I DREAM OF RAINBOWS

Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.

The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them.

Bella did wonder why Edward had been here. She was even curious why he didn't wake her up. After all, he's wanting to try to get her to sign the contract the way he wants and she's quite sure that he has just given up on getting his way.

CHAPTER 24: ARE WE IN AGREEMENT

It was taking all of the patience of a saint to keep Bella from snapping at her cousins. All the fussing that both Rosalie and Alice were doing trying to make sure Bella was comfortable after her release from the hospital was affecting Bella like fingernails being dragged across a chalkboard. It was setting her teeth on edge. Bella knew that her cousins were concerned about her and were only trying to be useful in the only way they knew how to be, but they were overdoing it.

Finally, everyone settled down and catch up time began. Questions and answers were swapped until Rose and Alice accidentally let it slip about the calls they had received from Emmett and Jasper Cullen. Bella looked at both of the other two women like they had lost their mind and then asked, "Why in the hell did you refuse to go out with them since you are so into them?"

"We didn't refuse, exactly, not to go out with them." Alice answered for herself and Rosalie. "We simply told them that we couldn't make it for tonight since you were being released from the hospital and we wanted to spend the time with you. Both Rose and I wanted to make sure you were taken care of, so, we'll be going out with them later in the week. That is if they do call back like they said they would." Alice concluded with a bit of doubt sounding in her voice.

It seemed to Bella that Alice and, perhaps, Rosalie also, wasn't too sure about the promised phone call happening in a day or so. She sincerely hoped that her cousins weren't going to be disappointed.

Alice and Jasper had made a strong connection of sorts when Alice and Rosalie were visiting her in Seattle just a short time ago. Of course, Alice never told Jasper where she lived and put things into the hands of fate. She felt that if she and Jasper were truly fated to be together then he would find her again. Well, that was exactly what seemed to have happened in Bella's hospital room. Both Alice and Jasper met once again but had no time to talk privately since there was a crowd present.

Bella was able to notice the look both Alice and Jasper had given each other and wondered why each had acted as if they didn't know one another. At the time Bella was a bit puzzled as to the reasoning behind their actions but didn't really linger on any thoughts concerning their strange behavior. And, with the shrug of the shoulders, she considered that it was because Jasper hadn't had a chance to tell his family about Alice. All of the Cullen's were there as well as her cousins, and Bella had her attention more centered on what was happening with Rosalie and Emmett Cullen.

It was the first time those two had met and their reaction to each other was similar to what Alice's and Jasper's had been to each other the first time they had met back in Seattle. Although, Bella had to admit that Rosalie and Emmett had been a bit more subtle to where it was believed that no one else had noticed.

Bella didn't say anything about the emotional displays going on in her hospital room but didn't miss how hard the two couples were trying to act as if nothing was being felt by the four individuals. With really no time to talk or really ask any questions because of the crowd that was in her room, Bella felt her headache beginning to get painful once more. Finally, everyone left, and she was able to go to sleep.

Bella realized that she had managed to tune out the chatter of her cousins for a few moments as her mind had relived the happenings of her hospital stay. But she hasn't had a moment to consider the aroma that had lingered on one side of her bed. It definitely wasn't a hospital smell, but one that she knew was associated with one Edward Cullen. Why was he in her room while she was sleeping? Why did he leave without waking her up to state his reason for being there by himself? At least, she was assuming that he was alone.

Suddenly, Bella completely returned, mentally, to her current surroundings and told Alice and Rosalie, "I need to take some of my medicine and then go lay down; my head is hurting a bit. Once I do wake up, I'm going to contact Edward Cullen; I have some questions that only he can supply the answers."

And without saying another word she left the other two women looking at her in speechless puzzlement. Both Rosalie and Alice were very curious as to why Bella wanted to get a hold of Edward Cullen. Although, they hadn't said anything or made a fuss about it, they have noticed that Bella seemed to be distracted for some reason. And, they wondered if that reason had to do with one Edward Cullen in another way other than business.

Both Rosalie and Alice were very much aware that Bella had shown extreme reactions to Edward any time his name was mentioned or if he was present.

