A/N: It's been a few years since I've published anything on here. Thank you to all the fans who have been messaging me even when I was on hiatus for the past couple of years. I've grown a little older, a little wiser ... been through a little more. And now I'm back with a new story. I hope you will love this story. Be sure to check out my other stories if you haven't already.

It's good to be back.

Lolly

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.


Plenty More Fish in the Sea

Chapter One (1)

Coffee Date With the Girls

The peep of sunlight through my blinds is an unwelcome guest that awakes me from my alcohol-induced slumber. I try to block it out but the stubborn ray of light refuses to budge, attacking my eyes behind my eyelids. I squeeze my eyelids tightly shut and furrow my brows but the battle was futile. As I sit up and straighten myself I feel my head throb with a growing hangover. How much did I have to drink last night? Ten shots? Twelve? God, I don't even know.

I try to stop my hand from trembling as I attempt to pour coffee into the mug. Oh no. A swelling in my throat begins to grow as it hits me. The mug. I thought I had gotten rid of everything. Seeing the familiar blue mug with the caption "HIS" on it brings on the wave of emotion I had been suppressing. It has been over five months now but the memory of what happened is still constantly lingering on the surface of my mind, probably slowing driving me insane. Rosalie says it takes half the amount of time you were together to get over someone. I'm at the halfway mark and this isn't getting any easier. I'm not sure that I'll ever get over Mike. He was the first love of my life.

Things started going south about a month before it happened. I still don't completely understand what went wrong. Mike had been acting strange but I chalked it down to stress at work. There was some issue with a major client at his firm so no doubt it weighed heavily on him. It seems silly now but I had a tiny inkling at the time that he was going to propose. Now I want to cringe in shame when I think back on it.

Stupid stupid stupid. How could I have been so foolish?


"I'll have a flat white, please," chirped Alice. "Ooh, and a raspberry muffin!"

"Nothing for me, thanks," Rosalie waved away the waitress before whispering. "I'm on a new diet."

"A diet diet or a 'diet'?" Alice giggled.

"Oh, shush, Alice! Not everyone can eat the way you do and maintain that figure," I added, biting into my cookie.

"She's right, you know," Rosalie grinned as she sneakily popped one of the cookies on my plate in her mouth. "Just one, okay guys? I can't have an entire serving."

"Take as many as you want," I offered, pushing the plate towards her.

"No, no. Don't tempt me, Bella. I'm serious!"

"Are you making Emmett do this diet with you?" Alice asked.

"Yes, and we're both going strong."

Rosalie always made Emmett follow whatever new fad diet she was doing. It was hilarious imagining Emmett, a big burly beast of a man, eating three stalks of asparagus and a couple of peas for dinner. I knew for a fact that Emmett kept a secret stash of junk food somewhere in the house away from Rosalie. Rosalie would probably kill Emmett if she found it. Nevertheless, Emmett was always a good sport when it comes to Rosalie. The way he humored her was simply endearing. One glance at the way he looked at her revealed precisely how much he cared for her.

"What has Mike been up to?" Rosalie piped. "We're long overdue for a brunch double date!"

"Wow, rude!" Alice exclaimed, tapping Rosalie's arm good-naturedly. "Only kidding. I hate being the fifth wheel during your couples time."

I laughed and took a sip of my coffee before replying. "Work's been keeping him pretty busy lately but he's good."

"Are you sure? I saw him inside Tiffany's last week," Rosalie winked.

"Buying a ring?" Alice's eyes grew wide.

"Who knows? Wouldn't be surprised if he was though."

"You don't think he's going to, you know…" Alice trailed off as she peeled the wrapper from her muffin.

"Propose?" Rosalie finished her sentence. "It's just a matter of time now. Mike is absolutely crazy about you, Bella."

"Wow whee, Mr Mike Newton!" Alice tried to wolf whistle and failed miserably. We all cracked up laughing, ignoring the people next to us who were shooting us odd looks.

There is an ongoing joke in our group that I was going to be the first to get married ever since I accidentally caught the bouquet at Angela's wedding. I wasn't paying much attention. I was probably trying to figure out how they strung together the beautiful garland of peonies to the ceiling seconds before the bouquet dropped at my feet.

"I sure hope so," I smiled as I recalled the day we first met.

Mike and I had been together for a year and we were blissfully happy in love. We met at an event our mutual client was hosting. In fact, my PR agency was overseeing the event. Mike was a partner at Holts & Golding. Being huge seafood enthusiasts, we got talking over the shrimp cocktail they were catering. We found that we had so much in common and chatted for what seemed like hours. Mike almost missed his speech because we were so invested in the conversation. I was reluctant to let him go because I had never connected with someone that well and that naturally for so long. He made it back as soon as he could and we were swapping numbers.

Something that really impressed me about Mike was he didn't play games. He called me the very next day to arrange a date. Before I knew it, I was moving in with him and going with him to visit his family back in Forks and the rest is history.

"Eek! I'm so excited for you. When will it be my turn to find that special someone?" Alice sighed.

"Oh, honey," I said. "Don't worry. You are gorgeous. I'm surprised you haven't been locked down by someone yet."

"There isn't something fundamentally wrong with me, is there?"

"Of course not," Rosalie assured her. "You're just too picky."

"Am not! Okay, maybe a little. But there isn't anything wrong with having standards," Alice pouted.

I laughed. "Don't worry, your time will come."

"Why hasn't my time come yet? I'm almost twenty-five!"

"Oops, be right back," I excused myself to answer my phone that was vibrating in my bag. Rosalie and Alice nodded and continued chatting.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Bella. It's Mike," his voice was music to my ears.

"Oh hey, baby, what's up?"

"I booked dinner reservations at Biviano's for tonight."

"Aww, that sounds great!"

"I'll pick you up at seven?"

"Yes, see you, baby. I love you."

"Bye, babe."


That concludes the very first chapter. There is so much more drama to come. Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out if Mike proposes to Bella. Don't forget to review!