NOTE: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight.
There are no excuses as to why it's taken me so freaking long to post this chapter. It's actually been written for a while. I recently got a new mac book computer and it doesn't have a Office program (not like the one I'm use to) so I wrote this on Word Online. I was trying to get it to my beta, but I'm not sure if she was able to get the file open. ARG!
Anyways...I went through it as best I could and am hoping there aren't too many mistakes. Thanks for putting up with me and hope you like the chapter.
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Chapter 35 - The Interview
It was later that day that Bella found herself playing chauffeur to Seth and Melissa and couldn't help but smile at the young girl's excitement.
"Did she really get arrested for trying to kick some other chick's ass?" Seth had nearly driven Charlie mad getting him to tell him over and over about Kate getting arrested. He had even asked if he could get locked in the same cell that she was held in.
"Yes and no. She was acting in self defence. The other girl attacked her first. Oh and by the way don't like post any of this on a blog or anything and don't tweet it to your friends."
Seth opened his mouth to say something sarcastic, but Melissa stopped him. "We won't!" She took a deep breath to calm down, "I still can't believe we are going to spend the afternoon with Madam K. I promise I will do my best not to go all fan girl and freak out. Like you said, she's just like everyone else."
"That's right," Bella said then thought,"she handcuffs her ex to the bed one hand at a time."
"And that means you can't go all fan girl either," Melissa gave Seth a look. It reminded her of the way Sue would look at Charlie whenever he needed a talking to."
Bella wished she had brought a set of leashes because as soon as they were parked Seth took off running into the hotel with Melissa chasing after him. Hopefully they wouldn't get kicked out before they even got inside the building. It was a good thing that she made sure he took his meds before they left the house. Otherwise his excitement would be ten times worse. Bella spotted Seth speaking to a woman behind the check-in counter who seemed annoyed.
"I've already told you, "Madam K" isn't staying at this hotel. And even if she was I would not be permitted to tell the likes of you. Now please leave before I have security escort you out for being a nuisance."
"Hey guys, what's going on?"
"Bells this lady is being a nuisance and won't tell us where Kate is," Seth said as he gave the woman a dirty look.
Bella told Seth to take Melissa and go sit down while she took care of things. When they were out of hearing range the woman spoke up, "Ma'am, I suggest you take your son elsewhere for entertainment unless you'd like me to involve the police?"
She knew she looked tired, but did she really seem old enough to have a teenage son? Bella was about to fire off a very offensive retort when Carol's voice rang out from across the lobby.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry," she said as she rushed to the counter. "I was supposed to be here to greet you guys. I swear I am doing everything humanly possible to get my ass fired this week. It's a good thing for me that Kate is a very forgiving person. Thanks for watching out for them Nancy."
"The woman who was ready to call down the wraith of God on Bella and her children smiled brightly, "I had no idea that you meant Kate. I am so sorry."
Bella ignored Nancy's false kindness and ushered Seth and Melissa to follow her to find Kate.
"Kate is going to be so happy you guys are here," Carol said as she moved at a brisk pace towards one of the hotels main ballrooms. "She's been stressed out all morning. There have been a few problems with the set list for tomorrow night."
Bella stopped mid step, "If she's too busy we can do this another time."
"Kate needs this. After everything that happened yesterday and her having to deal with that woman." Carol stopped before the door and gave each of them a lanyard to wear so that anyone who saw them would know that they were special guests of Kate's.
When they entered the ballroom Kate was talking to a stressed looking Angela while her back was turned away from Irina.
"I absolutely refuse to sing the songs on this list."
"But they are the songs that were voted on," Irina said with smirk on her face. "So I suggested you drop the diva attitude or forget about performing at all."
"Awesome," Kate said. "Now I can just sit back and enjoy the reunion. Good luck finding entertainment the day before the event. Hey maybe you can hook up your iPhone to the sound system?" At that point Kate spotted Bella and simply walked away.
Bella asked if everything was okay as Kate hugged her. She assured her that it was all good, that Irina just wanted to have a pissing contest…something Kate just wasn't in the mood for.
