Once Again They Meet

Luca’s house was massive. He was a lawyer after all and Laura was a research scientist who had a steady amount if money coming in as well. The large brownstone was in a great location as well. Laura had seen her from the living room and opened the door to greet her. She was in blue jeans and a blue patterned sweater and her nut brown hair was pulled back int a pony tail.

“Isabella! Well this is a nice surprise!” She said as she hugged her. “Ive vot some more ideas for the wedding, we picked out a cake designer,” she said as she let her in and shut the door. She brought her to the dining room where she had the table littered with wedding magazines of all sorts and she picked up the one about cakes.

There were make voices in the house, upstairs from the sound of it and Laura looked at her. “Oh, I forgot to mention, Frank’s here...is that a problem? He and Luca are friends...I guess,” she said incertainly.

Isabella had told her parents first. The news had come as quite a shock to them, but they told her that if she was happy then they were happy for her. She could see the doubt still in their eyes about whether this marriage was actually going to work or not. Nobody yet seemed to believe that Tony was capable to sticking to just one woman. Isabella was determined to prove them all wrong. She had seen a side of Tony that no one else had ever seen before and she knew that their love ran deep and true. She had come to her brother's house to spend some time with Luca and Laura and to break the news to them.

She smiled as Laura came out to greet her and invited her in. She had temporarily taken off her engagement ring, but she could feel it in her pocket. Until she finished telling everyone she wanted to tell and then an official announcement was made to the public she would only be wearing it in private. She and Tony had discussed and agreed to this.

She followed Laura into the living room but then heard voices upstairs. She immediately recognized Frank's voice and her mouth went a little dry. She wasn't anticipating seeing him, but she told herself that she needed to do this and to tell him. He deserved to hear it from her.

"Oh...actually I need to talk to him and I've been looking for him. He didn't exactly leave a forwarding address with me."

Laura didnt say anything about that, Frank had given them his side of the story and they all knew she had been out of the country for months. Laura knew she would not find that acceptable if it had happened to her but she knew Frank knew what Isabella did.

She showed her the cakes and which ones she liked and then several dresses so when they did go dress shopping Isabella would know what she was looking for. Eventually Frank and Luca cane down the stairs though Luca had to use the chair lift.

“Laura...Would it be alright…” he began as he rolled into the dining room. “Isabella!” He said excitedly. Frank stepped in after him and his eyes went right to Isabella. He nodded to her. “Isabella,” he said softly but he definitely seemed as if he wanted to be anywhere but where he was right then.

Isabella looked over at Luca as he came into the room. She smiled lovingly at her brother. She walked over and hugged him. It made her so happy to see him doing so well emotionally. He had really struggled at the beginning, but he seemed far more upbeat and happy now. She then looked at Frank.

"Hello Frank," she said and then hesitated slightly. "Would it be alright if we spoke privately for a few minutes?"

She didn't want to share her news with everyone at the same time. She knew this was going to be hard for Frank to hear and he was likely going to be angry and upset. She didn't want to embarrass him in front of her brother and Laura.

Frank just looked at her for a moment. He knew something was different about her but he also knew who she was now working for. “Alright,” he said dryly and moved into the living room with her. He would not ask for his ring back. He would not take it if she tried to give it back to him.

“It seems that you’re coming up in the world Isabella, CEO of The Stark Foundation?” He said but he knew more than that. He knew about Iron Man as well, anyone who cared about such things did. He tried to avoid looking at her directly. He didn't want her to know that he still really cared about her and that he missed her greatly.

Isabella stepped with Frank into the living room and she got her first good look at him in months. She had missed him and still loved him. She had told Tony that she did, but Tony accepted that fact. She had given up on the idea of giving him his ring back. She knew he wouldn't take it. She had put it back in the box and kept it. She had it in one of her drawers and there it would remain in memory of her love for him.

"Yeah, it's definitely different than the kind of work I was doing for the CIA, but I'm enjoying it. It's still challenging in its own way and keeps me busy." She hesitated again and then forced herself to look at him.

"I have something I need to tell you Frank. I didn't want you to hear from anyone but me because you deserve at least that after all you and I have been through together. I...I'm engaged to be married...to Tony." When she saw his eyes widen and him look at her she quickly continued on. "I swear to you Frank that this all happened after you and I broke up. Nothing ever happened while we were together." Tears came to her eyes. "Please know that I still love you and I always will."

Frank’s eyes narrowed. Now it all made perfect sense and he would not believe that she threw everything away without something to gain. The gain was Tony Stark. “Well, im glad you can sleep at night believing that horse shit,” he said and took a step toward her. “You never admitted being wrong, never!” He growled and it took real effort to not yell.

