Mosaic of a Broken Heart was voted one of the top 5 fics for January in Tarbecca's Fic Dive over at A Different Forest. Thanks, Tarbecca and everyone who voted. Love ya!
Bella woke up too early on Saturday morning. She had no reason to be awake. No desire to start moving. Her thoughts kept coming back to her dad. She needed to call him, but she wanted to wait until after 9 o'clock. A call before 9 am on a Saturday screamed 'problem!'. It was important for her to keep their conversation as low key as possible. Out with the facts, on with her life.
When she couldn't justify procrastinating any longer she dialed her dad's number and paced back and forth across her living room, listening to it ring.
"Hey, Bells! How ya doing?" His normally gruff voice was upbeat and she could almost hear his smile over the line.
"Alright, Dad. Pretty good, actually. But I have something I need to t-"
"The big announcement, huh?"
"The what?" Bella froze with her phone pressed firmly against her ear. What was he talking about?
"Christmas? The big news, right? Karen called me yesterday. You know how excited she gets. I mean, I'm not sure I'm old enough to be a grandpa but I'm so happy for you two. We just need to find a way to get that boy back here in Washington!"
"Dad, I'm not pregnant." She used to fantasize about that, but now the thought of being pregnant with Mike's baby was repugnant. She pressed her hand hard against her flat stomach, clenching her shirt with trembling fingers.
"Wait, you're not?"
"No. Definitely not. Is that what Mrs. Stanley told you?" Her hands were shaking. Her whole body was vibrating with anger and disbelief.
"Well, not in so many words. She said Mike called her yesterday and he told her to expect a big announcement at Christmas. He said there were some pretty big changes on the horizon. We kind of connected the dots. . . but wait, if you're not pregnant, what's the big news? Did he get the transfer? That would be perfect. I haven't said anything about it because I wanted to wait until after the wedding when you were all settled in and taken care of, but I think it's about time for me to look at retirement. Pass the torch to the new guard. Maybe just do a bit of security work here and there to keep up with the mortgage."
"Stop. Please. Dad, Mike is staying in Chicago. And I'm staying here. Permanently."
"Bells, I don't think I understand," he said slowly.
"We're calling off the engagement."
"Why would you want to do that? You two are great together. Bella, I know he isn't the smartest or the most driven young man, but he adores you. Anyone can see it. Why, he practically followed you around like a puppy dog until you finally agreed to date him."
"He broke up with me, Dad. Not the other way around."
"Oh. . . Damn. . . Oh, Bella, I'm so sorry. Are you okay? When do you fly in? I'll drive up there and meet you at the airport. We can go to the Aquarium and get ice cream or something. Hang out, just like old times. How does that sound?"
"I wish everyone would stop trying to feed me ice cream. I'm not a little girl."
"I never said you were. That's not-"
"But you think an ice cream cone and a balloon is going to fix this? It's not a scraped knee, Charlie. That asshole cheated on me then waited until I flew halfway across the country and showed up at his apartment to tell me."
All she heard was her father's strained breathing. Somehow his shock infuriated her. He had immediately jumped to conclusions, so quick to place the blame on her doorstep.
"Hello, Charlie. You still there? You were pretty chatty a few minutes ago when you thought I was knocked up. What, so you can't even talk to me now?" She did nothing to hide the outrage she felt.
"Now, hold up there a minute, Bella. I'm trying to process everything. I must say, that's not at all what I was expecting."
"And you think I was expecting it?" she almost yelled into the phone.
"No, no. Of course not. It just changes everything." His voice tapered off, unsure and bewildered.
"No, shit, Charlie. But don't let it get in your way. You don't have to worry about me. There's no need to put your retirement plans on hold. It's not like I can't take care of myself." Her face was flushed and her eyes prickled with a burning, stinging heat.
"Now, wait just a minute there. I never said-" her father stumbled on until she cut him off again.
"You said plenty. More misogynistic bullshit, and from my own father, too! You can't stop working until your daughter is safely handed off to a qualified man for safekeeping. I hear you loud and clear. It figures that you'd be more worried about interruptions to your big retirement plans than the fact that my future has been utterly demolished by my self-centered, cheating, spineless fiance. As if you don't already run away to fish all the time anyway."
"I didn't mean-"
"Don't worry about it, Charlie. I'm fine."
She hung up the phone and stared angrily out her living room window. That hadn't gone at all as she had expected. In fact, it couldn't have gone worse. Anger at the unfairness of it all boiled inside and she let out a shrill screech of frustration. She slammed her fists into the couch cushions over and over again until her knuckles stung and she was gasping for air.
With one more disgusted cry she kicked the couch, shoved her keys into her pocket and fled the apartment. Her phone sat on the floor ringing until the caller finally gave up.
Once outside, Bella walked and walked, hardly paying attention to her surroundings. When she came up against a red light she folded her arms and waited for the crossing signal. When the light changed she started again, letting the frustration and disillusionment pump through her veins. After all, it had nowhere else to go. No outlet. No vent. It just swirled through her heart and lungs and brain, as much a part of her as her own blood.
She avoided returning to her apartment as long as she could, but just like Thursday night, she couldn't deny the necessity of the basics: food, water, warmth. She hadn't gotten any closer to sorting through her feelings toward Mike, Alice or her Dad, but the physical exertion had calmed her temper somewhat making the dark emotions easier to contain. It was almost noon when she jogged up to her building, sniffling a bit from the constant cold.
There was a UPS driver at the door, buzzing one of the apartments. She glanced over and saw him press the black button beside her unit number.
"Excuse me, is that for 908?"
"Yes it is. Are you Isabella Swan?" he asked looking down at his clipboard and back up at her face.
"Yeah, that's me."
"Do you have ID? I need signature verification."
"I do upstairs. Can you wait a minute?"
"No problem, Ma'am."
Bella glanced over her shoulder as she waited for the elevator. The delivery man was holding a pretty big box, but it didn't appear to be very heavy. She hadn't ordered anything online and curiosity nagged at her all the way up to her unit and back down again. Back in the lobby she showed the man her license and signed for the package.
He hurried back to his waiting truck so he didn't see the look of absolute shock on her face when she saw the sender's name and address.
Edward Masen
2101 East Tanner Street, PH2
Chicago, IL 60611
She sagged against the door frame. What on earth was he doing?