A/N: Okay, big huge I AM SO 'EFFIN SORRY for taking so long to get this out to you guys. My (EmmaleeWrites05) computer is freaking toast and I am struggling with Sony right now to get it fixed. So the only time I can write is at work if it isn't too busy and my boss isn't here. So, surprise, I was able to today – Thank god!
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Disclaimer: Still not ours but that should not be a shocker….
Chapter 21 – Truths of Reasons and Facts
Emmett POV
We returned from Hawaii several weeks ago now. I'm still rather shocked that the pixie ran off to get married. From the way I have seen her act and the stories that Bella has told me, I thought she would have a huge elaborate wedding. To be honest, their wedding was the first wedding I had ever been to and I think they did everything just right. It is how I would prefer my wedding to be like. Simple, easy, classy with just close family and friends would be ideal. In the back yard of my parents' house or something. God, what am I - a girl? I'm planning out my wedding? I am sure I'll be completely happy with whatever Bella, Alice and my mother come up with as long as Alice doesn't turn my wedding into some kind of massive circus event. The smaller the better – easier to hide from the press.
Since moving to Seattle and returning from Hawaii – life has been utter chaos. Alice moved in with Jasper as soon as they got back. I was truly happy for them and now Bella and I have the apartment which will work…for now. Alice's room has basically become our 'catch all'. It's ultimately our storage room. All my crap from Chicago is just stuffed in there for safe keeping for the time being. When we do get the gym up and running and life settles down a bit, buying a house might be in order, but I don't have time to think about that right now.
I started work on the gym days after we got back from Hawaii – that was nearly a month ago and I have been having a hell of a time. I wanted to rip out the carpet, put in new flooring, take down walls, and erect walls other places to make classrooms, paint, reconstruct etc. I had so much work to do and no help. I wanted to do it myself and be proud to say 'Look what I did. I brought this gym from the ground up to an amazing place'. But the more I got into it the more I realized – I am so screwed. I needed help with the gym and I was afraid to admit it. It took one call to Edward nearly three weeks ago for the plan to come to mind.
"How's the gym coming along?" Edward asked after a lengthy discussion about his new client. He had taken on my replacement as his new client and wanted my opinion. It's rather odd. Since moving to Seattle, mine and Edwards's relationship has actually gotten better. It doesn't feel like the same old sibling rivalry. It feels like we have both grown up.
"It's…difficult, to say the lease. I have all these things I need to take care of and I need to delegate things. I have to find a carpet guy to rip it out, pick flooring I would like to have, figure out color schemes for painting. I need to go to city hall so I can get permits on the walls to be ripped down and built elsewhere to make classrooms. I need to find equipment to buy, need to decide on what to buy, need to start hiring employees but I don't even want to go there."
"Emmett…." He interrupted. "If I may suggest….Don 't go putting an ad in the paper to hire for the gym. Practically the whole nation knows you are opening a gym in Seattle. You won't actually find someone to hire in thousands that'll come out just so they can meet you and get your autograph."
"Shit! You're right. I am so fucked….what do I do? I need help if I plan on getting this place up and running by June. As it is now, I won't be able to do it alone by September or even later. Son of a bitch. It's the beginning of March and I am floundering. I won't be able to get this place running in two months by myself."
"Emmett….Emmett. Calm down. I have an idea."
"I'm listening."
"Hire Bella to help out for the time being. She could handle setting up basic stuff like color schemes, decorating, setting up phone, fax, internet and so on. Hire that guy Jasper I met too if you can. He seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. He could help with hiring where it's not you they see it's the business, the gym. Then that would leave time for you to be able to figure out what classes to offer, what equipment to buy. The whole business aspect. You wouldn't be alone, you would have help and it would be help you can trust."
"Shit man, that's a great idea. Thanks Edward." That same day I asked Bella if she would be willing to help me with the business. I had to explain to her that I didn't want to hire her as an employee. She will be my wife and I would rather her be a part business owner with me then to see me as her boss. I was so ecstatic when she screamed and jumped into my arms. Not only is this woman the girl of my dreams and going to be my wife, but she is helping me achieve my goals. We are now business owners. Holy. Crap.
That same day Bella quit her job. I knew she got some perverse satisfaction being able to tell James to fuck off, which is exactly what she did. I drove her over to the hotel on the way to the gym so she could quit. I followed her into the lobby. James was standing behind the counter next to Alice. He seemed to be hovering a little too close to her for my comfort. I am sure Jasper would have kicked his ass by now.
