A Chapter, No Debate About It: A Lesson in Arbitration
. . .
From start to finish, the adoption of Jasper Whitlock took five months and eight days. This seemed to Edward both an awfully short and tremendously lengthy epoch in his life, being four months shy of the time most men had to prepare for parenthood but five months of waiting too many. That time had also been a great agent of change. The proof was standing not ten yards away from Edward, engaging in a cheerful goodbye with his biological parents. Now a thirteen-year-old with a hatless head of dirty-blond curls and a sprinkling of pimples across his cheeks, Jasper was growing up.
He wasn't the only person in the Cullen household who had changed. Gone was the Edward of jeans and pocket thesauruses. In his stead was a composed man dressed to distinction in a black, tailored suit, his hair slicked to the side. The day Edward had committed to adopting Jasper, he'd committed to some growing up of his own. In his mind, that meant a stricter dietary and sleeping regiment, recycling, professional apparel, and a thousand other superficial things that, in actuality, made him no more an adult than anyone else his age.
The one person who hadn't changed a mite was Emmett, unless doubling his mischief as the "fun uncle" counted. There wasn't another person on Earth who could make Edward's life simultaneously perfect and a living nightmare.
"Hello, Daddy. Or is it going to be Mommy?" the prankster asked, recklessly leaping down several of the courtyard steps to reach his business partner. "Personally, I see you as more of a maternal presence."
"I don't think it's going to be either. Ultimately, it's up to Jasper, but my vote goes toward sticking with Edward. It's a classic, and I bet it'll make him look cool with the kids at school."
"Or maybe Jasper will do that thing where he compresses words and you'll end up being Dadward."
Though remaining cool, calm, and inexpressive in the face of surprise or revulsion was part of Edward's new adult directive, he couldn't control his growing scowl. "I'll bet you a million dollars you can't resist suggesting that to Jasper," Edward said, hoping to curb Emmett's gag from the off.
"You hate it that much?"
"Forget betting, I will pay you a million to not suggest that to Jasper."
Emmett guffawed and clapped Edward on the shoulder. "In all seriousness, how does it feel to have the adoption finalized?"
"Mostly I feel relieved. All the excitement and novelty came when the adoption went through last month. To have it finalized and official… All that's left is relief that they can't take it back now." Edward nodded towards the Whitlocks, who were still happily chatting away with Jasper. They'd paid him more attention in the past months than they had his entire life, and Edward was hopeful they'd keep in contact to help him heal, albeit from far away and through email.
The adoption had been altogether easier and more amicable than Edward could have ever dreamt, thanks to Emmett's particular brand of genius and something he called "Inception-ing."
"What we have to do," Emmett had explained all those months ago, "is plant the seed of adoption in their head through subtle hints and blanketed innuendo. Then, when the time is right, they ask you to adopt Jasper."
Edward had been skeptical—nay, incredulous at the absurdity of Emmett's proposal (even after watching the movie)—but there was no downside to at least giving it a try. Any other option they'd come up with would almost unquestionably result in a feud with the family and a possible legal battle. Two months after they started planting seeds, harvest came and Edward was a believer. By the time the Whitlocks had "won" a yearlong, worldwide, all-expenses-paid, booze cruise for two from the same anonymous company that had given them a new computer a few years back, they practically broke Edward's phone petitioning him to take custody of Jasper.
Another two months after that, the Whitlocks terminated their parental rights and Jasper came home with Edward—this time for keeps. Today, a final decree of adoption had been entered, meaning Jasper officially belonged to Edward and, more importantly, Edward to Jasper.
The clearing of Edward's throat warned Emmett of a sentimental tonal shift coming his way. "Emmett, I—"
"Don't you dare make this uncomfortable."
"But I wouldn't have—"
"I know."
"I need to thank—"
"No, you don't."
"Can I just say—"
"No."
"—one thing?"
Emmett loosened his tie and popped the top button on his shirt. "One thing. You get one thing."
"You're my lawyer and my business partner," Edward said, decidedly staring at Jasper, who looked like he was wrapping things up. "And you're also my best friend."
"That's hella sad." Emmett tucked his hands into his pant pockets and swayed away from Edward. "You're my BFF, too."
Edward's eyebrows shot up. "It's a good thing you're wearing sunglasses, because I believe you're getting choked up."
"You wanna fight?"
"Not a chance. You'd mess up my hair."
Jasper finished his goodbyes with a not entirely awkward hug from Mrs. Whitlock and a pat on the head from Mr. Whitlock, then sprinted up to Edward and Emmett. He was in the middle of a growth spurt, growing taller and skinnier everyday, so his dash wasn't devoid of gawkiness, but he managed up the stone steps okay with a gleeful, "Hey, Dadward!"
Edward stared at Jasper, grinding his teeth, before turning on Emmett. "I take back everything I just said, and you're fired."
Emmett was too busy laughing to take any offense. "Texted it to him when you weren't looking. Fun uncle strikes again!" He held up his hand to Jasper for a high five.
Once Jasper's high five had landed, Edward rolled his eyes and pulled the teen into a one-armed hug. "Hey, buddy. You're stuck with me now." With a kiss on top of his shaggy head, Edward released a horrified Jasper.
"Edward, be cool. We're in public," Jasper said, rubbing his hair back into place.
