Chapter 2
Moving on from the past…
November 2004
"Thank you and have a nice evening!" I said for what felt like the millionth time as I handed my customer their change back shutting the cash register with my hip yet again. I groaned as I heard a throat clearing behind me because honestly I wasn't in the mood to deal with anybody's bullshit tonight. Much less the snobby bitches that I happened to be stuck working with tonight because Rose had the night off.
"All the sincere smiles in the world aren't going to get you a bigger tip, you know." Jessica said as she stood behind me wrapping silverware so she could leave early.
"Why don't you mind your own business and just stick to your job?" I sneered at her as I grabbed the coffee pot and headed for my tables.
I had been a waitress at Owen's the entire time I had been in Rhode Island, about 18 months or so, and was promoted to evening manager just last month. This severely pissed off several of my co-workers that had been there just as long if not longer than me, and Jasper. I had worked my ass off whereas some of the other girls used this place to pick up guys or chat with their friends or do homework or catch up with twitter and Facebook. It didn't hurt that I had transferred from my old waitressing job back in my sleepy hometown of Forks, Washington.
I had started working at 'The Diner' the minute I had turned 16 out of pure boredom, my dad hadn't put up much of a fight either because he said my boredom made him worry. He just simply said that if my grades dropped then the job would be dropped. It had been just us since I was nine weeks old when my mom had up and left one day. My dad said that she waltzed into the station one day with me in my carrier and a diaper bag saying she couldn't handle me anymore and it was his turn before setting me on the desk, turning her back on us and the town without another word.
I made my rounds lost in my thoughts allowing the night to wind down. About 15 or 20 minutes to closing I gasped in surprise as arms grabbed me from behind spinning me around in a circle. "You scared the shit out of me!" I told my boyfriend, Jasper Whitlock, of over six years as I slapped him on the arm once he sat me back on my feet. "What are you doing here?" I asked him because he was supposed to be at some art show downtown. He had become obsessed with them lately but I chalked it up to one of classes getting him interested.
"I was hoping we could go for a drive after work and talk." He said as he stepped back from me, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
I instantly got worried because this was so out of character for him. I knew things hadn't been going that great in the past few months but I wasn't willing to give up on a six year relationship just yet. "Yeah, that's fine. Don't forget that I have class in the morning so we can't be out too late." I told him as I saw Mr. and Mrs. Leary, my sweet old couple regulars, walking to the register with their check.
"Have a good night, you guys. See you next week." I called to them as they walked out of the little restaurant hand in hand a few minutes later.
"Thanks Bella, have a nice night." They called as they walked out the door with a wave.
"Where's Rosie tonight?" He asked as he hopped up onto a bar stool playing with his phone while I went about my nightly duties as the final customers finally trickled out the door.
"She's on a date tonight with Emmett, I told you that yesterday when we talked." I told him as I straightened up behind the counter to get it ready for the morning shift. "How was the art show?" I asked him when I didn't hear him tapping on his phone anymore.
"It was good, lots of interesting pieces." He said with a smile before his phone dinged again garnering his attention.
I sighed as I locked the door and flipped the outside lights off. "Tired, babe?" Jasper asked as he laid his phone down on the counter for a brief second.
I nodded as I grabbed the cleaning spray bottle and a fresh rag so I could wipe all the tables down. "Yeah, it's been a rough one with Jessica working tonight." I told him as I quickly wiped all the tables down before flipping the chairs upside down on the tables.
"I bet. You worked too much before becoming manager but your hours have only gotten more insane since that promotion. We never have any time together anymore." He complained as his phone dinged again. This was a common complaint of his but I didn't have a dead parent's settlement to live off of, my dad was the police chief of a small town who could barely make his own ends meet much less support a daughter who lived clear across the country from him and attended an Ivy League school. I had worked my ass off in high school to get a full ride scholarship to Brown so that my dad and I wouldn't have to worry about tuition and books, and I had done it all with a smile on my face. Now, I worked my ass off to make sure I had money to pay my half of the bills and some extra money to be the college student that I was. It was almost the halfway point of our sophomore year and I couldn't be more excited about my classes.
