Chapter 10: Chicken-Curry Salad and Small Dinnertime Conversation

"I don't know what I'm doing here, Alice. I need to go home. I don't need to be here. I need to go home and book the next couple months up so I don't have time to think about anything else." Bella chewed her fingernails in a fit of nerves.

"What you need to do is shut up for a second," Alice said pointedly.

"No, Alice. What I need to do is pack my shit and leave." She was frantically balling up articles of clothing and cramming them into her Louis Vuitton luggage as she pinched her Blackberry between her ear and her shoulder.

"So let me get this straight. The guy can do wonders with his tongue and you're running in the other direction. Am I leaving anything out?"

"Yes. You're forgetting that fact that I DON'T DO THIS SHIT, ALICE!" Bella's voice grew two octaves in a matter of seconds. "It's always felt wrong, it always will feel wrong, it will always be wrong."

"It's wrong because you won't admit to yourself that you might feel a little more for him than you'd expected. It's wrong because there's a chance that he might actually be able to reciprocate those feelings. You're being stupid."

"No, Alice. I'm being reasonable. Look, I'm gonna go. Don't expect to see me here when you guys get back, my ass will be on the first plane home." Alice scoffed and she hung up.

Unbelievable.

Regardless of his skill in the bedroom, Bella was not putting herself in the same situation as before.

And her resolve would not break, either.

Chalk it up to liquid courage for his almost-release, she thought to herself as she dragged the last of her luggage into the foyer. Bella called down for a bellhop, the airlines immediately following. After twenty minutes of trying to decipher the young woman's poor English, she had herself a first-class flight into LAX no later than 5 PM that evening. Bella's chaffeur was already waiting, which left her enough time to stop in for a coffee on her way to the gate inside McCarran.

The only thing she remembered from the flight was the chiming of the seatbelt signs.

She climbed groggily into her Range Rover and rubbed her eyes gently with balled fists. Louis XIV's "Paper Doll" started up as she pulled onto the 401. She looked at her Blackberry and found 'unavailable' illuminating the screen.

Goddamn telemarketers, Bella thought. She pressed send and put the phone to her ear irritably.

"Yeah?"

"Bells!" She felt instant warmth flow through her at the recognization of the familiar, husky voice on the other end of the line.

"Jake! Oh my God do I miss you. How's everything been going?"

"Great. You weren't kidding about the whole cabin-to-myself thing, either," he laughed, "a 73" flat-screen with all the sports channels on-demand? I'm in fucking heaven." She laughed at him while shaking her head on the other end of the line.

At least he was able to find some good in an entirely bad situation.

"How's Vegas?" She froze. Bella knew damn well she couldn't play it off like she was still there. Even if she faired in dishonesty, there was always Alice.

"Um, I'm back home. Just leaving the airport, actually." She cringed awaiting his response.

"What? Why? Everything went good at the party, right?"

Oh, yeah, the party was fan-fucking-tastic. I just about had sex on top of a goddamn table.

"Yeah, the party was fine, even fun considering how much I hate celebrating my birthday. I just...grew a little tired of the desert heat is all."

"Bella, I know you better than you know yourself, and you're full of shit. Out with it." She groaned.

"Can we just worry about it when you come home? You only have a couple weeks left, right?"

"Nice try, Bells. What happened? If you're not gonna tell me, Alice is only a phone call away," he reminded.

"You fucking suck," she spat. Her weak attempt to change the subject rendered useless, she continued. "All of us pretty much split up at the party. Alice was with Jasper and Emmett ran off with the bartender, go figure. I um, kind of fell into the company of Edward Cullen?" She stated it like a question, not really anticipating the answer she'd receive on the other end of the line. Much to her surprise, Jacob just groaned.

"And?"

"And we danced for a while. I had a lot to drink and ended up leaving with him and made my way back to the Venetian." Silence for a moment.

"The Venetian? Wait, we were staying at the Palms." Damn.

"Cullen was staying at the Venetian."

"Bella, please tell me you didn't."

"No. Well, almost. I sobered up enough to end things before they got too far. Not very willingly, though."

"Without asking what it was you did do, because I don't want details, why the hell did you leave?"

"God, you and Alice are so much alike sometimes, it makes me sick. I'll tell you what I told Alice; I don't do that kind of shit. I don't sleep with someone and carry on about my life like nothing happened," she explained.

"So what you're saying is that you like him."

"No."

"Ah, see? I told you I know you better than that; you answered too quickly. You do like him." Bella groaned.

"Even if I do, which I don't, it's a waste of my time. You even said it yourself, he's a fucking player."

