You'll need to read the first part to follow along with this part. Chapter three will be following soon.
Chapter Two
Craig pulled away from her soft lips when her father coughed, "Ahem."
Craig was in a daze from finally kissing Izzy. He reveled her the taste of her sweet and salty lips. Bacon, with a hint of maple syrup. He almost laughed as her father continued.
"Kids, would you mind going out to lunch. The wife and I need some time to talk privately."
"Sure, Daddy," she said as he handed her a fifty dollar bill.
"Will you be alright? I can stay close by..."
"Craig, you've done more than enough already, son, thank you. We're only gonna talk. There's nothing left for me to break anyway."
"Okay, sir. Take care."
"It's Rick now, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate you coming over last night. Who knows what I would've done in that state."
Craig nodded and Izzy said, "I'm gonna change shirts and we'll be out of your hair, Daddy."
She scaled the stairs quickly and saw her mother sitting on her bed, crying quietly. Izzy walked over, knelt in front of her, and took her hands.
"Mom, are you okay?"
She sniffed and said, "I messed up badly, baby. Please don't cut me out like you did Mia."
Izzy hugged her and said, "I won't, Mom. I'm mad at you, but I can't cut you out of my life. I still need you."
She squeezed her mother tighter as she sobbed into her shoulder.
"I can't live without him, Izzy. I need him so badly. I love him so much, and he hates me now."
"He doesn't hate you, Mom. He hates what you did."
"I guess he hated my figurines, too."
They both laughed.
"Don't be too hard on him for that. It will be a non-starter in any conversation you have."
"I know. They're just stuff and can be replaced. I can't replace him, though. I have to get him back."
"I'm still here."
They both looked up at the door and saw Rick standing there.
He said, "Let Izzy get going. We have to talk."
She nodded and kissed Izzy on the cheek.
"No matter what happens, I love you very much."
********
Craig and Izzy were sitting in Frank's Chicago Shrimp House, having some fried shrimp and potato pancakes. Izzy was afraid to leave her parents alone together, but her father promised the rage was gone.
"I thought you didn't want me to take revenge on Bentley," Craig asked as he thought about Izzy covering for them.
"It's Bryyyssson," she said. "I didn't, but after I found out that he took advantage of my mother, I came around on it."
"What did happen there?" He asked.
"I guess they were out for a business dinner and he plied her with several Martinis. He kept her out late by lavishing her with compliments and flirting. She ate it up, got drunk and he took her in the backseat of his BMW, right there in the parking lot."
"Jesus," Craig said shaking his head.
"Yeah. Well, it turns out he gave her Gonorrhea, and then she passed it to my Dad."
He looked at her and before he could ask the question, she answered it.
"I don't know if Mia has it. I haven't spoken to her since that night."
"Damn it," he thought. He didn't trust what Mia said about the timing of her fling with Bryson. For all he knew, she could've given it to Bryson. He knew he needed to get tested.
"Craig, you didn't hurt him too badly did you?"
"Not too badly. He'll remember it though. I just wish I could've told him why he was getting what he got."
"I think he'll know," she said. "Craig, are we okay?"
He took her hand and smiled.
"Yeah, we're okay. Better than okay. I'll be honest, I didn't want to stop kissing you before."
"Me either. Um, Craig, I'm not like Mia."
"What do you mean? I trust that you won't cheat on me."
"No, I mean that I'm a virgin. I know you guys did it all of the time, but I'm sort of saving myself."
"Don't worry, Izzy. I won't pressure you for sex. I'm good with you saving yourself."
Izzy smiled in relief.
"Besides, I have to get myself tested for STDs now anyway."
"I believed her, Craig. She hadn't seen him prior to your leaving to go back to school."
"You see, that's the problem with trust and losing it. I don't believe her. I never could again."
"Do you miss her?"
"Sometimes, but it looks like I just upgraded and won't have that hole in my life anymore."
She beamed and lit up his heart with her smile. Then she turned serious.
"Craig, I'm going to talk to her."
He didn't respond, but she saw his frown.
"I'm sorry, but I have to tell her about Bryson's STD. She needs to know."
He nodded and understood. He would also understand if she stayed friends with her. He wasn't sure that he could handle them being as close as they were before, but he wouldn't tell Izzy that. He decided to let it play out.
"I thought a lot about it this morning. If I can forgive my mother for hurting my dad, I should be able to do the same for Mia. I'm not saying I'll ever be as close with her as I was before, but I'd like to think that I can be the type of person that doesn't hold grudges. Life is too short for negativity."
"I understand," he said. "Don't worry about my feelings. You just be you."
She smiled and said, "You're a good person, I love you."
"I love you too, Izz. Do you want to go out tonight? Not that this isn't a good enough first date or anything."
"Absolutely. I'd love it."
"Good. Let's get you to your car so you can go and see Mia and I'll pick you up tonight at 6."
*********
Izzy walked up the steps to Mia's townhouse and was impressed. Her parents put the money down as a graduation gift and co-signed on the mortgage. Izzy hadn't been there yet but she was jealous. She wished that she were out on her own too.
Mia answered the door looking like she hadn't showered in days. She was wearing yoga pants and a t-shirt with her hair pulled up into a loose ponytail.
"Izzy! Oh my God!" She grabbed her friend into a hug and cried.
Izzy returned the hug and asked, "Can we talk?"
"Oh my God! Yes. Come in."
The house was surprisingly cleaner than Izzy expected considering Mia's appearance. She sat down in the living room and listened to Mia ramble off apologies before cutting her off.
"Wait, Mia. Let me talk for a minute."
Mia stopped and listened hopefully.
"First, I came to tell you that Bryson gave my mother an STD."
Mia hung her head and said, "He gave me one too. I'm just glad I didn't give it to Craig. I can barely live with myself now, I don't know what I would've done if I had... Wait! You said he gave it to your mom?"
"Yes."
"Jesus. Does your dad know?"
"Yes, and things aren't good in my house right now. She gave it to my dad."
"Fucking Bryson. I want to kill him, I really do," Mia said with a sneer.
"I know how you feel."
"Izzy, I'm so sorry. I know I can't make it up to Craig and he'll never speak to me again, but I can't lose you too. You're my sister, you always have been."
"I know, that's what makes this all so hard. I forgave my mom for betraying my father, and I feel like I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't forgive you too."
Mia jumped up and put her hands over her mouth. Tears fell as she said, "Izzy, I love you so much. Thank you."
Both ladies hugged and cried with each other for several minutes.
"Mia, last night I told Craig that I was in love with him."
"I always knew you were," she said sadly.
"Yeah, um, he told me this morning that he loved me too."
"Oh," Mia said sadly sitting back down.
"So, you guys are together now?"
"Yes. I'm sorry if that hurts you."
"It does, but I threw him away, didn't I? I don't have the right to be upset."
"I'm sorry."
Mia shook her head and said, "No, don't be. I'm happy for you. You deserve him and to be happy. Just don't make the same mistakes I did."
Izzy didn't answer. She knew that she would never cheat on Craig. She'd never put herself in that position in the first place.
With the heavy stuff out of the way, they spent the remainder of the afternoon catching up.
********
Craig rang Izzy's doorbell and listened for any shouting. He didn't hear any and wondered how things went with the Allens' conversation.
The door opened and Craig saw a clearly depressed Rick motioning for him to come in.