Welcome readers! I'm so excited to announce the beginning of a new story. If you've been following my in-progress fic, Divine Design, know that I haven't completely abandoned it, I just needed a muse, and my new muse led me here. I'll return to it soon, but hopefully I can entertain you with this fic in the meantime.
Disclaimer: As you may have devised, I am not Stephanie Meyer, and I didn't make up Twilight. I just stole her characters for a short adventure of my own! :)
If you like this chapter, review. I promise, the more reviews I receive, the more likely I am to sit down and write some more. I know, I'm a review whore! ;) Without further ado, please enjoy.
The Landlord, Chapter 1
"Ugh, what do you have in here? Bricks?" Angela groaned under the weight of the cardboard box. Bella smiled sympathetically at her friend, as she realized Angela probably picked up one of Bella's many boxes of books. Ben hurried over and rescued his girlfriend, while Bella traded her a much lighter box filled with linens.
Bella's two friends were helping her move into her new summer set up, an apartment she was subleasing from her former classmate Eric, who had graduated from their college the year before them. He was spending this summer in the most exhausting of ways, backpacking across Europe with his girlfriend Lauren. Although, Bella realized that she wasn't sure if it would be more exhausting walking across a continent, or having to deal with his simpering girlfriend; she couldn't help but giggle internally at Eric's conundrum.
"This is the last of it, Bella," Ben chirped happily, handing her a box from inside the truck. Bella wasn't surprised. She didn't consider herself a materialistic girl, so there wasn't much to move out of her dorm room at Sewanee College. She was happy to know she wouldn't have much trouble fitting all her belongings in Eric's place, since he'd put his personal items in storage while still leaving her the luxury of his bigger furniture.
Bella was grateful. She wasn't ready to buy herself a whole apartment worth of kitchen supplies and furniture. Hell, I'm not even sure I'm going to like it in Nashville, so why bother putting down roots, right? She eyed her new home, a small but well-maintained apartment complex in the West End area of Nashville, Tennessee. Her new home.
The three college friends carried the last boxes upstairs, unloading them into the living room of her new digs. Bella looked around once more, assessing the environment. The place was clean, moderately spacious, and more importantly, hers and hers alone. She was so tired of sharing an apartment with a roommate, even if it was her dear friend Angela.
At that moment, she glanced over to see Ben placing a playful kiss on Angela's nose; they were cute, but you could only witness so much canoodling in your living room before you realized you needed your own space. And a man of your own, Bella's traitorous mind piped in.
Bella shook the offending thought out of her head. This summer was not supposed to be about finding romance. She was here to work, and that's what she planned to spend all her time doing. Bella had worked multiple jobs and lived meagerly during college in order to save up a tidy sum of money so that after graduation, she could dedicate herself full-time to her one true love of writing. She had made some strong connections with several editors at popular online literary blogs as well as the Arts and Leisure editor at the local magazine in town called the Nashville Scene. They all encouraged her to write some pieces and send them in as freelance work, so she was crossing her fingers at the possibility her articles were up to snuff.
"Bella, are you sure you don't want to join us as we visit that winery in Franklin?" Angela shot Bella a puppydog expression, trying to urge her friend to join her and Ben for a wine tasting and picnic.
Bella smiled at the two of them, but shook her head as she yawned dramatically. Crash a romantic date at a vineyard? Heck no. "Naw, you two winos enjoy yourself. I'm pretty spent from the move, so I figure I'll just knock around here and organize some of my things. Anyway, we passed an Indian restaurant just up the street that's calling my name for some takeout later."
Ben and Angela nodded understandingly, though Bella thought she could sense a little excitement as they realized that their romantic afternoon would be theirs and theirs alone. Bella hugged them both warmly as they said their goodbyes.
"You sure you don't want to crash here tonight? I'm sure I could make up a bed on the couch…" Bella trailed off as she looked at the small loveseat and matching armchair. They weren't going serve as a bed for anyone but a couple of gnomes, and everyone knew it.
