***Unedited***
Chapter 1
"Hey there, loves! It's your favorite MyScreen travel vlogger, Ivy Noble and we are here in L.A. live streaming for Fashion Week! In a few minutes, you will get to join us in watching the L.A. catwalk debut for on of the hottest new fashion lines. And we'll get to chat with its creator, whom I'm extremely close with. Like, we shared a womb close..."
Ivy winked at the camera and continued. "That's right we'll be talking with Isabella Noble about her new line, 'Izzy'. She already debuted the line at Paris's Fashion Week earlier this year and it was a hit. And we're continuing to keep it in the family with our sponsors for the week. CookTV's 'At Home with Ian' star Ian Noble is here cooking up some goodies for the spectators of the fashion show, and the music for the show was produced by Isaiah Noble, my other two womb mates.
"And finally the hair and make up products for all of the models are being provided by Noble Naturals. This is an exclusive as these makeup products haven't even been released to the public yet. However, when they do, you can expect yours truly to be vlogging about them with some tips and tutorials. The show is set to being in about half an hour, so we'll be back then so you all at home can enjoy it as well..."
Once the camera was off, Ivy blew out a breath.
"How was I?" she asked her cameraman, Duke Covington.
Duke put his camera down and shook his head, grinning. "Do you really have to ask, Vee?"
She smiled at his personal term of endearment for her as he added, "You were great."
Ivy looked around. "It's a really big turnout."
Duke nodded. "They're going to love your sister's clothes."
"I'm going to go and check on her. Have the camera ready to go live again when I get back."
"Will do, Boss."
****
"Izzy!"
Isabella turned to find a model rushing toward her.
"The zipper," she said, in a panic stricken voice. "There's a snag in the zipper."
Isabella reached into the pocket of the utility apron tied around her waist and grabbed what she needed.
After years of working behind the scenes at Claudette Dumond's fashion shows, she was prepared for moments like this. She'd lived with the mantra of anything that could go wrong, probably would so it was best to be prepared for any and everything. Despite her experience, it still hadn't adequately prepared her for how different it would be when she was running the show herself.
The Paris show had opened her eyes. It had been a crazy night, but fulfilling in the end.
There were plenty of mishaps backstage, and though at times it had been overwhelming, she'd simply reminded herself this was what she'd worked her ass off for.
She'd moved to a foreign country, whose language she didn't know for this.
She'd given up being able to see her family on a regular basis for this.
And then there was Stephen.
Isabella shook her head. Stephen was never too far from her mind.
She needed to focus on the present, not the past. Things were going at super speed. The show would be starting soon and she needed to handle this current fiasco, before another one fell at her feet.
She liked to be hands on with the other seamstresses who worked for her.
"It's okay," she said, in a soothing tone. She'd always had a mothering quality about her. It was probably because she was the second oldest out of her three siblings. Sure she was only a few minutes older, but she was still older.
"Turn around, let's see what we've got."
In no time, she had the zipper fixed.
She looked at her watch.
"Ten minutes until showtime," she called out.
"You sound like you could use a drink."
Isabella turned and let out a grateful sigh. Her brother, Ian, stood there with a glass in his hands. She trudged over to him and he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. When he released her, he held the glass out to her.
"Thank you," she said.
"My pleasure."
"How's it going out there?" she asked.
"You've got an eager crowd."
"Hey..."
Ivy and Isaiah made their way through the bustling chaos over to Isabella.
"How are you?" Ivy asked, running her hands down Isabella's arms.
"I'm good. I've had to put out a few fires, but that's expected."
"We can't stay long," Isaiah said. "I've got to get back to the sound area. The sound check earlier went great though."
"And I've got to get back to Duke so we can start the live stream."
"I'm so glad you guys are all here for me," Isabella said.
"Have you seen Mom?" Ivy asked and Isabella nodded.
"She left a few minutes ago. She wanted to make sure she was in her seat when the show started."
"We're gonna get out of here," Isaiah said as he and Ivy pulled her into a group hug.
"Tell Tessa and Giselle I'll see them after the show," she said, referring to her brothers' wives.
She looked at her watch again.
"Five minutes people!"
Forty-five minutes later, Isabella was watching as the models did their final walk down the cat walk. When they were all lined up they turned in her direction. That was her cue. She took the three steps up and walked to the center of the stage and paused, taking in the applause.