XXXXXX

Edward was quietly sitting in his office, puzzled by his actions in regard to how he was behaving about a certain annoying author. She was stubborn, annoyingly and stubbornly confident in what she does and says and beautiful as hell to boot. He reacted to her presence in both a very uncomfortable physical and emotional way; a way that he had never experienced before with any other woman. His behavior was hard to explain to himself and he knew that he wouldn't be able to explain it to others if they happened to notice it and ask about it.

Maybe it would be better just to go along with what everyone else wanted him to do. If he did that then it would give him more time with her to explore this attraction and to be able to rid himself of his growing attachment to her. ATTACHMENT!? Why the hell did he choose that word? He wasn't sure if that was the correct term to use but all he knew was that she was dominating more and more of his thoughts. Also, she seemed to be so inclusive in his mind and emotions that it was starting to dictate his actions; actions that weren't known to be associated with how he did things.

With this woman things were becoming more and more complicated and that complication was starting to interfere with his interaction with his family. His brothers and parents were all against him and never before had any of them questioned his business decisions and they definitely never enquired about any aspect of his personal life. So, for all of his family to be against what he's wanting to do now was something new to him and he wasn't quite sure how to deal with it.

So, he made the decision to just sign the damn contract and then use the time, after that, to his advantage. He would play nice since he would eventually get everything that he wanted to get this female out of his system and to prove to his satisfaction that she wasn't any different than any other woman he has had in the past. His mission would be to lure her into a false sense of believing that he wasn't who she thought he was. Then once that happened, he would be able to move on to what he truly wanted to do; get her under his control and have his way with her until he felt nothing else for her except the contempt he felt towards the rest of his standby regulars.

Yeah, coming to that decision he was prepared to let his family know that he wasn't going to try to get his way any further where the signing of the contract was concerned. By doing that his family would lower their guard and move on to something else and giving him a freer hand to gain his goal.

So, without further ado, Edward opened the folder that contained the contract that had to do with Isabella Swan and signed the damn thing with his usual flourish of a signature. And, with that done, he decided that he would call Jasper tomorrow morning and have him take the contract over to that damn female and get her to sign it. By doing that he would then have the breathing space to be free to start setting things up to move in the direction he chose for them to go.

Feeling like he finally had control of things once again, Edward left the office to head home. He was actually looking forward to tomorrow with an uplifting of his spirits believing that he had a foolproof plan made and going into place for reaching his ultimate goal.

XXXXXX

Bella ended up sleeping the day through until the next morning. She felt more rested and ready to face the world once more. There were still a lot of questions that she was wanting to ask Edward Cullen but came to the conclusion that they weren't that important to waste any more time. She was ready to go home and work more on her new book.

So, with that decision made, Bella got up and began packing her bag and called the airlines to reserve a seat back to Seattle. The only one that was available was for three that afternoon and Bella had to admit that she was looking forward to getting home and away from all of the drama that seemed to be associated with one Edward Cullen.

Next step was to break the news to Alice and Rosalie. Bella knew that her cousins weren't going to be very happy with the idea of Bella going home, especially after dealing with Bella spending the last twenty hours in the hospital with a concussion. However, at the same time Bella would explain to them that she wasn't going to continue hanging around waiting to sign the damn contract that Edward Asshole Cullen was contesting. She had told the Cullen's what she wanted, and she wasn't going to change her mind at this late date just to let one asshat have his way.

It wasn't that Bella was being inflexible just to be a bitch, it all had to do with standing with fairness and protecting what she had produced while someone else was wanting to reap part of the benefits of her labor in a different way. And, that was the whole point, it was all her labors that had produced what the Cullen's were interested in turning into a movie.

Since Bella had gotten everything packed up, she headed down to the kitchen where she heard her two cousins earlier shortly after she had awakened. She dreaded having to break the news of her departure to Alice and Rosalie, but she wasn't just going to sneak out without saying a word. There was no doubt they would be upset with her, but they would get over it and she felt quite sure that in the long run they would completely understand her reasoning.

Bella knew from what Alice and Rosalie had told her the day before that they both had an exciting up and coming project that they were looking forward to doing. The bad part was that Bella wasn't aware as yet that their up and coming project just might possibly be her book turning into a movie. If she had known that factor, then her decision concerning things might have been different. However, in the long run, it might not have changed a thing where Bella was concerned since she felt that she was on the side of right and Edward Cullen was on the side of self-opinionated asswipes.

