Honest, I have no idea what happened to my muse. A few changes have been happening in my life and I guess I let those get the best of me. Anyway, if you're still following this, I kiss the ground you walk on for doing so, haha. Anyway, the guilt has been getting to me and I cranked this one out for the sake of getting things moving. Also, this has gotta be the shortest chapter. Or at least, it feels that way.
Guerilla Warfare: Well now I feel like you should be writing this instead. I'm so tempted to do that but then you'd already know what would happen (x
Bella stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom, her arms tucked beneath her head. Wasn't she in this same position the night after dinner with Carlisle and his family? How could it be that she found herself in this position again after a night out with Alice but not really with her? Her failed attempt at trying to coax whatever information out of Jasper was put to an end the moment Edward arrived and as she sat alone, her want to go home increased.
She remembered getting to Olivia after a few minutes to herself. She remembered Angela leaning heavily against her as the three of them walked toward her car. She remembered walking Angela up to her apartment only to return to her car with the faint smell of puke lingering on her but mostly her shoes. She remembered the quiet drive to Olivia's, how her head was resting against the headrest completely, eyes closed. She remembered how halfway to Olivia's, she rolled her head to the side to stare at Bella, her brows furrowed. She also remembered the look of absolute confusion that crossed Olivia's face before she turned her head to look out of the window.
"I'm glad that we're okay," Olivia mumbled.
Bella's eyes stayed glued to the road. "What do you mean? Did you think we were going to be attacked or something?"
"No, I mean our relationship. I'm glad you still actually want to spend time with me and want to get to know more about me."
"Oh. Well, yeah, of course." Bella glanced over at Olivia, who had her eyes closed, breathing slowly. "Why wouldn't we be?"
"What do you think will happen if we keep seeing each other?"
Bella gripped the steering wheel just a bit tighter. Tonight was just not her night, if what she thought was going to happen actually happened. "I don't know. We'll have to find out."
"But what if we see each other for so long that we suddenly get so comfortable with each other and stop getting excited to see each other and learn more? What if we suddenly know everything there is to know and we're just in this relationship because of that?"
"Well—"
"I mean, I would love to know you. All of you. A few days ago, I was going home from work and started to wonder if we were going to buy each other Christmas presents."
"We can if you want to."
Bella parked her car at the front of Olivia's house, unbuckling her seatbelt.
"We can, can't we?"
Bella nodded slowly. "If you'd like to, yes."
"But it worries me, you know. The possibility of us being so comfortable with each other that we don't want to risk losing this relationship because we aren't sure if there's anything else left for us out there."
"That's a risk that comes with most relationships, isn't it?"
Olivia unbuckled her seatbelt and sat forward. "It is."
They sat together in silence, Olivia looking straight ahead and Bella looking straight at Olivia. She cleared her throat. "What brought this on, anyway?"
"I talked to Alice tonight, about her and Jasper."
"Oh. They're engaged, aren't they?"
"They are."
"What does their relationship have to do with our relationship?"
"They've been together for a long time, you know. And I asked Alice how they were tonight and she wasn't so sure. She told me lots of things that I probably shouldn't say but it scares me that it can happen. To anyone, even us."
Bella could feel her throat tighten and the blush on her cheeks. Right now wasn't the time to get flustered over Alice and her apparently imperfect romance.
"We'll get each other Christmas presents." Olivia opened her door. "I'll call you tomorrow."
Bella's eyes followed Olivia as she got to her front door, struggling a bit before getting it unlocked. She waved slightly when her eyes met Olivia's.
Bella rolled over onto her side, staring at her clock. 6:07AM. She woke up almost an hour before her alarm and she felt like the day would never start for her.
She reached over and turned off the alarm then rolled out of bed. The wood flooring was cold, causing her to shiver. Bella went through her morning routine slowly, taking twice as long as it usually should. The moment she had completely changed, she glanced at her clock. 6:45AM. If she were still asleep, she'd have fifteen more minutes of sleep, along with the extra hour after for her to get ready.
Bella made her way into her kitchen, Bernie already sitting near his bowl, waiting. He glanced up at her, eyes wide. She cleared her throat, reaching into the cupboards for a bowl for herself. "Morning, big guy."
She poured food into his bowl, tightly rolling the top of the bag closed after. The sound of him eating caused her stomach to clench, realizing just how unappetizing food sounded to her at the moment. Bella plopped herself down onto a stool at the kitchen table, her chin resting in an upturned palm. "I know I'm up earlier than usual. I hope you don't mind your day starts just a bit early too."
The sound of him slurping at the water in his other bowl was all Bella heard. She continued to sit there, staring at Bernie. Once he finished, he turned to look at her. "Finished?" She hopped off the stool, squatting down to pull him into a small hug. Pulling back, she settled herself onto the floor of the kitchen, her hand resting on his head.
"We're comfortable with each other, aren't we? You still get excited to see me every day, right? Even if it's just because you know I feed you?"
Bella stared at him for a while before releasing a small sigh. She straightened back up and headed into the living room. Plopping onto the couch, she heard the familiar sound of claws on hardwood floor. "What's there to do today, Bernie?" She looked over at him, finding him situated on the floor with eyes closed.
Her shoulders sagged slightly. "You're going to sleep?"
He opened his eyes and stared at her for a few seconds before closing them again.
"Olivia, I need a favor."
She groaned, dropping her head face first into her pillow. "Jake, do you know what time it is?"
"It's almost three o'clock. What the hell are you talking about? I need a favor."
"You're not exactly my top priority." Olivia rolled onto her back, letting out a deep breath. "Make it quick, Jake. I've got a headache the size of your ego and it's taking all of my willpower to not just hang up on you."