"Hello Seth," Kate said then turned to his girlfriend, "And you must be Melissa. I've heard a lot about you from your man."
"Hi Kate," the young girl shook Kate's hand and proceeded to tell her what a huge fan she was. She had all her CD's, knew all the lyrics to her songs and had even read the biography that had been released a year earlier.
"I only agreed to the biography cause I thought it would be about me, but it was all just facts about my touring life…basically info you can get from Google. Sadly no one wants to know the woman behind the star."
"Melissa writes for our school paper," Seth blurted out.
"Really?"
"Seth!" Melissa hissed with embarrassment.
"It would be huge if you would like do an interview with her."
It was Bella's turn to hiss at her brother. Kate was nice enough to let them come visit and listen to her practice. Seth was really pushing it. At least that's what she thought.
"Sure," Kate said surprising them all. Including Carol who looked very nervous.
"Um Kate…if you are going to do an interview you need her to sign some papers stating that she knows what she is and is not allowed ask."
"Carol I doubt that Melissa or her classmates are interested in my sexual fetishes." She looked Melissa in the eye and waited for a response.
"Oh God no!"
Bella felt bad for the young girl as she watched her face turn red with embarrassment.
Kate invited them to join her in the private dining room that had been kept empty just for her. They were told to order whatever they wanted…her treat. She also invited Angela who was stressing over the fact that they were going to have to hire Waylon Forge; the town drunk who worked as the mall Santa during the holidays as the reunion's musical entertainment.
"Relax Angela," Kate mumbled as she read over the menu, "I'm still going to perform. I just wanted to see Irina sweat."
"Oh thank God," Angela said as she lowered herself in to one of the chairs and picked up one of the menus.
Over coffee and orange juice Kate answered random questions that Melissa came up with that Kate claimed were the best she'd ever been asked.
"Who was your first crush?"
"Are we talking celeb crush or real person you know crush?"
"Real person."
"My first real crush is coming through the door right this second."
For a moment Bella feared that Garrett had come out of his depression and had come to face Kate. That was until she turned to see a grumpy looking Emmett stomping toward their table.
"Where have you been?"
"Good day to you too Mr. Cullen. I have been rehearsing all morning and now I am having lunch while doing an interview. Care to join us?
When it came to the ladies, ladies he liked, Emmett Cullen could never stay mad. He grabbed a near by chair and jammed his large frame into the already crowded table.
"Emmett Cullen was your first crush?" Melissa repeated the fact causing Emmett to choke on his coffee. When he gave her a questioning look she began to explain.
"Remember that time my dad had to go away on business and I stayed with you guys?"
"Edward got all pissed off because you two had planned this huge nerd-fest and you ended up with chickenpox's."
"Their mom was worried that Edward would get sick cause he hadn't had them yet. So she practically locked him in his room while I slept on my air mattress in the den. One night Esme thought I was asleep so she left me alone and I just starting missing my dad and thinking about my mom and I started crying. Next thing I know someone was coming in through the downstairs door scaring the shit out of me. I thought someone was trying to break in. But it was just Emmett trying to sneak in after curfew." Kate smiled at the memory and turn to Emmett, "You saw me on the floor and I swear you were about to have a panic attack and run away until you saw my tears. You sat on the floor with me and asked what was wrong."
"You started to freak out because you thought you were going to get me sick."
Kate's smile grew, "You said you were stronger than any kind of cootie that the scientific world could come up with. You made sure that I had plenty of blankets and that my pillows were soft enough. When you thought everything was good you asked if I needed anything else."
"I remember. You said you wanted your mom."
"Do you remember what you did then?"
"Something stupid no doubt."
"He pulled me into a hug and started singing to me."
Bella couldn't help giggling. The idea of Edward's older brother singing was just too much to handle.
"He sang Mr. Lonely by Bobby Vinton. Right then and there I fell head over heels. Emmett Cullen was it for me."
Emmett's face turned red as she continued.
"Do you remember that hideous Baja hippie sweater you had that went missing?"
"The one I blamed my mom for throwing away? The one Edward stole to get back at me for some idiotic reason? The one I loved more than life itself?"
"Yeah…Edward didn't take it."
