Short A/N: With the exception of this short introductory Chapter, I'm hoping to have updates of this story every Monday. To the few of you who read Blue Moon, I do have an a/n on my profile page explaining what's going on with that story. I'm very excited about this one and I have big plans for it. Let me know what you think. Like I said, it's an intro chapter so it is very short. Trust me, the next chapters will be longer.
Enjoy guys!
All rights belong to S. Meyer. I just like to play around with her characters!
BPOV
"Shit!"
This day was just not going the way that I was hoping at all. This is the last time I try to look nice. I should know better. As clumsy and accident prone that I am, I should know better than to wear a cream colored blouse when I know there's no way I won't spill my chai latte all over it. In my defense, though, I didn't know some suit would make me spill it all over myself.
"Asshole! " I yelled at his retreating form, hurrying down Park Avenue. "Can't you watch where you're fucking going?"
"Piss off lady!" he replied as he ran away, giving me the finger as he retreated.
Real classy douche bag.
This was supposed to be such a good day.
I finally walk up to my building and walk through the large glass revolving doors. The smell of fresh coffee and pastries immediately grab my attention. Damn it always smells so good in here. Maybe that's how she keeps all her clients. I pass the doorman, Fred, who politely nods as I enter.
"Good afternoon Miss Swan. How are you finding yourself today?" he asked.
"Now I know it's part of your job description to be cordial, Fred, but I know damn well you see this huge fresh stain on my shirt" I responded.
"I take it not very well then, Miss Swan?" he asked, raising his eyebrow with a knowing smirk.
"I'll see you later Fred."
"Good day Miss Swan."
I walk up to the receptionist desk as Claire was just picking up the phone. "Bright Side Psychiatrics. Alice Brandon's office. Oh, yes! Hi David, I've been expecting your call... " She trails off as I look around the room waiting for her to finish. Claire and I were both fresh out of college and trying to find our places in the world. She, however, had found herself a job while I still didn't know what I wanted to do. Claire and I both went to NYU together and lived in a four floor walkup above a bar. Money wasn't really a huge issue for either of us. Claire's parents are both cardiac surgeons at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and my father, Charlie is a criminal defense lawyer while my mother, Renee, is CFO of a large anesthesiology practice. Claire's uncle owned the bar and was landlord of the apartments, though, so he gave us a good rate.
Once we were done with school, Claire moved out to live with her boyfriend Ben, a resident at Columbia, and I stayed in a smaller apartment in her uncle's building. When Alice told me she was looking for a new assistant who would be close to her practice, I immediately thought of Claire and set her up to meet Alice. They instantly hit it off and I knew Claire would work great with Alice.
"Could you just hold on one second please? Thanks." Claire quietly put the phone on hold and smiled up at me. "Hey Bella. She's just finishing up with a patient now. You can go on in there and sit in the waiting room outside her office. She should be out in a few." She motioned toward the waiting room connected to Alice's office.
"Thanks Claire" I say as I walk toward the waiting room.
"Oh Bella, wait!" Claire stops me just as I'm walking through the door. "Looks like you could use this" she says as she hands me a Tide to Go pen. I laughed as she grinned sympathetically.
"Perfect, thank you. I'll get this back to you in a little b-"
"OH MY GOD! HE ASKED YOU?" she interrupted. It took me a second to realize that she was looking down at my hand that I was using to take the pen. Oh crap. This was supposed to be a surprise. Claire was still shrieking, looking at the new shiny diamond ring on my finger.
"Claire, shh! Alice doesn't know yet. That's what I'm here to tell her" I explained quickly.
"Oh my God! Bella! I'm so happy for you! Congratulations!" she squealed out in one breath. Her excitement was cut short by the continual ringing of the phones. "Ok, well we are definitely talking about this soon!"
"Yes, definitely. I will give you all the details don't worry. We'll go out to dinner to celebrate. I'll give you a call later ok?" I asked as she walked back over to her desk.
"Definitely! Congrats again Bells, you totally deserve it!"
"Thanks Claire" I beam. "I'll get this back to you in a little bi-"
"Bella, please. How well do I know you? I'm sure you'll need it later today. Keep it" she said while laughing. She knew all too well just how accident prone I was.
"Will do." I thanked her again as she went back to her desk. I walked into the small waiting room and sat down in one of the many comfortable armchairs that were arranged throughout the room. Alice, without a doubt, knew how to make someone feel relaxed.
Alice Brandon has been my best friend since we were little. She is four years older than I am, but you would never be able to tell by the way we act. Alice has her young, immature moments. We grew up in Rumson, New Jersey, our parents having been best friends since college with houses side by side. Even being four years apart, Alice and I were always inseparable. When we were younger, we would always dream about growing up and moving away from our parents to live in the Big Apple. Alice always knew that she wanted to have her own psychiatric practice on the Upper East Side while I wasn't quite sure what I wanted. All I knew was that I wanted to get out on my own. What better place to branch out then New York City?
