Calls and messages
It was a weird saying goodbye to Edward. I didn't know him for a very long time, but still I felt empty when I saw him disappear into the crowd at the airport. Not only did I feel empty, I also felt lonely, another thing I didn't understand. Was it possible to miss someone you only knew for about a week? Was it even possible to feel about someone the way I felt about Edward after only a week? Did it all go too fast?
On the entire way home I thought about this and every second I did so my insecurities about Edward and me grew stronger and stronger. By the time I was unlocking the door to my apartment I was already close to tears. This was the kind of situation where I needed my best friends to reassure me and despite knowing they were at work, I hoped Rose and Alice were home, but of course that wasn't the case. After pacing through the apartment for about an hour, still thinking about Edward and me, I had a major headache. I needed to get out and clear my head, but where was I supposed to go? Was there a place I could relax my mind? A place where I could forget about all my insecurities?
Yes. Yes, there was. The beach at Discovery Park.
I hurried out of the apartment building and walked along the street to Discovery Park. I expected the walk to my parents' favorite place in Seattle to be filled with more thoughts about Edward, but only knowing where I was headed gave me some peace of mind.
Once I actually arrived at the beach I sat down and stared out onto the water. I know I needed to talk to someone, someone I trusted and who wouldn't interrupt me. In that moment I did something I hadn't done for almost twenty years. I talked to my parents.
"Mommy? Daddy?" I whispered timidly.
I looked up at the sky, looking for a sign that this was actually working or if I was absolutely nuts. I was never the kind of person to go to church on Sunday, but I did believe in god and liked to think that my parents were in heaven.
After watching the clouds for several moments I was about to give up, but then suddenly the sun broke through the clouds and illuminated the spot where I was sitting. It could have been mere coincidence that the sun broke through the cloud barrier right at that moment, but I liked to believe that it was my parents giving me a sign that they were listening. I smiled as I was about to continue talking.
"I miss you. I feel guilty for not once attempting to talk to you in the past 19 years, but it just made me too sad, but please believe me when I tell you that I thought about you very often."
At this point I didn't even care if there were people around listening to me. I wouldn't be embarrassed if there were. There's no reason to be ashamed of talking to your late parents who you missed more than anything on this planet.
Well, almost anything.
"I know you two are watching over me and I'd like to thank you for that. You might remember me sitting here last week. Well, I hope you do because there is something I would like to talk to you about. Last week when I was here a man joined me, his name is Edward and he's one of Jasper's best friends. I know that you probably know all that, but I feel better telling you about it myself. So, you see, Edward and I are very close in a very strange way. I can't say we're just friends because that would be a complete lie. But we're also not really a couple. I'm so confused. I know I don't know him for very long, but I have all these feelings and I'm just absolutely confused by that. Is there something wrong with our connection? It happened all so fast," I rambled.
And then, as if it was another sign, I had a flashback. I was five years old again and I was at home in Forks talking to my Mommy. That was a few weeks before the accident that changed my life so much.
Daddy walked into the kitchen just before he left for work. He gave Mommy a kiss and walked over to me and ruffled my hair which made me giggle in response.
"Daddy, stop," I said.
"What? I'm not allowed to touch my little princess anymore?" He asked and pouted. I laughed and threw my arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. He laughed then and kissed the top of my head. A few minutes later he turned for the door to go to work.
"See you two tonight! Have a nice day! I love you both," he said and walked outside to his cruiser. Daddy was the Chief of Police; he was a very strong man.
"Mommy?" I asked.
"Yes, honey?" Mommy answered and turned around to look at me.
"Do you think I'll ever find someone as perfect as Daddy?"
Mommy laughed beautifully. She was so pretty.
"I'm sure you will, honey, I'm sure you will."
"Mommy, when do I know that I love somebody?" I asked.
"You know sweetheart, falling in love is a very beautiful feeling. You will know that you've found the man of your dreams when you're feeling certain things. If you are always happy around him, if he can make you laugh even though you want to cry and if he is there for you, hugging you when you're really sad then you are really, really close to falling in love."
"How long does it take to fall in love?" I asked.
