Ch. 3 Unexpected

BPOV

I pulled into the ground floor of the parking deck to my apartment building. One of the greatest perks to living in the penthouse was having reserved ground parking with a private elevator which travelled directly to my home. I laughed quietly to myself as I imagined what the Cullens would think if they saw me now. Surely they would be impressed. They always did like the finer things in life. If it wasn't designer, name-brand, or—even better—one-of-a-kind, they didn't want it. I should have realized long before that day in the woods that Edward and I would never work.

Edward. The ghost of pain shot through my heart once more. 'Ugh go away! We hate him! Remember traitor heart?!' I ignored the feeling expertly after all these years of growing accustomed to the constantly painful nuisance as I angrily mashed the button that would take me to my apartment and swiped my access card in the elevator.

When I got to my floor, I gently removed my shoes and carried them to their home in my huge, Alice-worthy-sized walk-in closet. I couldn't stand the thought of tracking any germs from the ground outside into my perfectly lush, white carpet. Nope, straight to the shoe shelf for them! In my room I gingerly changed into my athletic wear and pulled my hair up.

As I turned to make my way out for my mid-day run, I caught my reflection in the mirror hanging above the console table in the foyer. My thoughts drifted back to my short time in Forks and how much I had truly changed since then. My body was leaner, better proportioned to an hourglass instead of a boyish rectangle, my chest well...endowed. My hair was now dyed to more of a honey brown with golden highlights, and my skin was artificially darkened with spray tanner. My brown eyes were concealed with green lenses. My face was thinner, more defined, along my jaw since I had it shaved down, but my cheeks and lips were plumper, a product of fillers. I brought my finger up to the tip of my nose as I manipulated the direction it sat. 'Hmm maybe just a lift and a slight shaving of the bone at the bridge...I'll have to call Dr. Gullege's assistant to set up an appointment and see what he can do...Maybe a bit of replacement fillers to my lips and cheeks' I frowned at the wrinkles which had begun to form along my brow line. 'A bit more fillers and Botox there too...' I nodded to my own inner monologue, and went back to the elevator.

This time when I stepped out, I was in the main lobby. "Hey Tommy! How's the wife?" I called to the security officer there.

"She's good. Off for your run?" I have always liked Tommy he's such a kind man, always joyful and happy to greet any passerby's with a smile and a wave. He kind of reminded me of Jacob before he went and...imprinted. I tried to hide the scowl from my face.

"Yeah, I've gotta stay on top of those calories. They'll creep up on you if you're not careful." I smiled.

"Oh come on! You could skip one night, you know. Live a little!" He replied with a sly grin and a wink.

"I'm trying to be the oldest living woman on Earth in a couple hundred years, so I can't take the risk!" I joked, "Anyway, tell Jen I say 'hi' and give the kids hugs from me...Later!" I waved over my shoulder as I pushed the revolving door that went out to the street.

I moved off the sidewalk out of the way of people walking by so I could stretch. After a few routine motions, I jumped to my feet lithely and began a steady pace down the edge of the road as I swiped through the playlists on my iPod. I briefly got the feeling that I was being watched, but I stopped long enough to sweep the area and found nothing out of the ordinary.

I was trying to decide between upbeat or moody as my thoughts reverted back to the Cullens, or more specifically, Edward. He was always so devastatingly beautiful, and even I knew that my memories couldn't scratch the surface, his chiseled jaw, intense golden eyes, those thick lashes...and then the man behind the face. His mysterious tension—well, not so mysterious to me since I knew the conflicts he had with his vampiric nature and desperate fight not to lose his humanity. My thoughts turned dark toward him again because it was that exact internal fight that drove Edward to entertain mere mortals like myself. 'Distractions' was the word he used. Too bad he grew tired of me. 'Poor Bella Swan, collateral damage in a vampire's attempts to break up the monotony of eternal existence.' I shook my head feebly trying to clear my mind, but my phone did the job for me when it rang, breaking me from my revery.

"Hey dad, what's up?" I smiled at the thought of him sitting behind his desk at work now.

"Long time no see." Charlie had recently been speaking to me in even fewer words than usual. I felt bad that we had grown so far apart these last few years after we had been so close back in Forks, but the only way I could lead the double life that I had made for myself, I had to be able to maintain the secret, which entailed lying—something I'm known for being unable to do convincingly, so a bit of distance was necessary.

"Dad, you know I would come visit if it were possible, but it's not, or at least, not right now. The shop's been pretty busy lately. You know how it gets..." I explained lamely.

