A/N: Good morning! Loved hearing from you guys. Thanks so much for your wonderful thoughts. :)
So, a lot of you were taken back to the eighties by those Christmas songs, huh? What can I say? I'm a child of the eighties too. In a way, Bella's description of her mom is sort of story of my life, lol. And Bella is a bit of my eldest daughter, who rues the day her father and I moved out of our cramped, one-bedroom in NYC for the spacious wilds of Central New Jersey. Although, Bella here is a bit older than my baby.
My sweet Ipsita Chaudhuri took pity on my sad, little, internet pic banner and made me a GORGEOUS one instead! Thanks so much, love. 3
Anyway, let's continue, shall we?
Most characters belong to S. Meyer. The rest of the story is mine.
After Christmas – The First Post-Christmas: Chapter 2
A series of strange and confusing dreams kept me tossing and turning all night. Afterward, by the time the cell phone's vibration alerted me to a new text, I couldn't remember a single one. Reaching up blindly, I swiped half a dozen items on my nightstand to the floor before finally locating the phone. Then, with a racing heart, I checked the text.
Good morning, Bella. Are you awake? No, you're probably not, but I just cleared Customs. I know it's really early, but may I call you?
The time right above the message read Five-oh-nine a.m. Throwing my head back against the pillow, I drew in a deep breath and closed my eyes, exhaling through my options.
I could ignore the text, pretend I slept right through it, and he'd never know. In a couple of hours, this man with whom I'd only spent a few hours would board his flight to Kathmandu, Nepal, halfway across the damn world, and begin his busy, demanding, four-year-long project. In a couple of weeks, I'd begin my final semester as an undergrad – a demanding and time-consuming project in and of itself.
Reopening my eyes, I reread the text. The tiny numbers on the right-hand corner indicated three minutes since he'd sent it. How long would he actually wait and wonder if I was going to reply?
With another deep breath, I hit the 'E' at the top of the screen, and then…'Call.'
"Jersey Girl," he breathed. I could hear the relieved smile in his voice, and I felt my heart relax as well.
"What did I tell you about calling me that?"
His responding chuckle was deeply amused. "I love thinking of you as my Jersey Girl. You sound deliciously sleepy, by the way. I'm almost sorry I woke you."
I smiled. "It's okay. I don't really have much planned for today except some prep reading for next semester." Yawning, I stretched my free arm over my head, the yawn still tinging my voice. "I can easily do that in bed."
"That sounds amazing," he said. "And warm."
I snorted. "How were check-in and Customs?"
"Annoyingly slow, but considering I wasn't subjected to a pat down or a cavity search, I'd call them a success."
I laughed.
"And my flight isn't delayed, which is kind of surprising considering yesterday's snow. I actually hoped it would've been delayed," he chuckled, "by a full day or so."
"Yeah, I thought about that too," I confessed quietly. "So, what time does this inconveniently timely flight to Kathmandu leave?"
"A couple of hours from now. Why are you speaking so low?"
"One bedroom, remember? Alice sleeps in the same room. We have twin beds."
"Oh, okay," he whispered.
"It doesn't mean you have to whisper," I snickered. "Besides, she's a pretty heavy sleeper. As long as I don't start screaming in her ears, we'll be fine."
"Good. Bella, I feel as if I should apologize for not telling you off the bat I was leaving. I feel as if I…trapped you or tricked you into something you weren't expecting or planning."
"You didn't trick me or trap me into anything, Edward. We went out for a bite and then walked around the city," I chuckled.
"It was a bit more than that." His voice was low, yet rough and intense. "I think you're trying to downplay things again."
I swallowed thickly. "Yes, it was…more," I admitted. "But neither one of us expected it; at least, we didn't expect it to be as much as…"
He must've sensed my difficulty finishing. "Don't be afraid to say it. It was huge for me too, Bella. The overnight hours haven't changed that. In fact, I spent the rest of the night replaying those few hours between us."
"Me too," I whispered with a smile.
For one long moment, we were both quiet.
"So, what do we do now?" he asked.
"We do what we agreed yesterday. We keep in touch as much as possible, as much as we're both able and willing, considering the distance, and time difference, and our mutually hectic schedules."
"Without any promises." It was a statement which sounded more like a question.
"Let's see where things go. If we're still in touch in a few months, and if we're both still interested…"
"Bella Swan, I can safely guarantee you I'll still be interested. It was only a few hours, but I've never felt this way."
I shut my eyes. "Me neither."
When neither of us could say more on that subject, he switched to another topic.
"So, tell me, Jersey Girl, because I've been wondering all night: what do Jersey Girls wear to bed? Do you wear jerseys?"
