A/N= Late, I know! I had writers block for the longest! But please, enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer= I do not own Twilight
I walked inside, and was pleased to hear nothing except the TV on in the living room. Charlie was sitting at the table drinking his morning coffee and reading the newspaper (like he did everyday since I could remember), and I waved to him. He acknowledged me with a head nod as he sipped his coffee. There were deep bags under his eyes, and he hadn't shaved in days. Of course he looked a mess, but that's how he usually looked after he left after a fight.
I continued up the stairs and past the master bedroom, where Renee was in the mirror applying makeup. I stepped in and stood beside her, she smiled and giggled a little. I tried to smile myself, but something about watching her put makeup on, didn't make me feel the same way I did when I was younger. I use to love watching her get all dressed up, but now I knew it was because she was going to go see Baseball Guy.
"Have fun at Alice's sweetie?" she asked, applying a light pink lip gloss to her lips.
"Yeah." I liked keeping it short on days she wasn't going to be home.
"Listen, I'm going to Seattle today to test an ice cream parlor, you want to come with me?"
"Uh..." I thought for a second, what if she wants me to meet Baseball Guy? Then I shook this out of my head, maybe she just wanted to spend time with me. "Sure, just let me put my stuff up."
"Okay, I'll be ready in a second." I walked out the room and threw my bag onto the bed. I quickly walked back downstairs and into the kitchen to find Charlie, and tell him my new plans. He was still sitting there, except he had long finished his coffee and was fingering through the sports section.
"Uh, Dad?" it took me a second to remember to call him dad, since I think of him as just plain old Charlie now.
"Yes Bells?" he was still eying the newspaper.
"Moms taking me to Seattle with her today, do you think you can manage dinner tonight alone?" I asked, he paused and looked up at me. I couldn't tell what expression he was showing, if any at all.
"Yeah, that's perfectly fine. I have to work later on anyways. One of the guys is sick, and I'm filling in." he kind of rushed through his words and I nodded before patting him on the shoulder and walked off. Renee was walking down the stairs with her purse on her shoulder and briefcase in hand.
"Ready?" she asked grabbing the keys off the hanger.
"Uh, yeah." I followed her into her car and we got in. Then I remembered I hadn't set her seat back.
"Jesus Bella, when you use the car, set the seat and the mirrors back to how I had it. If you can be so kind." she grumbled, readjusting everything and starting the car.
"Sorry, hey, what exactly are we doing again?" Renee was driving at an average speed on the highway. Which just happened to run straight through town. For once it wasn't raining, but that didn't mean it was sunny. I stared out the car window at the trees that surrounded us. About every mile or two there was random dirt road that led to God knows where. There was probably houses down those roads, but I wouldn't want to find out anyways. That's how people get killed.
"We're going to an ice cream shop and testing a few samples. I have to write a column about them for Sunday's paper. It's the 'budding cold treat' shop in Seattle. After wards though, we can go to the mall and eat actual food if you'd like." I thought about it for a second, I had nothing better to do today. Might as well spend some time with Renee. I shifted in my seat, to get more comfortable.
"Sure, I need a new hoodie and jeans anyways." she nodded and focused on the road ahead. I shifted one more time to get even more comfortable, seeing as we had a long drive ahead. Renee turned on the radio, and soft music filled the car's cabin. The last thing I remember was looking out the window at the huge white house on the side of the highway.
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"Bella, wake up. We're here sweetie." I awoke and looked out the window. We were at an extremely pink building. Like a disgusting flamingo pink that was close to looking like Pepto-bismol. I nearly wanted to puke, that was way too much color to be looking at when you first open your eyes. The streets were crowded, and Seattle was bustling around this place. I stretched and climbed out the car.
"What's up with the color?" I asked groggily, Renee was fumbling through her briefcase.
"The woman who owns it is a very unique girl. Fix your hair Bella, you look like you just woke up." she teased.
"I did." I smiled at her, running my fingers through my hair. We walked to the entrance, past all of the people in the line. They shouted at us, but I was semi-use to this. We reached the front, where one of the workers was. The girl was wearing a lime-green mini skirt, electric blue leggings, a tank top with the words Cauld Ice-cream on it the same color as the building. I looked around, noticing every worker had the same outfit, or a variation of it. The girl looked up and smiled at us and I curtly smiled back.
"I'm Renee Swan, the food critic that is supposed to come today, and this is my daughter Bella." Renee pulled out her badge and the girl jumped a little. She quickly walked us inside and grabbed two menus.
"Hello Miss Swan, we're excited to see you today. I'm Veronica, and I'll be your server for the day." Veronica sounded a little flustered as she sat us down beside a large window right in the sun. I was kind of confused, as to why an ice cream shop had 'servers' and 'menus', but who knew. The whole inside of the shop was actually pretty...vivid. The walls were white, but had various paint splatters on them. There were photos hung up of the most random things you could find; orange peels, tad poles, tutus, you name it, it was up there. The floor was a classic black and white checkered tile, probably the only thing normal in the room.
Apparently the Veronica girl left because my mom was studying the menu, scribbling away in her journal. I picked up my own menu and immediately grew confused. The names of the ice-creams were the most random I could think of, 'Black shoe', 'Penguin Surprise', and 'Garbage Day', just to name a few. I looked up at Renee, who was now chewing on the tip of her pen.
"Uh, mom?"
"Yes Bella?" she asked looking up at me.
"Do have any clue as to what these flavors are?" I skimmed through the menu again. I heard the bustle of people coming in, meaning the store had officially opened to the public.
"You will know in a moment, as soon as what's her face gets back here. It shouldn't take long for her to return. That's bad restaurant serving etiquette..." my mom went on ranting about the service so far, and marked off some things on her checklist.
