Summary: She's troubled, he's in a rut. They're complete opposites – but they've been brought together. She's a young, naïve stripper and he's the successful recently-single man who wants to help her. BxE . OOC.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight saga.
Four
Bella's POV
As Edward showered, I returned to the spare room where I'd slept last night in search of something to wear out with Edward today.
I rummaged through the pile of clothes i'd dumped on the floor last night, in search of something somewhat presentable. The majority of my clothes were still at my apartment – or no doubt, waiting in boxes outside – and I only had the things I'd loaded into my suitcase which I had prepared for circumstances such as these, ie: in case I got thrown out of my apartment. I always buried my laptop in suitcase before I left for work, not trusting the landlord so I was thankful I at least had that.
I plugged it in at the power point so it could charge, before continuing my search for clothes.
I made a mental note to pack some sexier clothes in my emergency suitcase in future. I growled in frustration and tossed my multiple pairs of sweats aside, concluding i'd just have to go to the mall in my ragged jeans, chuck taylors and an old t-shirt. I didn't normally care what I looked like, but I didn't want to look like trash next to Edward.
I mean that was practically a given, but I wanted to avoid that as much as possible.
Edward was gorgeous and thus far had been completely honorable. While I didn't want to rely on him too much, it'd only been a night and I would begin my apartment search soon. Hopefully I wouldn't be a burden upon him too much longer. If James had taught me one thing, it was that relying on a guy for support was completely stupid. Hell, I was even hesitant to depend on Alice, and she was my sister!
Surely, there was something so bad I could do that she'd finally say no and sever ties with me. I hoped not, but I really didn't want to take that risk.
I decided to check my phone, which I'd switched off last night. I didn't want to deal with Alice. She called me every day to check I was still alive and it was patronizing and irriating. I switched it on and saw that I had two new voicemails and three texts – not a large number for Alice. I used to get a lot more from her, but these days three or four messages was generally the maximum.
I opened the first one and it read, "Your phone is off. Just checking you're okay", then the second, "you know what," and finally the third, "please call me when you get this." I didn't bother listening to the voicemails. I was damn sick of her expecting me to drop off the face of the earth.
I heard a light knock on the bedroom door and I answered with a cheery, "come in!" It was easy to be cheery when I woke up this morning in a beautiful soft bed, knowing Edward was just down the hall.
He entered the room, his beautiful bronze hair damp from his shower. He smelt like amazing expensive cologne and he wore a crisp white shirt, dark wash jeans and black shoes. I was kidding myself if I said I didn't find him completely attractive. He smiled down at me – crookedly, might I add – and I swooned a little. "You alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, i'm all good. I was just hoping to look more presentable but all my nicer clothes are still at the apartment," I sighed. "It's okay though, i've got these." I gestured to my chucks, jeans and t-shirt combo which sat beside me on the plush, white carpet.
Edward chuckled and extended his hand to me. I clutched onto it and he pulled me up from the ground. "Tanya – my ex – still has some stuff here. Do you want to see if any of it fits? She won't care," he offered in a small voice. I felt a bit weird about it, but I accepted nonetheless. Desperate times call for desperate measures, afterall.
He lead me into the master bedroom and I was surprised to see it was impeccable, even down to the bed which was made. This room was also very white and I figured his ex must've been some white-obsessee. It was large and complete with a walk in robe which Edward gestured to as he sat down on the edge of his king-sized bed.
"Feel free to wear anything in there. You're a little smaller than she is, but i'm sure you'll find something," he said casually and I wondered if this was weird for him. The guy did just get dumped last night, afterall, hence the strip club visit.
Of course someone like Edward would never willingly go to a strip club.
I cautiously entered the wardrobe and was shocked at what Edward described as "some stuff". The closet still seemed full of women's clothes and I was a little bit intimidated and I sifted through the racks. There were several pairs of jeans, most of them one size bigger than my normal petite size but I was lucky to find a nice black skinny-leg pair in my size. I pulled them off the hanger and slung them over my arm while I went in search of a top.
