Spazzing Out

That following Monday I joined a dance class that was going on at the Gym. The first class wasn't actually until Tuesday but I got a chance to meet the dance teacher. He was a tall thin man with extremely long black hair and a slender nose. He was Italian and loud and more than just a little bit gay. I couldn't help but laugh at how very stereotypical it was. Aro, that was his name, was nice enough and at least I didn't have to worry about him making advances towards me during our lessons. I had to hide my laughter when he said the word Chacha. I almost wet myself when I finally let it all out, women looking at me like I had lost my damn mind in the bathroom as I laughed. Between his wild hand gestures and randomly high pitched voice, it was too much for me.

On Tuesday I realized that I was never going to be an amazing dancer, but I could at least scratch that thing off my list.

And my computer life became more interesting with the adding of Edward to my contact list. We sent emails back and forth, talking about our day. He worked three weddings on Sunday, just playing the music for the bride to walk up and down the aisle. I thought it was funny that he played electric guitar at one, piano at another, and violin at the last. I couldn't imagine the number of instruments he was shoving into that little Camaro of his.

I learned his favorite color was red and that he was scared of snakes. We talked about our favorite movies, Edward's was some anime movie I had never heard of before. He said he would come over and we would watch it sometime in the future if I wanted to. I told him I would think about it. I told him mine was The Breakfast Club. He told me I was a typical girl.

For the next week I continued to eat as healthy as possible, work, exercise with and without Alice's perky influence, and I even worked on improving my language. It didn't work that fucking well, but I was trying, dammit.

The following Tuesday I almost busted my butt and I decided that the dance lessons weren't for me. Aro said that it was a pity and that anyone could learn. I told him I would consider it after I lost some more weight, so I would have enough energy to keep up with him.

After class, I got on the computer and checked my email to do some work. Up at the very top was an email from Edward titled Just got off and want to slam my head into the wall. It certainly caught my attention.

I know I need to work for a living and I normally don't mind it but if I have one more drunk bridesmaid throw up on my shoes I'm going to go ballistic. They come to flirt, badly, and then BARF on me. Every. Goddamn. Time.

Save me. Please.

From Edward's iPhone.

I laughed before typing back quickly.

Apparently, you're a magnet for women who aren't exactly in their right state of mind. I hope it's not too bad. Remember, working is a good thing. You don't want to be a starving artist.

His reply was almost instant.

I need someone to talk to. Do you mind if we talk on the phone? I'm driving and don't want to type at the same time.

I considered it for a minute. I wasn't exactly sure if I was ready for that or not but he really did seem to need to talk to someone. Friends talked to each other on the phone. I could do that.

Yeah, sure, I answered. I typed my number quickly and waited for his call. It came a mere minute later.

"Thank you," he breathed a sigh of relief. Poor Edward sounded battle worn.

"Is it that bad?" I asked, going to sit on my couch. I crossed my legs, leaning my head against the back of the cushioning.

"Yes. God, honestly. I just want to play at one wedding that doesn't serve liquor. They all seem to have open bars and get totally sloshed. And then they become loud and rude. You can't believe what some of these women do at a wedding. And now I'm stuck in traffic."

I laughed, "aw. I'm sorry you're so stressed. And, I bet I can believe what those women do."

"It's rather disturbing actually, how they try to flirt. Some of the propositions are frightening."

"Well, that answers one question for me," I answered sarcastically.

"What?" Edward asked, confused.

"Well, you said you didn't do that kind of thing but you were carrying protection on your person. Now that answers the mystery of why."

"Bella! Jesus, no. I've never. Ugh, no. No, I carry condoms in my wallet because of my mother," he explained and I could tell by his reaction that he was telling the total truth. I felt bad for making the assumption.

"Your mom? Why would you carry condoms in your wallet because of your mother?" I laughed. "That could be disturbing in itself, Edward."

