A/N –
First let me apologize for this taking so freaking long. I have excuses, but I won't bore you with those…
A huge thanks to my new betas – Blackjacklily and Emmett_lover- they turned this puppy around in 24 hours… they rock!! My story would suck without their help correcting my sucky ass grammar & punctuation.
Thanks to my Twilighted Beta – Totoro (especially for pointing me in the right direction towards finding a new beta)
Thanks to everyone who has put this on their alerts & favorites. It makes my day to see those & I would love if a few more of you would review as well… but I'll take what I can get.
DISCLAIMER - I don't own anything... Stephanie Meyer does... no infringement intended.
Be Gentle to Me
BPOV
'Good grief, I swear, there has to be some kind of universal law that states that there can only be half as many stalls in the women's bathroom as would actually be needed.' I thought as I maneuvered around the crowds waiting at the concession stands to get back to the box. I must have waited almost 20 minutes, and now the line was twice as long thanks to the break between the third and fourth quarter. I started to hurry a little, hoping to catch as much of the last quarter as possible. The game wasn't a blow out, for once, which would mean that this quarter should be a good one.
Pulling open the door to the box, I glanced around looking to see where Edward was. I could see Alice and Jasper out of the corner of my eye watching the game, or rather, Jasper was sitting watching the game and Alice was jumping up and down like a maniac yelling at the team. The corners of my mouth turned up as I smiled at my friend's passion for the game. I finally found Edward with his back to me talking to a very pretty blonde woman, who I could only imagine was Rosalie; there wasn't a lot of women here tonight and she was one of the few that I had yet to meet. Judging from the scowl on her face, I could tell the conversation wasn't a pleasant one. Walking slowly towards them, I hoped that by the time I got closer perhaps they would have finished talking shop and I could monopolize Edward for the remainder of our time here. I stopped a few feet away, trying not to eavesdrop and just waited patiently for a pause in the conversation for me to interrupt.
I didn't have to wait long when I heard Rosalie screech, "WHAT IS SHE TO YOU?" a bit louder than the rest of their conversation. I could only assume she meant me, so I leaned in a little closer to hear Edward's response.
Seconds passed like hours before I heard the words come out of Edward's mouth.
"She's nothing Rosalie; just some girl from high school!"
I let out a loud gasp but it sounded more like a whimper. How could he think so little of me after all he had told me this week? Wincing at the thought, I turned and ran out the door. Dodging through the thinning crowd was easier. Most of the people had made their way back to their seats to watch the remainder of the game.
I flew down the escalator, managing to trip only once as I got close to the bottom. My hand flew out in front of me and caught the brunt of the fall. The heel of my right palm was now bleeding thanks to the sharp edge of the escalator stair, but I ignored it and kept moving towards the exit as fast as I could. I needed to get as far away from him as possible.
A small part of my subconscious was hoping that by now a strong pair of hands would have stopped my escape, but nothing ever came. I pushed my way though the exit and began running out towards Figueroa. After getting about 200 yards away from the arena, I realized what a dumb mistake I was making. This was not a good neighborhood to be alone in at night, and I fully expected that if the Lakers won, the same street I was now standing on would be a mess with rioters and flaming trashcans. Gotta love the winning team's fans, I thought sarcastically, spinning myself back towards the way I came.
I walked back towards the arena and was about to hail a cab when I remembered that my purse and jacket were upstairs on the seat next to Alice.
"Shit, Shit, SHIT!" I exclaimed, pounding my fist into my thigh. I marched over to the door I had just exited, hoping that the security guard would take pity on me and let me back in.
"Um… excuse me sir?" I meekly asked, looking up at the burly man before me. "Do you think it would be possible for me to reenter? I accidentally left my purse on my seat," I said smiling weakly up at him.
He looked down at me with a frown. "Sorry Miss, no re-admittance."
"I know... Is there any way you can make one little exception?" I batted my eyelashes hoping to appeal to his softer side.
"Sorry, I could lose my job, and in this economy, I just can't risk it. Sorry," he apologized once again before shutting the door back in my face.
"FUCK!!!!" I shouted at no one. Spinning around, I saw a retaining wall holding back tropical plants and flowers in the front of the building and thought it was my best shot at catching someone from the box when they exited. I hoped I was able to spot someone I knew. If anyone came out, I could always ask to use their phone. Except with the convenience of cell phones, I never actually bothered learning anyone's number anymore. Just programmed it in and never thought of it again. I was so screwed!
I rested my head in my hands and allowed the tears to fall once again. How did I always manage to get myself into these kinds of situations? First I fall for the universes' most eligible bachelor, who then decides that after he admits he's had a crush on me for nine years, now thinks I'm just some chick from high school. Then I manage to flee without my purse, leaving me stranded here without a ride and no way to connect with the people who would take care of me. God I was pathetic. I guess that black cloud decided to attach itself to me once more. I let out a frustrated sigh when I noticed a pair of shiny black shoes standing in front of me. I pulled my hands from in front of my face to see Edward looking down on me with wet worried eyes.
