Disclaimer: The Twilight Series and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. Any other characters, settings etc. are property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Chapter 7
The following morning I didn't see Edward before I left for my meeting. He hadn't come back from his morning run on beach, so we didn't have our usual breakfast get together. It worried me.
While driving toward the restaurant, for the meeting with James and Mrs. Reynolds, my mind was filled with doubt. Was Edward avoiding me? What if he realized that what almost happened last night was a mistake? Did he feel I wouldn't fit into his life? Paranoia took over me; I was suddenly afraid that whatever happened —or rather didn't happen— had ruined what we had before.
I shuddered at the thought of not having Edward in my life. I didn't want to lose him and would rather have him as a friend forever over never seeing him again, or just being passing acquaintances.
Time. He just needs time, I kept repeating in my head.
Finally, I was able to pull myself together enough to focus on the meeting at hand.
I got to the restaurant in time; James was already there, waiting for me. He greeted me with a big smile and a compliment, but I was too tense to acknowledge his gallantry.
We sat at the table and waited for Mrs. Reynolds. I couldn't stop thinking about Edward. I needed to go back home and see where we stood. I looked absently at the red tablecloth and drummed my fingers anxiously against the table.
James placed his hand on top of mine, stopping the movement of my shaky fingers. "It's everything all right?" he asked concerned.
I looked at him and nodded. I forced a weak smiled on my lips. "I'm fine," I assured him.
"You can count on me, to help you with anything you need," he offered, acknowledging that he knew I was not fine.
"Thank you, but really, I'm fine."
He shook his head lightly, disagreeing, but decided to let it go. I was thankful for that, and immediately switched into professional mode, talking to him about work. Mrs. Reynolds soon joined us and we started discussing her book and the necessary changes in her story.
Mrs. Reynolds was a very accomplished author who surprisingly had taken the wrong direction on her latest story. She was in her late forties, well educated and strong willed. We ordered our food, and in between bites we dealt with the issues that were bothering her. After much discussion, Mrs. Reynolds agreed to all the changes made to her novel, and we stood to cordially shake hands before she left. It was good to see our client leave with a smile on her face; happy and excited about the new direction her story would go. I was relieved we got her back on track.
As soon as she was out of sight, I flopped down on my chair, letting out a sigh of relief. James sat back down and looked at me, his eyes penetrating. "You were absolutely fantastic," he said, his tone praising.
I shook my head. "When you have logic and reasoning on your side, it's hard to lose an argument."
"I disagree. There's not enough logic or reasoning to fight stubbornness. And you just did that," he said. "Reynolds is the most difficult client we have. And you just convinced her to change her story and she thanked you for it."
I fought the urge to roll my eyes —too unprofessional, instead I smiled. "She knew that it was the right thing to do."
"Bella, Bella," he sang my name. " You were great, just accept it."
I was not going to waste my time arguing with James when I had a very important situation waiting for me at home. I collected my belongings and started placing them inside my messenger bag. "Well, the only thing that matters is that we all agreed, and now we can move on and finish this project on time," I said.
James was handing the check back to the waiter, "Do you have to go now?" he asked, surprising me.
"I thought we were done here," I responded. "Is there anything else we need to take care of?" Please say no, please say no...
"Not work-wise. But I thought we could go somewhere and celebrate our little victory," he said. "And… you hardly touched your food during lunch," he pointed out.
"I don't like eating while I discuss important matters," I explained. "And I really need to go home."
"It's a shame," he complained. "We've been working together for a while and, outside of work, I don't know a thing about you. I would really like to be your friend."
I wasn't that naïve to think that he only wanted to be friends. I really liked working with James, and I didn't want to ruin the good work-relationship we had, so I resorted to humor, "I thought we were friends," I said grabbing my face with both of my hands, in a horror-struck voice.
He smiled at me. "You know what I mean."
I knew it too well. "Sorry James, I really need to go home. I'll see you at the office on Friday, unless you need me before then."
