Unsure as to whether the pounding in her head was due to a slightly over zealous consumptiuon of alcohol or someone who had thought they would get their jollies from whipping up a frenzy on a bass drum, Izzy decided that remaining in bed for the foreseeable future was her best course of action. There appeared to be one slight problem with that plan, it didn't actually feel as though she was in her bed.

Confusion clouded her mind as Izzy tried to piece together just what had taken place after she and Amber had left Ruby's and found themselves a bar to spend the rest of their evening. However, after the first couple of games of pool they'd played, it was a complete blank, therefore telling Izzy that she had suceeded in her aim to drink herself into oblivion. 

Figuring that any effort to sit up would prove to be foolish, Izzy attempted to open her eyes, in the hope of discovering just exactly where she was. The first thing she was very aware of was that she'd slept with her contacts in, which of course was never a sensible option. The second thing was that she was still in the clothes she'd worn the night before. Izzy found herself to be somewhat relieved by that. At least she hadn't ended up doing something foolish and completely out of character. 

After a couple of minutes of getting her eyes totally focused, it dawned on Izzy that she was in fact on the couch in her own lounge. Hearing movement in the kitchen, Izzy tried to call out to who she could only presume to be Amber. The cool air of the room met with the dry scratchy interior of her mouth, the coughing fit that followed causing her to whince in pain as it resounded through her head. 

"Am I right to think pancakes for breakfast would be a little optimistic?" 

Izzy knew that in spite of the laughter in Amber's voice, she'd be concerned, and Izzy hated doing this to her. It wasn't something Izzy made a habit of, but over the years if there had been one thing that triggered off the need to get herself into a state of blissful drunkeness, it was the idea of having to speak to her father, and Amber had always been there to pick up the pieces and look after her. Izzy often wondered how Amber actually endured those times, but for whatever reasons she had, Izzy would be eternally grateful. 

Managing to slowly sit up, Izzy thanked Amber for the much welcomed Advil and glass of water. She swallowed the pills, virtually draining the glass of it's contents before flashing Amber an embarrassed smile. 

"I take it I was one glorious mess last night," Izzy stated hoarsely, moving slightly so Amber could sit next to her.

"Let's just say you've had better nights," Amber told her softly.

Izzy closed her eyes, groaning at the mere thought of just how bad she may have actually been.

"I'm so sorry Ambs, I do this and you're always there. Why you don't leave my drunken backside wherever it falls to teach me a lesson I don't know."

"This happens what? Once a year, if that. It's how you deal with it, it's part of you. And you know damn well I could never leave you."

Izzy managed a smile at Amber's words, knowing that if the roles were reversed she would never leave Amber either.

"How the hell did you manage to get me home in that state?" she asked, not missing the way Amber's eyes lit up, her lips curving into a smile.

"Oh I had a little help from someone at the bar," Amber informed her playfully.

Izzy narrowed her eyes a little, a little wary of Amber's cryptic nature.

"Call it fate, coincidence, I have no idea what the hell it was, but I went to the bar to get you some water and a certain Ophidiophobic....who is very pretty by the way....came to your rescue before you ended up on the floor."

Staring at Amber as though she had suddenly developed a second head, Izzy digested what she had just heard. If there was ever to be a time for Amber to be kidding, now would be perfect. Somehow though, Izzy figured that it wasn't her lucky day and that Amber was never more serious. Izzy's already pale complexion appeared to whiten more as the huge sinking feeling her stomach seemed to experiencing hit her.

"Brian?" she asked, her voice barely audible. 

"Mmmhmm."

"Oh bugger!"

Amber gave a warm reassuring smile.

"Iz, you have nothing to worry about. He just seemed concerned about you."

Izzy listened as Amber relayed the tale of how Brian had carried her out to the cab and had insisted on coming back with Amber so that he could help get her indoors. Getting the cab to wait for him, he'd apparently carried her inside, laid her on the couch and not left til he knew she was going to be ok. Izzy remained quiet, unsure what to say or even think. She wasn't even sure how knowing what had happened was supposed to make her feel. 

