Zachariah| Major-editing

T W E N T Y-O N E

Isabelle POV

A giggle leaves my mouth, and three sets of eyes fall on me. Joe frowned, crossing his arms and looking at me. "This is not fair!"

"I'm sorry. . . I'm sorry, darling. But this is so stupid."

"No. . . It isn't!"

"It's not," Joe and Ariel say at one time. Ariel places a reassuring hand on Cyrus's shoulder. "You do not look stupid. You look― You look―" She bites her lip.

"Beautiful," Joe finished her sentence. She looked at Joe and smiled brightly. "Yes, you look beautiful."

Cyrus looked at me and shook his head. "Are you two done yet?" he asked them. Immediately, Joe and Ariel shake their heads 'no'.

"When will you guys be done?"

"We haven't even got to the main part," Joe says, picking up the make-up brush. Cyrus groaned but stood still. I take my seat and watch them as they take turns decorating Cyrus's face. They are trying to turn Cyrus into a Disney princess for Hallowen.

Cyrus couldn't say no to them when they were back of him the whole morning. It was funny watching them run behind him with Beth's makeup kit.

"I'm going to ban makeup bags in this house," Cyrus said, looking dead in my eye.

"Cyrus. . . You cannot do that. I want to learn makeup," Ariel said, placing her chubby hand on Cyrus's face.

"Darling. . . You can learn how to use makeup when you are fifteen."

"Fifteen? Why not now?"

Cyrus caressed her cheek. "Because you are still a baby and makeup isn't good for your skin and hands. It has chemicals mixed in it."

Ariel drops her shoulders. "Oh. . ."

"It means you need to stay away from all these things," Cyrus said, and Ariel gave a meek nod. Joe looked at them. "So. . . Are we going to make you a princess or not?"

Cyrus groaned. "You two continue."

Beth and Pablo went to the wedding of their friend's granddaughter. Xavier and Elora weren't in New York, they had to travel to India to meet their family. I have been going to the office and taking care of our current project. Elora and I connect through Microsoft Teams daily and discuss the matters with the team.

"Will you keep this makeup until Beth and Pablo return?" I asked. Cyrus's eyes widened in horror and he shook his head. "No." He mouthed.

"Oh. . ."

"Belle," Joe called.

"Yes, honey?"

"Are you not going to have a snack? I thought you were hungry." I gave him a smile. "I had a sandwich with my colleague."

"Colleague?" His brows frowned in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"Colleague is someone who works in the same office as me. We work together," I explained, and he nodded.

"You mean Elora is your colleague too?" He asked.

"She is my boss."

"Boss?" Ariel asked.

"Yes, she owns the business and I work under her. I have a job."

"Oh. . ."

*

Cyrus wraps his arms around me as I look up at him. We were watching Princess Diaries and I suddenly wanted to kiss him. "Have you had a crush on anyone?" I asked.

He gave a funny look. "Why do you ask?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I just felt like asking. You didn't have any crush?"

"Of course I did." I gave him a surprise look. "You did."

"Yeah. . . You didn't have a crush?"

"I did when I was in high school," I said.

"Yeah. . . I had a crush when I was in my senior year," he said. I turned my body so that I could face him properly. "Have you spoken to her?"

"No. . ."

"Why not?"

"Hmm. . . She was in a different group, and she was someone famous in the school and―" he looked at me. "I was a nobody."

"You could have tried talking." He just laughed, shaking his head.

"Did you speak with your crush?" he asked.

"Nope, I didn't have the guts." He caressed my cheek. "Is it selfish to say that I'm happy that you haven't spoken to him?"

I laughed. "Maybe, why would you feel happy?" He shrugged his shoulders. "If he was a good man. You would've dated him and I wouldn't have a chance to know you better and make you my girlfriend."

"Right. . ." I kissed his cheek. "But I'm happy that it's you. It's you that I fell in love with you. I'm grateful that I saw you on that night and agreed to come with you."

He smiled. "I'm happy that you ditched your wedding and came for me. I would've been lost without you."

"I know." I gave him a cheeky smile. "You were lost until you saw me."

"Yes, I was lost and was scared that I didn't kidnap you as Xavier had suggested." My eyes widened in horror. "Wh―What? He suggested you kidnap me?"

He laughed at my expression. "Yeah, he was with me when I visited you on that night. He kept bugging me to kidnap me when I had the chance."

"Wow. . . You should've done that." He raised his brow. "So you are okay with me kidnapping you?"

"Hmm. . . Maybe I would've been in shock, but then again, it's you. I loved you at that time. I wouldn't mind getting kidnapped by you."

He laughed, shaking his head. "This isn't a fictional story that Sitara reads."

"Wait. . . Sitara reads fictional stories, and you know about them?"

"Oh, yes. She was into those fictional smut stories and there was always a book in her bag. She even had a book on the night of Xavier and Elora's reception."

"Imagine my shock when she said she brought it along because she doesn't know when it gets boring." I laughed.

"I love her already."

"You love smut books too?" I looked away. I always hide my books from Cyrus. "Wait, why are you hiding it from me? I wouldn't mind them having those books in our room."

I looked at him. "You wouldn't?"

"No, they are funny, but they are fine as well."

"Oh. . . Oh. . . I'm going to buy all the books in print then."