Isabella's Last Request (7 page)

The landing was fairly stress-free. There were a few little bumps, and I found myself clinging to both Isabella and Ollie’s hand
s until their fingers went numb. Once we’d landed, we had a glass of champagne to toast the new day. Then we had a lovely picnic breakfast in the field we landed in, while the tracking team came to deflate the balloon and pack everything away. It’s weird to think they’ve followed us all this way, I can’t help but think what would have happened if they’d got stuck in traffic and lost us. Luckily they didn’t.

             
After we were all given a certificate of flight, photo postcard and food we were driven back to the start to get Ollie’s car. We’ve just dropped Josh home for a couple of hours sleep before he goes to work. Ollie’s now driving us to Discovery Cove so we can get a nice early start.

So far today we’ve crossed off 37 – go in a hot air balloon, 38 – get drunk on champagne. Although, we both admitted we only felt drunk for about ten minutes before the food hit our stomachs. We’re still going to count it though. We also crossed off 40 – start the day with alcohol without feeling guilty, and 58 – fly without panicking, something Isabella already mastered on the way here.  After all, I guess the fear of impending death is less scary when you know you’re on your countdown anyway.

              ‘Okay, we’re here! Can I have your memory card now?’

Isabella takes the little card from her camera, replacing it with her spare one and hands it to Ollie excitedly.

              ‘Have a great time and give me a call when you want picking up. I’m going to spend the day at work so it’ll take me about half an hour to get here.’

I lean over to give him a kiss before getting out the car, and he whispers in my ear.

              ‘I know dolphins aren’t as good as penguins, but I hope you enjoy yourself babe.’

He’s such a good boyfriend coming to pick us up whenever we want, and remembering my love of penguins.

Discovery cove opens at 9.30am but I read it gets busy early, so that’s why we came straight over here. I know we’ll have to queue for about forty five minutes but hopefully we can get a nice, early appointment for our dolphin swim. It sounds silly, but I want to get the dolphin swim out of the way so I won’t have to stress about missing it. I’m almost more excited about the snorkelling in the lazy river with stingrays and fish.

             
‘What about you and Ollie then? So much for you not liking him like that!’

Isabella is so impatient and gets bored really easily, so I know already this is going to be the longest wait.

              ‘What do you want me to say Izzy? You were right, of course. I like Ollie, he’s great’

Isabella shines a smug smile in my direction.

              ‘I was right because I’m always right. And I’m always right because I’m amazing. So were you a good girl last night, considering it was the night you got together?’

             
‘He was a complete gentleman last night. He didn’t try anything; he wasn’t even going to give me a kiss and a cuddle goodnight in case I felt pressured.’

             
‘Tell me you at least got to see him naked?’

             
‘No Isabella, I did not, and before you ask nor did he. We’re taking it slow, which is more than I can say about you, if my sources are correct.’

Isabella looks slightly shamefaced before her devilish smile reappears and she giggles menacingly.

              ‘What’s the point in taking it slow when you don’t have long to live, and you have a boyfriend like Josh? Who knows I may be too ill for sex soon, so I’m not going to miss a single opportunity in the meantime. Can you blame me? ‘

             
‘No, of course I can’t blame you. I’d probably be the same if I were in your situation. I have to ask though, without going into detail, what the hell were you doing when Ollie walked in?’

             
‘Ha! What did he tell you we were doing?’

             
‘He wouldn’t tell me, he said it’d scar me and he didn’t want me thinking about it.’

             
‘Oh Livs, you’re dating a prude! It was just a bit of exotic sixty-nine. My God Livs, Josh is amazing in bed.’

I think I must be blushing. I know I feel a bit embarrassed. Isabella doesn’t usually indulge me in her sex life, other than very generalisations such as; oh yeah, I shagged Zack last night, or just so you know, after I left yours yesterday I got a booty text from Stuart.

              ‘He’s not a prude! He probably just didn’t expect to see that going on in his spare room. I’m not going to ask what makes it exotic. Can we just draw a line under this topic?’

             
‘He may be a prude, you’ll know soon enough though. I think Josh is going to be my number 20 – Say I love you to a boyfriend and mean it, because I think number 1- fall in love has happened’

I’m going to say something now, and I know even before I’ve said it will be mean and will upset Isabella. But I can’t stop myself from saying it.

