Knowing that Edward planned to bring me lunch, I shot him a quick text.Rose needs me. I’m going to the Four Seasons. Don’t know if I’ll be able to have lunch with you today, I’m sorry. Love you.
-B
I was locking up my desk, when he texted back.
B-
How did you plan on getting there?
-E
Knowing he wouldn’t be happy with my answer, I sent another text.
E-
I’m calling a cab. Don’t worry about it.
-B
I asked the receptionist to call me a cab, then I walked downstairs.
B-
Don’t call a cab. Lou and I can be there in ten minutes.
-E
He’s being so silly. Nothing is going to happen to me during a half-mile cab ride.
Good grief.
E-
Too late the cab’s on its way. See you later, I love you.
-B
No response back. No ‘I love you’. No nothing.
The cab arrived in less than five minutes. Must be a slow day.
Just as I got in, my phone chirped again.
B-
You know that I love you too. I just worry. See you in a bit.
-E
I was relieved that he wasn’t upset. I wonder when ‘a bit’ is?
The cab arrived at The Four Seasons approximately five minutes later. I phoned Rose.
“Are you here Bella?” She whispered into her phone.
“What is going on?” I didn’t know why I was whispering back into the phone.
“Just come up to the second floor, turn left when you get off the elevator, you’ll see me.” She sounded so upset.
I found her just as she’d said, down the hallway from the elevator. She had a few tears streaming down her face.
“Rose…” I didn’t get a chance to say any more before she started speaking.
“I arrived here a few minutes before I called you, and went to the room where the shoot was being done.” She stopped to wipe her eyes. “I couldn’t find Emmett anywhere,” her breath hitched when she said his name “so I asked one of the assistants. I found out that they wouldn’t be ready to shoot for an hour, so the models had gone to their rooms. She told me that Emmett’s was 212.” She turned to glare at the door.
I looked at the door to room 212. Not noticing anything odd about it except the Do Not Disturb sign hanging from the doorknob, I got ready to knock. Before my fist made contact with the door, Rose grabbed me.
“No, Bella. They’re in there having sex.” Rose whimpered. “I heard them.”
“Rose, no way. That can’t be Emmett in there. It’s got to be some kind of mistake.” I said as I grabbed both her hands.
“Oh Bella, he’s still acting weird about the wedding. He won’t talk to me about it. Sure, we still have sex, sometimes I think it’s just to shut me up.” She looked at me through bleary eyes. “Even on the airplane, as soon as I started talking about the ceremony, he wanted to join the Mile High Club.”
As she said this, she sank slowly to the floor until she was sitting there, a blubbering mess with my arms around her. “I think he’s changed his mind about marrying me, and he‘s in there right now with her.”
I still couldn’t believe it. Not Emmett.
“Rose, what do you intend to do?” I didn’t know what to say or think.
“I’m going to confront him, and probably slap him, and maybe kill them both. I don’t know.” She whispered.
Just then I heard a booming voice from behind us.
“Can I ask why you ladies are loitering outside of Ho-nelle, I mean Jonelle’s room?”
I turned to find my brother grinning from ear to ear, while eating an apple, and wearing nothing but a pair of white Calvin Klein boxer shorts. Of course.
Rose and I jumped to our feet. As soon as Emmett realized that Rose was crying, his smile vanished, and he rushed over to her.
“Babe, what’s the matter? Are you okay, what happened?” He was all worry and concern.
“Emmett, why did you say this was Jonelle’s room?” Rose asked.
“Because it is. Originally it was mine, but she pitched a fit because mine had a better view. I didn’t give a shit, so I switched with her. I’m across the hall in 211.” He said as he pointed to his room. “I just wanted her to shut the hell up. She’s a whiny bitch, and she keeps hitting on me. I’ll be glad when this day is over. I‘ve been in there playing Nintendo to kill time.”
Rose wiped the tears from her eyes, still looking at Emmett. “So you’re not in that room having sex right now?” She asked as she pointed to room 212.
Emmett raised one eyebrow and looked down at himself, then back up at her. “Um, yeah, I’m pretty sure that I’m not in that room having sex.” He said as he grinned. “And I would never have sex anywhere if it involved anyone other than you babe.” Then he smirked at her.
Rose threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Within about five seconds they forgot I was there as the kiss became heated and Emmett fumbled with his room key, pulling Rose inside.
I was left standing alone in the hall, feeling rather stupid. As I walked to the elevator, I heard a door open behind me. I glanced back to see Jonelle.
