Free Isabella's Last Request by Laura Lawrence Page A

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!

Chapter Seven
     
    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