"Uh, Bells? You're a fucking supermodel. Anything you want you can have, including men. I don't know how much more blunt I need to be." Bella turned into her driveway and hit the button for the garage door.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not gonna sweat it. Got a couple busy months ahead of me, so I won't have the time anyway---"

"Which isn't by coincidence I'm sure," he interrupted.

"Whatever. You never answerd my question, how much longer do you have?"

"Last time I checked, a llittle over a couple weeks left. I guess I was only booked for a month."

"Well I'll clear a night out and we'll have dinner with everyone when you come back."

"Sounds good, but you're going to have to add one to our usual number." Bella's eyes widened at his statement. Add one?

"Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Yeah. You know, the staff up here is all chicks, pretty fucking hot ones, too."

"And here I was thinking you'd be coming back an entirely different person."

"Negative. I'm kidding, though. I requested for one of Ojai's personal trainers to keep me in shape while I was up here, and they gave me a chick."

"Mhmm," she urged for him to tell her more.

"Her name is Vanessa, but she prefers to be called Nessie. She's different."

"In Jacob-code that means you're in love," she chuckled.

"Eh, too early to tell. She sure is something, though. Oh, hey, I've got another workout scheduled in like, ten minutes so I'm gonna get going and head down there."

"Mhmm, keep me posted. Love and miss you!"

"Ditto. Tell everyone I said hey and that I'm doing fine. See you soon." Bella walked into her house as she slipped the Blackberry back into her purse. After dragging her luggage in, she tore all the clothes out and threw them into piles alongside her brand new LG LCD Steamwasher. She was pouring herself a glass of merlot when her phone went off again.

This time it was Esme.

"Hello."

"Hi dear, I heard from Alice you're already back home. Feel like some dinner?"

"Sure. What did you have in mind?"

"La Conversation? I know it's getting late and I doubt we'll get a last-minute reservation in anywhere else."

"No, that's fine. I'll just meet you there, if that's okay, I'm going to unwind for a few minutes."

"Tell you what sweetie, meet me there at nine. That gives you enough time to take a little nap if you need."

"Sounds good, see you soon."

Apparently you didn't have to be a mother to know what was best.

Bella curled up on the couch with her wine and flipped the DVR on, wanting to catch up on the latest in Gossip Girl; her latest guilty pleasure. Five minutes into it, she dozed off. Exactly an hour and a half later, she luckily awoke remembering that she didn't set an alarm.

"Shit." She ran to her bedroom and slid on a pair of white Rock & Republic skinnies, pairing them with one of Jacob's old ARMY sweatshirts. She slid into some Betsey Johnson flats, snatched up her purse and walked out the door.

She was on Dohney Drive in minutes, and after valeting her truck she found Esme from where she was on the sidewalk. She'd already gotten them a table. Bella smiled warmly as she walked up to the table, Esme standing to give her a "welcome home" hug.

"I got us both one of those curried chicken salads I know you like. And a bottle of house wine." She smiled.

"You know me too well."

"Practically raised you myself. So how was the party?"

"Good. We all ended up splitting up, meaning Alice and everyone, but I was really surprised at everyone who'd showed up."

"The boys from Tom's team make it?"

"Oh they all did. You weren't kidding. The DJ we'd picked out actually came early, too. It was a good time. Tao is gorgeous, I'll have to get you to check it out the next time you go to Vegas with me."

"Well I talked to Alice, and it doesn't seem like she wants to come back home," Esme giggled.

"Why am I not surprised? She has the entire top floor of the Palms to herself, no thanks to me."

"I heard about Jake, too. Emmett called to tell me because he figured I had a right to know." Bella felt a little ashamed that she hadn't thought to call with the news herself.

"Well he definitely had some problems we didn't seem to worry about too much. I guess everything just caught up with him and he finally snapped while we were there. Emmett told you all about the fight, right?"

"Yes. And how you went soaring across the bar."

"Hmph. But yeah, the psychiatrist evaluated him at the hospital and they figured everything out. He went without a fight."

"Jake's never been one to put things on the backburner for very long. I'm just glad he's doing okay."

"I just talked to him on my way home from the airport, he says hello and wanted me to tell you that he's doing just fine. He'll be back in a couple weeks."

"Good to know. Now back to you. Why did you come home so soon?" Here we go again.

"Well I talked to Alice and I talked to Jacob, and the more I talk about it the more complicated it seems to get."

"I have a feeling I know where this is headed." Bella held her hand up, palm facing Esme.