As she entered the kitchen Rosalie and Alice noticed Bella's entrance immediately and asked at the same time how she was feeling. Bella was quick to reassure them that she was feeling better and had no aftereffects that she could tell from her accident. It was then that Bella brought up the fact that she was packed and had reserved a seat on a three o'clock flight back to Seattle for that same afternoon.

"But why? You haven't settled the situation concerning the contract as yet." Alice asked and complained.

"I have to agree with Alice. Why do you have to go back so soon after just being released from the hospital? You haven't really given yourself much time to come to an agreement or a compromise concerning making your book into a movie." Rosalie added in her two cents worth.

"I know this may be hard to understand, but the Cullen's came to me, I didn't go to them soliciting them to make my book into a movie. And, after my conversations with you two and listening to your advice when I first told you about the proposal, I decided upon my terms to be included in the contract. This was done to protect my rights to retain ownership of my material.

"I wrote that book and will not give up the copyrights to it. Using your advice as a starting point, I did my research with professionals and all of this added together is what led me to my terms. So, I stand firm with what I want and refuse to back down from that position.

"But, it's time for me to go home. I'm not going to continue staying in limbo waiting for an ass to accept that I've compromised as far as I'm going to do. I'm going home and if or when things change someone can come to me." Bella concluded in a manner letting Alice and Rosalie know that she wasn't going to change her mind one little bit.

So, with a change of the subject the three ladies made plans to spend the morning hours together doing a bit of shopping and then seeing that Bella got to the airport on time to catch her flight.

XXXXXX

Hearing the phone ringing, Alice answered without looking at the caller ID, so was surprised when she heard Jasper's voice. He was asking how he could get in touch with Bella since he had tried calling her and received no answer.

Alice quickly explained that she and Rosalie had just returned from dropping Bella off at the airport since she was scheduled to catch the three o'clock flight back to Seattle. "But, why?" Was Jasper's sudden exclamation.

"Why is she returning to Seattle this soon after her accident? Also, the contract hasn't been signed as yet. She's needed to stay here!"

Alice was stunned by Jasper's reaction and tried to explain to him what Bella had told her cousins, that her home was in Seattle and that since she didn't ask for her book to be made into a movie, it wasn't her responsibility to hang around waiting for someone to get off of their dead ass and come to his senses.

"Look, Alice, I'm not trying to be rude, but I need to catch Ms. Swan. I need her signature on this contract. Edward saw reason and signed the damn thing. We'll talk again later and then make plans to see one another soon; really soon." And, with that said Jasper hung up, and looking at the time sent him racing out to his car and took off for LAX to try to catch Isabella Swan before she got on the plane.

Alice told Rosalie about the conversation which brought a big smile to Rosalie's face as she said, "We're making a movie."

In the meanwhile, Jasper arrived at the airport, quickly parked and rushed inside the building. He finally spotted her as she was about to go through the security line and then head for her departure gate. Yelling and waving his arms over his to get her attention didn't seem like it was going to work at first.

Finally, some of the people behind Bella heard and observed the crazy man that was trying to get someone's attention and commented about it loud enough for Bella to hear them. She turned to see what was happening and recognized Jasper Cullen.

As Jasper realized that he had at last caught Bella's attention he motioned for her to meet him. At first it seemed that she might not comply since she appeared to be hesitating, but then she moved out of line and began walking towards him.

As she is only a few steps away from him, Jasper begins to explain why he's there. The mention that he wants her to sign the contract brings Bella to a halt; she refuses to move another step forward. She stands still looking at the man like he had lost his mind and after a few minutes have passed she begins to turn back around to move toward the security line once more when Jasper quickly reaches out to grab her arm.

A/N: It seems that Jasper hasn't explained what has happened with the contract. Is Bella going to give him enough time to do so, or, is she going to catch her flight? Other questions come to mind about is the family going to believe that Edward suddenly decided to sign the contract without having a hidden agenda? Will Edward be able to put his plan to conquer Bella into action?

Thanks for reading and looking forward to hearing from you.