[Disclaimer] SM owns everything Twilight

[A/N]

I love the idea for this story, because I have a thing for relationships with a significant age difference. Don't know if others will like it too, but I guess I'll find out about that soon.

**1**

This is heaven, Bella thought as she savored another spoon full of creamy mouse au chocolate in her mouth. It was delicious. Esme, her best friend was a domestic goddess.

"Please, don't tell me how many calories this contains. It would ruin my day."

"My lips are sealed. Do you want to have more coffee?"

"Yes, I'd love some. Have you packed everything yet?"

"I'll do that tonight when Carlisle is at the hospital. My husband seems to believe that you can go on a four week trip with two pair of jeans and a button down shirt."

"You're going to have so much fun in Paris. I envy you."

"It's not really a vacation. Carlisle is attending this medical congress, I've told you about."

"Carlisle, but not you, sweetie. All you are going to do is visit lovely art galleries and eat yummy food in cute little bistros."

"That's the plan, kind of." Esme told Bella, pouring her friend another cup of coffee. She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Maybe I should better stay home though."

"Esme, we've already discussed this. It's just a few weeks. I can handle your husband's teenage brat for a month. I'm good with kids."

"Alice is difficult. The girl hates me. I know she does."

"You're her stepmother. When Charlie married Sue, I didn't give her the light of the day. I thought she was trying to take my mother's place and I couldn't have that."

"I just don't get it. The first two years when she came here after her parents' divorce everything was fine. Then suddenly she started behaving weird and told Carlisle, she'd rather have him visit her in Biloxi instead of coming here to Seattle."

"Puberty turns kids into selfish monsters. Why is she coming here now again? I think I forgot."

"Carlisle talked her into working as a volunteer in the children center downtown during the summer."

"That's nice. Look, you really don't have to worry about a thing. I'll have an eye on the kid and make sure she won't burn down your house or throw wild parties."

"You're an angel. What would I do without you?"

Bella laughed and squeezed Esme's hand. "What would I do without you? You and Carlisle helped me so much during my divorce with—"

"Don't say asshole's name. I'm glad he's gone."

"Sometimes I still miss him."

"I'm going to kick you hard when you say that again. The bastard broke your heart. He let you down when you needed him the most."

The smile on Bella's face froze. She stood up and started stacking the plates on the counter in an attempt to distract herself.

"I remember Alice from when she lived here with her mother. She was such a cute child. Her hair was all curly and she used to have these little ribbons around her little pigtails."

"I don't think eighteen year old wear pigtails these days." Esme told Bella, putting the plates into the dishwasher. "But what do I know? I'm old."

"If you're old that means I'm going to be old in three years. Just for the record, forty is the new twenty, didn't you know that?"

"Where did you read that again?"

"Some magazine, I bought to read before I go to sleep at night."

"Bella, you need to get laid. What happened to the woman from the library? She was so nice."

"Angela? We're just friends. It's better that way."

Esme nibbled her bottom lip. Maybe her friend's romance with the nerdy librarian had just been a phase? After all before that she had been married to a man for almost ten years. She didn't mind, with whom Bella would end up eventually. All she wanted was to see the brunette woman happy again. Bella deserved it after all she had been through.

"I need to leave now. If I don't finish this article I'm working on before tomorrow night, Aro will have my head."

"Your boss is a bloodsucker."

"At least he pays me well. Without that I wouldn't have been able to keep the house."

"I know and it would have ruined my life to lose you as a neighbor. I love knowing you close to me. You're my best friend."

Bella leaned forward and planted a kiss on Esme's cheek. "Thanks, sweetie, you're a darling."

Esme insisted on Bella taking the rest of the dessert with her. Back home in her house, Bella put it in the fridge. She took a bottle of apple juice out and sat down in front of her laptop.

So far she hadn't managed to finish even the first half of her article, re-typing and deleting her words over and over. Maybe a glass of wine would help to boost her creativity? No, it was too early for that, wasn't it?

She lifted the bottle with the juice to her mouth and took a sip. It was cold and sweet, simply delicious.

Bella grabbed her laptop and walked up the stairs to her bedroom, like always ignoring the closed door right next to it. She sat down in the comfy armchair in front of the window and gazed out for a moment.

Esme's garden was so much prettier that her own. She just didn't have the time or patience to plant and water every day. Of course her neighbors could afford hiring some college kids to take care of the flowers and everything. Admiring the lovely daffodils in her best friend's yard, Bella noticed a pair of pale, naked legs between them.

A smile flashed over Bella's face. Carlisle only hired the prettiest girls to work for him. It was a good thing Esme wasn't the overly jealous type. That was probably what had messed up his first marriage.

She took a last look out of the window, delighted by the direct view on a perfectly apple-shaped backside. The young woman was bending down to pluck some of the flowers. Oh yes, I'm definitely bisexual, Bella thought. Maybe she should call Angela again. Or no, better not. Angela was a lovely person, but Bella knew that Angela wasn't interested in superficial affairs. She wanted more. There was a point in Bella's life, when she had been wanting more too. That time was over though…

Later that evening when she had managed to finish her article for Aro, she noticed that she had left her scarf over at Esme's place. It was her lucky charm and she always wore it when she had to present a new project for Volturi News. She believed it made her look sophisticated.

Bella slipped into a pair of flats and quickly brushed through her hair before she rushed down the stairs. A moment later she knocked on Esme's kitchen door.

However, instead of her copper-haired friend, a delicate young woman with tousled black curls opened the door for her.

"Hi there, I'm Bella. Is Esme home?"

"She we-nt to the gro-cery sto-re, but she mu-st be ba-ck soon." The girl stuttered, taking a few steps backwards. She was barefoot, still holding the daffodils she had cut a few minutes ago between her hands.

"Those are lovely, aren't they?" Bella said when the girl walked over to the counter and placed the flowers in a crystal vase.

The girl was pretty. Her face was a bit red from the heat of the midday sun and she had perfectly shaped full lips made for kissing.

Bella could feel her heart-beat beginning to quicken a bit. Too young, she thought, way too young, but a bit of flirting wouldn't do any harm.

"Is this the first time you're working for the Cullen? I hope they pay you well for spending your summer here instead of lying around in the sun. That would be much nicer, wouldn't it?"

In this moment the door was pulled open again, and Esme walked in, carrying a basket filled with vegetables in her arm.

"Bella, what are you doing here?" she called out in surprise.

"Just forgot my scarf here. I can't present my article to Aro without it."

"Good thing, you aren't working for a fashion magazine. That ugly thing should be burned if you ask me."

"You don't get to touch my lucky charm, evil woman." Bella said, quickly grabbing the purple scarf from the kitchen table.

"Well, at least now the two of you have already met. You remember, my stepdaughter Alice, don't you Bella?"