"Just listen. At the party we split up like I told you, Alice was with Jasper and Emmett was with some girl he met there. I did my rounds, saying hi to everyone, you know how that goes. Well Edward Cullen was there, Tom and Gisele came so I knew it was only a matter of time before I ran into him. I was at the bar and he came over to wish me a happy birthday and somehow managed to stay glued to my hip the entire night. Once the music started, we danced for a while and I'd had a lot to drink so we caught a cab together and I ended up at his hotel."

"Bella, please tell me you didn't."

"Ugh. You and Jacob both. No, I didn't. We fooled around a little bit but I sobered up and ended things before they went too far. But I left and that's when I freaked. I didn't know what I was doing there anymore and flew home."

"On a whim, huh?"

"I suppose."

"But wait, how did you two get to talking in the first place?"

"See? This is where it gets interesting. I guess it was one of those fluke things, and I ended up running into him wherever I went. He was at the lounge when I was with the Pussycat Dolls, he was at Coyote Ugly. He was everywhere."

"So you two just kind of clicked?"

"Not exactly. The fight Emmett told you about? Edward was the one Jake got into it with. We were dancing at the bar and Edward took it a little too far which set him off. They both went to the hospital, and I went to apologize and things just kind of escalated? I don't know how to put it, really. For as much of an idiot as everyone makes him out to be, I felt so bad for what Jake did to him."

"It sounds a lot like you have feelings for him."

"Not you, too. I don't know what my problem is."

"So you two fooled around and you left why? Because you figured you could just run away from your feelings?"

"No, I came back home because I'm not that person. You of all people know that. I don't casually sleep with someone and carry on as if nothing ever happened. Aunt Esme he had me in his hotel room, just about naked on his bed, and I couldn't even get a word out without slurring it. What does that tell you?"

"That tells me that you're over-analyzing everything."

"No, that tells me that all he's after is another notch on his belt. I have standards, a career, a reputation to uphold."

"But that's not the case. Bella I know what you went through with Matt and I know that's majority of the reason why you're being this way, but I believe you need to step back and take a look at the bigger picture."

"The bigger picture?"

"Do you really want to spend the rest of your life thinking 'what if'? On top of everything else you already have on your plate?"

"It's not like that," Bella was shaking her head in furious denial.

"It is. What are the odds that you two would run into each other as much as you did while you were in Vegas? What are the odds that he was even there the same time as you were? Do you see what I'm getting at?"

"No. I see that you're trying to force me into something that I don't really want a part of."

"No, sweetheart. I'm just trying to get you to see things the way the rest of us do. You can't judge a book by its' cover, nor can you by the things you hear from everyone else. Spend some time with him, get to know him, and decide for yourself is all I'm suggesting." Bella nodded in agreement. At the same time, the waiter brought their dinner. Amongst one amazing chicken curry salad and small dinner-time conversation, the two brought their outing to a close and headed onto Dohney Drive.

"Remember what I said," Esme pecked Bella on the cheek and she watched as the valet came around with her Mercedes. The valet pulled the Range Rover around and Bella climbed in. Her Blackberry rang for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

Alice.

What now?

"Hey Ali."

"Hey Bella. Look I just wanted to call and apologize for being such a bitch earlier. How are things back home?"

"Good, talked to Jake for a little bit. He says hi and everything's fine. Has a new lady friend, too, but didn't tell me much. I guess we'll meet her when he comes back."

"Aww, yay. It's about damn time!" she joked.

"I know, right? But apology accepted. I'm just on my way back home from dinner with Esme."

"Did you tell her about Cullen?"

"Yes. She said the same thing you and Jake said."

"What does that tell you then. Wait, what? You told Jake?! He didn't freak out and have a 'Terminator' moment?"

"No, he didn't. He actually encouraged me to talk to him some more. Weird, right? It makes me feel better knowing that whatever he's got going on up there is working for him."

"Yeah, me too. So listen, Jasper and I will be back in town on Monday. Today's what, Thursday? First thing Monday morning we need to get your schedule together for the next couple months. If you still wanna go book-crazy, we'll do it."

"I'm pretty sure I do. We'll talk when you get back. Enjoy the rest of your time there."

"Will do. And Bella?"

"Yeah, Al?"

"Go get your man." Bella scoffed and hung up. Her man? Cullen wasn't anybody's man. She cruised along the 405, The Kills blaring through the speakers. She pushed her oversized Chanel sunglasses on her face as the last bit of the California sun shone at her.

It was clear she had a lot of thinking to do.

By the time Bella got back to her house, the remainder of the sun had dipped below the horizon. It took every ounce of strength she had to trudge up the front porch and turn the key in the deadbolt. Finally, as she took the last few steps into her bedroom, she succumbed to her exhaustion and collapsed onto the king-size bed.

