* ALL CHARACTERS AND ALL THINGS TWILIGHT BELONG TO STEPHANIE MEYER*

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*** Did a REVAMP of the chapters. This IS COMPLETELY NEW!** Sorry for the confusion!


Chapter 8:

I walked back into my apartment and I was overcome by anxiety. All the people around me were starting to couple off, Angela and Ben, and now Mike and this Jessica chick. Well, technically, they only hooked up once but seeing his reaction made me think about Edward's complete opposite reaction to hooking up with me.

Hearing how excited Mike was about this girl is how a guy should react. He shouldn't tell her he regrets it and then move to the opposite coast for three months. I couldn't believe how much I royally fucked up.

I looked in my nightstand for my Klonopin prescription. I haven't needed to take them since the dark ages but I was on the verge of a panic attack and all I wanted to do was sleep for days. Forget this job with Edward, I don't give a shit anymore, I just needed to check out for awhile. I took a pill and fell into a peaceful sleep.

Bella….. Bella…. Wake up. Its five o'clock….. Bella…..

Huh? Why is my bed shaking? I was in such a haze, wait I'm being shaken. "Bella! Wake up! Its five o'clock in the evening. You've been sleeping forever!" I heard Angela's voice.

"Errrrrrrmm." I tried to pull the covers over my head.

"Oh no you don't!" She pulled the covers away from my face "What happened with Edward? You've been sleeping since yesterday afternoon, you need to wake up." She wasn't giving up that easily.

Damn it. I kicked the covers off and rubbed my face. I felt terrible, I forgot how weird Klonopin makes me feel.

I heard Angela leave the room and she walked back in a couple minutes later with a cup of coffee and plain bagel that was toasted with butter. "Sit up." Man she was so bossy.

I sat up and she handed me the cup of coffee, placing the bagel on my nightstand. "I see you started taking Klonopin again" she gestured to the bottle sitting on my nightstand.

I took a bite of my bagel; I didn't feel like explaining myself to her.

"Listen Bella. I know this is not what you are going to want to hear but you can't just close yourself off when the going gets tough." She sighed "I know when your mom got cancer, you took it really hard and you shut down. Now, I can't imagine what you were going through and I don't want you to think I'm trying to brush over anything you were feeling because I'm not. I just want to tell you what I was going through during that time."

I took a sip of my coffee and looked at her. This wasn't good.

She pulled her legs up to her chest and continued. "I was so worried about you. You are my best friend and we would talk every day. Even after we graduated, we still managed to keep in touch regularly. But then your mom got sick and I would talk to you every once in awhile and even then you didn't seem like yourself. You're always so happy go lucky and carefree and then when I would hear from you, I could barely get a sentence out of you and when I would try to tell you something, it was like you weren't even hearing me. You were just like a shell of your old self."

I was crying now and she started rubbing my shoulder "I thought about you every day, trying to think of a way to make it all better, to get you back to yourself. I even talked with your mom and we planned for me to come stay with you guys. I just wanted you to realize that even though something horrible is happening, life goes on; and you did, you slowly started coming back to life. It's like you realized that everything was still happening around you and it wasn't doing you any good to lock yourself away."

By this time we were both crying but Angela kept on going "I was so pissed at myself for waiting so long to help you and I promised myself that if this were to ever happen again, I would do everything in my power to stop it before it got as bad as it was. So, I'm giving you an intervention. I don't want you to disappear again; you don't realize how much I need you."

We just sat there, crying. She never told me that before. I mean, I knew she asked my mom to come stay with us but I didn't realize why at the time. God, how could I be so dense sometimes?

I wiped away my tears and told her what happened yesterday. "Edward told me he regretted having sex with me and that he's moving to LA on Tuesday. He got cast in a movie." I said, wiping away tears. Saying it out loud made me feel like a fool. Was I really going to hide out over some asshole? Why was I so obsessed with this guy? He's just another son of a bitch who only cares about himself.

I started laughing and Angela looked at me like I was insane "What are you laughing about?" she said and grabbed a tissue to blow her nose.

Once my laughing fit stopped, I spoke. "I just realized how ridiculous it sounds. This guy is the biggest douche bag I've ever met in my life, bigger than James Russo!" we both laughed, "I didn't dwell over James being a cheating bastard, so why should I let Edward make me so miserable? The damage has already been done, I slept with him and now I need to move on. There are millions of men in this city. So why am I going to stress over some asshole who was too much of a coward to even talk to his girlfriend today!"

Angela let out a whooping noise! "Yeah, girl! Now this is the Bella I know and love! We all make mistakes, we all do things we regret, but that's life! We just need to pick up the pieces and make the best picture we can with what we've got left."

I set my coffee down and pulled Angela into the biggest hug. "Thank you Ang. For everything you did before and everything you're doing now. I think I do have an idea of how much you need me because I need you just as much. I really love you." I was seriously lucky to have a great friend like Angela.

