Thanks to my awesome betas GrayMatters and PixieKat7.
Any and all mistakes you find will be mine.
Fuck count: 43, it was 58, but one beta told me maybe it was a little high, even for me.
A personal record! Whoo FUCKING hoo!
Special thanks to Nikita2009 and Katinki for pre-reading, (by the way, they are BOTH great story tellers, read their stuff!)
Okay, there are som Billy Idol lyrics below, please read them, they will come into play later in this story.
Oh and here is the video for the song, watch it, it is VERY sexy!
(dot)com/watch?v=TvjWlPQTOcA
Thanks for reading everyone, and thanks for reviewing as well.
Stephenie Meyers owns all Twilight related characters you see below. The words are mine.
CHAPTER 10
Cullen and I managed to get into a groove after that fucking weekend from hell. He was nice and polite and we managed to be friendly towards each other.
It was Friday and I was headed to pick Robby up from Alice's daycare center. It had been a long week and I couldn't wait to get home, take my fucking shoes off and grab a long hot bath. My feet were killing me. My four inch black suede pumps, gray pencil skirt and white ruffled blouse looked worse for the wear after an extremely heinous day at work. I knew I was going to be on my feet all day, why the hell I wore my girl-power outfit, I'll never know. Again, my fucking feet were killing me.
Maybe because of that fact, I might have been a bit short-tempered as I walked into the center. Yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Alice was waiting at the check-in station, her smile radiating on her face. Her cute uniform of khaki pants and a red t-shirt looking nothing like the plain clothes they really were, she just added spice to everything, nothing could look plain on someone as adorable as her.
How could one person always be so damn happy though, that's what I wanted to know? Shit, did I mention that my feet fucking hurt? I frowned at myself, I needed to take a cue from Alice, maybe smile more?
"Hi Bella! How was work today? God I love your heels, I miss wearing shoes like that, but they are so impractical here at the center for spits and giggles," she said exuberantly, her bubbling personality barely contained.
"The center for spits and giggles?" I said with a deep sigh, my brows furrowed.
"Yeah, I mean come on I can't really say shits and giggles, even though it would be just as close to the truth as the other," she said, throwing her head back in laughter.
I had to laugh, it was fucking contagious. She amazed me. In the three weeks since we started interacting on a daily basis I had come to understand Alice. She was amazing, loving and kind with a wicked sense of humor and a potty mouth like mine. I think I had a fucking girl crush on her, really I did.
"Oh Alice, only you can make my sore feet disappear with your random funny shit," I said sarcastically, smiling at her.
"Bella, no pain no gain, those shoes scream take me to bed," she whispered back to me, winking.
"Well scream they might, but I won't be having any of that for a long time to come. I'm celibate, didn't you know?" I whispered conspiratorially, winking back at her.
She giggled and started to comeback with a comment but just then the door behind me opened and a woman came in. I moved over a bit and let Alice make eye contact.
The woman was dripping in jewels, her blond hair pulled back into a severe knot at the back of her neck, her black power suit fitting like a second skin. Wow, what a fucking ice queen.
"Hi Mrs. Volturi, Marcus will be ready in a second, I'll let Bree know you're here. By the way, I need to speak with you for a moment," Alice said seriously to the uptight looking woman.
"Alice, I think I've asked for you to call me Jane, and I know my husband Caius has asked you not to refer to him as Mr. Volturi, we like casual," the snotty bitch said to Alice, looking down her nose at her.
"Oh, yeah, sorry, I guess I forgot. Listen...Jane, yeah I needed to speak with you about Marcus. I wanted to let you know, he is a bit of a biter. We can't have him going around biting the other children. You'll need to try and get that under control because if it doesn't, then I'm afraid he won't be able to come here anymore. We can't have biters here," Alice said seriously in a no-nonsense tone.
"Hmpft, well biters do run in our family. Our eldest, Alec, was a biter as well. He grew out of it and I'm sure Marcus will too," she said snootily, her heavily made up eyes narrowing.
"Mrs... errr I mean Jane, I cannot allow Marcus to bite. He bit another little boy today and drew blood. The family of that little boy isn't happy."
"Well kids bite, don't they Alice? I don't see what I can do about it, but by all means, if you want to handle it, I'd be forever indebted to you."
