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.
I want to take this time to thank everyone for your patience. This chapter got delayed longer than intended due to Hurricane Sally and lost of power.
As Bella heard the cruiser pull up and a few minutes later the door open with her dad calling her name, she walked to the kitchen door to greet him with, "Hello, Dad, just what the hell do you think you're doing have charges filed against Edward Cullen?"
CHAPTER 39: UNEXPECTED FACTS REVEALED
Charlie was thrown into shock because of the aggressive greeting he had just received from his daughter. He wasn't even able to give her an answer right at that moment. Then, all of a sudden, the humor of the situation strikes him, and Charlie begins, at first, with a small chuckle which in no time turns into an outright full-blown belly laugh. The sight of Bella standing in the kitchen doorway in the posture of an avenging angel was too much for him.
Of course, the reaction wasn't one that Bella had been expecting and the more her dad laughed the angrier she seemed to become. Bella had been determined to discuss the matter in a more reasonable, adult manner, but that was fast flying out the window due to Charlie's reaction to her question.
"Dad, I don't find this situation funny in the slightest. What you have done is wrong. And, you've even involved me into this mess which could threaten the business relationship that I am beginning to establish with Cullen Productions." Bella stops talking for a moment which has been long enough for Charlie to begin getting control of himself since he sees that Bella doesn't find the current set of circumstances humorous. Then she begins again, "We really do need to discuss your actions; actions that you've taken upon yourself to do without my permission and get this matter resolved."
Charlie holds up his hand as a sign to halt any further conversation coming from Bella and then says, "Young lady, before either one of us might say something that we could regret I do suggest that we take the time to consider what might be coming out of our mouths.
"In fact, it might be wise if we go to the diner for some dinner for a quiet, unrelated conversation and then hold the discussion that you are all fired wanting upon our return home.
"By doing that, you will have time to calm down for both of us to be able to exchange words in a more reasonable manner. That way we will have a better chance of understanding the other person's point of view."
Bella stood still, looking at her father in an up and down movement with her eyes without answering him for a time, but she told him, "I've already cooked dinner for both of us."
"It'll keep. Just put it in the refrigerator because we are going to the diner like I said. We need that time to collect ourselves to be able to discuss what you and I need to talk about." And, with that being said, Charlie continued on upstairs to his bedroom to change out of his uniform into civilian clothing. Once he got back downstairs, he grabbed his keys and motioned for Bella to go out the door first so he could lock up.
So, with a heavy sigh, she had no choice but to do as her father had said. But, before Charlie locked the door and follow Bella to the car, he checked the kitchen to make sure everything on the stove had been turned off.
Not one word was said between father and daughter as they headed to the diner. However, each kept glancing over at the other out of the corner of their eye.
Arriving in no time at the diner and finding a parking space close to the building, Charlie shut down the engine and made a move to exit the vehicle. Bella sat still, still fuming at her father and all that he has done which included the current situation by delaying the discussion that needed to take place between them. Finally, with another heavy sigh, she opened her door and met Charlie at the end of the car.
Once they got to the door and entered the diner, Charlie motioned them to a booth near the back of the place. Of course, the chief and Bella were very well known, so as they made their way to the booth greetings were coming from both of the staff and other customers that were already present.
Finally, they got to the booth and each took a seat on either side of the table and got settled with a waitress being right there to take their drink order. Once the waitress had left, Bella opened her mouth to begin speaking, but Charlie forestalled her by saying, "Isabella Marie, don't start on me right now with the words that are wanting to escape your mouth. I said we would talk about all of this once we returned home; not a minute before then."
Charlie's tone and harshness of his words came as a complete surprise to Bella since her father had never spoken to her in such a manner before. But with an audible huff, she asked with a touch of unmistakable sarcasm, "Just what would you like to discuss at the moment?"
Father looked at daughter, shook his head with the appearance of a frown before asking how her meeting with Emmett Cullen went.
"Dad, I've already told you about the meeting, but if you want to hear it again, I'll be happy to talk about it since you're refusing to discuss the topic that most needs talking about."
"It's not that I need to hear it again, but more like you only gave me a rough sketch of how the whole thing went down. I was just asking for you to fill in the details; that's all."
So, with that said, Bella begins telling her father all about the meeting that had taken place between Emmett Cullen and herself. She told him once again that she was happy with the contract being left as she had wanted it. "Also, Dad, as I had mentioned, as well, he is excited to make the movie for the same reasons that I was to write the story. That gave me a comfortable feeling of Emmett Cullen being the director of the movie and with him choosing the cast for the movie."
"That's good, sweetheart." Charlie told her.
Without really taking much of a pause, both Bella and Charlie had ordered their dinner and ate their meal without all of the tension that had existed earlier. They had a comfortable talk and meal all at the same time without any ill spoken words being exchanged.
XXXXXX
"I just can't imagine that Edward would deliberately hurt a woman and then just leave her in that manner." Emmett kept repeating over and over again as he paced Alice's living room.
"I think the best thing to do is to get in touch with Bella. She would be able to give us the truth of the whole situation." Rosalie said as she looked around the room taking in each person with a look.
"We tried but received no answer." Jasper replied to the room in general. "It's hard to understand why she wouldn't answer her phone since I'm sure she has our numbers programed into her phone."
"Jasper, if Bella is working on her new book then she won't answer her phone during that time. It will make no difference no matter who's calling." Rosalie explained to the two men."
"She's working on a new book?" Emmett asked.
"Yes. That's what she's told us when she was here." Rosalie answered back.
XXXXXX
Edward was getting more and more frustrated the longer he had to remain in jail and at the same time couldn't get a hold of the private detective that he was trying to reach.