"Isabella Swan." James yelled from behind the counter. Bella and I stopped dead in our tracks in the middle of the hotel lobby. How dare he yell at Bella like that! James stepped out from behind the counter and walked over to us stopping only a few feet away. "Bella…we have a very strict dress code about work uniforms being worn while on the clock. Where is your uniform?"
Bella lifted the bag in her hand up and shoved into James' chest. "Here. I quit." She said in a steady voice. I was so proud of my baby but it was taking everything I had in me not to just punch this mother fucker in the face.
"You can't quit. Who is going to help run front desk today with Alice?" Bella looked around James at Alice's face. I glanced up to and saw her smiling brightly while helping the customers standing at the counter listening to the whole ordeal. Alice glanced up and smiled with a quick two thumps up. Bella chuckled and turned her head back at James.
"Guess that'll be you James. Sorry." We turned to leave when his voice rang out. I wanted to kill him after what he said next.
"Don't you dare come crawling back here for a job when Mr. Football here leaves your ass for the next centerfold swimsuit model because he will and I won't have any sympathy for you." I whirled around and started walking towards him to wipe that smug little smile off his face when Bella's hand shot out to stop me. I halted of course. I didn't want to, but I was curious to see what Bella would do. She walked up to him and stopped directly in front of him, mere inches between them.
"James, he is not you. He won't just chase after a piece of ass just because it's something shinny, new and easy. See this ring…" She lifted her hand and showed him my ring on her finger. "See it, isn't it pretty? You know what it means, right?" James nodded. Bella smiled and with that same hand slapped him across the face. "Fuck off James."
We left shortly after that incident. I wanted nothing more than to take Bella home and ravage her. That was one the hottest things I have witnessed. But instead we made our way over to Jaspers apartment. I was offering him a job at the gym as well. I knew I could use his businesslike manner. He was always so calm and level headed and I knew I wanted that in my business.
That was all three weeks ago. Now, it's the beginning of April and we were weeks away from being able to open the gym, as long as everything continues to go according to plan. Bella has been amazing at getting this place decorated and of course Alice helped whenever she could. They decided to get a 'smooth relaxing color' of steel blue for the actual gym. Each class room was painted with a color that Bella and Alice thought went well with the courses being offered in that room. A light peachy color for the yoga room, dark green for the kick boxing room and so forth. I didn't really care how they decorate or what colors they used. I trusted their judgment and thought it would turn out great as long as my office was painted in the Bears colors.
When you walked into the gym there was the lobby. From here you couldn't actually see into the gym or classrooms with the way we redesigned the inside. Bella and Alice picked out a huge mahogany wrap around desk with plants to either side. Alice designed a logo for me to go on the wall behind the desk welcoming everyone in. That girl is rather talented – so I decided to pay her for her time, against her wishes. She has been my outside consultant. We settled on a name after much discussion. I figured that after everything I have been through my mom has been my number one support up until recently and that's why I decided to use her maiden name in the mix. Also because I didn't want people just flocking here because it was 'football quarterback Cullen's' gym. So the name became 'Heaven and Hale Gym'. Fitting in my mind and would make it easier to succeed if people disassociated it from being my gym.
Jasper had been an amazing help. He set up interviews and job positions, hiring's and everything without anyone finding out it was actually my gym he was hiring for. I was so thankful for that because the last thing I wanted was for the press to find out which gym was mine and where it would be opening. I may run the business, but so far, Jasper has been the face of it. We only had a few final weeks left to get everything ready before we had to finish off the paperwork, have a final inspection, have everyone hired and employee insurance and required papers set up. Our target opening date was for June 1st as long as everything goes off without a hitch. One can only hope.
The last month or so has been hard outside of the gym too. Not only have we all been running ragged trying to get this place up and running, but Bella and I have basically had to hide out in the apartment most the time. To the point that a move might have to be the necessary next step. The press somehow got wind of what apartment building we were living in and have been camping out at all hours trying to harass us. We have had to out maneuver them on the streets several times just to get to our vehicles and also lose them in Seattle once we have gotten on the road. It makes me question everyone's motives and anybody we come in contact with just for the fact that not many people knew exactly where Bella lived and that I was going to be living with her.
We tried to go to dinner one time and we were followed there by one guy. I have seen this guy multiple times with a camera following us. There's no better word than creepy to describe him, it was Bella's choice word for him. We are clueless on how he found us because we left from Alice and Jasper's apartment instead of our own that time. Things were getting strange and I did not like it one bit. I was never stalked by the paparazzi before like I was now. They'd take some interest in me to see if I would fuck up; who I was dating and some minor stuff in the beginning. But once I proved to them that there wasn't much of a story with me, they backed off. Now, it's like they almost only follow me because of Bella, which makes me nervous and question who's behind it.