I rolled my eyes at his phone. My job and his phone was usually what sparked our arguments these days. "You know I need this job, Jazz."
He ignored my comment as his phone buzzed again so I just went about my nightly routine and within twenty minutes I was locking the door for the night. "Where are we going?" I asked him quietly as I followed him to his truck which had been a graduation present from his mom.
"I figured we could go to that park down the road from your apartment and talk before I take you home. Will that be okay?" He asked as we both hopped up into the truck shutting our doors behind us. Chivalry had never been high on Jasper's list of priorities so I had quickly thrown that childhood notion out the window when we started actually going places.
I nodded as I laid my purse on the floor before snapping my seatbelt in place. "That's fine, as long as we aren't out too late." I reminded him.
"We won't be, I promise." He said as he cranked the truck and smiled at the sound of the pipes growling.
I groaned because they were really loud, especially this late at night. "Geez, those pipes are loud."
We were at the park within ten minutes, walking to the swings so we could sit and talk. "What's up, Jazz? You're acting strange tonight." I told him as I sat down on the swing, setting a gentle rhythm.
He sighed and sat on the swing next to me. "I don't know how to do this, Bella. I just don't want to hurt you but I know it's unavoidable, especially now." He said softly and I immediately knew that he wanted to break up.
"It's okay, Jazz. I know we haven't been meshing too well the past few months." I mumbled lowly.
He sighed. "It's not just that, Bella. I have met someone else and I'm in love with her. Her name is Alice." He admitted honestly.
That shocked me because I had never pegged Jasper as a cheater. Yeah, chivalry wasn't a priority for him but I had thought deep down that he was a genuinely good guy but apparently I was wrong. "Come again?" I asked him as I stood from the swing to face him.
He hung his head in shame. "I've been seeing her for about three months now, Bella. She's threatening to leave me if I didn't come clean. She gave me the ultimatum tonight."
"Why would you do that, Jazz? HOW could you do it?" I asked him as I backed away from him in shock.
He stood up and started towards me. "I didn't mean for it to happen, Bella. I swear."
I held my hand out to stop his advances as I shook my head in indignation. "Have you been sleeping with both of us?" I asked because I honestly wanted to know because I knew for a fact that we had slept together in the past few days.
He hung his head which gave me all the answers I needed. "I didn't mean for any of it to happen." He said quietly.
"You didn't mean for it to happen? Did your DICK JUST HAPPEN TO FALL OUT OF YOUR PANTS AND INTO HERS?" I screamed at him as I felt my blood begin to boil at the thought of everything I had worked for for the past six and a half years was all so I could be cheated on and dumped.
Instead of waiting for him to answer I stormed off into the woods that led to my townhouse that I shared with my best friend, roommate, and co-worker, Rosalie. Rose, Jasper, and I had been best friends since him, his older half-brother, Edward, and their mother, Esme, had moved in just down the road from mine and Rose's houses when Jasper, Rose, and I were just eleven years old. Once Jasper and I started dating at thirteen years old he had been the dutiful boyfriend and best friend while his brother slept with anything and everything that wore a skirt. Now I was beginning to think that maybe they had more in common than I had originally thought.
I was almost to my house when my phone dinged from my back pocket. I pulled it out and groaned when I saw Edward's name and number appear on the screen. "What do you want?" I snapped into the phone.
What did you do to my brother?" He snapped back. "He just called me in a panic because you stormed off into the woods and now he can't find you."
I barked out a laugh. "What did I do? Maybe you ought to ask him what he's been doing for the past few months. Or better yet, ask him who instead of what and I'm at home now." I snapped at him before hanging up on him and stuffing my phone back in my pocket as I continued the last little bit towards home. Edward was two years older than Jasper, Rose, and I and attended Brown like Rose and I. He was finishing his senior year while Rose and I were sophomores. I was the last one of Rose, Jasper, and myself to turn 20 while Edward was 22.