EPOV
All I saw was a blur of chestnut before the door shut behind her. I started to chase after her when my arm was grabbed by Rosalie's firm grip. "Rose, let me go! I need to fix this," I growled, trying to shake off her talons.
"Edward, let me give you a piece of advice. Do not chase after this girl. If you do, your pathetic little spectacle will be on the front page of every gossip rag and site in the morning. The bad thing about cell phones these days is that they are all equipped with cameras and video," she said, pulling me back towards her.
"Rose, I can't just let her go off like that." I pulled my arm back once again.
"Listen, I'll call down and have Garrett bring the limo around and have him call us another one. I can't have some cabbie dishing all the dirt I'm sure he'll be hearing from you two. Take it and go make up with your little… whatever she is," She scoffed, picking up her cell phone. She started speaking, effectively leaving me no choice but to go along with her plan.
I stood there until she hung up because I had to ask her one more favor that I was begrudged to do.
"Um, Rose?" I said, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration. "Can you make sure Emmett get's back to my house, please?"
"Sure, sure Edward, no problem, now go. Be a knight in shining armor or some other shit. I'll talk to you tomorrow," she grumbled, turning her back to me and walking back to the bar.
I took a deep breath and walked quickly over to Emmett. "Em, I need to go, but Rose is going to make sure you get back to my place. Are you cool with that?" I asked hurriedly.
"No prob. Why the rush?" he asked patting me on the back with more force than was necessary.
"Girl problems," I muttered. "The code to the gate is mom & dad's anniversary, zero six, one, two. The code to my alarm is zero, nine, one, three. Got it?" I whispered to him. He didn't need to know the story behind those numbers as it would only give him fuel to mock me with and he already had enough ammunition.
"Sure, I'll call you if I forget. Good luck. I'll see you at home." He turned his attention back to watching the remaining minutes of the game.
I strode purposefully out of the box and turned my head, searching to see if Bella was sitting somewhere around as I made my way towards the escalators. On my way down, I could see out of the glass wall at the front of the building to where Bella sat with her head in her hands on a flowerbox. The guilt started to wash over me as I remembered why I was searching for her in the first place. I had screwed up big time. In my effort to downplay our relationship to Rosalie, I may have just lost any chance of a relationship period.
I nodded as I passed the security guard perched at the door and walked over in front of Bella. Her head was buried in her hands and I could hear her sniffing and see the stains of her tears on the pavement below where she sat. My heart dropped in my chest knowing that I was the one to have caused her to cry. My mother didn't raise me to make women cry. It was the most humbling and horrible sight when she raised her head to look at me with puffy bloodshot eyes and a look of defeat. I exhaled deeply., "Bella, I'm so sorry." My voice cracking as I knelt down before her so that I could look at her eye to eye. She didn't speak, but just kept looking at me with sorrow filled eyes.
"Bella, please honey, can I take you home? I need to explain, but would rather do that in the car then out here, please?" I pleaded, holding out my hand hoping that she would take it.
"I…I… don't have my purse, do…do… you have your phone?" she whimpered, trying to control her tears.
"Yes, here," I said handing her my phone. "Do you need Jasper's number? It's in my contacts." I assumed that her purse was up with Alice and she would want her to bring it down to her.
"Thanks," she mumbled, hitting the button on the phone and bringing it up to her ear.
"Jazz, hey it's Bella…Yeah, I kind of left in a hurry and left my purse and jacket up there. Can you put Alice on?" she asked, playing with her hair nervously, her tears slowly diminishing.
"Alice, hey, can you do me a favor? Can you drop my purse and jacket off at my house either tonight or if you want to carpool tomorrow morning? Great, I'll see you at four forty five. Yes, I'll tell you then, thanks. Bye."
She hung up the phone, handed it back to me and took the hand that I was still holding out for her.
"Edward, you have a lot to explain," she sighed as we walked towards the line of limos that were queued up in the drive.
Garrett must have seen us coming as he got out of the car and opened up the door for us to enter. Tonight he was driving a normal stretch limo instead of the town car that he had been driving me around all week in.
"Thanks Garrett." I gave him a slight smile as I stepped in after Bella.
Bella was sitting towards the back of the car as if trying to sit as far away from me as possible. I crawled back to where she was sitting and sat across from her. I heard her sigh as she looked up to my seated form.
"Edward, the only reason I'm here right now is because I needed a ride. Otherwise I would not be giving you the time of day to explain what the hell just happened in there," she spoke curtly, looking back down at her hands.