We pulled away and I took a bite of my bagel and offered her the other half, she took it. I held up my bagel, "I would just like to make a toast" she looked at me and laughed.

"Here is to best friends, I would be seriously lost without you." We tapped our bagels together and ate in comfortable silence.

"So" Angela said "Edward is moving to LA, huh? Does that mean you're out of a job?" She looked nervous to ask the question, like it would send me over the edge.

"Yeah, he got a part in a Judd Apatow movie and even though he's going to be gone for awhile, he said he still needs a PA, so I still have a job…"

I was kind of confused about this. It was almost too good to be true.

Angela looked skeptical "Are you serious? What are you suppose to do for him?"

I laughed "Get this, while he's gone all I have to do is reschedule everything he has planned for the next couple months and get his fan mail twice a week. I mean, I still have to do a couple of things before he leaves, which reminds me I was suppose to book his plane ticket yesterday…" I walked over to grab my computer and brought it back to the bed "Anyway, I guess I'm pretty lucky I won't have to see his smug face for awhile."

Angela laughed. "Get out! You are so freaking lucky! He's still going to pay you the same amount and everything?"

I was nodding my head. "Yeah, as far as I know he is. I can't believe it but I can say I am glad I won't have to see him for awhile." Because I'm sure all my feelings of hatred will disappear once I see his gorgeous face tomorrow. I didn't tell Angela this though, I was trying to be strong. It was only a little lie of omission.

Angela nodded at me "Well. I'll let you book his ticket. I have to look over some lesson plans; I start my temp position tomorrow, subbing for the woman on maternity leave!" She did a little dance. Angela got hired at the school she interviewed with and though she doesn't become a full time teacher until the next school year, she has been substituting on and off for the last couple weeks. I was really happy for her because I know how much she wanted that job.

"Look at us. Who would have thought only a couple weeks ago we were bartenders and now were both living the dream!" we both giggled.

"Yeah, some of us more than others!" She poked me in my side and stood up to leave my room.

"Hey Ang." I said "Thank you again, really."

She smiled. "Anytime, baby doll, anytime." She walked out of the room and closed my door.

I grabbed my laptop and opened Safari. I booked Edward's flight, paying for it with my black card. I grabbed my phone and dialed the number for the car service and booked him a car to JFK then I called another company and booked him a car to pick him up in LA. I grabbed my computer again and opened up Gmail to send Edward the details.


8:18 PM
From: Isabella Swan
To: Edward Cullen
Subject: Flight

Hi Edward. I booked you on a nonstop flight from JFK to LAX. You're in first class and your flight takes off at 4:30. The car will pick you up at 1:45 to take you to JFK. I also booked you a car to pick you up from LAX, I wasn't sure where the car was taking you so I didn't tell them anything. I attached a copy of your flight information. See you tomorrow.

Bella


I hit send and felt a little bit better. Angela was right; it doesn't do me any good to lock myself away. I suddenly thought back to what Rosalie said when I first told her about working for Edward. I owed her an apology, she essentially tried to warn me about Edward, but I didn't listen. I grabbed my phone to text her.

Hey Ro. Want to grab dinner this week? I need to talk to u about something? Nothing bad- just want to catch up. Let me know! xoxo

I set my phone down and ate the rest of my bagel. I turned on the TV and saw there was a Jersey Wives marathon on Tada. It was an episode where the women went on a cruise to the Bahamas' with their families. Mike and Ben were hilarious. They made up some drinking game and were hammered, trying to pull pranks on their sister, Lauren. After how she treated me at the Valentine's Day party, I was glad when the dumped a bucket of water on her head.

I checked my phone and saw I had an email.


8:45 PM
From: Edward Cullen
To: Isabella Swan
Subject: Re:Flight

Bella. Thank you for everything. I'm really sorry about Friday but I want you to know, I had an amazing time with you. I'll see you tomorrow at 10.

Edward


I stared at the screen dumbfounded. 'I had an amazing time with you?' I felt my anger start to melt but I quickly snapped out of it. I REFUSE to fall for this guy's mind games again, he may have charmed my panties off once but I know his game now. Knowledge is power, right? Edward is in a league of his own, the king of all D-bags. I decided I didn't even want to email him back. I realized I definitely owe Rosalie an apology.

I suddenly had cabin fever. I just needed to get out of the apartment, out of my room. I remembered my jacket was still at that club in Chelsea. So I Googled the club name and called them to see if they were open.

"Hello, 1 Oak." A girl answered the phone.

"Um, Hi. I was there the other night for the Tada Valentines party and I think I may have left a black JCrew jacket there. Do you guys still have it?"

"Can you hold on for one moment, let me check." She sounded pissed. Whatever girl, don't get mad at me because your job sucks.