              ‘It’s been two weeks Isabella. How can you love him? This is going to be another Stuart again.’

I actually feel like I’ve just ripped her heart out. I hate to see her like this, but I feel as her best friend and sister figure, I should try and keep her grounded.

              ‘I can’t help falling in love easily. And I did love Stuart, I just couldn’t make him love me back – not all the time anyway.’

             
‘I know you loved him Izzy, and it was his loss when he walked away from you, but I don’t want the same thing to happen with Josh. I’m just trying to look out for you Hun.’

             
‘I know you are Livs, you always do. But I guess now I’m dying I can go a bit wild, eh? It’s not as if there will be many repercussions. Oh, look! The lines moving, I think we can go in.’

              That was the end of that conversation, typical Isabella needing to get her own way and win the argument by dropping in the death situation. How am I supposed to top that?

Luckily, the rest of our day trip was most enjoyable. Swimming with dolphins was one of my favourite things so far on this holiday, but I actually loved the rays and fish too. It sounds silly, but all the animals seemed genuinely happy there. The dolphins
frolicked around us doing tricks, and they really sounded happy, clicking and giggling as we splashed.

Isabella didn’t enjoy the snorkelling with the fish. In her defence, it was almost ice cold compared to the humid sunshine all around us. Also, she’ll not often admit it but she hates the thought of fish swarming around her. She has the most irrational fear that the fish will suddenly all swim at her face, or they’ll decide she looks like human fish food. Isabella is slightly claustrophobic too so the constrictive face mask and the life jacket freak her out. At least she didn’t have a panic attack this time.

Living in Cornwall makes it very hard to be scared of swimming, especially when there are hot surfer dudes to impress. I’ve always been a bit of a water baby, learning to surf almost as soon as I could swim, so after the Spain incident I spent most of my time with Isabella while she took surfing lessons. Isabella is now a confident swimmer and surfer, but she’d still rather sunbathe than swim. She always comes to the beach with me, but only to show off her exceptional figure in her smallest bikini to give her the nicest tan.

             
So while I was drifting through the lazy rapids and getting up close and personal with the colourful sea life, Isabella decided she was going to work on number 92 – sunbathe until you change colour. I have to say, when I found her sleeping on her stomach, I almost didn’t recognise the lobster that was now Isabella.

             
‘Wake up Izzy. You’ve definitely gained the right to cross off 92 now, at least roll over.’

An irrational thought floods through my mind when
Izzy doesn’t stir. What if the heat was too much for her? What if the excitement of the hot air balloon, following by champagne and the dolphins caused her to have a heart attack or caused her organs to fail? I find myself giving her a little kick in the ankle and give a silent prayer when she wriggles and groans at me. I hope the elation I’m feeling is because I know she’s okay and not because I just realised my first instinct was suspecting Isabella was dead, was to kick her.

             
‘Livs, what time is it?’

Isabella tries to roll over to face me, before the pain of sunburn stops her in her tracks.

              ‘Hey Iz, it’s getting quite late now, I may call Ollie if you’re ready? Isabella, your back looks awful, I’m so sorry I was gone for so long! I got distracted.’

Izzy
gingerly manages to roll into a sitting pose. It’d appear she’s burnt her legs too. It doesn’t look like she’s bothered putting on sunscreen today.

             
‘It’s my own fault, but hey, what’s a bit of skin cancer? I think you’re right though, time to call Ollie. I’m starving.’

By the time we get to the “All you can eat” restaurant, Isabella is as red as a tomato with a very definite line drawn down the side of her body, where the white meets the red. I can tell she’s in a foul mood because of the constant pain, but does a very good job of hiding it from the boys with fake smiles and laughter. I think this is also why nobody ever notices she’s dying; she’s so good at hiding her emotions.  If it were me, I’d be a wreck – constantly crying.

The boys have piled their plates high, whilst Isabella and I have gone for more modest portions. Isabella doesn’t seem to be eating much; despite her earlier stating she was starving. I think it might be her medication making her feel sick. She told me earlier she was going to take a stronger dose she has for emergencies. I was so worried, thinking she was close to the end, but seeing my reaction she quickly reassured me it was just for the pain of the sunburn.

             
‘Why aren’t you eating babe?’

