Disclaimer: The characters and the plot aren't mine. But the idea is. I'm not going to repeat this Disclaimer for the rest of the Chapter so read carefully before you sue me.
Chapter 1: Lover Shop
The clock on the wall rang. It was a minute after eight in the morning, a slender, pale-skinned girl with long, straight, chocolate hair bouncing behind her as she ran around the apartment she was living with her parents. Her name was Isabella Swan but she preferred to be called Bella. By the looks of the space they were renting, with the bags, things and wrappers scattered on the floor, her parents were surely out of town.
"Crap, I have to hurry!" She exclaimed running off to the veranda to get the clothes from the clothesline.
She accidentally stepped on the water bottle that was lying on the floor and fell flat on her face. She immediately stood up and got a handkerchief from the clothesline, taking all the other clothes off in the process.
Because of speeding up, she wasn't able to notice that she had flailed her bra to the apartment beside theirs. "I wish mom and dad would come home. I can't stand all this mess anymore." She frowned and put all the clothes on the sofa. She picked up her black Chuck Taylor all star converse snickers that matched her large blue tee and faded jeans. She quickly went out of the door but before she locked the door, a man who stood about six feet tall, with toned and muscular body which was obvious with the fitted white sando shirt and shorts holding her pink frilly bra. He held it out in front of her face and her face reddened in embarrassment.
"What the hell, Jake? Don't go off getting other people's undergarments." She frowned and pulled her bra away from his grasp.
"I have no interest of seeing your undergarments, titless."
After Jacob said that, Bella smacked her purse on his face. He fell forward, holding the back of his head.
"Don't call me titless again or else, childhood friends or not, I'm going to kill you." She warned and took off.
Emmett, who lives in the third apartment beside them, opened the door and saw Jacob on the floor.
"Whoa. Bella's early today. Hey Jake, no sleeping at the hallways."
"Do I really look like I'm sleeping to you?" He groaned.
Bella went out of the building, inhaling as much air as she could. As Bella walked towards her red, antique truck, she saw Mike Newton walking towards the bus stop.
"Hey Isabella, good morning." He greeted her and smiled.
She gasped and quickly blushed. Mike had been her crush since she transferred in Forks High. He's been a stupid piece of junk but she just ignored it. He's been popular after all, with all his friends who looked like junk, too.
"Just call me Bella."
Her heart was beating faster. She decided to tell him about her feelings. Was it a good idea? There's no backing out anyway. She had sent him a message yesterday, telling him something important she needed to say.
"Oh.. You sent me a message yesterday. What is it?"
Bella grabbed all of her courage. "Victory or defeat. I like you. Please go out with me."
There was no space to think for Mike.
"Sorry. There's already a girl I like."
Those words slapped to her face. It was her nth time she was rejected. Wasn't she beautiful or smart enough?
The pain in her chest was still there until she went back to her truck and settled inside it. She was still determined to go to school. She can't just skip school just because she was rejected… Again. She arrived in school a few minutes later, waddling towards her classroom, and slumping on her seat. Her best friend, Jessica, who sat in front of her, turned and looked at her.
"This sucks, Jess. I can't remember how many times I've been rejected."
"Aw, Bella. It's going to be fine. I'm sure you don't deserve him." Jess said and retrieved her mirror inside her bag. She applied a little amount of gloss on her lips.
"If only I'm as pretty as you are." Bella sighed.
Not that she cared about her physical appearance. Bella IS pretty, if only she would dress up and try to look more like her age. She slumped further on her desk, much depressed on having Mike Newton reject her.
"But you are pretty, Bella." Jess said with fake enthusiasm which Bella ignored. "From this angle, you looked mysterious."
"Mystery doesn't come to a Princess of Unrequited Love." Jake muttered, who just came in the classroom and passing around Jessica and Bella's tables.
Bella stood up and pinched his ear. "What the fuck did you say, Jacob? Don't start me with those crap." She punched him on his stomach.
"Agh! Don't blame me for your rejections, titless."
The bell rang and they went back to their proper seats. Time passed and classes were already dismissed. Bella went to the parking lot and climbed in her truck. She put her things on the passenger's seat and dropped her head on the steering wheel, mumbling 'Stupid' to herself. Memories of her past rejections came rushing back to her. She put her hands on her ears, trying to push everything away when she suddenly heard a strange ringing sound.
"Ring ding dong."
She looked around, looking for signs of people getting their phones but everyone was busy to take notice of the strange ringing sound. Sighing, she opened the door of the truck and climbed down. She followed where the ringing came from. Finally, she saw the pink phone lying on the ground.
"There it is. But what's with the stupid ring tone?"
She picked it up and answered the call. "Hello?"
"I am so glad. I was really worried I lost my phone." The man answered. He was indeed happy that someone had picked his phone. "Oh, sorry for blabbing. Can we meet somewhere so I could give my thanks?"
"Okay. Where should we meet?"
"There's a café shop near the park. Can we meet there?"
"Sure. I'm in my uniform, so you'll know who I am."
With that, she hung up. She immediately climbed back to her truck and started the engine. She went as fast as her truck would allow towards the café. She parked and went inside the café.
"He's voice is young. Maybe he's a college student or something."
A man in a strange outfit of all black leather, waved to her.
"Hey, over here." He grinned.
He had blonde hair, and his skin was just as paler than hers. She sat down in front of him and put his phone on the table.
"Um, your cell." She pushed the phone toward him. The guy grabbed it.
"Thank you. Can I get you something as a reward for giving my phone back?" He said and waved to the waitress for the menu.
Meanwhile, Bella couldn't hold her curiosity. "Are you an actor?"
"No, absolutely not." He laughed. "I'm like a salesman. Can't you tell?"
Bella sweat dropped. Nobody could tell with the way he dresses.