"Yeah, Edward, be cool. Props not sops."
"What does that even mean?"
"Resist the urge to be soppy by fist-bumping instead," Emmett said.
The sun was shining down on their moment. It had been a blissfully cloud-free, rainless morning, and Edward liked to think of it as the sun blessing the adoption. "Moving on," Edward said. "I believe a victory dinner is in order. Where would you like to eat, Jasper?"
"What restaurants can I choose from?"
"You have the pick of the town. Choose something five-star, if you'd like. Heck, I could even tolerate a visit to our friend Laurent on a day like this," Edward said. "Well, you can pick anywhere except—"
"IHOP! I pick IHOP! We haven't been there in months."
"No," Edward said firmly.
"Please," Jasper implored. "S'il vous plaît. Pretty please. Please with a cherry on top. Pa-lease."
"You're not ten anymore. That ploy has lost its charm."
"But it worked on you the first time we met… at IHOP. We have to go there. It's symbolic."
"Kid has a point," Emmett chimed. "This reluctance wouldn't have anything to do with a fella that rhymes with Bella?"
Edward bristled at the name, which he hadn't heard on anyone else's lips in a very long time. "You cannot taunt me into saying yes to IHOP."
"Is that a challenge?" Emmett asked. "Because I got ammunition, dude. You should have heard some of the things Bella said the last time we—"
"Ah, ah, ah." Edward covered his ears. "I don't want to hear any of that." Months ago when he had sent Emmett to parley with Bella regarding his and Jasper's secret, he had insisted that Emmett never divulge the contents of that conversation. Agreeable or angry, happy or sad, no good would come of hearing her final thoughts on the relationship that never was. If she'd wanted to give it another try with Edward, it wouldn't have mattered, because his sole focus from then on was Jasper. And Edward was too much of a coward to find out if she'd had any other reaction.
"Seriously, dude? It's been five months and you're still not man enough to face your ex?"
Jasper was silently remonstrating by pointing to himself, then hopping up and down on one foot. I hop. Funny.
"Stop that," Edward ordered, worried the teen's newfound clumsiness would kick in and he'd kill himself by hitting his head on the stone steps.
"Well?" Emmett asked. "Are you made of chicken, or are you made of man?"
"Okay, I'm only addressing this because what you said is entirely inaccurate, not because you questioned my manhood. She is not my ex. We never got to that point."
"Then why are you so hung up on her?"
"Because they vibed," Jasper chirped.
"Did they now? Edward, you never told me that, you sly dog."
"I'm not hung up on her! I've hardly thought about her since this whole thing started. This is the first time in months her name has even crossed my mind." Both Jasper and Emmett shot him unconvinced glances. "I'm serious. Jasper, consider this my first piece of fatherly wisdom. Not every relationship you form is going to turn out to be marriage and babies. That's how dating is supposed to work."
"Obviously I don't disagree with that line of thinking," Emmett said. "But if you believe what you're saying, then why the objection?"
"I—"
"And think about this. After you so adeptly delivered that accurate but quite cynical piece of advice, do you really want to teach young Jasper that he has to be afraid of frequenting businesses his exes, excuse me, the people he previously dated might visit or work at?"
Edward's eyes narrowed. "You are a talented lawyer."
"It is true," Emmett said, nodding sagely in agreement.
The drive over to IHOP was excruciating. A painful stomach knot seemed to be trying to twist itself free of Edward's body, and he couldn't figure the reason. What he had told Jasper and Emmett was true; he did not think about her often, if at all. When he'd blocked her number the morning of his epiphany, that was it for him, and to dwell on what could have been was pointless. He sat rigidly in the passenger seat of Emmett's Jeep and then in their old, usual booth at IHOP, focusing on how not terrifying this was going to be.
A pretty, young waitress with curly, ginger hair pulled back in a ponytail bounced over to their table. "Welcome to IHOP! Have you had a chance to look over our menu?"
Edward hardly had time for a moment of respite before Jasper started yammering. "Yes. I'd like your Original Buttermilk Pancakes. Actually, can you make that a double order? I'm famished. And can you bring another bottle of—"
"Is your name actually Renee, or is that old name tag machine still acting up?"
"What was that, hun?" the waitress asked, turning to Edward.
"I'm sorry," Edward said, double-checking the name tag to make sure his mind wasn't playing tricks. Indeed, it was déjà vu. "Is your name Renee?"
"Yes," the waitress said slowly. "Renee Dash."
Edward wasn't sure if he was disappointed or relieved. And why would he feel either of those things in the first place? "Oh."
"Why the crazy, Edward?" Emmett asked.
"What he really wants to know is if Bella Swan still works here," Jasper blurted without tact or sympathy for Edward's plight.
"Who?"
"Bel-la Sw-an," Jasper enunciated.
"Sorry, sweets. I don't think I've met anyone by that name, and I've worked here near two months."
"Fine by me," Jasper said into his menu. "As I was saying, can you bring another bottle of ketchup? This one is almost empty. Oh, and to drink, I'd actually like two things…"
As Jasper and Emmett ordered, Edward tried to sort his feelings out on this newest development. So, Bella didn't work at IHOP anymore. Edward wondered when she had quit. According to Renee Dash, it had to have been at least two months ago, but perhaps it could have been longer… like five months ago. Edward shook his head at his narcissism. It was more likely Bella had quit IHOP after she graduated to pursue a career in writing, not as a means of avoiding awkward confrontations with a man she'd hardly dated.
