"Alice, there is only one way I will ever, and I mean ever attend this event with you," I glared at her, across her room. We were sat in her house, listening to some country music radio station- her choice, of course. Having started dating a few weeks ago, she had already begun operation 'learn-everything-about-Jasper' which of course meant that I already knew more than I had ever wanted to know about the south.
I mean, did I really need to know all of this if I wasn't dating the guy?
But this is Alice so no arguing. I had first met her when I was in college, eleven years ago. A shy reserved Arizonian girl like me going to Seattle to get some kind of further education had never imagined to meet a small ball of energy that had absolutely no filter. I mean none. Well she had informed me that I needed to sort myself out before huffing out of the coffee shop. Completely perplexed I had sat there in stunned silence before she barrelled back in with a plastic bag full of clothes. Ever since, I had not been able to choose, or even look at an item of clothing, without her permission.
Alice was the kind of friend that everyone wished for. She knew what every facial expression I made meant, when to give me space and when to give me hell. I would never ask her to change, like I know deep down she would never try to alter who I was, even if she did try to change my outer appearance a little too much for my liking!
This event, or torture, as I had come to call it, was a meeting, or rally or some other crazy political thing for her older brother.
Edward Cullen.
I say brother but he was in fact the child of Alice's Aunt Elizabeth who had him long before Alice's parents even met. I had never met him but I knew that Alice's parents, Esme and Carlisle had brought him up themselves due to something happening to his mom when he was younger.
Now, the son was returning to his birth town, which happened to be Forks, Washington. I had never heard or even seen the place until I had met Alice but now it had become our permanent home. I had set up my book store here while Alice had an internet clothing ordering service. She promised to find you the perfect item of clothing, within your budget, within two days. I didn't know how she did it, but somehow she did. But it was where he wanted to launch his campaign for the presidency, so as a town, excluding me, we were letting him.
I found it very irritating that after getting his truckload of degrees from Harvard and the law school, he was deciding to return to a town that he hadn't been to in nearly nineteen years. Alice had tried to sway my opinion on this subject, telling me he was very busy in Washington, but if Obama had time to buy his children a dog, her brother had time to come home.
Edward had been elected to the senate a while back and had been making waves for a while before he announced his wish to run for president. Having never met him meant that I only ever seen photos of him. His face was smeared across billboards up and down the country with a lopsided smirk that caused me to grimace every time I saw it. Aren't politicians supposed to be grey, balding and married? Well apparently this was the new age of politics where being young free and single was okay if you were thirty-eight years old and wanted to run a country.
"What condition would this be then?" Alice quizzed me as she rolled onto her back, looking at me upside down from her position on her massive double bed. I was reading on the floor before she had dropped the bombshell that I needed to attend. I would rather swim in my own vomit than be seen supporting him.
"You never leave my side, not even to pee," I said calmly as I turned the page. I was trying to find a suitable book of the week and I felt it was necessary to give them something more than vampires or werewolves. Maybe this brother should ban all books like this one?
"BELLA!" Alice yelled, throwing her phone at me. "Listen please. Stop daydreaming about hunky men who sparkle or grow all furry," she hissed at me.
"Hey! How did you know that?" I asked.
"What?"
"About the book's subject matter?"
"I do read you know," she huffed, coming over to fetch her phone. "Plus, that one is crap. Don't encourage the teenage population to rot their brains please. There are plenty of better ones out there."
"Well thanks for telling me! Now I've lost whatever IQ I had." I slammed the book shut and placed it on top of my coat. "And listen to what?"
She looked incredulously at me. "I said, before your mental tete-a-tete, that I would love to be your date," she smiled at me.
"Great," I replied a lot less enthusiastically. "See you tomorrow. I need to find something to feed these teenagers before nine tomorrow morning," I muttered as I got up.
Alice had, in two days, found me something to wear. It was expensive no doubt, but being best friends with the company's owner had its own benefits. I
The dress itself was blue and fell just about the knee. It had cut out panels on the side which added naughtiness to it but other than that it was classy. I also had on a pair of Esme's incredibly expensive shoes with a red sole. Alice had once tried to explain the French sounding name to me but failed, obviously. Even as an unschooled fashion expert, I had to admit that I did look mighty fine. Did I really just say that? Thank the lord that mind readers only existed in the pages of books!
I grabbed my black clutch that accompanied me to every formal event, my high school and college graduations being the only two, and threw my phone inside, along with my keys and chapstick. No one likes sore lips.
I drove my old red truck towards Alice's small house, which happened to be on her parents massive estate but had its own driveway so we would need to walk along the river to get there. Yes a river. The Cullen's were loaded. It had taken me a while to get used to it but after years of spending time here with Alice and her family, I had grown accustomed to it. Well as much as you could.
Alice was sitting outside when I turned off the thunderous engine. She was beaming and had Jasper sat beside her. I did not want to know what had brought on this good mood...
"Good morning Bella!" she yelled. "Get lost?"
"Very funny, Alice," I replied as I climbed out. "Some of us have jobs with clear hours that mean we cannot take the whole day to get ready," I pointed out as I wandered over to them.
"Lateness is not liked by employers," she shot back.
"Good that I am my own boss then!" I turned to Jasper. "Hello. How are you? Not been whipped into submission yet?" I said gesturing to his shoes.
He laughed. "She would do anything to take my trainers away from me but I don't do squeaky shoes, like ya'll," he drawled. "And I am very well thanks." I saw his knowing look towards Alice.
Time to go.
The walk took ten minutes along the gently running river. Alice had linked arms with both of us, causing me to feel like less of a third wheel. I still did though. Hell, I was always going to be the third wheel.