He laughed. "Well, my mother is a lawyer. Or, rather was up until my birth. She worked in family law. She saw what happened to men who had children outside of marriage. So, one day when I was sixteen my mother pulled me to the side and said," Edward cleared his throat deeply and began to speak in a very high pitched southern accent, "Edward, you're a musician and I know what they do. Your daddy is a baby doctor and we both know how they come in this world. You better not make me a grandma before I'm ready. So, you either keep condoms on you at all times and be prepared or I'll make your father come and have the talk with you. And you know exactly how graphic that'll be."

I laughed the entire time. "You do a cute impression of a southern woman."

"Thank you," he drawled out in a fake accent. "But my mama would whoop my ass if she heard me pokin fun at her like that."

I snickered, "it'll be our little secret."

He cleared his throat and laughed, "there's only one problem with that now. Now that I'm in my mid-twenties she's apparently 'ready to be a grandma' and I'm not providing her with any as of yet."

"You're still young. You still have time," I assured him. "Someday you'll meet the right girl and I bet you'll have the cutest red haired and green eyed babies."

"Right," he said, sounding a little sad. "Yeah, someday."

I sighed, looking over at my clock. It was just after eight and I needed to get some things done. "Hey, I need to do some work and you should drive. I hope your night gets better."

"It did. Thanks for the chat."

"I'll email you later," I promised him. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Bella. Sweet dreams."

"Shit," I moaned after I hung up the phone. I'm not sure what had bothered him exactly but I knew what it had to do with. Me. I felt bad for running but I didn't want to make the conversations anymore awkward than it already was becoming.

I tried to work, I really did. I didn't get very far though. I would just have to get up early in the morning and work on it before I went to the gym. Or, I could just delay going to the gym since Alice wasn't coming along for some reason. I had to meet with a client in the afternoon and I had to be prepared and ready for him.

So, instead of working I pulled out my list. At first, I thought at the rate I was going that I was going to have almost everything done by Christmas, except for a few but my progress seemed to slow. I mean, I was wearing my fourteens comfortably. And, I was working my way towards a lot of them.

It was just frustrating not having something come off the list daily.

I grabbed another piece of paper from my desk and looked at the goals I had accomplished. I needed to reaffirm the work I had already done. I wrote each thing out slowly with a short blurb of details about it.

Reconnect with a friend- Alice. She's become my best friend again and I doubt I could have done any of this without her.

Gotten high- It was a lot of fun especially with Alice but I won't ever do it again. I like being in control more than that.

Gym- I still hate the fucking step machine. That is not exercise equipment. It's a torture device. BUT I love how I am feeling right now. I have more energy and I feel better about myself.

Greek food- Not my favorite but maybe I just need to try something different next time. We'll see.

Interview with a Vampire- Going to have to read it again soon. Sexy vampires are good for the soul, I think.

Concert- It was amazing and a lot of fun but really loud. I want to go to a smaller affair next time.

Dancing in the rain- Was so much fun and thinking about the cake still makes me laugh for some reason. Jasper doesn't know what went wrong and is still afraid to try to remake it, just in case it happens again.

The final three things on my list I clumped together.

Flirting, Kissing, and Orgasm- I had no idea when I started doing things on this list that would happen. Any of this. Edward made me feel better than I ever have in my life. I want-

I stopped writing there. I wasn't sure what I wanted. Biting my lip, I thought about it for a few minutes before continuing.

I want to become great friends with him and I want to get to know him better. I was very lucky to have all those things happen with him.

I didn't sleep all that well so I got up pretty early and just finished up everything I needed to do before I met up with my client. As it got closer to the holiday season things got busier for me because all the companies wanted to update for Christmas. I wasn't looking forward to it. Hopefully, I could handle it all without losing my mind.

When I finished up my work I went to the gym at eight in the morning, the earliest I've ever gone. Not a lot of people were there surprisingly and I got through my workout quicker than normal because I didn't have to wait for any machines. That was nice.