She looked around at the audience on their feet and then she began her walk. She lifted her hand, waving and smiling to the crowd. When she reached the end of the catwalk, she took the models hands on either side of her and lifted them in the air before doing an exaggerated bow.
She then turned and led the way back down the runway, her models following behind her. When she got to the wings of the stage, she descended the stairs and was greeted with another round of applause.
Isabella smiled when she saw her entire family there waiting for her. Her sister, mother, brothers and sisters-in-law all cheered for her, pride in their eyes. They all had glasses of champagne, cider for Giselle who was pregnant, ready to toast her second successful show.
Irene stepped forward after Ian handed Isabella her glass of champagne.
"Your father..." Irene cleared her throat and Isabella felt her eyes crest with tears. "You know how he was. But he would have been so proud of you."
Issac Noble had passed away over a year ago but the impact of death was still great. Isabella wouldn't have believed his father would have been proud of her accomplishments before his heart attach. But he'd made sure to let them know before passing during what should have been a routing bypass surgery. It was the last thing he'd said to Isabella and her sibling. They'd also discovered just how proud of them he was when Isaiah had discovered a box of memorabilia Issac had collected over the years of their careers while cleaning out his office. Isabella still had the magazines that featured all of the outfits she'd helped create when she'd worked for Claudette Dumond.
Her father always griped about how he'd built a legacy for his quadruplets, with Noble Naturals, the natural hair care line he and Irene had started when they were in college; and instead of taking hold of their birthright, they'd gone off and did their own things.
It wasn't that none of them were proud of the family business, they'd always just wanted to venture off on their own for awhile. They'd always been 'The Noble Quads', the set of quadruplets who were geniuses and talented at anything they set they minds to. But they had their own passions that they wanted to pursue. When they turned eighteen they decided that they wanted see what they could accomplish on their own, before eventually returning to Sweet Rapids and their rightful places in the company.
Isaiah and Ian had already done so. Isaiah had taken over the company and expanding it to now include makeup and body products; and Ian, alongside Giselle who was the head of the production department, had created those new products.
What had amazed Isabella the most about her brothers was that while they were deeply invested in Noble Naturals, they still managed to continue their other passions. Isaiah still produced music and took time to direct another film and Ian had his own cooking show that he did from home in Sweet Rapids now, where he'd relocated to permanently.
Isabella had decided to follow in their footsteps. She was setting up her fashion house in Sweet Rapids. She was done with Paris. After losing her father, she realized just how much precious time she'd missed out not only with him, but her entire family.
Her mother lifted her handkerchief and dabbed the corner of Isabella's eyes and it reminded her of all the times she'd wiped away her tears as a little girl.
"I wish Daddy could have been here," Isabella said.
"He is, Izzy," Irene said. "He is."
Isaiah held up his glass.
"To Issac Noble."
Isabella couldn't have thought of a better toast. She held up her glass with the rest of the family and they all toasted and repeated, "To Issac Noble."
She was finishing off her wine when the reporters swarmed her. She smiled brightly answering their questions about her show.
"Is it true that the models were wearing makeup from your families upcoming cosmetics line of Noble Naturals?"
"Yes," Isabella said proudly. "My brother Ian and his lovely wife have done a great job at creating the new products."
"Is there a release date yet?"
"Not yet, we've been revamping the entire company and that includes creating new packaging designs."
Which she would be using her knowledge of graphics to contribute to. She'd already come up with several sketches she planned on showing Isaiah once things settled down.
"We're hoping to get the new products out soon though," she said. "Thank you all for your questions."
The high from the evening was staring to wane and exhaustion was beginning to set in.
She was set to have a celebratory dinner with her family and then she planned to return to her hotel room, soak in a long hot bubble.
In the morning, they were flying back to Sweet Rapids. Which meant, eventually she'd run into him...
There was no avoiding him this time, not that she'd tried to before. Not exactly.
She just figured he didn't want to see her, so whenever she was in town, she didn't stay long and she definitely didn't go to Noble Naturals, since he worked there.
Despite what had happened between them, her father had still loved Stephen. He'd always considered him another son. One could have almost looked at Issac eventually making Stephen the head of marketing favoritism, or even nepotism. But Isabella knew better. Stephen was good at his job. He'd helped Noble Naturals stay ahead of the game when every other hair care line had decided to jump on the 'natural hair bandwagon'.
She wasn't quite sure yet how she'd handle things when the inevitably crossed paths, and that made her nervous.
![]() |
Available on Amazon |
0 Comments