I was so excited about tomorrow that I couldn't really sleep. I think that I slept maybe three hours. I got up at 7am and jumped in the shower. I dressed fast; I wanted to make breakfast for Edward and Bella before I went to the fabric store in town. At 7:30, Edward and Bella came down stairs. "What's that smell? Wait whose cooking?" I had to laugh a little because I usually didn't cook. They came around the corner to see me putting some pancakes onto a plate. "Sit, I have this. We are having pancakes, sausage, eggs and toast." I smiled at them and walked the food over to them.
They both looked at each other. I laughed and said, "I have some good news. I made some calls last night and everything will start today on the extra room down stairs." Edward's face lit up, "So it will be done when? I was going to call Jasper today. He'll be excited if it finished by the time he's here." I smiled, "I don't know for sure. The contractor will be here at nine to go through everything. He said that he could start today. It just depends on getting a crew. Edward, I'm going to make a recreation room for you." I turned to go back into the kitchen, I hard silverware hit the plates. Next thing I knew I had arms around me squeezing me tightly. "Edward, I need to breath." He laughed which shook me. "Thank you Alice, really thank you. How much you need today?" I shook my head, I still had some money in my savings and I was just getting the fabric today. "Don't know yet. I'll let you know after today. Oh and Esme is coming down too. You think you can get dad over tonight?" Edward looked at me puzzled and then he smiled. We both knew that Carlisle had a soft spot for Esme. He always had and we think that's why he moved back here in the first place.
"I'll tell him I need help with my project for my fellowship. I'm sure he will come." His green eyes twinkled at the thought of his father catching Esme. I laughed because I was thinking the same thing. I knew Esme would dress to the nine coming to the Cullen's home, even if it's the son's, in hopes of making Carlisle sweat.
"Okay, I have to head into town to the fabric store. I'll be back before the contractor gets here." I wiped down the little mess that I made on the stove. They both said their thanks as I walked out of the room. I grabbed the keys to my Porsche. When the sun hit my face, I smiled. 'Oh the top is going down today,' I thought to myself. This car was the only thing that I would let Carlisle get me. He bought it for my twenty-first birthday. It was a 911 Turbo, yellow and a soft top. I climbed in and started her up. "Okay beauty, let's go to town." She purred some more as I put the top down and back out the driveway.
I got into town and went straight to the fabric store. I couldn't lallygag around today, to much to do. I got the fabrics I needed and talked to Angela a little. She was so happy to see that Carlisle and I have come back to Forks. I smiled and nodded in agreement with everything. She had always been a sweet girl and she was friends with Bella. I told her that she needed to come over sometime and she was jumping up and down with excitement. "I'll come and let you know when I get the basement finished and you can come and check out your fabric." I winked at her, she laughed and nodded.
I left the store with a bounce in my step. I looked at me watch and saw I had ten minutes to get home before the contractors got there. I threw the bags in the back of the car and fired her up. I hit the gas and got to the house in five minutes. The contractor was already there. Oh, I like him, his early, shows good character.
"Miss Brannon?" He said as he walked to my car to open the door. "Please, call me Alice." I got out and he shut the door. I reached to shake hands with him, he smiled and took my hand in his and brought it to his lips. Oh a gentleman, huh? I smiled, "You must be Tyler. Thank you so much for coming. Let me show you where you need to go." He helped me with the bag and followed me in the house. He gasped as he walked in. I smiled because that was most peoples reaction when they walked into Edward and Bella's house. It was like walking into a magazine picture. He sat the bags down and started to take his boots off, "Oh you don't have to do that." He shook his head yes, and continued to take them off. I giggled and motioned for him to follow me.
We got to the bottom of the stairs and he smiled. I explained where I wanted each room and how I wanted it laid out. He pulled his pocket notepad and measuring tape and started to work. Measuring and asking questions. After he finished his measurement and looking at the foundation and the plumbing. "Well, Miss Brannon, I mean Alice, it doesn't look like I should have a problem with this at all. I can start today. I told my crew to be here after lunch. We should have it done by the weekend, is that soon enough for you?" I was shocked, "Really, that's great. How much we talking?" He tapped his pencil on the notepad and looked at the numbers again and the room.