He looked at me disappointed. "Sure."
"I've got to go." I walked toward the exit. I could feel his eyes on my back as I left.
********
I drove home, parked my car, and I saw Edward's silver Volvo still parked in the same spot that it was when I left. I knew, however, his car didn't guarantee his presence.
All I felt was overwhelming relief when I entered my living room and found Edward sitting on my couch reading a book. I walked toward him, an uncontrollable grin spread across my face, "Hey!" I greeted him.
He looked at me, and his smile eased my heart. "Hey you. How was your meeting?"
"It went well." I sat next to Edward and told him about my day, glad that he seemed to think everything was okay.
Edward didn't bring up the subject of our near kiss. I desperately wanted to talk to him about it, but I was not going to push him. If Edward needed time; he would get time.
The rest of the week passed by quickly. On Friday, I was in my office when Alice came in and sat in front of me. "Don't make plans for tomorrow," she ordered.
"Why?" I asked warily.
"Because my mom is organizing an event at the hospital where dad works. And you are coming with us."
I hadn't thought about meeting Edward's parents. It wasn't like I was meeting my future in laws, but it was still intimidating. I bit my lower lip and shook my head softly. "I don't know, Alice."
"Please Bella, do it for the kids?" she pleaded giving me her famous pout.
"What kids?"
Alice smiled at my sudden interest and explained, "Every so often, my mom gathers a group of people, most of them influential, and invites them to visit the pediatric unit in the hospital. Everyone invited takes gifts and treats to the hospitalized children, and then spends the day playing with them. This event brings so much happiness to the kids and their families."
"Wow. It's nice of your mom to do that for the children."
"Yeah. She's been doing this as long as I can remember. It's good for the kids and it give us a chance to give back to our community." She smiled at the thought. "Most of the people that she invites either come back or go on to do good deeds of their own. It's amazing how one simple event could change your life forever."
The experience she described seemed so gratifying. "Count me in."
"I knew you'd go. Be ready at ten. I'll drive you there," she said. "It's in the valley, and I don't want you to get lost," she explained before I told her I could drive myself.
"Okay."
"Thank you." She smiled at me and left the office.
I liked the idea of doing something charitable. I always thought about it but never got to do it. This would be a great opportunity to start. And meeting Edward and Alice's parents under these circumstances wouldn't be so bad.
I called the hospital to find out how many kids were in the pediatric unit, and their ages. After work I went to the bookstore and bought books according to their age. Then I went home and baked goodies. Edward was my official taster; he even liked the sugar-free cookies. Before he left, he informed me that Alice had changed plans; he now would be the one driving me. I thought that was the most logical thing to do, since we lived in the same building.
Saturday arrived. I showered and dressed casually; black jeans, a red cotton blouse and peep toe flats to match. I fixed my hair in a high ponytail and applied strawberry lip-gloss and a bit of mascara. By the time Edward came through the balcony doors I was packed and ready to spend the day with the kids.
Edward was also dressed casually, in dark blue button front jeans and a black button down shirt. No matter what he wore, he always looked breathtaking.
"Knock, knock," he voiced loudly, as he always did, to prevent finding me in an indecent situation. "Are you ready?"
"Yes," I responded, and with his help, grabbed the containers with the homemade cookies, and headed out.
Once we got to Edward's car, I opened the back door on the passenger side and proceeded to secure the boxes on the back seat. I wanted to make sure they wouldn't tip with his crazy driving. I was bent with half of my body inside the car. "Could you help me get the stuff from the trunk of my car?" I asked over my shoulder. "It's unlocked."
"I…Uh…Su…Sure," Edward stammered from behind me.
I straightened up to see what caused his stutter, but he was already walking toward my Jetta .
I followed him and when I got close to him, he seemed flushed. But before I asked him what was wrong he spoke. "It's nice of you to take books to the kids."
"Hopefully they'll like the idea. You know, kids are always expecting toys."
