A/N: Here is the next chapter. This won't usually happen this way, I warn you. I never update this much in a week but I am pretty much stuck in a hotel room while my boyfriend is working on editing his novel with his bitch of an editor so there goes my fun loving vacation. If you haven't checked out my other stories please do… especially Way Back Into Love. It's something close to my heart for reasons I shall keep to myself. Also, I hope to update that one by the end of next week…. So here is chapter three… hope you enjoy!
Oh and again no beta…. Sorry for all the mistakes I know are here.
1Chapter 3
"Really?" Edward said, his voice echoing through the phone.
"Yeah, I do need my car fixed," I laughed slightly confused. "You're not going to tell me you suddenly decided to change your mind, are you?"
Rosalie sneered from across the room where she was beginning to put the naptime bedding away. I turned away from her, not wanting to heard what she had to say on the matter. I was pretty sure Edward had been able to hear her high pitched threat through the phone moments ago, although he sounded completely unaffected by it. So I turned my back to her and stepped into the student bathroom closing the door slightly. The smell of Lysol strong in my lungs as I breathed.
"No, of course not," Edward chuckled with a hitch in his voice. I wished I could understand exactly what that meant or at least see his gorgeous facial expressions. To be honest I wished I could see him again, what was I thinking! I am with Mike, I reminded myself.
"Okay, glad to hear," I echoed. Then the silence, I was not exactly sure what to say or even how he would want to deal with this whole situation. I had never been in this type of situation before and I was pretty sure he hadn't. His silence proof of that fact. "So," I said finally breaking the silence.
"Yeah," he breathed. "Um, why don't you bring it to your mechanic and have him give me a call once he gets the estimate. You have my number don't you?"
My heart fell, I had been hoping that I would get to see him again. Then a thought struck me, of course he didn't want to see me again. He had a daughter, which means that his daughter had a mother, which means he was married! How could I be so stupid to think that he would be remotely thinking about me in anyway besides the fact that he felt guilt for what had happened. There was not no logical explanation. I tried to get my body to relax, uncoil my stomach that had suddenly clenched with nervousness.
"That's fine. I'll bring it to my mechanic at LaPush Body Shop. The owners name is Jake and he always gives me a good deal."
"Sounds like a plan," he added. "Alright then, I guess I'll hear from you when this whole mess is over. I'm sorry about that…"
"Don't worry, as long as my car gets fixed no harm or fowl," I paused for a moment. Even though I had realized he probably had a wife at him I didn't want to hang up just yet. I wanted to hear that sexy velvety voice that had made me relax and feel calm once more. "Um, how's your daughter? She is okay, right?"
"Hailey, oh yeah she's fine. Actually in the pool at the moment, just jumped off the diving board. Believe me that girl is like a rock, takes a lot to get to her," Edward said, yet I couldn't deny the pang of sadness that hung over his words. I found it strangely odd that a stranger would be giving me so much information about his daughter, about his life yet in some odd way it felt completely normal. Like somehow we had known each other longer than the half hour we had been standing outside my now broken down car. Most of which was spent gawking, no real conversation between us. I had no clue who this guy on the other end of the phone was or why he was being so open with me.
I sighed, resigned to let the whole subject go, let the situation just fade way. What would I have left to contact him about once my car was fixed? The likelihood of seeing him again was close to zero. Besides, I breathed again, he has a wife.
"Okay, well I am glad to hear that. I will have Jake get in contact with you once I get the details or sorted out and thanks again. I really appreciate this."
He chuckled on the other end of the line and sighed. "Yeah, well it was all my fault and your face last night kinda made me feel worse." I grimaced. "Alright then," he breathed still lingering on the line.
"Yeah," I answered dumbly. "I have to go. I'm at work."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead get back to your things," he paused for a long moment. "I look forward to hearing from you again. You know about the whole car think," he sputtered at the end. It was my turn to laughed and I did. He sounded almost nervous, but figured it was my own heart beating in that way so I ignored it.
"Alright," I breathed. "Well, thank again. Bye." I clicked the phone closed before I had a chance to linger any longer. The Lysol was burning my nose but I needed to steady myself. Besides all that I couldn't quite understand why I was feeling this overwhelming sense of let, disappointment. What had I expect anyway? This guy, Edward, was doing me a huge favor by paying to get my car fixed. Mike wouldn't be screaming and ranting about the insurance this way and yet Mike was the furthest thing from my mind at the moment. My thoughts were all centered on the velvety voice I could still hear ringing in my ears, and memories fixated on the mesmerizing green eyes from the night before.
