Chapter 1...
(the stars- they mean that there is a picture of the aforementioned item on my website... link on my profile)
Enjoy...
It's was my last day in Australia, the final hours in which I would be cooped up here with limited places to go; limited things to see. I had received an internship with a company in New York at a law firm called Cullen International Law Firm or CILF. I was actually really excited for the move.
I wanted to go to New York ever since I was 16. Before that I was obsessed with the idea of London, but that was put out of my mind the day my dad was offered a job in New York. All I could think was – expensive heels and business suits.
Of course that all whittled down into nothing when my mother died and dad said that we needed to stay here and be with the family in a trying time I personally couldn't think of a better time to make a new start far away from our old life
But, alas, I had no say in the matter. I finished my education at a modest public school, and made a few acquaintances that helped me get through the years without being a complete loner.
I was top of my class, valedictorian and dux. I received the highest mark in the school that year achieving an ENTER of 99.85. Then I attended university at Melbourne University* and got my degree in law. Now at the mere age of 23 I was going to New York to achieve my dreams.
When my mother died, I was heart-broken. I was seriously torn apart. It threw my whole world off balance. She was everything to me. I hadn't known what to do with myself, how to act - nothing. Until a letter arrived one day addressed to me, from my mother. The only explanation that I had was that she knew that this day would come, where I would need her and she wasn't there. That letter was what saved me from dying along with her.
Dear Bella, I know that my passing must be hard on you. No one expected it not to be, but you have to understand me when I say that you have to move on with your life, and live it the way that your father and I, and most of all yourself, had intended too. When I was your age I had a dream as well, but I didn't follow mine and to this day, even as I write you this letter, I feel a pang of regret for not having followed my dreams. I don't want you to make that mistake as well. I have been saving my money since I was your age to do something similar, but I never got to use mine. At the bottom of this letter is the bank account number. Use it to make YOUR dream come true.
P.S. This is your an my little secret, so don't tell your father…I'm taking it to my grave.
Ever since then I made it my goal to achieve exactly what I wanted. I wasn't going to make the same mistake that my mother made. I was going to follow my dreams. If not for me than for her.
***
"Have you got everything Bells?" Dad asked as he handed me my handbag.
"Yeah" I nodded as I looking down at my booted feet. My father and I had never really been very big on all that lovey-dovey, touchy-feely stuff… he left that to Mum.
"Final boarding call for flight AO2596 to New York."
"Well I guess this is it Dad" I said looking up at him for the final time.
He nodded a slow nod and then took me into his firm and steady grasp. "I'll miss you Bells," he whispered in my ear.
"I'll miss you too Dad" I said wiping the tears from my eyes before they had a chance to spill over.
"Alright enough of this. You best get going before you miss your flight."
I nodded my head and gave him a weak smile. Then I picked up my bag, headed for the line to board the plane and waved my dad a small and bittersweet farewell.
***
I arrived at the John F Kennedy International Airport at exactly 11:32pm the following night. The architectural design of the building was amazing. A structural curve here and a straight line there… a work of art. My friend Angela would have been in heaven.
She was at The University of Melbourne with me but she was studying architecture. She was the person that taught me to love a building, the way that the lines and small and individual pieces of a building made it into art. She taught me to see a building the way it was meant to be seen.
The hustle and bustle of people in the airport was astounding, even though it was the middle of the night. It just went to show that the term "city that never sleeps" was entirely correct.
I pushed and shoved my way through the people to get my luggage, and then pushed and shoved some more so that I could get a taxi. I didn't bring a lot of stuff over with me. I was doing my best to make an entirely new start. Though I did make sure to bring a few necessities; like a winter coat*.
The chill in the wind would have been almost unbearable if it weren't for the fact that I loved the cold. I snuggled into my brand new, long winter coat and hailed a taxi.
The next taxi that pulled up came to a stop right in front of me; I smiled to the sky thanking the man upstairs for doing me this one small favor and proceeded to put my things in the trunk.