"Edward? Edward!"
"Yes?"
"It's your turn to order."
"Right." Edward folded up his menu and handed it to Renee. "A stack of pancakes for me, as well, please." The college graduation theory made the most sense and fit the timeline. He knew for certain, because in a moment of weakness, Edward had checked the list of Seattle University 2013 summer graduates to ensure Bella's name was among them.
But no, he didn't think about her often. At. All.
"So… Edward, you've adopted Jasper," Emmett said, reaching to fill the lull that had fallen over their table. "Discuss."
Edward tilted his head, eyeing Jasper with a smirk. "Now that everything is official and there are no take-backs, I've decided it's time to start abusing my new power. A list of chores awaits him when he gets home. I'm going to turn him into a real Cinderella."
"Yeah… That's not going to happen," Jasper said.
"I believe I'm the authority figure in this relationship."
"And I believe you believe you're the authority figure in this relationship."
The three collapsed back into their familiar banter, and Edward didn't spare a further thought toward that other IHOP waitress.
Not one thought.
Really.
. . .
The rain was pouring down, as if atoning for the sunshine of the prior day, pounding portentously on the stained glass of Edward's office windows. He didn't mind the storm or the distraction it provided. As long as it rained, he could sit back, immersed in the effect of raindrops on stained-colored patterns. The window resembled a flower. Made up of nine individual panes, it had one circular eye and eight rounded, evenly distanced petals enclosing it. No matter how many times the petals were plucked, Edward landed on she loves me not.
With a sigh, Edward spun away from the window and instead stared at the empty desk he'd ordered for Jasper when the adoption papers had been filed. He shouldn't have bothered. Jasper was hardly ever in the office with him, being that this was the first time he could walk through the front doors, undisguised, and actually interact with the employees who made his vision a cyber-reality. Being surrounded by all things BITE had done wonders for his imagination; he had been developing his best storylines in years.
The employees considered him a breath of fresh air, as well. They didn't know the extent of his involvement with BITE, but no pains had been taken to hide Jasper's visionary flair, either, since Edward was grooming him to take over the business one day, or so the gossip claimed. It wasn't rare that Edward would observe a group of adults circled around Jasper, listening intently to his ideas and laughing at the occasional joke. Perhaps they were brownnosing, but something about the way they hung on his every word led Edward to believe they were genuinely fascinated.
Edward was elated Jasper blended so splendidly with the workers, but the empty desk made the office feel lonely, especially today. Since their trip to IHOP, Edward hadn't been able to shake off the morose bubble that seemed to expand each time he pretended it had nothing to do with Bella.
At the thought of her name, his hand twitched toward his desk drawer, then yanked back to his lap guiltily. What was he doing? That drawer hadn't been opened in five months—three weeks, if Edward stopped lying to himself—and he'd sworn that would be the last time. Yet, the drawer shook and called to him like the floorboards in The Tell-Tale Heart. Casting one last glance at Jasper's empty desk to double-check that he was indeed alone, Edward slid open the drawer and removed the false bottom. Hidden in there were two items: a newspaper article and a drawing.
Two faint finger-trails had become visible in the sand from months of tracing and retracing the drawing's texture, and a few grains broke free of the glue as Edward did it now. Occasionally, That Place would crop up in his dreams. He was never able to remember much about it the next morning, except that Bella wasn't there with him.
Edward flicked the drawing to the side and slumped over his desk with his head on his forearms, an uncomfortable position given the inflexible measurements of his suit. He stayed that way, flipping through his memories like a stack of pictures: Bella at IHOP wearing her customer service best, Bella at the interview in all her rage and fury, Bella on their first date with that engaging smile. It had been a long time since Edward permitted himself to think of Bella so much, considering he'd gotten over her almost the second he decided to adopt Jasper.
Sure.
She did make quite an impression though, didn't she? Edward admitted.
Dude, get over it already, a thought that sounded eerily like Emmett responded. It was only six dates.
It was only six dates. There was so much I didn't get to know about her before we…
Edward sat up as everything came into focus. Technically, neither Edward nor Bella had formally ended their courtship. They'd simply stopped talking to each other.
All these months, what Edward had needed was closure.
How could he get it? Now that he'd figured out the diagnosis, he was desperate to fill the prescription, but all lines of communication with Bella had been shut down long ago, and he wouldn't re-open them even if he could. Maybe if he asked Emmett about their last conversation… A wave of dread flooded his body that had little to do with the snarky thought Emmett-voice responded with. Nope, that wasn't an option either.
And then it hit him.
"Carmen?" Edward pressed the intercom button to his assistant's desk. "Carmen, can you come in here? I could use your help."
"I'll be there in a jiffy, Mr. Cullen." He'd just managed to shove the drawing and newspaper back into their drawer when Carmen poked her head through his door. "What can I do for you?"
"If I wanted to look someone up in the BITE database, how would I go about doing that?"
"It's easy as long as you have your access code," Carmen said, walking the distance between the door and the desk.
Edward surrendered his chair to her as per their usual routine. "Where do I get that at?"
