Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended. I don't own these characters. This story is not meant to violate the rights held by Stephenie Meyer.

Break in the Clouds

When Monday rolled around, Bella was relieved to see Rose behind the counter and not Angela. Having a husband in management ensured Bella some luxury in her schedule, so she rarely worked weekends. That's when the Grove was packed with kids, and the people who worked the weekend shifts were also younger.

"So, how was your weekend?" Bella asked as they started prepping the fruit station.

People often asked how something so healthy could be so sweet and delicious, but they didn't know about the wholesale tubs of Smucker's under the counter. Smoothamin C's smoothies were less healthy than people thought – and less fresh.

Rose shrugged in answer to the question. "Eh."

Truth was, it had been horrible. The reason she had called in sick last Friday was because her test results were back, and the hospital had called her. Rose kept it all a secret – it was nothing she wanted to share with Bella or anyone else – and soon she'd be gone.

She had pancreatic cancer and it wasn't treatable.

It was too late for a . . . Whipple something procedure, and she didn't have the mental strength to go through chemo for only a few extra months on earth.

Instead she was going to die alone, at the age of forty-four.

Rose took a breath and let it out slowly, refusing to let her mask fall. She didn't want to think about her own life. Or lack thereof. "How was your weekend?"

Calm, Bella thought. Her weekend had been oddly calm. Not in a boring way – just calm. And she knew it had everything to do with her meeting with Edward Cullen. The man had met Bella's needs for something rough and primal. Sure, she wanted him to go a bit further, and she hoped he would if they ever hooked up again. Still, to have those urges accepted and reciprocated had calmed her. As long as no one saw her face, she wanted more, more, more. Because it had been powerful, and if that was how Edward fucked his wife, then Lauren was a lucky bitch.

If only Carlisle could be as grabby and demanding in bed . . .

Bella sighed wistfully and then shook her head – daydreaming would get her nowhere.

"Pretty quiet," she answered eventually. "Dinner with the in-laws, nothing special."

She had thick skin, so she could handle Carlisle's parents' looks of disdain by now. Whenever she took a bite or complimented the food or spread butter on a roll or drank something that wasn't water, they'd perk up with their noses in the air.

It would be a lie to say she was unaffected, but she didn't show it these days. She'd grown resilient enough to suffer in secret behind her smile.

In the beginning of her marriage – or relationship – she'd hoped that Carlisle would interject and defend his wife. But he never did. Carlisle's priority was to impress his parents, not disappoint them.

He'd been sick a lot as a kid, scrawny and insecure, so he was making up for it now. By being ignorant and cold-hearted, evidently. Work was what mattered.

Some time later, Bella came face to face with Edward's wife when she came into the smoothie shop. Tanya Denali was there, too, and Bella knew Tanya worked in a clothing store for children, which was located right next to Lauren's nail salon on the second floor. Bella had seen the women lunching together several times. Tanya and Rose were also sort of friends; only two years separated them, Tanya being the older of the two.

"Hey, honey." Tanya smiled faintly at Rose. "I tried to call you this weekend, but you didn't pick up. Everything okay?"

While Tanya and Rose chatted quietly, Lauren and Bella, two Cullens, stood awkwardly on each side of the counter and tried not to listen in.

"This is ridiculous," Lauren suddenly muttered with a little huff. "Just because our husbands don't get along doesn't mean we have to be strangers." She stuck out her hand to Bella. "Nice to officially meet you. I'm Lauren Cullen."

Bella plastered a smile on her face, even though all she could think was, "Your husband fucked me last Friday," and shook Lauren's hand. "Nice to meet you, too." It really wasn't. She didn't want to get to know Lauren and find out she was a decent human being. "Isabella Cullen, but I go by Bella."

"Great!" Lauren smiled. "So, how about you and Rose join us for lunch? Tanya and I were just gonna go over to the food court."

Bella hesitated. "We don't have anyone to cover the shop." When Rose and Bella lunched together, they did so right here.

"Don't worry about it." Lauren waved it off. "There's hardly anyone here at this hour, and we can always pick a place to sit where we can see the shop."

Not wanting to be rude, Bella and Rose agreed, grabbed their purses, and left Smoothamin C with Tanya Denali and Lauren Cullen.

#

It took five seconds once they'd sat down with their burritos – but a simple Caesar salad for Bella – for Lauren and Tanya to start gossiping.

Rose and Bella were both stunned into silence by the incessant chatter from the other two.

"God, did you see Esme this morning?" Tanya rolled her eyes. "Someone is obviously pregnant again and trying to hide it."

"What a whore," Lauren spat out. "We already know she gets around more than. . . than—" She waved it off, not able to come up with something to say there. "Totally unfair, too."

That changed the mood, for some reason unknown to Bella, because Tanya's face flashed with concern and she patted Lauren's arm. "Edward will come around, honey. I know he will."

"Ugh. Don't talk about that asshole." Lauren looked mad. "He's so fucking insensitive. I swear, for the past few years . . . it's like I don't know him anymore. But a baby would be a good thing – it would fix us."

Bella thought that was crazy, but she wasn't gonna say anything. She just exchanged a look with Rose, who seemingly thought Lauren's statement was crazy, too, and then went back to picking at her salad.

It was only a minute later when her phone vibrated in her pocket.

It wasn't a regular text.

Edward's PM popped up when she clicked on to Grove Online.

0503009: Leave the gossiping to my wife and meet me in the staff lounge on the first floor.

Fanfiction written by AnotherPen, beta'd by InFlight75, pre-read by LAchick85 – we usually go by other names in the fandom.