Everything went black.

I said rollover, do me a trick

Do it with your shoes on, it'd be a kick

Oh, tell me the horse that you pick

Let me buy you a lollipop you want to lick

The phone was going off again. At nine in the morning to be exact. Bella groaned as she rolled over onto her side and groggily snatched it off her nightstand.

Gisele.

Not expecting her phone call, she answered immediately.

"Hi!"

"Geez Bella, I miss you, too!" she joked.

"What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing. They were short-handed at the Chloé show this Saturday and I volunteered the both of us." She groaned.

"Why?"

"Because if I asked, you'd have said no." Bella smiled. This was true. "It's here, in town though. I need you to meet me at the California Market Center. The show's being held in the fashion theater, not exactly what we're used to but I guess this is a last minute thing that was put together anyway. That swine flu is going around and their models weren't so lucky with it. Anyway, I'm leaving now so I suggest you do the same. See you soon."

"Mhmm." Bella took a quick shower, threw on another pair of skinny jeans from her endless collection, paired it with a sleek, black Ralph Lauren baby tee, slipped into some black Prada sandals and was out the door. Gisele was just walking through the door as she pulled up to valet.

"Gisele, wait!" She jogged up to her and they walked in together to find one chaotic mess. Men and women were running around frantically, stagehands no doubt. The lobby hadn't even been transformed for the show and the two girls were afraid to even see what the fashion theater looked like. An older man who looked to be in his fifties jostled up to them. His salt and pepper hair was disheveled, his soul patch about the same. His dress shirt was wrinkled and partially untucked from his equally wrinkled Dockers.

"Name's Sam. I take it you're Bella and Gisele?" The two girls shook their heads.

"Very well. Sorry for the poor representation, I don't think I've slept in two days." He pointed out his wrinkled excuse for an outfit.

"Not a problem. Where do you want us?" Bella asked.

"Fashion theater. We're just showcasing the Spring collection for 2009, so whatever they assign you they assign you. They'll give you the rundown, make you do a trial run, and you'll be in and out in under two hours. Deal?"

"Deal," they said in unison. Sam showed them where to go before scurrying off amidst the chaos.

"You know, I think that might have been the first straight man I've seen working at one of these things," the girls laughed and walked into the theater. To their amazement, it had already been transformed for the show. White walls, white floor, white catwalk, white everything. The entire theater stood at a good 8,200 square feet, and was illuminated with at least three different shade of pink, the color more rich as it climbed the walls. There was nothing along the catwalk sans for the Chloé emblem. The girls entered the backstage area where stagehands were already waiting. A petite woman by the name of Sylvia came around with her clipboard.

"Okay, this is Chloé so we've got a little bit of everything. Bella? You've got two dresses and two pantsuits. Gisele? You've got one dress and three pantsuits. Marcy will be working on makeup for the both of you, Andy's got the hair. Everything copacetic?" The woman talked a mile a minute. They both shook their heads.

"I want you two on for trial in under thirty." She turned on her heel and took off. The girls were both ready to go in twenty minutes. Bella had on a simple white dress with eyelet lace detail. White peep-toe wedges to match. Gisele had on a simple blue dress shirt with darker blue silk and satin-crepe pants. The two did their trial run, and were back out to their respective cars in under two hours as Sam had promised. Instead of going home, Bella took a detour onto Rodeo and stopped into Stella McCartney for a couple skirts she had seen out in Vegas. Not before long, she was back home and curled up on the couch with her pad-thai takeout from Sanamluang Cafe. She'd declined the invitation to join Gisele and some of the girls at Les Deux, still too exhausted from her Vegas activities.

The next morning she was up at eight, making herself a soy smoothie before heading back down to the California Market Center for the show.

If she got through today, it'd be a miracle.

Gisele was already there, in the middle of hair and makeup. Bella plopped into her chair in front of her vanity and let the help go to work. Sam came running back to speak with them.

"Bella, you've got the white dress first. Gisele? You've got the pantsuit." He ran off before they could even let him know he was being acknowledged. The hours flew, and before Bella knew it, she was watching as the audience poured in to claim their seats. It was the usual crowd, Madonna and Gwyneth, the Olsen twins, Haylie and Hilary, blah blah blah. Boomkat sounded over the speakers and Bella sashayed her way back to the vanity for the finishing touches on her makeup. Gisele got up and stood on the platform behind the catwalk as the girls started to line up. Bella climbed into her dress and joined them. "Run Boy (Here I Come)" started to play, their cue to take off down the runway.