"Bella, I'm really sorry. I honestly don't know what possessed me to say what I did other than Rosalie pushing me to figure out what we are." I exhaled loudly and ran my hand through my unkempt hair. "I know I can't make it right by just saying I'm sorry, but I honestly and truly am. When Rose started asking me questions about our relationship I panicked. I tried to stall as much as possible to avoid talking about it at all, but she seems to think that my social life is her business since she's the one that has to defend me to the press. " I looked up to see Bella now looking at me instead of her hands. Her eyes were still questioning, but I could tell that she was at least listening to my explanation.
"I know I should have just told her the truth, but since we haven't really talked about it, I didn't want to assume and so I kind of just said the first thing that popped into my head." I knew I was rambling, but I needed to get her to want me back in her life. I had waited nine long years and I wasn't going to screw up my one chance now. "I… I've never had a girlfriend before Bella, so I… I don't really know what I'm doing here. I fucked up, and I really am sorry." I took a moment to contemplate what I should say next.
"Edward… do you think of me as your girlfriend?" she asked with a small smirk on her lips.
"Um… well, I guess… I… I don't know, I would like to, but we haven't really discussed it, but I really only want to date you… not that I was dating anyone else anyhow, but I just don't really…" I stammered until Bella thankfully cut off my rambling.
"Edward, it's okay. I'd like to date only you too." She smiled warmly and held out her hand for me to take.
I took a deep sigh of relief as my eyes met hers and smiled back, placing my hand in hers.
"Thank you. You mean more to me than I could ever say. Will you please forgive my slip up tonight? I really was just trying to protect whatever it is that we have together for a little while. I'm not ready for the onslaught of press once they find out I'm dating." I leaned back, closed my eyes and rested my head against the back of the seat wondering how long it would take for the paparazzi to swarm into Bella's life.
"Of course I forgive you," she sighed shaking her head. "Just don't shut me out. I'm a strong woman, but my ego is fragile. I'm sorry I overacted and ran out, that wasn't the most mature thing for me to do, but it's been a long time for me as well. I guess we'll have to learn how to do this together." She got up and moved to sit next to me. I put my arm around her and pulled her close to my side giving her a gentle kiss to her temple.
"Together," I repeated. We sat in comfortable silence for a while watching the lights of the city blur past. I knew we were getting close as we exited the freeway in Santa Monica.
"Bella, I was wondering…" I started
"Hmm?" she murmured into my side.
"I actually have a pretty busy weekend coming up and I leave for New York on Sunday, but I get back in the early afternoon on Friday… I was wondering if you might like to go on a date next Friday. Maybe take a ride up the coast?" I asked, pulling away from her slightly so that I could look at her face.
"Um… sure that sounds nice, I'm free around four thirty on Friday." She smiled and tucked her head back to my side. "What are you doing in New York?" she asked.
"More promotions," I sighed. "I'm doing Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, The View, Regis & Kelly and on Friday morning I'm doing the concert in the park for Good Morning America," I said rattling off my schedule. "I have some interviews on a couple of radio shows, in store promos, not to mention a meeting with some Broadway producer about a show he's developing. All in all a pretty average week for a rock star." I elbowed her in the side to let her know I was kidding.
"Sounds like a fun filled week, glad it's you and not me," she said yawning into my chest.
"Not sure if it will be fun, but it's part of the job, right?" I smirked down at her, rubbing my thumb down her smooth forearm. "Oh, I almost forgot, my parents are throwing me a small birthday party next Saturday at my house too if you're free. It will only be my family, Jasper, Alice, Rosalie and a couple of buddies from college. No pressure, you don't have to come if you don't want to or have other plans, but I'd of course love to have you there…"
"Edward, you're rambling. Take a breath." She chuckled, nudging my side before continuing. "I'd love to come and celebrate your birthday. Just let me know what time and I'll be there." she smiled, leaning back into my side.
"Really? That's great! I think it's at six. Can I come pick you up?" I suddenly felt shy and nervous as if I had been waiting for a rejection.
"Yes Edward, you can pick me up," She said in a mocking tone, giggling at my nervousness. She suddenly pulled away from me and looked over at me with wide eyes. "Crap, I almost forgot, I wanted to tell you something…"
"Sure, what is it?"
"I…"
"Mr. Masen, do you want me to circle around the block? I can't hold up traffic for too long sir," Garrett interrupted.
"No, no, it's fine. Just let me walk her to her door," I said, opening the door of the limo not waiting for Garrett to walk around.
"Bella, you need your sleep. You have to get up in a few hours and I have an early meeting. I'll call you tomorrow?" I said, walking her up to her door.
"Um… yes, that's fine. I'll talk to you later." She looked dazed as she started to unlock her door with the hidden key she pulled from under the eve of her roof.
