Vacation was officially over. More importantly, the time Edward and I had together in our little bubble was over. Hopefully, to be revisited when he returns, but apparently, we had a ‘conversation‘ to get through before that could happen.
Truth was, as much as I looked forward to seeing him again, I was loathe to hear the details of his and Tanya’s relationship and/or breakup which I was certain would be the subject of our ’conversation’.
The more I thought about it, the more my mind would conjure up crazy scenarios pertaining to that relationship.
Do they have a secret child together?
No. No way. Edward would own up to something like that. He would be a devoted father.
Maybe he and Tanya have a BDSM relationship?
Ew. Just Ew. If that were true, I couldn’t even contemplate which one was the ’Master’.
Great, I just freaked myself out.
Maybe Tanya had a sex change operation. Yeah, Tanya used to be a dude…
Not even in the realm of possibilities. I feared I was starting to lose my grip on sanity.
I knew what I needed. I needed Rose to give me a good swift kick back into reality. That would stop my crazy thoughts from spinning out of control. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t see Rose until after school today.
School. I had one more semester, five short months until graduation. I should have been happy, I wasn’t. I realized that my time with Edward had altered me so much that I couldn’t be happy without him. I had accepted that whatever ’future plans’ I made beyond graduation would have to include him. If they didn‘t my future would be unbearable. Sounds melodramatic, but it was truth, plain and simple.
Just get through today Bella, and tomorrow will be easier.
So, that’s what I did. I took one step at a time. I went to class, I made an appointment to see my advisor for the later in the week to make sure everything was ‘on track’. During my break between classes, I wrote in my journal. Something I hadn’t done since meeting Edward.
I was so wrapped up in telling our story that I was almost late for my next class. It felt liberating to get all my thoughts and feelings down on paper, and by lunchtime, my attitude had improved significantly. The fact that I received a text from Edward at just about that time helped too.
Beautiful-
I’m here. I’m lonely. About to step into a meeting.
Miss you more than I can say.
Love You
-E
Sounds like he was struggling as much as I was. I sent a quick text back.
E-
I know how you feel. Never been lonelier. About to step into class.
Then work with Rose, after that, home to my empty apartment.
Wish I could snuggle with you instead.
Love, B
--V&V--
At 3:30 I walked into my cubicle at WIRI. At exactly 3:32, I heard “Bella!”
“Yes, Rose.” I said as I stuck my head in her office.
“Hi sweetie. How did your classes go?” She asked smiling.
“They were okay.” I tried not to sound depressed.
“Everything will be fine Bells. Edward loves you. He’ll be back soon. Be happy.” She answered with a smile. “Now, come in here and close the door. I’ve got news.”
I did as she asked, and sat down in the chair across from her.
“I got a phone call this morning from some big wigs in New York.” She said, smiling brightly. “They want me to fly out for a meeting. They’re proposing giving me my own show. It would be regional for a while, strictly west coast. But if it does well enough, they’re saying it could go national. I’d be like the ‘Seattle-based Oprah’.” She said excitedly.
I was so happy for my friend. “Oh Rose, that’s fantastic! You’ve worked so hard, you deserve this.” I hugged her in congratulations.
“I have to fly out on the red-eye tonight. I’m meeting with them all day tomorrow, I think my return flight gets back here around 1 o‘clock Wednesday afternoon.”
“So, I need you and Emmett to keep each other company while I’m gone. He wanted to come with me, but I’m going to be in meetings most of the time, and I didn’t think I could trust him unsupervised in New York City.”
My brother the man-child.
“No problem, we’ll find something to do. Aren’t you excited Rose?”
“Oh my gosh Bella. You have no idea. For the first time in my career, I’m actually unsure of myself. I’m a nervous wreck.”
“Rose, you’re going to wow everyone in New York.”
“I hope you’re right. Guess what segment from my show was the one that sold them on my talent?”
“Which one?” I asked.
“The Masen interview.” The interview had aired on New Year’s Day, and again on Sunday. “They were impressed that he even granted the interview in the first place, and also with the in-depth answers I was able to coax out of him. So you see Bells, we both got something great out of that interview.“
Understatement of the year.
--V&V--
Emmett and I were driving back from the airport after seeing Rose safely off on her flight.
“Bella, dial Pops on my phone, and put it on speaker. I’ve been meaning to call him all evening, to tell him about Rose, but I couldn’t find the time.”
“Yeah, I wonder why?” I said sarcastically
Let’s just say that before we left for the airport, Rose and my brother must have gotten a little ’side-tracked’. They emerged from their apartment looking very disheveled. Because of their extra-curricular activities, we had to haul ass to get Rose to the airport on time.
“Do you want me to explain it to you Bellaboo? You know I will.” He said as he wiggled his eyebrows at me.
“No. Just, no. I’m dialing Dad right now.”
The phone rang twice, when a voice that was definitely not my father’s answered.
