Metamorphosis


We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.

– Marie Curie


7. Counter

"My baby girl, how is everything?" Bella's father asks through the phone.

"Everything's fine, daddy."

She's always found it easier to talk to her dad than her mom. She isn't sure why, perhaps it is the aloofness in her mother that causes her to turn away in conversations. It may also be the failure to constantly appease her mother's demands. Her expectations. The hard-to-please personality within Renee. A part of her is glad that it is Charlie who has called her.

"How are you and mom?"

"We're good, honey. Just going through some meetings in the Czech Republic. You know, Pravaoslav and Radovan. Soon we'll be meeting with Chen and his business partner, Wang. And then we've also got to speak to the Swedes as well, Axelsson and, what's his name... Bergfalk..." Charlie's voice drones on through the earpiece as Bella finds her attention floating back to the conversation with the mysterious, bronze-haired man.

She knows that her father loves her. She also knows that her mother loves her. But she can't stop feeling the dissatisfaction that bubbles within her chest. She isn't sure what it is or where it is coming from, but she knows that she has a lot of unanswered questions.

"It's getting late over there isn't it, sweetheart? I'm going to go now, goodnight Izzy."

Bella feels an immediate need to correct her father. She wants to say, "it's not Izzy, it's Bella now", but instead she says nothing of that sort. It is currently midnight in Forks, meaning it'd be nine o'clock in the morning at where Charlie and Renee are at, Prague.

"And don't let the bed bugs bite," they say together, a tradition from her childhood every time her father would tuck her into bed. She smiles at the memory. But it is only a memory. Slipping into the covers of her bed, Bella falls into an unconsciousness filled with her own conundrums of the green-eyed man.

"Bella... let's dance," he says, laughing as he pulls her to her feet.

"I've got two left feet, I can't dance."

"I'm a master, I'll show you how," he chuckles, making her smile. It's all he's ever wanted. To see her truly smile. Smile so luminously. So vibrantly. She feels his hands on her waist and his breath on her face. She smells the aroma of man, firewood and mechanics. But it smells like him. She feels a jolt of electricity running through her arteries as his fingers clasp her hip.

"Bella..."

"Isabella... wake up."

Bella's eyelids open as she feels bony hands latched onto her shoulders, shaking her awake into a new day of reality. Marie's grey eyes stare back at Bella's half-opened ones. Tired and still very much wanting to be asleep again.

"Grandma, it's Bella now."

"Bella? Well, it does have a nice ring to it."

"Edward thought of it..." Bella mumbles sleepily as her body curls forward in an act of going back to her dream again. Preferably returning to that discontinued scene.

"Smart guy. Anyway, I know it's seven in the morning right now and youngsters, like yourself, dislike waking up so early when it is not a normal weekday for school. But I figured you could come with me to the markets today."

Marie pats Bella on the head and leaves the room, whistling a tune. Earning a groan from the haystack-haired Bella in bed.

It takes her fifteen minutes to brush through her long, brown hair which consists of tangles and knots before Bella resembles her decent self in the mirror again. Brushing her teeth and chugging down some cereal with milk, she finds herself following her grandma to the supermarkets. She appreciates the scenery and the smell of morning dew on the grasses of the neighborhood. She never sees the beauty of nature in New York City. At least not as often as she'd like. It is still early morning and so the morning chill wraps around Bella's petite frame as she walks in linked arms with her grandmother, who seems to deal better in the cold than she does.

"Some apple pie does sound nice... I'll get some lovely green apples," Marie's voice grows more distant as she wanders to the fruit section.

The 'markets' in Forks had outdoor and indoor sections, offering customers an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables. The supermarket was usually referred to as the indoor section, and also the sanctuary for shoppers in rainy weather.

Feeling the wind crawling against her back, Bella decides to walk through the sliding doors and wander around in the supermarket. The noise of scanners and trolleys fill Bella's ears as announcements are made through the speakers, along with the chatter of children begging their parents to buy them the packet of chips on the racks. Ironically, the responses from the parents are more comical and impatient.

She smiles to herself as the homely atmosphere embraces her, making her feel tranquil. There is no pushing. No rush. Only ease. That ease only lasts a few seconds before the voice of a man disrupts her reverie.

"Bella?"

Edward stands there. Behind the cash register.


Love, perpetually.