"It's not all about time, honey. Sometimes it takes years to fall in love with somebody, but sometimes it only takes seconds."
"Why?"
"Some people are best friends for years before they realize that they are perfect for each other. Other people, like your Daddy and me for example, have a special gift. These people don't need years to realize they love each other. They only need a few seconds or minutes to be sure. Something like that is called 'love at first sight'."
"Does that mean that you are in love with somebody, although you have only seen him once?" I asked.
"Yes and this is the most beautiful way of finding your other half, sweetheart," she answered and caressed my cheek before she turned around again and continued making breakfast for the two of us.
When I came back to the present I had a small smile playing on my lips. I was sure that this little scene I had all but forgotten about was a way of my parents to show me that Edward was the right one for me. That all this wasn't too fast, it was just meant to be. I had a wide smile on my face when I once again raised my head to look at the sky.
"Thank you Mommy, thank you Daddy. I understand now. I love you both more than anything," I said and got up to leave.
I walked back to my apartment, feeling happier again, even humming some of my favorite songs under my breath. I was stupid not to think of an explanation like love at first sight. Love. Was that really what I felt for Edward? Not yet, but if we continued like that then I'm certain that I'll feel it soon.
Once I arrived back home I felt restless and wanted to do something to use up all the extra energy, a result of my sudden epiphany. I looked around and saw that I didn't really look at the apartment when I came back from the airport. It was really messy. Things were knocked over, no one had done the dishes and a layer of dust coated the furniture.
Cleaning. The perfect way to spend my extra amount of energy. The next few hours I cleaned our whole apartment, even disinfected every surface when I remembered Rose and Emmett's 'activities', and I was sure that the apartment was even cleaner than when we moved in. Now all I had to do was wait for the girls to have some more fun at our couch meeting. Yes, that's right, I'm looking forward to it.
Two hours later Rose and Alice walked inside the apartment laughing loudly, but fell silent instantly when they looked around.
"Hey ladies! How was work?" I asked brightly, coming out of the kitchen where I prepared my signature dish, lasagna (including a few improvements I had learned from Edward).
"It's so clean," Alice whispered in awe and looked around.
"What happened to this place?" Rosalie asked just as surprised as Alice.
"I was bored, so I decided to clean up a bit. I mean, seriously girls, I leave you alone for two nights and come back to find our apartment absolutely desolate."
"I beg to differ. We leave Rosalie alone for two nights and come back to find our apartment absolutely desolate," Alice corrected.
"Sorry, Alice, of course you're right. So Rosalie, care to share how all this happened?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows in a very Emmett-like fashion.
"Yeah, Rose, I suspect a certain man named Emmett Cullen had something to do with that, didn't he?" Alice asked, copying my expression.
If there was one thing I never ever expected to see in my life then it was Rosalie Hale blushing.
"Rosalie Lillian Hale, are you blushing?" I laughed.
"Damn. Stop it. It's an involuntary reaction. I can't do anything about it," Rose said, still flushed.
"Yeah, as if you ever stopped when I told you this. Sooooo?" I said.
"How about we move this to the couch? I'll get us some lasagna," Alice said.
A few minutes later we all had a plate of lasagna and sat, Alice and me facing Rose, on the couch. We didn't say anything, we just stared at Rose with wide We-want-to-know-what-happened-right-now eyes.
"Alright. So, you know how I went out with Emmett on Sunday. Well, he took me to one of those expensive restaurants and, to keep it short, I had a great time. We talked and laughed the whole evening and when we were back at our apartment I don't really know what came over me, but he stood there with this huge, proud smile when I told him I had an awesome time and I just kissed him. Well, our kisses grew more and more heated and at some point stopping was impossible," Rose said and I remembered very clearly how close Edward and I were to that point this morning.
"So? How is he? In bed, I mean," Alice said.
"Amazing, absolutely amazing. I had a lot of men in my life – don't tell Jasper! – but nobody ever made me feel like Emmett did. I felt beautiful, sexy, wanted and loved for who I am, not for my body. It was an indescribable experience. I could try to tell you all about it, but I doubt I would get it right."
