Every friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.
~Anais Nin
Chapter Eleven: The Prophet
~Bella~
I tried not to linger too long, but the ticking seconds were the last thing on my mind as I sipped my tea and talked to Edward. Like before, our conversation was free-flowing, easy, and pretty benign. He found it curious that I ordered herbal tea—until I explained my constant struggles with gravity. We talked a lot about books, and I told him all about the store and Mrs. Schaeffer. I couldn't hide my envy when he mentioned his Ivy League education, but he was humble about it.
"Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful for the opportunities it has afforded me, but it kept me on the East Coast, away from my family for far too long," he said.
"That would be hard," I agreed. "I can barely go a month without seeing my dad. I tried once, when I was busy with finals, and he was ready to file a missing persons report. He's a cop. I'm surprised he didn't show up with a SWAT team and dogs."
"A little over-protective, is he?"
"I don't know about over-protective," I said. "We just…I don't know. It's always been just the two of us, so I guess we're just extra close. What about your family?"
He looked confused for a second, and I wondered if I'd crossed some invisible line or brought up a bad subject. He had said he didn't like being away from his family, so I couldn't imagine what could have been wrong with my question.
"Well, my parents have set an example no one could possibly live up to, my siblings meddle too much, and they've all made it their mission in life to marry me off."
Marry him off? I couldn't imagine that would be difficult to do. Hell, I was surprised women weren't lined up at our table right now, handing in resumes and letters of recommendation. He was funny and smart and so easy on the eyes it was sinful. I felt my breath catch every time he ran his hands through his hair.
"What about your mom?" he asked cautiously.
"Oh, Renee's great! She's really fun, always off on a new adventure. She never stays in one place very long, and every time she calls, she's always in a different country. Last week she was in Peru…I think. Or maybe it was Columbia. Well, South America at least. That's why I've always lived with my dad. Renee could barely settle down long enough to have me."
"You seem oddly okay with that," he said.
My situation with my mom was odd. She'd fallen madly in love with my dad when they were both just out of high school and gotten married during one of those Vegas weekend things. Dad got a job on the police force in Forks, so they'd bought a little house, and within a few months they were expecting me. Unfortunately, that was where the fairytale ended. Renee (she never did like being called Mom) was restless, and small town life with a new baby was pretty much everything she feared it would be: boring and predictable. Shortly after my second birthday, she announced she was leaving, and she'd never looked back. Sure, she popped in occasionally for my birthday or Christmas, but for the most part, my entire relationship with my mother was based on phone calls and emails.
"I guess I am. When I was little, I used to wonder what was so wrong with me that my mom left me behind, but as I got older, I started to piece it together. She's strong and independent, but she's also flighty and irresponsible. The best thing she ever did for me was leave me with the one parent who could give me a secure, stable home life."
"So how did the teenage daughter of an overprotective cop ever manage to have a dating life?" he asked.
"Oh, Dad was the least of my problems when it came to dating," I replied, unable to suppress a smile.
"How's that?"
"It was so humiliating," I laughed, shaking my head at the memory. "When I was fifteen, a boy in my Spanish class asked me to a movie. Dad didn't like it, but he didn't give me any grief about it. But when we walked into the theater, half the Quileute Nation was there to chaperone."
"The Quileute Nation?"
"A tribe in La Push. The reservation wasn't far from Forks, and I spent a lot of time there. Apparently Dad had told his friend Billy that I was going on my first date, and it was all downhill from there. It was two years before another boy had the nerve to ask me out."
"We used to do the same thing. Anytime my sister had a date, we would just happen to show up and try to scare the crap out of the poor schmuck. Be glad you don't have brothers," he laughed.
"Don't be so sure about that. The Quileute boys were all freaks of nature, huge, intimidating, and at least six feet tall even when we were in junior high. I doubt anyone could have put more of a damper on my dating possibilities than they did. "
"And now you don't date at all?"
"No. It's just not my thing," I said, suddenly a little nervous. I mentally checked my list of reasons-I-can't-go-out-with-you, and was quite satisfied with my options.
I was well-prepared, my best one on the tip of my tongue, when he stood and said, "I guess we should get you back to work."
He held his hand out again, and this time I took it. That warm fuzzy feeling pulsed through me again the instant our skin touched. I tried not to react, and he just smiled, and then walked with me back to the store.
Gloria's head popped up from below the counter, and she rushed over to grab her coffee, and then zipped away before I even had the chance to glare at her.
"All set!" Tanya chirped. She came walking out of the back room, trying her best to rock her hips sexily, but she only achieved a strange waddle under the heavy box she was carrying. Edward quickly grabbed it from her arms and set it on the counter. He turned back to me.
"Thank you for the coffee, Ms. Swan," he said.
"Oh, ah…you're welcome?" I said. Why did that come out like a question?
One dazzling smile later, and he was out the door.
I couldn't help but stare after him. What was it about that man? Sure, I was a single woman, no love life to speak of, and not a single decent date since James--- not that I was looking. But that didn't mean I had to stand there and drool over a perfect stranger. I sighed heavily.
"Soooo?" Gloria asked.
She and Tanya were leaning over the counter now, waiting for what I'm sure they thought would be the romantic tale of the century.
"So nothing," I replied, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Oh, come on!" Tanya whined. "He's so pretty! Not even a kiss?"
I laughed. "No kissing for me, thanks!"
Gloria gave me a strange look. "One day, Darling. One day…"
Whatever that was supposed to mean.
Changes to Posting Schedule for Broken:
New chapters of Broken will be posted at ADifferentForest(dot)com before they are posted anywhere else. They will then be submitted to Twilighted, where they will take a few days to be validated, and then upon validation, they'll be posted here as well.
I'm also posting a new fic, An Illusion, a Shadow, a Story, exclusively on ADifferentForest, and at some point I'll get around to posting More than Yesterday there as well. Yes, I have lots of fics stored away, and I just start posting them whenever I get around to it. I even found one in my files today that I only vaguely remember writing, but apparently it's almost complete, so it'll probably end up on ADF, too.
If you're not familiar with ADifferentForest, here's what I can tell you. Members hang out in "The Forest" where we all chat it up and discuss and occasionally make fun of each other. About 30 authors including myself were invited to post our fics in their "Storytelling" section, and we all have "Cabins" which are essentially our own little forums for posting teasers and chatting it up with our readers. This is HUGE for me, which is why I'm taking advantage of the opportunity and doing some early and exclusive posting there. If you know anything about me, you know that I'm most known for Breathe Again, and wolfpack fics, especially those that commit the unspeakable sin of pairing Jacob with Bella, are largely ignore by the rest of the fandom. So to have a site with some of the most amazing authors I know ask me to post there....well, I'm just a little excited about that. Anyhow, you're still gonna see this story right here on , but if you want to read the new chapters the second they're available, head on over to ADF.