Josh looks concerned at Isabella’s sudden loss of appetite, especially after his blunder when he saw the state of
Izzy. He lectured her about her stupidity, letting herself get that burnt, which would have been fine - if he’d left it there. Unfortunately, gorgeous Josh put his foot right in it by lecturing her about skin cancer and age spots when she’s old. She wouldn’t be able to go out in the sun with her kids when she’s older because she would be a wrinkly old woman.

It was only when Ollie punched him in the arm and Isabella and I stormed out so neither of us would cry, that Josh realised his faux pas. There has been a bit of tension all evening and a lot of grovelling on Josh’s part. So this use of “babe” is quite brave for him.

Isabella smiles sweetly at Josh, before answering

             
‘I don’t have enough ketchup babes; could you pass me it please?’

As Josh hands her the full bottle of ketchup, everything seems to go in slow motion as Isabella opens it and squirts Josh in the face, covering his hair before moving onto his body; she has to reach over the table to reach his crotch and legs. Josh sits in a state of shock for a few moments, before reaching to his plate, grabbing a handful of mash potato and launching it at Isabella. The soft mash hits her with a force in the throat, before sliding beautifully in between her cleavage and down her new dress. Isabella picks up a handful of her own mash, which is covered in gravy and slams it in Josh’s hair.

Ollie and I make the mistake of laughing, and find food hurling towards us and that’s it, a full on food fight has broken out and we’re now covered.

             
‘That’s it! You’ll have to leave now. Get out of my restaurant!’

The restaurant manager, a dumpy old man grabs Isabella and
I by our arms dragging us giggling out of the front door, with the boys trailing behind.

As we head back to Ollie’s car, we get strange looks from everyone passing by but all we can do is laugh.

              ‘Do you realise we didn’t pay for our meal?’

Ollie has a point, and I feel guilty. I’m about to suggest going back to pay, before
Izzy puts it into perspective, 98 – blag a free meal. We’re doing well with the list today!

The trip from
Orlando to Vegas was brilliant. Isabella and I were thinking of renting a car originally, but when we discovered it takes about a day and a half by car, we decided we’d go for cheap flights instead. So when Ollie suggested taking his car and sharing the driving with Josh, we were a bit wary; in fact, it took a lot of persuasion from the boys to agree to drive rather than fly. The driving would have to be done solely by the boys as Isabella and I would cost too much to insure.

We decided to make the journey as short as possible, so only made a couple of stops along the way. We did go to Arizona to visit the Grand Canyon. How could anybody miss the opportunity to see it, I don’t know. It was the most serene but stunning place. We took a helicopter ride over the top, so we could see every part of it.

After our big food fight, Isabella and I started to go through our list and tick things off we’d done. Ollie noticed we had “Vegas” and “The Grand Canyon” on the list and asked us when we were going there. Unlike Josh, Ollie has never been but always wanted to have a road trip there. He told me his boss loved Isabella’s photos and wanted to do a daily blog of her story. Apparently it’d really hook their regular readers. His boss told him to take some time off to spend with us, as long as he emailed an article or two every day. So Izzy and I decided this would be a great time to blitz through the rest of the things for Orlando, before heading over to Las Vegas with the boys. I was a bit worried Isabella wouldn’t go for it, but that was a bit stupid really. Why would Izzy want to go away and leave her new boyfriend, the new love of her life behind?

             
So it was settled, Josh booked a holiday from work, Ollie wrote a handful of articles about Isabella’s back story ready for his boss to start putting in the paper. Doing it this way meant Ollie actually had a few days of relaxing before his next deadline. Whilst the boys were tying up their loose ends, Izzy and I sent half our stuff home to our parents, and rushed about finishing the Orlando tasks on the list.

I completed the “Sunbathe until you change colour” task from the list, and cried as Ollie rubbed after sun into my pink skin. Isabella has a great tan now, whereas mine just blistered and peeled away leaving another layer of pasty, white skin below. I hate being blonde and pale sometimes. My mum tells me it’s because I’m an E
nglish Rose, with my pink cheeks and sparkly blue eyes.

             
By the time we started our long journey for Las Vegas, five of Ollie’s articles about Isabella had gone out. Ollie’s boss rang to say they’d had more feedback and support for Isabella than about anything else they’d ever done. He’d even been called by a couple of studios who wanted to display her photos, if she could get them framed or stretched onto canvases.

Ollie’s new tenant has agreed to live rent free while we’re away, providing he manages all of Ollie’s business. Including; booking tourists into the flat, sorting out which of Isabella’s photos should be published and dealing with studios, taking payment, etc. Ollie has become Isabella’s manager and both of them love their new roles.