"I would say ten thousand, but it will probably be less. I can get the kitchen stuff cheap; I have a contact at Lowe's. Ummm....yea, I would say it will be less than ten but we will just say that for wiggle room." His eyes came back to me and trailed down my body. Typically that didn't bother me but I started to get a creepy feeling all of a sudden. I don't think he was thinking wiggle room as much as he was thinking about my hips wiggling.
"Well then Tyler I'll see you later today then," I asked as I made my way to the stairs. He smiled and nodded his head yes as he climbed the stairs ahead of me. I was not going to let him follow me up the stairs. He left the house and I watched him get into his truck and left. Don't get me wrong, Tyler was good looking but just not my type. I run into the kitchen to grab the cordless. I wanted to let Edward know that the room would be ready by this weekend and how much everything would be.
I got Edward's voicemail, damn it I said under my breathe. "Hey Eddie. I wanted to let you know the contractor will start today after lunch. He said that it will be done by this weekend. Looks like ten thousand for the build. Esme will be here around 5pm to look at the layout. Make sure Carlisle is here by then. I'll make meatloaf for dinner. Call me if you have questions." I hung up the phone, a little out of breath since I was trying to tell him everything. The phone rang and I jumped. I wasn't expecting it to ring so fast.
"Hello?" I said with a little force in my voice. A husky southern drawl came through the phone, "Bella?" Who the hell is this and why are they calling for Bella. "Umm...NO. Alice and who is this?" With a little attitude in my voice, then I heard the click of the person hanging up. What the hell? I hung up the receiver and started to leave the kitchen when it rang again. I ran to the phone, "Hello," I said again. That southern drawl came through the phone again, "Oh, I guess I do have the right number. Is Bella or Edward there please?" Damn if that voice isn't sexy. "Ummm...no they are not. Can I take a message?" There was a sigh on the other end, "Umm...no thank you. I'll try and call their cell phones. Thanks." I wanted to keep hearing him talking but before I could say anything there was a click. Damn it, I thought. Who the hell was that? I shrugged it off and went about the plans I had today.
I was going to be looking for pool tables and furniture. I hadn't thought about Monday yet. Oh crap I need to go and get some scrubs. Oh how I hate wearing those damn things. There was no fashion to them. They were two pieces of cloth that just lay loosely around your body. BORING! The only good thing was that we were aloud to wear whatever color we wanted. Good, red looks delicious on me. I looked at some websites and found the pool table I wanted. It could be delivered on Monday just needed Edward's credit card. I'll order that when he gets home. I looked at some furniture and found the set that would be fitting but was going to wait until I let Esme see it. Then onward to find scrubs, sigh. I found a website for cheap scrubs; please, I'm not going to spend a lot of money on something that I'm not intending to stay doing. This was short term; the hospital knew that so that's why they weren't really worried about training me in everything. Just make sure I knew how to draw blood still.
After I ordered five pairs of scrubs and had them express delivery, will have them by Saturday, I realized that I was hungry. My stomach grumbled so I made my way to the kitchen. I looked at the clock on the microwave, in about half an hour the contractor and his crew will be here. I made myself a ham sandwich and got some chips when the phone rang. "Hello," I said with a gulp of water. "Hey Alice, just got your call," Edward sounded excited which made me happy. "Sounds great to me, and just to let you know I have twenty thousand ready for your disposal so you can get whatever." Well that's good to know, I thought. "Oh, Eddie some guy called here looking for Bella or you." I heard him shuffle some papers. "Oh, I bet it was Jasper. I saw he called, I'll call him and let him know the news."
Oh, my thoughts went around in my head. That sexy voice was Jasper huh? I hope that the voice matches the body because I might have just found my new fling. I laughed at myself a little and Edward said, "What?" I continued to laugh, "Oh nothing Eddie. Nothing at all, oh and by the way I found the perfect pool table. I'll show it to you when you get home." I heard him gasp, "Alice have I ever told you how much I love you. You are the sister I never had...oh wait....you are the sister I never had." He laughed and I laughed with him. "Love you too brother."
"Hey, I have to go. I have to meet up with dad here in an hour at the hospital and then we will be home. You said Esme will be there around 5pm?" "Yep," I chirped and he grunted, must be picking up his books and stuff. "Okay Alice, I'll have him there and meatloaf sounds great. I'll see you later. Oh, Bella will be home in about an hour." I said okay and said our goodbyes.