She exited the room wearing a flimsy robe over what I assumed were her Calvin Kleins. I couldn’t help myself, I had to know who was with her. Imagine my surprise when a woman followed her out. She was very muscular and attractive with a masculine haircut, but she was definitely a woman.
Holy shit. What a story that would make for Rose.
I couldn’t care less about Jonelle’s sexual preference, but that bitch had hit on my brother. And probably my boyfriend. Yes, most definitely a story there.
I sprinted ahead so I could make a quick escape.
Just as I reached the elevator, the doors opened to reveal a startled Edward. He smiled broadly when I stepped inside. At that moment, I heard the shrill nasally voice of Jonelle Everett “Hold the elevator please.”
No way was Ho-nelle getting near my boyfriend. He was off-limits. I need to hide him. But how?
Edward pressed the ‘door open’ button as I grabbed his hoodie, pulling the hood over his head. I then grabbed his face with both hands, pushing him into the far corner of the elevator. I pulled him down and locked lips with him, successfully covering his face with my head.
Within seconds I got lost in the kiss as Edward’s hands snaked around my back. I vaguely registered Jonelle and her ’hook-up’ board the elevator and start snickering.
Neither Edward nor I made a move to break the kiss until after I heard Jonelle and mystery chick exit. “Get a room” was her parting shot as the doors closed. How original.
I finally broke the kiss, and Edward started to chuckle. “You know, I think you probably had a reason for doing that, but I can’t say that I care.” He smirked.
We’d forgotten to select a floor button, so I jumped when the doors suddenly opened again. Jonelle and her sidekick were back.
“Edward Masen? Is that you?” She questioned in her simpering voice.
I saw Edward sigh in defeat. “Yes Ms Everett. How are you?” He asked politely.
“Better now that I know you’re here.” She said in what I guessed was supposed to be her ’sexy voice’. “I’d heard that you were often in Seattle these days.” She actually had the nerve to reach out in an attempt to touch his chest.
I stepped between them, blocking her hand. She quirked an eyebrow, and glared at me.
“Ms Everett” Edward stated in a businesslike voice “Allow me to introduce my girlfriend Isabella.” Edward reached his arms around my waist from behind as he spoke.
“Hm, pleased to meet you.” She frowned. “Well, I forgot something in my room, I need to go back up there.”
I grabbed Edward by the front of his hoodie and pulled him from the elevator without saying goodbye to the Ho.
Once in the privacy of the car, I relayed everything to him. He was stunned when I told him about Jonelle having had sex with the woman in the elevator.
“To say I’m shocked would be an understatement. That woman is Jonelle’s personal assistant, Tess. She’s worked for her for several years.”
“Jonelle is known for coming on to every actor she works with, but there’s never been any indication that she’s bisexual.”
She must be hiding it from the public.
He then went on to tell me how relentless she’d been in pursuing him during the filming of September Ends.
“I need to call Rose.” I announced.
Not surprisingly, I reached her voicemail.
Who knows how long her and Emmett will be distracted. Ew
I left her a detailed message of what I’d seen and found out. Rose would know what to do. I was pretty sure that she wouldn’t be hanging around the Four Seasons for very much longer today.
We picked up lunch, and carried it back to the station. Since my incident in the break room with Camille, I’d been eating at my desk, so that’s where Edward and I spread out to have our food.
Rose arrived back just as we finished. She smiled when she saw us. “So, I’ve set up an interview with Jonelle this evening at seven. She has no idea that I’m connected to Emmett in any way. This should be a lot of fucking fun.” She grinned.
Thank heaven that Rose was back to normal. I’m going to crown my brother if he doesn’t have that talk with her soon.
Later that evening, Rose stopped by the apartment to fill me in on the interview.
“It turns out that Ms. Everett is gay.” Rose dropped that bombshell with a grin on her face. “She didn’t want to tell me at first, but when she found out what I knew about her and her assistant, she blurted out every sordid detail of her colorful past.”
“Seems she was convinced early on that actors just starting out were as good as shunned if they were gay. Most wait until they’re well-established to ’come out’, some never do.”
Edward and I sat there in silence as Rose held the floor.
“She has gone out of her way to appear straight by flirting with man after man, but evidently she never let things go beyond that. She’s been in a committed relationship with Tess for five years.”
Wow, I’m beginning to wonder if any of the relationships touted in the tabloids were real. Hollywood truly does thrive on its illusions.