"Sorry about the fucked up night. I will make it up to you next week, I promise." I leaned down and gave her a soft gentle kiss.
"Good night Bella."
"Night," she said as she walked in to her house, locking the door behind her.
~~~***~~~
BPOV
"Stop looking at me like that," I huffed while taking another sip of coffee from my travel mug.
"Well then you need to tell me what the fuck happened last night to make you leave fast enough for you to forget your purse," Alice growled, irritated that I hadn't spoken for the first five minutes of our drive to work together.
"Alice, can you at least let me finish my first cup of coffee before we have this discussion. It's a bit messy and my mind isn't quite coherent enough at five AM to be having this conversation." I closed my eyes settling back into the bucket seats of her car.
"Fine, but I can't wait much longer. I couldn't sleep not knowing what the devil happened last night. Not to mention my excitement over the championship. Poor Jasper didn't know what to do when I pounced on him when we finally got home last night." She grinned devilishly at me, wiggling her eyebrows, before she noticed my lack of response and the scowl returned to her face. "So if you want to wait until lunch, fine, but I'm going to expect every single dirty little detail for making me wait so damn long."
"Fine, just give me till lunch…. Crap! I can't do lunch today. I'm supposed to be over at the hospital by eleven thirty." I remembered.
"Right, I forgot it was Friday. Well then you'll have to spill it on our ride home then." She smirked, knowing that she had me trapped in her car for at least forty five minutes to grill my ass.
"Wonderful." I rolled my eyes and looked out the window, watching the sun rise against the horizon.
I let Alice chatter away about the game last night as I mostly tuned her out, only nodding at the times I thought appropriate. My mind was only on one thing. Edward. Last night was a cluster fuck of epic proportions. Not only had he put his foot in his mouth, but I had managed to run away before I even knew what the situation was. It was pathetic at how out of practice I was at the whole relationship and communication thing. I had been on my own for so long that I forgot what it was like to have to talk to someone, and actually not only talk, but to listen to what they had to say as well. I couldn't remember a time when I had to worry about who my decisions effected aside from myself. Actually I do remember the last time, but I had calculated what the outcome would be, and it worked out exactly the way that I had meant them to. Putting time and space between those decisions made me regretful for how I had reacted, but hindsight can't change the past, so I tried not to dwell on that often.
"Bella? Bella, did you hear anything I just said?" she asked, sounding rather annoyed with me.
"What? Sorry Alice, my mind wandered there for a second, what?" I tried to cover for my inattention.
"Did you tell Edward about Saturday or not?"
"Oh, yeah, uh, no. I did try though, but got cut off before I could finish." I shrugged knowing that tomorrow was going to be quite a shock for poor Edward.
"Bella…" she said in her disapproving mother voice.
"Do you think I can pull it off as I was trying to surprise him?" I asked, weakly trying to come up with some kind of way to pull this off without hurting Edward's feelings.
"God you're pathetic. What am I going to do with you?"
I shrugged again not really having a witty retort for her comment.
The day sped quickly by; mostly dominated by my exhausted daydreams of my boyfriend Edward. I grinned to myself as I thought back to his rambled confession that he wanted me to be his girlfriend. After four days we were suddenly dating and I had never been more thrilled and terrified all at the same time. We still had a very long way to go, but for the moment it felt right, and for once in my life I just wanted to go with the flow and not over think every little action or thought.
I had given Alice the blow by blow of last night's main event and while she was shocked by what Edward said, she also understood that for such a private person, having Rosalie demand to know our dating status had flustered him. She was supportive and could see how excited and blissful he was making me from the smile I had plastered on my face since Tuesday night. She wished me a good weekend before driving off towards her home.
Letting myself into my house I let out a big sigh as I plopped myself down on the couch. I was looking forward to coming home after my shift at the hospital to a quiet evening of a beer and a good book. I was also looking forward to falling asleep and dreaming of Edward into the late morning on Saturday. I only hoped that dream Edward could get past second base tonight since my dreams had not changed much all week. I was so frustrated that I didn't know what to do. I had never had this type of pent up energy build up inside me before and I didn't really know what to do to relieve it. I could only hope that I would gather up enough courage to tell Edward the truth and that he would still want me after the dust settled.
Glancing up at the wall clock, I got up and hurried into my bedroom to change my clothes and head out to the hospital.
"Hey Bella, how's it going?" Steve, a tall and handsome orderly asked as I headed down the hall to visit with the various patients I had come to know well.
"Hello Steve. How about those Lakers last night?" I said, waving at him as I continued my way down the hall.
I hit the large button on the wall and waited for the oversized doors to swing open, allowing me entrance into the pediatric burn ward at UCLA medical center.
