This is a short story based on a Filipino movie I just saw this morning. The plot captured me and made me want to do something like it. I hope you enjoy it. Don't worry. I'm still going to dedicate my time with my major stories. This is just something that I wanted to write in case I lose my nerve. Ha-ha.

~*~*~ Playing Mommy~*~*~

Isabella Swan

"I hate you!"

I stomped out of the building, filled with anger and annoyance. "I mean… what the hell were you thinking, suggesting this job?" My friend Alice purposely told me that the job interview she had set up for me was for applying as a writer in a magazine. But the truth was that it was an interview for applying as a model for the magazine.

"A model? I'm not applying to be a model," I had said to the interviewer, my face scrunching up in confusion. "I'm applying to be a writer."

Her face had shown confusion too. "Oh, but in this appointment list…" she trailed off and shook her head. "Unfortunately, we are not low on writers."

"Thanks anyway," I'd grunted at her then stormed out.

"Relax, Bella" Alice had the nerve to say that!

"I am not going to relax until I've found a job!" I screeched into my phone, earning me a few disapproving glances from people I passed.

"Well, you could've avoided this situation if you didn't quit on your last one," she pointed out, all huffy now, too.

"I cannot spend the rest of my life working at some café," I said through gritted teeth. "I have a degree in Journalism, Alice. I have to put it to use by being, guess what, a journalist!"

"Don't worry," she said, being the almighty optimist. "You'll find a job suitable for you. I gotta go. See ya later."

I sighed then hung up. I looked up at the massive skyscrapers that were so famous in Manhattan. My heels began to hurt so I decided to go to Central Park. It was the only place I go to so that I could clear my head. And I was also in need of a good dirty hotdog.

When I got to the world-famous park, I approached a hotdog stand and ordered one. I thanked the vendor then took a seat on a bench which overlooked the people enjoying the greenery. As I ate, I rifled through my folder where I kept my resume and other required papers for job interviews. I looked at my photo, a simple one of me with my wavy brown hair down. I groaned. The camera managed to capture my paleness all too well. I sighed then finished my food.

An old woman came to sit on the same bench. As she did, she smiled at me kindly. I couldn't help but smile back. She looked older than fifty but her beauty—with her gold mane of hair and lilting green eyes disproved my guess. She also looked rich with her expensive-looking fur coat and heels. When I was done with my hotdog, I stood up to throw the wrapper into a nearby trashcan. But a wind passed by and made my papers fly in a crazy spin. The old woman helped me pick them up.

"Thank you," I said after taking one last paper from her.

"You're welcome, dear," she replied. I smiled then turned away.

Esme Cullen

I watched the beautiful young woman stride away. I suddenly thought of my lawyer son, who I thought she would probably be perfect with. A nice woman like her would do him good. And his daughter would, too. My smile drooped at the thought of little Renesmee. Even though she was only five years old, she's too aware that her mother is not around. We couldn't tell her that her mother had died after she had been born.

Another wind circled and I noticed a flying piece of paper. I picked it up and realized it was a picture of the woman earlier. The woman had gone already, and I couldn't run after her. So I put it in my purse

I stood up then went to hail a cab home.

…

When I got to my son's apartment, Renesmee ran for me and gave me one of her famous cuddles. "Good afternoon, Grandmother," she said. She looked up at me, her emerald green eyes smoldering. "Will you play with me today? Daddy's still in London."

I smiled then picked her up in my arms. "What do you want to play, sweetheart?" I asked as I walked toward her pink bedroom.

"I want to play dolls with you," she grinned as I put her down on her bed. She rolled off of it then went straight toward her toys. She pulled out a doll in a maid's dress. "Can we, please?"

"How could I say no?" I laughed then approached her. I put down my bag on her bed then Renesmee's attention swerved to it. Her eyes widened and I followed the direction of her gaze. The picture of the woman had somehow slipped out of my bag and dropped to the floor.

"Who's that?" she asked as she picked it up. She grinned excitedly at me and held up the photograph. "Grandma, I have her hair!" she twirled her curly brown hair to prove her point.

"Yes, you do," I played along. "And you're pretty like her."

She looked at me with excited eyes. "Grandma, is she my mommy?"

"Actually…" I didn't know what to do. My grandchild had jumped into conclusions, and I was afraid to admit she was wrong. The woman was not her mother. She was just coincidently similar to her.

"If you have this, maybe she's coming back!" Renesmee jumped with glee, hugging the photograph to her chest.