"We're good, thanks Bella. Ben booked us a suite at the Lowes Vanderbilt. We're going to have a nice and restful night before we take off early tomorrow for Louisville to visit Ben's cousins. But we're so glad we were able to help you move. I'm going to miss you!"
Angela looked close to tears, and Bella realized how much she was also going to miss her roommate. Even Ben, her most-of-the-time roommate, had been such a great friend to Bella. She blinked hard, and then brought them both in for a hug.
"I'm going to miss you both, too. I can't imagine meeting any friends as good as you guys." She pulled away in horror. "What if my neighbors are horrible?! Originally I was wondering if I'd make friends with them, but now I'm worried that they might be murderers! Or worse, show-tunes fans!"
Ben and Angela laughed and assured Bella that she'd make friends in no time. Angela gave her the stink eye when she warned Bella not to shut herself in her room and read all day, knowing her former roommate too well. "You're here for an adventure, Bella. You've got to go out and experience things. And people." She winked at Bella at her last command, clearly insinuating which kind of people she wanted Bella to "experience."
"Alright, alright. Enough of that, Angie," Ben mercifully interrupted, ushering his girlfriend to the door. "We're going to miss you, Bella, but you're going to do great. Good luck!"
And with that, Bella closed the door and her friends were gone. She was suddenly on her own, really on her own, for the first time. While she'd grown up an only child, she had always been surrounded by her kooky mom or protective dad. At college, she and Angela were thick as thieves, and when Ben met her roommate junior year, he was quickly brought into the fold. This was the first time Bella was living alone; she just had to figure out if she could hack it on her own.
Two hours later, twilight was beginning to set, and Bella had already scarfed down her Chicken Tikka Masala from her new favorite place in town, Bombay Palace Indian Restaurant. She'd placed the menu on the fridge, knowing she'd be calling them frequently for delivery. Great, takeout for one, please? How pathetic.
Bella distracted herself from her thoughts by beginning to organize the bookshelves that flanked the rather impressive entertainment system Eric had left. She wasn't too sure she'd use the massive television or stereo system too often, but she was thankful the entertainment center provided row upon row of space for her books.
Just as she was wondering why she'd never noticed she had three copies of Pride and Prejudice, she suddenly heard a chilling sound: her front door opening and a booming voice projecting into her apartment. "Yo, it's your turn, dude. We're coming for you!"
Bella whirled around, holding a hardback copy of War and Peace in front of her like a baseball bat. In front of her, instead of a masked man with a gun as she'd feared, was instead a giant, grinning, baby-faced man holding a six-pack of beer and a St. Louis Cardinals foam finger.
The man spotted Bella huddling in the center of the room, and he immediately dropped the six-pack by the door.
"Why hello there!" He boomed gaily with a broad smile, clearly at ease in this apartment. "Who are you, little lady?" At her blank stare, he continued on, unfazed. "The name's Emmett, a friend of Eric's. We trade off where we're going to watch the Cards games; this is his week!"
"Um, hi." Bella squeaked, beginning to feel more at ease with the strange man in her apartment, but beginning to feel unsure why he was still sticking around. "Eric left already. He said he's going to visit his mom in New Hampshire before he and Lauren take off for Europe."
"Aw, dang!" Emmett pouted dramatically, his foam finger drooping comically beside him. "Yo man," he called out to someone further down the hall, "you were right, dude. Eric already left. Now we won't get to watch the game on his dope system." He looked so dejected, Bella almost felt bad for him at the moment.
Bella heard a returning voice in the hall respond, clearly getting closer as it approached her door. "Why don't you ever listen to me, Emmett? I told you I wrote down the dates correctly. You probably scared the shit out of our new neigh-" The new voice cut off as the owner materialized in the doorway and noticed Bella, now standing casually next to the box of books.
Bella's eyes widened as she took in what she assumed to be her new neighbor, according to his half-finished sentence. Though not nearly the size of the behemoth next to him…Emmett, she recalled, this man was tall and fit, and his simple outfit of jeans and a grey t-shirt hugged him nicely. He had a St. Louis baseball cap on, and as he removed it and ran his hands through his hair, she saw his hair was an interesting shade of copper. But the most startling thing about him were his eyes, which were currently locked on hers. They were a brilliant green, and she was only distracted from them by the subtle motion of him wetting his lips, which she had to admit, were delicious looking.
