Chapter 2: My Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

Author's note:

Just so you guys know, my writer's muse is a flighty bitch so I am taking advantage of her while she has decided to stay, but at any given moment she can yell duces at me and steal my inspiration while she is at it. Please do me a favor and review my story. Tell me what you like, don't like, want to see happen, etc. I love feedback and welcome constructive criticism (don't be a dick y'all). Anyways, Edward is not all bad, although the last chapter was not his best side. Maybe this will give you perspective.

Edward's POV

I sat at my desk fidgeting with the engraved pen I have yet to use. You're extraordinary. Knock em dead - Bella. I've kept this pen in the pocket of my suit since I started this job. Being the head of a major retail company was not my ideal choice in career, but Bella knew how to find the bright side of things no matter what I did. The ceiling to floor window behind me was speckled with rain drops. The grey skies above my building in central Seattle, matched my darkened mood.

It's been 9 days since I last saw Bella. Since we were 10 years old, this has been the longest I have gone not seeing or speaking with her. I couldn't stop thinking about that night. I kept having small flashes, reminding me of the best night of my life. Her soft skin lined up against mine. Her lips brushing my neck and shoulders. Her beautiful chocolate eyes gazing at me behind those long dark lashes. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. But she was Bella. I adored her in every sense of the word, but I had never thought to cross that line before that night. I was losing her for my grave mistake, just like I knew it would happen. But my stupidity and my sporadic decisions caused me the most important person in my life.

Victoria and I had been having a normal night. Dinner and a movie as always, but I couldn't shake the fact that even through our awkward silence this was the woman I was dating. She was too pristine. Her well manicured nails were glossy and never chipped, her naturally curly red hair was styled and pressed into a pin straight updo, and even her manner of dressing screamed "Money!" I knew what type of woman Vic was. She was high class.

All I have known growing up was attending gala and charity events with my grandparents, the Masens. The Masens were well known in the northwest for their company Voltera which specialized in international shipments. They were obsessed with my siblings and I having the "proper" upbringing that my mother had so that one of us may one day be their successor. We were charted around the city like precious cargo in limos, chauffeurs, and private planes. But at the end of that day, I never really cared for any of it. I would much rather eat pizza on a napkin then roasted lamb on fine China.

Vic and I were having dinner quietly, when she looked up at me with those calculating eyes and pierced the silence. "My father came by today."

I didn't even look up at the mention of her father. "Oh that's nice."

"Don't you want to know what he came by for?" She reproached coldly.

I sighed tiredly. She was obviously going to tell me anyways. I set down my fork and picked up my napkin, hoping to use it as a sort of shield to block her attempt to push me on this subject again.

"What did he come for, Vic?" I asked.

"He came to see if you'd like a job at Landings? I mean we have been together about a year now. He thinks it's time we started getting more serious Edward and I would have to agree. We knew what this was from the beginning and you have yet to follow through." She oh so kindly reminded me.

Landings was the biggest stock buyer in Voltera. They had more shares in it than my grandparents who actually owned the company. Victoria and I's relationship was built on business, we had been my entire life. When my parents died when I was 12, my grandparents had gotten full custody of my brother, my sister and I. They brought us up in the lap of luxury, but deep down inside, I would have preferred my parents and their simple lifestyle anyday.

Carlisle Cullen was the most honorable man I knew and not just because he was my dad. He was an award winning surgeon, respected among the medical community and by colleagues. He grew up poor on the East coast near New York but bettered his financial situation by receiving scholarships to fund his education. He put himself through medical school by tutoring undergraduates in sciences and that is how he met my mother, Esme Masen. She was originally from here in Seattle but when she went away for college she attended NYU. My father was her science tutor and fell head over heels in love with her.

They lived in a little studio apartment in New York City for a year, living the "hungry student" life, when my mother's parents found out. They hated my father on sight and forced my mom to love back home with them to Seattle. Devastated, she begged for them to let her stay but they threatened to cut her off financially, but at that point she had already learned that love was more important than money and accepted their terms. She and my dad were soon married and he moved up in life, bettering their lives for her.

She had three kids: Emmett, Alice, and myself. We were the cookie cutter happy family. We lived in a nice house in upstate New York for most of our childhood, went to public school, and best of all made normal friends. Bella was our neighbor. She lived with her dad who was a cop. Since Charlie wasn't around all that often, being part of New York city's finest, she spent most of her time with us at the Cullen house.

We met Bella when we were about 8 years old. My older brother Emmett was 12 and my sister Alice was 10, with them being "big kids" they didn't want to play with us much. But Bella, being clumsy as ever, climbed up her tree in her backyard and fell out of it in mine. I chuckled at the memory.

-0-

The leaves had already started to brown from the crisp fall weather. The orange hues mixed with deep red always served to remind me that fall was the best time of year. The only downside was raking the leaves.

The pile I had made was larger than the bench sitting under our shady part of the tree. Winds picked up, sending a chill through my thick coat.

"Emmett come and look at my pile, it's so big!" I yelled across the yard. He looked up from the book he was reading for a second, giving me a quick thumbs up, and returning back to turning his page. Annoyed, I returned back to my task.

There was a loud crack above my head, followed by a little scream, and soon my leaf pile shot in all different directions. In the middle of it sat Bella. Her hair was shorter then, held in a tight French braid, missing a tooth. Her eyes filled with tears and she started to sniffle and clutch her arm.

I was shocked to say the least but rushed over to help her. "Are you ok? Where does it hurt?"

She pointed at her arm and cried openly now. I turned to Emmett who was already running toward us.