Ollie’s tenant, Peter, has also arranged for every copy of Florida Times to be set to the UK for Isabella’s mum. This was his idea, and such a lovely thing to do. We met briefly before the trip, he’s very sweet. Closer in age to Isabella and I, and at just 23 he’s just a few months younger than Josh.

              We arrived in Vegas yesterday and had a lazy day relaxing in the hotel, and seeing some of the amazing scenery. We’re staying in the Bellagio Hotel, where Oceans 11 was filmed. It’s really expensive, but when Ollie’s boss heard we were travelling to Vegas, he called the manager to swap some free publicity for a free stay for us. Isabella has taken loads of photos of the hotel and the legendary water fountain outside. Ollie managed to have a quick meeting with the manager of the hotel, who’s agreed to Isabella selling her photos of the hotel as long as they get to choose their favourites for the lobby.

When I said we had a lazy day, I meant all of us except Ollie who seems to be constantly working; trying to better his career and life. It’s a trait I wish I had; I don’t even know what I want to be when I grow up.

             
We started gambling at 10am today, after a hearty breakfast. Today is the day we’re aiming to do our challenge of gambling for 24 hours. I think this will be harder than we initially imagined, we’ve only been playing for seven hours and I already want to go shower and get changed. But no, we have to stay.

The service is brilliant here; they have drinks and anything you could possibly want to eat; although you kind of forget about food in this place, you just keep gambling.  The boys have spent most of their time flitting between the poker and black jack tables. Josh is very impulsive so has been winning big and losing it all again, whereas Ollie is a little more sensible and has been planning his moves and gradually increasing his funds.

Isabella was playing roulette, but has come to join me on the slots. I figure we can win quite a lot on the slots if we stay for 24 hours and keep to the same machine. But I predict the majority of the winnings will be the return of our own money.

             
‘Do you want to go play craps with me? I can’t play anymore poker with Josh; he’s stressing me out with his ridiculous gambles.’

Ollie sneaks up on us, making us both jump slightly.

              ‘Oh no, is he losing lots of money? Maybe I should go and keep an eye on him. How hard is poker? Do you think I could pick it up easily?’

Ollie holds his hand out to Isabella, helping her off her stool.

              ‘Just sit with him for a couple of rounds, and then do the exact opposite of what he does and you’ll be fine!’

Isabella rolls her eyes at Ollie’s words of wisdom as she heads off in the direction of the poker tables.

              ‘So Miss Hope, can I interest you in a game of craps?’

             
‘Ollie, what are you talking about? Surely there’s no game actually called
crap
?’

Ollie laughs at my reaction to having said crap, well either that or my stupidity at not knowing what the game is.

              ‘Come on darling, I’ll show you.  It’s nice and simple, almost as easy as slots.’

I allow him to lift me of my stool and collect my pot of chips, before following him to a large table full of people shouting. The table looks like a converted pool table with its moss green background, but it has numbers and boxes with things like
“come” and “pass line”. We watch them play for a bit before Ollie proceeds to explain the basics to me.

             
‘Okay so to begin, the shooter, one of the players, must play at least the table minimum on either the pass line or don’t pass line. The shooter, who for this exercise we’ll say is you, gets presented with about 5 dice, you then get to choose your favourite two. You can only hold them in one hand when you’re about to throw them, and when you do throw you must hit the wall the opposite end of the table. Then the other players get to do the same, and people can bet on you if they don’t want to play it themselves.’

             
‘Oh, is this what they play in “F.R.I.E.N.D.S” when Monica has to roll the eight?’

             
‘Erm, yeah… that’s the one. But you’re kind of interrupting me. Do you at least know what you’re doing now though, because you made me lose my trail of thought?’

I’m not sure if
he’s actually annoyed at me or not, so to be on the safe side I give him one of my dazzling smiles and a quick kiss.

             
‘I think I get it, now let’s win our millions!’

              Four AM was when it really started to get difficult. Josh and I both wanted to quit, after all we’d been playing or 16 hours. But luckily we both have strong partners who refuse to give up before the job is finished. I’ve always known Isabella was determined, but at five AM I saw a completely new side to her.

