So, not so new story ... I'm reposting this. This story was pulled years ago by FFn. That decision (without any sort of warning, really) forced me to move from just posting on FFn to Stars (then The Writer's Coffee Shop), AO3, and FictionPad. After doing some thinking, and FicPad turning into a for-profit platform, I've decided to repost this here.
This is ALREADY COMPLETE! PREWRITTEN
I will be doing some editing for content, but this is written in its entirety on Stars, AO3, Wattpad and FicPad (when it's not being a pain in the butt).
Carrots? Has anyone seen any carrots? The plot bunny attacked and well, you all are going to reap the benefits. NEW STORY! I've been writing some pretty heavy stuff lately and well, I'm going to lighten it up a bit. It's not going to be a humorous story (though there will be some funny bits) but it will be romantic. Some drama…some light angst (there needs to be some sort of conflict or it wouldn't be worth reading, kids).
Yeah, that isn't mine.
Up next, we're hitting fast forward, after some drama with Alec 'The Douchenozzle' Wright. Becca's moving in with her sister and Bella and Edward are getting ready for their trip back to the island. Good times will be had down there. Lots of good times. Leave me some!
Chapter Twenty-Five: The End of an Era
EPOV
"I'm shocked that my sister is letting me move in," Becca said quietly as she packed up her suitcases. "I thought she hated me."
"Bec, you really think she would turn her back on you? I know that you and Maureen have had issues over your mom, but she's still your sister and she wants you to be safe," Bella said, hugging her friend. It had been three weeks since that night where Jimmy attacked Becca. She had stayed with us since then, but she missed the solace of her own place. With a loan from Bella and me, she got out of her lease, trashing everything in her apartment. Reaching out to her sister, Maureen had sobbed when Becca told her about Jimmy's attack. They reconnected and Maureen opened up her home to Becca to get her back on her feet.
"I'm grateful for that," Becca smiled. "I'm grateful for both of you." She smiled softly, looking at Bella and turning to me. "Thank you for…"
"Becca, I love you. We had the room," Bella smiled. "Now, what time is Maureen coming to get you?"
"Oh, Maureen isn't coming. Danny is picking me up," Becca blushed.
"Danny?" I asked, arching a brow. "The doctor?"
"Yeah," Becca said. "He wanted to take me out for lunch before dropping me off at my sister's in Tacoma." She closed the suitcase and gave Bella a sheepish grin. "We've talked every night since that party. He's a good guy and he knows that all I can offer is friendship, but he seems pretty much perfect."
"I'm glad. Don't be afraid of him," Bella smiled.
"I'll probably err on the side of caution, but we'll see," Becca said. The phone rang and I went to pick it up. It was Dr. Parker, Danny. I told the security guard to let him upstairs. Cracking open the door, I told Becca that her ride was here. She beamed, a crimson blush covering her skin.
Danny knocked on the door and poked his head inside. "Hello?" he called.
"Hey man," I said, shaking his hand. "Becca is just finishing up packing up her belongings. She'll be ready in a little bit."
"Thanks. I was grateful that my schedule was free today," Daddy chuckled. "We've been trying to get together for coffee, but it's been damn near impossible to find a spare moment. I've been working doubles to cover for some of my coworkers who are battling the flu."
"I don't know how you doctors do it," I mused. "How can you manage to find a social life?"
"It's tough," Danny sighed, running his hand through his hair. "The hours are unpredictable and constant threat of getting sick. I've had a few dates but nothing long term. My longest relationship was in college. I had zero time in medical school and once I was in my residency, I lived at the hospital and again, had no time. I want a girlfriend. I want a family…It's pretty sad when your options are vapid nurses or colleagues. Ugh, and the nurses are awful. Some of them just don't understand the word 'no.'"
"Don't they have some sort of fraternization policy?" I asked.
"They do, but it's not really enforced unless people get to the point where it's sexual harassment. Since I started at Harborview, I've only ever seen it once," Danny replied. "The nurse was relentless in her pursuit for this one doctor. She had somehow gotten a key to his office, stripped naked and was sitting on his desk. When he walked in, she begged him to have, um, sex and well, that didn't go over well. He snapped a photo with his phone and marched directly to HR to submit a sexual harassment claim."
"What was she thinking?" I snorted.
"She wasn't. She was obsessed with him. Plus, the doctor had a wife and two kids. He wasn't single," Danny scoffed. "She got fired and had to move to another state because she was red-flagged. After that, relationships among the staff significantly cooled, but it's picking up again. I've got two invitations to weddings over the summer for colleagues that met on the job. Just seeing them and getting those, makes me yearn for someone special." He shrugged and sat down on the couch, nervously fiddling with his jacket.
"You'll get it. Do you want anything to drink?" I asked. He shook his head and I sat down, watching some television while Becca and Bella worked on finishing up with Becca's things. Ten minutes later, Becca and Bella came out with two suitcases and a small duffel bag. "Do you need help carrying your stuff down, Becca?"