“She begged me not to ‘out’ her. She believes that information would torpedo her career.” Rose sighed. “I decided not to be a bitch, so I promised to keep the information confidential. I did chew her out about the things she’d said to my fiance though. I told her she needed to tone down the obnoxious behavior because she was making a lot of enemies, and it wasn’t because of her sexual preferences. She had no clue. I’m pretty sure she still doesn’t get it. The chick‘s just dense.”
I don’t like her.
It didn’t make me feel better knowing that the half naked chick rubbing all over Edward in that movie was gay. Or did it?
I’m so confused.
My thoughts traveled back to this afternoon, and Rose’s emotional breakdown.
“Rose, has Emmett spoken to you about what’s bothering him yet?” I asked quietly.
Rose’s looked at me and narrowed her eyes. “You know what it is don’t you Bells?”
What the hell could I have just said that gave me away?
“Tell me Bells” Rose said, half-demanding, half-pleading.
“Rose, it’s nothing bad, believe me, but Emmett needs to tell you.” She looked dejected, it broke my heart. “Listen” I started. “You let him know that if he doesn’t talk to you tonight, I’m going to tell you tomorrow. That should motivate him.“
She gave a small smile, seeming satisfied with that. “Okay, wish me luck. Bye guys.“ She said, and was gone.
--V&V--
When I was younger,
I saw my daddy cry,
And curse at the wind,
He broke his own heart,
And I watched,
As he tried to reassemble it
It was almost as if Hayley was singing about my life, although I was aware that she wasn’t. Since I’d met Edward, this song had become my favorite. Precisely why I’d chosen it as his ringtone, and as the first song on my ‘Edward’ playlist. Yep, I had one too.
And I've always lived like this,
Keeping a comfortable, distance,
And up until now,
I had sworn to myself that I'm content,
with loneliness,
Because none of it was ever worth the risk,
Well, You, are, the only exception,
You, are, the only exception,
You, are, the only exception,
You, are, the only exception,
And I'm on my way to believing,
Oh, And I'm on my way to believing.
I was listening to my ‘Edward’ playlist as Lou drove me to class. Today was Thursday. I knew that Edward had a lot of errands to take care of before his trip to England. Since we were leaving for Forks tomorrow morning, that made this the last day in which to get everything done.
With a promise that I’d make due for lunch without him, I had kissed him goodbye and headed out.
I’d gotten a text from Rose informing me that Emmett had finally ‘spilled his guts’ and that she wanted to kick his ass for making her worry. Her reaction had been what I’d expected. If a church wedding was what it took to make Emmett happy, Rose was all for it.
After my first class, I sent a text to Tara asking her and Joanna to meet me for lunch in one of the campus snack bars. When I entered a little while later, I saw them seated at a table near the back.
We hadn’t seen each other since spring break, so they were very excited and inquisitive about everything they’d seen and heard with regard to Edward and me.
“Bella, I’m so happy for you.” Tara grinned. “I have to confess that since Tanya came clean, I’ve paid more attention to the news about you guys.”
Joanna nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, I’ll even admit that once I saw that youtube video of Edward singing Kiss at that karaoke bar, I saved it in my favorites.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me.
I’d been so busy that I’d forgotten to look that up. Tara noticed the expression on my face. “Bella, haven’t you seen that video? It had like a million hits the first couple of days.”
I shook my head. “Well I did see it in person, but I haven’t seen the video yet, no.”
Joanna immediately pulled out her laptop. “I’m so happy that I have an excuse to watch this again.” She said excitedly. Tara and I just laughed.
Seeing that video brought back all my memories of Caveward from that night. I wanted to cry and beg for mercy. I wanted to tell Joanna to shut it off. I wanted to find my boyfriend and dry hump him in the janitor’s closet.
A few minutes later, I found it necessary to grab some extra napkins in order to clean up the three puddles of drool now evident on our table.
Immediately after that, I almost died of embarrassment when Joanna showed me my own performance from that night.
If I ever find the idiot that videotaped that, I’ll wring their stupid neck. I just pray that Charlie never sees it.
Fuck me! I’ve got more hits than Edward!
“Relax Bella” Tara tried to soothe “Your performance was fantastic, and Edward throwing you over his shoulder at the end was….” She drifted off as her eyes glazed over.
I believe the word you’re searching for is ‘fuckhot’.
When the girls learned that Edward was leaving for England next week, we made plans to spend some time together. I then headed off to my last class of the day.
