I don't own Twilight. Maybe one day in another lifetime.


"Manager Bella."

Snapping herself out of her daze, Bella turned back to see Lauren holding up two Zac Posen gowns in front of her face. Looking at the two gorgeous pieces dangling on hangers in front of her, it took Bella a while to comprehend what was going on.

Her mind was in-and-out of the Chanel store.

This was one of the reasons why she hated Monday mornings. Going back to work was never a good idea after such a hectic weekend. Her mind was scattered everywhere.

To add to the Mike affair, after Alice had came over yesterday morning for yoga, Bella found it quite exhausting trying to shake Anthony off their trail. Although Jacob left for the gym, Anthony stayed back to make small talk with Alice. It bothered Bella that her brother was always trying to hook up with her friends.

Never in a million years would they be interested in her younger brother because of the simple fact that he was too young. So after Alice left, she and Anthony had gotten into another argument. Some words were exchanged, but the overall outcome was Bella felt a little guilty when Anthony started to get teary-eyed, accusing her of not wanting him to be happy.

All Bella could do was slap him upside the head, telling him to "man up" and that this had nothing to do with happiness. So she added a new rule for him: As long as you're living in my place, stop coming onto my friends.

It wasn't the first argument that Bella made Anthony cried. Anthony was once in a one-sided love with Jessica before he moved on to Alice. But that was two-years ago. Sometimes, even Bella couldn't understand the relationship between her and Anthony. Bella felt like his mother more than his sister; teenagers and testosterones were not something Bella cared to be sensitive about.

"Manager Bella," Lauren called again.

"I'm sorry." Bella shook her head, shaking the exhausting memory away. "What is it?"

"A customer would like to purchase these two dresses. I need your signature. He's paying by credit and would like them to be wrapped in gift boxes and sent to this address." Lauren handed the large, two-layered receipt strip to Bella.

Without bothering to look at the address, Bella's hand glided down to the very end of the receipt where a dark line spread across the page. Twisting her approval signature on it, Bella ripped off the top layer for the store's copy and left the other on top of the box. Turning on her heels to leave the counter, Bella realized she wasn't done yet.

"Manager Bella, the purchaser wants you to pick out the gift boxes." Lauren stopped her.

Letting out a sigh, Bella looked back at the two dresses. Although she had worked for Chanel for a quite a while, being the head-manager at the place, she had never been able to buy one of the dresses there.

They were always too expensive or overtly attention-grabbing. Looking at the two gowns, identical in their heart-strapless cut with diamonds buds strategically placed up and down the layered-silk fabric, Bella wondered who was the fool that was willing to spend a total of $10,000.

"They're beautiful aren't they?" Lauren asked, still holding up the gowns by the hangers. She stared at white one and then the pink one in awe. "I spoke to the guy that bought it this morning. I think he's buying it for his girlfriend."

"Don't they always?" Bella moved across the large, oval-glass counter. Stooping down, she looked through the shelves for a gift box. Extracting two large white boxes with the words Chanel spread across them, Bella placed it back on the counter. Taking the gowns from Lauren, Bella stripped the hanger off it before folding it inside the box carefully.

Although she would never show it, Bella had to admit that they were beautiful gowns and wondered what they would feel like on her body.

"When is the delivery guy coming?" Bella glanced across the room at the store's big ticking clock.

"Around two," Lauren replied. "We have some packages being dropped off too."

"Manager Bella – a customer would like your attention." Another employee poked her head down the staircase, waving at Bella.

Nodding, Bella turned on her heels. Passing racks and rows of expensive, Chanel signature styles, Bella looked around the semi-empty store. The only women who were browsing the stores were either in small groups or talking excessively on their cell phones. They didn't look like they needed help, so Bella headed around back towards the staircase that led to the upstairs area of the store where the two Zac Posen gowns originated from in the store.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked as she descended the staircase.

"She's having problems taking the dress off," the employee leaned in to whisper in Bella's ear.

"Why?"

"Because she's fat."

Only at work was Bella able to take her mind off of her personal life.

* * * *

"Take it easy man."

"UGH!"

Watching Anthony continue his running streak on the treadmill, Jacob casually jogged on his. With steady sweat running down his face, onto his neck, and eventually panning out on his ripped abs, Jacob was steadying his pace on the cardio machine while Anthony was pushing his limits.