I had just gotten home and showered when I received a phone call from Alice. "Help me!"

"What's wrong, Alice?" I asked, alarmed at her frantic tone.

"Okay, so I said I would watch Rosalie's kid today. Apparently, Emmett has to do something. He's normally a stay at home dad. But he's at like a court thing for a traffic ticket or something. I figured since I'd only be doing it until like two when Edward's picking her up that it would be easy but I'm horrible with children. I mean, there's a REASON I don't have children and Jasper's not here because he's trying to get the bakery up and running and-"

"ALICE!" I shouted into the phone. "Fuck, breathe. What's the problem?"

"She hates me! I don't know what to do with her! Help me!"

I snorted, rubbing the bridge of my nose. "Okay, so I have to leave by one but I can come over for a little while and help. Remember how I worked at the daycare when I was school? Everything will be fine. Just turn on PBS kids until I get there."

"Okay, thank you!" She breathed and I heard something break in the background. "Hurry."

It normally took me ten minutes to get there but I got to Alice's place in seven. I was more worried about Alice's sanity than I was the child. I didn't even bother to knock either, I just came in.

Sitting in front of the television was a little blond girl with big blue eyes and puffy pink lips, just like Jasper and Rosalie's. She was dressed just so in her skirt and shirt, even wearing cute little boots to go with them. Alice was nowhere to be seen.

"Hi there," I said, squatting next to the girl. "Whatcha watching?"

"Word World," she answered, not that I knew what that was. Her eyes didn't even move off the screen.

"Awesome," I replied in a soft voice. "Do you know where your Aunt Alice is?"

"She said she was going to get a drink."

Oh, great. Alice was going to get smashed. That was one way to deal with children badly.

"Okay, I'll go find her. Would you like me to bring you something to drink?"

"No, thank you."

I stood up and walked back towards the kitchen. Sure enough, Alice was drinking something out of a tumbler. She didn't even greet me. She just ran to me and gave me a hug. "THANK YOU!"

I laughed, hugging her in return. "You're welcome. She doesn't seem that bad. She's watching TV right now."

"I tried TV before. She didn't like what was on. And she broke my glasses. I just don't know what to do with her. I don't have any toys or anything."

"You know, children don't always need toys to be entertained."

Alice took a big drink. "Well, I don't know how to entertain her."

"You know, for a woman who acts like a big kid sometimes, you're clueless. What's her name?"

"Bridget."

Just then the little girl came in her arms behind her back. "The show is over and now Barney is on. It's stupid. Can I do something else?"

I looked over at Alice, whose eyes were wide with worry and rolled my own. Linking my arms with her I started to walk towards the doorway where the kid stood. "Hey, Bridget. I'm Bella. I'm a friend of your Aunt Alice. Well, you see, there is something I've really really wanted to do but I wasn't sure I would be able to. Your Aunt Alice said that you might be able to help me. Do you think you can?"

She pursed her lips and rocked on her heels, really thinking it over. I loved how kids worked sometimes. Most the time they seemed brighter than a lot of adults. "It depends on what it is."

"Well, I've been wanting to play hide and seek. I know it sounds silly but I haven't done it in a very long time and I haven't found anyone to play with. Do you think we can play while your aunt has one drink?" I looked over at Alice with a raised eyebrow. She grinned widely, nodding her head.

Well, I never expected to mark it off the list like this but it would certainly do!

"OKAY!" She nodded excitedly. "Can I hide?! My mommy says I'm the best at hiding!"

"Okay, that works for me but there is one rule in this game, okay?" I said, looking at her very seriously. She nodded her head, hanging on my every word. "You can't break anything."

"Okay!" She laughed before running in the opposite direction of me. "Close your eyes! I'm going to hide!"

"I love you, Bella," Alice said, leaning into me. "You are brilliant and beautiful and if we were lesbians, I'd marry you right now."