It's because of his frustration and outrage towards Bella and not being able to reach the person he wanted that his temper was on a very short leash. He had almost been tossed into solitary confinement twice for nearly getting into a fight with some of the other prisoners.
"Cullen, you have visitors. Report to the door." One of the guards that's on duty at that time announces to Edward.
Not being quite sure who it could be has Edward wondering, once again, what the hell was going on now. So, he does as he's told and after being handcuffed, he is led to what appears to be a glassed-in room with nothing more than a table and four chairs.
He's told to take a seat and then he's anchored to the table by his handcuffs being attached to a bolted down ring in the middle of the table. Then he's left alone for a few minutes before the door opens and two men walk into the room with each man taking the two seats on the opposite side of the table.
No one says anything for a moment or two and then the two men identified themselves as Detectives Page and Sinclair. "Mr. Cullen, we were assigned your case for investigation where you were accused of sexual harassment and stalking charges against one Isabella Marie Swan." And, that pronouncement shocked Edward since he had only been informed about charges existing in Washington state.
After a bit of silence the two detectives continue to explain to Edward that after talking to most of the witnesses that had been named they have found that no such evidence against Edward existed that would permit them to bring any charges in Los Angeles. "However, Mr. Cullen, we can't do anything about the charges that exist in Washington state. We don't have any of the details concerning what they have as evidence against you. But we are going to forward our findings to the proper authorities in Seattle stating that no charges are going to be filed against you here.
"We can't say that this will help you or not, but we did want to inform you of our investigation and findings."
Edward had remained in a stunned silence the whole time the detectives had been speaking. He didn't know what to say or ask as the information that he had just heard was something entirely new to him. However, as the two men started to rise, Edward did find his wits and suddenly asked, "You said witnesses? What witnesses? And who the hell is doing all of this to me? For what reason do they have to be making my life a living hell all of a sudden? It's that bitch Isabella Swan, isn't it?"
Edward's rapid-fire questions had caused both of the detectives to pause for a second before they answered with what information they could. "Mr. Cullen, no, it wasn't Ms. Swan that filed any charges that we know of, but they were brought to our attention by other sources. And, we can't tell you who originated the charges since that information hasn't been passed on to us.
"However, the witnesses that were mentioned happened to have been members of your family."
And, as Edward heard that he palmed his face as he mumbled, "Oh, shit, damn. I didn't want them to know anything about all of this."
"Well, as we started to tell you, you should be glad that we did talk with your family because they were able to help clear you of any charges here. Seattle is a different matter and as we said that we aren't able to do anything about that except what we've already told you." Then as Det. Page finished speaking, both men walked out of the room leaving Edward alone.
It wasn't long before a guard entered, and Edward was escorted back to his cell.
XXXXXX
Surprisingly, Bella realized that despite her anger against her father, she was enjoying the time they were sharing at the diner. But that knowledge didn't keep her from her determination to have it out with Charlie once they did return home. He owed her an explanation and then had to take the necessary action to have the charges dropped against Edward Cullen.
She had to make him realize that he couldn't just do things like this without her permission or knowledge.
Finally, dinner was finished so father and daughter returned home to get comfortable to have what might end up being a very heated conversation.
As each took a seat in the living room, Bella on the couch and Charlie in his recliner, Bella wasted no more time before demanding answers from her dad. "What possessed you to do what you did against Edward Cullen? Didn't you even consider what this might do to my professional relationship with the Cullen's?"
And, before Bella could fire any more questions at him, Charlie took charge and began to answer his daughter. "I'm a father, but I'm also a police officer. It's my job to protect. I was protecting my daughter since as a father I have always taken that job extremely serious.
"Then next it's my job to protect the public when I learn of a criminal act that had taken place. It has to be reported; so, I did."
"But, Dad, all that I told you was done in confidence; I didn't intend for you to use it against anyone.
"What you've done has jeopardized my position businesswise and has angered me beyond reason. All I want to do is yell and scream at you until you admit that you were wrong." Bella told her dad, and it was evident that as she speaks her voice was slowly rising in volume.
Charlie looked at his daughter for a minute before he spoke, and then he said, "I did what I had to do; nothing more and nothing less."
"No, Dad, you did what you wanted to do regardless what it might mean to me. You didn't take the time to consider what I might want or what the repercussions of your actions might have on me." Bella paused just long enough to try to gain control of herself before she said something that she might regret later, then continued, "Dad, you need to stop what you've started and to remember to check with me in the future before doing anything near like this again." She finished with tears slowly running down her face.
Seeing his daughter in so much distress had Charlie rethinking his actions, but not enough as yet to reconsider taking any immediate action.
"And, what if I feel that I can't? What will you do, Bella?" Charlie had to asked of his baby girl.
"Dad, I love you, you know that, but if you don't put an end to this and give an explanation to the Cullen's then I swear that I'll never trust you again to be the person that I can most count on to be able to talk with you when I really need to get things off of my mind."
With that said, Bella left the room and went upstairs to her childhood bedroom.
All Charlie could do was stay seated in his recliner in shock. Never had Bella spoken to him or threatened him in such a manner. Finally, he got up and moved to head upstairs to his room, moving as if suddenly turning into a really old man.
A/N: Several reveals have happened in this chapter. Bella learns about what Charlie has done. The Cullen's finally know where Edward is and why. Emmett and Jasper have a talk with Rosalie and Alice which revealed some unexpectedly possible facts. Edward learns that his family is aware of where he is and why. But, all has come back to Charlie and what he's going to do after he and Bella had their talk. What do you think Charlie will decided to do?
Thanks for reading and looking forward to hearing from you.