20 minutes later I was driving down a fairly nice street. There were no trees nor were there any plants of any kind really, but the city held a certain aura that made living here that much more exciting. I hadn't been poor when I arrived in the US, how could I have been when I worked an average of 20 hours a week at the local McDonald's trying to earn the money that I needed? And I didn't spend a cent of it, just so that I could move to New York. So I knew when I got there that I needed to go shopping. I had only brought what I owned that would be appropriate for this climate. Tracksuits and thermals, oh and what I had bought the day before so that I wouldn't look like a hobo when I arrived. Note to self: need to go office wear shopping…
We continued down the small busy street and then turned onto another. As we drove along the roads, they seemed to get nicer as went along.
We must be closer to the heart of the city.
Before I knew it we were stopped outside a tall apartment building. The severe darkness of the night prevented me from getting a good look at it, but it seemed decent. I felt a small flutter in my stomach. I was here, I was really here. New York - the city that never sleeps; a place where one can do nothing but walk around for a week and still not have come close to seeing everything. It was amazing, all that I had dreamed of and more.
I smiled to the cab driver as I got out and paid. He popped the boot and I grabbed my two suitcases. Handbag on shoulder, I proceeded to the door.
-
I got to the door of the building and reached out my gloved* hand and pulled the handle on the glass door. It swung wide open but not easily, and I struggled to get my bags through the door. Placing them behind me I grabbed the door handle and pulled as hard as I could, then I stuck my bum in front of it to hold it open and continued to haul my bags into the lobby.
I groaned loudly as my bag refused to fit between me and the door and shoved it back towards the outside. Trying to think of different methods to help me through when a light bulb went off. I quickly unhitched myself from the door and did the same as last time but instead of shoving my bum in the way, I shoved one of my bags in to stop the door from fully closing. Then I got my other bag and pushed it up against the first, pushing them through the remaining gap in the door.
Both bags slid through the gap nicely and the door closed behind them, but because the door closed so suddenly I went sprawling straight into the door, banging my nose and biting my tongue.
"OUCH," I moaned
I clung onto my frozen tongue and pulled the door open for the fifth time that night, but slid through on my own.
As I grabbed my bags and rounded the corner in the building I came across a room with the door open. In there sat two large, older men laughing and stuffing their faces with donuts. I came to a stop by the door and looked in. What I found in front of the men annoyed me. They were sitting in front of the monitor that showed the footage the security camera was capturing… the security camera that was currently pointed at the door…the door that I had just struggled my way through.
I cleared my throat to get their attention but they only swiveled around in their chairs to look at me and burst out laughing.
I frowned and cleared my throat again.
"Sorry, miss," the larger one said. "Can we help you?"
"Apart from the fact that your help would have been much appreciated at the entrance over there, I would like the key to my room thank you." I said as I took my gloves off and placed them in my bag.
"Name?" the other overly rotund man said from his chair.
"Isabella Swan. Why? Do you have any other Australians flying in at midnight?" I bit back.
"No ma'am we just need to know that you're who you claim to be. Can we please see some I.D.?"
I nodded and took out my wallet, handing him my Australian driver's license
I'm going to need to get a new one of those
The second man nodded his head and handed me my license back along with two envelopes. One small and one large one with the logo Cullen International Law Firm printed on the top.
No doubt details about the internship.
I opened the small envelope there on the spot, and tipped the contents out onto my hand. Out fell a key and a note.
Miss Swan,
Enclosed you will find the key to your new apartment. Please note that this is not your key and in the event of your departure you must return the key or pay a fine which will cover the cost of new locks and keys.
Your apartment number is 7B, on level 7.
Please note the following rules…
I finished reading about the rules in the apartment -usual things like noise and power, bills etc.
As I placed the key in my pocket along with the rest of the letter I looked up to the two older men that were still watching me.
"It started snowing outside you know? It was absolutely beautiful." I felt a giddy smile rise on my face as I remembered spinning around in it.
"Oh great. Now we will have to shovel the doorway in the morning and pour the salt because Hank is getting in late tomorrow…. Just our luck," the larger man grumbled.
I smiled to the other man who rolled his eyes and gave me a quick wink, making me feel slightly uncomfortable. Taking that as my cue to leave, I swiveled around and headed towards the elevator.
"Um, Isabella!" the smaller guard called out.
"It's Bella, but yes?" I said, turning to face the guard.
