Chapter 5: Brother
[London]
Dylan just finished his lecture and was passing through the corridor when he heard a familiar voice.
There was a huge crowd at the parking lot and he caught the glimpse of a familiar car at center.
Quickening his pace, he made his way through the crowd to see what happened.
"You can say this all at police station. Don't bother wasting your breathe here."
"Little miss. You don't know who you are talking to. You might regret speaking to me in this tone"
"I don't care who you are. You drove recklessly inside the campus, destroyed the school property, and injured a student. This is enough to get you punished." Isabella pointed out as she glared at the man standing in front of her.
He almost drove the car on her and is now shamelessly accusing her of jumping in front his car.
Just the heavy perfume from that guy was enough to give her a head ache, let alone arguing.
"Please don't be angry Ms.Campbell. We will compensate you for the injury and .."
"Of course you will compensate for the medical charges. After all, you both are the guilty party here. Doesn't mean you two can escape the punishment." Isabella said, cutting off the girl still in the car.
"Isa?"
Dylan rushed to side when he saw her left hand bleeding and her belongings scattered on the road.
"Show me your hand" saying this, Dylan removed the handkerchief Isabella used to cover her bleeding.
It started to swell at the left elbow, and even the bleeding wasn't little. She must have fallen pretty hard to get hurt like this.
"Yo. Little bro. Long time no see."
The annoying man commented as soon as he saw Dylan. Even the girl in the passenger seat got down.
Isabella frowned. "You know him?"
Dylan slightly nodded before wrapping her elbow neatly with a neat handkerchief.
"What are you doing here Benjamin?"
"I was just dropping my girlfriend. Who knew this little feisty beauty would come in my way." Benjamin chuckled looking at Isabella.
Isabella felt like punching his face till all his teeth fell off.
"Just you wait.." Isabella took a photo of the car number plate and dialed the university police.
She wouldn't let this disrespectful guy leave without giving a proper apology.
The crowd mostly cleared up by the time the campus patrol came to them.
Benjamin, his dolled up girl friend and his yellow sports car - All screamed money.
The police already knew filing a complaint against these kind of people is useless. They will simply pay the fine and leave like nothing happened till the next time.
"There is also an apology and a compensation remaining sir." Isabella reminded after Benjamin payed the fine.
"Right. How about I treat you to a dinner this weekend show my sincerity. Let me take you to a hospital before that. I still have to compensate you."
Benjamin said enthusiastically and threw the purse in the passenger seat at his girl friend before walking towards Isabella.
"Don't try anything funny Benjamin" Dylan pushed Isabella behind him.
"Stop poking your nose in my business all the time"
PUNCH
Benjamin pushed Dylan away and was about to grab Isabella when she landed one harsh punch, breaking his nose and ruining his face.
"Good. We are equal now. You don't have to apologize, nor compensate." Isabella remarked as she looked at Benjamin who was shocked and covering his nose with his hands.
Even Dylan, the police and the rich girl were taken aback for a moment.
"How dare you?" The girl almost screeched at Isabella but shut her mouth when Benjamin signaled her to keep quite.
"This one is a unique piece brother" Benjamin crudely commented, amusement flickering in his eyes as he eyes Isabella.
"Let's go."
Dylan took her bag and gently pulled her away. The farther, the better. He didn't want her to be entangled with Benjamin in any way.
"Why did he keep calling you brother?" Isabella asked after a while.
"Well. He is the Barnett family's eldest son"
Isabella frowned hearing this. She remembered Barnett family. They adopted Dylan. But it was because the couple had no kids.
Dylan understood her questions too.
"Two years after I was adopted, we got to know that Mr.Barnett had an extra-marital affair with Mrs.Barnett's younger sister. Their son was already a teenager. So now the family has two sons, one illegitimate, another adopted."
Isabella pursed her lips, feeling bad for him. No one would like to be adopted into that kind of unhappy family.
She silently held his hand with her right one firmly. She wasn't very good with words. This was all she could do to make him feel better.
Dylan's lips curled up. He wasn't really feeling bad, since he never felt like a part of that family. But intention received, and he was very happy.
"That was a beautiful punch"
"Hmph.. Of course it was. He messed with the wrong girl." Isabella said proudly.
Isabella had no choice but to ask Bianca to take down the notes seriously since she couldn't attend. It was usually her work to take notes.
The swelling looked bad and painful, but thankfully it was nothing serious. The doctor simply bandaged it for and said not to move it much.
"Don't you have a part-time job in a while? I can go back by myself" Isabella said but Dylan insisted on taking her back to their studio.
Mainly because he felt Benjamin would come looking for her.
"Call me if you need anything. And don't open the door for strangers."
Dylan reminded her of few more things before leaving for his work. His cheeks flushed red when he finally closed the door. His hand went to his heart which was crazily beating inside his chest.
All this while inside, he was constantly thinking of what exactly was he to her that he was reminding her of all those things parents tell to their primary school kids.
Friend? He had surely invaded into her personal space more that a friend does.
He didn't know what he was, but he knew very well what he wanted to be.
Taking a deep breathe he set off to work.
Inside, Isabella wasn't any better either. She blushed like a tomato as soon as Dylan closed the door.
Usually she would kick out anyone who treats her like a kid, but Dylan's concerned gaze and soft reminders made her blush. All she could do was obediently nod.
Isabella swapped her library shift with another worker but went to do her work at the cafe in the evening.
She messaged Dylan about it and he said would pick her up when her shift completes.
It was 6:50pm in the evening and Dylan was on his way to get Isabella when he felt weird and creepy all of a sudden.
He felt like this before, but couldn't remember when and where again. So he hastened his pace to reach the cafe.
Sure enough, he reached early, right at the moment when Isabella was taking a order from that creepy lady he met a few nights ago after the welcome party.
Both Isabella and the lady turned to look at him. And both of them smiled.
"Please have a seat mam. I will get your order shortly." Isabella politely spoke and went into the kitchen to prepare the order.
Dylan observed the lady. She looked elegant, beautiful and harmless. But he still felt creepy, which felt weird, because there were few other people in the cafe and no one bothered about this woman.
"Let me take it to her" Dylan volunteered when Isabella came out with a plate.
"No, this is my job"
"Your hand is injured. I will do it."
Dylan didn't let her object and quickly took the order.
"Thank you." The lady accepted the order but didn't taste anything on the plate. She got up to make the payment as soon as Isabella came out of the changing room.
"May I know your name miss?"
Isabella raised her brows but still replied. "Isabella, Isabella Campbell"
"Isabella Campbell. Pretty name for a pretty lady. Good bye"
Isabella thought the lady was simply nice to her, but Dylan felt a mocking smirk that almost went unnoticed at the end.
"Do you know that lady?" Dylan asked on their way back.
"Nope."
"Think carefully. Did you ever offend her?"
"Hey.. Do I look like someone who randomly picks fights on streets" Isabella lightly elbowed him the stomach.
She simply thought he was on tenterhooks because of Benjamin. She didn't think he was a huge problem to deal with. And she wasn't that delicate.