"I've got it," Danny said, his eyes trained on Becca. She smiled and quietly thanked him. Becca and Bella hugged each other tightly, promising to get together for lunch with Angela and Jessica at some point during the week. Rolling out the bags, Danny and Becca left our apartment and for the first time in nearly a month, it was empty.
Bella collapsed on the couch, throwing an arm over her face. She looked more relaxed. "You okay, gorgeous girl?" I asked, putting her feet onto my lap, lightly massaging the arches of her feet.
"I love Becca. Don't get me wrong, but I felt like I was walking on eggshells with her," Bella sighed. "She was so sad and short-tempered. Biting my tongue and not calling her on her snippy attitude, it was tough! She has every right to be upset and get ticked off, but…"
"I know, gorgeous girl," I said. "And the bullshit you're dealing with at work is not helping. The past couple of weeks have not been a walk in the park, that's for sure."
"Ugh, I hate my boss. He's a douchebag asshole motherfucking shithead," Bella snarled. "I can't believe he put me on probation because of my article on domestic abuse! I mean, really! It was a fantastic article, Edward. There was even talk among my coworkers that I could be nominated for a Newsroom Award. Do you realize what a big deal that is?" She didn't wait for me to respond, huffing loudly. "Why is he such a jerk?"
"He's compensating, Bella," I said. "Your dad has found some things, but we're still waiting on facial recognition."
"What could take so long?" she grumped, moving so she could sit on my lap. I eagerly wrapped my arms around her slender body and slipped my fingers underneath her sweater to touch her soft skin. She melted against me, pressing kisses to my jaw.
"I don't know. Watch, Alec Wright is an African-American man who is traveling the world because he's a self-made millionaire or whatever. He doesn't even know that his identity was stolen," I snorted.
"I hope that the real Alec Wright sues the fake Alec Wright for all he's worth and that the fake one gets thrown into jail for a long time," Bella snapped, burying her nose into my neck. "Hmmmm, you smell good."
"You're deflecting, Bella," I snickered, moving my hand to palm her ass.
"I'm just trying to lower my blood pressure, Edward. Talking about Alec makes me so angry," she sighed, hugging me close.
"How about we get out of the apartment? Go out on a date? Get some Christmas presents? Perhaps pick up some sexy lingerie for our time on island?" I suggested, nipping at her earlobe.
"Shopping?" she asked, arching a brow.
"We go shopping, have some dinner and then go to a movie?" I suggested. "Do things that normal couples do?"
"We aren't normal," she laughed, but sighed. "That does sound nice. Let me change into something nicer and then we can go. I have to get something for your family for Christmas."
"What about me?" I pouted.
"I've already got your gift, Cullen," she said, poking my stomach. "I went out with Paul the afternoon after my meeting with douchebag. We left under the guise of scooping a story, but we went shopping instead." She got up off my lap and padded to our bedroom. Turning before she left the room, Bella smiled softly. "Thank you for being so amazing with Becca and with this whole situation. Most guys would have run away but you didn't. Every day, I find something more that I love about you, Edward."
"I love you, too, Bella," I said. She winked at me before darting out of the room.
xx AIDA xx
Bella did her job, flying under the radar to not upset her boss. She hated it, though. Her inner-journalist was begging to come out with new stories that were being broadcast in other papers and on the nightly news. I finished the score for my game with Stephen and we submitted it to New Moon Gaming. Jane loved it and they were working with their publicity team to generate an advertisement plan for the launch of my game in March at the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco. I had already convinced Bella to go with me for the four day conference and even extending our time up there for a brief vacation. I'd never been and wanted to explore the city. Bella spoke with Marcus. She got approved for time off for three days after the conference, plus the conference. I was excited to go on a vacation with my girl, plus working on something that made me happy.
Plus, vacation sex is always better than home sex.
I was working on the sequel for the game, outlining the storyline, when I got a phone call from Charlie. Arching a brow, I picked it up. "Hello?"
"We got him!" Charlie whooped.
"Jimmy?" I asked. "Becca will be overjoyed!"
"No! Alec," Charlie said. "Meet me at the coffee shop around the corner from Bella's office."
"Okay," I said, my heart stammering. I saved my work as I hung up the phone and went down to the car. Driving to the diner that I had met Bella for lunch a few times, I parked and smiled when I saw Charlie in a booth. Waving at the hostess, I walked to Charlie's spot. "What's up?"
"Hey, Edward," Charlie said, his brown eyes twinkling. "Your hypothesis that Alec Wright stole someone's identity was spot on. The man who is sitting in the office in the Seattle Times is this guy." He shoved a file folder toward me and sure enough, it was Bella's boss. "His name Joseph Schanowski and he's a swindler. He was arrested twenty years ago and spent time in jail. He drifted from job to job when he ran into this guy." He showed me a picture of an African American man, smiling with bright blue eyes. "This is the real Alec Wright."
"Does he know?" I asked, pointing to the picture.