Every time someone glanced at me and smiled, my stomach churned a little and I frowned at them.
They probably saw my drunken karaoke performance too. Kill me now.
--V&V--
“Exactly who am I going to meet tonight?” I asked Edward. Meeting new people was still something that made me nervous, despite the positive changes Edward had made in my life.
“She’s a close friend of the family. We’ve known her for years. She just got back from Florida, after spending the winter there. I’m anxious for her to meet you.” Edward explained.
We were riding out to Mercer Island for dinner with Edward’s parents and, evidently, a close friend of the family. Emmett and Rose had been invited too, which helped calm my nerves a bit.
Upon arriving, we were greeted warmly by Carlisle and Esme, then Edward took my hand and led me into the living room where, seated on the sofa, was an elderly woman smiling knowingly at us.
“Dorothy Ward, I’d like you to meet Bella Swan.” Edward announced proudly.
Dorothy pulled me down into a hug. “Glad to finally meet you Bella. You‘ve been responsible for quite a change in our boy over the last few months. Keep up the good work because he used to act like an asshole a good deal of the time.“ She said with a chuckle.
Emmett guffawed from across the room. Edward looked slightly embarrassed.
Dorothy continued. “Hey, I just call it like I see it. I think Edward would be the first to admit that he’s changed for the better.” She winked at him.
Edward grinned. “Undoubtedly Dorothy. You know me well.”
I like this woman.
Dorothy was so entertaining. She spoke her mind about anything and everything. It dawned on me halfway through dinner that she was an older version of Rose. She just had more ‘life experiences’ under her belt. Not surprisingly, Dorothy and Emmett hit it off immediately.
First, she gave him a rash of shit about the Seahawks’ dismal season.
Then she went on to describe her winter in Florida with her daughter’s family.
“Those damn kids don’t even know how to talk to each other without an electronic device in their hand. My grandson was, what do they call it? Texting on his phone. Come to find out that he was talking to his brother who was sitting across the room from him.”
She shook her head in exasperation. “If it hadn’t been for my granddaughter, I’d have gone out of my mind.” She smiled. “At least once a week, she and I would escape to the dog track. Damned stroke cost me my cigars and my liquor, but at least I can still gamble.”
We all laughed, Emmett the loudest.
During the dinner, conversation inevitably drifted to Rose and Emmett’s wedding plans. If every thing went well with Father Pat this weekend, Rose and Emmett were going to see about holding the ceremony in the Cathedral, with Father Pat officiating.
Somehow I knew our little church back in Forks wouldn’t be Rose’s style.
“Oh Rose, that sounds lovely.” Esme exclaimed excitedly.
Emmett turned to Dorothy. “Mrs. Ward, you’ve got to come to our wedding.” He said insistently.
“First of all, call me Dorothy.” She paused and thought for a minute, then looked at Rose and Emmett. “You know, I think I’d really like that.” She said as she smiled.
After dinner, everyone went into the living room to relax. Before I could sit down though, Edward took my hand and led me away. We ended up alone in the Cullens’ music room. I knew he played the piano, but all he’d done in front of me was play around a little on his guitar during our stay in California.
He sat down on the bench and pulled me to sit beside him.
“Any requests Miss Swan?” He asked playfully.
I thought for a moment. “I really liked that one you played on your guitar at the hotel in Laguna Beach. Um, do you know how to play it on the piano?”
He smiled at me indulgently, as if I were a small child that had just asked the most adorable question. Then he began, playing the tune flawlessly, as his talented fingers glided effortlessly over the keys.
I just want to see you, when you're all alone,
I just want to catch you if I can,
I just want to be there when the morning light explodes,
On your face it radiates,
I can't escape,
I love you 'till the end.
All I want is for you to say,
Why don't you just take me where I've never been before,
I know you want to hear me catch my breath,
I love you 'till the end
I just want to be there when we're caught in the rain,
I just want to see you laugh not cry,
I just want to feel you when the night puts on its cloak,
I'm lost for words don’t tell me cause all I can say,
I love you till the end.
I watched him as he poured his heart into the song. The reality of our looming separation was eating at him, and I tried not to cry as I thought about that. He was everything to me, and the sincere love and adoration I felt from him at that moment, would have to be enough to sustain me for the weeks I would be without him.
When the song finished I wound my arms around his waist and laid my head on his shoulder as I whispered “I’ll miss you too Edward.”
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