"They change it every three hours to prevent hacking. It should be sent to your phone via text."
"So that's what those alerts are," Edward said, fiddling with his phone until the messages with the complicated letter and number sequences came up. "And all these years, I've thought it was SPAM."
Carmen smiled fondly and sat down in Edward's seat. "You geniuses are all the same. You can do the most complex programming in the world, but you can't walk in a straight line. Who would you like to look up? I'll need a name and either an email address or the region he or she lives in."
"Search for Isabella Swan in either Forks or Seattle, Washington." There was something about never seeing her again that made Edward feel quite at liberty to break his promise and invade Bella's privacy. This would satiate his curiosity on all the things he'd never gotten to find out in person and give him the resolution he craved. And the best part was she'd never know.
"Here you go," Carmen said, passing the computer back to him.
A slight tremble seized Edward's hand as he took control of the mouse. On the screen was a list of several files pertaining to Isabella Swan of Seattle, Washington. He clicked on the first one and scrolled through pages of number-filled Excel worksheets. "What is this?" he asked, his excitement deflating somewhat. He had been hoping for a picture of her character.
"Let me see. Those are payroll records. The BITE, Inc. database encompasses most of the departments in BITE, as well as the users."
"Hmm." Edward closed out of that file and opened another. It was a copy of a paycheck, and Bella's name was on the top line. "Why would BITE, Inc. be compensating Bella Swan?"
"Probably because she works here."
"She works here?" Edward screeched.
"Well, I don't know," Carmen said gently. "I don't meet a lot of the other employees. But here, we can check." With a few taps on the keyboard, Carmen had pulled up another screen. "Ah, see here. New hire paperwork. It looks like it was processed in late June."
"Three months ago!"
"Mr. Cullen, are you all right?"
Something very close to hyperventilation was stirring in Edward. "Excuse me," he gasped, sweeping around his desk and making a break for the door.
Every step down the hallway was faster than the last, as was each beat of his heart. What the fuck was going on? He reached the second floor peak and almost flung himself over the railing in pure heedlessness as, frantically, he searched the faces of everyone he could see in the Bitcave. Why did BITE, Inc. have to hire so many fucking employees? He reached up to his hair to release some of the mounting tension with a good, old-fashioned tug, but found it gelled to his head. Fucking hair product!
"Listen up!" he yelled to the Bitcave with every ounce of agitation he felt. Sheer will wasn't enough to carry his voice across a room with hundreds of busy workers or even halfway across the room. He did, however, catch the attention of a gaggle of interns taking a coffee break right below the peak. It would have to do. "Do any of you know who Bella Swan is?"
The interns looked among themselves in consternation before one brave candidate stepped forward. "Bella Swan is BITE's senior story editor, sir," he answered confidently, as if this was a pop quiz.
"Where does she work?"
"Uh… at BITE, sir."
"I know that," Edward said, trying to contain his exasperation with the only helpful person in the room. "I'm talking location. Does she work in this building?"
"Ooooh. Yes, sir. I believe her office is one of those." The boy pointed to a cluster of offices on the second floor directly across from Edward. He took off without another word, leaving the intern to wonder if he'd passed the CEO's impromptu assessment.
In outright panic mode now, Edward flung open the first door he encountered in the line of offices. Startled, the head of the accounting department barely had time to say hello before Edward slammed the door and moved onto the next. Down the row he went, without concern or acknowledgment to the residents inside, and with every door, Edward grew increasingly chaotic, to the point where he could barely recall what he was looking for. In fact, the twelfth office he tried might not have registered on his radar at all if it wasn't for a particular head of dirty-blond curls.
When Jasper turned around to see who was at the door, he was mid-laugh, sitting cross-legged on top of a desk… a desk that Bella Swan, with her unchanged beauty, was sitting behind. Edward blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing things, because not only was she sitting in an office at BITE headquarters, it looked like Jasper was enjoying her company. Or he had been until the smiles slipped from both their faces.
Silence.
Not a question. Not an excuse. Not a word.
Jasper recovered first. He smiled, not his signature cocky grin, but the remorseful grin of a kid whose hand was caught in the cookie jar. "Edward, I know what this looks like," he said in a squeak. "And I know you might be angry. But let's focus on the positive. I've found an excellent writing partner."
Nope. Edward wasn't ready for words yet. He stepped back and closed the door without another glance at the duo, making his way back to his office in a haze, unaware of the multiple sets of eyes peering out of door cracks and the unprecedented quiet that had settled in the Bitcave. Carmen inquired about his well-being, but all he could manage was a shake of his head and the dramatic double parting of his office doors.
What. The. "FUCK!" It was a feral, wretched cry, the likes of which had never come out of Edward before. What was Jasper trying to do to him? Send him to an early grave? And Bella. How dare she? How dare she trespass in such an insolent and unethical manner? To not even ask Edward if he wanted her here… It was insulting.
Edward stopped short in his outrage. It'd been a few months, but that didn't sound like the Bella he'd known at all. It did, however, reek of the puppet-master. He thought back to the moment Bella had realized he was standing in her office. Had she seemed surprised? Upset? Guilty? He couldn't recall, his own shock clouding the moment.
