Chapter 2
Ben was sitting in the kitchen when I got up the next morning. He'd even made a pot of coffee, likely to try and butter me up. I grabbed a mug and joined him at the breakfast bar. "Ben, I hate to do this, but I need you to move out."
"You're just like everyone else, Bella, giving up on me." Ben pouted.
"You did this to yourself, Ben. You're the one that pissed our parents off so much; they needed you to get out for a week. I realize you have some guilt about it because you were living with me when they died. It was a horrible thing, but you're not a kid any more. You're a man; you need to act like one. I've been beyond patient with you, paying your way, living in your filth and basically supporting you. I'm done. You have until the end of the week to be completely out."
"Where am I supposed to go, Bella?"
"Not my problem, Ben. All I can tell you is that I want you gone, and I don't want you back without an invitation. I've allowed you to take advantage of me since the day you got here, and I'm not doing it anymore. " I stood, taking my coffee with me and went to my room to log on to my class. It took Ben all of five minutes to slam the door behind him. I spent the next two hours working on spread sheets for my accounting class before jumping in the shower and getting ready for work.
Alice was helping herself to some coffee when I got out of the bathroom. "Did you talk to Ben?" She asked, adding sugar to her mug.
"Yes, this morning. He told me I was just like everyone else, giving up on him...yadda…yadda… guilt trip…."
"Where is he?"
"If he's smart, he's looking for a place to live. I told him he needs to be out by Friday."
"Wow! I bet that went over like a whore in church. I'll ask Jasper to change your locks on Saturday, so he can't come back in."
"Thanks, Alice. I'm ready if you are."
"I am." She placed her mug in the sink and we headed to work.
It was slow for a Wednesday evening. This was a good thing, because Carlisle allowed me to do homework if I had a chance. I was only taking two classes, but one of the instructors handed out work to do like candy on Halloween.
Ben wasn't home when Alice dropped me off, which was also a good thing. He had me stressed, and I didn't want to deal with him. Alice would be picking me up tomorrow so I could get my truck back from Sam. Sam, who happened to be Jacob's cousin, owned the auto shop, and he allowed me to make payments on any work done. It was probably an elaborate ploy to get me to date Jacob, but that wasn't happening.
"Hi, Bella," Sam greeted me outside Thursday morning as Alice drove away.
"Hi, Sam. I brought coffee. I know how much you love Starbucks versus that sludge you call coffee here." I winked and handed him the cup I got just for him.
"Thanks. Let's go in and talk about the truck." Sam opened the door and ushered me into the lobby.
Sam drank some coffee, and turned to me. "To be honest, Bella, I'm not sure how long I can keep her running for you. I can only do so much. It's harder to find parts at a reasonable price. She's a great truck, but I think you need to garage her until you can afford a complete overhaul. Once you do that, she'll be much cheaper to upkeep."
"What am I supposed to drive in the meantime, Sam? It's not like I have extra money lying around."
"I have a solution." He waggled his eyes, and I smacked his arm.
"I want to buy it from you. Rebecca has expressed interest in it. This way you can put the money I give you into a new vehicle."
"I still can't afford a car payment, Sam. You know this."
"Lucky for you, I have a used car that will cost the same as what I'm going to give you for the truck."
"I'd have to know all the specs on the car you basically are trading to me. And I'd need to think about it. I've had that truck since I was in high school."
"Don't be nostalgic, but I'll let you think about it. Let's get you back into Bessie." Sam stood, offered me his arm and yanked me up. Once I was driving again, I headed to the hardware store for new locks. A single girl can't be too careful.
The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and cleaning as much as I could around Ben's mess. I couldn't wait for him to be gone.
On Friday, Alice sent her boyfriend Jasper over to hang out with me prior to work, just in case Ben came home. His deadline to be out was today, and I wasn't sure if he was going to be an ass about leaving. By the time three rolled around, we still hadn't seen him and I needed to get to work. Jasper offered to stay, though, which I appreciated.
During the evening rush, I did get a text from Ben simply stating, At Ang's, so I had Alice check with Jasper to verify he was out. Jasper said yes, so Alice and I decided it was a celebration night and headed for wine before going to my house.
When we got there, Jasper handed me a key. "I changed the locks for you. This way Carlisle doesn't have to swing by tomorrow."
"Thanks, Jasper." I hugged him. "Wine?" I offered, showing him what Alice had picked out. He nodded, so I left them in the living room to get comfy and uncorked the wine in the kitchen.
"Hey, Bella! Did you bring home any leftovers from the restaurant?" Alice yelled.
"No, didn't you grab them?"
"No, shucks, pizza it is." I heard her on the phone as I headed in to the living room with three glasses. Once the pizza arrived, we settled in, watching movies and talking about how Edward joining us might affect us.
A/N: Thanks whole-heartedly to my BETA-extraordinaire, TwilightMomofTwo who not only hooks a sister up, give me great snark.
As usual, things in here are semi based on my RL.
And as usual: Love it? Hate it? Please review
