This chapter flops back and forth between perspectives - oh boy! Oh boy! Enjoy!
Chapter 9
I drove away slowly. Her scent lingered in my car.
----
My back leaned against the front door as I listed to the sound of his truck fade into the distance.
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I turned the shower on. The heat from the steam took me back to the cab of my truck, pressed in between her body and the cool window. I allowed myself to be happy...
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When Edward called me, I told him that I wanted to be alone tonight. I let my thoughts float away to a world where I could stay in Jake's arms forever. During that moment in time, I was happy...
----
I heard the TV on downstairs and I secretly hoped that he was awake. I wanted to talk with someone and the only person that now understood what I was going through was my dad. I thudded down the stairs awkwardly, hoping that I would wake him up if he happened to have been asleep. My path indirectly lead me into the kitchen for something cool to drink. I heard him clear his throat and sit up in his chair in the living room.
"Bells?" he called out.
"Yeah, dad?" I smiled at how well my plan was working thus far.
"Come here and sit down with me for a while when you're done in the kitchen," he answered quickly. "Bring me a beer while you're at it, please."
A little liquid courage for this conversation, Dad?
I grabbed a dark brown bottle out of the fridge and my glass of orange juice and made my way into the living room. I handed the bottle to Charlie and plopped down onto the couch. He sat up in his easy chair slightly, twisting the cap off of the beer.
"So...you had an interesting day, huh?"
I cleared my throat, "Yep."
"So...what's going on between you and Jake?" He asked knowingly.
"Umm....it's complicated," I replied. I knew that it wouldn't be enough, but I thought I could at least try to delay the truth from coming out as long as possible.
"No it's not. Do you love him?" Charlie was all business tonight.
I grimaced and hesitated by swirling my glass of orange juice.
"Bella?"
"Yes?"
"Do you love him?" Charlie starred intently at me.
I breathed in deep, "Yes..."
Charlie nodded, "Alright. That wasn't too hard now."
"But Dad..."
He interrupted, "Do you love Edward?"
I looked up at him and he sat patiently, awaiting my response. I breathed in again, "Edward has taken care of me the past couple of years. He paid for my apartment, he fed me, he helped me get into college."
"Bells," Charlie leaned forward and spoke with a purpose, cutting to the chase. "Do you love him?"
Each of his words were enunciated slowly, purposefully. I felt my nerves give way as I shook nervously, "I don't know."
Charlie leaned back against his chair and took a sip of his beer, "Well then."
I waited for him to say something profound, something that I could mull over. He simply stared straight ahead with furrowed brows. After what seemed like forever, he spoke, "I did not know that your mom and I were not meant to work out when I asked her to be my wife. Neither did she. What each of us did know was that we loved each other and we couldn't imagine spending our lives with anyone else. I still don't regret the time I spent with your mother because for me, she was the love of my life and she gave me you."
I waited for some type of revelation to sink in, but nothing did. I waited patiently for him to continue.
"What I'm trying to say is that I chose your mother because I was absolutely, completely in love with her. I saw her being the mother of our future children, being my soul mate, being my best friend forever. I did not CHOOSE to marry her because I felt obligated."
Charlie took another swig of his beer and sighed, "Bells, you have a choice in the matter and a big decision to make. You get married in three days," I gasped in realization that the time had zipped by so quickly and my heart felt terribly heavy within a moment. He turned toward me and stared intently, "Don't make the wrong choice."
****
Blue woke me up again the next morning - early. I groaned at her weight on my chest and pushed her gently off of me.
"Girl, come on...it's too early," I pleaded and flipped the pillow over to the cool side, simultaneously flipping to my stomach. She whined and nudged my arm with her wet nose, licking every spare inch of bare skin available.
"Ugh, fine..." I rolled out of bed, feet hitting the floor unsteadily. I had on only a pair of basketball shorts sleeping and decided to grab a sweatshirt so I didn't scare the neighbors with my near nakedness. I ran my fingers through my hair as I checked my reflection in the mirror, ducking between the marked glass, then turned toward the hall and the front door. The lock was undone as always and I opened the door to let out Blue. I watched her run around like a puppy, giddy to finally be able to run around like an idiot. I smiled as I watched her and glanced up to see a car in my driveway.
I also noticed a figure in the car.
A silver car...
Who owns a Volvo in this town?
*****
My alarm was set this morning for 8:00 A.M. so that I would not be late for my dress fitting at the seamstress downtown. I groaned as I rolled out of bed to hit the shower. I knew that today I wanted to look nice so that I could see what I would really look like in the dress. I washed with my favorite freesia scented body wash and strawberry scented shampoo and conditioner. Vanilla lotion moisturized my skin after the shower and black mascara coated my eyelashes. A little blush, some lip gloss and a curling iron later and I was ready.