“Do you think im an idiot? The flowers and the private lunch on his yacht?” He said then grabbed hold her of jacket and pulled her close. “I loved you god damnit! And you tossed me aside for HIM!” He said angrily then let her go.

Isabella had tears in her eyes as she looked back at Frank. She was on the verge of breaking down. "I swear to you Frank that nothing happened while you and I were together. If I had feelings for them at that time I didn't realize it. I stayed in Kazakhstan because I felt I needed to. I would not have been able to live with myself if I had just left. That's not the kind of person I am. It wouldn't have mattered who it was."

She then thought of something and she looked at him. "It's not as if you are completely innocent in our breakup either. You promised me that you weren't going to go back to doing all of that vigilante stuff, but you did and you lied to me about it. Those dead gang members...that was all you. An FBI friend of mine found a bracket that was apart of the explosive and it turns out that that type of bracket is only used in the construction industry and can't be gotten at a local hardware store. You outright lied to me and did you think I wasn't going to find out?"

Frank was taken aback, he had not expected her to find out. But now that she had he wondered when she had found out about it. He had a hunch when though. “Yes, I did break my promise but who else was going to do it? Isabella they gunned down your own brother in broad daylight and not one man is on trial for that. Not one but I know who they are and what they’re doing. I don’t see you doing anything about it. All I see is you in your fancy clothes in your fancy car with a driver and your fancy offices,” he scoffed. “I didn’t think money was that important to you. Did ya fuck em on the yacht?” He asked in a very disrespectful tone. “Don’t tell me there was nothing between you and Tony because I won’t believe it. I guess he liked what you got as much as I did,” Frank said

Isabella felt tears starting to roll down her cheeks. Her heart was breaking all over again and it hurt. His words hurt. "No...I didn't Frank, but I know you aren't going to believe that nor anything else that I have to say so why am I even wasting my breath. I do love you...whether you choose to believe that or not and I always will."

She didn't want him to see her break down and so she walked away from him and didn't stop or look back. She didn't say anything to Luca or Laura. She didn't think there was any point. They had heard what had happened and since Luca and Frank were friends that likely meant that they were on his side in all of this. She walked out of the house and shut the door behind her.

Laura gave Frank alot of shit for what he said and she grabbed her jacket and rushed after Isabella. She caught up to her and just began to walk beside her. “I cant believe Frank could say those things,” She said but decided to not say anything more unless Isabella spoke first. She coud see she was crying but didnt know what to do.

Isabella heard someone run up after her and looked over and saw Laura. Laura would see that Isabella was very upset and still crying. Isabella was so upset that she felt sick to her stomach. Suddenly, Isabella completely broke down and began to sob.

"I didn't want to hurt him. I do still love him and I swear that I never was with Tony while we were together...nor was Tony the reason I broke things off with Frank. I'm not with Tony for his money or his power. I'm with Tony because I fell in love with him...but that was after Frank."

Laura just enveloped Isabella with her arms and murmured soothing sounds to her as she cried. After Isabella calmed down they sat on a low concrete yard wall that stood as a landscaping element to the corner house on their street. “I yelled at Frank for talking to you that way. He had no right to say those things. I wish there was something I could do..” Laura said as she handed isabella a tissue. “Frank has really turned Luca around. I don’t know how really but he has. He comes by sometimes and they talk. In private usually. I don’t know what they are talking about but Luca is back to himself now and I have to thank Frank for that,” she said honestly. “But I still want you as my maid of honor Isabella, I want both you and Frank to be happy. I’m glad you found someone and I hope in time Frank does to,” she said,

Isabella allowed Laura to guide her over to the concrete wall where they both could sit. She took the tissue but it didn't really help. Her makeup was a mess and there was no hiding the fact that she had been crying.

"He hates me. You should have seen the way he looked at me. I would give anything in this world not to have him look at me the way he did. And there's nothing I can do to make this situation better."

“He’s just hurt Isabella, his feelings for you are deep and only time will heal that. You have a right to be happy too. So...Tony Stark huh? You’ll have to tell me how that happened. Do you have a secret profession as a man tamer that you’ve kept from me?” She asked with a smile, trying to cheer her up but also because she wanted to know more.

Isabella sighed, but told Laura how she and Tony had gotten together. The two women talked for a while before Isabella had to leave. She had a lot of work she needed to do. However, before she left she looked at Laura.

"I think it's great how Frank has help Luca. I don't want that to end. I want Frank to feel like he can still come over to Luca's place so I will just stay away."

"No, you're family. We're work it out Isabella, we'll just work it out and as I said he just needs time. So do you," She said. "Next Saturday, dress shopping?" She asked.