Hello loves. Hope everyone is having a great week! Thanks to everyone reading and to Marmievicki for pre-reading.
This is a big chapter, a turning point if you will. I need you to tell me what you're thinking. Let's talk it out. Hit the review button and lay it on me. I promise to write back. I have tons of people reading, but not many reviews. Hmmmm…
I bet you would review if SM was writing… (Pouts) Is it because she owns Edward? I get it, she rocks.
Dreams are illustrations...from the book your soul is writing about you. ~Marsha Norman
BPOV
The knot in my stomach kept tightening the closer I got to Edward. Alec was still leading me by my elbow because I couldn't keep my feet from dragging. This wasn't just a boat; it was a ship, a floating city. It rivaled the cruise ships I've seen and I would service a guess that this is for private use only. There was marble everywhere and people waiting around every turn dressed in crisp white uniforms. I wondered if they knew how to make those towel animals?
Not now Bella, focus.
When we finally reached the main deck Alec released me.
"Think you can make it on your own from here?"
"Uh, yeah, I think so. Thanks"
"Try not to be too hard on him, he didn't want to scare you away is all"
"I'll keep that in mind"
I couldn't bring myself to believe that this all belonged to Edward, maybe he just rented it. Even then the price was sure to be astronomical. Why didn't he tell me he was so well off?
Because he's not planning on keeping you around, idiot. He just wants to show off his toys and then send you on your way.
My subconscious may be a bitch, but she's usually right.
Edward was standing along the railing dressed in a gray shiny suit, white shirt and black skinny tie. His hair was messy, either from running his hands through it or from the breeze coming off the water. His beautiful emerald eyes were watching as I closed the distance between us slowly. He held out his hand and I slipped mine into it. The calming effect was immediate and I was struggling to remember why I was upset. DM always had this effect on me too. It seems the important men in my life can always get away with murder if they just touch me.
Thinking about DM made my heart ache a little, so I made a conscious effort to shake him out of my thoughts. Tonight was about Edward.
"You look beautiful tonight Bella, thank you for coming." He said. His eyes were so wary, they held so much fear. It was as though he thought I was going to yell at him. Why would I? Oh yeah….
"Edward, I know what you're hiding. Why didn't you just tell me? What were you afraid of?"
The look on his face was pure shock. He was dumbfounded.
"How did you find out?"
"You're not very good at covering all your bases. I'm not an idiot. Sending your people to spy on me or whatever and then have them close by? Please"
He was looking more panicked and I was beginning to think he might pass out. He was stumbling over words and trying to get out a complete sentence.
"I…uh…er…I had no idea Alice was going to follow you, she's the one who told me about you." He pleaded. "You have to believe me Bella, I was going to tell you tonight."
"What the hell are you talking about Edward?" I said "I'm talking about Alec and Felix and my brother at the bar. You being all secretive about knowing me already before the other night."
He let out a breath in relief but then his sentence struck me and a flicker of something happened in my brain.
"Wait. Who's Alice?"
"Uh, she's kind of my assistant"
"So she was the Alice that was watching me at my hotel? Edward do you even know how creepy this is?" I was almost shouting.
"Bella, like I said, she is the one who told me about you in the first place. I..uh… why don't we sit down and eat dinner and then I'll tell you everything."
I couldn't make up my mind. I wanted answers like, yesterday, but at the same time I wanted to spend time with him without any interruptions. I wanted to watch him eat and listen to his velvety voice, maybe even sneak a peek at his adam's apple while he took a long drink of his wine. My brain was seriously fucked up today.
"I'm not hungry to be honest, but I could really use a drink" I said as I followed him to a small table in the middle of the deck. It was decorated with a vase of beautiful flowers. They were similar to a very dark red perennial.
"Those are beautiful, what are they called?" I ask
Edward pulled my chair out for me and then sat across from me before answering.
"They are called Anemone. Their seed is carried on the wind, hence the ancient Greek name for the flower, anemos means wind." He took one of the flowers out and gave it to me. I placed it behind my left ear and smiled.
"They were created by Aphrodite for her love Adonis. When he was slain by a wild boar, the goddess created the red anemone flower from his blood."
He spoke with such passion about even the smallest things.
"I like the story of Adonis and Aphrodite, Greek mythology is one of the reasons that I wanted to spend the summer here" I said encouraging him to go into more detail.
"The story is a love story yes, but it is also quite sad. Adonis being killed brought great sadness to Aphrodite. She was a goddess who could have loved anyone, but she chose a human, and then lost him. She was devastated." His eyes were once again troubled, time to change the subject and get to what I want to know.
"Edward, you've gotta give me some answers"
He hummed and then responded
"Yes…No…. To get to the other side…. 1.77245"
"I don't want to know what the square root of pi is!" I shout
"You knew that?" he says with a smirk. He's not taking this seriously at all.