"Bella, it's nice to see you. Excited about your big night?" Jessica, the charge nurse for the floor asked as she continued typing at the computer she was working on behind the large desk.
"Hello Jessica. I'm about as excited as I can be. How's everyone doing today?" I replied, stopping at the desk to get a quick update on the kid's stats.
"Well, Jenny's had a setback. She was taken down to ICU with an infection. Bree is just about ready to explode with excitement about tomorrow night and Alec is well… Alec. He's been bragging about beating you on his PSP to all the other kids earlier. Hope you're ready for a rematch?" she asked, laughing at Alec's competitive streak.
"Do you think it would help me if I actually knew how to snowboard before attempting to beat him at that Shaun White game?" I groaned, knowing that he was going to beat me again today. "Don't they make simple driving games anymore? I rocked at Pole Position." I smiled, and took my daily assignments from her.
"Pole Position? Aren't you a little young to even know about that game?" she teased.
"The arcade back home had classic games as well as new ones. I liked the old classics better. They required less coordination," I said defensively and walked down to visit with Bree.
I walked past the brightly colored hallways designed with large murals of the outdoors and stepped into the small room on the left. After washing my hands thoroughly and putting on a mask, I exited and knocked on the door at the end of the hall.
"Come in," frail voice called from behind the door.
"Miss Bree, how are you today?" I asked, heading over to the recliner that was sitting next to her bed.
"BELLA!!" she shouted, excitedly bouncing up and down in her bed. She reminded me of what a young Alice would have been like. She radiated enthusiasm and passion for even the smallest things in life. I wish she was going to see past her teen years, but it was doubtful. Her mother had tried to help her when she was diagnosed with advanced leukemia, but soon the bills had started to pile up and overwhelm her. Her mother had decided that it was all too much, and drank an entire bottle of vodka before setting their house on fire with Bree shut in her bedroom. Bree survived but with severe burns to much of her legs and torso. Now she was dealing with the pain and agony of not only burn treatments and the death of her mother, but also the new chemotherapy she was to start next week now that her body had mostly healed from the various skin grafts she had undergone. My heart broke for this strong little girl. Tomorrow night she was having her Make-A-Wish come true by meeting Edward.
We were both being ushered to the venue by limo and she would accompany me up the stage to accept my award. During my acceptance speech, I had planned on asking Edward if he would let her sit with him while he played a song after intermission. I really hoped he would allow her to do so. He already knew that he was going to meet her after the concert, but this was an added twist that I really hoped he would go for. Of course it would have been easier if I had just told him that I was being honored and I could have arranged it in advance. I thought. But I was aiming for a surprise now and really hoped it didn't blow up in my face.
"I'm so good Bella. I can't wait for tomorrow!" She beamed up at me with a huge smile spread across her face.
"I brought you something," I said, remembering the bag that I had brought in with me. "I thought you might like a new outfit to wear tomorrow." I reached into the bag and handed her a box wrapped in paper adorned with lilacs and a large lavender bow.
"You did?" She ripped into the package, tearing the paper to shreds as she pulled the lid off the box. Pulling the purple dress out of the box, she fingered the lace as tears started falling down her cheeks. "Bella, this is so pretty. I love purple," she declared before pulling out the white tights and black shoes that were settled into the box below the dress.
"I can't have you looking anything less than the princess you are when you're going to meet prince charming now, can I?" I teased, taking the box and shredded paper off the bed and putting it in the trash can across the room.
"Where's my crown then? A princess needs a crown!" she exclaimed, still clutching the dress to her chest.
"Maybe prince charming will give you a crown. You never know," I said, heading back to sit in the chair beside her. "So what would you like to do today? Book, movie, or board game?" I asked.
"Connect four?"
"You got it," I said, walking out of the room and down to the play room to get the game from the closet.
"Ha! Connect four!!" she shouted for the fourth time in thirty minutes.
"Alright you win Miss Bree, but you better watch out, next week I'll be sending you to the Chocolate Swamp!" I teased, grabbing my bag to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow at five. I'll help you with your dress and hair and we'll see Edward soon after that, okay?"
"Yeah!! Can't wait!! See you tomorrow!!" She waved frantically as I closed the door. She made my week every time I came to see her. I knew starting next week our visits would be different, with her being sick and tired from the chemotherapy, but I hoped that I could at least cheer her up for the time I had with her.
I walked down the hall to see Alec in the play room sitting at a long table playing with his PSP next to Zoe, a thin girl around ten with brown hair and half of her face severely disfigured. I took a deep breath and walked in to see what they were up to.
"Hey guys, what are you playing?" I asked, taking a seat in a small child sized chair at the table across from them.
"What else? Shaun White Snowboarding," Zoe responded, rolling her eyes at him. "It's not like we don't have ten other games to play, but all he wants to play is this. It's really annoying."