"Go away, Jasper. I'm done with you." I told him when I saw him sitting on the tailgate of his truck in front of the townhouse. "Why would you call your brother?" I seethed as I walked past him towards my front door.
He hopped off the truck and started towards me. "I was worried about you. Please let me explain."
I stopped in my tracks as I turned to face him. In a deadpan voice I stopped him in his tracks. "If you relish your balls attached to your body then I would stop right where you're at. And think very hard before speaking to me or touching me in any way."
He sighed and took a deep breath. "Will you please let me explain? We have been friends most of our lives."
I laughed and shook my head. "I don't need an explanation on the finer lines of how you cheated on me. Thank you very much. Please go away so that the friendship you mentioned may be able to be saved." I told him as I stepped around walking straight to my front door without another word.
I walked inside, locked the door, and never looked back to see if he left or stayed. "Rosie!?" I called out into the apartment.
"What's up, B? Rough night at work?" she asked as she walked out of the kitchen with a pint of ice cream and a spoon.
I laughed bitterly as I flopped down into my favorite chair in the living room. "No but it was a rough night afterwards." I told her with an eye roll as she sat down indian style in the corner of our purple couch she had fought me over.
"What happened?" She asked concerned as she dug into her ice cream.
I sighed as I kicked off my shoes, curling up in my chair, hugging the pillow to my chest. "Jasper told me that he was in love with some girl named Alice who he's been seeing for the past few months." I told her summing up my after work activities.
"What?" She asked angrily as she sat forward on the couch holding the ice cream out for me. "I think you need this more than I do."
I laughed and shook my head. "Thanks but ice cream isn't going to fix this. I just need to move on with my life." I told her honestly. "I'm more pissed off that he felt like he had to cheat on me instead of just telling me he liked somebody else."
She nodded. "Sounds good to me, sissy. How can I help?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. Right now I just want to focus on work and my classes."
"Okay, the semester will be finished in a little over three weeks now and then we have winter break for a month. We can always go back home for a few weeks to get away from everything?" she asked as she took another bite of her ice cream.
"I don't know, sissy. I would love to go see Charlie but I just got that promotion at work and I need this job." I told her honestly because even though I got tired of never having any free time it provided structure and stability in my life that I wasn't willing to give up.
Rose nodded in understanding. "I know, sissy. Just think about it. We haven't been back since we moved here and Christmas is coming up. We missed last Christmas because we both had to work and didn't have any vacation time but now we do. Owen will understand, he loves us." She reminded me.
"Jasper and I were supposed to go spend a week on the beach in Florida for New Years." I said solemnly.
"Screw that little cheatin' prick, we will go back home and have a blast without him. Who needs Florida when we can have Charlie?" She said with a wiggle of her eyebrows.
I smiled and decided to just go for it. "You are right, as usual. I'll put in my vacation request tomorrow afternoon." I told her with a smile which caused her to launch at me with an excited scream.
"Rosie, he's your friend too. You don't have to blow him off just for me." I told her before we separated for the night. Jasper had tried to call her several times while we discussed our upcoming vacation back home but she had just sent him to voicemail each time.
She just shrugged. "I'll think about it."
We both put our vacation requests in the next afternoon and were immediately told to go and have fun and to enjoy our Christmas vacation back home. Owen's was a down to earth little café that had a very understanding owner as long as you pulled your weight while on the clock.
"Hey, sissy, do you care if I leave early tonight?" Rose asked as she hopped up onto the counter beside the cash register.
I looked around the dining room and smiled because it was Monday night and things were dead, as usual. "Nope. You going to Emmett's?" I asked her with a crooked smile because she and Emmett had been inseparable since they started dating just a little over a month into our first semester.