"I know. As a thanks, I'll offer you my services." He grinned from ear-to-ear. He was handsome when he smiles.
"Sorry but I'm not interested."
"I'll make you lose pounds, or gain weight." He offered, getting a thick paper from his bag. He looked over his long list of products.
"He is persistent. Fine. Give me a boyfriend. What I want most today is a boyfriend." She said and stood up, frustrated. All she wanted was for this guy to stop offering her nonsense products which aren't even effective.
The man smirked and brought a card from his pocket.
"You should have told me sooner."
He stood up and gave her the card. "Here's my card. Try going to the addresses from this card but this should be a secret." He waved and pushed the door open.
"I'll be in touch with you, Bella."
Bella looked at the card. "Address? What the hell, how did he know my name?"
She got out of the café and tried to follow the man but when she went outside, he was gone.
"Was that for real?"
She decided to go home and went back to where she parked her truck. A few hours later, she started making her homework inside the apartment. She came across the card and read it again.
"Carlisle Cullen. What was that?" She tossed the card and went through her homework. She thought it was stupid to trust a stranger.
Her doorbell rang and somebody turned the knob of her door. She saw Jake.
"Hey Jake." She said and stood up.
"Whoa, Bella. What kind of place is this?" He asked, kicking some of the wrappers lying on the carpet. He sighed and tried cleaning up.
"What are you doing?" Bella asked, her brow raised.
"Cleaning."
She frowned and rolled her eyes. "Suit yourself."
She continued making her homework and a few minutes later, her whole apartment was cleaned up, a nice dinner waiting on the kitchen table. And Jake already went out of the apartment. She smiled at his accomplishment.
"Thanks Jake." She grinned to herself.
She grabbed the card on her computer table. "Maybe it wouldn't hurt to try." She started the computer and while it was processing, she grabbed herself some dinner.
After finishing her dinner, she decided to keep the apartment clean. She just couldn't rely on Jake always on cleaning up her apartment. So she washed and dried the dishes. When she was finished, she went back to the computer, opened the net and typed the address written on the card. A few moments later, a program appeared on her monitor. She sat down in front of it, sipping on her orange juice.
"Lover shop?"
She moved her mouse and clicked the enter button on the screen. She read the contents of the page.
"Just completed construction. The goal of this site is to furnish you with your ideal lover, who will exist for your sake… A nearly perfect lover that will live according to your preferred personality traits, appearances, etc."
She stared at the screen, comprehending what she just read. She was thinking maybe these were sex dolls or some figures which were not registered by the law. She continued reading.
"The presently completed model is 'Nightly Series 01' Huh? What is a Nightly Series?" She clicked again and what she saw made her heart bat halt.
There was a picture of a guy with perfect and angular facial features. He has high cheekbones, a straight nose and full red lips. His hair was messy with the shade of bronze. His eyes, which were looking back at her, were emerald green. She could easily get lost on those eyes.
She blushed. "What a hottie." She noticed the small window at the bottom of the screen. "Act now, three days free trial." She read.
She gladly thought of the things which would happen after she accepted the deal so she didn't have any second thoughts upon registering herself. She was just curious.
The next day after school, she thought the whole thing was absurd. Maybe she was just going over her depression that's why she thought of such things. She laughed by herself and climbed the stairs to her apartment. That's when she saw a very large package with two unusual men, carrying it. The two men turned and looked at her.
"Room 402, Isabella Marie Swan?"
"Um, yes?" She stuttered. Why did these guys have to look like gangsters anyway.
The man with tame dark hair gave her the papers.
"Sign please."
She quickly signed it, curiosity getting the best of her. The two men pushed the package inside her apartment when she had opened the door. After assuring the package was inside, they went off and Bella closed the door.
"Wow, I ordered last night and here it was." She inspected the box and decided that she should open it.
She ripped the package and wondered why it was secured so tightly. She forgot that the package was standing up so when she pulled the last straw, something fell on top of her.
A naked man, similar to the guy she found on the site last night, was on top of her. She screamed and tried to get away as fast as she could, her face red. Her heart was beating fast because of shock and amusement. She tried to even out her breathing but failed miserably.
She crawled towards the naked guy. "Uh, mister, excuse me."
She held his wrist but he was too cold.
"What the fuck. A dead man on my apartment?" She cried. She was in the verge of fainting but decided against it. "I need help, Jake. Jake! Or Emmett, or Alice."
She scurried off the floor when her phone rang. She literally jumped and took her phone.
"Hey Bella. It's Carlisle. Thank you for placing an order on the Lover Shop." The voice greeted her.
"What is this? It's… it's a corpse." She stuttered to the phone.
"What are you talking about? Weird. And he's not a corpse. I'll call after three days."
"Wait, wait!" She screamed to the phone but he already hung up on her.
She crawled towards the package and began looking for something. "manual, I know there's a manual somewhere here."
Finally, she found the manual under the pile of ripped tapes and papers. She flipped around the pages.
"Let's see.. Is it possible to get pregnant? The hell, that's not it. Oh, here. How to set up."
She stared at the manual, reading all of the process she had to go through just to open the freaking doll.
"First, let's try to get the body started. There is a sensor on the body's lips, which will read the temperature of the customer's lips and it will recognize the customer as it's lover."
She moved her face closer to him, her blush turning another shade of red. She has to kiss the doll. Her heart went on a fast pace.
"Here goes nothing." She closed her eyes and kissed him straight on his lips.
The instant their lips met, she felt another thumping. She sat up and saw the hand move. Then his eyes, the emerald pool staring back at her. There was silence as the doll sat up and stared at her.
"N-No way." She gasped in surprise.
The doll smiled, his eyes smiling along with his lips. "Hello, girlfriend." And he leaned and kissed her again.