"Hey… practice makes perfect and I am perfecting the art of beating the pants off Miss Bella," he bragged never taking his eyes off the game.
"Well, I won't keep you from you perfecting your game. Just wanted to see how you guys were doing. I'll see you next week." I stood and headed back to the desk to do some paper work.
The rest of my shift at the hospital was filled with doing paperwork, filing and visiting with the various patients and family members visiting them. At four o'clock I packed up my bag and headed for the door looking forward to my quiet evening. God, could you be more pathetic, spending another lonely Friday alone at your house. I thought before remembering that, while I was going to be alone for the evening, I had a boyfriend! My mind drifted once again to his strong arms and the thought of him running them along the sides of my body before cupping my face to pull me in close for a passionate kiss.
"Bella… Bella!" I heard my name being called from the fog of my daydream. I spun around to see Dr. Kostas calling me.
"Hi Dr. Kostas, sorry I was lost in thought there," I apologized as the blush rose up on my cheeks.
"No problem, I Just wanted to say hi and that I'm looking forward to the benefit tomorrow. Dr. Cullen and I will be introducing you during intermission. Hope you're ready," he said patting me softly on the back.
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be I guess. I better get going. I'll see you tomorrow," I said, gesturing towards my car.
"See you tomorrow," He replied, walking back towards his car as I got into mine and drove off.
EPOV
"Emmett, get the fuck up! I have to leave in about ten minutes and I need to make sure you have all the info on mom and dad's flight," I shouted, pounding on the door to the guest room I had put Emmett in.
Not hearing any movement on the other side of the door, I decided to open it. I knew better than to fling the door open; my eyes had been witness to too many objectionable sights when we stayed at each other's apartments. Emmett's bare ass was just one of the many assorted memories that I wish I could scrub from my mind so I opened the door cautiously.
He wasn't fucking in there. "God damn it!" I shouted, marching back down to the kitchen where my cell phone sat from the previous night. I glanced at it to see if I had a message, but the screen was blank. God, my brother was so predictable. I'm sure he somehow managed to pick up some chick at the game and went home with her. That was his standard MO; I'm not sure why I would have thought any differently.
I dialed Emmett's number only to hear it go straight to voicemail. Great, he turned it off or let it run out of battery. "Emmett, call me." I hung up quickly and searched my contacts until I found the name that should have at least some idea where he was. Rosalie. I hit the send button and waited for her to answer. I had asked her one single favor, to make sure Emmett got back to my house, and she couldn't even do that for me.
I heard her voice come on as it went into her voicemail, "Hi this is Rosalie from Hale and Reed PR, please leave me a detailed message and I will return your call at my earliest convenience. Thank you."
"Rose, this is Edward. I'm just curious to know if you happen to know where the fuck my brother might be. Last I saw, he was left in your capable hands. Call me." I hit the end button before grabbing my cup of coffee on the counter and taking a big swallow of the bitter liquid. This was going to be a long freaking day. I sighed at the thought and walked back upstairs to finish getting ready.
Five minutes later my phone buzzed in my pocket.
"Emmett," I growled picking up the phone.
"He bro, why so tense?" He lazily replied.
"Where are you?" I asked curtly.
"I'm headed back to your casa as we speak. What's up?"
"Fine, I have to run, but wanted to check that you were cool picking mom and dad up at three?" I asked.
"Of course, no worries. Do I get to take the Audi?" He teased, knowing that the car wouldn't fit the three of them and their luggage comfortably.
"No, you'll take the Mercedes of course. I'll leave the key on the counter. "
"Cool… so did you resolve your GIRL ISSUES?" he asked, dragging out his words.
"Yes, and where did you end YOUR evening?" I asked, rolling my eyes. I already knew the response.
"Um… met a hot Betty and went home with her. Didn't want to pop your house's cherry for you," he taunted me knowing about my limited sexual history.
"I appreciate that, really I do but next time, can you leave me a freaking message?"
"Whatever Mom."
"I gotta run. See you at dinner tonight," I said letting out a frustrated sigh.
"Cool, later."
I grabbed my messenger bag and started walking towards the garage. I had told Garrett to take the day off so that I could drive today. I needed to clear my head and driving always helped me to do that. I would have loved to take my motorcycle but I had some errands to run and needed the trunk space.
I pulled out of the driveway and headed south to a photo shoot that I was doing for Rolling Stone magazine. It was being shot at a small studio in Culver City. I had hoped that it wouldn't take too long, as I dreaded photo shoots more than anything else. Standing still and trying to smile differently every time the photographer asked was a chore. The hair people always tried to tame my wild locks, but usually to no avail. Eventually the stylist would just give up and say it was sexy the way it was. I never understood why they would make me sit in a chair for an hour so that I could look basically the same as I did when I sat down, but what the hell did I know about hair?