Clamoring over to Jasper's desk, Edward pulled out and emptied every drawer until he found what he was looking for: a box of transponders, specifically one with the label Bella Swan's Office. He switched the little knob on top of the device to turn it on and collapsed back in Jasper's chair to listen.
"—his problem? He's been ignoring me for months, and then he storms in and acts like I'm the one with the problem. I don't think so."
"I know, Bella, but—"
"No, I'm done with this bullshizz. You don't know what it's like coming in day after day when your boss, or whatever he is, treats you like you're below dirt, not even worth a side-glance."
"There's probably an explanation." At Jasper's probably, Edward jerked back. Probably an explanation? Probably?
"I can appreciate your loyalty, but please don't defend him. He doesn't deserve it. When you hand in my resignation, you can tell him I said to pull that stick out of his ass."
A tingle ran up and down Edward's spine as Bella talked about his ass, and not the kind one would expect when someone wanted to pull a stick out of it. It was as Edward had thought. He had adopted a double-crossing, life-sucking sociopath, but it could be worse. While there were still plenty of questions, to Edward's relief, it didn't sound like Bella could answer any of them.
"Come on, Bella. You can't quit. You love your job, and you're so good at it. Even Edward says so."
"When have I ever?" Edward angrily asked the transponder.
"He says that the storylines we're coming up with are the most inspired in years."
"But he doesn't know Bella came up with those storylines!" Edward said.
"If Edward likes my work, he should tell me to my face."
"What about the money? It's good, right?"
"It's not worth being miserable. It's not worth… this."
"You're miserable? But don't we have fun?" There was a hushed yearning in Jasper's inquiry, one Edward recognized from all those times he'd asked to be adopted. What had happened in the past five months that it was now directed toward Bella?
"Jasper, you know I love working with you," Bella said tenderly. "This is my dream job, but it's complicated. I really thought Edward and I had something before it went sour, and to have it brutally shoved in my face every single day… Well, let's just say I didn't know Edward could be so cruel. I can't work for a man like that."
Edward shot up, ready to march back to that office to defend himself and give Jasper a good spanking.
"I have to tell you something about Edward, and you're not going to like it."
The spanking could wait. Edward sat back down and pulled the chair as close to the transponder as possible.
"If it's that Edward has been replaced with a brainless, soulless, suit-wearing robot, I already knew that, thank you."
"It's a different theory, though I like that one much better." Jasper took his time with a long hesitation. "Edward doesn't know you've been working here. Or at least, he didn't until a few minutes ago."
A sharp bark of laughter rang from her office through Edward's. "Don't be ridiculous. That's impossible. He practically begged me to come here." There was a large gasp, followed by, "No, no, no, no, no. Oh, Jasper, you didn't." Bella's voice had gone from one kind of outrage to another.
"I did," Jasper said, and he at least had the decency to sound repentant. "I'm so, so, so, so, so sorry, but it was the only way to get you to come work here."
"But… but… That's not possible. There were things in that email you couldn't have possibly known."
Email? After picking up the transponder, Edward scrambled over to his computer. If it was sent from his account, there had to be a way to locate that email.
"I'm sorry."
"But I saw his signature on the paperwork."
"Forged. I'm sorry."
"But Emmett… Certainly he wouldn't…"
"He was the forger. I'm sorry."
Emmett was in on this, too? The pop of a knuckle cracked the air as Edward clutched the computer mouse in ire. McCarty was a dead man.
"I— I have to go talk to Edward, to set this all straight. What he must think of me… I can't imagine."
"No, that's not a good idea." A chair scraped the floor, followed by a thud. It sounded like Jasper had blocked her in. "Trust me on this one."
"What about this situation do you think warrants trust? Did you see the look on his face? He hates me."
"Edward? No, he practically loves you. He was surprised is all. Uh… are you okay? You aren't going to cry, are you?"
"No, I'm not crying," Bella said irritably. "But you have no idea… You don't know what it's been like. I thought he… I thought he didn't… Never mind."
"I feel like it's my fault. Have I mentioned I'm sorry?"
"It is your fault."
"You don't understand the circumstances."
"There are circumstances? You didn't tell me that before! Now everything's all better, and we can have ice cream and be merry."
"I'm serious."
"No, I'm being serious. You can't play with people's lives like this. It's wrong."
"You go, girl," Edward mumbled, listening as he scrolled through his sent email.
"I wasn't playing with your life, I swear. I didn't expect everything to go down this way. It just kind of played out. At first, I didn't even want you to work for us. Ask Edward."
"I would go ask him, if you'd kindly remove yourself from the door."
"Wait, let me just explain one thing first." She didn't speak her consent, but Edward assumed she'd granted it because Jasper said, "This wasn't about you and Edward. Not really, at least. That day everything happened, after I got back from talking to you, I went over to Edward's house. I found the blackmail in Edward's briefcase on his bed and freaked out, because I'd just blabbed everything to you and I realized you were the blackmailer—"
"I would never—"
"I know! I mean, I know that now. But I was stupid back then. Edward wasn't, though. He made me a deal that if you were the blackmailer, he'd break up with you."
Bella made an offended little noise.
"But he knew you weren't, so it didn't matter," Jasper insisted. "And he made me promise that if you weren't the blackmailer, I had to make an effort to get along with you. Us Cullens never go back on a deal. So you see, even though you and Edward weren't dating anymore, I had to make an effort to get to know you."