"See, if you had gone with me to the gym yesterday, you wouldn't have to be making it up today."

"That's not why I'm running like this, asshole."

Glancing at Anthony, not really sure if there was any other valid reason for him to be running like a maniac, Jacob waited for his friend to continue. Reaching out to push various buttons on the machine, Jacob slowed down from his jog to a power walk. Breathing in and out, he ran his fingers through his sweat-matted hair.

"She – thinks – I – don't – have – a – chance – with – Alice," Anthony huffed as he continued running. "We even got into an argument over it. So stupid."

"Dude, if you really like Alice – why don't you try getting with her? Don't let your sister know. She's right for not wanting you two to hook up." Jacob replied.

"How?!" Anthony snapped, looking back at Jacob as he continued running. The sweat was pouring all over his face now; his bangs bounced up and down his eyes, stinging them. But Anthony was determined to run the tension out of his body.

"Think about it – if you were her. How weird would it be for her friend and brother to be going out?" Jacob pointed out. He shrugged, extending his legs to keep up his power-walk pace.

Anthony faced forward, mumbling under his breath. "Sometimes I feel like Bella pushes me around too much. When our parents aren't around, she acts like she's the boss of me."

Jacob smirked, shaking his head. "She's just looking out for your best interest."

"Hey!" Suddenly, Anthony stopped running. Turning to face Jacob, he accused his friend, "Are you taking her side?"

Shaking his head with wide-eyes, Jacob denied, "No! I didn't say that."

Breathing so hard that his naked chest continued to rise and fall, Anthony reached out for the towel to wipe himself. "Bella just thinks that I won't be able to handle dating any of her friends. When I liked Jessica, she told me Jessica would eat me alive and then spit me out. Now, she says Alice's just going to treat me like a puppy if I pursue her."

Jacob let out a low chuckle. Anthony sure didn't waste his time moving from one crush to the other.

Truth was, Jacob really didn't have an opinion about the problem Anthony was currently facing. But because it had only been a couple of days since he had lived with Bella and Anthony, he was starting to get used to the crazy issues the two siblings were always bickering about. But the issue of dating each other's friends was one of the funniest issues Jacob had ever encountered. He had an older brother and that was pretty much it. He would never dream of dating his brother's girlfriends simply because they regarded him as jailbait. But here, in New York, that didn't seem to be a problem for Bella's friends.

"How long have you been trying to hook up with Alice?" The thought struck Jacob.

Anthony paused, biting his lower lip as he thought about it. "I've liked her since two-years ago. You know – actually, I've always had this habitual crush on her. I'd like her every time she shows up."

"You move on pretty quickly," Jacob commented.

Anthony made a sad face. "I just can't stop thinking about her - you know? When you see potential."

Jacob went quiet, continuing to walk on his treadmill.

Anthony let out a sigh, glancing away. "You know what? Why am I letting Bella get me down? There are plenty of girls I can pass my time with! I'm not a date-loser like she says. I can date any other girl I want! You know what - we should just try to find girlfriends today. I'm going to prove Bella wrong!"

Jacob stifled a laugh. "What do you have in mind?"

Anthony scanned the gym. There were mostly guys, all buffed-up and mean. But Anthony's targets were already targeting him and Jacob. Anthony's lips curled into a smile.

"See those girls over there? They've been staring at us for a while." Anthony nodded his head toward the right side of the gym where two girls were glancing at him and Jacob, giggling as they pretended to lift weights.

Jacob glanced over, eyeing the two girls dressed in identical pink and white track suits. After a second look, Jacob realized they were twins. "Hey . . . they look alike."

"They're twins, duh. They're pretty cute," Anthony replied, continuing to stroll on his treadmill. "What do you think about inviting them to go out after?"

Jacob looked up at Anthony. "Since when did you become such a pimp?"

Anthony shrugged again. "New York kinda gets to you."

Jacob burst out laughing. "Okay – alright."

* * * *

"My life is over! There's going to be no wedding. I'm going to just die! My wedding dress! That – that fucker!" Her painful voice came over the line, cutting across the laughter Bella and Angela were sharing.

"What –" Bella abruptly stopped.

"Bella – did – did you say that?" Angela stammered.