My thoughts went back to Bella and how horribly I had screwed up the previous night. I almost let the woman of my dreams slip though my fingers because I was afraid of my damn publicist. I would need to talk with Rosalie soon to straighten things out. Screw what the public wanted; for once I actually wanted something and I was going to be selfish about it. I just hoped that living in my fishbowl for a while wouldn't send her running off to a remote jungle in Brazil just to get away from the prying eyes of Joe public.
My phone buzzed in the compartment between the seats shaking me from my thoughts.
"Rose," I answered.
"So you lost your brother already did you?" She snidely remarked.
"Actually he's been found no thanks to you," I snipped right back. I was in no mood for her bitchiness.
"Excellent, glad to hear. On your way to the shoot?" She asked.
"Yes. God help me if this takes longer than a couple of hours. I only have so much smiling in me today," I groaned.
"Well maybe they'll want emo Edward today and you can frown your distaste though the whole thing," She quipped.
"One can only hope. I gotta go, I don't like talking and driving. Talk to you later," I said trying to maneuver through the thick traffic.
"Alight, good luck and smile purrty," she teased before hanging up.
I took off my Bluetooth headset and concentrated on the directions that I had printed out earlier this morning, not wanting to get lost and end up late. I hated being late more than I hated doing photo shoots.
The rest of the day passed quickly. I was surprised by the photo shoot this morning. The photographer really knew how to make me at ease. He let me wear the clothes I was already wearing for much of the shoot, only changing my shirt for a black button down for the last few shots of the day. I was able to move around and be myself. I didn't even know he was shooting for some of the time because I was distracted by things going on in the room. When he had shown me some of the proofs on his computer before I left, I was shocked at how at ease and relaxed I looked. My mind wandered, thinking that perhaps just being around Bella for a few days had made me loosen up.
I was headed up to Pacific Palisades to have dinner with my parents and Emmett tonight. We were meeting at a small sushi place, the Pearl Dragon. Parking my car on a side street, I walked the short few blocks to the restaurant. I could have used the valet, but preferred to do my own parking when it was easy to find a spot. I walked in and saw that they were sitting at the bar waiting for me.
"Mom, Dad, so good to see you guys," I remarked, giving them both a big hug before taking a seat next to my mom.
"You too sweetie. How was your day?" My mother asked.
"Long, but good. How was your flight? Uneventful I hope?"
"We were delayed a bit in Seattle due to fog, but only arrived about thirty minutes late. Poor Emmett was driving in circles for an hour I think." Dad chuckled glancing over at Emmett who looked slightly worse for the wear.
"Yeah, yeah… if SOMEONE had told me what his computer password was, I could have checked on your flight status," He complained, giving me a death glare.
"Emmett, if you had managed to make it home last night, I could have told you lots of things. You do know that you can check on a flight using the phone right? It's not like it was your only option." I smirked, knowing that he was probably so exhausted from his activities last night that thinking was not high on his priority list right now.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah… whatever," he replied taking a large swallow from his glass of beer.
"Hair of the dog Em?"
"Mr. Masen, we have space at the sushi bar for you, if you would like to follow me?" The hostess interrupted.
"Great. Thanks," I said, as we all stood up and followed her.
"I'm starving. It's about freaking time you got here Edward, what took you so long anyhow?" Emmett grumbled, poking me in the back.
"Yeah it's called work you dumb ass. I didn't sit my butt around the pool all day like I'm sure you did," I quipped, only to be cuffed in the back of the head by my mother.
"Watch your language! You are in public," she chided me quietly.
"Sorry mom," I apologized, hearing Emmett's soft snigger behind me.
We sat down and began ordering an assortment of food from the chef standing before us.
"Dad, did Edward tell you he ran into Bella Swan the other day?" Emmett asked with a sly smirk on his face.
"Really… and how is she?" He asked, sending me a knowing smile letting me know that he knew Emmett was up to something.
"She's hot. I'm pretty sure Eddie boy is thinking about dating her. Isn't that right E?" He smirked over to me.
I let out a big sigh knowing that Emmett was just trying to rile me up. "She's good, a DJ for a local radio station and doing really well for herself," I replied, just as the sushi chef set plates of food down onto the counter in front of us. I said a silent prayer that with food in his mouth, Emmett would shut up and let my love life drop, but my father decided he wasn't quite done with the conversation.
"You know that she's getting a big award tomorrow night, right?" He said between bites of sashimi.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, bewildered that my dad would know anything about Bella.
"She's getting the UCLA Medical Center's Volunteer of the Year award at the benefit tomorrow. You knew that right?" He asked again.