"And that's why you kept showing up at IHOP, even though Edward didn't."
"Exactly. I never expected to like you so much. You know, in a not gross, you're old and dated Edward sort of way."
Was that a faint chuckle from Bella? Edward had halted searching through his email around Jasper's line about not going back on a deal. That boy was good at smoothing things over. Too good. Edward would have to be on point when his turn with Jasper came.
"It got to where our IHOP meetings were the best part of my day, because ya know, Alice was gone, and Edward got all weird after he decided to adopt me."
"What do you mean he got weird?" Sympathy. Her voice was thick with it, and Edward knew she was a goner, putty in Jasper's hands. She'd lasted over ten minutes, which wasn't a bad run for an amateur.
"You're not the only one who thinks he's got a stick up his ass." Edward's jaw went slack. That ungrateful, totally grounded jerk! "He thinks he had to change that way to adopt me. I don't know where he got that—"
Edward switched off the transponder and sat back stiffly in his seat. He had no interest in listening to more insults on his character and Bella's acquiescence, so instead, he began to form a picture of what had been going on under his nose all these months with the clues he'd collected. The one thing he knew for sure was that Jasper had started visiting Bella on his own and, from the sound of it, quite often. After that, he was working under two theories.
Theory One: Jasper claimed that he'd pursued a friendship, because he was holding up his end of a deal. If that was true, Edward could imagine Jasper and Bella falling into easy conversation over the game they both loved, especially with Jasper's dry spell and Bella's knack for intriguing storylines, which could have lead to an unexpected job offer.
Theory Two: Emmett had come up with this ploy to ensure Bella's silence, appealing to her soft spot for Jasper. He maneuvered Bella into the company to get her to sign the routine non-disclosure agreement all employees had to sign, therefore covering their butts in the legal department.
Bonus Theory: Everyone sucked, and none of it mattered anyway.
Whatever the explanation, Jasper had spent enough time with Bella that when "Edward" had sent an email asking her to join the team, she'd accepted. That email was not to be found in Edward's outbox. He'd searched twice, but either Jasper had deleted it to cover his trail or sent it from another account entirely. Pity, Edward thought. It must have been some email to convince Bella to work in this house of lies.
The one thing Edward was not ruminating on was what this meant for him and Bella. That morning, and every morning for five months and nine days, he'd woken up believing, without a shadow of a doubt, he'd never see her again. And now, here she was, not only in the same building as him but under his employ. He'd deal with Jasper first and then tackle that particular kettle of fish.
A dim knock interrupted Edward's non-thoughts on Bella. The door creaked open, and Jasper's nose peeked in, then edged its way into the room with the rest of his body. Everything from the way he observed his trashed desk down to each uneasy squirm was methodical. "Before you start yelling," he said, standing about three feet in front of Edward's desk, "I need you to know that we were planning on telling you by the end of the week. That's why we took you to IHOP yesterday. We thought it'd help cushion the blow if you were already thinking about her."
Edward didn't move, except to twist his cufflink around and around, as he considered Jasper's approach. Even as an innocent, Jasper had been conniving, an unfortunate byproduct of his upbringing, but it was only in the last year or so that he'd fine-tuned his craft to a chilling degree. With grains of truth, he could spin lies as smooth as the Devil's horns. Edward didn't deny his part, knowing it was he who had created an environment where deceit was part of BITE's survival.
"It didn't occur to you to tell me sooner?" Edward asked calmly, deciding to let Jasper's gambit play out.
"Of course it did. And we tried. Believe me. But every time we said Bella's name, you'd clam up and tell us you didn't want to hear it."
"Doesn't seem that hard to me. Over breakfast one morning or perhaps when you're walking out the door, you say, 'Heads up, Edward. Bella's working at BITE, Inc. See ya later.' I guarantee I would have wanted to know more."
"We were worried about you because of how stressed you were with the adoption and everything, so we decided to wait until after it was finalized."
"But that wasn't the only reason, was it? Oh, don't play stupid. You and Emmett like your mischief. Fess up."
Rocking back and forth on his feet, Jasper admitted, "There was maybe a bet to see how long it'd take for you to figure it out."
"Who won?"
"You did." Jasper couldn't help a smirk. "Neither of us could have guessed in a million years you were preoccupied to the point of three months. And I wasn't even trying to keep you apart. This one time, and I swear I'm not making this up, you walked right past her. You were like a foot apart from each other and she was looking at you, and you just kept walking."
"That did not happen."
"I witnessed it with my own eyes."
Edward remembered what Bella had said about not being worth a side-glance and cringed. His heart cracked for her, even if the blame wasn't his to stomach. "Let's put aside the fact that you and Emmett were having a laugh at my expense, because that I can and do handle on a daily basis. What really qualifies you as the world's biggest jerks is the fact that you didn't show an ounce of respect for mine or Bella's feelings on the matter."
"You don't understand the circumstances."
"Yes, I do." Edward held up the transponder. "Cullen men never back out of a deal, right? How that translates to hiring Bella behind my back, I can't quite figure."
Jasper eyed the transponder warily. "You heard the whole thing, then?"
"I cut out around, 'You're not the only one who thinks Edward has a stick up his ass.'"