"Sorry but the elevator is due for maintenance, so it's currently out of order." His face bore a mixture of regret and guilt.
I sighed, a pained sigh, and nodded my head, walking towards the stairs that were located behind the security desk and preceded my climb up seven dreadful flights of stairs.
Thank God I didn't have more bags.
***
I placed the key in the lock, jiggled it a little and pushed the door open. I winced as it squeaked, silently hoping that my new room-mate was a heavy sleeper.
I closed the door and fished around for the light switch.
Come on, come on, you've got to be here somewhere.
I heaved a sigh of relief when I felt the cool plastic casing of the light switch.
"Who puts a light switch so far from the door?" I mumbled to myself as I flicked on the switch and cringed as the light burnt my eyes.
"I've been meaning to talk to the maintenance man about that switch"
I screamed at the unfamiliar voice that had come out of nowhere. I opened my eyes and found myself looking at a very small person standing directly in front of me, she reminded me of my next door neighbors daughter, of course only about 18 years older.
"God, you scarred the crap out of me!" I half yelled while laughing.
"Sorry about that, I was about to turn the lights on but then you came in so well…I didn't," she smiled.
"My name is Alice, and you must be Isabella."
"Call me Bella. Nice to meet you," I said, putting out my hand for her to shake. She pulled me into a tight hug instead. I laughed as she let go of me and smiled. I looked around for somewhere to hang my coat before taking it off. I found an unused coat rack and decided that I would put my scarf, hat and jacket up there until I had a chance to unpack.
As I was taking my jacket off to place on the coat rack I felt like someone was looking at me. I turned my head to look at Alice and found her looking me up and down with a huge smile on her face. Not two moments later was a huge squeal reverberating around the room and she was jumping up and down clapping her hands.
"YAY!" she screamed. "You have some form of fashion sense," I laughed and she resumed her jumping.
"I wouldn't go that far. My friend back home dressed me for the flight. I'm actually kind of terrible at dressing myself." I smiled sheepishly.
She frowned a little, but then her face became alight again. "That's fine. Now I'll just have to help you," she said and I groaned.
About 20 seconds later there was a massive bang at the door and a scream that came from the same direction. I looked towards the door to find a tall blonde sprawled out along the floor on top of my bags, huffing a trying to find her way up.
"For God's sake! Why are there bags at the door? And why the fuck is there so much screaming? Please, for the sake of my hearing, tone it down a couple of decibels."
I looked towards Alice and found her scowling at the spot where the blonde had just fallen.
"Bella, Rosalie, Rosalie, Bella," Alice said introducing me to the blonde.
"Bella, Rosalie lives in 7C across the hall, Rosalie; this is my new room-mate."
"It's a pleasure to meet you" I said holding out my hand towards her.
"Mmm, wish I could say the same," she retorted as she glared at my outstretched hand. "Just keep the sound down would you? I have the early shoot tomorrow, and I CANNOT be late again. Goodnight," she said and she slammed the door on her way out.
"Don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out," Alice mumbled, and I cracked up laughing
Pretty soon she was too. "Well, I should probably show you where your room is huh?"
I nodded eagerly and followed her straight through the living room and to a door almost completely opposite the entrance.
"So… Rosalie, she's gorgeous," I stated, trying to make conversation and looking at my feet again.
Alice stood in front of the door that was right in front of us. (I had left my bags at the door because I had wanted to have a look around first). She opened the door to a good sized room, there was an old double bed mattress up against the wall waiting for it to be put on a bad frame and also waiting for some sheets. There was also a red rug lying on top of the beautiful mahogany floorboards.
"I guess I'm going to need to do some furniture shopping then huh?" I mumbled to myself, but to my surprise Alice heard me and started squealing again.
"Please, Alice, is that entirely necessary?"
"Sorry." She grinned. "I'm just really excited."
I just laughed, nodding my head. On the opposite side of the room I saw that there was a window with curtains pulled over them stopping the flow of any kind of light coming into the room, whether it was just the city lights or not. I walked across the room and opened the curtains, amazed to see that there was a balcony outside. It needed a really good scrub and the windows were filthy, but, other than that, it looked amazing.