"Hey squirt are you ok? How did you get over here?" He asked. Bella looked up with those big curious eyes toward the branch of the tree above us that was clearly broken.

"Ok monkey. Let's get you up so we can take a look at that arm." Emmett and I brought her inside where my surgeon father happened to be home and was able to wrap her wrist up and walk her next door. I trailed my father just to make sure she was ok.

Charlie's eyes widened when he opened the front door and saw little Bella sniffling and holding her split ends wrist. He thanked my dad profusely and ushered her inside.

The next day, Bella knocked on our front door with a basket of muffins she had helped Charlie make. On her wrist was a bright purple cast.

"Thank you for helping me when I fell out of the tree. I made these for you."

I took the basket happily and invited her in. We greedily munched on chocolate chip muffins near the fireplace. "Can I sign your cast?" I asked shyly.

She eagerly nodded and brought forth a sharpie from her coat pocket. I took it and carefully wrote Spider monkey's friend, Edward. Bella giggled, filling my eight year old heart with joy. She shook her head as if to say, you silly boy, and added best in between monkey and friend, so it read Spider Monkey's Best Friend, Edward.

-0-

Since that day, we were inseparable. We went to school together, played together, witnessed everything from crushes to puberty. She was there for every birthday, graduation, milestone, everything. I loved her. I adored her. She was the sunshine on my cloudy day and I knew I would do anything for this girl. But when my parents died in a car accident, Emmett, Alice, and I were forced to live with my grandparents in Seattle. I couldn't see Bella that often then, due to the distance, but we would fly her out every so often and talk on the phone everyday, so when she came to college in Seattle's few years later, it was perfect.

Victoria's news about her father wanting our relationship to be more serious was a wake up call that I had agreed to test the waters out with this girl, in hopes of gaining my grandparents permission to stop my career in business and take up something in what I actually wanted: medicine. But one year and a whole dead end relationship later and I was not any closer in loving this woman or going to medical school. Vic knew that I did not feel for her the way she felt for me. She was attracted to me for the financial and social benefits of being seen with a Masen. She didn't love me and she knew I didn't love her, yet we both stayed in this awkward limbo for something and I was starting to think the deal just wasn't worth it.

The cold metal of the gifted pen pressed into my warm skin. A reminder of who I could not have, nor gather the courage to speak to. I knew what I was doing was gravely wrong. She deserved so much better than a prick like me, in a relationship with another woman. She deserved a man who had no doubts about where she fit in his life. In another world, in another life, Bella was the perfect woman for me. I would marry her on the spot if I had the chance, but my grandparents would never allow it. When my sister Alice eloped with her now husband Jasper, she was completely cut off. No trust fund, credit cards, bank accounts, anything.

But she had Jasper and according to her it was all she really needed. We talked on the phone often after her marriage. She lived in the outskirts of Seattle l, the suburbs, and was in school studying interior design. Jasper was a history teacher at the local community college. They were completely and utterly happy away from the life of high society and I envied them. I wanted to be able to say "Fuck it all!" and go running to Bella's door and confess my undying love for her, but I needed their money to at least do that one thing.

I needed medical school. It's the last thing that would make me feel close to him. I was trying to find my place in life as a man, what better place to start than my dad? After I became a doctor, then I could support Bella and myself, finally able to cut ties with the Mason brand once and for all. But until then, the deal with Landings stands and Victoria and I have to deal with one another for just a little longer.

Another week had passed since that night. I was getting antsy and my anxiety was on maximum. I held my phone in my hand and started at the blank screen, hoping to find the magic words to make what I did ok. Walking out on her like that was the worst thing I had ever done. My heart ached at the thought of her crestfallen eyes not meeting mine as she nodded in comprehension. Her beautiful body was wrapped in her sheets, sitting at the end of the bed, looking down at the floor. I told her that I loved her, I would always love her, but I needed to talk to Victoria before we continued with whatever it was we were doing. It went against my every instinct, my every nerve to stand there and watch her break again because of my actions and not fall to my knees in front of her and beg for forgiveness. She was mine. But at this point in time, I was not her's. I needed time to make that happen.

My phone rang in my hands, sending a sharp fear through my heart as I quickly checked the caller ID. To my utter dismay it was not my brown eyes beauty, but my red haired associate.

"Hey Vic. What's up?" I sighed into the phone.

"Have you seen them? They're so pretty!" She squealed.

I pinched the bridge between my eyes, praying that the thumping behind my eyelids would fade soon. "Seen what?"

"The imitations, silly?" She sang, as if I had a clue of what she was talking about.

"My father thought it was time to move up the timeline and progress our relationship. I fully agreed with him, like I told you at dinner a couple weeks ago, and told him to set a date." She hummed.

My fingered pinched the skin between my eyes even harder. "I'm sorry I don't understand, do you mind explaining to me what is going on?"

"Edward. The invitations are for our wedding. We're getting married in the spring. Three months from today to be exact."

She had my attention now. My head shot up and I started at the screen in horror. No, no, no, no. This could not be happening. I was just trying to figure out ways of how to end my relationship with Victoria Landing, not marry her. I shuffled through the stack of unopened mail on my work desk and found an elegant cream envelope. Not even bothering with the letter opener I ripped it open and sure enough:

You are cordially invited to

The union of

Edward Anthony Masen Cullen

Victoria Hazel Landing

My heart sunk at the sight. "When were these sent out?"

"Last week I think. Don't worry, daddy said that all your friends were invited as well. Might as well make this arrangement fun right?" She explained.

The phone in my hand felt like a brick, weighing my hand down until it touched the top of my desk. I could hear Victoria on the other end speaking to me but I didn't half half a mind to listen because all I could think was: Bella.