"I'm sorry I said that, but—"
"I don't want to hear it. You were explaining the circumstances behind your backstabbing treachery. Please continue."
"Right." Jasper shifted his weight and swung his arms behind his back. "What I told Bella was true, just not the whole truth. I went to IHOP on my own after the whole thing went down, because I felt bad about everything I'd done, especially because you had to give something up when you decided to adopt me. Bella wasn't exactly happy to see me at first, but I kept showing up trying to get her to talk to me. There was this one time when Bella was working the night shift and there wasn't anyone else there besides me, so Bella brought over a deck of cards and said we could play, as long as we didn't talk about you."
"When was this?"
"I started going like a week after Emmett talked to Bella."
Edward dipped his head somberly, realizing more than simple guilt had lead Jasper back to IHOP. This had happened during a time when Jasper was spending nights at his biological parents' house as part of Emmett's strategy to plant those adoption seeds. Of course Jasper would fall back into old habits, haunting his childhood refuge.
"Anyway, I kept going back and eventually, Bella started asking me questions about how I came up with BITE. That morphed into us discussing the game and talking about all the storylines. She's really good at coming up with stuff. She told me about some of her old role-plays and things she did with her coven, and they were so good. Honestly, they were as good as most of the stuff I'd come up with. That's when I told Emmett I'd been meeting with her in secret."
Edward reconsidered his vow to murder Emmett upon hearing he hadn't been involved from the off. "How long had you been talking to Bella when you went to Emmett?"
"I don't know. Maybe a month or two or somewhere in the middle. I'm not sure, but Emmett made this joke about how it'd be awesome if we could get her on the BITE staff, because we were taking it on cookies and unicorns that she wouldn't go to the press or police. I latched onto the idea, because I'd been coming up with my best stuff since talking with her, and the rest is history."
Jasper's story seemed to be a mix of Theories One and Two, which said to Edward that he knew him well enough to understand his actions after the fact, but not enough to stop them ahead of time. He made a mental note to work on that.
"What did the email say?" Edward asked.
"Which email?"
"The one you sent Bella on my behalf to convince her to come work with us."
"Oh, yeah. That email. It was a long one since, ya know, you can get wordy, but it basically said that I had talked you in to bringing her on board as my writing partner if she'd like a job after college."
"That can't be all. Bella said that there were things in that email you couldn't have known. That's what I'm particularly interested in."
"Funny, seeing as that's kind of the part I'm not interested in telling you." Jasper let out a small, hopeful laugh, which Edward beat down with his lion's glare. "Okay, it said that you'd kept the picture she made, the one with us at the beach and the campfire, and even though you knew That Place was out of reach right now, you still liked to pull it out when no one was looking and imagine the three of us were there. I made it very poetical."
Edward was on his feet in an instant. "Where is it?"
"Where's what? The email?"
"No, the camera, smart guy."
"What camera?"
"The one you've been using to spy on me."
"I don't spy on you anymore! You said I'd be grounded for life if you caught me bugging your office again."
"Then how did you know about the picture?" Edward pushed. "I never showed it to you."
"I found it the old-fashioned way, snooping through your desk. You never said that was illegal."
"Then how did you know that I—" Edward cut himself short of admitting out loud what he did with that picture.
"Whoa, wait a minute. Do you actually do that? 'Cause I was just trying to write something that would make her all gooey. Oh, my God. You do do it!"
"Enough," Edward swiped the desk with his hand. "I'm not going to let you make me feel bad about… anything."
"Are you kiddin' me? This is great!" Jasper was practically hopping with excitement. "This means that not all is lost. You can be fun again! Merci, mon Dieu!"
It took Edward more than a second to formulate a response, and even then, it was one of stunned resentment. "I can be fun again? As in, I'm not fun now?"
"Um, yah," Jasper said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I know I used to call you a fun-sucker, but that was before meeting this new version of Edward Cullen. Stick up the ass was putting it lightly. I mean, look at you!"
"There's nothing wrong with the way I look," Edward said, though he felt the sudden urge to slacken his tie.
"The stuffy suit? The icky hair gel? The vitamins? I mean, come on. Will the real Ed Cullen please stand up?"
"In case it's somehow escaped your attention, I did this for you. You wanted a parent. You got one. A responsible, trustworthy, capable parent."
"Wearing a suit doesn't make you any of those things, so don't even try and turn this around on me." Jasper made a move towards Edward's side of the desk, yanked open the drawer, pulled out the newspaper that had clumsily been stuffed in there earlier, and slammed it into Edward's hands. "This was the Edward I asked to be my parent."
Edward looked down at the newspaper in his hands and could just make out the headline, CEO of BITE, Inc. Not Your Average Cold-Blooded Capitalist. When he looked up, he was smiling not unlike a madman. "Wow. That was a solid performance right there. Did you plan that move with the newspaper ahead of time, or was it a spur of the moment decision?"
"I… I… I… What?"
"Doesn't matter. But credit has to be given where credit is due. You are a good, little manipulator. I thought it the first time we met, but it's practically art now. What were you going to do next? Make your escape by storming out of this office in righteous indignation after what you—you—pulled on me?"
"I was not." The denial didn't live up to the rest of his routine. It was at best a three out of ten.
"Yes, you were." Edward's smile was only getting bigger. "Sit down. It's Father's turn to speak now."
