Chapter 8

I decided to drive to Alice and Jasper's to show them my car. I pulled into their driveway, blocking Alice's car. I saw the front curtain flutter. Probably Jasper checking to see who was at his house. He took his job in security very seriously.

Before I could open my door, Alice was jumping into the passenger seat. "Take me for a spin, Jeeves."

I laughed and turned the car back on, driving around the block. "I haven't named her yet, but she's only two years old, and she has four wheel drive, Alice!" I exclaimed.

"She sure is pretty. Sam bought Bessie, huh?"

"He basically traded me. It's odd driving a car, though. I feel really low to the ground."

"You'll get used to it."

"Is it okay to block you in for now?" I asked, pulling back into her drive.

"Of course. Come on in and let's talk."

Jasper was pouring us coffee when we entered her kitchen. "Here you go, ladies. After the heavy drinking you did last night, I'm sure caffeine is needed."

"Actually, I felt fine this morning." I grabbed the coffee."But I do enjoy a good brew." I sat at the kitchen table with Alice.

"I want to yet again apologize for Edward, Bella. I have no idea what his problem was last night. "

"Maybe he didn't enjoy being woken up at one in the morning to pick up his drunk ass cousin and her friend?" I suggested.

"Maybe, but he was a total douche, even after we dropped you off."

"He just doesn't like me, Ali, "I shrugged. "So, Ben invited me to brunch today."

"Really? How'd that go? "

"Horrible. He apologized, but didn't really grasp what he needed to be sorry for. Then he kind of blamed me for not taking care of him. Oh, and when the check came, he didn't even pretend to try to pay for it."

"What an ass."

"I'm glad I cut him out. I can't go through the rest of my life dealing with his brand of idiocy. So what's on the agenda, today?"

"Nothing for me. I'm going to go and decorate my office today, but I won't be working. Want to come with? I know Mom had everything professionally cleaned."

"Sounds like a plan; can I drive us?"

"Like I'd ruin the fun of you getting a new car by saying no. Of course you can drive. Let me change out of my jammies, and we can head over."

By the time we got to the restaurant, we had a good idea of how we wanted our spaces to look. "Mine or yours first?" I asked, locking the car.

"Yours. It's bigger and will take longer." We headed upstairs to my new office. There were strains of music coming from the closed door next door.

"Sounds as if Edward's here," Alice commented, as we both took in what Esme had done for me. Not only had she gotten things cleaned, she had the walls painted a muted tan. It was striking with the new desk and furnishings.

"Oh, Alice!" I ran to my desk."It's beautiful. Did you know she was going to do this?"

"She might have mentioned it. Before you get all indignant, they got us all new things."

I looked at how everything was currently arranged. "Let's move the desk closer to the window. Then I will have natural light as well as overhead when I'm using my computer."

We moved the desk where I wanted it, as well as the cabinets. We left the bookshelves and the couch alone. I noticed there wasn't an extra chair for anyone else, though. "Is there an extra chair in Esme's old office?"

"I think there's that comfy big brown one still down there. Did you want it?"

"Yes, this way if anyone does come up here to visit me, they don't have to sit on the couch."

"Let's see who's here with muscles that can move it for you," she went to knock on Edward's door, but I stopped her.

"Let's go do your office, then see if Mike or Jake are here."

"Suit yourself," she remarked and we went to rearrange her office. Other than her yellow walls, we had similar items.

"Where do you want your things?" I asked, moving to her filing cabinet.

"Leave the shelf where it is, but I'd like to swap the desk so I have a better view at the door."

We moved her things around until she was happy, and then went to the kitchen for some water. Mike was there sitting at a counter, reviewing a menu. "Hi girls," he greeted."Did you want any food? There's soup left over from lunch."

"Ooh, what kind?" I asked.

"Chicken Corn Chowder, Bella. Your favorite. Take a seat, and I'll grab you each a cup of it."

"Thanks," Alice said as we sat, and she grabbed the menu that Mike was looking over." Hey, Mike, where'd you get this old menu from?"

"Edward gave it to me, asked me to go over it and see if there's anything on it I thought we should bring back." He set two cups of soup and some rolls in front of us.

"That asshole," I seethed. "Was there anything, Mike?"

"Maybe the chicken parm as a special, but overall the menu hasn't changed that much in years. Maybe we should add more health conscious items. Bella, what do you think?"

"Why does everyone in the place refer to Bella about anything?" Edward stormed over from the freezer, yanking the menu from Alice.

"Maybe because I'm the one that makes the money decisions? I also happen to enjoy food and may have an idea or two about eating healthy, you dick," I huffed and tried to grab the menu back from him.

"Well, until your name is CULLEN like the name of the fucking restaurant, you can go to hell!" He stomped out of the kitchen.

"What just happened?" Mike asked.

"No clue, but he seems to really hate Bella," Alice said.

"Hate or love?" Mike snorted.

"I'm done with his attitude, though. I'll try and have an actual conversation with him tomorrow when I come in for my shift, but if he pulls this crap again, I'm going above him."

"Come on, let's get out of here," Alice said, getting up. "Bye, Mike."

"Bye, thanks for the soup," I parroted.

I stewed in my anger while I drove to Alice's.

"I can try to get to the bottom of it, too, Bella," she offered.

"No, I'm going to make sure he knows he can't be a total douche nozzle to me anymore. See you tomorrow."

A/N: Thanks for reading + if you've reviewed, I responded.

Thanks to my Uber BETA Twilightmomoftwo

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