Note to self: spend tomorrow cleaning, shop the day after.
"This is amazing; don't you ever go out there?" I asked, turning around to face Alice.
"No, I don't. I don't have time. I'm an intern at a fashion boutique working to get my own line up and running. I'm going to be famous you know, making gowns for the red carpet one day. Just you wait and see," she said very seriously.
"Oh I don't doubt it," I said slightly scared that if I didn't agree she might take a pair of material sheers to my throat. I wasn't trying to be mean, really, I wasn't, but I know how lucky I was to get here and I had to work so hard to achieve that, I was lucky, some people might not be so much, and I have to be realistic.
I turned towards the opposite wall and saw a door. "What's in there?" I asked, pointing towards it.
Alice smiled a large smile and motioned me over towards said door. "In here, Miss Swan is my pride and joy, and I am going to share it with you. This room is not for the faint of heart, this is…" she opened the door and pulled me in, covering my eyes as she did so, "... the closet."
I opened my eyes and set them upon the room in front of me. It was very big, strike that, it was huge and Alice had utilized every single bit of space in there. The right half of the room was full of clothing, and organized impeccably. It went: color, then type, alphabetically. Cardigans, jackets, jeans, shirts, shorts, skirts, t-shirts and then vests.
In the centre of the room were a massive island and a rack entirely dedicated to shoes? They were all in their boxes, but the boxes had photos on the side clearly showing the shoe on Alice's foot. And then they were in color order and then height order, in length of the heel, up to 6" heels.
"Wow Alice, this is really... impressive."
And a little bit scary.
"Thanks." She smiled. She then took hold of my shoulders and faced me towards the wall that backed my room. "And that's your half."
My half was the same size as Alice's but completely empty save for a bunch of coat hangers waiting for me to hang up my clothing.
"This really is amazing Alice. You didn't have to give me half; that was really nice of you," I said and smiled at my new friend.
"Well hey, can you blame me? This is New York. I didn't know if you were going to be some Australian wannabe famous, stuck up snob that was going to demand half the closet, so I just halved it. Besides, it is rightfully yours; I did get a friend of mine to take a little bit of your room to make it big enough so it's the least I could do." She grinned sheepishly"
"ALICE!" I laughed.
I was looking around the room again thinking about how great life was right now and I had only been in America for an hour, when I heard Alice take a big yawn.
"Oh geez I'm sorry, I'm keeping you up; you should go to bed… I'll be fine, I'm wide awake right now," I said ushering her towards the other door which no doubt, led to her room.
"No, really Bella it's fine, I'm fine; it's your first night here."
"Alice, please, I'll be fine," I said, pushing her a little bit more. When she looked like she was going to protest again, I jumped in before she had the chance. "Alight, Alice I'll make you a deal. Seeing as you seem to love clothes so much," I said a little sarcastically. "That must mean that you like shopping, right?" I asked, waiting for her response. She grinned and nodded enthusiastically.
"Alright then, do you have to work tomorrow?" She nodded again, but this time with much less enthusiasm.
"How about this? I don't have to go to the offices until Monday because I came a little early, so why don't we go scour the town when you get back from work tomorrow? I need clothes, and lots of them." I could see her smile growing a little bit more as she came to realize about what I was trying to offer her. She started bouncing a little bit more with every word I said, and when I had finished....
"DEAL!" she squealed.
"Alright then, go to bed," I said, laughing.
"Good night Bella," she said as she gave me a hug.
"Goodnight Alice…but remember, this is a one time offer, never again will I do this NEVER." I could hear tinkling laugh in the other room and had a little chuckle to myself as well.
It was a strange moment then. Something in that hug told me that Alice was not as content as she made out to be. Something about said that she was lonely and it had me wondering the whole night whether she actually had any friends here in New York.
Once Alice had gone into her room and I heard her shut her light off, I contemplated what I was going to do next. I decided that I would probably have a little look around the apartment.
I stepped outside the closet into my bedroom. And cast a glance around the room again. There was no doubt that this was an amazing apartment; I had been so lucky in the deal and the price that I got. And the room-mate.