There was a spring in Edward's step as he paced in front of the wriggling—authentically, this time—Jasper. Having the upper hand gave him a strange high, exactly like he'd always imagined. He stopped abruptly and turned to face his kid, knowing the words would come as naturally as if he'd been Jasper's caregiver since birth.
"Jasper, you are a very intelligent, very clever, very creative boy. But of course, you already know that."
"That's nice to he—"
"I need you to zip your lips and give me the key," Edward said in a voice so pleasant it was menacing. He held out his hand, and though Jasper was appalled at being treated like a three-year-old, he did as Edward requested. "Thank you. Now where was I? Smart, creative, and annoying. Very annoying. Why? Because you think you're better than every other person on this darn planet."
"I do not!"
"Ah, ah, ah." Edward dangled the invisible key in front of Jasper's nose. "You do think you're better than everyone else, and even if you're grossly misguided, I can see why. There aren't many adults, much less children, who could take the situation you were born into and make of it what you did. It is truly, in a word, extraordinary. But let's not forget you had help. You needed help. In fact, you literally begged on your knees for my help. You're not a god, Jasper. You're just lucky I'm so gullible."
Jasper's fingers were clenched to the chair on either side of him, and he was practically frothing at the mouth to argue. Edward pressed on.
"I love you, Jasper, and our relationship is about to change because of it. I am now responsible for your upbringing, and that means ensuring you make it to eighteen physically and mentally healthy. You didn't have real parents growing up, but when you asked me to adopt you, you were asking me to be a real parent whether you meant to or not. Our relationship is not going to be one giant slumber party. I am not your friend anymore. I am not even your brother. I am your father," Edward paused on the word. "I am your father, even though it's still weird for us to say. I imagine that will come with time. I am also your protector, your guiding hand, your disciplinarian, your whatever-you-need-me-to-be, not be mistaken with whatever-you-want-me-to-be.
"With all that said, this superiority complex of yours is getting the boot starting now." Edward walked over to Jasper's desk, picked up the box of transponders, and dropped it in the trash. "There will be no more eavesdropping, no more stalking, no more meddling in other people's lives because you think you know better. You know a lot, Jasper, but shockingly, at the ripe age of thirteen, you don't know everything."
"I—"
"Further, you will not cuss. You will not watch movies that are inappropriate for your age. You will not look porn up on the Internet. You will not sneak out of the house. I will know where you are at all times and whom you are with. I'm sure there are a thousand more of these parentisms we need to go over, but do you get the gist? Nod or shake your head."
Horror-struck but coherent, Jasper managed a slight nod.
"Excellent. One more thing. You start high school next month, and while you are in school, you can earn an allowance by working for BITE up to, but no more than, ten hours a week."
Jasper exploded out of his seat. "That's not fair! I was only trying to help!"
"Sit back down."
"No."
"Sit. Back. Down."
Edward held Jasper's defiant glare until the boy was sitting again, with his arms crossed and a scowl set into his jaw. "You thought you were helping," Edward said. "But even if your intentions were one hundred percent pure, which they weren't, what you did was still hurtful."
Jasper turned away, and in his profile, Edward saw his scowl break into a chin wobble. "You hate me now."
"Never," Edward said. "You're a thirteen-year-old genius. Pain-in-the-Ass might as well be your middle name. To an extent, that's part of your charm, but it's also going to get you in a lot of trouble until you learn to tone it down. I'm positive this is only the first of many disciplinary hearings we'll be having over the next five years. But the thing I'm starting to learn about being a parent is that I'll love you no matter how much you piss me off."
Jasper gave a hard nod but still didn't look at Edward. Teenagers, Edward thought. Stubborn even in the sentimental moments. "You're going to be all right," he couldn't help but say.
"Can we negotiate?" Jasper asked, gauging Edward's susceptibility out of the corner of his eye. "This is my company. It's unfair to take it away from me."
Edward crouched down on his knee so he was eye-to-eye with Jasper. "It's the fairest thing there is. Jasper, you're thirteen going on fifty. You will enjoy your youth, if you have to kill me trying."
"This place will burn to the ground without me."
"It won't. I've got this." Edward gave Jasper's shoulder a squeeze and stood. "Now, you're going to stay in this office and handwrite Bella another letter, this time from yourself, apologizing for what you put her through and listing all the reasons you were wrong. Make it thorough, or you'll be re-writing it until I'm satisfied."
"Where're you going?" Jasper asked, watching Edward pick up the trashcan full of transponders and head towards the door.
"I have to go talk to Bella about her new promotion," Edward said. "Carmen will be watching to make sure you don't leave this office."
"What if I have to go to the bathroom?"
"She'll go in with you." Jasper shot him a disgusted grimace. "I'm kidding. I would never do that to poor Carmen."
"Keep walking and know that you walk alone."
Edward paused at the door. "Hey, Jasper. I do love you," he said sincerely.
"Love you, too, Dadward."
To Jasper's displeasure, Edward laughed. "It has a certain ring to it. I don't know why I ever thought differently, Ja-son."
. . .
"Edward?"
A painful-sounding bang, followed by a whimper, answered the call of his name.
"What the hell are you doing under my desk?" Bella asked.
Yep. The universe hated Edward Cullen that much.
