Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. That all goes to Stephanie Meyer.

Chapter 2

I woke early morning to the song "Friends are Friends Forever" by Michael W. Smith. I turned over in bed and grabbed my phone that was sitting on my nightstand next to my bed.

"Daphne, do you have any idea how early it is?" I answered with a groggy voice filled with sleep as I checked the clock next to my bed.

"Bella! It's seven in the morning. Why aren't you up and at work?" Daphne asked.

Daphne and I were best friends and classmates in college. She was the Yin to my Yang back then. She's the one who took me out to clubs and parties to make me feel better about myself during the worst time of my life when I first arrived in California. After college she moved to Seattle when she got a job offer from "Seattle International Publishing House".

"I took the day off. There's nothing to do at the office that I can't get done at home anyways." I said.

"Well, just talked to the executive editor and he just informed me that his partner just gave her two week notice and he is now looking for a new co-editor. I knew you were mentioning that you wanted to move back to the Washington area to be closer to your dad, so I may have mentioned you to him." This news surprised me.

It's been four years since the day I left that small town of Forks and that life behind. I moved to California and attended UCLA to major in English for my degree. I doubled my credits and was able to graduate in 3 years. I was able to obtain an editor job for a major publishing company and worked my way up the ladder. The only regret I have is staying away from home and away from my dad.

"Really? What did he say?" I asked excitedly.

"He told me to have you fax in your resume so he could take a look at it," she answered.

"Oh my gosh! Thank you so much!" I squealed with excitement.

She gave me his fax and e-mail information and I immediately sent him my resume.

After hanging up with her I went to take a shower and really thought about moving to Seattle. I was tired of California and really wanted to be closer to my dad again. Even though Seattle was three hours away from Forks, it was still better than living two states away. The only problem was I'd be living to close to the reason why I left Washington in the first place. It'd be living to close to him.

I allowed myself to think about him without realizing it. I never allowed myself to give one thought towards him since the day I moved. The only reason why I did not return home during the holidays or summer was because his family lived there still. The risk of running into one of them would be too great in a small town like Forks. I could not even allow myself to see, let alone talk to one of the Cullens. In return I lost one of my best friends. His sister Alice.

Alice was a short, energetic, pixie-like girl who was as sweet as they come. But she had a mean streak to her so you never wanted to piss her off. She and I became fast friends when I moved to Forks from Phoenix my junior year. We both had a few classes together and she introduced me to her brothers, Emmett and Edward, and their friends, Rosalie and Jasper Hale. Rosalie and Jasper were twins. Jasper was Alice's boyfriend and Rosalie was Emmett's girlfriend. Edward and I immediately started have feelings for one another and eventually started dating. Every time we touched it was like a spark ignited between us. The electricity was so thick that we were helpless in our feelings towards one another. I fell in love hard and fast with him. I guess when you play with fire, you get burned.

Because of that reason I decided to stay away from Forks. I always exchanged gifts with Charlie by mail and well wishes by phone. He would spend his holidays down on the reservation with Billy, Jacob, Sue, Seth, and Leah. And I would travel to Florida to see my mom Renee and her husband Phil.

After my shower I grabbed the manuscript I've been reading and picked up where I left off. The story was quite good, but I couldn't help the pang of jealousy that surged through me when the main characters discovered they were hopelessly in love.

Seriously Bella. Your getting jealous of fictional characters?

I was only reading for about an hour when my phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

"Isabella Swan?" A male voice answered.

"This is she," I answered

"Hi, my name is Riley Goodman from "Seattle Publishing". I received your resume today and talked to Daphne about you and I must say I liked what I read and heard. I would like to know if you could start next week. I would like to train you before my partner leaves."

"Oh Mr. Goodman! Of course I'd love to start next week," I replied.

"Please call me Riley, Mr. Goodman was my father. I look forward to meeting you. See you Monday at 7am sharp?"

"Monday at 7 would be perfect."

"Great, you know where the office is?" he asks.

"Yes, sir," I replied.

"Great, have a wonderful week."

"You too."

After I hung up the phone with him I called Daphne and told her the good news. She said we were going out to celebrate when I get to Seattle by going to a hot new club and getting tipsy. I had no problems with that.

I immediately started looking for a place to live and called my dad with the great news. Apparently Jacob was there and he offered to come and help me pack and move. I couldn't turn him down with the mood I was in. I also called into my work and let them know I was quitting and moving back to Washington. The only request they had was for me to finish the manuscript I was reading and they wished me luck.