"Renesmee," I had to tell her. But before I could, she hugged me tight.

"I'm so excited" she laughed. Then she looked up at me. "Is she really my mommy?"

I knew my son was going to get mad at me, but I just couldn't disappoint this beautiful little girl. "Yes, it's really her."

Months Later…

My son Edward finally returned from London. And what I had feared finally happened. Renesmee ran up to him and started telling him about her mother.

"You didn't tell me she was pretty, daddy!" she said when she was put down by Edward. He had looked tired before, but now he looked surprised when his daughter said those words.

"Who's pretty, honey?" he asked. I immediately bowed my head as if I was really reading the magazine I was holding. But my eyes were still on them.

"Mommy, of course," she said, tilting her head to one side. "Who else?"

"Mommy?" he echoed.

She nodded. Then she pointed at me. "Grandma has a picture of her," she explained.

"Really now," Edward looked at me with arched brows. I looked at my magazine this time.

"Mmm-hmm!" Renesmee said. She ran to her room and came back with the woman's photograph. "Here's mommy! See? I'm not making it up."

"Renesmee, this isn't…" he was about to tell the truth but I cut him off.

"Oh, hello Edward!" I stood up from my chair and approached him. He suspiciously looked at me. "Don't tell me you forgot what your wife looked like."

"May I speak to you for a minute, Mom?" he asked, ushering me to the kitchen. Renesmee was then taken to her room by her nanny. She looked at us questioningly but didn't ask.

When we were now in the kitchen, Edward exploded on me. "What is the meaning of this?!" he asked, holding up the picture. "And where the heck did you find this?"

"The woman dropped it," I answered calmly. "I picked it up and kept it instead of throwing it away. Renesmee saw it in my bag and jumped to conclusions. I couldn't tell her because I knew she would be sad."

"Her being sad about the truth could have been better than her being happy because of a lie," he argued.

I sighed. "I am sorry, but I had no choice."

"What if she wants to see this woman?" he asked. "What will we, or should I say, you do?"

"I told her she's in France," I said. This didn't calm him down.

"So, you told her another lie?" he demanded. My son was very hot-headed; I didn't know where he got it from. My late husband, Carlisle, wasn't like this.

"It was better than telling her she's coming soon," I countered. I put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him in the eye. "Edward, I know what I got myself into." He let out a breath.

"We have to tell her," he said softly. "This can't go on."

"And how will you tell her?" I asked.

"Somehow," he said vaguely. For once, my son, who practically had an elaborated answer to everything, couldn't reason out on this one.

"While you think, I'm going to take Renesmee to the toy store" I said as I walked out of the kitchen. I looked at him over my shoulder. "Unless… you want to spend time with her and you take her instead."

He nodded then walked beside me. "I think I should be the one," he said. "I'm going to be busy tomorrow anyway."

Bella Swan

"You're planning to go to graduate school??" Alice asked when I told her my decision. I was still unlucky with job-hunting, and I had to do something so that I wasn't wasting my life. I was already twenty-six and I wasn't getting any younger.

"In Harvard, so wish me luck," I said as I took a sip of my iced tea. Her mouth dropped.

"You're aiming for a top-three school?" she waved her arms in the air in incredulity. "You're really serious."

"I am serious," I said indignantly. Then I sighed. "All I have to do is pass the exam."

"But the exam was, like, a week ago," she reminded me.

"I took the exam, Alice," I said. "The results will come out a month later."

She pursed her lips. "What will you do in the meantime?" she asked.

"I'll still go job-hunting," I shrugged. "So I could wait without driving myself crazy."

She sighed then took a bite of her scone. "I hope this works out." I hoped so, too.

I looked down at my watch and saw I was running late. I was going to meet up with my cousin Emmett to buy toys for his kids. "I better go. Emmett's probably waiting for me in front of the toy store by now."

"Ooh, you're going to get it," she teased as she stood up almost at the same time I did. "Anyway, I better go, too."

"See you later," I said then walked out of the café before her. I wrapped my coat around me and made my way through the thick crowd of New Yorkers.

A few minutes later, I saw the familiar sign of the toy store. I gulped when I saw Emmett waiting for me, looking down at his watch every few seconds. He looked up when he saw me approach.

"Hey, cousin," I said. He scowled. I laughed faintly. "Sorry I'm late. I talked to Alice about something."

