I do not own any of these characters, the only thing that's mine is the plot.
After dinner that night Edward was pacing back and forth in his room. He was deep in thought, creases in his forehead wrinkling from his level of concentration. Periodically he would mumble to himself, or angrily repeat a phrase. His hands were balled into tight fists, which he was shaking. He was unable to deny his jealousy, but he knew it wasn't warranted. The experience of knowing exactly what he wanted but being unable to obtain it was making him furious. Edward vowed to himself that he would work harder. He had to, there was no other way.
"Evening Edward," Ben said knocking on the door before popping his head in the room, "Just doing checks, everything alright in here?"
Edward didn't have enough time to react and hide his frustration. He knew Ben had noticed too.
"Can I get a notebook and a pen?" he requested, the irritation in his voice.
"Yeah," Ben said nodding his head, his eyes still focusing on Edward, noting carefully his demeanor, "I can do that for you. You participating in open mic tonight?"
"I don't know," Edward said speculating, "Perhaps once I have the notebook I'll feel more inclined to be involved"
"I'll work on the notebook, but you should go anyway. It's fun," Ben encouraged.
Edward, knowing Bella would want him to go, simply nodded his head. He need more time to think, to plan. It would be easier if he could keep track of this thoughts, hence the notebook, but perhaps he could focus there anyway if no one expected him to participate. He could just watch right?
Part way through the open mic night Ben followed through with his word and appeared with a notebook and a pen. Edward flashed him a smile and thanked him. He would have to write some fake journal-like entries in the first few pages, just in case someone got their hands on it. And if Bella saw it, perhaps she would be pleased with him. Yes, it wasn't as private as he wanted, but this would work. Edward played his role well, clapping and cheering along, and by the end of the night he was certain that Ben was smiling at his involvement. However once he got back to his room, Edward got to work.
The next afternoon he found out his plan had worked better than he'd hoped.
"So I heard that you got a notebook last night," Bella said happily.
Edward shrugged trying to appear nonchalant, "I figured journaling might help"
"I'm absolutely thrilled that you're giving it a shot," she smiled at him, "Writing can be so cathartic. And you went to open mic night! How was it?"
"I actually had a lot of fun," his smile genuine, but not for the reason Bella thought. She was practically eating out of his hand.
'I will get you yet, Isabella Swan,' he thought to himself, 'You will be mine'
He'd overheard Alice speaking excitedly about their girls day this weekend. He could picture Bella's gossamer skin, exposed to a total stranger, allowing them to rub their hands sensually all over her body. The slightest moans of pleasure coming out of her. The thought both excited and enraged Edward. He ended up anxious all weekend, thinking about it. Those two days without seeing her were torture.
On top of that Esme came to visit. She was pleasant enough, although he could tell she wasn't quite comfortable and she was nervous for him. Esme was such a sweet woman and he did hate seeing her that way, especially knowing that he was the cause. Although most of their visit he was simply going through the motions, he did enjoy their time together. But she was not Bella.
The weekend came and went, just not as quickly as Edward would have liked. He went to bed early Sunday night. He needed a good nights sleep. He had a lot of work to do this week.