At the age of 29, I had still yet to have a serious boyfriend. I had been on my share of dates but every guy was just not right. Too tall. Too short. Smelt. Too much time spent in front of the mirror. I didn't have a long list of expectations like Alice just they couldn't be a jerk, which got rid of most of the male population.
We rounded the final bend and entered the big field just in front of the Cullen house. House? Who I was I kidding, it was a mansion. Eleven bedrooms. Thirteen bathrooms. A small town could live here and never get bored. The field was lit up. There was a marquee in the middle, which was obviously full of people which was causing voices to roll across the lawn towards us. The rain had let up for a few days so the grass wasn't too damp that my heels slid in.
The closer we got, the more I regretted coming. I know I was here to support the Cullen's I knew but it still was against every moral. I could feel self-hatred radiating off of my body. Alice gave my arm a squeeze and looked at me.
"I promise I'll be here all evening," she said. Jasper nodded in agreement.
Walking through the entrance, we joined the throngs of people in the tent. It was beautifully done, Esme's influence I was sure. The hatred I felt ebbed away slightly as we walked towards Alice's parents. They were beaming. The pride was irradiating off of them, causing people to turn and look.
They were quite possibly the kindest people I knew. They would give me the shirts off of their own backs before they even met me. No question was too little or too big to deserve their full attention. They would bend over backwards for Alice, which was a feat on its own as she was a hard person to please but so far, only her parents had ever succeeded.
"Sorry we are late, mom," Alice said, releasing me to kiss her mother on the cheek. "Bella had some time management issues," she glared at me.
"Well she wouldn't be Bella if she didn't," Esme responded as she took my hand and gave it a squeeze. "You look lovely, all three of you," she beamed.
Luckily, Esme took me under her wing after that. Her petite hand remained clasped in mine as she introduced me to people and charmed her heart out. The rate she was going, even I would vote for Edward!
I had managed to sip my way through a glass of champagne, which had gone straight through me, so I excused myself to go in search of a toilet. Having found the queue for the ladies and decided against waiting in line, the pressure on my bladder caused me to turn towards the house.
I let myself through the back door and wandered across the kitchen. I kept the lights out not wanting others to come in here. I couldn't do that to Esme.
Having used the toilet off of the dining room, I turned to leave when I was greeted by the smell of cigarette smoke.
Who was smoking inside Esme's beautiful home?
Following my nose, I went further inside to find the culprit. The smell brought me to the den, normally where Alice spent most of her time. I could see the crack of light under the door. This person sure had a lot of cheek.
Squaring my shoulders, I pushed the door open and stormed into the room.
"THIS IS NOT YOUR HOUSE SO PLEASE REFAIN FROM SMOKING AND EXIT THE PREMISES..." I shouted but trailed off when I saw the occupant of the beat up sofa. All the billboards had not done him justice. I had never noticed his chiselled jaw or how sexy that flop of bronze hair was.
"Excuse me miss, I hardly think you have any right to tell me what I can and can't do," he began, standing up. "I was raised in this house, so I believe that it is more mine than yours. Correct?" Edward Cullen asked mockingly.
"I think someone who actually has spent some of the past fifteen years here maybe deserves to call this place home," I replied, turning from him, with the intention of leaving him and his ego behind.
I felt a hand on my arm. "I hardly think you are at liberty to comment on that," he snorted. "We don't ask the help for opinions." I whipped my head around. He was mere inches from my face. I could feel his smoky hot breath on my flushed face.
"Help?" I hissed. "I believe it is you who now is mistaken."
"Enlighten me then."
"Mr Cullen, I believe you currently are manhandling me so please stop," I said quietly, looking pointedly down at his hand. His grip didn't change.
"What good publicity it would generate if I caught someone sneaking about my parents house at my private party to celebrate my success at becoming the Republican candidate," he mused.
"You're an arse," I spat. The corners of his mouth twitched.
"On the contrary," he replied, "I am protecting my parent's house from being burgled." I tried to pull my arm away from his grip but he tightened it.
I sighed and let it go limp. He smirked. Arse. I looked away from his face, which was only angering me. His suit fit him perfectly, clinging in every place that any good suit should, causing him to look more like a Greek God than some man who spent every waking moment in the rooms of the senate.
"So, Miss..." My face snapped up to his. His eyes were sparkling. I hate him.
"Swan. Bella Swan," I huffed. I was only going escape if I cooperated it seemed.
"Would you like to tell me why you were in here, Miss Swan?"
"I need the toilet," I said flushing.
"And that is an excuse how? Plus my knowledge of this house informs me that the nearest bathroom is two rooms away, outside the dining room."
"I followed the smoke." This was futile. He smirked and let go of my arm.
"I don't think that you pose a threat to national security," he said as he reached into his pocket and drew out a piece of paper. Lighting another cigarette, he read it over, nodded to himself. As he raised his head, I turned mine away. No matter how gorgeous he is, I cannot like him.
"Walk with me," he commanded, giving me a little push as he flicked the switch and walked out into the hallway. I rolled my eyes. Could he get any worse?
I followed him at my own pace out of the house, which meant that he was long gone by the time I closed the back door. I sighed and leaned against it.
The smell of smoke engulfed me as I felt his presence near me. I looked to see him mirroring my position on my right. He smirked at me as he took the last puff on his cigarette before putting it out with his shoe.
He leaned in. My breath hitched. "Wish me luck," he whispered into my ear, causing me to shiver. He laughed.
"I wouldn't dream of it."
I pushed myself off of the wall and off into the direction of Alice's to get my truck.
Edward Cullen can really go fuck himself.
Author's Note:
So I am giving it another go. Bare with me. It is a slow burn but we all know that we will get the result that we want.
For updates, teasers and general stuff, add me on twitter, francesb001.
Please review and tell me what you think. I would love to know. I don't know if this is the right direction or not so tell me!
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