"Good to know I have options," I snorted. "Just in case this whole heterosexual thing doesn't work out. And just to let you know I meant ONE drink! You're going to end up paying me for babysitting if you end up passed out on the couch."

"Okay," she laughed, heading towards the living room. "I'll just have one. See why I don't have kids?"

"Totally," I nodded. "Alright, I think I've given her enough time to hide. Any rooms in this house I should be afraid of?"

"Nope," she giggled. "No dungeons. You guys have free reign of the house. Go for it!"

Bridget and I took turns hiding. Not surprisingly I was better at finding and she was better at hiding. I could have sat on the couch with Alice and she would have taken twenty minutes to find me. If anything else, it was a good time waster.

It was my turn to search when I came down the hall. One of the doors that was closed before, one we hadn't been in yet, was now open. As I came into look for her I stopped in awe. And I wasn't the only one.

It was Alice's painting studio and there were canvases everywhere. Some were big, some small, with paint and without. Some of the paintings were just blobs while others were very realistic. I had yet to see the studio in person.

Bridget who had also become distracted in the middle of the massive room and turned to me with an excited expression. "I WANT TO PAINT!"

"Um, I don't know about that, sweetie. We'll have to ask your aunt first," I informed her.

The small girl ran out of the room like a bat out of hell towards the living room. I barely got to the door when I heard a squeal of joy from the small girl. I glanced at my watch and realized the time. It was just after eleven and I knew Alice wouldn't be able to get the poor thing fed without spazzing.

"We have to eat lunch before we do anything else!" I shouted. The three-year-old agreed happily and sat in front of the television while Alice and I prepared something to eat for her.

Alice didn't exactly know what was kid-friendly, making me smirk. "Bridget, do you like cheese?" I shouted from the kitchen.

"YES!" She shouted back.

"That narrows it down," Alice rolled her eyes. "Now what to do with cheese?"

It was now my turn to roll my eyes. "You've got cheese, butter, and homemade bread and you don't know what to make? I bet Jasper's homemade bread would make some kick-ass grilled cheeses."

"Sounds good to me!" Alice said.

Lunch came together quickly after that. We shared sandwiches and chips with juice to drink. I even got the little girl to eat some fruit, even though she didn't want to at first.

After lunch, we all went into Alice's studio to paint. "Go get one of your old tank tops or something for her to wear so she doesn't get all dirty," I said, nodding towards the small child.

"I want to paint on that one!" Bridget said, her chubby little finger pointing towards the largest canvas in the room. It was probably ten by ten, bigger than some people's rooms.

"Whatever you want to do," Alice said as she came back with the shirt. We got her undressed and slipped the tank top on. Even as small as Alice was it still dragged the floor. Alice brought in some ribbon and used it to make it so it was more like a dress than a tent.

Alice pulled out tons of different paints and brushes, telling the little girl to have at it. I was surprised that she was able to let go of some of the control that was obvious even in this chaotic room. Alice wasn't really good at that normally.

"Will you paint with me, Bella?" Bridget asked. Alice had decided to work on a smaller canvas, sitting in front of a table on a stool. I agreed with a small smile. "Would you paint the top? I want to make blue skies for my houses and peoples."

"Sure baby, I'd love to," I said, grabbing a huge brush that looked like something you would use to paint a house and dipped it into the baby blue paint. Soon I was just as immersed in my painting as the girl was.

"Hey, Bella," Alice called over with a small smile. "I think that counts as something crafty."

I laughed. "You're right. Now I just need to find someone who knits so they can teach me how to."

"I know how to crochet," Alice shrugged.

"What's that?" I said, trying to make white fluffy clouds on my canvas sky. They kinda sorta looked like clouds anyway.

"Making stuff with one needle and some yarn."

"Oh! That's close enough!" I said excitedly. It was a little sad that I got so happy over crossing something off of my list. At least it was something easy.

"I want to too!" Bridget said. "Can I play with yarn?"