Apparently Kate had gone all stalker girl on Emmett and stole the sweater from his hamper. She slept with it under her pillow for a full week until Edward found it and took it back. He gave her a lecture on not being one of those kinds of girls especially not because of his dope fiend brother.
"So you're telling me that Maxim's top hottie had a crush on me?"
"Shut up!" Kate hid her blush behind her napkin wishing she had kept the info to her self.
Emmett continued to tease by asking if any of the songs she wrote were about him and asking just how deeply her feeling went.
"Easy Emmett," Bella laughed. "Your ego gets any bigger and they're going to need to cut a hole in the wall in order to get you out."
The conversation was making Angela laugh so much that she had to run to the bathroom every ten minutes. On one of her trips Seth and Melissa decided to check out the sundae bar.
"So now that we're alone you want to tell me why my brother call me freaking out about you hog tying people?" Emmett refilled his coffee as he waited for Kate to answer.
"By the way Garrett wanted me to return these to you," Bella pulled the handcuffs from her bag and placed them on the table.
"Jesus Kate! You really cuffed your boy to the bed? I thought Edward was having some kind of 50 Shades delusion or something."
"Can you keep your voice down," Kate hissed as she grabbed the cuffs and hid them away. "Nothing happened between me and Garrett so just drop it."
"I wouldn't call having you're dirty way with Garrett nothing."
"That's not what happened." Kate excused herself from the table to use the ladies room when Seth, Melissa and Angela all returned.
"Nice Emmett," Bella got up and headed towards the ladies room.
Bella expected to find Kate pulling a girl move by running to the washroom to have a good cry, but instead she found her pacing the small yet elegant room muttering under her breath.
"It's okay to cry," said in an effort to help.
"Did you seriously just tell me to cry over that Brigadoon reject?" Kate shook her head like a child refusing to eat their broccoli. "Hell no."
"What happened last night?" Bella already knew Garrett's side, but there was more to the story.
"I'm sure Garrett told you everything."
"He told us his side of the story, but I'd like to hear yours."
Bella sat on a small plush couch that had been placed against one of the walls and waited to get the missing pieces of the story.
Kate told Bella the same story that Garrett had told. They had gone back to the hotel, Kate had tried and failed to get drunk all because Garrett was a damned alcohol thief. Then she had made him watch the movie of her former fiancé whoring it up with his assistant.
"Dammit!" Kate grabbed a tissue from a box that sat on the counter as the traitorous tear finally made their appearance. "He broke my computer!"
"Is that why you handcuffed him to the bed?"
"No. The computer was a piece of crap and needed to be replaced."
"Then why did you do it?"
"Because I was scared."
Kate sat next to Bella and explained. After Garrett had tossed her computer out the window she went on some kind of auto autopilot because the next thing she knew she was asking him to get into bed and just hold her.
"He lay down next to her and pulled her into his arms. It was the safest Kate had felt in a long time. Eventually she fell asleep and it was when she woke up that the true panic set in.
"I woke up and he was there and he was still just as beautiful as he was in high school and I knew if I stayed there until he woke up that I was going to lose myself to him all over again. I would have forgiven him everything and Jesus Bella I cant go through that again and survive."
"Go through what?"
"Him leaving me again! You weren't here the first time. It nearly killed me. It wasn't like some sappy ass teen drama. I was alone. I couldn't talk to Edward cause he wouldn't have understood. My dad would have hunted Garrett down and castrated him if he knew the truth. Esme is the only one who knows what I went through. It's the reason she hates Garrett. If I stayed he would have woken up and sweet talked me into taking him back. So I slipped out of bed, handcuffed him to the head board so he couldn't follow me and I left. The rest you know."
"Can I ask you a question?" When Kate nodded Bella asked if she still loved Garrett.
"I don't know...I don't want to be, but I don't think I ever stopped."
"You two really need to sit down and have it out once and for all. But it needs to be a situation where you don't have access to weapons of any kind and it really should not end with one or both of you getting arrested."
"Where's the fun in that?" Kate laughed as she wiped the last of her tears.
"We should probably head back out there before Emmett comes barging into the little girl's room."