"I think books are great gifts. They'll love them."
I smiled at his attempt to make me feel good, and together we unloaded the boxes and put them inside the trunk of his Volvo. I didn't have the chance to ask what made him stammer, but after analyzing the facts, I had a pretty good idea; Edward must have been looking at my ass when I bent over to load the boxes into his car.. I hoped he liked what he saw.
Thirty minutes later—it would've taken me an hour if I were the one driving— we reached the hospital. It wasn't as big as I expected, but it was clean and well taken care of. The pediatric unit was the smallest, holding about forty beds.
Alice was already there when Edward and I arrived and she bounced in excitement when she saw me. With a grin on her face she pulled me toward several people who I guessed were her family. Edward followed close behind.
The first person she introduced to me was a tall lean guy; his hair was blond and wavy and he had beautiful blue eyes. "This is Jasper, the love of my life," she said, her face beamed with love. "Jasper, this is Bella."
"It's nice to meet you Jasper, I heard so many great things about you," I told him.
"The pleasure is mine. And I heard good things about you as well," he said shaking my hand and smiling softly timidly.
Alice then moved to the next person. "This is my dad," she said gesturing toward a mature man. He was also blond and his eyes were a beautiful amber color. He was very handsome; I realized where Edward got his good looks. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Cullen."
"The pleasure is mine. And please call me Carlisle," he said and shook my hand. His touch was soft and gentle.
"This is my mom," Alice said while wrapping her arm around a beautiful caramel-haired lady. She was taller than Alice —Well, everyone was taller than Alice. Her eyes were greeny-gold with some brown in them. They were soft and warm.
"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Cullen." I extended my arm, offering my hand but she ignored it, and instead she embraced me into a tight hug. She then pulled away and caressed my cheek with her soft hand. "You are very beautiful, Bella."
My cheeks immediately felt warm and she chuckled. "And that blush is very lovely," she added.
I bit my lip. "Thank you?" I finally responded and it sounded like a question.
"Mom, you're embarrassing her." Edward came to my rescue. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him, protectively.
"So, this is the famous Bella!" A booming voice startled me. I looked up to see a brawny well-muscled guy, who had curly brown hair and very cute dimples. "I'm Emmett," he introduced himself and pulled me away from Edward, grabbing me up into a bear hug. I was stunned by his exuberance.
He laughed at my expression and put me down. "It's nice to meet you too, Emmett," I said still a little surprised.
Emmett reached for a tall, beautiful blue-eyed blonde, who looked like a model out of one of those sexy magazines. "Rose, come here," he said pulling her closer to us. "Bella, this is my wife, Rosalie." His face brightened with pride.
"Hi," she said coolly.
I felt really intimidated by her looks and her attitude. "Hi," I replied, keeping my hands in place by my side.
Alice broke the ice our awkward encounter created, "Let's go meet the kids." And she pulled me away. I looked over my shoulder. "It was nice meeting you all," I told them as we walked away. They all smiled at me, with the exception of Rosalie, she actually glared at me. I wondered what had caused her animosity.
I pushed my thoughts aside when we went to the room where the children were waiting for us. The children's eyes lit up when they saw Alice enter the room. They gathered to her calling, "Miss Alice!" trying to catch her attention. Alice knew every child by name and, as she introduced me, she greeted each one, joking and making a fuss over it. They all loved her. But then again, who didn't love Alice.
Edward, with the help of Emmett and Jasper, brought in all the books from his car. My worries disappeared when I saw the look in the kids' faces as they opened the books and started turning pages excitedly. "I told you they'd love them ," Edward whispered in my ear, sending chills down my spine as his lips grazed my earlobe.
I smiled at him nervously.
The day went on remarkably well. Helping those children forget about their problems —even if it were only for one day— brought happiness to my soul. I caught Edward a couple of time looking at me tenderly.
Edward played songs using a digital keyboard; we all sang along to the popular songs. The kids kept requesting their favorites, and Edward pleased each one of them.
