36 Trust Me!

Although the invitation was to 'drink sorrow', Isabel ended up feeling like she had gone to the bar with one of her coworkers and they were casually drinking while complaining about life; she unexpectedly felt very relaxed next to 'Sage' and that led to her drinking with abandon, plus, it wasn't like she was the one paying.

Drink, drink, drink.

So far, what Isabel understood about 'Sage' was that the guy was pitiful. His older brother recently got into an accident leaving him to take over the family business, a responsibility he had never wanted and now that he was master of the house there were countless people pushing for him to get married and have a child of his own, however 'Sage's' older brother already had a son who should be the rightful heir so he disagreed with their ideas. But recently, his sister-in-law's family had also been pushing for him to get married, saying that a complete family would be best for his nephew, so he should take a wife soon and if he didn't want to then they would fight him for legal custody of the boy.

'Sage' and his brother shared a close relationship and he was regretful that he couldn't do anything to help his brother while he was alive, so he at least wanted to help him raise his son, he didn't want to give him up, he was stuck in a dilemma.

If it were before, Isabel didn't think she would be able to give this man any advice but she had been reborn and after listening, she felt that 'Sage's' situation was a bit similar to her own from the past life in the sense that the man had yet to realize exactly how much power he really held in his own situation, so she could empathize.

Turning the glass to her head and draining the last of the sweet red liquor into her mouth, Isabel then picked up a lime slice from the side and sucked on it, the intense sweet and sour exploding brilliantly on her tongue. This was already her sixth glass of 'Poison Kiss'.

Archer watched as 'Ruby' tossed down her most recent glass of that dual colored cocktail and his Adam's apple bobbed as his eyes zeroed in on the small pink tongue that snaked out to lick her red lips before she turned to face him.

"So just to be clear on one point, you are the master of the house, right?"

"Mmm."

"You're the guy at the top, the one calling all the shots, running the business, raking in the cash, large and in charge..."

"Yes, yes. That's me."

Archer laughingly replied. Where on earth would he find another woman that would ask him such brazen questions without batting an eyelid?

"Okay. One more question then, your sister-in-law, when she married your brother, was there any kind of transaction? Do you owe her family something?"

Here, Archer frowned.

"No. When my brother and Sarah got married they were genuinely in love, there were no under the table transactions."

Isabel could sense a bit of chill in 'Sage's' tone when he spoke to defend his brother's relationship so she quickly rushed to assure him with her hands raised in a gesture of surrender.

"I'm just asking, I wasn't insinuating anything, alright."

Realizing that he had taken the question too personally, Archer nodded his head and sipped from his glass. Seeing that he had simmered down, Isabel put her hands down and spoke again.

"Then, I have one final question for you."

Seeing 'Sage' raised his eyes to look at her, a questioning look in those smoldering grey orbs, Isabel had to breathe to hold down the unwarranted anger and frustration boiling in her chest. Maybe it was the alcohol playing on her emotions, but she was unexpected taking this matter seriously.

"Since you're the boss, why the hell are you trying to pander to what they want?"

"What do you mean?" He wasn't trying to pander anyone, at least he didn't think so, but this little woman obviously thought otherwise.

Seeing how even he was oblivious to his mental imprisonment, Isabel felt as though she was looking at a naive little baby. He was like an elephant, obviously he was this big and powerful, yet the puny chain around his leg was keeping him in place.

"Sage, Baby Sage~" Archer was stunned as 'Ruby' reached over from her seat to cup his face in her hands, an enticing apple cinnamon scent filling his senses. Her eyes were like looking at some pitiful creature. "Do you even know who you are?"

"... Are you drunk?"

"You're the one who's drunk!"

"Ouch!" Archer held his forehead where he had just been ruthlessly flicked and stared at Isabel who was ordering another glass of that drink she had been having all night.

"I don't mean to be mean, but your brother is dead Sage, you're the head of the family now and if you don't start acting like it and take charge, make your own decisions, people are going to walk all over you"

Wait a minute, dead? When did his brother die? Did she misunderstand him when he said that Trooper was in an accident?

Archer stared at Isabel but she had already gotten her next glass of 'Poison Kiss' so she wasn't looking at him as she continued to ramble.

"You can't please everyone, and no matter what you do, people will always find something to be dissatisfied with so don't be afraid to step on some toes if they're standing in the way of your happiness."