“Chief Swan’s phone.” The voice said.
“Mark?” Emmett and I said at the same time.
Why was Deputy Mark answering my Dad’s cell phone?
“Oh hey guys.” Mark answered.
“Mark, why are you answering Dad’s phone, where is he?” I asked.
“He’s in his office, meeting with some people about a missing person’s case, he’s got me guarding his phone.”
What? Why?
“And why is that?” Emmett asked, seemingly as bewildered as I was.
Mark chuckled. “He told me he was expecting an ‘important call’ of a delicate nature, regarding a certain Hollywood celebrity with the first name of ‘Clint’, and the last name of ‘Eastwood’, and he didn’t want to miss the call.”
Emmett and I burst into laughter at that.
“Guys that’s not the best part. He had his dress uniform cleaned and has it all wrapped in plastic, hanging on the back of his office door. He said that he had to be prepared at any time to ‘meet Clint’, and wanted to look his most professional.”
My brother was laughing so hard I thought he was going to have to pull over.
After he composed himself he said “Just let him know we called. I’ll catch up with him later. Tell him it wasn’t ‘Clint’ related so he won’t freak out. Talk to you later Mark.”
“Bye guys.”
Emmett looked at me, still laughing and said. “You know, I may just have to find a way to mess with Pops over this whole ‘Clint’ business. This could be fun.”
Oh boy. Emmett is formulating a plan to torture our Dad. Maybe I should warn Charlie. Or better yet, maybe I should stay out of it and be glad Emmett will be leaving me alone for once. I go with option number two.
When we arrived home, I admired again the roses I received before going to the airport. I re-read the card.
Bella-
I will be holding you in my arms again before these begin to wilt.
I love you.
-Edward
I sighed. I already missed him so much, I couldn’t fathom how I was going to cope in the days, and then weeks to come.
I got a quick shower, and decided to go on my laptop for a little while. I kept my cell phone nearby in case Edward called.
Emmett-
Want to play LOTRO? If you do, meet me in Rivendell.
-B
I got an immediate response.
B-
I’m on it.
-Em
I logged on to Lord of The Rings online. We used to play World of Warcraft, actually he probably still does, but when Lord of The Rings Online was released, geek that I am, I started playing that instead.
I usually didn’t have a lot of time to spend on the game, but enjoyed playing with Emmett when possible. That is if he wasn’t acting like an idiot.
*go on voice chat* was the message I received on the screen.
I clicked over to *voice chat* so we could talk while killing orcs.
“So, have you heard from Eddie tonight?”
“Not yet, he had a dinner slash business meeting to attend, said he’d call me after. Emmett, would you stop making your character fart at mine? Let‘s go to Moria and fight some goblins.” I said as I watched Emmett’s character dance around like a fool.
Even as an animated character he’s an ass.
We were knee-deep in dead goblins, with Emmett trying to find the right ‘emote’ for his character to hump the corpses, as he so eloquently put it, when my phone rang.
“Hello.”
“Hello sweetheart, I was afraid you’d be asleep.” Edward sounded tired, but also kind of sexy.
It was then that I noticed it was after midnight. “I stayed up, hoping you’d call. I really missed you today. Like I said, I‘d rather have spent the day snuggling with you on my sofa.”
All of a sudden I heard “Jeez, I can’t tell you how much this is creeping me out Bellaboo.”
Crap, Emmett’s still on *voice chat*
“More than humping dead goblins Emmett?” I asked snarkily.
“De-fin-ite-ly. I’m going to go to bed Bells, goodnight Eddie.”
Edward responded. “Maybe I shouldn’t ask but, humping dead goblins?”
“We were playing Lord of The Rings Online, and Emmett was being Emmett. Need I say more?”
Edward chuckled. “Actually no, I understand.”
“You sound tired.”
“Yeah, it’s been a long day, and a long evening. My meeting was… draining.”
“Did you want to talk about it?” I asked, in my feeble attempt to help.
“Not now, or over the phone. We’ll have a long talk this weekend. I can’t wait to see you again, and it’s only been a day.” His voice drifted off.
“I know what you mean Edward. It’s going to be a long week.”
We finally decided that it was getting very late, and since both of us had busy days tomorrow, we said our goodbyes and ‘I love yous’, and promised to speak again tomorrow.
--V&V--
When I overslept the next morning, I realized that I had stayed up entirely too late the night before. I threw on jeans and a t-shirt, put my hair up in a messy ponytail, not having time to bother with makeup, and hauled my butt to class.
It wasn’t until the break between my first and second classes, that I discovered I’d left my cell phone at home. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any emergencies requiring my attention.
During my afternoon classes, I noticed that several of the students were staring at me more than usual. Some smirking, some with looks of pity? That couldn’t be right. These people don’t even know me.
As I headed out of class, the odd looks only increased as I walked the hall toward the exit.