After they ran out of requests, a small group of children, around four years of age, asked me to read one of the books I brought for them. They chose a book with poems.
We placed mats on the floor and sat side by side forming a circle with Edward sitting next to me. We were about to start, when Jasper approached us. "Edward, Carlisle is looking for you."
Edward got up, and glanced down at me. "I'll be right back." He paused. "Please start without me," he said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I don't know what my dad wants," he explained, "So, go ahead."
"Okay," I said.
As Edward left with Jasper, I looked at the kids and smiled. "Which poem do you want first," I asked them. And based on the illustrations, they chose one.
I started reading:
Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.
Went for a ride in a flying shoe.
"Hooray!"
"What fun?"
"It's time we flew!"
Said Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.
I was about to start the second verse when I deep voice beat me to it:
Ickle was captain, and Pickle was crew
And Tickle served coffee and mulligan stew
As higher
And higher
And higher they flew,
Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.
James sat next to me, taking Edward's place. I continued with the third verse and James finished the forth. The kids loved it, especially because he used his hands and exaggerated his facial expression when he told the story. I had to admit that he was a great storyteller.
The kids requested two more poems, and I let James read them to them because he was better at it. After he finished the last one, the kids got up and moved on to a different activity. I tried following them but James reached out and touched my wrist gently, restraining me from leaving my spot. "Just wait for a moment," he said.
I hesitated but complied. "Yes?"
He smiled at me. " I never get the chance to talk to you about anything other than business. It would be an honor to allow me a few minutes of your precious time."
I could do that, I thought. I smiled complying.
"I am guessing that Alice was the one who invited you here," he said.
"Yes. Wasn't she the one who invited you?" I asked.
"No. Rosalie did," he said.
I wondered where the connection was. He saw the question in my face. "Emmett and I went to the same college. We were actually roommates, and played together on the football team."
"Ah." Now I understood.
"My family and Rose's have been friends ever since I can remember. I was the one who introduced Emmett and Rose." He paused. "We're good friends."
That's why the treatment that Alice used toward with James, her boss, was so peculiar. It made sense.
"So you've known the Cullens for long time," I assumed.
"Yes, since my junior year in college."
I remembered Edward's reaction when I told him where I worked. And some how, I associated his perturbation with James. It was a hunch. "Are you friends with all the Cullens or is it just Emmett and Alice," was my subtle way to ask if Edward and he were friends.
"With most of them," he answered.
It was confirmed; Edward wasn't one of them.
He tried to change the subject. "I've d been watching you for a while today, and you are terrific with kids," he said with a charming smile.
"I don't think so," I said. "Being an only child, with parents who were only children themselves, didn't give me very much opportunity to be around kids," I explained.
"You are an only child? I am too. See? Something we have in common," he pointed out.
I broke my own rule of not sharing personal information with others. I tried to crawl out of that one. "It was impressive how you knew the whole Ickle Me poem by heart."
It worked! He laughed. " Where the Sidewalk Ends was one of my favorite books when I was a kid. And something you don't know about me is that I have a photographic memory." He touched his temple with his left index. "It's very useful to spot plagiarism."
"That's why you are the boss," I joked.
I looked around the room and spotted Edward. He was looking intently at me; his eyes were tight, he seemed to be on the verge of walking over to take me away from James. I smiled at him but he didn't return my smile, he just took a big breath.
James interrupted my silent interaction with Edward. "Tell me more about yourself," he said, unaware of my distraction.
"There's nothing very interesting about my life. Besides, today we are here for the kids, we should go play with them," I suggested, setting my hand on the ground, in an attempt to get up.
He placed his hand gently on my shoulder, preventing me once more to leave. "Just wait," he pleaded.
From the corner of my eye I saw Edward walking toward us. With a few long strides, he was standing right in front of me. I looked up at him and his face was frightening. But he wasn't looking at me; he was glaring at James with vicious loathing. James returned the same glare.