"Bella!"
Rose's voice brought me out of my own reveries. I still had one problem left to deal with but I knew I could count on Rose to help me with that little issue. I exited the bathroom with a forced smile on my face. She stared at me, scrutinizing my face. Eyebrow raised she was waiting, something I knew was very difficult for her.
"Is something wrong Rose," I asked deadpanning, trying to keep the amusement from my voice.
Rose grunted rolling her eyes. "Give me the details. I need to know whether or not I am driving to New York to kick some…" she let her voice trail off seeing all the children playing happily around her.
I giggled and shrugged. "Everything's fine. I am bringing my car to Jake's. I need a favor," I began. Rose just stared. "Do you think you could follow me there and drive me home after?"
Rose rolled her eyes again, one of her largest character traits. "Of course Bells but only if you give me the juice detail of this conversation that has you trying to hide a grin."
"I'll tell you after work, we need to finish this project and get it up already before Nancy decides that we shouldn't be working together anymore.
So after work while I waited for Jake to tow my car, he had insisted I not drive it in that state, I told Rose everything that had transpired and to say she looked utterly disappointed at the end of the conversation was an understatement. You would have thought she assumed I was having phone sex with this random stranger in the bathroom with sixteen four year olds on the other side of the door. Then after everything I told her what I had been thinking and that seem to change her mind on the whole topic.
"So you think he's married?" she asked flipping through the dials on her radio, not quite stopping long enough to actually hear the song that was playing.
"Yeah," I breathed.
"You never know," she added amused. It was quite unlike her to push such ideas into my overpopulated mind. Then she turned to me with a serious expression and knew where this conversation had turned. I groaned. "So tell me about Mike." It was a statement rather than a question and there was no way to escape the tone of authority in her voice.
"What is there is tell?" I asked trying to play dumb. And herein lays the problem of confiding problems in your friends. They want to know the follow ups and they want to know conclusion, and they often ask these things at inopportune times.
"Bella," she warned irritation burning in her eyes. "Is everything okay? You know you could come stay at my place with me. I wish you would just leave his stupid ass. How many incidences are you going to go through with him before you decide enough is enough!" It was a rant that I would never get used to hearing. Of course Rose was just trying to do what she thought was best for me but every time she would bring it up it would just reopen all wounds that I had been trying to bury for a long time. Close to ten years worth of drama and hurt to be exact.
I closed my eyes as the sounds of salsa music filled the cab of her red Jetta. "Rose, I Mike has been with me for a long time. He really…" my voice trailed off. I didn't know what to think anymore. There was no love for Mike, most days I didn't even like him. I knew why I was still with him and as much as I had tried to convince myself in the past to leave I had never truly found the will to do so.
"So you let him just abuse you like that! I expect more from you Bella, and if I have you showing up my house one more time in tears I will go over there and kill him. Do you understand?"
I nodded, so much for having a place of refuge anymore. Thankfully Jake pulled up a moment later, the conversation placed on hold as he stared at my car shaking his head. I jumped out of the vehicle and ran to my friend enveloping him in a tight hug.
"When you told me it was bad, I didn't believe you," he chuckled hugging me back. "How have you been driving this thing?"
"Carefully," I muttered as he began to hook the car up to the lift.
"Hey Jake," Rose greeted.
"Rosie," he answered, and I could see the hint of want in his eyes. He had always had a thing for Rose and getting a reaction, any reaction out of her was enough to ebb his hurt of her rejection a little. As expected, Rose rolled her eyes and grunted something unintelligible. "Okay Bella so what is the deal here?"
"It's a long story," I answered not really in the mood to explain the whole thing over again. "I just need an the total damage and how much this is going to cost. Then you can call this guy," I said handing a photocopy of Edward's information. "He is taking care of it."
"Oh, so now you have a sugar daddy," he joked. "What you finally realize Mike is a dirtbag and left his sorry ass?"
I groaned. Apparently it was pick apart Bella's crappy relationship day. Rosalie laughed bitterly in the background, if there was one thing they both found common ground on it was the fact that Mike, in all his glory, was a complete and utter loser that I should have ditched long ago. The only problem is how do you leave someone who helped in troubled times, who supported and believed you when no one else would?
