GIVE ME A CHANCE

Disclaimer: The Cullens, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.

CHAPTER 1:

It is said that the measure and character of a man is determined by the life decisions he makes and the things he values above all else. So, I guess, I am one fucked up, stupid asshole. Some of my decisions influenced so damn stupid actions which caused me to lose the most valued thing of my life. It was beyond monetary value that no price could every be placed upon. But, I lost it!

Now, with that being said I must find some way to regain it, to beg if need be for a chance to correct my stupidity. The problem being that I am not sure that I will be granted this opportunity.

Five years. It has taken five years to get this close. At least, I hope this time, it is close. So many tries with so many dead ends.

I knew when the papers were delivered to me that I had really screwed up. No. It was actually after that last argument and she looked at me with dead eyes, no emotion to be had, that I knew I had screwed up. But, I thought all I need to do was to give it time. Little did I know that time had just stopped. It ran out at that moment. I thought that all would be normal after I returned from London. Fuck was I wrong!

I got back and she was not there. Nothing was out of place, or, missing, except her. I thought she was just out with one of her friends, but, as time passed and she still didn't come home, I began to get nervous. Then as more time passed and still no show, I started to get angry and then worried.

I started to drink, getting a good drunk on, passing out on the sofa in the family room while waiting for her to show. Come the next morning waking in the same place I was in from the night before, it took a moment for the quiet to penetrate my half conscious state. Rising up, I looked around, everything still as it was last night. She was not there and no sign that she had been. Now, that did bring me up quickly. In fact, a little too quickly. My head felt like it was going to explode. My anger set in again, that she was not there. I looked for a note, anything to indicate that she had been, but, just left again for whatever reason. But, nothing could be found.

Hours because days and days became weeks. Now, I really was going through every emotion that could be experienced by a human. Where the fuck was she? What the hell had happened to her? I had called all of her friends, our friends so often that they knew why I was calling before ever answering the phone. The answer was always the same "no word from her and didn't know anything".

Life moved forward, I still had obligations that I had to attend, but, a sense of panic remained no matter what I was doing.

Six weeks after I had returned from London for the second time did I get hit with the biggest wakeup call of my life. I answered a knock at the door and was handed a large, brown envelope. I looked at it and then up to the person that had handed to me, but, he was gone in just that short period of time. Looking closer to the outer markings on the envelope, I had a shock and went stone cold, beginning to shake from head to foot. In fact, I broke out into a cold sweat, fearing the enclosed papers.

Opening the envelope revealed the end to my world. Divorce papers. What the fuck? She had been granted a divorce based on mental and physical cruelty, along with infidelity. "NO! NO!" I fell to the ground sobbing uncontrollable.

After a time the grief turned to anger and then to numbness. As I picked up my life I knew that I could not leave things as they were. I had to do something. So, the first thing I did was to make sure that she was taken care of financially. I contacted the attorney that was listed as having handled her side of the divorce and had him to amend the settlement. She was to receive shares in the company, a substantial monetary allowance monthly and half of the properties we owned, the choice being hers.

A few months after making these arrangements, I celebrated the success of her first novel. It went all the way to number one on the best seller list. I was damn proud of her. I bought the book and read it. It surprised even me at the excellence of it. And I cried again over the loss of her.

It was after that that I began to realize just had badly; no, I mean, just had badly I had fucked up both our lives. We had married against our parent's wishes while still in high school. Then through our college years, I started playing with the stock market and made a small fortune. And, at the age of twenty one I received the trust my grandparents had left for me. Needless to say, it was enough that I never had to work another day in my life, actually, several life times, if I didn't want. And I, also, inherited the company my great grandfather had started. So, I graduated from the University, I took over the privately owned business and it has done well ever since.

Overall, a year ran by me before I realized that my life, as it was at that time, had no purpose, that I was stagnating and, just going through the motions of living. Everything for all of that time had been from one extreme to another. So, decided one morning that enough was enough. That it was time to do something to change the situation.

I started to make inquiries as to where she was as I knew that she did not go or reside in any of the places I had given to her. Her publisher would not give me any information, nor, could I find anyone that she had stayed in touch.

I set forth to hire the best to start locating where she might be. Of course, that somehow, proved to be difficult in and of itself. It seemed that as we got close, she would move, to drop out of sight again. Meaning that a new search had to begin again. How, she knew to move was beyond our comprehension. But, move she would.

During that time, another book of hers had been published and it was an overnight sensation. And word had reached me that talk was going around about turning her first novel into a movie. Damn, I was proud of her. But on the covers, even though, her picture was there and a little personal information, nothing told where she lived. It was just general facts of her life.

Four years later and during all of that time, every time we got a lead I would run headlong to reach her, only to be too late. Always, only to be too late. My heartache kept becoming more and more acute. The realization of just had badly I had fucked up hit me all over again. It was a viscous.

The areas she seemed to choose were understated and quiet. Of course, some of the places that I went to find her, that we thought we had found her, turned out to be the wrong persons. Damn, I never knew that some many females could have close to or the same name or initials in this world. It was disheartening after each failure. But, I was determined to find her.

I would do whatever it took to get her back. Made no difference what it was, I would even get down on my knees, if I had to, to beg for another chance. I just wanted her to give me a chance.

I would not give up. I refused to believe that I could not win her love again. I knew that it was going to take time and a lot of work, but, this would be the biggest action of my life. I am not living without her; I am just existing.

I started out this time with five different locations and the first four turned out to be nothing. Of course, three of those were not the right person. Right name, but, wrong person. Then, the fourth was empty and no one had been there in several months. And this fifth location, the resident is new, just moved in about two months ago.

The neighborhood was the same as always, quiet, understated, the type of home for a middle class family. I slowly drove down the street checking everything out, passing the house as I went. There was no sign that anyone was at home, but, that didn't deter me. I was planning to come back tonight, just as was my habit, to see who was at home. I would have the cover of darkness to observe without being seen, before, I decided to reveal myself.

The pull I always felt when she was close surrounded me. I knew peace at last, as she was close. I knew I had found her after all of this time. My breathing became labored, difficult to draw a deep breath. My palms became sweaty and my heartbeat increase in rate. So, close, but, at this moment, so far.

This woman was my life, created just for me, my soul mate, and I had treated her badly. In fact, I guess, I could say that I damn near destroyed her.

In the time that we had been together and even beyond that, I had brought the company to the point that all of the right people were in place that was nearly running itself. I was able to do what was my life's desire, music. I wanted to be a concert pianist. And, I am now following my dream with a great deal of success. Even, my recordings were selling well.

After surveying the area and choosing my place of concealment, I returned to my hotel room to pass the time. I showered, ate and rested as much as I could in spite of being so keyed up and anxious for the time to go by quickly.

I prayed to the powers that be above to guide me on this mission to regain a vital part of my life, my heart, my reason for being. I knew that it would not be easy, nor, will it be accomplished tonight, but, please; help me to make a start. To say the right words to her that she will consider giving me a chance.

A/N: I have read and am still reading many delightful stories that have been well written by some very talented authors. It has been many years since I have written and published anything, but, Twilight itself just got to me somehow and has helped me thru a very trying time. I hope that you do enjoy the story as it develops as much as you are enjoying my first story.

I will try to update at least once a week and wish you good reading on this story and many others that are just divinely outstanding.

I welcome your comments of both good and bad as they show an interest. So, please, take a moment and review.