"Hello? Yeah we have a black JCrew jacket here." Yay!

"Ok! Perfect. I'll be down in a little to get it. Thanks!" Well crisis averted.

I threw on some black leggings and a white tee shirt and threw a distressed jean jacket over it. I threw my hair up in a high pony tail and put on my fake glasses, my eyes were still a little puffy from my intervention with Angela. They were turning into a good investment. I threw on a black knitted scarf, slid my feet into my leather thigh highs and grabbed my cell phone and bag.

I poked my head into Angela's room. There were papers everywhere on her bed. "Hey. I need to get some air; I've been cooped up in my room for too long. I'm going to run down to 1 Oak and get my jacket."

"Do you want me to go with you?" She asked.

"No, its ok! You look really busy! I'll be back in a little while" She looked relieved.

I walked to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, my breath was rank from sleeping over 24 hours.

I reached the street and lit up a cigarette, hanging around the outside of my building. I was hoping by doing this I would see Jake, he somehow always seems to appear while I'm smoking a cigarette. I felt really bad since I haven't spoken to Jake since Valentine's Day so I got my phone out to call him. Taking a deep breath, I pressed send.

He answered on the third ring "Well, well look who finally decided to call me back."

I felt horrible."Hi Jake. I'm really sorry about Valentine's Day. I ended up having a horrible night."

"Uh. Yeah. I saw" was all he said.

"Are you talking about the Post?" a cab blew its horn really loud.

"Are you outside right now?"

"Yeah. I um, left the party a little under the weather and I ended up leaving my jacket there so I was just about to go pick it up." Please take the bait! Please, please!

"Well, Bella, you know it's dangerous for a pretty woman to be walking around the city by herself at night." Yes!

"Hmm. Do you know any big, muscular men that would want to accompany me?" Please say yes! Please say yes!

"I would love to accompany you. Where are you at right now?"

"I'm outside my apartment building"

"Stay there. I'll be there in five minutes!" He hung up the phone.

Wahoo! I was really excited to see Jake but I was also somewhat nervous because he obviously saw the picture of me in the Post and I wanted to explain the situation to him. Well minus the having sex with my boss part. I figured I would just leave that out. Another lie of omission, oh well.

I finished my cigarette and I saw Jake walking down the street. He looked really cute. He was wearing a Giants t-shirt under a leather jacket with a pair of distressed jeans. He must be a huge Giants fan.

"Hey there stranger!" I was so happy to see him. I had to tell myself not to bounce up and down like a little kid.

"Hi pretty lady. How are you?" He kissed me on the cheek. Yay! We started to walk towards the subway and I linked my arm in his.

"I've had better days but I'm doing well. How are you doing?" His skin felt so hot against mine. It was nice on this cold night.

"I'm a little worn out. I had a tough workout today but I'm feeling much better now." He smiled down at me.

Ahh! He was so freaking sweet and charming and he just had this swagger about him that was so sexy! Plus he was HUGE, so I can only imagine how big other parts of him are. Hmm.. I let my mind wander…

When we were seated on the subway, he asked me the million dollar question. "So, I don't want to beat around the bush, what happened to you on Valentine's Day?"

I let out a sigh. "Well. Don't think I'm crazy. Ok?" I know this was probably not the best way to start the conversation but I didn't want him thinking I'm some psycho with a drinking problem. "Well. I went to dinner with my friends and I was still a little bummed out about the whole Valentine's Day thing, especially seeing my friend and her boyfriend so in love. Anyway, we all had a lot of wine at dinner and then I tried to call you and I didn't hear anything back, so I thought you were blowing me off. Then we got to the club and they had those stupid Heartini's and I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and before I know it, I was wasted off my ass. Thankfully, I saw my boss and he ended up taking me home because I couldn't even stand up on my own…."

I let out a big sigh. "Then, The Post decided to run that ridiculous story and I kind of shut down for awhile." I felt bad lying to his face but I was hoping that our little flirtation would lead somewhere and I didn't want it to be over before it even got the chance to begin. Plus, with Edward leaving, it was the perfect opportunity.

He nodded. "Yeah I saw the Post. It wasn't the most flattering picture of you" he smiled and threw his arm around me "but I'm glad you told me what happened because I did think you were a bit of a home wrecker for awhile." He squeezed my shoulder and I slapped his leg.

"Yeah, you and the rest of the world!" I smiled.

"So, you work for Edward Cullen, huh?" ugh. I hope he didn't feel me flinch when he said his name.

"Yeah. I'm his PA. He's actually moving to LA on Tuesday…" I don't know why I felt the need to throw out this piece of information but I just wanted to make sure he knew Edward wasn't in the picture.

"So does that mean you're out of a job?" He looked concerned.

"Um. No. He's just going to film a movie for a couple of months so I still have a job. Anyway, what do you do?" I needed to change the subject fast.