"Alrighty then, just give me a call when you're done. How long do you think it'll take?" I asked slightly afraid of the answer. I would be carless for a while I knew, just how long is what scared me. Between work, school, and other obligations I knew Mike would bitch about driving me around and I didn't want Rose to feel obligated.
Jake walked around the car and whistled. "If I work on it quickly at least a week and that's if I don't have to order any parts."
"Don't worry Bells, I got your back chica!" Rosalie answered my unspoken question. She winked wrapping a supportive arm around my shoulder. "Let me get you home."
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"Edward," Alice said her serious voice back in place, the lighthearted batter of only moments ago completely erased from her voice. "You need to make a decision. This is important."
Edward groaned leaning back into the chair at the dining room table. "I don't know Alice, this is all happening so quickly. I knew I would have to do this but seriously, so soon. Can't I just let her get acclimated before making her adjust to even more change?" he asked running his hands through his thoroughly tousled bronze hair. He was vaguely aware that his hair line would begin receding if he continued to torture it in that manner.
"I'm serious Edward. What did you expect, you knew going into this you would have to make this choice. Now I am here for you, you know that but that doesn't mean that I can be your live in nanny. I have a clothing line to get back too, and you start at the office in a week's time. You're better off thinking about it now so that when Mom comes you look like you have some plan and she won't freak out so much."
"I know Al," Edward groaned. "I just." He paused afraid of the revelation he had made several weeks ago. He had been watching his daughter more closely than ever since he had made the decision that would uproot her from everything and everyone she knew and one stark factor seemed to scream at him. Hailey was constantly filled with anxiety. Anxiety about making friends, being in new situations, and especially around new people. How was he supposed to make a decision about what kind of child care situation to put her in?
If he chose to hire a live in nanny, he would be bringing a complete stranger into not only her life but her home. Her one safe space where she shouldn't have any anxiety. At the same time sending her to daycare just seemed to corporate. She had attended daycare back in California but Esme had dropped her off at nine and picked her up by three. Just enough time for her to gain vital social experiences children needed. Now with him working in New York, the commute was an hour each way, she would be there early and be staying late; something he had no idea how she would handle. He would most likely have to hire someone to pick her up anyway seeing as how he would never be able to get home in time to get her himself. He sighed at the decisions.
"Alice," Edward began not quite sure how to break the ice on this conversation. How was a parent supposed to even image that there might be something wrong with their child. It broke his heart to even form the words. "I don't know what to do for Hailey anymore. I feel like I already took so much from her."
"You saved her from a life of fear…"
But Edward cut her off. "Really, I saved her from a life of fear! I don't think so, if you haven't noticed Hailey is afraid of everything. That child has more anxiety then I know what to do with," he began and once the floodgates had opened he found it impossible to stop himself. The grief of his daughter growing up without a mother, the hurt he saw in her eyes when he watched her around women outside of his family, everything came spilling out and he couldn't stop himself. By the end he could feel wetness on his face; he hadn't even realized he was crying until he saw the grief stricken look in Alice features.
"Edward, I didn't…" she trailed off tears welling up in her amber colored eyes. In a flash she was at his side enveloping him in hug. "I'll take care of everything. Don't worry, I had no idea you felt this way."
"I am scared for her."
"I know," Alice breathed tears slowly falling from his eyes and dampening his shirt. "Edward I know you feel guilty. I can see it in your eyes when you look at her but Hailey is happy, albeit anxious, but she will adapt and the sooner she is settled into a new routine the better. Don't keep changing things on her, it would be too hard on her."
Edward pulled away from his sister and stared into her eyes searching. "What do I do Alice?"
Alice sighed shaking her head. "My opinion?"
"I am asking."
"Get her settled in as soon as possible so she has time to adjust. If something isn't working out then it can always be changed and adjusted to her in one way or another and most of all listen to what Hailey wants. Do you know what her biggest fear is?" Alice asked.
Edward nodded shaking his head, he was well aware of her fear. "That she won't be able to make any friends."
"Exactly, do you think keeping her from other kids is going to help her get over that any time soon.
Edward shifted uncomfortably for a moment, Alice was right. "Okay Alice, let's do it."
A/N: okay so this story is kinda just flowing out of me. I know the build up is kinda slow right now but it will be picking up soon, or at least I hope so. Leave me a review…. Pretty please!