"Well sweetie, I need to get some more yarn but how about next time you come over we do it?" Alice said in a soft tone, trying to copy mine from earlier.

"Can we invite Bella over again?"

"If she wants to," Alice said, looking over at me with pleading eyes.

"I'd love to!" I said, rubbing the girl's shoulder gently, making her squeal with happiness.

Bridget gave up brushes not too long into it and began to use her fingers. They soon became completely covered in different colors, along with Alice's tank top. It was easy to see that the poor thing was getting tired, her eyes drooping as she swayed slightly.

"Think I should try to lay her down for a nap?" Alice mouthed. We looked at her for a long time, trying to figure out the answer or if she would do it willingly or not. The little girl took no notice of us as she lifted her shirt and scratched her butt with her paint covered hand.

Alice almost fell out of the stool laughing. "I think that's enough for today."

"Yeah, I think so too," I giggled. "Bridget baby, it's time to go wash your hands. Use the sink in the corner with the special pink soap."

"Okey dokey," she girl yawned, scampering off to the sink. Thankfully there was already a stepping stool over there for her to use.

"Do you think you've got it from here?" I asked, going over to Alice.

"Yeah, Edward will be here in a little while to pick her up. I have to go to a gallery," Alice shrugged. "I think she'll nap. Or at the very least watch TV. You sure you don't want to cancel on your client and stay until Edward comes?" Alice smiled at me wickedly.

I bit my lip. "As tempting as that sounds, I can't."

"He'll be sad that he missed you," she said quietly.

I wasn't sure what to say to that so I decided to ignore it. "I need to get moving. I've got to go back to the apartment to get some things before the meeting."

I walked up to Bridget and gave her a hug around the waist as she washed her hands. "You be a good girl and I had a really good time. You be good for Edward later, okay?"

"Okay!" She agreed. "I like going to cousin Edward's house. He lets me play his piano!"

"Alright, sweetie. Have fun," I said before kissing the top of her head. "Bye." She was a sweet kid and I liked her.

After going to the meeting I really wished I had just stayed with the kiddo and Alice. I felt like I got nowhere with my client who really didn't seem to know what they wanted. It was an hour wasted of my time, which was frustrating. It happened though.

After the meeting, I went home and did some other work for people who actually knew what they wanted. I would be launching a new website for a new burger place by the end of the week and I still had to put some finishing touches on it. I was so involved in the work that I jumped when the phone rang around five.

"Hello?" I asked without even looking at who was calling.

"Ello," Edward's voice came from the other side.

"Oh! Hey, Edward! What's up?"

"I just want to thank you for helping with Bridge. I know she can be a bit wild at times. Normally I'm her babysitter when Emmett has to do things but I had to work this morning. This was Alice's first time and she said she didn't handle it very well until you helped."

"Oh, no problem. I had a great time. She's a good girl," I assured him. "Why do you always end up watching her?" I asked.

"Because I rarely work in the mornings. Rosalie's parent's work still and Emmett's parents, my grandparents, aren't around anymore. Everyone else is just busy. Besides, I like watching her. She's fun."

I giggled, smiling at his comment. "I can see that. She said you let her play with your piano."

"I'm trying to teach her, but that's easier said than done. I don't know how my parents got me to settle down to play. Oh, BY THE WAY..." he said, beginning to laugh.

"What?"

"I got yelled at by Rose because Bridge had a rainbow-colored handprint on her bum. How did that happen?" He said, continuing to laugh. I began to laugh myself, rubbing my forehead.

"Hey! I was willing to paint and play hide and seek with her, not wash her butt when she got paint on it! I'm not related to her."

He chuckled softly before clearing his throat. "Anyway, really thank you. Bridget is my girl and I'm glad she has a new friend."

"A girl can always use more friends," I told him in return. "I know I'm thankful for my friends, new and old."

There was a silence on the other end of the phone before Edward's voice answered softly, "I'm thankful for mine as well."

I love an Edward that's good with kids!

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