ISSABELLE

Towards the end of the last trimester of her pregnancy, great calm and peace had descended upon Issabelle. She started taking good care of herself, regularly doing the Antenatal exercises, that her doctor had advised her, before leaving for work. She also started doing meditation at night. She wanted to reconcile with her past. She wanted her baby should not imbibe any negativity before coming into this world. She also wanted herself to be very fit immediately after delivery, as she had to work hard, to support her child. She had also spoken to her boss that she would take a fortnight's leave after delivery, and then join back work. She convinced her boss Laura, that she would still be able to work from home, for those 15 days, if that suited her.

By the end of the month, Issabelle delivered a pretty little baby, a daughter who had the same green colored eyes, just like Ryan. She was the apple of Mrs. Baker's eyes. She was named Catherine. Issabelle loved her more than anyone else in this world. Issabelle devoted her whole life to her daughter's upbringing. Catherine or Cathy was the reason that she had survived after her break up with Ryan, in fact, she was the reason that Issabelle had wanted to live.

Issabelle started working even harder, she wanted to establish herself, while at the same time she tried to manage home and Catherine. She was very much indebted to Mrs. Baker, as she took great care of Catherine, while Issabelle was at work.

Issabelle had to do multitasking, she had to get up early in the morning, finish her work at home, and then after a quick breakfast, and shower, and making Cathy comfortable with Mrs. Baker, she then had to rush to work. She would sometimes get back home during lunch break so that she could spend some time with her daughter.

When Cathy was ten years old, Issabelle lost Mrs. Baker. It was a very great loss for Issabelle. She felt that she had lost her mother, her friend, her confidante, her guide. She fell very lonely then. Mrs. Baker had willed her house to Issabelle. So she had no reason to worry about a roof on their head. During her growing up years, when Cathy asked Issabelle about her father, she would tactfully inform her that, Cathy was only her child. She told Cathy that her father had disowned her, but she needn't worry, as she was loved very much by her mother.

Issabelle had started her own boutique, sometime after Mrs. Baker's death. She had established a name for herself. She had affluent customers who swore by her designs. Issabelle now had everything, that anyone could ever dream of. She had a name, fame, money.

Issabelle also had plenty of offers for marriage, from men who approached her, afterward, in the years that followed. There were men who found her to be beautiful and desirable. But Issabelle did not ever trust any other men, after her divorce with Ryan. She had nothing to do with men, she had vowed that to herself.

Issabelle kept on cherishing and penning down, all the milestone's in Cathy's life. She still remembered the first day when Cathy started walking, the first day of her school, the day she finished her graduation in Accounts, the day she got her first job, the day that Cathy left home, to stay with her boyfriend Steven Johnson, (who had been her classmate), at his bachelor flat. Cathy had formally introduced Steven to her mother one day. He was definitely an excellent husband material, with very good family background, Issabelle found that out. He also had a secure financial future. Issabelle agreed to Cathy's choice of Steven, following which Cathy finally got engaged when she was 20 yrs. Issabelle hoped and prayed wholeheartedly, that Steven and his family, would appreciate how lucky they were, and also hoped that Steven would never hurt Cathy, the way Ryan had hurt her approximately two decades ago.

Steven's parents had announced that Steven and Cathy's wedding gift would be a lump sum amount for their new home. One day early morning, Cathy turned up home to inform Issabelle about the present from Steven's parents, and also informed that very soon Steven would pick her up so that they could go for house hunting. Cathy than casually brought up her father's topic, whether would she mind if Ryan came back for her wedding? She told Issabelle that she understood, very well how much she was hurt because of him. Issabelle immediately retorted back, that hurt was just a small word. She bluntly told Cathy, that Ryan had no place in their lives. He had denied Cathy to be his own and had thus forfeited all right's on Cathy. Issabelle told Cathy that she would never forgive Ryan.

Issabelle's friends tried to convince her, that she was still young and desirable, and they admiringly told her, that she nowhere looked her age, that she definitely had a slim slender shape, and was definitely sexually alluring. There were men her age, and even younger than her, who were waiting for Issabelle to accept their marriage proposal. But she was never interested in any of them. The last thing that she wanted was any emotional complication in her life. She never wanted to give power to any men, to ever hurt her again.