This is my first fanfiction. I really hope you all like it. Special thanks to my awesome beta kyla713. Please read and review.
Twilight and all of its characters belong to Stephanie Meyers.
Chapter 1
I think about him all the time. Even after all these years, he stays on my mind. My sister, Alice thinks I need to see a shrink because I haven't dated anyone since him. Truth is, I've actually tried to date but no one has been able to keep my attention for more than five minutes. Dating is such a hassle. You have to be on your best behavior, pretend you like the things he likes, try to keep a conversation going; all the while trying to make yourself appealing to him. It may be easy for most girls to keep a conversation going but I'm just not that much of a talker. I like to listen and observe. Most men expect the woman to do all the talking while they insert a word every once in a while, which obviously wouldn't work for me. We spend most of the date just looking at each other waiting for the other to fill the silence. It's just more of a hassle than its worth. Sometimes I wish that I could get over Edward and move on with my life; meet a new man and have a couple of kids. But when I imagine my wedding day, the man at the alter is always Edward. He's standing there looking gorgeous, his big green eyes staring at me with nothing but love and adoration. When I imagine what my children will look like they have Edward's dazzling green eyes and my heart shaped face, his beautiful bronze hair and my pale skin.
"Bella!" Alice yelled my name interrupting my thoughts. "Bella where are you?"
"I'm up here Alice, in my office"
Alice is my older sister. She's about four foot nothing with black spiky hair and a thin curvy frame. Alice is an extremely successful fashion designer and works out of New York about seventy-five percent of the time. She has an office here in Chicago where she spends the rest of her time. Although she says she has the Chicago office because she misses home, I suspect she keeps it so that she can keep her eye on me. Not that I'm complaining, I love to have her around but I think she worries about me way too much. Alice thinks I can't possibly be happy if I don't have a man to share my life with. I keep trying to convince her that I'm perfectly fine; I have plenty of things to fill my time. I have my own catering business that keeps me very occupied and in my free time I volunteer at the Anti-Cruelty Society. Alice of course still tries to set me up on blind dates and always has her eyes open for potential husbands for me.
"Bella, you will never guess who I ran into today!" Alice exclaimed
"Who?" I replied.
"Jacob Black! I was shopping on Michigan Avenue when I stopped to grab some popcorn from Garrett's. I was replying to an email on my blackberry not really paying attention where I was going and I walked right into Jacob. I looked up and there he was all six foot five inches of him. I must say he looks a lot different then he did when we were kids. He just moved back to Chicago after living in Washington for a few years. He has no kids and he's single by the way. He asked about you, and I hope you don't mind, I gave him your number," Alice rattled off excitedly.
"Wow. It's been a long time since I've seen or spoken to Jacob. Does he seem like he's doing well? And no I don't mind that you gave him my number. It will be really nice to talk to him and catch up with each other," I replied ignoring her not-so-subtle hint about him being single.
"Yes, he seems to be doing really well. He moved back here after being offered a position at some sporting goods company based out of Chicago. Apparently they paid to relocate him and are paying for his house once he finds one. He has an apartment downtown right off Michigan Avenue" Alice reported
I haven't spoken or seen Jacob in about seven or eight years. We grew up together here in Chicago and he was my best friend from the time we were eight years old through high school. He left Chicago right after high school to attend college in Washington and ended up staying there after he graduated. I stayed in Chicago to attend The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. We kept in touch for a while after he left but after the first year of college the calls grew fewer and farther between until we just completely lost touch. I missed Jacob terribly the first few years after he left but he seemed to grow distant while he was away and our friendship unfortunately dwindled.
"He said that he'd probably call you soon to catch up with you. Aren't you excited to talk to him? You guys were best buds for the longest time and seemed to know each other so well. I think its great that he's back in town so you guys can get back in touch," Alice said
"Yeah, I look forward to his call. So are we still going to lunch?" I asked.
"Sure. Let me give Jasper a call and I will be ready to go," Alice said as she walked into the living room to make her phone call. Jasper is Alice's husband of four years. They met in Alice's first year of college and have been inseparable since. Jasper is a really good guy and treats Alice like a queen. He owns a franchise of martial arts studios all over New York and considering opening a few in Chicago, since Alice spends so much time out here.
I got up from my desk to get my jacket and purse to head out to lunch with Alice when the phone rang "Hello?"
A male voice spoke into phone "Good Afternoon, may I please speak with Bella Swan?"
"This is Bella speaking, who may ask is calling," I asked.
"Hi Bella! It's Jake. How are you doing?" Jake replied cheerily.
"Hey Jake! I'm doing really well. God, it's been so long since I've spoken to you. How are you?" I said, my voice echoing Jake's enthusiasm.
"I'm doing well. I ran into Alice this morning downtown and she gave me your number. I just moved back to Chicago. Alice told me that you run your own catering company and business is going really well for you. I should have figured that's what you'd end up doing knowing how much you used to love to cook."
"Yes, I worked in the kitchen at a couple of restaurants around Chicago but I really wanted to have my own business to be able to create the food I was passionate about. So that's what I did. What brings you back to Chicago?" I asked pretending Alice didn't already fill me in.
Just as he was about to answer Alice walked into my office with an irritated look on her face. "Can you hold on one minute Jake?" I asked
"Sure," he answered
"Hey Bella, I'm going to have to reschedule our lunch. I have to run back into the office to straighten out somebody else's screw up. My work never ends! I call you later tonight, maybe we can do dinner if I'm done with work early enough" Alice spoke all the while typing furiously on her Blackberry. She finally looked up and noticed I was on the phone she mouthed an apology, put her hand to her ear and mouth mimicking a phone to signal she'd call me later and was out the door.
I put my ear back to the phone. "Sorry about that Jake"
"No problem, as I was saying, I moved back to Chicago because of my job. I got a promotion that required me to work out here. I now run all of the Sports Authority stores in the Chicago area my main office is in the west loop downtown but I'm hardly there." Jake responded rather proudly
"That's great Jake congrats on the promotion! You and I should get together for lunch one day soon to catch up with each other," I told him
"Sure. I was just going to suggest that myself. How about this weekend? Is Saturday good for you?" Jake asked
"Actually I'm catering a party on Saturday, but I'm free Sunday for lunch," I replied
"Sunday it is. Do you want to meet at a place or would you like me to pick you up?" He asked
"Why don't you come over to my place and I can make us lunch," I suggested
"Sounds good. What's your address?"
I gave Jake my information and got off of the phone really excited to see him this weekend. It would be nice to have my old friend Jake back in my life