Chapter 1
BPV
My cousin Alice and I were moving into our new house today. We had been living in an apartment together but it was getting cramped with all Alice's stuff. We needed a bigger place. After many months of looking we found a colonial which fit Alice's taste…something I thought impossible till now. Alice's conditions were 1. That there were umpteen closets in the house 2. Jetted Jacuzzi sized tubs 3. More than 10,000 square feet and 4. That it's located with in five minutes of Gucci ,it was in Seattle…Alice and I were originally from a small town called Forks, Washington . Our jobs were so well that we could financially live by ourselves but we chose to live together. As we were walking into the house the owner (we were renting) was there to give us our keys. Alice ran into one of the rooms.
"I LOVE THIS…THIS CLOSET'S THE SIZE OF MY BEDROOM!" Alice shrieked. I turned to the owner.
"What's your rules on redecorating?" I asked.
"If its her idea…then no way." The owner moaned. Then he looked at me for a second.
"How would you feel about having roommates?" he asked randomly. I looked confused.
"I was thinking about renting the other part of the house." He said pointing to the door to the basement. From what we understood he had put a small apartment down there.
"Well I already have to live with Alice…as long as we meet the people first and the door locks work…I'm okay with it." I answered.
"THE MORE THE MERRIER!" Alice shouted from upstairs…how she got up there that fast I didn't know.
"I FOUND OUR STUDY!" Alice shouted. Alice and I both worked at Brandon enterprises… The fashion empire that Alice's parents worked at. I worked in editing which meant I constructed their magazine from scratch. Alice was the head fashion designer which basically meant she was constantly watching over my shoulder. She also headed up shoots and had the final say in what people wore. She was living the life she always wanted.
"I CAN PUT MY SEWING MACHINES OVER HERE!" Alice yelled from upstairs.
"Did she just say machines?" the owner asked me.
"Yeah she has ten…one for each style of clothing." I said. He shook his head.
"VANITY…VANITY…VANITY!" She screamed. I hid my face in embarassment.
"Um question…I looked over your records and you both make a shit load of money for your age…why are you living together?" the owner asked.
"Do you honestly think THAT could ever live by itself?" I pointed out as Alice bounced around upstairs.
"OH AND THAT'S PERFECT FOR MY BUREAU…AND MY JONAS BROTHER'S POSTER COULD GO OVER THERE…AND I COULD GET A WALL MIRROR AND STICK IT OVER THERE!" We could hear Alice chirping.
"Point taken." the owner said to me.
"BELLA I FOUND THE PERFECT ROOM FOR YOU…IT'S CLOSET SPACE IS AMAZING…I COULD LIKE QUADRUPLE YOUR WARDROBE AND THERE'D STILL BE ROOM…YOUR BED COULD GO OVER THERE…AND WE COULD GET ANOTHER VANITY AND PUT IT OVER THERE…AND BRIGHT PINK WALLS!" Alice chirped some more.
" Alice…LEAVE THE WALLS ALONE!" I called. The owner shuttered.
"Don't worry…I wont let her touch much." I said signing the rental agreement. Alice sprinted past us. She ran out to the car and carried in the first coffee table. The two of us went out to help her.
" I want the bed over in the back right hand corner of the room!" Alice called as me and the guy carried Alice's king sized bed up the stairs. I was going to kill her if I got a hurnier. I mean she was having me carry a like 2,000 pound bed up the stairs with only a very flabby man on the other side. In fact he looked like he was going to have a heart attack
"Common guys times a wasting…why are you acting like slow pokes!" She said skipping up the stairs.
"Alice how do you think my dad's going to feel when he finds out you made me lift a bed up the stairs?" I asked pissed
"Uncle Charlie/…Smunkle Farlie…he doesn't have to know!" Alice exclaimed. We then headed down the stairs to pick up her bureau.
"You know I just had this vision…you wearing a dark blue stewardess like blazer with a matching skirt…fitted waist…I gotta make that!" Alice babbled as me and the guy carried her bureau.
The next morning we went to work. As soon as we entered the place Alice took off in the direction of the photo shoot area and I went to the editing part. About a half hour later Alice snuck in.
