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.

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.

CHAPTER 25: ASKING QUESTIONS

"Ms. Swan-Bella, please! Wait!" Jasper begins speaking as Bella managed to sidestep his reach for her arm and is continuing to turn away from him. She does pause long enough to look at him and gives the impression of being undecided as to what to do; either ignore him and return to the security line, or, to stay and listen to what he has to say.

Finally, she turns completely to face him once more and asks, "Why? What reason do I have to wait around here while your ass of a brother continues to play games?"

"Ms. Swan-" Jasper begins only to be stopped when Bella tells him to call her "Bella". "Okay, Bella." He responds, pauses a moment and then begins again. "I'm trying to tell you that the wait is over because Edward has signed the contract that you wanted.

"All that needs to be done now is for you to sign and it is a done deal." He explained to Bella and then wondered if he should add the fact that both of her cousins were scheduled to work on the movie project but thought better of using that enticement to get her to sign the contract. If he did tell her that then in a way, he would be lowering himself down to the same tactics that Edward had been using to get his own way.

"Are you sincerely telling me that your brother gave up and signed the contract without changing any of my terms?" Bella asked while in a bit of a state of shock.

"Nothing has been changed. He is a bit of a playboy, however, Bella, he really is a wonderful, caring person with great business acumen. Please, don't judge him or us by the small amount of contact that you have had with him thus far?"

"Mr. - um - Okay, Jasper," Bella starts and then halts at Jasper's gesture to interrupt her, so she switches to his first name, "I will not sign this contract until I've had a chance to reread it over just to satisfy myself that no changes have been discretely made.

"So, I suggest that you either give it to me now and I'll peruse it on my flight back to Seattle and have my attorney look it over one final time before signing. Or, you can bring it to me in Seattle and we go through the same procedure that I've just mentioned with the only difference being you'll be present during that time.

"But either way I'm not going to delay my return home, or, hurriedly sign that contract in this airport while trying to catch my flight home." Bella quietly, but firmly told Jasper as he stood looking at her like she had just grown two heads.

Jasper didn't know what to say one way or another; he was that shocked into silence. Bella's reaction wasn't one that he had expected, and he was surprised that she was still insisting to catch her flight back to Seattle. He thought that with the news that Edward had finally conceded the fight that she would be excited about signing and getting the project started as soon as possible.

It was Bella's movement of turning her head to look toward the security line that managed to snap Jasper out of his stunned state and caused him to speak by asking, "But why are you still going back to Seattle? I just told you that nothing has been changed by anyone; it's exactly as you wanted it. You don't need to return to Seattle right at this moment. Let's get the contract signed and get the project started."

"I'm sure that you are convinced that your brother has surrendered, but I don't trust him. So, Jasper, it's either my way or no way." And with that said Bella did turn and began walking back to go through the security line and on to her departure gate just as the boarding of her flight was called over the airport P.A. system.

Her actions had been done before Jasper ever had a chance to say anything else or to react to her quick movements. He was left with no choice, it seemed, except to follow her to Seattle since he hadn't even been given the chance to give her the contract to take with her.

Jasper's sense of disappointment wasn't something that he was used to feeling. He was so sure that she would want to sign the contract right away that he forgot all that he had managed to learn about Isabella Swan and that was that she was a force within herself. She set a course of action and stayed with that path, with no straying, until the goal had been reached.

"Damn, what just happened? This isn't like me. I don't just freeze when confronted with a problem; I solve it. And, I did think that I had this one solved. Guess who has egg on his face now?

"How am I going to explain this hiccup to the family? Emmett is anxious to begin this project, Edward conceded his wants where the contract was concerned and the parents were wanting to get to know Bella further." Jasper didn't realize that he was thinking aloud and that everyone around him was giving him a wide berth because they weren't sure of his mental state of mind.

Still not aware of people backing away from him as he exits the terminal and is heading back to his car, Jasper continues to berate himself and his lack of action. He was very puzzled how he could have been so slow on following through with what needed to be done. Now, he would have to follow Bella to Seattle to get the contract signed and settled but explaining to his family the reason why was something he had never had to do before.

True, Jasper had faced disappointments and some surprising failures in his career but not that many. And, of course, he knew not everything was going to go his way. But Jasper had a way with people that usually resulted in things going his way more times than not. No this wasn't going to stand him in good stead at all, especially with Edward after all of the fuss that had been made about him just signing the contract as it stood.