I shook my head and didn't say anything. I wasn't sure how to respond. Why wouldn't Bella have told me that she was receiving an award at the concert I was performing at? I was baffled and feeling slightly irritated that she had kept a secret from me. I thought we were being honest and upfront with one another? I just couldn't help but feel annoyed at the slight.
"I'm sure she's just been nervous about it," Mom said soothingly, rubbing my arm trying to calm the wave of frustration she knew was welling up inside me. She always knew how to keep my emotions in check.
"Yes, she works in the pediatric burn unit a couple times a week. She's started some really great programs that have helped a lot of kids deal with their injuries," he continued, not realizing what he said had bothered me. "Demitri and I are presenting the award to her during your intermission."
"Huh… yeah she didn't mention it." I picked up my tuna roll and stuffed it into my mouth hoping to buy me some time to think.
"Wow Edward, your girl's already keeping secrets…" Emmett butted in to my thoughts, slapping my back hard from around the seat that my mom was in.
"Emmett… Cut. That. Shit. Out," I said through gritted teeth, shoving another bite of sushi into my mouth.
"Boys, stop it. We're here for a nice dinner." Mom glared at the both of us.
We sat and ate in strained silence for a while before my mom asked, "Emmett, why don't you tell us about what you've been up to lately?"
"Yeah Emmett. Why don't you tell mom and dad where you ended up last night? I'm sure we're all curious to know," I teased trying to get back at him for earlier.
"Just making up for your share," he quipped back not answering the question.
"Just because I'm not a man whore…" I started before my mom cuffed me upside my head again, effectively shutting me up.
"Enough! Can't we have one peaceful meal? You two act like you're still children sometimes, I swear," she said, before turning to my father. "Are you about ready? I'd like to go back to the apartment and get some rest. It's been a long day," She added, glaring at both Emmett and I.
"Actually Mom…Dad…E… I need to talk to you guys about something," Emmett said looking very serious for the first time this evening. "I am thinking about moving to Los Angeles in July. I put my notice in on my apartment and have told work already."
"What?" We all replied at the same time looking shocked that Emmett was thinking about moving away from his beloved New York City.
"I just miss you guys and since Edward is here and you guys fly down all the time for Dad's work, I figured maybe it was time to come back to the family." He grinned warmly at us but had a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.
"What's wrong Emmett, you sleep with all the women in New York and you are now trying to make your mark here?" I teased, trying to get him to say what the BUT was that I knew was coming.
"No… Jeez E, give me a little credit. Actually I'm bringing it up now because I want to know if I can stay at your place until I find a job and a place of my own." He looked down at his beer sheepishly.
"Well, I'm going out on tour in mid-July, so it will be good to have a house sitter for a month or so, but when I get back over Labor Day I want you out!" I stated, only slightly joking. I didn't need him around if I was trying to maintain a relationship with Bella. Hell, I just didn't need him around period; I had never had a roommate and didn't want to start now.
"That's great Emmett. It will be nice to see you more often. Do you have any leads for jobs?" Dad asked while rubbing Mom's back soothingly.
"A couple, but maybe when you're at the hospital this week you can ask around for me?" Emmett grinned broadly, lifting his eyebrows and cocking his head. The move he always did when he was asking for a favor.
"I'll see what I can do, but while you're here this weekend you should do some poking around on your own. You can't expect us all to do your work for you," Dad reminded him. "Honey, you mentioned you were tired, are you ready?"
Mom nodded and bid us goodnight. "We'll see you tomorrow. It's a big night for Edward and your father, so perhaps you can keep the bickering to a minimum?" She bent down and kissed both of our cheeks before gliding out of the restaurant.
"So, what do you want to do now?" Emmett asked with a huge mischievous grin on his face.
"I'm tired Em, can we go back home? Maybe play some X-box or something?" I answered, suddenly feeling dead on my feet. "This way I can have a nice big glass of scotch and not worry about driving home," I finished.
"You know I'm going to kick your ass at Madden, right?" He taunted.
"You know I got a pre-release copy of Madden 10 right? Doubt you've played it yet, so I think I'll be the one doing the ass whooping tonight," I laughed, settling the bill and giving the chef a nice tip for his excellent service.
"Let's go before I make you walk home," I said, as we made our way out to the car.
"Whatever man, I'd just end up finding a pretty lady to stay with. You know the power of my dimples."
"Shut up and get in the car."
"I'm just saying…"
"Yeah, yeah…" I started the engine and we drove off into the night. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day…
A/N
So what did you think? Did Bella forgive too easily?? Why is she keeping her attendance at the benefit a secret?? Tune in to find out.
Hopefully this next chapter won't take more than a week to get out. It's almost done being written. If you review, I may even send you a little sneak peek into the next chapter. It's Benefit Time!!!