I chuckled heartily, throwing my head back against the pillow. "Tension breaker. Well, maybe actual Jersey Girls wear jerseys, but since I'm not a Jersey Girl, I don't."
"That's still not a full answer."
"You're kind of fresh, you know that?" I teased. "You fooled me with those shy glances yesterday."
He laughed. "I'm a native New Yorker. We gravitate toward the fresh side. If you were a native New Yorker, you'd know this."
"All right, all right," I laughed in return. "Native New Yorker, you want to see what I wear to bed? Hold on."
Pulling the phone away, I opened up the camera and smiling, I snapped a couple of pics. For a second, I considered filters, but then I just hit 'send' on the one I liked best.
"Give it a few seconds," I said when I returned the phone to my ear.
"Did you just send me a picture of yourself?" In the background, I heard his phone beep. "Hold on, hold on. Bella?" he said when he returned a handful of seconds later.
"Yes?"
"This is probably the sexiest picture anyone's ever sent me."
"Edward, I'm in sweats and a tank top," I chuckled.
"Yeah, but your hair…it's all wild and spilled over the pillow. And your eyes are still sleepy and relaxed. And your smile…it's so natural. Damn." He sighed deeply. "As soon as we hang up, I'm making this my phone's new background."
"Don't you dare, Edward Cullen!" I yelled.
"Bella, please! It's like freaking four in the morning!" Alice grumbled, floundering in her bed.
"Uh-oh," Edward whispered again. "Did we wake Alice?"
"Never mind her, she sleeps 'til noon anyway. Edward, just delete that picture. You said yourself I look wild and sleepy in it. I'll send you a better one when I'm wide awake."
"Do you really think wild and sleepy is a bad thing?" he asked. "Think about it."
"You know, I seriously thought you were this bashful sort of dude when I first met you yesterday."
He snorted. "I was nervous about approaching you. Had you shot me down, I would've been miserable. My eyes were on you since the moment you walked into the center, dark hair and dark eyes all covered in snow."
"You caught my eye pretty quickly as well."
"Bella, tell me something: would you have left without speaking to me?"
I smiled. "Had you not approached me, I probably would've approached you before I left and said something like, 'Thank you so much, Mr. HFH Guy, for planning and organizing this volunteer event. You're obviously very smart, thoughtful, and organized, and the way you put up those shelves and moved all that furniture around today shows you're supremely strong as well. And even on a snowy day, you're such a snappy dresser in your turtleneck, khakis, and Timberlands." I crooned it all in my best Marilyn Monroe imitation.
It took Edward about half a minute to stop laughing.
"All right, all right. Teaches me to never fish for compliments from you."
I chuckled.
"Bella, I think we just proved something monumentally important – well, a couple of things – with this phone call."
"Oh yeah?" I murmured. "What are those?"
"I think we proved that yesterday wasn't a fluke, that what started between us is real, and more importantly, that it can develop…and even thrive through something as simple as a phone call. I feel more for you now than I did last night."
Once more, he left me speechless. All I could do was take a couple of uneven breaths. And again, it was as if he could sense my difficulty.
"Imagine what we can do once we start Facetiming and skyping," he said, purposely making his tone suggestive.
"I'm afraid to imagine what you have in mind," I joked, "but…I think you might be right. I'm glad you called me, Edward."
"I'm glad you're glad. Go back to sleep now, sweet Jersey Girl, in your sweats and tank top. I'll call you again as soon as I'm able."
"Have a safe and pleasant flight, Edward."
"I don't know about pleasant, but it'll be just a bit more bearable now."
We ended the call, and for a long while after, I just stared at the ceiling.
"Are you okay, Bell?" Alice eventually asked. I'd filled her in the night before.
"I will be," I sighed.
A short while later, my phone vibrated again. When I opened the screen, I found a picture of Edward.
He was on the plane, apparently recently boarded, and he'd snapped a selfie. His hair stuck up in a few different directions, and I already knew it was due to his habit of raking a hand through it. A crooked grin lifted one corner of his mouth. It made the corners of his eyes crinkle and the green in them sparkle. He wasn't alone in the picture. His arm was around the woman seated next to him – a woman who had to be in her eighties, at least, and who looked like she might pass out from the thrill of having Edward's twenty-seven-year-old arm around her.
He'd captioned the picture:
Before pic: This sweet lady here looks happy, doesn't she? Little does she know she's about to listen to fifteen plus hours of every single detail I've learned to date of my Jersey Girl. I'll send you an 'After' pic. (Miss you already.)
A/N: Thoughts?
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'See' you guys tomorrow! (Hopefully).