She had so many tops. Long sleeved, boob-tubes, short sleeved, backless, one-sleeved. I was beginning to wonder how much stuff she actually took with her if this was only "some" of her clothes. I found a thin dark blue sweater and decided it would do and then decided I may as well see if there were any suitable shoes while I was at it.
I found a pair of shiny black stilletos and gathered them up, along with the top and jeans i'd selected and walked out of the wardrobe to see Edward sitting on the bed still, with an amused expression on his face.
"What?" I asked.
"That was surprisingly quick," he said. "Tanya used to take hours when we would go out. It drove me nuts."
"Oh," I said softly, smiling at him. "Why did you two break up?"
"We just fell out of love..." he answered vaguely with a nonchalant shrug.
"You seem okay, though."
"I am. We'd been stuck in this rut, I guess, for a little while. I care about her but I just wasn't in love with her anymore," Edward answered as he ran a hand through his unruly hair.
"Okay, i'll go get changed and then we can go."
I walked back to the spare bedroom and put on my outfit and was lucky that everything fit. I pulled some make-up out of my bag and stood in front of the mirror, applied a small amount of foundation, mascara then clear lip gloss – a stark contrast to my work make-up.
I met Edward out in the sitting room, where he was dangling his keys around on his finger, clutching a photo frame in his hand. When he noticed I was standing there, he put it back on the cabinet and turned his full attention towards me.
"You look nice," he complimented. "The natural look, it suits you more," he concluded. I blushed. I was a stripper who bared my breasts on an almost nightly-basis, yet I was blushing at a compliment paid by this gorgeous man.
"Thanks," I whispered.
Edward headed towards the door and I caught a quick glance of the photograph he was staring at as we reached the door. I saw a blur of his hair and then a blonde woman standing beside him. I wasn't able to take much else of the picture in as Edward was already out the door.
He led us out to the elevator and we caught it down to the basement. We were silent and somewhat awkward and I knew he was probably regretting letting me into his apartment and mentally assaulting himself for asking me to spend the day with him.
Really, the sooner I found a new place to stay – the better.
Once we reached the garage, I followed Edward until he stopped at a shiny silver Volvo.
"A Volvo?" I questioned, holding back a chuckle.
"What?" He asked fiercly. "These are good, trustworthy cars," he defended and I just laughed as he opened the passenger's side door for me.
I was finding it hard to hold up my calm, sexy demeanour on the car ride over. I knew things would be different when I woke up this morning. I'd never gone home with a customer before, but I always expected that I'd be expected to sleep with them and in return, they'd pay me an ample amount of money. I certainly didn't expect to sleep in the guest room alone and then go shopping with said customer for a present for his mummy dearest.
Maybe if my character was stronger, I'd be able to seduce Edward Cullen and take his money but truth be told, that just wasn't me. I was kidding myself if I thought I'd be able to do extra favours for more money. In the clear, sober light of day, I knew I didn't want to do that. Even when times got desperate.
"Do you mind if I smoke?" I asked Edward, plucking the smokes out of my bag.
He hesitated before replying, "sure."
"It's alright, I can wait."
"Don't worry. Go ahead, Bella."
I wound down the window and placed a cigarette in between my lips and then finally lit it, inhaling the sweet, calming aroma. I sighed in contentment as I blew the smoke out into the fresh air. Combined with feeling the warm sun – it wasn't raining for once – on my skin, I felt heavenly.
"You shouldn't smoke, you know," Edward chastised. "It's expensive and very bad for you."
"What are you? A fucking doctor?" I sneered because I couldn't help it. I absolutely loathed being told what to do.
"No, i'm not but my father is. I was raised to lead a very healthy lifestyle," Edward said in a pompous tone.
I didn't have a retort and luckily, we pulled up to the shopping centre and I could avoid any further arguments.
"So what are you going to get your mother?" I asked as we walked into the centre. Edward looked at me and shrugged.
"I was kind of hoping you could help me out there."