"I'll tell you what, I'll work with him here and if you notice it happening at home, maybe distract him and we'll see if that helps," Alice offered kindly. Much more damn kindly than I would have, given the fact that this fucking high and mighty bitch was being rather condescending to her.
"You do that," Jane said to her, effectively cutting her off. "Now where is my sweet Marcus?"
"Let me just go back and see what's keeping Bree," Alice offered, all business.
After she walked into the back to check on Marcus, the fucking snooty bitch turned and looked at me.
"So... do you have a child here as well or are you just some friend of Alice's?"
"I'm picking up my child," I offered, my voice stern and firm.
"Oh? And who is your child?" she asked icily.
"My son's name is Robby," I answered, giving her my best bitch brow.
"Oh! You're his mother? I've met his father, you did well for yourself there. His father is quite a beautiful man," she said quickly, looking at me with surprise and disdain.
"Um, yeah..." Jesus fucking Christ, how do I answer that shit? I sure hoped Alice hurried up, I was entering uncharted fucking territory with this woman.
"Your husband is quite handsome, how ever do you keep him satisfied? I mean obviously, I'm sure you're aware he could have his pick of women," she said snidely, her gaze going up and down my body. I felt myself straighten my shoulders and I held my head a little higher.
What the fuck was with this woman? How the hell did I tell her to fuck off without messing up Alice's work environment?
"First of all, he is not my husband," I started, before she rudely interrupted me.
"You're not his wife? Well now... that IS interestiiiiing," she purred, licking her ruby red lips as if in anticipation. Yes, she fucking purred. What. The. Fuck? Did this woman come from another damn planet and how the hell did I get sucked into this fucking vortex she called a conversation?
"You do know he is the topic of conversation here in the mornings when he drops that baby off don't you? Well of course you must know how gorgeous he is, how much all the women here want him. I'm certain he must be hung like a horse, you can tell me you know, I won't tell a soul," she confided breathily, turning to face me full on as she slid her eyes up and down my body again in a perusal of what I could possibly have that she didn't .
"Um..." I responded like a moron, my eyes darting back and forth nervously. I was not, on any level going to continue this conversation, I was fucking floored.
I must admit, part of me was thinking what the fuck was she thinking asking me such a thing and the other part of me was screaming not to tell her I hadn't actually had sex with Cullen, ever, as in no way- no fucking how. I wanted her to think I'd had sex with him. Oh my fucking God, what does that say about me exactly? I'm a dirty, rotten, filthy, stinking, fucking whore, that's what it says.
So I said the first thing that came to mind.
"Well yeah, I got pregnant before I found out he was gay."
As soon as the words left my lips, my hand came up and I slapped it across my mouth, trying in fucking vain, to put them back where they came from. Holy shit balls, I couldn't believe that just came out of my mouth!
She raised one eyebrow, gave a deep sigh while shrugging her shoulders and said simply, "Pity really. The good looking ones always are."
About that time, Alice came out, her lips tightly together and handed Marcus, who appeared to be around three, to his mother.
"There you go now Marcus, we'll see you on Monday sweetie, remember, no more biting. Okay?" she said sweetly, his body turned towards hers in his mother's arms, Alice looking into his sweet little eyes.
"M'kay Miss Awice," he answered softly. He was adorable, the little vampire, despite how his mother acted. Jesus, I could only imagine what the father was like.
The Ice Queen took him and turned to go out with a huff, leaving behind her the trail of my damn words that I'd never be able to get back.
I was wide-eyed, standing there following her progress out of the building when suddenly I heard Alice take a deep breath. I looked over at her quickly and she was literally shaking with laughter.
"Oh Bella, holy shit! You should see your face. I heard every word you said and my God! You handled that so much better than I would have," she said, her voice shaking with laughter.
"Bree and I watched and listened from the back, we couldn't help it. It was like watching a train wreck, you know you shouldn't, but you just can't turn away," she replied humorously, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"That bitch comes in here every day and flirts mercilessly with Edward, it makes him crazy. You just cured that problem for him with your answer. He better be buying you something, and it better be chocolate!"
"Oh my God Alice, no, no, I should NOT have said that. I don't know what came over me, who would ask such a thing? I mean come on, if I was married to your brother, I may have punched her in the damn mouth for that comment, she is either really brave or really fucking stupid," I said hotly, my voice laced with venom towards Jane Volturi.