We got off at the stop in Chelsea and he laughed. "Man. I hate to pull this card but you don't know who I am, do you? He gave me that megawatt smile.

"Uh. Should I?" I let out a nervous laugh.

He grabbed my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine. "Do you watch football at all?"

What does football have to do with anything? "Not really. I mean my dad's a big Giants fan but he doesn't like me to be in the room with him while the games are on… he says I talk too much." I didn't really understand what football had to do with anything.

He let out a booming laugh and he stopped walking. "Bella. I'm the quarterback for the Giants."

My mouth must have hit the floor. It clicked. My dad has his jersey. "Black… you're Jacob Black." I was nodding my head and then I started laughing, hard. "Well I guess that's why you're always wearing Giant's stuff!"

He was laughing with me and gave my hand a tug, so we started walking again. We ended up getting my jacket and having a drink at the bar. It was so easy talking to Jake. I found out that he grew up in Washington in a small town called Forks, which it apparently rains constantly there. That really sucks. We talked about what we were like in high school and college. Jake obviously was a football player and he got a full ride to Notre Dame to play football and was drafted by the Giants after he graduated. He has two brothers; one is older than him and is his manager and his younger brother is in his second year of college at USC, playing football. We found out that we both like old science fiction movies. Maybe one day we could go to one of those old movie theaters and see a sci-fi marathon. I was giddy with anticipation.

Also, I found out that Jake has never been to the Jersey shore! I told him that I didn't think I could be his friend anymore unless he promised he would come to my family's shore house in Belmar this summer. Before I knew it, we were standing outside of my apartment building.

Then, I realized I didn't know anything thing about Edward. WHOA, where did that come from?

"Well Bella, I'm very glad you decided to call me this evening. I had a great time with you."

"I had a really good time too." PLEASE KISS ME! PLEASE KISS ME!

Then, he was leaning down and his lips were on my lips. They were so soft. Our lips moved together rhythmically and he made no move to put his tongue in my mouth. Which, I kind of was a little happy about because this just seemed more romantic, as a first kiss and all.

With one final peck on my lips, he pulled away. "Well, Miss Swan, would you like to grab dinner this week?" WOULD I!

"Yes, I would love to have dinner with you this week but it would have to be later in the week. I'm going to be busy with work with Edward moving and all…." UGH! Why did it always have to come back to that asshole?

"Well. Call me later this week then, ok?"

"Kay." Was all I managed to get out.

"Bye beautiful." He kissed my cheek and then he was walking down the street. AHHH! I ran into the building and hastily pressed the elevator button, cursing how slow it was.

I burst into our apartment "Ang! Are you still up!" I walked into the living room and I saw her and Ben snuggled on the couch.

"Hey! What took you so long, I was getting worried?"

"Well. You remember how I told you about Jake? Well, he came with me to get my jacket and we had a drink and we talked and I think I really like him!"

Angela looked skeptical. Probably because less than five hours ago I was heartbroken over Edward Cullen. But you know what they say; the best way to get over someone is by getting under someone else!

"Yeah, Bells, I'm happy for you! What's he do?" Well by the tone in her voice, she could of fooled me!

I was kind of embarrassed to tell her this… "Um… He actually plays for the Giants."

Ben's head snapped up "Wait, were you with JACOB BLACK?" He looked stunned.

"Um.. yeah. Actually I had no idea who he was; he just told me tonight that he plays for the Giants."

"Bella! ARE YOU SERIOUS! YOU HAVE TO INTRODUCE ME! I LOVE THAT GUY! I PICK HIM ON MY FANTASY TEAM EVERY YEAR! Holy shit, wait till I tell Mike he's gonna flip." He whipped out his phone from his pocket and started texting. Angela and I just rolled our eyes.

"Ok. Well let me go on a date with him first and then you can meet him! But um, I'm gonna head to bed guys, I'll see you tomorrow! Good luck on your first day of teaching Ang!"

We all said goodnight and I walked into my room, stripping off my clothes and putting on a big comfy t-shirt and a pair of flannel pants. I forgot how good it felt to sleep in actual clothes.

I lay in bed and was thinking about Edward and how I knew so little about him besides the fact that he is super sexy and a great kisser. We never really had a personal conversation besides him asking about my parents. I realize the only personal thing I knew about him is that he has a brother, Emmett.

So why did I have such a fascination with him if I knew absolutely nothing about him? Was it because he is a famous actor? Maybe I was hoping he would be some hopeless romantic, like some of the characters he plays? I started comparing Edward to Jake and I realized that they were complete opposites. Like fire and ice. Jake is warm and kind while Edward is an asshole with a hidden agenda.

I must have dozed off somewhere during my pro's and con's list of each guy. Dreams of Edward's kiss and Jake's warm touch hanuted me all night.