I could hear what sounded like a heated discussion coming from Alice's office. I know she has a lot of business from severe psych patients and I hope that whoever she is speaking with doesn't give her too much trouble. All of a sudden, I felt my phone buzz with a text.
Mom.
I smiled as I opened my messages on my phone.
Bella, you're father told me that we have dinner plans coming up. I'm assuming you have some news to share? Can't wait sweetheart. Love you. Mom
I love my mother. I was so thankful that we had a loving mother/daughter relationship. We were lucky that way.
Yes mom, I have news. But don't think that you're getting anything out of me! You have to wait for dinner.
Her response was almost immediate.
Oh honey, I wouldn't dream of ruining your surprise. ;)
I had to laugh at her use of an emoticon. My mom was getting so tech-savvy. It was kind of strange. I didn't know how long I could keep this news a secret from my mom, though. She read me very easily. I must remember to leave our conversations strictly text only until I can tell her. Otherwise, she'll know it right away.
I was torn away from my musings when I heard a loud crash come from Alice's office.
"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" I heard a very angry male voice yell.
"I'm not trying to upset you Edward. Let's just calm dow-"
"DON'T YOU FUCKING TELL ME TO CALM DOWN. YOU HAVE NO FUCKING RIGHT TO TALK TO ME LIKE YOU KNOW ME. ASIDE FROM WHAT'S IN THAT FUCKING FILE ON YOUR DESK, YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT MY LIFE!"
"Edward, wait-"Alice's attempts to calm her irate client down were to no avail as he stormed out of her office, staring at me with completely void and angry eyes. Completely shocked and unable to move, I had no idea what to do other than watch him stare at me. His eyes surveyed my face for a few moments before he gave me a short once over, stopping on my left hand where my new ring sat.
He scoffed before looking back up at my face. "Don't do it. It's a fucking mistake you'll regret for the rest of your life."
With that, he stormed out of the waiting room and through the revolving door, knocking some poor women into Fred as he left out onto Park Avenue.
"Oh Jesus, Bella. I had no idea you were out here! Are you ok?" Alice asked me as I was still looking through the swinging door to the lobby just before it closed completely.
"Bella? Can you hear me?" Alice questioned, a little more frantic this time. I finally escaped out of my stupor enough to look at her and nod with a small smile.
"I'm sorry, Alice. I'm fine. I think the real question is are you ok?" I asked her with a small smirk.
Alice started laughing as she walked back into her office. I got up and followed her, shutting her door behind me as I walked in. "Oh Bella, I get guys like that all the time. Don't worry. I know how to handle myself" she said with a wink, holding her fist up as if she were about to fight me. That made me laugh hysterically, knowing for sure that Alice could definitely handle herself.
"Alright, Alice. Don't go all Rambo on me. As long as you're ok" I said with a smile.
"I'm fine. Now tell me! What's this big news you couldn't tell me over the phone?"
I look around nervously before I spill everything to Alice. I knew she would be happy for me because she was my best friend, but Alice has never had warm feelings for my boyfriend, Jacob. She would always have little comments about how she didn't trust him or that I didn't know enough about his background and that I needed to be careful. So, this conversation was not one that was going to come easy for me.
"Bella?" I looked up from my musings to a confused looking Alice.
"Yea?"
"Your news?" she laughed. "Does it really need to be this suspenseful?"
"I'm sorry, Alice. I guess my head is still somewhere else" I started. "The reason I wanted to come over here is because-"
"Oh my God, the bastard proposed" Alice said with a completely dead tone. I quickly looked up to see her eyeballing my ring. Why the hell did I wear it again? It's completely ruining my surprising everyone.
"Yea" I said, matching her tone. "The bastard did."
"I'm sorry, Bella. You know how I feel about him" she said with a sigh. "I still don't trust him in the slightest, but if this is truly what you want, truly," she paused, I assumed, for effect, "then I will support you."
I was surprised that this conversation went a little smoother than I thought it would. Thank God for my supportive best friend. "I'm really glad to hear that, Alice" I smiled. She responded with a tight, forced smile in return. "Because," I continued, "I'm really going to need my maid of honor to be able to be in the same room as my fiancé."
"Oh Bella!" Alice squealed. "I'd be honored! Really! You don't know how much that means to me."
"Well good. Do you have time to go with me to lunch?" I asked.
"Yeah, yeah. Crazy guy was my last client for the day so I'm done. Let's go."
We walked out of her office and through the waiting room, where I first saw "crazy guy," as Alice put it. I would have to ask her what that was about. Hopefully, I would be able to get some kind of information about that argument I overheard.
We said a quick goodbye to Claire as we headed out for lunch. I was excited that Alice was onboard as my maid of honor, but I just couldn't get crazy guy's statement out of my head.
It's a fucking mistake you'll regret for the rest of your life.
This was supposed to be such a great day.