There was a knock on the door, I looked at the clock and saw that it was ten till one. Damn it, time has flown by. I walked to the front of the house and there was Tyler with five other guys. Tyler walked in with clear plastic and insisted that they lay that down so they can walk to the stairs without getting the carpet dirty. I agreed with him even though I didn't care. I was about ready to pull it up away and lay some hard flooring down. I told them that I would be in the kitchen if they needed me. They all nodded and went down the other hallway that leads to the door for the basement.
I ate while thinking about everything from work to school. I couldn't wait until I could get started on my fashion career. I would have to work for about two years and then I could start. I will probably be the oldest in the class but I didn't care. I was only twenty-three, I'll be twenty-five, and that's not old. I sighed and then started to think about that husky southern ascent that I heard earlier. God, that voice was the most sexiest thing I have ever heard. Jasper was the one that held that voice. I just hope that his body does his voice justice. I picture a tall, muscular man, dark tan, with jet black hair. "Yum, that looks good." The man's voice kicked me out of my daydreaming.
"Oh, hi Tyler. Everything okay?" He nodded and walked up to the island, on the other side of me. "I was wondering if I could join you." I blinked a couple of times. "Oh, well I'm actually done and I'm about to head to the grocery store." I said as I got up and walked over to the trash to throw the rest of my sandwich away. I felt his eyes on me and I got that cold chill again. God, I wish Eddie was here. I continued to do my routine in hopes that he would leave. He didn't, he just stood there and watched me. As I started to leave, he grabbed my arm lightly.
"So what does it take to win a girl like yours heart?" I looked into his eyes. He had these deep brown eyes that you could see his soul. He was innocent and wasn't meaning to scare me but he didn't like to be played with. "I'm sorry Tyler, I just got out of a really bad relationship and I'm not looking at dating anyone." He let go of my arm and ran that hand across his face and into his hair. I hadn't notice that his hair was a little long, enough to make it look disheveled. "Oh, yea, I know the feeling. Well if there is ever a time you want to go out or just hang out, call me. You have my number." With that he walked out the room.
I let the air out of my lungs that I didn't realize I was holding. I left the house and went to the store. I came back and put the groceries up and walked down the basement stairs. My jaw was slacked open. The frames for the walls were already up and they were working on getting the drywall up. I felt the tinge of excitement when Tyler saw me. He came over, "Well the guys want to stay until the drywall is up. That way tomorrow we can spackle and hopefully get the cabinets in." Tyler's cell phone rang, "Hold on a second. This is Tyler. Oh hey my man. Yea, I'm looking for cherry. Great! Okay great! Tomorrow? Oh, man I owe you. Yea, that sounds good. Okay, see you tomorrow." He snapped the phone shut and yelled, "Cabinets here tomorrow. We need to definitely get the walls done. John, is the plumbing good? Great, my man." He looked back at me, "Sorry about that." I smiled and waved my hand as to tell him no big deal. "Well looks like we will have this place ready for furniture by Saturday. You think that you will be ready?" I laughed, "Yes sir. My designer will be here at 5pm to check out the layout. I already have it picked out and oh wow you guys already have the sink, frig, and stove in?" He smiled as I raced down the stairs to the kitchen area. It looked nice even though they weren't instilled yet. "I'm just waiting on my conformation about the counter-top. We got black garnet to match the black stove and frig.
Tyler's cell phone rang again, "Excuse me. This is Tyler. Hey Mary, how is my favorite Lowe's contractor." He looked over at me and winked. I giggled. "Oh, that's great Mary. Awesome I'll send one of the boys over now to get it. So the measurements are on it or do I....oh great, great. Awesome I'll send Drew and John over to get it. Great. Thanks a bunch Mary." He slapped the phone shut again and began to give orders to the guys. He was very handsome when he was working. Muscular and tall, very nice to his team but yet firm. I bet his good in bed. No Alice, don't go there. "So, where was I? Oh we got the counter-top so now when the cabinets get here we can get those in place. The black with the cherry is going to look really nice and will go with any theme you put down here. Is this your new crib?" I laughed at the word crib. He was trying to play with terms. "No, my brother's friend is moving here from L.A. and he needs a place to crash. Of course, my brother is very good to his family and friends." Tyler laughed and moved with me back to the stairs.
"We will wait until you get the furniture down here before we change the stairs unless you want to leave it like this." I looked around and thought about it. "You know its okay like this. We could always change it if we need too." He smiled and I said thanks while walking up the stairs.