"Ok" I say as I stand up from the table. I'm trying to figure out where I can go to get out of here. We're still docked, but I have no idea how to get back to where I came in. Edward stands with me.
"Please, don't leave" He begs. The look of pain on his face makes me want to comfort him, but I'm so confused. Why won't he just tell me?
"What is it?"
"I don't have the strength to stay away from you any more" He says and brings his hand up to caress my jaw. His proximity is making me feel dizzy.
"Then don't" is my response and he brings his lip to mine.
It's soft and sweet and I feel loved and comforted when he brings his arms around me to hold me. His phone rings breaking the spell. He makes a growling sound and steps away.
"What?" He spits. But then his face falls. "I know, I got distracted. I can't help it…fine…thanks Alice"
He hangs up and comes back over to me.
"Edward we need to talk. As much as I love kissing you, I feel like you lied to me. I want the truth, everything."
"I'm just afraid that once you know the truth, you'll run" He says looking down at his feet.
"Just tell me"
He gathers himself and looks at me, right into my eyes and it feels like he can see my heart, my soul. People who have just met don't look at each other like this. He brushes my cheek with the back of his hand.
"Isabella" He breathes. His voice is gravely, and soft and he sounds so familiar. Like…
Oh my God
"We have known each other for months Isabella. I've been dreaming about you."
"What?" is all I can get out.
"We take walks on the beach together, I buy you glasses of wine at the bar where you live, lay with you in your bed…"
No no no no, this isn't happening
"This isn't funny Edward. I don't know who you've been talking to, or who you've had following me around, but making fun of my personal dreams is not nice!"
"I'm not making fun of you Isabella"
"YOU DON'T GET TO CALL ME THAT!"
"But that's what I always call you. Please, I know this is hard to grasp, I had a hard time too. It wasn't until I saw you that I knew."
This was beyond ridiculous. Who had followed me? Had he sent someone home to talk to my mother? She's the only one I tell about these dreams and she has a huge mouth. Why is he doing this?
"I want to leave and I think it's best that we don't see each other anymore Edward. I don't know what kind of game you think you're playing, but I'm not going along with it."
His phone started ringing again and he kept looking back and forth between it and me.
"Damn it!" He yelled. "Bella, this isn't going at all like I planned, please…please listen to me. I'm being honest with you. Just hear me out ok?"
His phone kept ringing and ringing. Someone needed his attention in a bad way.
"Maybe you should get that"
He picks up the phone and doesn't speak. I can hear the shrieking from where I'm standing.
"I know" He sighs "She won't listen….but I thought you said…ok…I'm going to… ok."
"Is that one of your spies?" My voice has more bite to it than usual. I'm losing whatever patience I had and with a brother like Emmett I have a lot.
"The night Alec and Felix helped you back to your hotel" He says
Good, now we're getting somewhere
"You're right, that was me. But I knew you before that, and just let me finish and then you can go."
He had to continue with creepy, couldn't just leave it at 'that was me'
"The next day I saw you. You were in the shower and you told me that someone else had been admiring you. We went to the beach and you had told me that you thought you needed to find someone real and I laughed at you"
We are at a code orange of creepy, Bella my subconscious was saying. But my heart was responding with 'it's him'.
"You thought I was laughing because someone else found you attractive, but really it's because I was relieved to know that this someone else was me."
"Edward, you have to know how unbelievable this is. I can't get my head around it."
"I know, it took me awhile too."
"But the thing is, you've had this information and still acted as if we'd just met. It's like you lied to me, and I don't even know if I believe what you're saying anyway!"
"But Bella"
"Edward, I want to leave. I can't decide if you're a liar or if you're crazy, but I don't want to be around you either way"
"Bella please don't say that"
His phone rings again
"I'm sorry"
He didn't hear me though, he was too busy shouting.
"I did everything right, you lied to me Alice! She wants to leave! Shit!"
I made my way to the door to see Alec waiting for me. He looks at me with a sad smile and then looks behind me. Edward was on his knees with his head in his hands crying. My heart broke in that moment, because he looked like a man who had lost everything.
I wanted to wrap my arms around him and tell him everything was going to be ok.
But I couldn't.
Is this how you thought it would go? It wasn't what I thought either, these two have minds of their own. Reviewers get candy (and by candy I mean my love, adoration and a reply)
I have a new story that I'm working on called obsession. It's the original story written as if Bella were the vampire instead of Edward. I love it. I'll be posting the first chapter of it soon. Put me on author alerts so you'll know when, and you should also read my one shot called revenge is a dish. It's all kinds of fun.
Fic rec: Unplanned perfection by littlecat358. It's really well written and the storyline is great. I couldn't stop reading.
See you next week!