As I was thinking about all the things that I would need to get from the store the next day I walked into the main living area and had a really good look. That's when it occurred to me. Everything in that room was completely perfect; it was obsessive compulsive just like the closet.
That was good; now at least I won't have to have a go at her when she doesn't keep something neat.
I myself had been known to be a little finicky when it comes to cleanliness; others had have called it obsessive compulsive, but I just called it clean.
But seeing the apartment in this state was a settling realization for me. I would have been lying if I told you that I wasn't worried that Alice was going to be as messy as her personality was loud. But now I had peace of mind.
I chuckled to myself as I thought about everything that could be done in my bedroom. It had nothing save for the old rug which I could assure you would be going the first chance that I had. I was glad that I had Alice. Judging by a quick glance around the apartment, she knew what she was doing decoration wise.
And she could go crazy at the shopping centre with me the next day.
I walked into the kitchen. It was a small room with benches on 75% of the wall space. The wall that was next to the entrance had a little window section above the counter top so that you could see through to the door, but keep the space enclosed.
The last part of the bench came out onto the carpet, not backed by any wall either. That way you could look out of the kitchen into the dining room and see the dining room table. Opposite the dining room lay the living area. An expensive flat screen television sat on a beautiful mahogany buffet. There was a gorgeous dark brown coffee table that sat in the middle, all surrounded by two divine looking white leather couches*.
The bathroom was just like the rest of the apartment. There was a bath, toilet and a sink with a vanity, but the best of the best, and in the most exquisite fashion.
I was looking around the amazingly neat apartment and thinking about how much rent this was costing me per week when something else struck me.
Alice had been living here on her own for about 3 years, from what I could gather. This was not a cheap apartment, and those were definitely not cheap clothes in that amazing closet...neither was any of this amazing furniture. And just looking at the architraves along the walls, I could see that they were beautifully crafted. This was no small thing…this was a stylishly decked out apartment. Alice quite obviously had money.
I don't know if I felt comforted by the fact that I had figured a little something out about Alice or not… but never the less I was as happy as ever right then.
Okay so i am insanely excited to be posting this, i have been working with the lovely Stephaniiie and LyricalKris to get this perfect for y'all to last little star asterisk thingy was actually a floor plan other than white leather couches, dont forget to go have a squizz at my website.
Let me know what you guys think about the chapter, things you want to happen blah blah blah, i have an ultimate plan for this story but its not a chapter by chapter plan, i just know how i want it to finish, etc... so if you have any little situations that you want to happen let me know... i like writing fluff XD
Okay this is where i get off topic: have any of you ready the Evernight series? because i just finished hourglass and (dont worry no spoilers) i reallllly want someone to talk about it with... gimme a buzz....
um in other news... the people who are here because you have read something else of mine... KMAISY is on hold... the damn thing is doing my head in and i need time... i know it already takes me ages to update, but give me some time and ill come back with lots of chapters on the ready.
ummm... anyone read the strange angles novels? brilliant... I'm currently reading Betrayals, not very far yet though, so please... no spoilers.
as you may have noticed... i use a lot of little dottie things (... ---them) so you know, dont get annoyed with them, its a personality fault. OMG im watching true blood season 2... anyone seen it? i wanna talk to you too.
if it seems like im sitting here just thinking of random things to write about in this authors note, i have two things to say to you...
1: i am
2: thats only because im bored, dont want to do my lit homework and well... my friends dont want to talk to me.
i had something else to say, but i completey forgot what it was.... OH I REMEMBER!! did you see the little review button? its got a different little bubble thing on it, it looks weird. but cool... i wonder what it does... maybe you guys could tell me... in a review... hmmm?
one more thing... i wanna ask you guys a question each chapter because i have found that with a compelling question on the end of a story... it makes you want to press the little blue and yello button below... so here it is... and goodbye
Pick one to MARRY, one to LICK WHIPPED CREAM OFF OF, one to KILL, and one to... MAKE DINNER FOR (random i know, but I'm in the middle of making spaghetti so its on my mind XD)
-Emmett
-Jacob
-Mike
-Jasper
My Choices (just you can learn a little more about me XD):
Marry: Jasper
Lick whipped cream off of: Emmett
Kill: Jacob
Make dinner for: Mike
what are yours?