Edward POV
I have had enough. I have been trying desperately over the last month or better to get James off their backs. I was trying to play cool, nonchalant. I didn't want James to notice my sudden change of heart and ruin everything I have built up with Emmett since he left. It's quite shocking actually. Since Em left things have become immensely better between us. We talk on the phone almost daily and exchange emails constantly. It's as if we were little again and the only thing that mattered was getting mom to let us sleep in the tree fort out back all night. We didn't argue and there was no animosity between us. We were Edward and Emmett again – friends and brothers. This whole move has really put things in prospective for us. And, as much as I would like to have Bella for myself – I have come to realize that it's not Bella I want, it's the fact that I want someone like Bella. Once I realized that and came to terms with the fact that Emmett is happy with her – everything was copacetic.
That's why I am currently on a plane out to Seattle. I can't have James ruining my family. I need to let Emmett in on what has been going on no matter how hard it will be and what it could do to us. I would rather take the hit and fall then let him and Bella get ripped apart and that vile James get his hands on her. I have been pushing him off their lead for a while. I even suggest to Emmett to hire Bella at the gym. Not like the gym is actually something Bella would like to do, but I couldn't just flat out say 'Emmett make her leave that horrid hotel because her manager was to kill you and fuck her brains out', now could I? So I went the broad way around the subject. Make it a family business, make her your partner in every since of the word. He didn't need to know at the time that I was slowly trying to cut her ties with the hotel. And James would never find out that it was my idea. Edward one James zero.
But regardless of what I would say to get James off course, the very next day there would be new pictures of Emmett and Bella in the paper. And every day, the expression on Emmett's face in those pictures would get darker and darker. I could tell he didn't like this, didn't like being followed around and hounded. I'd tell James a certain restaurant they 'would be going to' instead of the real one and somehow James would find out the real one. He was undermining me and I was scared to find out where he was getting his information from this time. If I wasn't the one feeding it to him, then who was?
The plane touched down and within thirty minutes I was behind the wheel of an ugly teal rental car headed towards Emmett's gym. I knew I had to meet him at the gym instead of the house because if that hired camera that James knew I was there, word would get back to him faster than I could. I couldn't have that. I needed to be able to get this done and over with before James had a chance to strike while the iron was hot. Moments later I pulled up in front of a nondescript building. I knew it was the right one from the information Emmett had emailed me and the schematics and drawings for the renovation he was planning. I loved that he wanted my opinion of things he considered important and here I was, about to ruin it all possibly.
I knocked at the locked front door and moments later a huge hulking figure appeared before it – Emmett. Let the hell begin. "Edward! What are you doing here? Come in come in, let me show you around." He pulled me by the shoulder into the gym, and I have to hand it to him, he has done an amazing job so far. Bella and Alice were up in his office that looked down over the gym. I could see them hanging some pictures on the wall and decorating his office. They both smiled through the window down at me. I wave briefly as I listened to Emmett drone on about the upgrades and enhancements, ideas and decisions he had made regarding the gym. I interrupted sometime later because I need to get this out before I had a chance to back out like a pussy.
"Em, do you have somewhere private we can talk? I need to tell you some things." He nodded his head and led me up the stairs to another office.
"Uh….this is Jasper's office but he isn't here right now, this should do." I could tell that his demeanor had changed. He wasn't as joyful as he was a few minutes ago showing me the place. "What's on your mind Edward?" He sat back in his seat and crossed his arms. Fuck, he looked intimidating and he is my own flesh and blood.
"This isn't going to be easy, and I don't quite know where to start. So, fuck it, I'll just start from the beginning. Please, let me get all the way through it before you say anything." He nodded his head once at me and I took a deep breath. Shit, fuck, damn it all to hell.
"Okay…..Back a few months ago things really started changing. I didn't know what was going on with you. I never saw you. You were so distant and never home on your days off. You took phone calls in secret and you never talked to me anymore. I felt like I had lost my brother. Then you told the family about Bella and I may have gotten a little more curious about her then I should have. I researched her and came out to Seattle under the pretenses of getting copies of your statements from the hotel for taxes purposes but in reality – I came to get a peak at the girl who took my brother away. What I wasn't expecting to find was a beautiful sexy smart girl I never thought you would date or would date you in return."