"Sure, sure." His reply made me smile despite the obvious indifference because I knew Charlie had picked it up from Jacob. Jacob, my Jacob—no Venessa's Jacob now. I felt a twang of pain lick at the edges of the hole in my chest which had developed when Edward abandoned me and only grew larger when I had to leave Forks. It all became too much. My self-hatred was like a toxic disease, slowly spreading and infecting each person in my life from all my negativity.

I finally decided one day that I needed to do something, anything to grant me the catharsis that I so desperately craved. One night I found an old, blank journal in the back of my closet, I had brought the battered book with me all the way from Arizona without realizing it had been shoved in the bottom of my backpack, never used. When I saw the blank pages, it was a bit too representative of my state of mind in that moment. I was blank, nothing, empty. Then it occurred to me, maybe I'm not empty and worthless, but a blank slate, ready to begin anew. Two weeks later I finished the rough draft which would eventually become the first book in my series. I don't know what possessed me to actually have the thing published, but it was an instant sensation and, as mentioned before, gave me the tools I needed to better myself.

A few months later, I found myself packing and leaving for Brown, ready to take on the world. Charlie and Jake just thought I had decided to travel. They knew nothing about my attendance at Brown or of the hushed book deals I was making. I made sure that my contracts included protection for my privacy and identity. I refused to sit and interview for any media, printed or filmed.

Before I enrolled for my first semester, I changed my name legally to Marie Higginbotham, my middle name and mother's maiden name. It may seem like I was running, but I truly just wanted a fresh start. Plus I liked to remain...discreet. It's pretty difficult to start over when your father is the chief of police and has contacts all over the Olympic Peninsula who could track my whereabouts, and let's also not mention the fact that Jake could phase into a giant wolf with heightened senses designed especially for tracking. This clean break and new identity had been my only chance at a fresh start.

"So you're not coming home for summer again?" Charlie's defeated voice saddened me, but as much as I wished that I could go home, I couldn't. There was way too much going on with my newest book which was scheduled to release in June, four months from now.

"Sorry, Cha-Dad," I quickly corrected. "I just...I don't have the time. I need to go now. I'll talk to you soon. Love you." I hung up before he could move to his next argument.

Tears rose to the brim of my eyes, but I blinked them away. I missed Charlie, truly, but I couldn't bring myself to regret the choices that led me to Brown. I could finally walk around with a bit of anonymity and not be regarded as the "police chief's poor daughter" who was abandoned in the woods by her boyfriend and subsequently went crazy, no more pitying stares or commentary in hushed whispers following me. I was just Marie, lit student and bookstore worker to some and a mysterious, twenty-something, billionaire extraordinaire to others. Most of the people in my building just assumed that I was a trust fund baby since they didn't know I was the highest paid author in the modern era.

I continued to run another four miles, picking up my pace near mile five when I felt the paranoia of being watched creep over me once more. I turned another block and picked up my pace a bit more, but the nagging feeling wouldn't leave. Before long, I was running full speed, trying to maintain a steady breath and looking over my shoulder every few seconds. There was definitely someone watching. I couldn't explain it, but my body had the all too familiar reaction of goosebumps and hair raised on the nape of my neck. I pushed my muscles to propel me faster yet. I was still a few miles from home, and I wanted nothing more in that moment than to retreat to the comfortable solitude of my bed and pull the covers over my head.

My breathing sounded more ragged as I strained against the limitations of my humanity to move even quicker. I could no longer control the breaths moving in and out of my lungs, my heart rate erratic. I was feeling faint despite the rush of adrenaline pulsing through me, but I continued to push through the panic.

I wasn't paying any attention to the road ahead of me when my foot caught a hole in the asphalt causing me to lose my footing, and I braced myself for the ground that was now hurtling toward me—a feeling I had felt a million times before but not lately since my trained body had more balance and control. The impact never happened.

"Are you alright?" It was him. Him, Him. The Him. The one who both tormented my every waking moment and graced me with his comforting presence in my every dream. Edward Cullen. I had to be dreaming now. This couldn't be real.

My heart sped to a pace that I had never felt, even in mist of my longest spin class. My breathing increased to a rate which was in no way conducive to carrying oxygen to my brain, and the world began to spin.

"Whoa. Easy. Take a deep breath...I think you may have pushed yourself too far."

He was perfectly seventeen. Just as I remembered him, except better. I couldn't say anything. I only stared back at him, gaping at the eternal boy who stole my heart and then crushed it into a million pieces.

"I..." That was all that left me before the world went black.