She shook her head. "Nope, we are meeting up to take the girls ice skating." She said with a giddy smile on her face. Emmett had two adorable little girls, Elizabeth or Lizzy as she preferred, who was four years old and also thirteen month old Abigail or Abby as Emmett called her. Lizzy's mother had died during child birth when she and Emmett were just sixteen years old. It was a complicated and loving story that resulted in a smart and beautiful little girl. Abby also had a complicated beginning, she was actually Emmett's sister's niece but his sister was currently serving time in a state prison. Emmett had adopted Abby just a mere five weeks after he and Rose started dating.
"Okay, get out of here but don't come bitching at me when you are broke on our trip home." I told her with a pointed glare.
She just laughed and hopped off the counter. "I won't. I'm going to ask Emmett if he and the girls want to come home with us. I want Charlie to meet them. You don't mind do you?"
I shook my head as she giggled, grabbed her purse, and high tailed it out of the café.
"Bella?" I heard from the other side of the counter, I was bent down stacking all the salt, pepper, and sugar shakers on the shelf for the night.
I groaned because I knew that voice, I had lived for that voice for over six years but now the sound of it made my blood boil. "What do you want Jasper?" I asked without raising up.
"Will you please raise up here and look at me?" He asked quietly.
"I don't think you deserve that respect anymore. Go away. I can't talk to you right now." I snapped at him as I rearranged the shakers on the shelf just so I wouldn't have to raise up.
I groaned when I heard the bar stool scrape against the tile floor indicating he was going to stay for a bit. "I'm not leaving until you talk to me, Bella. I'm not going to allow you to throw our friendship away because of my actions."
I sighed as I took a deep breath and stood up slapping my hands against the counter. "You do NOT get to ambush me while I am at WORK!" I hissed at him angrily. "You DO NOT get to tell ME what I'm allowed to do. YOU cheated on me. YOU are the one throwing away our ten year friendship NOT ME! I reserve the right to be wholly pissed off until I am ready to not be pissed off anymore, and that is NOT right now. GET OUT!" I hissed at him as I snapped my arm to the front door.
When he didn't move I leaned across the counter. "Do you like your balls? Do you want to have children one day?" I growled in his face and smiled on the inside when I saw him gulp because he knew I was serious.
"Yes." He croaked out as if in pain.
"Good, then I suggest you get the hell out of here. NOW." I snapped as I leaned back out of his face.
I smiled and did a little happy dance as he practically ran out of the café. It served his ass right because my father had raised no coward. Even though our relationship hadn't been on the best grounds in the last six months or so it gave him no right to cheat on me and hide it from me for three months.
*~*~*~*J2FT1*~*~*~*
It was seven days after the now notorious break up when Rose proposed going to get a new tattoo to mark the occasion. I readily agreed because I had quickly become addicted to the getting inked process. Garrett and Kate had been the ones to do our tattoos the day we arrived in Rhode Island and we kept coming back to them.
Rose had decided that she was just going to get the start of what would be one huge winding tattoo when it was finished. It was a trail of different sized stars that started at the base of her neck and would end wherever she wanted it to. Inside each star was a date to signify an important moment in her life. She got two that day, one signifying leaving her past behind and one to represent the big move across the country. I decided to get a beautiful pink hibiscus on the top of my shoulder surrounded by pink and black swirls. It was fairly huge, about eleven inches from side to side.
Walking into the tattoo parlor that we visited fairly frequently since moving to Rhode Island was like entering a secret forbidden paradise. Kate, the shop manager/owner sat behind the desk rubbing her very swollen stomach. "Katie, when did this happen?" Rose asked as she hopped up on the counter beside her.
"Nice to see you girls. It's been way too long, obviously. This latest little one is due just any week now. What are you girls wanting done today?" She asked as she sat back in her swivel chair. She was beautiful and had tattoo's from the base of her throat all the way to her toes. She was also married to the tattoo artist, Garrett, and the mother to their four soon to be five children. Rose and I had laughed humorously when we first learned of their kids' names. They were all named after the city they were conceived in. London. Sydney. Phoenix. Dallas.
Rose just smiled at her as she reached over rubbing her stomach gently. "We are getting something to mark the momentous occasion of this chicky being single for the first time since we were 13."