             
‘Sit back down! You’re not giving up on me Olivia. Josh has gone back to playing the slots, now shut up and find something to entertain yourself, because all you have done for the last hour is moan and strop. To be honest, even Ollie can’t stand to be around you right now!’

I look around; it takes me a while to place Ollie. Maybe she has a point, even if she didn’t express it in the best way possible. Ollie is quite far away, have I been that annoying? He was around for a bit, when I first mentioned going to bed.

              ‘I… I’m…’

Oh god, why am I crying? It doesn’t even look like she’s going to comfort me. I can’t blame her, but she’s my best friend. I would expect her to do something.

              ‘Stop it now. If you don’t stop it right now I’m going to go find Josh because I’m too tired to deal with this shit, and I don’t want to do or say something I’ll regret.’

Isabella is starting to look really tired and poorly, I think she's in a lot of pain but she won't quit. Throughout this evil illness she's stayed strong and I know she won't quit until it takes her over completely. Luckily for both of us, it’s so quiet at this time of morning, Ollie heard our raised voices and rushed over to calm us.

              ‘Don’t argue girls. We’re all tired so have a hug to apologise, and then I think it would be best if Isabella goes with Josh and I’ll stay here with you Olivia. We can meet at six thirty for breakfast and see how we get on? Does that sound like a plan?’

We both nod our agreement and have a quick hug before Isabella makes off and I collapse into Ollie’s arms.

By the time ten AM comes and we leave the casino or our hotel rooms, I’m wide awake. I am proud to say two of us leave with more than we started with, one of us leaves with considerably more than he started with, and one stroppy Josh leaves with quite a bit less and has to be dragged out kicking and screaming. Isabella and I agree a meeting time of two PM for a late breakfast/lunch, before leading our men off to our respectable rooms.

             
‘I don’t know about you, but I’m not tired at all.’

I announce
this with a wink, as soon as we are in our room. Ollie looks temporarily confused by the wink, before he realises what I am implying. He answers my question with a long sensuous kiss, as he picks me up and carries me to the bed.

             
‘Are you sure?’

We haven’t had sex yet, and I wonder if he thinks I’m a virgin.

              ‘Oh yes. I’m sure, now stop talking and kiss me!’

Ollie gently shakes me awake atone PM to tell me I have a text.

             
‘Will you read it to me please? I can’t open my eyes.’

He chuckles slightly as he leans over me to find mobile, or cell as he insists on calling it.

              ‘Okay my sleepy kitten. It’s from Isabella. She says she’s not feeling too well so her and Josh are going to give lunch a miss and maybe get some room service later. Sorry.’

             
‘Oh, will you text her back and say alright Hun, feel better, text me later and some kisses?’

             
‘And what do I get as a reward for texting her back for you?’

I open my eye to see if he’s implying what I think he’s implying and I’m met with a completely naked Ollie.

              ‘Send the message quickly and I’ll reward you accordingly.’

I try my best to sound sexy and seductive but once I hear my voice, I know I just sound tired. As soon as Ollie starts his magic I wake up instantly. He starts by massaging my shoulders and kissing my neck, works his way down my body, kissing every inch. I’ve never been with an older man before him, other than a year older. I suddenly realise what the benefits are, Ollie is experienced. He knows what I’ll like, and he’s brilliant at everything from foreplay to orgasms, but he’s so gentle and caring at the same time. I wonder how many women he’s been with… No I don’t. Why would I want to know that?

After, I lie in his arms wishing I could stay there forever, but it’s getting late now and I’m hungry. I can hear his stomach grumble so I know he’s hungry too.

             
‘Shall we order some room service? Or maybe go out and see some of Vegas?’

I give him the option. If he chooses room service I’ll reward him with sex, if he chooses going out I’ll demand a present so he can spend some of his winnings from last night.

              ‘As much as I’d love to stay here in bed with you all day, I think we should go out and get some fresh air. It seems so long since we saw daylight and the outside world. Also, I want to buy you something to remind you of our first trip together.’

Okay, I know I was mocking Isabella about saying she
loved Josh already, but oh my God, I love Ollie! What an amazing guy, and to think I didn’t even fancy him to start with!

             
‘That sounds like an awesome plan, but before we do that, do you want to join me in the shower?’

             
‘Awesome eh… you’ve picked up the American slang already I see! A shower sounds like a good idea but there’ll be no funny business Miss Hope because we’ve already wasted most of the day sleeping.’