"Okay, how 'bout this? I don't need a favor but my dad does. Are you interested yet?" She could hear the smile in his voice, clenching her fist around the thin blanket that she had twisted herself into.
"You're an ass, Jake. What does he need me to do?"
"A hit."
"Uh, no, I'm not getting my hands dirty. I'll do your stupid drug deals but I'm not killing anyone."
"Well it's not like I'm going to risk getting my hands dirty. If I get caught, no one will be around to take care of my dad. So, it's on you."
"Don't you have your other losers you can have do this?"
"I've got a bunch of idiots around here and if they do it, it'll take less than a day for us to be caught. You're the next best thing. Look, I'll text you everything you need to know. For now, get the hell outta bed. Quit wasting your day. You need to start preparing."
"You want this done tonight?"
"I sure as hell didn't call you to give you a month to prepare, so get up."
With a huff, Olivia tossed her phone onto the pillow beside her. "This is such crap."
She pushed herself out of bed, going into the bathroom and starting her morning routine. As she finished getting dressed, she heard her phone go off on her bed. With a groan, Olivia dropped herself onto her bed and searched her bed for her phone. Feeling it tangled beneath the sheets, she tugged until her hand was able to grab it.
Unlocking her screen, she went straight to her text messages. Her eyes quickly scanned over the information she was sent, and dropped her face onto a pillow. 'I don't have to leave until 11:30 tonight. Why am I even awake? Why am I even dressed? Damnit, I could be sleeping.'
Bella twirled her pen between her fingers, leaning back in her chair. It was quiet for a Saturday and not many people were around, but this case has gotten absolutely nowhere. With Carlisle gone and her doubts about the replacement medical examiner for the time being, she didn't want to risk it. She'd rather wait it out for someone she trusted than someone she would cram her foot up their ass before they even opened their mouth.
With a huff, she eyed the envelope that had been sitting on her desk all morning. Her curiosity was slowly getting to her and her resolve to leave it be was slowly dissolving. The thought that the envelope held important information about the case drove her nuts but she knew that if she opened it and there was a lead, she'd be out on her own and getting herself into serious shit.
She grabbed the envelope and stuck it under a pile of paperwork she had yet to finish, and let out a frustrated growl. 'This is stupid. Ridiculous. I should be able to read whatever is inside that envelope and not do something stupid. I have self-control! Not exactly the strongest… but it's there. Oh fuck it, who am I kidding? I'd screw myself over before I even followed through with the lead.'
Throwing her hands up in surrender, she pushed her chair away from her desk and turned herself around to face the elevators. 'Okay. Angela comes in at three. I just need to wait. I can totally wait… right? Besides, Angela's punctual. And it's already two-ish. She'll get here and we'll look at whatever is inside the envelope, and we'll go from there. End of story.'
The sound of elevator doors sliding opened caused Bella's eyes to snap up. She frowned. 'I need to stop getting my hopes up. I have at least half an hour until Angela shows up.' Spinning herself around so that she faced her desk, she scooted herself in close. Taking in a deep breath, she grabbed the folder for her current case and flipped it open. She had just about everything in this file memorized and the pictures clipped to the left side were burned into the back of her eyelids.
Leaning back into her chair, away from the file, Bella tipped her head back and felt the blood slowly rush to her head. Slowly rolling her head forward, she found herself a little breathless at the action. Bella sat up completely, as she leaned forward toward the file. 'I've gotta be missing something. There has to be something I keep looking over.'
She propped her chin onto her fist, eyes unfocused as she let herself get lost in her own mind. It felt like it had been a mere five minutes when she heard Angela grumbling to herself at her own desk. Slightly thrown off, Bella focused on Angela then glanced at the clock. It was almost four o'clock and she hadn't even noticed Angela had arrived. 'What the fuck?'
Clearing her throat, Bella grabbed the envelope from beneath the pile and sauntered over to Angela's desk. She slid onto the edge of Angela's desk, feet dangling slightly.
"So…"
"What do you want, Bella? I've got a hangover bigger than the Eiffel Tower and I'm not in the mood to play the guessing game."
Her jaw dropping ever so slightly, Bella silently dropped the envelope in front of Angela.
"The fuck is this?" Angela picked it up, turning it around and side to side.
"It's an invitation to my fuckin' Sweet Sixteen. RSVP by tomorrow. You want fish or chicken?" With a huff, Bella slid off of Angela's desk, hands at her hips. "What the fuck do you think it is, Angela? It's gotta be some kinda evidence or tip or something! Come on, seriously, if you're gonna come into work, don't ask stupid questions."
"Oh-kay, someone's got their panties in a twist. It was just a fuckin' question. For all I know, maybe it is an invitation to your Sweet Sixteen. Well, what the hell do you want me to do with this?"
"Are you serious? Open it!"
Angela paused, looking at Bella like she lost her mind. Shaking her head, she tossed the envelope back down onto her desk. "You're kidding. Why didn't you just open it on your own? Are you scared it's going to give you a fuckin' paper cut?"
"Just open it already!"
Rolling her eyes, Angela tore the envelope open, a single piece of paper visible. "Do you want to read the note or are you afraid you might get a paper cut from this too?"
"You do it. Protect me from the big, bad edges from the paper, will you? I don't think I could handle much more."
"Weak." Angel pulled out the piece of paper, unfolding it. Her eyes scanned over the letter, brows drawn together
"Well?" Bella began to tap her foot, arms crossed. "What does it say?"
"Uh, well, I'm not so sure. Does this even have anything to do with the case?" She slid the paper over toward Bella, scratching the back of her head.
Snatching it up, Bella's eyes quickly scanned the contents of the letter. "Who… who the fuck is Rachel Davis and what does she have to do with Jessica's murder?"