When you see me you better run boy

When you see me

When you see me you better run boy

Bella launched herself onto the runway at the chorus, her steps always in time to the beat. She looked ahead as she neared the end of the catwalk, finding it a little disheartening that her usual cheering section was empty. These were the kind of shows Bella hated; the ones that made her job seem like clockwork. Nevertheless, she finished out the remainder of the show and mingled for a little while with the other models and such afterward. After snagging her Smashbox giftbag, she left for home. A feeling of loneliness striking her, she called Esme.

Voicemail.

"Hey, it's me. Just calling to let you know the show went okay. I'm just headed back home, so if you're not busy feel free to stop by and keep me company. Love you." She hung up as she pulled back into her driveway. Bella showered, washing the three cans of hairspray from her hair and letting the hot water relax her tense muscles. After slipping on a pair of Juicy Couture sweats and a black beater tank, she padded into the kitchen to heat up her pad thai leftovers and pour herself a glass of Le Montrachet. She found it odd that every noise the house made had her jumping slightly. Just as she sat her food down on the teak-wood coffee table in front of her, the doorbell rang.

"Who the hell is at my door?" Then she remembered the voicemail she'd left Esme. Bella bounced over to the door, swinging it open with a bright smile on her face.

Not Esme. She felt the color drain from her cheeks.

There, standing on her front porch, was Edward in all his Diesel-clad glory.

"Um, hi? How did you, how do you know where I live?"

"Relax, I got directions from Gisele. I actually came to return this," he held up the bra she'd had on in Vegas. "I may be a guy, but I do now Dior isn't cheap, so here." Bella was at a loss for words. For the moment anyway.

"You mean to tell me you flew all the way out here to return my bra?" He laughed.

"I have a place out here on Newport Beach, so it's no big deal. I'm considered off-season for a couple weeks so I'm normally out here anyway."

"Oh."

The resolve she'd had earlier no longer seemed to exist. "Wait, did you eat? I have all this pad thai I won't be able to get rid of by myself," she pulled the door open a little wider.

"Sure." He walked in and left his Doc Martens by the door before relocating to her couch. "Shit, nice TV. 73" right? I know you don't have Superbowl parties in a place this nice." She chuckled.

"Oh, you'd be surprised." She scooped him a generous helping of the thai and snagged a beer from the fridge. She walked over to him and set the beer down. "Rolling Rock okay? Haven't had the chance to stock up lately."

"Rolling Rock's my beer of choice. Damn, this thai's good." He'd wasted no time in digging in. She sat in front of him at the coffee table, indian-style on the floor. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before either of them spoke again.

"Okay, we have to talk about the other night." She about choked on her thai. After taking a deep breath, she took a long draw from her wine glass and savored it for a few moments before letting it smooth its' way down her throat.

"Okay."

"I need to know why you left."

"I told you why I left."

"No, you threw accusations at me."

"No. I told you that I'm not into the same things you are. I don't go around screwing people and brushing it off the next day."

"Oh, so I do?"

"It makes sense, doesn't it? You're a football player, your reputation precedes you."

"I am a football player and I do sleep with chicks, that's what straight men do. What you don't seem to give me any credit for is the fact that I can differentiate between someone who means something to me and someone who doesn't," he took a swig from his beer. Bella took a minute to make sure she heard correctly.

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me."

"You care about me?"

"For some reason that is beyond me, I do. It didn't take me very long to figure it out, either, which has to mean something," he was shrugging his shoulders in a fit of nerves.

It was so damn cute.

"So what are you suggesting, Cullen?"

"We should get to now each other better. Without the help of oatmeal cookies." Bella giggled.

"So where do we go from here? I've never really been in this kind of situation before," she admitted.

"Me neither. So what about dinner, tomorrow night? Wherever you want to go."

"Okay. Pick me up at seven?"

"It's a date." He smiled.

"Yeah, it is." Bella scrunched her nose before returning his smile. They finished up the thai while talking about anything and everything. Turns out they shared an equal amount of love for the band Louis XIV, along with classical music like Debussy. After making small talk for a good three hours, Bella's eyelids were drooping and he suggested that he leave so she could go to bed. With just a wave goodbye he was out the door, and Bella closed it tightly before leaning her back against it, throwing her head back as well.

Despite the fact that they'd just been in the same room together where little to no alcohol was involved and they'd managed to get along rather famously, Bella still couldn't shake the feeling that she had no idea what she'd just agreed to.

AN: It is the beginning of the end, my friends. ;) Kidding. Bella got a lot of advice in this one. I also gave you a little sneak-preview as to how things will be when Jake gets back. Stay tuned because next chap? ExB's first date. Woohoo. REVIEW my lovelies!