Chapter 3

The next morning, there was a knock on my door just as I finished putting a load of laundry in. When I looked through the peep, I was surprised to see Angela on my doorstep. I opened the door, but didn't ask her in. "Angela, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, Ben sent me over for a few more things he left here. He gave me a list," she explained.

"From what I can tell, he took all of his things yesterday. Can I see that list, please?" I stepped on the porch, pulling the door shut behind me. She reluctantly handed me the list, and I glanced at it.

"Yeah, none of this is leaving my house, Angela. Tell Ben he can call me with any questions." I went back in, and shut the dead bolt, leaving her standing on my porch. I fumed a bit, but decided to let it go. I'd talk to Alice about it later on. I grabbed my laptop and settled in for some homework before actual work.

Alice was sitting at the front booth, rolling napkins when I got to the restaurant. "Hey, Bella. Come join me."

"I'll be right there." I went to the office, which was currently Esme's, but would be mine and Alice's in a few days, to put my purse down. I clocked in and went to help Alice. "So, you'll never guess what happened this morning," I said, grabbing a stack of the napkins to roll.

"Oooh, do tell." She leaned closer.

"Angela came over with a list of things to pick up for Ben. The best part? It was a list of things I own. "

"What?!" she screeched.

"Yep. It was a lot of the things left directly to me by our parents. "

"He's such an ass." She shook her head.

"That he is," I agreed. "It was nice to not trip over his shit this morning."

"Should we have Jasper go over and check out the house? "she offered.

"No, new locks are on all the doors, he's not getting in without breaking a window, and I would press charges. He knows that."

"Well," she began but was cut off by Esme sitting down with us. "Hi, Mom."

"Alice. Bella." She leaned in to kiss each of us on our cheeks. "What's happening, ladies? Any good gossip? "

"Well, Bella kicked Ben out this week."

Esme turned to me, cupping my chin and moving my face back and forth. "Looks like you're dealing well with this decision. And it couldn't have happened any faster as far as I'm concerned. "

"It was a difficult thing, but it had to be done, Esme. I wasn't doing him any favors. Hopefully he can mature, now that he has to stand on his own two feet," I explained.

"We'll see." She snickered. "Oh, we heard from Edward today. He'll be here on Tuesday. I know that's your usual day off, Bella, but can you come by so we can have a meeting about the changes?"

"Of course, I can. What time?"

"Let's make it ten, so before the lunch rush."

"I'll be here."

"Great. What do you think about getting a different color for the napkins?"

"Whatever you want, Mom." Alice replied.

"Not any more. This will be your decision to make. You, Edward and Bella. Although, I doubt Edward will care as much about the colors. His main focus will be on the food management and the kitchen. And, Bella, you'll have final say on everything as you'll be the money girl."

"Sheesh, that sounds like a lot of power, Esme." I laughed and cracked my knuckles.

"It is and it isn't. I'll show you. That reminds me, when can you and I sit down to start some of this turn over? Alice will be coming in an hour early for a week or so. I doubt she'll need to do that for more than a few days, as she's already been helping me out front. "

"Whenever you want. Let me know what works best for you. I could come in on Monday and Tuesday even though I won't be on the floor."

Esme steepled her fingers in thought. "Monday would be great for sure. That's usually when Carlisle and I sit down and hash out expenditures for the week. You'll both also need to think about replacements for you on the floor. You'll eventually be quite busy. Okay, time for me to go. Have a great evening." Esme grabbed our rolled napkins and dropped them at the prep stand on her way to the kitchen.

"I didn't even think about replacement help on the floor, did you?" I asked.

"No, I hadn't."

"But I like being on the floor, Alice." I pouted until she smacked my arm.

"Pouting is for children, baby girl. Here, grab those and let's finish our part." Alice nodded towards the other stack of napkins, and we both got into gear for dinner service.

The night went off without a hitch. Alice invited me to hang out with her and Jasper at their house after work. I wanted to shower first though, so I made a quick detour, changing into yoga pants and a tee and grabbing what was left of the wine.

Jasper greeted me at their door holding their 'baby', a six foot California king snake named Caius. I laughed at the name until Jasper told me it was a variation of a Greek name meaning masculine. "Hey, Sunshine, kiss the boy?" he offered, holding Caius' head up to me.

"No, thanks, I'm good. "

"Suit yourself. Ali's in the kitchen." He closed the door behind me, and I went to join Alice.

"I brought the leftovers from last night." I handed her the bottle and reached into the fridge for a beer. "I'm wined out," I explained, twisting the cap.

"Hey, so Jacob asked about you at work, again." She nudged me.

"Why? Haven't I made it obvious that I'm not interested?" I sighed and headed to their den to watch the game with Jasper.

"You have but really what's the harm? Allow him the date and maybe a good time. No one's saying you should marry him." She sat on the couch next to Jasper.

I cuddled on the love seat. "Are you forgetting his lack of maturity level? I mean, come on already. He's your age but acts as if he's still a teenager. He annoys me. Plus, I don't really want to date someone I work with. That could be all kinds of trouble."

"Then don't date him, just have sex." I smacked her arm. "It boils down to this; you are in dire need of dick. It's been months since you and Alec broke up, and I know you're not getting any from anywhere other than your drawer." She wagged her eyebrow.

"Can you not talk about this in front of me?" Jasper put his hands over his ears.

"As if you've never heard us talk about sex, Jasper. I have no interest in dating Jacob. None. At all. I am however open to dating other men, or just getting laid. We're done." I pulled Jasper's hands from his ears.

"I do have a guy I work with Bella, if you're interested. Just let me know," he offered.

"Thanks, I just might. Now what's the score?" I focused on the baseball game. After an hour, I got up to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow, Al." I went home and hopped into bed, exhausted.

A/N: Thanks whole-heartedly to my BETA, TwilightMomofTwo, who never seems to tire of my wrong usage of a comma.

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