Once the tears were dried and make up was back to normal, the girls made their way back to the table where everyone was eating homemade sundaes. Everyone except Emmett. As soon as he saw Kate approach the table, he jumped up and pulled her into a bear hug. He whispered an apology for having upset her and as a peace offering presented her with a sundae of her very own that was made up of every ingredient from the make your own station.
"I forgive you on one condition...you have to be my date to the reunion."
"Gee...I dunno. Having Maxim's hottest lady on my arm? That's asking an awful lot."
Kate picked a gummy bear from her sundae and threw it at Emmett as he laughed.
It was going to be an amazing show if the rehearsal was any indication. Kate was going to be singing some of her greatest hits plus a few oldies just to keep Irina and everyone happy. After Kate finished the last song Sue arrived to pick Seth and Melissa up, but before they left they were both given a huge gift basket filled with according to Kate was filled with loads of crap including an unreleased copy of her upcoming CD.
When the kids were gone Kate suggested that Bella give Alice a call to join them for some dress up. A clothing store had heard that Kate was coming to town and offered their merchandise free of charge.
"I think my ears are bleeding," Bella said as she ended the call. Alice had squealed at a sound level only certain dogs could hear.
"Why don't you guys head down to the lobby," Kate said to both Bella and Emmett, "and I'll head up to the room." She made sure Emmett had the extra key to the room before leaving them to wait for Alice.
"So," Bella said as she watched Emmett watch Kate, "you and Kate...anything going on there?"
The look he gave her made her think she had lost her mind.
"Christ no! She's like my little sister. Besides she's totally gone for that Irish putz."
"You can see it too?"
"Are you kidding? Anne Frank could see those two belong together."
Bella was about to correct her friend's mistake when something caught his full attention. She turned to see what he was looking at and knew right away what had silenced him.
Rosalie Hale was standing across the lobby. She appeared to be waiting for someone as she glanced at her watch then the entrance then her watch again. Even from a distance she looked pale and tired, yet despite this, she was the definition of beauty. Standing there in a pair of black jeans with a grey fishermen sweater that was hanging loosely from the frame of her body.
"Why don't you go over and say something?"
"I can't." Emmett turned his eyes away in an effort to keep from being seen. " God, what if she's meeting that guy?"
Emmett had seen Rose with another man at the theatre where she worked and the idea that she was meeting the mystery man in a hotel was quite literally killing him.
"Whoever she's waiting for is obviously late. Go. Talk to her."
That was enough of a pep talk to get Emmett on his feet and headed in Rose's direction. Unfortunately the person Rose had been waiting for rushed into the lobby and beat Emmett to her side. The mystery man seemed very apologetic as he hugged her. Feeling defeated Emmett turned only to have Bella push past him as she made her way toward the happy couple.
"Are you fucking kidding me," she hissed.
"Bella?" Rose was shocked by her outburst.
"B, it's okay," Emmett tried pulling her away before anymore of a scene was caused.
"The hell it is! You have got some nerve showing your face here after everything you've done!"
"Belle please," Rose looked as though she wanted to cry having been caught.
"I'm not talking to you Hale. I'm talking to the piece of shit that broke my sister's heart and royally fucked up my life."
"Good to see you again Isabella." The man's smile was unsure as he greeted his old friend. "Emmett I would just love for you to meet Sam Uley."
Instead of offering a greeting Emmett simply glared at Sam who decide a change in topic was needed.
"How's the family?"
Bella lost it and launched herself into attack mode only to get caught up in Emmett's strong arms.
"Walk away Bella," he jerked her body to get her attention, "walk away. You're better than this." When he was sure it was safe, he let go and without saying so much as a goodbye he directed her toward the bank of elevators where they went up to the penthouse in silence without Alice.
Even though she was silent inside Bella's head was absolute chaos. What the hell was Sam Uley doing with Rosalie Hale. If he was here just to mess with Rosalie he had another thing coming. He had destroyed enough of the people in Bella's life and she'd be damned if she'd let him hurt any more.
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The song Emmett sang to Kate is actually a song a guy sang to me when I was feeling sick. Like Kate I was a goner for the guy.