"Unfortunately, he does not. The reason being is that he was killed in a car accident the same night that Joseph met him. Perhaps about a week after Joseph and Alec met."
"Could this guy," I asked, pointing to the fake Alec, "caused this guy's death?"
"I don't know. We'd have to do further digging. Anyhow, Joseph assumed his identity because Alec's body was so badly burned. However, he waited for a few years before taking over Alec's life. But, he had his social security number, effectively wiping all history of the real Alec off the planet. Everything about Joseph is a lie. His college education, his birth certificate, his work history…everything was based off the real Alec's life, but he didn't exist. He was dead, but still walking around."
"He looks good for a corpse," I snorted humorlessly. "Have you told Bella?"
"She's coming here with her editor, Marcus," Charlie smirked.
"Are you going to arrest him?" I asked. "That would make everyone at the paper so happy. It would be the best Christmas present. Ever."
"I'm going to give to this to Bella and Marcus, have them write the story about identity theft, using Alec's story as the premise and arrest him once he gets the notification about the story," Charlie smirked. "From what I've observed, he really suspects nothing. He's living his life and he believes that he's safe."
"Why hadn't anyone checked this out before?" I asked.
"By the time he had garnered enough attention to make people suspicious, he was already moving to another job," Charlie said, showing me Alec's work history. "He wasn't as harsh at other papers, either. He had it out for the Times from day one."
"I wonder why?" I pondered.
"Joseph Schanowski was born in Portland and applied for Seattle Times when he was just out of college. He had aspirations of being a sports writer," Charlie said, looking up information in the file on Joseph. "See? He was rejected immediately because the editor of the sports section believed that his work had no depth. He told the facts, not getting into the nitty gritty of the story. He's getting back at that editor, who's long since retired, through the paper. It's disgusting, really."
The bell rang by the entrance and Marcus and Bella walked in. They were confused when they joined us at the booth. Bella sat next to me, cuddling to my side and threading her fingers with mine. "What's up with the cryptic phone call, Dad?" she asked.
That's when he pushed the two files to Bella. She read the information with an adorable wrinkle between her brows. When she came to the part that said that Alec Wright wasn't Alec Wright, her brown eyes widened and she shot a look at her dad. "Is this real?"
"As real as they come, kiddo," Charlie smirked.
"What is it?" Marcus asked.
"The guy in the editor's office isn't Alec Wright. His real name is Joseph Schanowski," Bella said, shoving the file to Marcus. "So, are you going to arrest him? Taser his ass?"
"Well, we will arrest him, but we want to expose him first. I've gotten approval from the police department and we want you two to write a story on identity theft, having it run in the Sunday publication. We'll arrest him early on Sunday morning and by Monday, you'll be free of Alec Wright/Joseph Schanowski," Charlie chuckled evilly.
"Won't that put a damper on his arrest?" Marcus asked. "I mean, we're leaking information about an ongoing criminal investigation."
"All of this information is easily found on social media and other resources. It wasn't until the facial recognition software discovered he wasn't who he said he was that we were alerted to the discrepancy. Plus, I have approval from the department. I wanted to ensure that it was okay to do this," Charlie explained. "The DA is working on bringing up charges and we're ready to go."
"I think we should do it, Marcus," Bella said. "We'll make a hell of a team."
"But, we can't write it at the paper. Alec has access to all of our stations. He'll see our drafts on the intranet," Marcus said, frowning slightly.
"It looks like we've got some homework to do, then," Bella said. "Do you want to meet at my place or yours?"
"Let's shoot for your apartment. You don't have two kids," Marcus snickered. "Once I'm home, I'm daddy. I can't start it tonight since my son has his third grade Christmas program, but let's start tomorrow."
"I'll create an outline for the feature," Bella said, her body just vibrating with anticipation. "We can start writing it tomorrow."
"Sounds good," Marcus said as his phone rang. Grimacing, he picked it up. "Yes? I had a lunch meeting, Alec. I'm sorry I'm not in my office. I do have to eat…I'll be back in ten minutes…No, it can't be sooner. I have to get back to the office…I'll see you then." He hung up his phone scowling at it. "Pretentious asshole."
"What did he want?" I asked.
"He was giving me bullshit that I wasn't at my desk," Marcus snorted. "I mean, it is lunchtime. We are allowed to eat lunch unless our worthless leader finally has determined that food is not a necessary thing for survival." He got up scowling at his phone. "I have to go. Bella, can you possibly get me a hamburger or something to go? I don't want him to have any more of a snit fit. I'll just eat at my desk when you get back." He tossed a twenty onto the table and stomped out of the diner.
"I cannot wait to see the look on Alec's face when he's arrested," Bella snickered evilly. "Oh, Dad, please make sure that you have it filmed or something."
I laughed, wrapping my arm around Bella's waist and kissing her cheek. She melted against me. Charlie told Bella all about Alec and Joseph. She had out a notebook, scribbling down ideas for the article that she was going to write. She also ordered Marcus's meal along one for herself to go so she could head back up to the office and finish out her day.