Alice and I both 'awwed' at that and congratulated Rose on finding someone like Emmett.
"Enough about me! So Alice, tell me, what did you and my beloved brother do?" Rosalie asked suggestively.
"Well, I'm only going to talk about Sunday night as last night was a real disaster once you told Jasper about his punishment," Alice said.
"Hey! About that, what's the punishment for him? You never told me," I said.
"Well, missy, our lips are sealed. This punishment is for you and we want you to enjoy it," Rose said.
"Yeah! Surprise!" Alice squealed and bounced on the couch while clapping her hands.
"Ugh. I hate surprises."
"I know. That's why we're doing it," Rose laughed.
"Back to topic! So Alice, what happened Sunday night then?" I asked her.
"It was so romantic. Jasper took me out to that restaurant in the Space Needle. It was so beautiful once the sun had set. All those lights and the cars down on the streets," Alice gushed.
"Seriously Alice, you're from New York. That few shouldn't have been that spectacular for you," I said.
"Hey! Don't ruin this for me! Besides, New York and Seattle are really different from each other."
"Isn't the view in New York a lot nicer? I mean, there are the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building for example," Rose asked.
"Of course, New York is nice, but Seattle is just, I don't know, fresh, for me at least. I'm so used to New York already. That's also the reason I moved to Seattle with Bella, I'm a bit tired of New York," Alice answered.
"Tired of New York? I'd give anything to just be able to go there once," Rose said.
"You've never been to New York?" Alice asked incredulous.
"Nope."
"Oh god, we so have to go there then! We could visit my family whenever we have enough money and a bit of free time," Alice said.
"I thought you were tired of New York?" Rose asked then, surprised at Alice's enthusiasm.
"Yeah, I am, but still I miss my Mom and Dad," Alice answered.
"Just for me to understand, if you want to go to New York so much Rose then why on earth did you decide to go to Stanford instead of Columbia?" I asked a bit confused.
"I've had enough of the constant rain, I just wanted sun, that's why I chose California. Anyway we are, once again, getting far off topic. What happened after you left the restaurant?" Rosalie asked Alice.
"We found you and Emmett going at it in our apartment. I had a hard time keeping Jasper from storming inside and killing Emmett. Once I had him calmed down I wrote a note to Bella and we left for Jasper's house. We decided to watch a movie and snuggled up to each other under the blanket on the couch. That's also when I fell asleep. When I woke up the next morning I was lying in Jasper's bed while he slept on the couch. He's such a gentleman," Alice once again gushed.
"What, that's it? Nothing else? You didn't have sex?" Rose asked.
"No. It's way too early for that Rose," Alice said firmly.
"Yeah, Rose, not everyone can have sex after only a few days of knowing a guy," I said, agreeing with Alice.
"Hey, I don't just know him for a few days!" Rose exclaimed.
"Yeah, I know you already knew him in high school Rose, but the last time you actually saw him was nine years ago," I answered.
"Yeah, but I already had a crush on him back then in case you've forgotten, Bella."
It was true. The last two years of high school Rosalie always tried to catch Emmett's attention, but for him she never seemed to be more than his best friend's sister.
"But that still doesn't-" Alice started to say, but was interrupted by my phone ringing.
I ran into the kitchen, picked up my phone and looked at the caller ID.
Edward Masen
Edward? Has he already arrived in Hong Kong? What time is it there anyway?
"Hello?" I asked.
"Bella," Edward answered.
"Edward! Hey! Are you already in Hong Kong?"
"Yeah, the plane landed about two hours ago."
"How was your flight?"
"It was alright, nothing special. Although, now that I come to think of it, I had to sleep in the most uncomfortable first class seat ever. I don't think the people designing those seats ever thought about the fact that there are people who are taller than six feet. The seats were so small. I swear to god, I'm never ever flying with that airline again."
"What's the name of the airline?"
"I have no idea. Everything was written in Chinese. I can't wait to come home again."
"Edward, you are in Hong Kong now for only two hours and already have enough?" I laughed.
"Pretty much, yeah," he laughed with me.
"How late is it there anyway?"
"Ugh. I forgot to set my watch to Hong Kong time. What time is it in Seattle?"