"That doesn't look good there…I would do that over here…see all the colors go!" Alice said positioning pictures from over my shoulder. It was getting really annoying to the point that when my aunt and uncle had seen the original work they actually liked it better. After that they actually barred her from the editing room but she still found ways in.
"Um didn't your parents tell you never to come in here ever again…that you would be fired and they didn't care that you were their daughter." I said looking up at her.
"what they don't know don't hurt them…I know you wont say anything!" Alice said.
"Yeah but they did see my original work on this issue ( my aunt had come to visit me about five minutes before bringing the only thing she knew how to cook…sausage and eggs…very like my father.) and they have cameras…they will be here with in a minute." as I said this the door opened. My Aunt Charlie came running in. I guess my grandparents weren't really creative if they named both twins Charlie. My Aunt Charlie was a dead ringer for my dad which meant she looked like my clone. In fact for the first 18 years of my life my name was Charlie Swan III…my grandfather was also named Charlie. The three Charlie's in the effort to keep the family name going snuck into the nursery to change my name from Isabella Marie Swan to Charlie Charles Swan III. I know creepy right. Alice too suffered the curse of being called Charlie Anthony Brandon. She didn't look like a Swan at all though. She was 100% Brandon…dark haired, short , and hazel green eyes. Should of seen my mom's face when she found out about the name. I had come home from kindergarten asking why I was being called "Charlie 4.0 and Alice was being called Charlie 5.0...Alice and I were the same age. No wonder why they divorced He told me the story that night
Flashback
Charlie's…the younger male Charlie...point of view.
I was staring at my newborn baby daughter with my sister and my father. Rene had already named the baby Isabella Marie Swan but there was still time to change that . My sister was due to give birth any day now so her maternal instincts were going into over drive. I looked at the two of them.
"This will not do…we're naming the child after us!" The three of us declared.
"Charlie is a very unique name among girls…I was the only one I knew named Charlie!" My sister Charlie said.
"Besides Charlie…Charlie is a sacred family name…almost as sacred as the last name Swan." My father Charlie said with reverence in his voice.
" If we're going to do this we're going all the way…Charlie Charles Swan III…right Charlie!" My father said to the both of us.
"Absolutely not…if we're going to do this…her name is either going to be Charlie Marie or Charlie Anthony…I know that sounds masculine but you can call it Annie!" My sister said.
"The only thing we'll be calling it is Charlie!" my father and I roared together. Just then my brother in law (Charlie was my only sibling.) Andrew walked by. He threw weird looks at us. He was probably pissed that Andrew Brandon II was voted down for a boy…Charlie was hell bent on Charlie for both boy and girl. Charlie turned around and sounding like her future child roared " YOU SAY ONE WORD ABOUT THIS TO RENE AND YOU CAN KISS YOUR ARMANI CLAD ASS GOODBYE!" as my father and I picked the lock to the nursery…thank god Charlie sr. was in the security business. Considering I was Chief of Police for Forks, Washington the apple didn't fall too far from the tree there.
End of flashback
Considering it was five years after the fact when my mom found out we had to wait till I was 18 to change it. When I did…I changed it to the name she called me over my father's suggestion of Carlie…it was too much like Charlie for my liking. The only ones with a good taste in names in our family was my mother and Alice's father who picked out the name "Alice". He wanted always wanted to name his daughter after "Alice in wonderland"
"ALICE BRANDON…HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU… LEAVE YOUR COUSIN CHARLIE…I MEAN BELLA ALONE!" She hadn't gotten over the fact that Alice and I changed our named…and that happened like seven years ago.
"its been seven years now and you still haven't gotten over the fact that WE CHANGED OUR NAMES…the only reason your not calling me "Charlie" is because dad told you to stop!" Alice snarled as she left the room
" Good she's gone…you can go back to work in peace now!" My aunt said leaving. As she reached the door her head looked left and right . Probably making sure that Alice was not trying to sneak back inside the room.
"God she's 25 years old and I'm still looking out for her…ughh she's driving me up a wall!" I could hear my aunt shaking her head as she left.
Alice didn't come back for the rest of the day.