Before she left, Bella thrust her notebook into my hands. "Take this with you. And the folders," she said, gesturing to the evidence in front of us. "I don't want this at the office in fear of Alec finding them. You know?"
"Is it okay that we take these?" I asked Charlie.
"Yeah. I have the originals back at the station. These are all copies," Charlie said gruffly, sipping his coffee. "We've got a detail following him until he's arrested on Sunday. I'll try to make sure that it's videotaped, but no promises."
The waitress came with Bella's to-go bags and she went to pay for the food. I waved her off and urged her to go back to work. With a kiss, she left and I stayed with Charlie, chatting with him about the Becca's case. Paying for Bella and Marcus's lunch, along with my own snack, I took the folders from Charlie and got into my car.
Back at the apartment, I placed the folders on the dining room table. Bella usually worked on articles in there if she wasn't at work. I made sure that her notes along with the folders, plus my own notes, were placed on the table. I went back into the office, continuing my own work on the sequel to my game. As I was working, my phone rang again and this time it was an overseas call.
"Hello?" I responded.
"It's so nice to hear from you, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen," my mother snapped. "You move up to Seattle and you forget all about your family. Would it be so hard for you to pick up the damn phone and call your decrepit, lonely mother? Your sister? Your father?"
"Sorry, Mom," I cringed. "I'm an awful son. I suck and I should be publically flogged."
"I wouldn't go that far, Edward," she laughed. "I just got your email with your itinerary to come into the island. I'm so thrilled that you and Bella are coming back. How is she doing?"
"She's great. We're great, Mom," I replied, smiling like a buffoon. "I don't know if Alice told you, but…"
"She hasn't said boo since she came back from Seattle. But she's floating on cloud nine," Esme said, her voice wistful. "Are you going to tell your mother?"
"While Alice was here, we went shopping for an engagement ring for Bella," I beamed, my face flaming in excitement. "I found something that will just blow her mind away, Mom."
"When are you planning on proposing?" she gushed.
"I was hoping that I could use your yacht on New Year's Eve, give her a romantic evening on the Atlantic Ocean and get down on one knee as the fireworks are going off at the island," I said. "Do you think she'll like it?"
"I think she'll love it. Edward, Bella is such a beautiful, smart and amazing girl. She brought you back to use," Esme sniffled. "We were all so worried that you'd self-destruct and the path you were following was not healthy."
"I know it wasn't," I frowned, feeling shame for my previous choices. "When Lauren left me, I…I thought I lost everything. I was so prepared to spend my life with her that her confession of her infidelity to me caused a switch to flip and Edward, the man whore, was born. It wasn't until I saw Bella and interacted with her that I missed having a normal interaction with a woman that didn't lead, ultimately, to sex. She never fell for my lines and saw completely through me. However, she gave me a chance when most would have said no. Mom, I thought I lost everything with Lauren, but in reality, I gained the world when I met Bella."
"What does the ring look like?" she asked.
"It's a platinum setting. There's a round diamond that is a carat and a half that's held in a tension setting. Along the shoulders of the ring, the shank is split with channel set princess cut stones. It's very modern and sleek and elegant," I answered. "Of course, if she hates it, I'll return it…"
"Edward, she'll love it," my mom soothed.
"How are things at the resort?" I asked.
"Good. We haven't had any thefts since you installed that wall of fire or whatever you call it into the computer. I can't believe that you can do all of that remotely," Esme snickered.
"Firewall, Mom. Besides, I had help. Rose and I were able to do it. If I had asked dad, he would have been so lost," I chuckled. "He hates using technology. I'm surprised we have Wi-Fi at the resort."
"That was because of you, Edward," she said dryly.
"Oh, right," I laughed.
"I'm grateful that the thefts have stopped. However, we are getting some interesting mail. It's nothing significant. Just pictures of the resort. Your villa, Alice's, that woman that we had escorted off the island, Victoria, her villa, the main resort building, the docks…"
"Have you checked those sites for anything out of the ordinary?" I asked, my hackles going up immediately. "They could be clues."
"Such a conspiracy theorist," Esme teased. "It's probably nothing."
"Or it could be something. Mom, please, have Emmett and Jasper and the security team on the resort check out the locations of those pictures. Just because the thefts have stopped doesn't mean whoever was doing them have stopped their attack on us. Please?"
"Okay, I'll tell Emmett and Jasper and have them check out the villas. But, you're probably overreacting, Edward. You do have a tendency to overdramatize things."
"I'd rather overreact then underreact, causing an issue at the resort," I retorted like a sullen teenager. "I don't want anything to happen to you or to the resort."
"I can just picture your face, Edward. Are you sporting the Sullen Cullen pout?" she laughed.
"Probably. Will you do it, Mom? If you don't, I'm going to call Emmett," I warned.