"No. Rosalie?" Bella asked.

"I'm sorry guys, I'm just so frustrated! I'm gonna just die! He's ruining my wedding dress!" Rosalie wailed.

It was always a bad idea to three-way on a phone, especially when voices started overlapping.

But both Angela and Bella were shocked to hear Rosalie distinctively cuss. During the weekend, she had left town to make last minute corrections on her wedding dress, but it turned out things didn't go the way she wanted them to. Now that she was back in town, Rosalie had made sure to three-way with Angela and Bella right away – because Alice was busy.

"Okay, just calm down. I'm sure he'll redo what you asked him to." Bella tried to think logically as she crossed the parking lot of the store.

Now that it was seven, she was off from work and extremely exhausted. With one hand clutching her purse and the other cradling her cell phone against her ear, Bella was heading toward her parked Mercedes.

"Yeah, I mean you have weeks," Angela added.

"Weeks? It's next week you guys! It's Monday and then this weekend, and then Monday, and then that weekend. It's next week!" Rosalie was no longer herself. The panic in her voice was enough to make Bella and Angela realize how serious this was.

"Do brides always become bride-zillas?" Angela's voice could be heard over Rosalie's screaming on the phone.

Letting out a sigh, Bella tried to keep her composure as she held the Mercedes remote up to her car. Once the locks popped up, Bella opened the driver's door and got in as quickly as she could, throwing her purse aside.

Sticking the key into the ignition and turning on the engine, she said the words Rosalie wanted to hear, "I will be at your place in twenty minutes. You too Angela."

"Fuck, should we call Alice and make it a party too?" Angela asked on the other line.

"AWWW I LOVE YOU GUYS!" Rosalie screeched over the phone, sniffling away her tears.

* * * *

"So, you guys are new in the city? Do you like New York?"

"Loving it!"

Anthony held up the shot-glasses of Smirnoff Ice to toast the two twins. He dropped it down his throat right away, allowing the bubbles to burst. Tilting his head back, Anthony was grinning like a fool as he grabbed the twin closest to him.

Only after five shots, Anthony Swan was now officially wasted.

Jacob, sitting across from Anthony and the twin he had grabbed, was the only sober one out of the group. The two twin girls they had picked up at the gym turned out to be named Cherry and Berry.

No joke, those were their real names – or so they claimed.

The two girls turned out to be too ditzy for Jacob to take, especially Berry. She was constantly giggling before Jacob even said anything. And now that Anthony was grabbing onto Cherry, Berry was inching closer to Jacob on the couch.

The club the four were at was so loudly pulsated with music and chatter that Jacob was having a hard time holding onto his sanity. The only reason why he had tagged along with Anthony to party with these two was to get Anthony out of his grumpy state of gushing over Alice.

It seemed to work because Anthony was now allowing Cherry to plot kisses all around his face.

"You want to dance?" Berry's face suddenly came into Jacob's view. Her small, oval face accompanied with her large, alien eyes batted up at him. She was wearing so much make-up that Jacob felt if he touched it, it would feel like wiping icing off of a cake.

"Uh – " Jacob started to say.

"Yeah! Let's dance!" Anthony stood up, laughing. Wrapping an arm around Cherry, he started to walk into her until she pointed him the right direction.

"You're so silly! The dance floor is that way!" Cherry squealed, turning back to her sister. "Come on!"

"YEAH!" Before Jacob could move away from her, Berry latched onto him and pulled him up.

Pretty soon, the four of them made it onto the dark dance floor with occasional lights flashing over them. Anthony was loving every minute that Cherry was bumping and grinding onto him while Jacob was desperately trying to avoid Berry's gyrating hips that seemed to hurt his own hips more than anything. She was doing something that resembled a chicken-wobbling when her knee crashed into his thigh. Jacob almost doubled over from the pain.

"Dude, this is getting out of control. We gotta go!" Jacob screamed over the loud music into Anthony's ears.

"Yeah dude, this is going to roll!" Anthony nodded, pointing to where Cherry and Berry were now dancing with each other.

Seeing that Anthony was drunk and out-of-his-mind, Jacob grabbed his friend hurriedly. Taking advantage of the fact that Cherry and Berry were so immersed in their dancing, Jacob grabbed Anthony and disappeared into the large dance crowd.