Kate looked at me big wide blue eyes. "You and Jasper done?"
I nodded as I nibbled on my lip. "Yep, today marks one week."
"Congratulations." Kate said as she handed me a stack of tattoo drawings. "Any idea what you want to mark the occasion?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "Not really. Maybe a toad going up in flames?" I told her as I began flipping through the book to look at the hand drawn pictures of Kate and Garrett's.
"Garrett should be finished soon enough. He's finishing up a huge back piece for a long time customer." She said pointing over her shoulder to the back room where Garrett did his work. "I'm assuming you just want another star added along with some swirls?" She asked nodding in Rose's direction.
Rose nodded. "Yep."
"What's the occasion this time?"
"Abby's adoption papers came in the mail the other day." She said with a smile that caused me to gasp.
I slapped her on the shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked her angrily. Rose had told me that she and Emmett had talked about her legally adopting Abby on her birthday but had said nothing else about it. The little girls birthday was just a few weeks ago.
"I was going to tell you the night dumbass found his nuts and told you cheated on you." Rose said causing a very angry boom to come from the back of the shop.
"Cheat on one of my girls? I'M GONNA GRIND HIS NUTS UP IN A BLENDER!" I smiled at Garrett's booming voice. He had quickly become a second father figure for me in this strange town we now called home. I spent most of my summer here last year when I wasn't working at Owen's just chatting with them because they were right down the street from the townhouse.
Rose shook her head at Garrett's outburst. "Not before I do but I don't think we have to worry about him coming around for a while because Bella threatened them also and then I get second dibs on them."
Garrett just shook his head as pushed the curtain aside walking out of the backroom with a familiar head of bronze colored hair behind him. I gasped as I noticed Edward was shirtless. "What's going on, Gar?" Edward asked curiously as he tugged his earbuds out of his ears.
"Edward?" I asked just to make sure I wasn't seeing things.
"Bella? Rose? What are you guys doing here?"
Ever the smartass Rose piped up before I could. "Getting tattoos, dumbasses brother. Same as you I would assume since this is a tattoo parlor."
"Nice to see you again Rosalie."
Rose just huffed tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder rolling her eyes at him. "You ready, DILF Garrett?" She asked him playfully batting her lashes at him which caused Garrett to blush and the rest of us to bust out laughing.
"Yep." He said as Rose sidled up to him while shooting daggers at Edward as he walked past her towards the counter where Kate and I was.
"Don't hurt him too bad, Rose. He's got a lot of work when Brooklyn gets here in a few weeks!" Kate called out to them as they disappeared through the curtains.
Edward sidled up next to me pulling his wallet out of his back pants pocket to pay Kate. "How are you, Bella?"
I shrugged as I got a glimpse of Edward's tattoo. I never knew he had any but it's not like we really spent any time together, and never shirtless. Our relationship since I was about fourteen had mostly consisted of spoken pleasantries, stilted conversations, or awkward silences. "I'm dealing, I guess. Have you talked to Jasper?"
I saw him toss a stack of money on the counter by Kate before winking at her. "Thanks, Katie."
"No problem, Eddie. Always a pleasure." She said with a smile as she grabbed the money and headed for the back of the small business.
Edward turned so that he was facing the front doors as he leaned back against the counter leaning on his elbows. "I've talked to him a few times this week but he's not my favorite person this week. I don't agree with the way he's done things lately, especially considering how long you guys have been friends.
I sighed and shook my head. "Yeah, but what's done is done, Edward. Nothing we do or say can change how things went down. The thing that pisses me off the most is that he was having sex with both of us the past few months."
I visibly watched Edward's reaction to that bit of news, it becoming perfectly clear that Jasper had neglected that bit of information. His jaw tightened in anger and his hands rung his t-shirt tightly in his hands as he began pacing. "That bastard. Ma's gonna kill him when she finds out."
"Edward! That's your brother." I told him as I put my hand on his bare arm. "Don't be angry at him because of me. I will be fine. I am fine." I told him gently. I had an STD and HIV test ran a few days after the incident making me feel dirty but thankfully they had come back clean.