"It's 9 p.m."
"Okay, then it's- oh, it's noon here in Hong Kong. That's why it's so hot. The heat is killing me."
"Are you still wearing your suit?"
"Yeah, I didn't have time to change yet and right now I'm sitting in a taxi without air conditioning and there's traffic jam. I don't even want to think about how long it's gonna take to get to the hotel."
"Oh, poor baby," I mocked him a bit.
"Stop making fun of me! You just wait until I come home, missy! I'll use my gift on you and this time you won't get out of it so easily."
I just laughed in response when I thought about how we had chased each other through the apartment this morning. At that moment I looked towards the door to the kitchen for the first time and saw Alice and Rose poking their heads around the corner with huge smiles on their faces.
"Listen Edward, I've got to stop now. Apparently there are two girls here who were eavesdropping on our conversation," I said looking towards Alice and Rose who ran back to the living room giggling loudly. I heard Edward laughing on the other end of the phone.
"Alright! I'll call you again in the morning if that's okay?"
"Sure, but won't it be really late then in Hong Kong? You need your sleep."
"I'll be fine Bella. Don't worry about me."
"Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow then," I said sadly, already missing talking to him.
"Yeah. Oh, and Bella?"
"Yeah?"
"I miss you, too." I blushed furiously when I realized he saw right through me.
"Goodbye Bella. Sweet dreams."
"Goodbye Edward," I whispered, still flustered.
When I walked back into the living room Rose and Alice started laughing at my very red face.
"Ooooooh what did Eddie say that made you so flustered?" Rose mocked and Alice laughed.
"Speaking of Eddie, what did you two do the last two days Bella?" Alice asked, still laughing.
After I told them about our two nights together Alice was squealing in delight and Rose was downright disappointed. Alice and I laughed really hard at Rose's expression.
"You really didn't have sex? What the hell? Emmett was so sure you two did when he saw you this morning, wearing Edward's clothes."
"Yeah, I could see he really wished we had sex because he called Jasper immediately to tell him about his 'discovery'," I said.
"Oh, so that was him waking us up so early in the morning," Alice said.
"Yeah," I answered.
"I only heard Jasper saying he trusted you and Edward before I fell asleep again."
"Yeah, Emmett was pretty pissed when he realized he didn't get us in trouble at all," I laughed remembering Emmett's face.
We talked for little longer before we decided to go to bed. Although I told them that there was really nothing wrong with me Alice and Rose insisted that I stayed home for the rest of the week. When I got up the next morning Rose and Alice were about to leave for work, so I just wished them a nice time and went to make myself some breakfast. Sometime during breakfast my cell phone rang and I went to get it while grumbling about never being able to have a peaceful breakfast under my breath.
"Hello?" I asked gruffly.
"A very cheerful hello to you, too, Bella!" I heard a booming voice on the other end say.
"Emmett?" I asked.
"Damn right sister!"
"How can I help you?" I yawned.
"Well as Eddie boy is in Hong Kong right now I need your help picking out a present for Rose. I didn't dare ask Jasper. I value my life too much if you know what I mean."
"Alright, what are the options?"
"The blue one or the red one?"
"The blue or red what?"
"The blue lace panties and bra or the red lace panties and bra?"
"Ugh, Emmett! Gross! Rose is my cousin! I don't really want to pick out the outfit for your next sexcapade."
"Okay, then pretend you didn't hear me and tell me which color Rose prefers or which suits her better."
"Ugh, it's still gross, but I'd go for red."
"Why?"
"Red's her favorite color and it suits her really well."
"Thanks Bellsy. You were a real help. I'll tell you if she liked it." Emmett laughed shortly before he hung up.
"UGH!" I groaned which only made him laugh harder.
"I'll see you later tonight for Jasper's punishment."
"You'll be there, too?"
"Sure, someone's gotta film all this for Eddie."
Once we hung up I felt my phone vibrating again and saw that I had a new message. I klicked to see who it was from and felt myself smile when I saw it was from Edward.
Bella,
I'm sorry, but I can't call you this morning. I'm still sitting in one of those boring as hell meetings and I'm totally jetlagged. I actually already fell asleep once. Luckily my substitute assistant Mike woke me up.