Bella shook herself out of her reverie, finally remembering her manners. "Hi," she said, approaching the two men at the door. "You're right, he did scare the shit out of me, but it's all in the name of baseball, so I can deal."
She grinned at a chagrinned Emmett, who at least looked apologetic for barging into her new home and scaring her half to death. He laughed at her friendly smile and clapped a firm hand on her shoulder, thumping her more forcefully than she expected.
"Ah, I was hoping our new neighbor would be fun. Lucked out!" He did a ridiculous little happy dance in his place, waving his foam finger in the air as he hopped around.
"I'm Emmett, the fun neighbor." He pointed to himself, still using the foam monstrosity as a surrogate digit. "This is Edward, the boring one." He jerked the finger toward Edward, who rolled his eyes at his friend's antics.
She looked at Edward, who extended his hand politely toward Bella with a warm smile.
"Hi, and welcome to the building. Eric mentioned he'd be getting someone to sublease for him. Glad to finally meet you…" He trailed off, clearly not knowing how to address her.
She stumbled, caught off guard by the attractiveness of his smile and the electric warmth of his palm in hers. "Bella," she finally got out. "My name is Bella."
"I'm glad to meet you, Bella." During this whole exchange, he'd had her hand in his in an extended shake, and she found herself wishing that he didn't have to let go. Thee strength and heat of his hand against hers was comforting. Finally though, his hand released hers, and the momentary spell was broken.
"Edward here is the landlord of your fancy new digs, if you can believe it," Emmett said, ruffling Edward's hair, much to Edward's obvious ire. "We live just down the hall, so if you need anything, just call him and he'll fix it right up. Don't call me though," Emmett laughed, "I'm useless with tools."
Then he paused, his eyes sparkling, clearly thinking about something dirty. "Well, Rosie says that I can use one tool pretty well!" He nudged Edward and winked exaggeratedly at Bella, who blushed slightly at his raunchy humor.
"So, you're my...erm, the landlord here," Bella responded, glancing back at Edward and catching his intense gaze focused on her. "You're, um, younger than a typical landlord." Looking at him, she surmised that he was probably in his late twenties; he certainly didn't have the air of the college juveniles she was used to.
Edward smirked at her, and Bella felt butterflies erupt in her stomach. "Don't worry, Bella, you're in good hands. I'm a lot more experienced than you'd think." The way he said it, combined with the intensity of his stare, and Bella immediately felt her nipples harden under the lace of her bra. What are you doing, Bella? she admonished her betraying body, but it didn't help.
Bella nearly forgot Emmett was still there, assessing the tête-à-tête between his friend and his new neighbor, until he burst their bubble with gusto.
"So, we came all the way here, and you do have the best entertainment system in the building…" The way he trailed off with a hopeful look in her direction, Bella knew immediately what the big lug wanted. Luckily for him, he was charming beyond measure—and his more stoic companion intrigued her—so she felt inclined to give Emmett what he clearly wanted.
Bella leaned down and grabbed a beer from the six-pack by the door. "Yes Emmett, you can stay and watch the game. Just don't expect me to become a Cardinals fan. I'll be a stalwart Mariner till I die."
Bella twisted the top off the bottle in her hands and took a swig of the carbonated liquid, keeping one eye on Edward to gauge his reaction to her recent invitation. He, of course, kept his return gaze steady, before bending down to retrieve the pack of beers and gesturing with his free hand to the waiting entertainment system. "Allow me to show you how this contraption works. Eric has all these damned remotes that make it impossible to work the first time."
Bella watched Edward work the television and surround sound, but she was far more interested in the flex of his muscles as he pressed various buttons and the hard gaze of his eyes as he scanned the channels for the game. She knew within five minutes she'd forget the entire process for activating the electronics, but she knew she'd have a much harder time getting her new landlord out of her mind.
So, what did you think? Can you see this going somewhere? Hope you liked it, and if you did, let me know!