Unlike how she drank the first six, this time Isabel placed a straw into her drink and drank the cup in reverse, from the bottom to the top, the red liquor then the clear in one draft without stopping until it was empty.

"Whooo!" she shook her head and laughed while lifting the empty glass to look at it. If before he was just asking, Archer was now certain that she was drunk. Exactly what was it that she was drinking?

'Ruby' turned to face him suddenly and Archer felt his heart jump when she looked at him with those fire bright golden eyes that seemed to light up the dim atmosphere of the entire room.

"Your own happiness should always be your first priority in life, as for your nephew, don't worry too much. He's still a child and I can guarantee that something like a 'complete family' is totally not needed for a child to be happy; although it is easier to raise a child with both mother and father in the household, if the person raising them is happy and the environment they live in is peaceful and stable, that is all children really need to be happy."

It took a while for Archer too break out of the trance that Isabel's eyes put him in then he laughed as he raised his glass to drink.

"You say that as though you have experience."

"In fact." Isabel grinned cheekily before turning around to fish her cellphone out of her coat pocket and showed him her screensaver which was a picture of her and the twins at the park. "I've got two."

Archer felt as though he had been dashed with a bucket of ice water.

"You're married?" He was drinking with another man's wife...

Unaware of the internal state of the person next to her, Isabel shrugged and stated casually; "We're in the middle of getting divorced." Then she kissed her phone screen before putting the device back into her pocket and turned back to face him.

"I've spent a lifetime trying to make my husband happy and quite honestly, I believe I succeeded but the price of that was my own happiness." A wry smile crossed Isabel's face as she lowered her head and ran her finger around the mouth of her glass.

"I gave up my aspirations and dreams and was just content to see him grow and live his dream, but at the end of the day he grew to be too much for me and I lost him. I poured everything into him thinking that he would be all the happiness I could ever need, but that happiness walked away from me with its own two feet and though it took a long time... a really long time, I realized that happiness wasn't mine to begin with."

Suddenly, Isabel closed her eyes and in her head countless scenes and images flashed by.

She saw herself when she fell in love with Brycen all those years ago, the silly young girl that she was. She recalled her countless confessions and many attempts to get that handsome and aloof young man to look in her direction, the day she found him in tears, hiding on the school roof because he knew he wouldn't be able to go to college, the day she stole her own tuition money to give to him, her first kiss, his gratitude, running away from her grandmother's apartment, days of back breaking labor to provide for the both of them, taking care of him when he pushed himself too hard and fell sick, his happiness when his company got sponsored by that investor, the way he picked her up and spun around the room laughing...

Ah, though difficult, those were some of her greatest memories. Why did he have to be such a bastard?

Isabel felt something on her cheek and when she opened her eyes, it was to see 'Sage's' face close to hers with a hint of distress in his grey eyes as he wiped a tear from her cheek.

Realizing that she was once again wasting her tears on Brycen, anger and embarrassment filled her heart and Isabel instantly stood up, dodging out of 'Sage's' reach.

"Argh!" She shouted while roughly wiping at her tears. "This is annoying, there's no use in crying over what's already happened, don't pity me! I was an idiot."

Without warning, Isabel marched forward and grabbed Archer's glass from his hand, draining the last of the scotch down her throat before putting down the glass and stretching out her hand towards the man who was staring at her wide eyed.

"Come on, there's somewhere I wanna take you. Talking is tiring and a waste of time, I'll show you."

For a moment Archer could only stare at the woman in front of him. He was certain that 'Ruby' wasn't her real name, he had no idea who she was, but he felt more relaxed with her than he had felt with another person in a long time, but after what he had experienced in the last year, he was finding it hard to trust people.

Isabel could see the hesitation in 'Sage's' eyes, but she really couldn't understand what it was he was hesitating about. She had been holding out her hand to him for a while now and her arm was growing tired so she rolled her eyes and took the initiative to go forward and grab the hand resting in his lap.

"Stop over thinking everything and just act for once in your life."

Archer could only stumble along as the woman pulled him off of his stool and made for the door.

"I'm not asking you to trust me, you don't even know me; I'm just asking you to do something crazy."

As they reached the door, 'Ruby' turned back to flash a grin full of mischief at Archer and his heart pounded wildly in his chest.

"What's that?" His voice came out hoarse and low, unknowingly making Isabel shudder and her cheeks turned a delicious shade of red.

"Trust me for tonight."

Then she turned around and shoved open the door, pulling him out into the cool night air.