"We better get a move on," he said as he nudged my cheek. It was my turn to scowl. I hated it when he does that. He chuckled. "That's for making me wait."

"Sorry," I mumbled then followed him inside the store.

The place was huge so we had to tackle every aisle in order to find his kids' choice of toy. And it was hard.

He decided to find stuff for his two sons Kenneth and Andrew, while I was going to find something for his little Katie. We separated by the cash registers and I automatically made my way toward the dolls.

When I got there, I stopped short when I saw a beautiful little girl with curly brown hair—like mine—and was in a cute yellow coat and black boots. She was looking at the Cabbage Patch dolls and she suddenly turned to me when I approached the same stand. I took one box with a redhead doll inside and was about to turn away when the little girl tugged at my pant leg. I looked down and noticed she was staring at me with her wide green eyes. A smile slowly tugged at her mouth.

"Mommy?" she asked. I looked at her. Did she just call me 'mommy'?

"Renesmee, have you decided on what to…?" a smooth, velvet voice said, suddenly trailing off. I looked up and saw a very handsome man with messy bronze hair and green eyes. He was looking at me with a shocked expression. I suddenly grew self-conscious. The little girl tugged at my pant leg again.

"Daddy, it's mommy!" she squealed. Suddenly, she took my hand and dragged me toward her… daddy?

The man looked at his daughter uneasily. "Let go of her hand, Renesmee," he said in his smooth voice. "You might cut off her circulation."

"Circle nation?" she asked innocently. I grinned.

"No, it's circulation," I found myself blurting out. Both the man and the little girl looked at me. I blushed.

The girl surprised me again by hugging me. "Mommy, it's really you!" she said. Then she looked up at me. "How was France, mommy?"

"France..?" I was confused. "I never went to…" but before I could finish, the man cut me off.

"She had fun," he said for me. Then he picked the girl up. "Let's go here again some other time." and as he passed me, he whispered, "I need to talk to you."

"Huh?" I asked.

"Meet me at the entrance of Central Park" he added then turned away. The little girl, who he called Renesmee, looked at her dad.

"Why can't mommy come home with us?" I heard her ask him. But the man just patted her back and appeared to have whispered something to her because she grinned.

"Bella, there you are!" Emmett's booming voice erupted behind me. I swiftly turned around and saw he was holding his hand out. Oh. The doll.

"Uh, something just weird happened" I said when I put the doll into his shopping basket. He rolled his eyes.

"Tell me later," he said as he walked and I fell into step with him. "Right now, these toys are our priority."

"I know. I understand," I grinned. "Your kids will surely attempt a coup d'état if you don't come home with their gifts on time."

"Thank you for being aware," he joked.

…

I cancelled on Alice—it wasn't an easy feat—so that I could meet up with the man from the toy store. I wasn't sure what just happened back there, but I'm guessing the man wanted to talk to me about it. I was deeply surprised when his daughter called me her mom. I didn't know how she thought of me that way. But maybe I was going to find out.

The man was already by the entrance when I got there. He nodded curtly then ushered me to a nearby bench. "Um, may I know what this is for?" I asked, breaking the silence.

He looked at me. "I'm Edward Cullen, and I'm here to offer you something," he said straightforwardly.

"Offer what? A job?" I asked. He nodded, all businesslike.

"Uh, something like that," he admitted.

"Continue," maybe my bad luck of finding a job turned into a good one.

"As you can remember, my daughter called you her mom," he started. I nodded in understanding. "And I know why." He pulled out a photograph from the inside of his coat and handed it to me. My eyes widened. It was my resume photo.

"This is me," I said. He nodded. "How did..?"

"My mom picked it up when you two met," he explained.

"Oh, you mean the woman with gold hair?" I asked. "I remember her but I don't remember dropping the photo."

"Yes, well, it ended up in front of her," he said. "And accidentally my daughter saw it and assumed you were her mom."

"Because of my hair, probably," I mumbled.

"That isn't important" he said. This guy had some patience issues. Then he twined his fingers together. "So, getting to the offer…"

I think I got what he was saying. "You want me to pretend to be her mom?" I guessed. He nodded after hesitating for a moment.

"I'm willing to pay you," he said. He looked at me. "Five grand."

"Five grand..?" I echoed.

"Is it too low? Fine, six grand," he negotiated.

I opened my mouth but no sound came out.

"Final offer: ten grand," he said. "And it'll only be for a month or so."

I nodded. We shook hands and stood up. What did I just get myself into?