"Me? Why me?"
"You're a woman, you have more knowledge than I ever would," he stated.
"Yes, but your mother is a doctor's wife. One of the priveleged, et cetera. I cannot relate to that at all," I said glumly. "I don't even have a place to call home."
"It'll work out," Edward said, but even he didn't seem convinced. He probably figured I was a lost cause. "I'll just get her some earrings."
We walked into the first jewellery shop we found and Edward looked a little helpless. "Everything okay?" I asked.
"No," he answered like a petulant child. "I can't do this shit," he almost growled. "Tanya and I were together since I was a freshman in college. She always helped me pick out this stuff."
"Okay, does your mum like yellow gold or white gold?" I asked.
"Um...her wedding ring is yellow gold," he answered vaguely.
"Well then I think it's best we go with something yellow gold." I gestured for a sales assistant to help us and he eagerly bounced forward and pulled out an assortment of gold earrings. I could tell Edward was ovewhelmed so I made a few suggestions and got it down to three, before Edward picked the final pair; a pair of elegant twist hoops.
"I'm sure she'll love them," I stated confidently as we exited the store.
"If not, i'm blaming you," he teased.
I giggled at Edward as he tried to be stern, but failed and I was still laughing and smiling until I heard a voice behind me call my name.
"Bella?"
I turned around and saw Mike Newton – a boy from college who had a very obvious crush on me and was very persistent when it came to asking me out. I internally cringed before plastering a smile on my face and proceeding towards him. "Pretend you're my boyfriend," I whispered through gritted teeth to Edward, who nodded.
"Mike," I said pleasantly.
"Long time no see, Bella. What are you doing with yourself these days? Jessica told me you were a stripper but – " that's when Edward cleared his throat beside me. "Jess is full of a lot of shit."
"Yeah, she is," I muttered. "Um, this is my boyfriend, Edward."
Edward grunted in response, playing his part of the angry, protective boyfriend well.
"Uh, yeah. H-Hi," Mike stuttered. "I've gotta go, Bella. Nice to meet you, Edmund." With that, he walked off hurriedly and Edward and I burst out laughing.
"I never could stand that guy," I said between giggles.
"I can understand why."
My phone rang, interrupting our moment and I rolled my eyes as Alice's name flashed on the screen. I rejected the call and sent it to voicemail.
"Don't not take it on account of me," Edward said.
"Oh, no. It was no one I want to talk to." I smiled up at Edward. "Let's go get some lunch, i'm starving."
A text message arrived indicating I had a new voicemail and I promised myself I'd at least check one of them in case Alice was ringing about something important. Later, though.
It was later and I finally dialed the number for my voicemail.
Edward was in the kitchen, attempting to put together dinner at his insistence and I had returned to the spare bedroom to get changed.
I opted to listen to Alice's latest voicemail.
"Bella, it's Alice. Please call me. I know you don't want me babying you and I'm not trying to make you mad but I rang your building complex and your landlord told me he kicked you out. Please call me. I need to know you're okay. Please, Bella." Her tone sounded so desperate and it took all my strength not to call her straight away.
Instead, I hit the delete button and joined Edward in the kitchen.
Let her worry a bit. Serves her right for being so damn smothering.
Edward was studying a cookbook as I returned to the kitchen and I chuckled as he ran his hands through his hair and muttered to himself before thumping the cook book down on the bench.
"Need a hand?" I offered and he turned, startled.
"Yeah, maybe," he murmered.
I managed to make a pasta dish and even had Edward convinced he'd helped in the whole scenario, when really he'd been a bit of a hindrence. I momentarily pitied his ex-girlfriend, but then quashed the thought. That girl was an idiot for even letting go of someone like Edward.
I'd only known him a day, but he'd taken me in and fed me. He was a good person and I didn't want to corrupt him much longer.
I needed my own place to live and soon.
As I fell into bed that night, my phone buzzed on the bedside table. Alice's name flashed up on the screen and I internally cringed. I'll call her tomorrow, I vowed.