"Hey! Where are we going?!" Anthony screamed, hitting a couple of people on his way out.

"Alice's outside!" Jacob lied.

"REALLY!" Without struggling anymore, Anthony followed Jacob. "Where? Where? Where?"

Jacob didn't even bother to answer his squirming friend until he found the back door of the club. Once he found the EXIT sign, Jacob pushed it open and threw Anthony out first.

Stumbling outside, where the night air hit them squarely, Jacob breathed in the fresh air.

"Where's Alice? Do I look good? Do I look good?" Anthony was stumbling left to right, but he grabbed onto Jacob's shoulder. Licking his right hand as he rubbed various parts of his head, Anthony was looking around the parking lot left and right.

"She -" Jacob started to say when all of a sudden, Anthony's stability broke.

"OW!" Anthony fell down onto the pavement like a plank, clutching his stomach and gagging.

"Hey, you okay?" Bending over, Jacob leaned over his friend, grabbing him fiercely. "Dude, you okay?"

"I don't feel so good," Anthony mumbled from where he was. "Jacob..."

"What?"

"Did Alice see that?"

* * * *

The music inside the elevator soothed her as Bella leaned against it, closing her eyes. Allowing it to lift up to the second floor, where she lived in the apartment complex, Bella embraced the peaceful seconds she was experiencing.

With her purse and keys dangling by her sides, she didn't know how she was going to wake up in the morning and go to work. It was now 12:45 in the morning and she was finally home after such an exhausting night at Rosalie's house.

Alice, Angela and Bella had managed to control a hysterical Rosalie after two hours of convincing her that it was not the end of the world her wedding dress was getting redone – and that it would be redone in time for the perfect wedding she had always wanted. Afterwards, the four friends lingered around for dinner and more unnecessary conversating that only a group of women could carry out.

But now that she was feeling the full-effects of it, Bella wished that she had had left earlier.

*Ding*

The elevator slid open, revealing her dimly lit hallway. Dragging her feet as she walked toward apartment #4, Bella took her time as she entered the code on the touch-pad. It bleeped open and Bella stepped into a brightly-lit apartment.

"Anthony?"

Slamming the door to a close behind her, Bella walked into the living room to see Anthony sprawled across the couch with his eyes half-opening and looking like a mess. The t-shirt he was wearing was pulled up to his stomach and the jeans he was wearing was all dirtied. From the looks of it, and her experience, Bella didn't have to ask her brother what happened. He probably had too much to drink and threw up most of it.

But for conversational purposes , Bella asked anyway. "What happened to you?" She stepped over the sofa to have a closer look at her brother.

"Bella . . . I . . . I drank," Anthony groaned. "I swear I'll never do it againnnnn. . . . "

"Oh god." Bella rolled her eyes, taking a step back from him. The odor of barf and alcohol was so strong when he spoke that Bella almost vomited. "Just because we had a fight yesterday, you go and get wasted today? God Anthony, when are you going to grow up?"

"Look." Anthony lifted up a feeble hand to point to the right of Bella. "For you."

Bella followed his finger and saw the bag. Even before touching it, she immediately recognized it as the bag Lauren had placed the two gift boxes in, containing the two Zac Posen dresses inside of it.

Lifting it up, Bella extracted the gift card.

"Jacob found it outside of our apartment when we got home . . . . I think it was delivered here this morning," Anthony mumbled, burying his face back into the couch. "Where is that fool? My head is killing me! Doesn't take that long to find pills . . . damn . . . ."

Ignoring her brother, Bella flipped open the gift card: Even though you work at Chanel, I wanted to buy you these dresses. I couldn't decide which would look better on you, so I got you white and pink. We'll talk soon – Mike.

Very smooth. Letting out a low chuckle, Bella closed the card. She couldn't believe she didn't bother to look at the address when she approved it this morning. Turning on her heels, Bella walked toward the coffee table in the center of the living room where she had tucked Mike's cell phone underneath a pile of receipts and cards.

The minute she found it, Bella flipped it open to find that it was low on batteries.

Pressing, incoming calls, back to the number Mike had used to call this phone when he invited her out to Starbucks, Bella pressed talk. The other line rang for a good five consecutive times before it was picked up.