"I'll talk to him once I'm off the phone with you. Anyway, I just wanted to call and see how my middle child was doing since he's fallen off the face of the planet," Esme chortled. "Now that I know that you're alive, still breathing and adding to our family, I'm content. We're planning on celebrating Christmas with you and Bella while you're down here."
"Mom, don't postpone Christmas for us," I chided.
"It'll be fine. We've got a fair amount of guests celebrating here at the resort and we're having a party, 'I'm Dreaming of a Sandy Christmas' on the beach. The palm trees are decked out in twinkle lights and we've got a sleigh with a life-sized Santa wearing tropical swim trunks and an obnoxious floral shirt. We're also having a gift exchange. At midnight, one of the local preachers is going to perform midnight mass and then Christmas day we're having a more formal gathering. In light of all of that, our staff is giving us off the entire time that you and Bella are on the island. We're only going to be called if there's a huge emergency."
"Well, in that case," I said. "I'm looking forward to it."
"I've got to go, Edward. We're having a Greek night and I want to make sure that Emmett doesn't break all of the dishes. I wanted to call and say that I love you and that I miss you," Esme murmured.
"I love you, too, Mom. I'll see you in a few weeks," I smiled. "Give my love to everyone and have some saganaki for me, alright?"
"Opa!" she sang before she hung up the phone.
Placing my cell phone on the desk, I sent off a quick email to my dad, asking if I could use the yacht on New Year's Eve. I also sent him a copy of the itinerary our flights down to Rio so he could make sure that we had a boat waiting for us at the marina. I also texted Emmett about the pictures that were sent to the resort, demanding that he and Jasper check out those properties. I'm paranoid that something big is going to happen and that the resort will blow up or something. Once I was done with that, I logged into the resort's computer and checked everything over. I wanted to make sure that there were no security breaches. A lot of the people who came to the island were well-off and I didn't want their personal information compromised.
Thankfully, there were no more issues, but I did spend some time working on updating the security protocols. I also checked over the employee manifest, schedule and activity contracts. Everything seems to be in working order. There was also a lovely note in the activity file from my sister.
I know you're snooping, Edward. EVERYTHING'S FINE! We'll see you after Christmas. Don't forget the bling! ~ Alice
I typed her a response before logging out. Noticing the time, I hopped up and went to pull something out for dinner. I was working in the kitchen when Bella came home, grumbling under her breath. Turning, I noticed she was on the phone. "Relax, Marcus. After Sunday, he's going to be in jail and we won't have to deal with Alec Wright or whatever the fuck his name is ever again! Don't. Worry. About. It…I'll see you tomorrow. Deep breaths and have sex with your wife. It'll calm you." She snorted as she ended the call, tossing the phone onto the entry table.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Marcus got written up for leaving the office without notifying an editor," Bella spat. "He is a fucking editor. The editor of the news division. Who would he contact? Alec? That guy is never in the office and when he is, he's bitching at someone or firing someone."
"I'll be so happy when this bullshit is over for you, Bella," I said, reaching for her hand. She allowed herself to be tugged into my arms and she melted against my chest. Gently, I massaged her back, shocked at the amount of knots that riddled her spine. She squirmed, whimpering quietly. "Did I hurt you?" I pulled my hands away.
"I'm just tense," she said, rolling her head.
"How about after dinner, I give you a massage?" I suggested, taking her heart-shaped face in my hands.
"That sounds really good, but I have to work on the outline for the story," she said, standing on her tiptoes to kiss my lips.
"We'll eat dinner, you work on the outline and then at nine, you strip naked so I can massage every inch of your delectable body," I said, wrapping my arms around her waist. "And then, afterwards, I'll make love to you."
"I want that now," she almost whined.
"Well, I've got food in the oven and I don't want it to burn since it's due out in five minutes. I refuse to worship your body in five minutes or less," I quipped, kissing her nose. "Why don't you change into something comfortable?"
She smiled softly, kissing my lips once more before leaving my arms. I turned back to the oven, checking on the chicken Florentine I had prepared. Our dinner was quiet and delicious. Bella told me about a story she was working on that was going to be co-written with Paul. It was about a popular movie franchise renting out a movie theater for children with special needs. Before the movie was going to be shown, the lead actors of the film were going to have a question and answer session. After the movie, there would be an opportunity for the children to meet their favorite actors and actresses, take pictures, get autographs and limited edition memorabilia from the set of the film.
Working together, we did the dishes and Bella went into the dining room once we were done to start outlining the story with Marcus. While she did that, I wrapped some presents for Christmas, placing them underneath our tiny tree in the living room. Our apartment was nice, but there wasn't a lot of extra room. The tree was about three feet tall and covered in twinkle lights and a million ornaments. It was nearly toppling over with all of the ornaments on its branches. All of them were Bella's from when she was a kid. Her parents decided to have one of those decorator trees with matching ornaments and lights. They were going to throw away the ornaments and Bella begged to keep them.