Edward shook his head as he paced in the small foyer. "He shouldn't have done that to you. Jesus, wait until mom finds out what he did. She's gonna rip him a new asshole. She's always thought of you as a daughter and he treats you as if you are disposable? Unacceptable."
I couldn't help but watch the muscles in his arms as he twisted his shirt in his hands as he paced the small foyer. I was intrigued by his tattoo but I couldn't get a clear shot of his as he continued his back and forth trek. "Edward, stop." I told him as I stepped into his path stopping him mid-stride. "I haven't said anything to anybody other than Rose and now you. I'm assuming he hasn't either because I haven't gotten any phone calls from her or Charlie. Don't say anything, Edward, not yet. I know we haven't ever really gotten along that well but please do that for me. Don't ruin the holidays for everyone." I pleaded with him quietly as I stepped out of his way leaning against the counter once more.
"The holidays? You're worried about the holidays, Bella? How is it gonna look when he shows up with his new girlfriend and you are still here? Huh? Have you thought about that scenario?" He asked as he stalked towards me suddenly trapping me against the counter.
I sighed and shook my head. "I'm not staying here, I'm going home for Christmas. Rose and I both are." I told him quietly because that's all I could think of to say with him standing so close to me. For the first time ever I got a good look at his bright green eyes, they were sparkling with his anger.
He just quirked an eyebrow at me before smirking. "Really? Hmm….this is going to be an interesting holiday break but not in the way I was thinking."
"Don't make it any bigger than it's already gonna be, Edward. This doesn't concern you. So, please just stay out of it." I begged him quietly
I watched as his eyes narrowed before he quickly grabbed the sides of my face pulling me to him. "You don't know a damn thing, Isabella." He whispered locking eyes with me as he held my face as if I may break into a million piece right before his very eyes.
A noise from behind us broke us apart garnering my attention with a blink of an eye he was gone. Nowhere in sight.
"Where did Masen run off to? Too scared to face me?" Rose asked as she came back into the room with her shirt in place as if she hadn't had a star, swirls, and date added to her back.
I shook my head. "I don't know where he went. One second we were talking and the next he was gone." I told her as I tried to come to terms with the way Edward had looked at me and held my face so gently before we were interrupted.
"Uh huh."
"Come with me, sweetness." Garrett said as he held out an arm for me.
I just smiled as I sidled up next to him. "So Brooklyn, huh?" I teased him as we walked through the thick curtains and into his sanctuary.
He just smiled. "We went to New York City for a tattoo convention and came back with a forever present to mark the occasion."
I laughed. "Yeah, Kate doesn't seem too thrilled about it." I told him as I hopped up on the table he patted
"She's just miserable because it is so close to the end. She's excited because it happens to be another little girl that she can dress up. Poor Dallas and Phoenix are going to be outnumbered when we just levelled the playing field last year." He said shaking his head.
"I think Kate may like outnumbering you boys. Can you make a toad look cute?" I asked him curiously.
He doubled over with his laughter. "A toad? Really?"
The smirk that graced my face couldn't be helped. "Yep, a toad with flames."
"Okay, I will do my best. Can I free hand it?"
"Absolutely." I told him as I laid down on the table, tugging my yoga pants down to expose the hip that I wanted it on.
The end product was beautiful. It was a beautiful toad that was surrounded by bright orange and red flames. It was absolutely perfect to mark the end of a six year relationship. "Thanks, Garrett. Send me pics when baby Brooklyn gets here, okay?" I asked the gentle tattooed man as I rolled the waistband of my pants down so it didn't press on the fresh ink.
"Absolutely, sweetness. You tell Jasper that he is lucky to be alive after what he did to you. The fact that you are smiling and seem to be okay is all that is saving his manhood from my Katie's blender." He said as he pulled me into a hug. He had never really liked Jasper, which had been obvious from the first time I had brought him to the shop with me.