Instead of heading to the office where he would have to face Edward and Emmett, Jasper decides to go by his parents' home first. Maybe, they would have some suggestions in how to handle telling Edward and Emmett that the contract wasn't signed yet and a trip to Seattle was necessary to accomplish that fact.

XXXXXX

Bella boarded her flight without feeling any guilt whatsoever concerning her decision to return home. She had given Jasper the option of giving her the contract or of him following her to Seattle to get it signed. Either way she didn't care because the resulting course was going to be the same, Carson Darwell, her attorney, was going to look over the contract the same as she would before she would sign the contract. Truth be told, she would only sign the contract once she felt comfortable that her terms hadn't been messed with.

Bella was determined to make sure that her work was protected and all decisions concerning it remained to be hers and only hers. Also, what she was asking for, she didn't feel was that far out of the ordinary. She had done her research and listened to what her cousins had told her concerning what needed to be done. She had followed through with their advice.

One of the few regrets Bella had about this trip was that things couldn't have been settled so she could have more time with Alice and Rosalie. However, in the long run, it seems that her cousins were having their wishes come true. Both were getting the positions they wanted and by some fate, they each had met the man of their dreams.

Of course, to be honest with herself, Bella was drawn to Edward Cullen, but he seemed to be too stuck on himself for her liking. With his attitude it made no difference how much she felt the draw, it would never have gone any further than just a single dance or two. She refused to be tied to an asshole that was so pumped up on himself. Edward Cullen was so very much aware of how women saw him, and he used that to his advantage to get what he wanted. However, Bella was dead set on not allowing his sex appeal to affect her decision on all levels, both personal and businesswise.

Without being aware of it, Bella had spent the entire flight into Sea-Tac thinking about the situation concerning Edward Cullen. Something that she regretted doing, but it did seem that her mind was reluctant to let thoughts about him go. Their interaction with one another had been very limited, but each seemed, unbeknownst to the other, to have made quite an impression. One that was hard to deny if each were truthful with themselves.

Once the plane landed and Bella collected her baggage, she made a snap decision to go home. Not to her home, but home, back to Forks for a while and to spend time with Charlie. She missed him and his unasked-for advice. Unasked for, yes, but it made plenty of sense in the long run and she was thankful to have him.

Bella loved her father dearly, but he could be a pain in the ass at times trying to tell her how to live her life and who she should and shouldn't trust. And, let's not forget who she should and shouldn't see, aka date. Anytime she mentions showing an interest in a guy Charlie is doing a background check on him and then decides if he wants to meet the guy to threaten him with a show of Charlie cleaning his guns while talking with the guy. He would always do this when Bella wasn't able to be present for the conversation.

This Charlie did even when she was a teenager and was dating. It made no difference that Charlie knew the boy she was going out with, he would still give the show of the weapon cleaning act just to make sure her date behaved himself. It made her social life a nightmare at times, but at other times she was grateful that he cared so much and didn't hesitate to show it in his own awkward way.

So, once she retrieved her car, Bella was off to Forks and the greenest place on earth. She knew that it wasn't the greenest, but it sure felt like it at times.

XXXXXX

As he was pulling into his parents' driveway, Jasper's phone began to ring. He looked at the caller ID and then debated about not answering it. He wanted to talk with his father and mother first before explaining the current situation to Edward or Emmett.

Jasper had waited too long before deciding whether he would or wouldn't answer that the ringing stopped.

Getting out of the car and walking up to the door, Jasper was surprised to find his mother standing in the entrance with the door open waiting for him. She smiled at him as she closed the door after he had entered the house, slipped an arm around his and they walked on through the house to the kitchen in the back.

Esme got a cup of coffee for three and just at that moment Carlisle entered from the backyard. All three took their cup of coffee over to the breakfast nook and took a seat. Both Carlisle and Esme silently watched their son and the varying expressions that closed his face before Esme gave a sigh and asked, "Son, what's wrong?"

But, before Jasper could answer his phone began to ring once more. Pulling the phone out of his pocket, Jasper looked to see who was calling, shook his head a little and then laid the phone on the table without answering it. Reaching up, he buried his face into his hands and suddenly regretted coming to see his parents.

Before he could get up to leave, Carlisle said, "Jasper, tell us what's brought you here and what trouble is bothering you."

A/N: Who is so insistent about getting a hold of Jasper? Is it Edward or Emmett? Why did Jasper feel that it would be easier to go see his parents first?

Thanks for reading and looking forward to hearing from you.