It had been years since I've celebrated Christmas. The holiday had always held a bit of sour taste in my mouth since all of my important moments with Lauren happened on or around Christmas. Usually at the resort, I'd throw myself into work. Now, I was hoping to have new, more amazing memories with my girlfriend and her family.
On Christmas Eve, we were hosting another party for all of our friends, including Dr. Dan once he got off his shift and Stephen and his girlfriend, Lisette. On Christmas Day, we were going to Bella's parent's place for dinner and their Christmas celebration. Early the following morning, Charlie was going to drive us to the airport so we could catch our six o'clock flight to Houston.
"Here, check this out," Bella said as she sat down next to me. She handed me her notepad with an outline. "Does this sound okay?"
"How are you spinning it?" I asked.
"There are going to be three parts to the article. The first part is going to be about the importance of keeping your personal information personal. The second part is specifically about identity theft; what can you do if it happens to you, who to call if you do have your identity is stolen and tips on how to avoid it. The third part is going to be the human interest part of the story, sharing the real Alec Wright's story," she explained.
"That sounds great, Bella," I smiled, flipping through her notes.
"The last part of the article is going to have a picture of the deceased Alec Wright and Joseph Schanowski. Then, we're going to put our boss's picture underneath, asking if Joseph and 'Alec' look familiar." She showed me a younger version of her boss, obviously from high school and the current photo that was used in the paper. Joseph Schanowski and the fake Alec Wright looked the same, save for some more gray hair and a lot of wrinkles.
"What do you think is going to happen when they arrest him?" I asked, pointing to the picture.
"I don't know. I hope that they put Marcus in the editor job. He's amazing," Bella said as she put her notes, the folders and pictures onto the cocktail table.
"Would you want to take over his position?" I asked, my heart catching in my throat.
"I don't know," Bella shrugged. "Marcus writes articles, but not as much as his staff does. I like writing articles, prefer it, really. I love exposing the truth in the world. I'm a decent editor but it's not my strength. Besides, there are members of the staff that are much more qualified than I am. Henry has been working in the newsroom for a long time. He deserves it more than me. Besides, I don't know if working at the paper is my cup of tea."
"What do you mean?" I questioned, curious as to where she was going with this.
"I like my work at the paper. It's challenging and hard work. But, this whole fiasco with Alec/Joseph/Douchenozzle has really disenchanted me to … I don't know. I'm just burnt out," she sighed, curling against my chest. "I'm looking forward to getting away after Christmas and again in March."
"Have you ever considered another career?" I asked.
"I don't know. I just want some time," she said, looking up at me. "But, unfortunately, I have to work. I can't exactly up and leave. I need money to pay my bills. Especially with this monstrosity of an apartment…" I opened my mouth, ready to tell her that she didn't have to work. "I know you can take care of both of us. I love that you're willing to do that, but I can't rely on you, solely, Edward." She toyed with my shirt, slipping her fingers underneath the hem and idly caressing my belly. "I miss the time on the island. No worries. We had fun. No douchebag bosses. No psycho boyfriends attacking my friends. Ugh, I am almost tempted not to fly back after the first of the year."
"Seriously?" I asked.
"Kind of," she giggled, looking up at me. "Anyhow, it's not going to happen. Not anytime soon since I've got to wait out my lease if we do decide to go back to the island."
"But it is a conversation that we should have," I reminded her.
"We should, but not tonight. I do remember, distinctly, that you promised me a massage. I'd really like that, Edward. My back is barking at me," she giggled.
"You know what to do," I growled, nipping at her neck. "Get naked and lay on the bed, Miss Swan. My hands have a date with your beautifully naked body."
xx AIDA xx
Over the next several days, Marcus and Bella worked tirelessly on their feature on Alec. As soon as they came home from the office, they worked on their computers until after midnight each night to get the article written. Bella was getting the by-line and it was slated to be on the front page. The 'fake' article that was in its spot was going to be about the recent snow we had and how it affected the city of Seattle and its outlying suburbs. That story was going to be run, but further in the paper. Bella was working on that at work, while Marcus and she were pouring the guts into this expose on Alec Wright/Joseph Schanowski.
Saturday, Bella and Marcus were submitting the final draft of the article to the paper, right at midnight. As soon as it was submitted, the paper was going to press and be delivered to millions of people. At 12:01, Charlie and his partner were knocking on Alec's door with an arrest warrant, taking him into custody for the crime of identity theft, murder of the real Alec Wright and a litany of other charges.
The real Alec had been killed here in Washington State, just outside of Tacoma. After digging up his old case file, there was evidence that his car had been tampered with. It was overlooked because the night of the accident was incredibly wet and rainy, which led the investigating officers to believe it was truly an accident. The technicians took note that the brake lines had been severed and that Alec's accident wasn't an accident after all. That little tidbit of information was left out of the report and Alec's family were led to believe that the entire thing was an accident, when it wasn't.