"I just wish I could bloody remember something," she sighed. 

"Do you feel like some tea?" Amber asked.

"Actually I feel like a sack of shit, but if you're offering to make me some tea, I'd love some thanks." 

Amber just shook her head.

"Good to see you still think you have a sense of humour with that hangover," she told Izzy, relieved to see the half smile Izzy wore.

As Amber headed back for the kitchen, she paused briefly and looked back at Izzy.

"Er, about Brian.....oh nevermind."

"I know what you're thinking and the answer is yes I believe so."

Amber gave a satisfied nod and continued on her way, whilst Izzy pulled the comforter around herself a little more and closed her eyes, knowing that as much as she wanted to sleep the day away, until that phone call came, she wouldn't be able to relax. 



The house was silent as Izzy wandered through to the kitchen. A neatly written note on the counter top told her that Amber had gone out for groceries. Izzy sighed and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. She felt reasonably half human again after a shower, although the raging thirst due to the inevitable dehydration after last night's antics was taking it's time in wanting to disappear.

Sitting at the counter, Izzy sipped her water as her mind turned over once again the blurry details of the night before. Whilst in the shower she'd thought she remembered a couple of things, but whether they had just been brought on by what Amber had told her she wasn't sure. The sudden interuption of the phone ringing pulled Izzy back to the present. She hesitated before getting up to answer. There was no point in putting it off.

"Isabella, it's your father," an abrupt voice announced as she greeted the caller. 

"Charles," Izzy stated calmly, not wanting her disdain for the man to bubble to the surface.

Her father let out an irritated sigh at her insistance at refering to him by his name. 

"I'll get straight to the point. There is a charity gala I must be present at in Los Angeles in September, the 29th to be precise, and I am calling to request that you attend with me."

Izzy chewed on her thumbnail as she held back the urge to laugh and hang up.

"As flattered as I realize I should be that you actually want me there, wouldn't Lydia or Victoria be more suited to being by your side, seeings as they've always been the ones that insist on going along to keep a close eye on just how much of their inheritance you're giving away," Izzy replied, unable to resist the slight dig at her sisters. 

"I thought it more practical to have you there, geographically speaking."

"I figured that much out for myself Charles, I knew it wouldn't be because you thought a father/daughter bonding session was due."

Izzy couldn't help but suspect that her father had ulterior motives for wanting her to be with him, it was just never that simple with him.

"Isabella, whilst you try your hardest to deny just who you really are or where you come from by hiding behind that facade you foolishly call a life, the harsh reality is that it isn't you. Working in some museum hoping to remain in the background, it's not what you were bred or raised for."

Izzy should have seen that coming. Her father could never let her forget her choices in life, even though he was the reason she had made them.

"I find that a little laughable coming from the man who did nothing but instill in me that I never truly belonged, who was the same man that even questioned whether I was even his. We've been over this countless times Charles, and it's getting old. The so called facade is the real me, and the ironic thing is that you helped to create that. I look at Lydia and Victoria and am thankful every day that I am nothing like them. But then I'm sure if they'd endured the constant humiliation and treatment mum and I did, they may have turned out a lot differently. If there was anything I could do to totally irradicate all that I keep hidden from my life, then believe me I would."

Izzy let out a deep breath, waiting for the verbal onslaught from her father. 

"If you can prove to me whilst I'm in Los Angeles that that's what you really want, then maybe I'll consider it. You have six weeks until I fly out there, I'd spend that time weighing up your options if I were you Isabella."

Izzy stood in the middle of the kitchen, the dialling tone buzzing in her ear letting her know her father had deemed the conversation finished. As much as that sounded like a challenge she wanted to rise to, Izzy knew there was a reason not to trust him. She just needed to find out what.