"Do you like them?" Without even bothering to ask who was calling him, Mike's confident voice filled the line.

"I love them." Bella emphasized on it the word "love". "Very clever. I have to give that to you. But also stalkerish. How did you know I work at Chanel?"

"Hahaha . . . I'm glad you like them. Listen, I'm busy right now. I'll call you back. Let's hang out tomorrow night at Les Deux," Mike replied. In the background, his voice was slightly muffled due to the loud, pumping hip-hop music. No doubt he was at one of the clubs he owned.

"We'll talk." Bella hung up the phone, not wanting Mike to be the one to leave her.

Turning back to see that Anthony was now officially passed out, Bella could hear the silent ringing through her apartment. Leaning over to look down at her brother, she considered picking Anthony up to his room. "Are you okay?"

"Pills . . . . my head hurts noona," Anthony sniffled into the couch.

Bella stood up straight, deciding whether to let him suffer or help him, when she suddenly remembered about Jacob's existence.

"Anthony . . . where's your friend at?"

"Looking for pills."

As if something came over her, Bella immediately turned on her heels.

Running out of the living room and up the staircase in a rapid movement, she almost tripped when she finally descended the stairs. At the end of the long hallway, she could see her bedroom door was slightly ajar. For some reason, her heart started to pick up pace. Inching closer and closer to her bedroom, Bella tried to rationalize with herself, but fear took over her as she stood in front of her door.

Pushing it open, her worst thoughts came to life.

Standing over her dresser-drawer, the one with the lighted-mirror perched on top of it, Jacob was looking through her drawers that mostly contained miscellanous items.

In his right hand, he was already holding what he was looking for. Two of the drawers were open – one of them was the medication drawer and the other - Jacob was not moving from what he had just found.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Bursting through the door, Bella stormed into her room.

Something came over her, and the emotion of anger flared from within her.

"Oh!" Jacob jumped, clearly surprised. To excuse himself for being in her room, he quickly launched into an explanation. "Sorry Bella. Anthony's passed out from drinking. I've been looking everywhere for some pills to help his headache. I couldn't find any so I had to go in your room and – "

"GET OUT!" Bella pushed Jacob away from the drawer he had opened, almost causing him to fall. She did not want to hear any excuses or sorries. "GET OUT!"

"I'm sorry – I didn't mean –" Jacob stammered, staring at Bella in surprise. He had never seen her bursting with emotion. "I –"

"DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?! GET THE FUCK OUT!" Bella's voice was no longer contained, but now rose to scream-level. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!"

Petrified to see the tears filling her eyes, Jacob couldn't understand what he had done wrong. "But I –"

"OUT!" Picking up a handful of beauty products, Bella threw them at Jacob as hard as she could at the same time she charged at him.

Jacob stumbled, feeling bottles hitting his chest and legs. He wanted to say sorry, but nothing like that came out of his lips. Instead, he retracted out of her room slowly, staring at her with apologetic eyes. Right now, Jacob was not seeing angry-Bella – he was seeing her. "Bella – really, I –"

Following him, Bella didn't bother to say another word before thrusting her arms out at his chest. With one final push, Bella managed to shove Jacob cleanly out of her room.

Slamming the door in his face and locking it behind her, Bella leaned against it breathing. She stood against the door trembling, listening to Jacob's footsteps slowly retracting away from the door.

"What the fuck . . . ."Bella mumbled under her breath, leaving her place from the door. The anger inside of her still did not subside.

The damage was done.

The water had spilled from the cup.

He had seen it.

He had seen it all.

Taking slow, but unsteady steps towards the drawer Jacob had opened, Bella found it everything in herself not to cry as she stared down at the opened drawer and the contents inside.

Pictures . . . . hundreds of pictures . . . pictures of them kissing, hugging, smiling, laughing . . . pictures of them in Toronto, in Hollywood, in Tokyo, in London, in Paris . . . pictures of them . . . of her and Edward.

Pictures that Bella had never burned even though she had tried so many times over to.

All of them . . . all of those pictures Bella had locked away, forgotten in that last drawer – Jacob had opened . . . and seen.


Poor Jacob.

What guy would send a girl who doesn't want to commit two designer gowns?

P.S : I know the legal drinking age in America is 21, but let's just pretend it's 18 (like Canada).