"Edward, you're back!" I said cheerfully, trying to diminish the tension.
Unwillingly, Edward forced his eyes away from James and looked at me. His expression softened when his eyes met mine. He held out a hand and I reached for it. He pulled me carefully to my feet, with James standing up as well.
I felt Edward's hand settle on my waist, pulling me closer to him. In any other circumstance, I would've loved have Edward's strong arms surround me, but I was not stupid, he was doing it to aggravate James —and it worked. I saw James eyes widened with surprise as his jaw tightened.
They exchanged some silent man-to-man conversation. And without unlocking his gaze from James, Edward spoke to me, "I think we should go home." He then turned to me and smiled but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "The kids need their rest," he added.
I didn't smile back. I felt like I was in the middle of some primeval battle between the two of them and I didn't like it. What surprised me the most was that Edward was acting so bizarre —very uncharacteristic of him.
"She never said she wanted to leave," James said through his teeth, Okay, both of them were acting strange.
"Her body language said it all; she wanted to leave and you physically kept holding her back," Edward grumbled.
"I didn't do such thing," James told him.
"I'm not blind. I saw you put your filthy hands on her," Edward snarled.
I was taken aback at the loathing they showed toward the other. I had enough. I pulled myself away from Edward and faced both of them, and with a low but hard voice said, "Stop talking about me as if I weren't present." I looked around us. Luckily, most of the children were back at their room, and the few adults were out of hearing range. Only Alice —always so observant, was looking at our direction with a too smug expression on her face. She looked at me and smiled. I scowled at her in return.
I turned to look at Edward and James. "This is neither the place nor the time to be arguing; it's inappropriate."
James was the first one to apologize, "You're right. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry that my behavior upset you," Edward said, somewhat stiffly.
I nodded accepting their apologies and walked away to look for the Cullen's and say goodbye. I left them there, thinking it was over, but they still had a few words to exchange. I stopped a few feet from them and turned around, afraid that their conflict may escalate. I was taken back when Edward poked at James' chest telling him something I couldn't hear and then seeing how Edward let a slow malevolent smile spread over his beautiful face. It was frightening.
As Edward walked away leaving a furious James behind, his eyes locked with mine, and his face fell; an odd expression reflected on it. Shame? I turned away confused and went to say goodbye to Esme and Carlisle.
After a few words with Edward's parents, Alice grabbed my hand and took me aside. "So, Bella. Igniting passionate feelings?" she teased.
"I can't ignite something that has been burning for a long time. You cannot blame it on me; even a blind man can see that their hatred goes way back in time," I said.
"That's true. I'm not going to deny that they hate each other. But I have to say that I've never in my life seen Edward behave like that. He was jealous," she said amused by her statement.
"Jealous? I don't think so," I said. But deep inside I wished that she were right. In a very sick way, I wanted Edward to be jealous, because that would mean that he had feelings for me.
"Believe me, Bella. I know my brother better than he knows himself. He Is Jealous," she sang.
"You are wrong," I muttered, but my voice was not convincing and Alice knew it. She smiled smugly.
Edward and Emmett joined us, interrupting our conversation. Edward seemed to have gained control his temper. "Bella," Emmett said. "I like my steak medium-rare."
I didn't understand him. "Excuse me?"
"Do you think that my brother here," he wrapped his arm around Edward's shoulders, "would be the only one enjoying your culinary art?"
"Culinary art?" I snorted. "Please."
"When can I taste some of your wonderful cooking?" Emmett asked. He looked at me; both of his eyebrows rose up, pleading.
I caved in. "What about next Saturday?"
"Perfect! We'll be there." He grinned triumphantly.
"What about me?" Alice whined.
"You and Jasper are also invited," I told her. "And your parents as well," I added.
After a very full day with all the emotional ups and downs, there was one more thing to worry about; the Cullens were coming for dinner. Perfect! I thought sarcastically.
A/N: Thanks to Marijee