Edward
I had to laugh really hard when I finished reading his message. What is it with him and falling asleep during important meetings and dates?
Poor Eddie,
Shall I try to distract you, so you don't fall asleep?
Bella
I hit the send button and went to do the wash up. My phone rang again.
I'd actually like that a lot.
I thought for a second what I was going to write before I decided to tease him a bit.
You do know that I'm actually taking care of your duties over here, don't you?
'Let's see if he can guess what I mean', I thought and smiled. I could picture him sitting there in a darkened conference room looking absolutely confused. A few seconds later my phone signaled that I had another message.
Huh? My duties? What are you talking about?
I giggled when I read that and replied instantly.
Yeah, Emmett just called me and said as you aren't there I have to help him decide which color his gift for Rose should be. I decided she would prefer red lace panties over blue lace panties, wouldn't you agree?
I didn't have to wait long for his reply.
Oh god, he didn't. That's so gross. I would agree with you though, red is better, for Rose at least. For you dark blue would be better.
I was stunned when I read his message. Was he actually thinking about which color my underwear should be?
And why's that?
I couldn't resist asking him that.
Because blue suits you. It makes your skin look beautiful. What color do you think would suit me?
Hmm, what color would suit Edward best? Definitely not blue or red, that would just look horrible with his reddish brown hair.
Well, either green or black.
Yeah, those two colors would suit him perfectly.
Green or black? Why?
Couldn't he guess?
Green is the color of your eyes and would pronounce them perfectly. Black or maybe even gray would look perfect with your pale skin, the perfect contrast. Seriously, did no one ever tell you that before?
I finished doing the dishes while I waited for his reply and put them inside the cupboard. I didn't want our apartment to look as horrible as it did yesterday again anytime soon. Once again my phone rang and I got a reply from Edward.
Nope, no one ever told me that before, but I'll keep that in mind. So, are you going to be there for Jasper's little punishment? They won't tell me what it is and I still can't believe they're not waiting for me to come home to see it.
Dammit. So there goes my last chance of finding out what the others were up to as they all refused to tell me.
Yeah, I'll be there. I don't know what they're up to either, but it must be really bad cause Alice said Jasper was already embarrassed. You don't have to worry about missing anything, though. Emmett told me before that he'll be there and film everything for you. I'll see whether I can persuade him to send it to you at once.
Well, if I can't I'll just steal the camera from him, run away and send the video to you anyway, I thought.
Thanks, I'll be waiting for it. I have to go now. Damn meeting is finally over. At three in the morning. I just want to go to bed now and sleep for a very long time. Goodbye my beautiful Bella.
My heart sped up when I read how he called me. It took me a few minutes to calm down enough to send him a quick goodbye either. It's going to be a very long week without Edward. Or an even longer three weeks if things go horribly wrong in China.
The rest of the day I just spend at the apartment reading, watching TV and eating snacks. I knew the torture would begin once Alice and Rose came home because there was no way they would let me do my own make-up and pick out my own clothes if we were going out and I was sure we were going out. As usual when it comes to things like that I was right. They spent a total of two hours on my hair and make-up and picked out a dress which was way too short for my liking. Alice and Rose's dresses weren't much longer, but the difference between us was that they were actually comfortable in clothing like that.
"So, are you finally going to tell me where we're going?" I asked impatiently once we were all, apart from Jasper, sitting in Emmett's car.
"Hmm, I'll give you a little hint. A friend of mine owns a little business downtown and Jasper's going to work there tonight," Rose said, smiling hugely.
"What? He's just going to work? Where's the punishment in that?" I asked incredulous.
"Wait until you see little Bells. What Jasper has to do is real punishment for a guy like him," Emmett laughed while driving the car.
A few minutes later we stopped in front of a tall building and got out of the car.
"Here we are," Rose sang and looked at me.
My jaw dropped at the sight before me. Was that what I thought it was? She wasn't serious was she? Oh yes, yes she was, I thought while watched her walking towards the entrance. The last thing I thought before I followed Rose was poor Jasper.