On Saturday, Bella was a nervous wreck. She was methodically cleaning every inch of the apartment. Apparently, my OCD-like tendencies have rubbed off on my girlfriend. The article was written, saved on both Bella's and Marcus's flash drives. I also had it saved in an encrypted file on my laptop in case one of their flash drives became corrupt. Marcus was fucking paranoid. I didn't blame him. I'd want to have some sort of backup plan, too.
"What if he runs?" Bella asked from the bathroom.
"What?" I replied, walking into the bathroom, only to find Bella's ass in the air as she tried to scrub behind the toilet. "I couldn't hear you around the shitter."
"Attractive, Cullen," she deadpanned, unwedging herself from behind the toilet.
"Everybody poops," I smirked. She smacked my arm and sat on the edge of the tub. "Now, what did you say? I really couldn't understand you."
"I said, what if he runs?" Bella muttered, biting her lip. "He needs to pay for his crimes. What if we're doing the wrong thing with the article?"
"Your soon-to-be ex-boss suspects nothing," I said, kneeling in front of her. "He's been as much of an asshole the remainder of this week, right?" Bella nodded, wringing the cloth in her hand. "He's not going to run. Your father is going to arrest him and he's going to jail for a long, long time."
"I hope so," she sighed. "Will you come with us to upload the article?"
"Sure, gorgeous girl," I smiled, kissing her softly. "Do you want some help in scouring the bathroom or do you want me to leave you be?"
"I don't think you can fit behind the toilet, Edward," she teased. "If you want to help, work on the kitchen."
"Okay, Bella," I said, giving her a crooked grin. Giving her another kiss, I darted into the kitchen and spent the rest of the afternoon working on cleaning the kitchen. Not wanting to dirty the kitchen, we went out to eat at a local bar around the corner from the apartment. After dinner, Bella and I went to a movie before driving to the newspaper. Marcus was parking as we pulled in and he looked just as anxious as Bella.
"I think I'm going to puke," Marcus whined. "I can't wait until this is fucking over with, you know?"
"Yep," Bella gulped. "I know Edward will be happy. I bet you're tired of hearing me bitch and moan about my job, right?"
"I'm not tired, Bella. I understand why you were bitching and moaning. The guy is a complete jerk and he deserves this," I said, twining my fingers with hers.
Bella's cell phone chirped and she looked at it. "That's my dad. They're in position at Alec's condo in Escala. They're getting ready to head upstairs," she explained. "Let's go put this bad boy to shame."
We went up to the news floor and logged onto Bella's computer. They read through the article one last time, making sure that the sources were accurate and that it portrayed what they wanted. With a combined, shaky breath, Bella submitted it once they made sure it was in the paper properly. Marcus used his code and sent the paper to print.
"There's going to be fall out," Marcus explained. "The local news teams will probably want to interview us."
"I'll send them in your direction," Bella said, her eyes wide. "I'm not talking to the television crews. God, I'd look like a moron!"
Marcus chuckled. "Whatever you say, Bella."
Bella's phone chirps again and she smiled widely. "It's done. Alec/Joseph is arrested."
"What happened?" I asked.
"I don't know, but Alec Wright is no longer," Bella beamed. She slumped against me.
"Let's see if the charges stick," Marcus sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I'm going home. I'm seriously exhausted and emotionally spent. I'll see you on Monday. Give me a call if something happens with your dad or with our former boss."
They hugged and Marcus shook my hand before dragging himself out of the office. Bella saved her work on her flash drive and logged off the computer. "God, I just want to crash," Bella mumbled sleepily. "It's hitting me now that…wow!"
"Come on, gorgeous girl. Let's get you home and in bed. You deserve a lazy tomorrow in nothing but PJs, or preferably naked," I said, waggling my brows.
"Easy access, Mr. Cullen?" she quipped.
"Of course, Miss Swan," I replied.
Driving us home, I practically had to carry Bella up to the apartment. She was crashing fast from the craziness of the week. I placed her on the bed, stripping her of her jeans and sweater. I plugged in her phone, checking to see if there were any more updates from Charlie, but there weren't. I took off my own clothes, sliding into bed in my boxer briefs. Bella curled up against me, sighing contentedly. Kissing her neck, I joined her in dreamland.
Early the next morning, Bella's cell phone began vibrating on the nightstand. She was dead to the world. I swiped her phone and went into the living room. It was Charlie calling. "Hello?" I said sleepily.
"Why are you picking up my daughter's cell phone?" he chided.
"Because she's exhausted and asleep in bed," I yawned. "What's up?"
"He confessed. To everything," Charlie said, his voice filled with shock.
"Shut the fuck up!" I barked. "Sorry. Everything?"
"Everything," Charlie laughed. "He told us how he met up with Alec after he broke up with his girlfriend. They got drunk and that's how he got his social security number, credit cards and everything. He swiped his wallet while he was puking. Joseph drove Alec home and he waited a week before cutting the brake lines. He wanted it to look like an accident, so he chose the rainiest day to do it. Oh, turn on the television and wake up my daughter. She'll want to see this."