"No Bella, don't you dare apologize! I can't wait to tell Edward! He will love you forever for that!" she said happily.
Oh my God, seriously, what have I done?
"Alice, please, don't tell your brother, oh hell, he'll kill me," I begged as the door behind me whooshed open.
"Speak of the devil," she said, looking at me, eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face.
I turned quickly, half expecting to see Mrs. Ice Queen standing behind me again. However, much to my surprise and obvious embarrassment, it was Cullen. Oh kill me now for fuck's sake. Could this night get any fucking worse?
"Why am I going to kill you Bella?" Cullen asked, hands on his hips, his head tilted to the side, eyes questioning. He was clearly baffled.
"Oh Bella just cleared up your Jane Volturi problem for you Edward," Alice answered quickly, before I could even interject. Damn it all to fucking hell, Alice!.
"She did? Really, how the hell did she do that?" he asked excitedly, smiling and looking between Alice and I like we were the answer to all of life's little problems.
"She told her you were gay," Alice said matter-of-factly.
My head dropped down, my eyes glaring at the floor. Earth, please open up and swallow me whole. Now.
"She what!" Edward exclaimed loudly.
My head snapped up and I looked straight at Alice with a grimace, refusing to even look in Cullen's direction.
"Seriously, Cullen, I'm so sorry! It just came out... she was in my face asking if you were hung like a horse...I didn't know what to say... it was rude... I was taken by surprise... I just blurted it out... I didn't mean any harm I swear, oh my hell Alice... I'm going to kick your scrawny ass!" In my panic, I scrambled to get a damn explanation out before he completely went off on me. I was continuing to give Alice the evil death glare as I spoke while she just grinned ear to ear, happy as a fucking clam.
"Seriously, Bella, seriously, you just saved my ass! I owe you one for that, what do you want? A card? Flowers? Candy? You name it and I'll make it happen! Thank you so much!" Cullen exclaimed happily, laughing heartily all the while, his eyes dancing with delight.
What? He wasn't pissed? I turned to take a good look at his face, and he wore the biggest fucking grin as Alice relayed the details of my conversation with Mrs. Volturi.
I took that opportunity to check him out. He had on some Levi's with a pair of black Nikes and a blue, red and green flannel shirt over a gray t-shirt. He had a heavy five o'clock shadow, and his hair was a complete mess as though it had been ravaged by his long fingers all damn day. In a word, he was messy sexy. Wait, did I just think he was sexy? Oh fuck no, no I didn't. Back the fucking truck up. Not going there, no fucking way.
"So what can I do for you Bella? I honestly came by to pick Robby up so you could have the evening to yourself. My parents have been wanting to have some quality time with him and I thought if you wanted, you could have the free time to do something for yourself," he offered sincerely, his eyes sparkling, his smile wide. God, he had such fucking nice teeth.
Jesus! I must be delusional, I needed to get away from here and take a deep breath. This day had clearly taken its toll on my fucking sanity. I cleared my throat and answered slowly, "I would love to have the evening to myself, my feet are killing me and I'd love to have a long hot bath. If you're sure?"
Alice stepped in and answered for him. "He's sure Bella, jeez, he owes you big time. Go home and take your bath and call me tomorrow when you wake up okay? I was going to ask you if you'd like to go to the Pike Street Market with me in the afternoon? Edward can watch Robby for a few hours so we can eat lunch and look around," she said sweetly.
"Oh, Alice, I don't know.. that doesn't seem very fair to Edward..." I trailed off nervously, looking over at Cullen to see what he was thinking.
"No, Bella, go, it's fine. Robby and I can hang for a few hours tomorrow afternoon, it's not a problem," he said sweetly.
"There! It's all settled. Tomorrow, you and I do the Market and lunch. It'll be fun, you need some adult time Bella, please say yes," Alice said hopefully.
"Well, okay, if you're sure you don't mind," I said nervously, looking at Cullen to see if he was sincere.
"Absolutely!" he said smiling as his hand came forward to rub softly on my shoulder.
Immediately though, he dropped his hand and gave Alice a strange look. She raised one eyebrow at him and smiled. Then she turned quickly to go get Robby for us.