"Have you decided on what you would like yet Miss Swan?" Veronica was standing there with a tiny notebook in her hand, waiting for Renee to answer. I saw Renee slightly roll her eyes, before recouping herself and smiling nicely at Veronica.
"Yes, I'd like to have a half scoop of every flavor, and two cups of water." Renee smiled kindly and blinked her eyes innocently. Veronica looked kind of shaken by the order, but still wrote it down.
"I'll be right back with your order Miss Swan." I felt that Veronica was trying way too hard to impress my mom by the way she kept saying 'Miss Swan'. I sat there and observed the shop. Everyone was chatting happily about how nice it was, and wanting to try every flavor. I rolled my eyes and opted to just look out the window. Renee was still scribbling away in her notebook, that was the problem when I hung out with her on weekends. She was too busy to talk. Not like we talked a lot anyways, but still.
Outside people were walking down the busy street. I saw a little girl holding her mom's hand, happily jabbering away about who knows what. I smiled, remembering when Renee and I were like that. She'd take me out shopping with her on a hot day, and I'd go on and on about random things; unicorns, my favorite color, my old teddy bear Ralph. Renee would just smile and listen, making me feel good. I missed those days, even if I was too old to hold my moms hand and jabber away about kiddie stuff.
Veronica came back with two trays filled with ice cream. "Enjoy." she smiled. Renee thanked her and handed a sheet across the table to me.
"For every one you taste rate it, and make a quick note." this was about the only fun I'd probably have today. Ice cream for lunch, any seven year old would be in heaven right now. I nodded and grabbed a spoon. By the eighth flavor, I was sick and tired of ice cream. There where twenty more to go though. Renee had her business face on as she stuck the ice cream in her mouth, and scribbled on her paper. I sighed and continued on with the tasting.
Sugar Booger, was my favorite. Out of all twenty-eight flavors, it was the best. It tasted kind of like a good birthday cake, with just a hint of salt. I'd buy it by the tub though. I would have to give the owner credit though, the flavors were nothing like any other ice cream shops. Veronica cleared our table, and about five minutes later a woman was standing near us.
She had black hair that resembled a mix of Amy Winehouse's bee hive and Katy Perry's normal girl look. She couldn't be past the age of twenty-six, and she was wearing an all white outfit. The only thing that stood out was her make up, and her extremely cute hot pink heels.
"Hello, I'm Gwendolyn and I'm the owner of Cauld Ice Cream." she smiled brightly at my mother.
"Renee Swan, nice to meet you." Renee gave her the nice business smile.
"I'm glad that you came today, if any food critic were to come, I'd rather it be the cream of the crop. Not some random bozo."
"I'm flattered, I saw this building the other week before you all were finished building it. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to come here." Renee laughed lightly with Gwendolyn.
"So, how were the flavors?"
"Very unique, most of them were actually good though. I did enjoy the names." Renee smiled kindly and looked at her watch.
"That's what I was aiming for, good taste, and a good laugh."
"Well you succeeded, I'm sorry but I have to go. I enjoyed your ice cream!" Renee stood and shook Gwendolyn's hand. I stood too, and awkwardly smiled at her. We walked slowly towards the door.
"I hope to see you both again!" Gwendolyn called waving. She was pretty cool, like I'd hang out with her if she were my age. We got into Renee's car and headed towards the mall. I'm not a mall person, but I was in dire need of some new jeans. There was an awkward silence in the car, and I couldn't figure out why. Usually Renee was pretty talkative after one of her testings. I sighed and once again, opted to stare out the window.
It was a good day, or at least for Washington. The sun was out and it was pretty warm. Everyone was outside doing something, playing baseball, shopping, running, you name it, they were doing it.
"What'd you think Bella?" Renee startled me and I actually jumped a little.
"The ice cream was pretty good."
"I did too, I think they deserve a good review. Anyways, what was it we were getting at the mall?" we were about five minutes away from the mall, and the traffic was getting a little thicker.
"Just a hoodie and a pair of jeans."
"Sounds good to me." this was about the length of majority of our conversations. I sighed again as the car kept moving and we parked at the mall. I wasn't really looking forward to shopping with Renee, because a) she didn't have the same style as Alice, and b) she often wanted me to wear extremely girly stuff. Every Christmas and birthday Renee always got me some type of pink or frilly something. I'd wear it maybe once inside the house, but other than that they still reside in the depths of my closet. We got out the car and I walked along Renee into the mall.
It was busy, like busier than ever busy. People were anywhere and everywhere you looked. Renee stopped and looked at me, and I squared my shoulders and lead the way. I walked right into Macy's seeing as they always had nice jeans, and that was about the only place Renee would buy me clothes from. The crowd thinned out inside the department store and I couldn't be happier. Crowds always made me extremely nervous.
We made our way up the escalator, and into the teen department. I walked around looking at jeans while Renee fingered around the shirts. She held up a pink button up and waved it at me.
"How about this honey? You'd look so cute in it!" she smiled at me and I rolled my eyes.
"Not what I came here for mom."
"Oh Bella, stop being so stuck-up." Renee placed the hideous shirt back on the rack and continued looking.
"Mom, I'm not being stuck-up, I'm just telling you that-" some guy's voice cut me off and I looked up.
"Renee?" there stood a tall guy, he was tall, and handsome. He had to have been in his late mid to late thirties, and he had a pretty good muscular build. Renee turned around and gasped. She then adjusted herself and walked over to him and gave him a quick awkward hug. I stopped looking at jeans and stared at them. Renee turned to me and gave me a weird smile.
"Bella, this is my friend Phil." my heart stopped, that was his name. I remember now Baseball Guy's name was Phil. And that was the last thing I remembered.
Phil? Leave me some reviews! -Chelliedeex3