"Okay," I said, darting back into the bedroom. "What channel?"
"NBC," he replied. "ABC, CBS…take your pick. They're all here. Call me back, okay?"
"Yeah," I said. Hanging up the phone, I flipped on the television and gently shook Bella. She mumbled incoherently. "Bella, wake up. Your dad just called and there is something on the news."
She sat up and turned to the television. On one of the local channels, they were discussing the story that Bella and Marcus wrote about Alec.
"In an interesting turn of events, the new editor-in-chief for the Seattle Times is not who he say he is. In story, broken by a writer from the very same paper, Isabella Swan, describes the tale of Alec Wright, shown here in a picture from nearly twenty years ago and Joseph Schanowski. Joseph assumed Alec's identity and he began working at various newspapers, making a name for himself. However, based on the article written by Miss Swan, his ultimate goal was to take revenge on the Seattle Times," said the female reporter.
"Joseph Schanowki was rejected from the Seattle Times shortly before his chance meeting with Alec Wright. He wanted to be a sports columnist, but he didn't have what it took. Meeting Alec was his opportunity to get that. Once Alec was out of the way, a new Alec was born and he became known in the journalism world as a cutthroat, brutal and horrible editor-in-chief. He wanted only one aspect of each story and that was the conservative viewpoint. He also challenged various writers and cost them their careers due to his close-minded views. However, those reporters are getting their retribution with this discovery made by Miss Swan and the Seattle Police Department. Heading to the police headquarters, we now go to Matthew Falk as the commissioner shares new information about the case. Matthew?"
The screen flickered and standing at the podium was an older gentleman with a weary smile. It appeared that the feed was mid press conference. "…the accused, Alec Wright, AKA Joseph Schanowski, admitted to all wrong doing and is working out a deal with the District Attorney's office. He's looking to plead guilty to all charges brought against him, including identity theft and second degree murder. In addition to his guilty plea, Mr. Schanowski will put forth a statement, explaining and refuting all claims he made on those various journalists that he targeted. In our interview with him, they were all people who squashed his creativity and looked down at his writing skills. In regards to the leadership of the Seattle Times, we do not know that information at this time and if you have questions regarding that, please direct your calls to the newspaper. Thank you for coming out this morning." The commissioner stepped away and the flash bulbs went off along with yells from the reporters.
Bella blinked. Clearly in shock.
"So, Alec Wright, the editor-in-chief of the Seattle Times was taken into custody early this morning under the charges of murder in the second degree and identity theft. More information about this story will be coming as it is made available by the police. Now, onto weather…"
"He killed that man," Bella whispered. "All because he was bitter that he didn't get hired as a sports columnist. What the fuck is wrong with people?"
"I don't know, Bella," I said, holding her to my side.
"Even though we brought him down, it doesn't feel good," she muttered, curling against my chest.
"He was a bad guy. Obviously, he has a very skewed glimpse of the world. He doesn't deserve your pity. He made his choices, deciding to end the real Alec's life just to assume his identity. He ruined people's careers because they didn't see his vision. He turned what should have been a blip on the radar of life into a personal vendetta. You, Marcus, Charlie…you all had a hand in taking him down."
"You had the biggest hand, though. If weren't for you and Paul, we wouldn't have obsessed over it and he'd still be making our lives miserable," Bella deadpanned.
"Whatever the case maybe, Alec Wright or whatever the hell his name is, is gone from your life. You can go back to being a journalist without worrying about pissing off your boss because you didn't use the right sources," I said. "When I met with your dad, we thought of it this way…you guys got your Christmas present early at the paper."
"It's the best present we could ever hope for. But you know what I want more than anything right now?" she asked.
"What, love?"
"Sleep, I need more fucking sleep," she moaned. "I can't wait to go back to the island."
"Me too, Bella," I said, guiding her back onto the pillows. We kissed softly. I traced her face, looking into her deep chocolate eyes. "I'm proud of you, gorgeous girl. I love you so much."
"I love you, too," she said, kissing my jaw. Just as my mind began to shut down, I faintly heard her voice again. Bella's sleep talking made a reappearance. "Want to stay on the island forever…with…my Edward."
A/N: And Alec's gone! Can I get a WOOT, WOOT!? He will not be returning. Just saying. Also, Dr. McCutie and Becca are building a friendship. Let's see where that goes. Not many pictures with this one…I've got a picture of the real Alec Wright along with Bella's engagement ring, but you won't see that until Edward proposes. You can see the picture of the real Alec Wright on my blog and tumblr. Links for those are on my profile. Additionally, you can find me on Facebook: Tufano79's Twilight Fanfiction Appreciation or on twitter: tufano79.
Up next, we've got the announcement of the new editor-in-chief, Christmas Eve party, Christmas Day, and travel down to the island, celebrating Christmas with the Cullen's. PLUS, some citrusy fun. *Waggles brows* Edward's going where no man has gone before XD!
Leave me some!