I skipped down the stairs in a zip up sweater and shorts, throwing on my chucks. Glancing outside from the kitchen window, I observed that Charlie's car was gone. I smiled as I thought about our conversation the night before. My nostalgia was interrupted when I noticed another postcard sitting on the table. The front featured what appeared to be a couple overlooking the cliffs at the reservation. The picture was taken by one of the people in the photo as all I could see was their feet and the view from where they were sitting. It was cute and I smirked at its appeal. I flipped it over and read slowly:
Bells -
Promise me you'll stop by before you become Mrs. Cullen.
There is something that I want to show you.
Yours,
Jake
There wasn't any postage paid stamped on the card and I wondered if he dropped it off last night. My phone buzzed in my pocket to remind me about the appointment set 15 minutes from now. I carefully folded the card and stuffed it in my back pocket and headed for the door.
*****
The figure moved in the vehicle and opened the front door. The bronze-tinted hair was a dead give away as he moved toward me. The look in his eye was serious, with an obvious mission in mind. I walked out the door and stood still on the steps as he made his way over to me.
"Edward," I nodded to him. He did not extend the same greeting.
"Listen up, dick," He challenged. "Bella chose me, not you. If I so much as catch you thinking about her, I will..."
"You'll what?" I bounded off of my steps and stomped toward him. He cowered and stepped backwards. He didn't say anything.
"You'll what?" I yelled, demanding a response. I stood not two feet away from him and flexed my entire body, attempting to look as intimidating as possible. Edward glanced to his left and to his right, his lower lip quivered just slightly.
"You aren't in control of me on MY property, Cullen," I hissed.
He looked at me incredulously, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
I fumed, "You cannot tell ME what to do here. You cannot use your money, power or manipulation around me. It goes for SHIT, asshole."
He flinched as if the words actually hurt, "She's mine, Jake. You know this."
I stepped forward again, causing Edward to step back again and lose his footing, falling on his ass.
"Bella is not a prize to be won, Dick-ward. She deserves someone that will love her, adore her. Someone that won't cheat on her - with his best friend, at that!" I breathed in deep to try and maintain my rage. "Did you think that no one knew about you and Emmett? Are you REALLY that stupid?"
Edward flinched at the words, closing his eyes. "My father won't give me his business unless I'm married..."
I growled, furious, "You have kept her from experiencing real love for a fucking business? For money? Why didn't you choose someone else? God Dammit!"
I had wasted so much time...
"She said yes to me, Jacob. I will take care of her. She will be well off..."
My rage consumed me as I drew my fist back and slammed it forward, connecting directly with his left cheek bone.
*****
The dress was beautiful and fit like a dream. The lace over silk charmeuse strapless gown fit very snugly against my breasts, pushing them upwards to create some nice cleavage. It was fitted through the bodice, through my hips and down my legs. A slight train flitted out the back giving me plenty of room to walk. I stood tall and blushed, almost embarrassed at how good I ended up looking in a gown.
"Miss? How do you feel?" the seamstress knocked on the dressing room door and pushed it open, gasping. "Oh dear, you look so lovely."
She came up behind me to make some adjustments to the small bustle when I heard a loud, annoying laugh come from the front of the shop. The conversation was very easy to eavesdrop on.
"I know right? How could she be so stupid?" the voice questioned and I assumed that she was on the phone. I strained to hear more.
"Well it was obvious even back in high school that Edward was gay, don't you think?" she laughed cruelly with the other person, cackling as if she knew what she was doing. "Yeah, well she's a dumbass if she didn't know that..."
My eyes pooled with painful, stinging tears.
"Yes! And the fact that it's with his supposed best friend. What was his name again?" she paused and I grimaced even more. HIS name? "Oh - yep that's it. Well I hope that she's a big fan of disappointment..."
It was all starting to make sense. Now I could see why he always held back from me, kept me at arm's length. How blind could I have been? All of the lies, all of the weekend trips with Emmett, all of the disappointment. I stepped forward to reach into the back pocket of my jeans to remove the postcard Jake gave me. His address was listed there and realized that I knew exactly where on the reservation that he lived. I turned toward the woman in my dressing room after collecting all of my things.
"I need to go..."
Before she had a chance to argue, I fled the room and ran out of the front door. I eyed the woman at the front desk and smiled before letting the door close, to which she gasped in horror.
****
Alright, everyone. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! You are all fantastic - sorry about the cliff hanger. Who knows what will happen during the next chapter....
Oh wait...
I know what will happen! And it will behoove you to stick around to read it. :)