I could see the anger rolling off Emmett in waves. It almost felt like we were in a cartoon. You could see the steam issuing out of his ears and the vein in his forehead about read to burst. "You mean…" He croaked out and leaned forward. I could see him visibly trying to control his anger and keep from screaming. "You mean Bella has met you before and she never told me about it?" His question was more like an accusation than anything else. Not good, Bella did nothing wrong.
"No, no, no, no, no, no." I put my hands up in defense. He had to let me get this out before he jumped to conclusions. "I went to the hotel but I never gave my name. She had no idea who I was. I asked to speak to her manager, James, not her. I doubt she even remembers it was me that she met. I spoke all of maybe ten words to her before she left with Alice somewhere." I saw Emmett sit back and let out a longer breath.
"Okay, that makes me feel little better. Now, what does this all mean?"
"I'm getting to that." I took a deep breath and thought about how I was going to word this. No matter what way it comes out – it is still bad. "When I met Bella, I instantly hated you and resented her. This amazingly beautiful creature captured your attention and took you away from me. In my mind at the time, all I wanted to do was take you away from her so you could feel my pain to. I know it's not logical and doesn't make any sense, but that's where I was in my thinking. So, when I met James, we got to talking. He found out I was your brother and that we both had a common interest. I wanted you guys spilt up and he wanted you guys split up, but for separate reasons. I can't deny my attraction to Bella, at the time I wanted nothing more than to have her to myself, but now it's just strictly sisterly affection." I saw the questioning look in his eye and I could also see the angry bear that would like nothing more than to rip my arms off.
So I continued. "James has been harboring feelings for Bella since he hired her. I am sure you noticed that too. So, when I was there and he noticed how angry I was with you he concocted a plan. We break you guys up. I get my brother back and he gets to console Bella in the hopes of getting her in the end. It was stupid and it was fucked up."
"How were you going to achieve this?" Emmett practically yelled at me. I could tell he was desperately trying to keep the beast in his cage.
"I tell James secretly where you guys were going to be and he hired a guy to follow you around and take pictures. We were hoping the stress of the media would cause you two to fight."
"So that's why we haven't been able to leave the apartment?!?!" This time his scream seemed to make the walls of the office shake. Fuck.
"No, no, no, no, no. Hold on." I cautioned, throwing up my hands again. "The day you brought Bella to meet the family and introduced her as your fiancé, everything changed for me on my end. I got to see you two together, see how you interacted. I could see how much you loved each other and I knew I wouldn't, couldn't take that away. I would not be that person. So, I started lying to James. Feeding him false places and dates of appearances so he would always miss you guys for some reason or another. That's one of the reasons I suggested Bella work for you. I wanted her out of that hotel so James couldn't do any harm to her. I have been quietly biding my time with him trying to figure out a way to bring him down. I know he is involved in illegal activities I just haven't been able to prove it. Also, I wanted you to hear it from me. I couldn't live with the fact that I almost destroyed the best thing that has happened to our family in a long time."
I let out a long breath and sat back in my chair. There I said it. I laid it all out on the table and now the ball is in his court. What he will do with it is the question. He could just throw it back in my face or continue the game. We sat in silence for a good ten minutes before Emmett finally spoke.
"Thank you Edward for telling me this. As much as I don't forgive you in the beginning for starting what you did. I forgive you now because I know how you have changed, how much we have changed through all of this. I have had a sneaking suspicion that someone close to Bella had been behind all of this, now that I know who, it'll make it easier to stop it."
I nodded my head while he talked. I was just grateful he wasn't ripping my arms off and shoving them down my throat. He rubbed his hands over his head and then laid his head on the desk taking a moment to think. "Okay, so what kind of illegal activities do you think he is into?"
"Drugs, hiring hit man even if he was only used for a camera man. I am sure there is a lot more. Money. He had a larger stack of money in his drawer so who knows what."
"Okay, so….we have to tell the girls so they understand. Especially Alice since she still works at the hotel. Just….don't tell Bella it was you who started all of this. I don't think it'll sit well with her. We have to tell them what's going on in order to avoid James. Don't let James find out you told us. We will get to the bottom of this and figure a way out – peacefully. I will not have that piece of shit mother fucker ruin my life and think he can swoop in and take everything good from me."
Edward two. James zero.
A/N: Oooh…..James look out….The Cullen's are after your ass. LOL….like or hate, please let us know.
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EmmaleeWrites05 and LittleLea05