I didn’t originally intend to go to work today, seeing that Rose was out of town. But I couldn’t stand not having anything to do, so I decided to pickup the notes from a story Rose was working on, in order to make corrections on it at home.
When I entered the building, the weird looks continued.
What the hell is going on?
As I headed to Rose’s office, I was approached by my least favorite person of the moment, Mike Newton.
“Hate to say ‘I told you so’ Bella, but that’s all there really is to say, don’t you agree?”
I didn’t want to stop and talk to him. I didn’t even want to acknowledge his existence, but I also wanted to know what the hell he was talking about.
“Newton, why are you bothering me?” I was more than a little confused.
Mike studied me for a few seconds, then his eyes grew wide with surprise. “You don’t know, do you? He didn’t even have the decency to tell you anything did he?” Mike looked disgusted.
“What the fuck are you talking about? Tell me what‘s going on.” I was beyond irritated.
Mike got a smug look on his stupid face. “I think I’d rather show you, on my computer, follow me.”
Mike walked into his office. Normally I wouldn’t touch his office with a ten foot pole, but I was too curious to not go in.
I really hope Emmett hasn’t done anything stupid, and ended up all over the internet again.
Mike brought up a Hollywood gossip site and proceeded to play a video.
The bleach blonde talking head began her story, accompanied with still shots and video:
Have no fear, while all of you were enjoying your time off of school or work, our reporters have been following the hottest actor in Hollywood.
Edward Masen went home to Seattle for his holiday this year, and word has it that he spent a good portion of it in the company of a beautiful brunette.
With those words a photo of Edward and I at the movies, me with a snotty nose, appeared on the screen.
I knew I’d be all over the internet with a snotty nose. Crap.
The bubble head continued:
Our reporter discovered that the beauty, Isabella Swan was none other than the sister of Emmett Swan of Seattle Seahawk fame. Isabella was working as Edward’s personal assistant during his stay in Seattle.
We were shocked to find that her duties must have included kissing in public on New Year’s Eve and embracing in a movie theatre. The pair were also spotted sitting quite close together in St James Cathedral in downtown Seattle on Sunday.
Over the weekend, before Edward’s return to L.A., our reporters caught up with Tanya Madison, Edward’s long-suffering girlfriend, and were told, and I quote, “It’s well known that Edward has his fun when we‘re apart, but he always comes back to me, this time won’t be any different.”
It seems that Ms. Madison was quite accurate in her assessment, because she and Edward shared dinner late last night at an exclusive eatery in Beverly Hills. Later, they were both seen entering Ms. Madison’s home. The ’kiss and make-up’ portion of the evening lasted quite a while, because it wasn’t until two hours later that Edward emerged and returned to his home.
The video accompanying this part of the report showed Edward and Tanya entering her home, with Edward’s bodyguard Felix following several feet behind. I felt a sharp stab to my heart when I saw Edward place his hand on the small of Tanya’s back as he guided her through the door.
Stay tuned for all the latest news from Hollywood and beyond.
The report ended. I stood there stunned.
Mike tried to take my hand. I grabbed it away immediately as I fell apart.
“You don’t ever touch me! You NEVER touch me! Do you understand?”
Terrified that I would have a meltdown in front of everyone at the station, I bolted from the office. I didn’t stop running until I was outside of the building.
I began my slow trek home, leaving my car behind, my feet heavier with every step.
Edward went back to her. They were still together. Was anything he said to me true?
All I knew was that he deserved an Academy Award for the spectacular ‘mind-fucking’ performance of a lifetime.
I could barely breathe as I rode the elevator to my floor. Somehow I made it to my apartment. As I fumbled with my keys trying to unlock the door, it suddenly flew open, and I looked into the agonized eyes of my brother.
He pulled me inside, and I collapsed into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
Emmett tried to soothe me but, in the end, my emotional breakdown had to run its course before I was ready to speak.
“Bells, I tried to call you for hours.”
“I forgot my phone.” I mumbled weakly.
“I figured that out when I found it on your nightstand. He’s called like fifty times. I finally answered it just to tell him that he was a fucking dead man.” I hadn’t seen Emmett this upset since our mother’s death.
“No, Emmett. Just leave him alone. It’s not worth it.” I said as I pulled away. “I think I’m going to go lie down.”
Emmett nodded as he watched me with worried eyes.
I crawled into my bed, still fully clothed. I lay there watching the ceiling for hours until the sun had set, and there were no longer any shadows stretched across it.
Every now and then I could hear Emmett’s voice speaking in low, muted tones from my living room.
Probably on the phone with Rose.
I thought about the last two weeks of my life, everything that had happened, everything that was said, every touch, every kiss. My mind couldn’t fathom the truth of what I’d seen and heard today, but it was there nonetheless. No matter how much it hurt I had to face that truth. The truth that Edward had done the one thing he’d promised not to do.
Edward had lied to me.
With that realization, I closed my eyes and let the black depth of my despair take me.
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