"I meant it Bella, you deserve some time. Go tomorrow and have fun for a few hours, Alice may wear you out though so wear practical shoes, not the kind you have on now. Those are very...nice..." he trailed off, looking down at my shoes, coughing discretely into his hand. What the hell was wrong with my damn shoes? Wait! I think he liked my fucking shoes!
"I'm just worried, I wouldn't want your feet to hurt later..." he mumbled, looking up and at the wall, anywhere but my face.
I glanced down at my feet and then back up at him. I must've had a confused look on my face because he started to say something else but was interrupted by Alice bringing Robby out to us.
Now I'd never know what he was going to say, I probably would have taken it the wrong way anyhow, and fuck him if he didn't like my shoes, even though I really think he did. I liked them, that's all that mattered.
"Here he is! All fresh and ready to go," Alice said as she handed Robby to Cullen.
"Hey Robster! How are ya doing little dude?" Cullen asked sweetly.
Robby cooed and twisted himself all around in excitement. He adored Cullen, it was a mutual thing between the two of them. I had to smile, Cullen was just as smitten with the baby as Robby was with Cullen. It was win/win.
He looked up at me, smiling and said gently, "Go home Bella, have your bath time, relax, Robby and I will be home in a few hours okay?"
I nodded and then reached forward and grabbed Robby's little hand, giving it a squeeze and kissing him on the cheek, whispering softly in his ear, "I love you Robby, be a good boy for Cullen."
"Cullen, tell your folks hello for me okay? I really appreciate this, thanks so much," I said sincerely, looking into the green pools of jade that mesmerized me like a tractor beam.
"Will do Bella, now go," he said firmly with a big warm smile.
I waved to Alice and told her I'd call her in the morning, and then walked out the doors to get to my car.
Once I reached the car and buckled up, I glanced up into the center. Alice and Cullen appeared to be in a heated conversation, I sure hoped I hadn't caused a problem, he didn't seem pissed that I fucking "outed" him even though it wasn't at all true...I shrugged it off and headed home. Warm bubbles of lemon verbena were calling my name.
After getting home and having a small bite to eat I poured myself a glass of wine and went upstairs to draw my bath. I added the bubbles and stripped out of my clothes, my shoes the first to go. I decided to set up my iHome and dock my iPod so I could listen to my favorites in my Billy Idol collection. It had been a fucking long assed time since I'd gotten to rock out to some Idol.
I went into the bathroom and got into the water. I let out a long blissful sigh... ahhhh, now that might just have been a little slice of heaven.
I sipped my wine, laying back in the bubbles and thought about my day. I kept replaying the conversation with Alice and Cullen and the fact that I hadn't pissed him off over and over in my mind in a continual loop. Jesus H. Christ, how much more embarrassing could I fucking get?
Suddenly one of my favorite Idol songs came on. I hadn't heard Scream in a long fucking time. My head started bopping back and forth and I started singing along with abandon. I knew I couldn't carry a fucking tune to save my life, but no one was here, what did I have to lose right? I sang along with Billy...
'Pretty baby in the back of my car
Look now, you've gone too far
Have a slice of my lemon pie
One more will get you high...'
Oh I was on a roll here... fuck I loved this song!
'You took me in the wild
No one around for miles
You ain't too proud to beg
Juice runnin' down my leg
I want a chick who makes me feel
Hmm, closer dear
I want you to be free
I want you lovin' me
I want to hear you scream
I want you just like me'
I was seriously into the fucking song... singing as loud as I could, bath water splashing everywhere. Man I seriously needed to get laid, this song made me horny as hell, as if I wasn't horny enough already.
Then came the grand finale, fucking Billy Idol was so goddamned sexy.
'Make me scream
All night, all night long
Gonna get extreme
All night, all night long
Make me scream
All night, all night long
Gonna get obscene
All night
All night long'
After the song ended, I noticed I'd finally run out of hot water and was seriously turning into a fucking prune. I started to get out of the water and when I stood up I realized I'd forgotten to get a towel. Oh fuck my life, why? I swore to myself, shook off the water and opened the door to the hall to get a towel from the closet. I stopped short in the doorway, standing there naked as a jaybird, dripping on the floor, my hair piled high on my head, and oh yeah and did I say NAKED? staring at Cullen and Robby standing on the top stair. Cullen's eyes were wide as saucers as he stared directly at my tits.