

"Hello." I gave her a slight smile.

"I've been waiting for you. Where were you?" She asked as I got closer.

"Killian decided to take up a little more time than necessary." I answered.

While she went to lunch with her friend from the bar Killian needed my help moving some things in his apartment. He had gotten a new table and needed help getting it moved as he didn't want the company that delivered it in his apartment. What was supposed to be just the one table ended with us moving about five more things to get it to fit.

"I'm going to have to have a talk with him." She smirked. "Maybe we'll work out something like a custody agreement so he knows what days he can keep you busy."

"Very funny." I scoffed. "I don't mind helping him but I'd rather spend most of my time with you. You can do things for me that he can't."

She instantly blushed. "Sterling, not here." She warned as she tried to conceal her pink cheeks.

"You're right." I nodded. "I'll behave for now, but I'm not making any promises for later."
I gave her a wink and headed inside of the orphanage. She followed closely behind me. The moment the door opened and I stepped inside it was like I had been hit with a million memories. I had picked her up from here a few times but I hadn't stepped back inside until now.

"Sterling Tipton. About time you came inside and said hello." Mrs. Strahm headed right for me.

Truthfully she was part of the reason I hadn't come inside. The last time I saw her was when I came and found out Isabelle was gone. The look of disappointment on her face that day is one I'll never forget. It's something that's stuck with me all these years.

"Hello." I gave her a small smile.

I went to stick my hand out for her to shake but she went right in for a hug. I hugged her back of course. It was nice to be welcomed with open arms by her. All these years I was sure she would still be upset with me.

See, Mrs. Strahm had always been more than the person who watched over us. For a lot of the children here she was like a mother. She acted like one to each child too. Which meant when I hurt Isabelle it was like I had hurt her too.

She stepped back after the hug and took a good look at me. "How have you been? I've heard from both Kaydence and Isabelle that you're the Vice President at your father's company."

"That I have." I responded. "It's been pretty good so far. As for the job itself it probably helps that I have such a good assistant by my side."

"Well of course." Mrs. Strahm smiled.

She proceeded to lead the way to where all of the children were. Not much had really changed in this place since I had lived here. Of course there were the repairs made to the building and new things added because of my parents. None of that had changed the feel that this place had always had.

We entered the playroom where all the children had been gathered by Emily. I agreed to come and help assist them with an art project they were having the children do. It was important to Isabelle to be here as she already committed to helping.

I didn't mind coming and participating. It was weird to be back here but in a way it was nice. The orphanage had always meant a lot to me and I regretted not coming back to it sooner. Between my guilt I felt and Elise I just never had time.

We spent the next two hours helping the children. I enjoyed interacting with the children. They all were so happy and they were excited to have someone new around. One little boy in particular took to me. We happened to have bonded a little over the toy cars.

We exited out of the orphanage once we were finished and Isabelle seemed to have something on her mind. I studied her for a moment, trying to think back to if I had done anything or not. I couldn't figure anything out myself.

"What's wrong?" I finally asked.

"Nothing's wrong." She gave me a small smile of reassurance. "I need to talk to you about a few things."

I opened the car door for her to get inside. "Well, I'm all ears Sweetheart." I closed the door once she was inside and went for the driver's seat.

She waited for me to get in and start the car. "It's about Elise." She finally confessed.

I rolled my eyes mentally. I can't say I'm surprised. It seemed Elise had to do with everything. We've been broken up for weeks now but somehow she finds a way to still be a hot topic.

"What did she do now?" I asked as I pulled onto the road. The feeling of dread seemed to fill my stomach.

"Well, it's not necessarily her. Just something I heard today." Isabelle responded.

I felt the dreaded feeling lighten up a little bit. "Okay, well, what is it?"

"Noami told me that there was a group of guys that came into her bar." Isabelle began to explain. "One of them came in a little later than the rest and proceeded to gloat to them about sleeping with Elise. She's not sure how true it is, but she figured it may help us."

I nodded as I listened. I still didn't know how much we could trust this new friend of hers as I really haven't spoken to her myself. I did take a move from my father and looked into her background. Everything she's told Isabelle about herself checked out and there was no lie I had caught from her yet.

"I don't know if it was a one time thing or if maybe he's been around for awhile, but I'd like to find out." Isabelle spoke further. "She's going to try to get some details from his friend who is a regular but if she can't I told her to let me know and we'll figure something out."

I thought for a moment as I processed the information. I wouldn't be surprised if this man had been around for a while. To be honest I had suspected Elise of infidelity a few times. It didn't bother me as if someone else was pleasing her that meant I didn't have to.

"Smart." I finally responded. "Maybe we'll be able to make use of this man."

"There's one more thing." I glanced over to her for a moment as she continued on. "Alexandra called me, I've set a meeting with her for tomorrow evening."

"Perfect." Maybe now we'll start getting somewhere on this.

I just had to hope that Elise was still in the dark about our plan. If her assistant had said anything about Isabelle then the whole thing would be a waste of time. We needed this to work out for us.

I glanced over at Isabelle one more time. "Remember what I told you, we need to be careful."