The Answer

Isabel let out a long breath as she tossed her car keys onto the hallway end table in her old apartment. She had finally regained enough composure to drive herself home, and realized how much of a mess she had become. She had felt never more exhausted in the past than she was from today and honestly, really didn’t know how much more she could take. She had finally severed the ties with Josh. And it killed her to do it.

 Being back in her apartment put her somewhat at ease. She felt safe here…almost sheltered from everything she was hiding away from.

 As her feet and toes started to warm and regain feeling, a dull ache emerged in the back of her heels and pinky toes. She quietly groaned as she kicked off her heels and accessed the damage. Nothing a couple band-aids wouldn’t be able to fix.

 She caught her reflection in the mirror out of the corner of her eye. She looked like hell.  Her dress was wrinkled and still damp from the rain. Her fading orange hair clung to her forehead in a dampened mess; eyeliner and mascara smudged underneath her eyes made her look, well, sick and depressed. Letting out another long sigh, she took one more look at her ghastly appearance before making her way to her bedroom to get out of her ruined clothes.

           Isabel peeled her dress off of her ice-cold skin and slipped on a robe, making her way to the bathroom to draw a hot bath for herself. Tonight called for bubbles, and lots of it. 

She clipped up her hair and unscrewed the cap to the bubble soap and started to pour it in the water, using her hand to let it mix and bubble with the water. The sweet scent of lavender filled her nostrils; instantly calming her. Once the tub was filled, she slipped off her robe and sank into her sanctuary of hot water and bubbles; closing her eyes as she let her shoulders drop and breathed in the steam slowly and deeply.

What she loved most about bubble baths was their way of letting her relax and forget all of her troubles for an hour or so.

 

She only wished it could last longer.

 

            Isabel remembered when she was little, and after a bad argument between her parents, her mother would pack a suitcase the next morning and she and Hayley would drive 4 hours from their home in Mississippi to the old cottage by the lake. It was her mother’s way of escaping her problems, but Isabel never minded. She loved playing by the lake and exploring the forest around her. She felt alive and free when she went to the lake, and every time they returned from their weekend escape, her father would apologize and this would be better for a few weeks. That was, until that night when they came back and he wasn’t there.

He had left a note on Isabel’s pillow, saying he was sorry and that he loved her. She only sees her dad about twice a year now. He created a new life for himself with a new wife and three replacement kids.

 

Maybe that was what she needed: a trip to the lake house to forget all of this mess and to move on, finally. She would spend the summer there, pay rent to her Mom, and have some time to work on her music compositions.

For the first time today, Isabel actually smiled to herself. She had finally found the answer to what she had been needing. And it couldn't come at a better time.