A/N:
Oh boy, were you guys mad at the end of the last chapter! I get it, though! I made myself mad as I wrote it because it brought up memories, and that was why I encouraged you to rant and vent :)
A lot of you are wondering what Esme's gain is; what Renée will get out of hiring Edward etc. I know there are so many questions you have that you want answered, but believe me, you will get all the answers, and since I am updating three times a week, you will get those answers rather quickly xD
Title: The Perfect Partner Program
Author: MarieCarro
Beta: EdwardsFirstKiss
Pre-reader: brwneyedgrl01
Genre: Angst/Hurt&Comfort/Romance
Rating: NC-17
Summary: The summer of 2005 was the summer that changed Bella Swan's life forever. Sent to Ohio by her mother to attend a school for debutante girls not quite up to par, she meets Edward Masen, an apprentice. But is that really all he is? AH
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter Word Count: 2, 878
CHAPTER 11 JEALOUS
"So how are things going? What's the report on Mr. Apprentice?" Becca asked over the phone.
I laughed and stretched out my legs. I was sitting in the backyard in my favorite spot, soaking up the summer sun as I had successfully gotten out of another riding lesson. "Things are actually going well. I mean, do I enjoy the lessons? Not one bit and a few of the girls are a pain, but all in all, it's not that bad."
"And the guy … Edward, is it?"
"He's a big part of why it's endurable. He seriously couldn't have shown up at a better time in my life. Most of the time it feels like he's too good to be true."
"I doubt that. No guy ever is, but what do you mean?"
I took a deep breath before I told her what he'd told me the night before. "He says he's thinking of moving to Seattle so that we can stay together after the summer."
"What?! Are you serious? Holy shit, that's huge!"
"Don't I know it, but at the same time it's exactly what I want," I told her honestly. "I don't want us to end when the summer is over, Sissy."
"Wow, you've got it bad, babe. And my guess is he feels the same since he's talking about moving."
I nodded, even though she couldn't see me. "Yeah, he told me last night."
"And he totally copped a feel, too, didn't he?" Becca laughed at her own joke, but I couldn't even try to laugh it off and pretend that's not exactly what happened, and my Sissy noticed, of course. "You're not laughing … Wait … Did he?!"
I swallowed hard. "Well... I'm not saying he didn't."
Becca was quiet for a moment, and when she spoke again, her voice had taken on a much more serious note. "Did you give him your V-card?"
"No, Becca, I didn't. You know I'm not ready for that, but we did … stuff."
"What kind of stuff?"
I shrugged as I didn't know how to tell her. I wasn't a prude normally, but it was just different talking about sex in general and talking about sexual things you'd done yourself. "You know … stuff."
"Why don't you wanna tell me? We tell each other everything, babe. I told you when I gave Eric his first hand job in the seventh grade!"
"I know," I sighed. "And it's not that I don't want to tell you. Everything around it is just so new to me, still, and I don't know what to call what we did."
"Mhm," she said. "Okay, fine, I'm not gonna pressure you right now, but I do expect a play by play eventually. I want to know how experienced my darling is nowadays." She laughed again, and I knew she had forgiven me. "And no matter what, I'm glad for you. It was about time you met a decent guy who could help you forget about dead meat."
Now it was my turn to laugh. "Believe me, Sissy. George Carter is long forgotten."
"And I'm even happier about that! But you'd better make sure your new beau is the one relocating. I don't know what I would do if I found out I would lose my sister all the way over in Ohio. I believe I would have to get into my new car, drive there, and give her a good kick in the ass."
"Edward's not from Ohio. He's from Chicago, but I get your point, and I give you the go-ahead to do exactly what you just told me if you hear me talking about not returning home to you, okay?."
"Remember that I always keep my promises."
"And it's only one of the reasons why I love you."
"Love you, too, darling. I need to hang up now, but I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"
"Absolutely! Talk to you soon."
{=A=}
Edward frowned as he kept his eyes on Bella through the window in Esme's office. He was still very much listening to what his aunt was telling him, even though it didn't appear that way. But if there was one thing Edward was good at, then it was multitasking, and he didn't have a problem with observing Bella while still taking in all the information Esme was spewing out.
The meeting was solely to give the clients an update. Renée Swan had demanded it several times a week because as Edward had suspected, she was an impatient little leech. She had a hard time relinquishing control over her daughter and rely on a man she had never met. It didn't matter to her that Edward was an expert and had years of experience. She didn't trust him with the simple task of making her daughter fall in love with him so that he could break her heart and send the pieces back to George Carter in a neat little package.
"Edward, did you hear anything I just said?" Esme said from behind him.
"Of course I did," he said calmly without directing his gaze away from the girl outside.
"Then what did I say?" Esme challenged.
Edward smirked but continued to face the window. "Do you really want to play this game with me, Aunt Esme?" He clearly heard the sigh that told him Esme was giving in and his smirk grew in size. He loved the feeling when he won the arguments he often found himself in with his aunt or his father.
"No, I don't, Edward, but I would appreciate the respect of having you look at me while we talk."
He watched Bella close her eyes and stretch out on the grass, and his smirk morphed into a different smile, but then, Jasper Whitlock walked up to her. She sat up again, and they started talking. Edward had no idea about what, but he knew that he didn't like it.
Jasper Whitlock had always been a thorn in Edward's side whenever he came back to the Academy. He had more than once ruined Edward's progress with his targets by charming them with his annoying Southern accent and award-winning smile. Not that he ever had the intention to flirt with the girls. He was double their age, but it had never stopped those girls from swooning around him. Apparently, his slightly rough-around-the-edges, working-labor countryman personality was a real hit, for some reason.
Edward didn't deny that he had started taking inspiration from Whitlock when he chose his costumes for his characters. The threadbare jeans and plain t-shirt wasn't his usual style. No, Edward was more of a high-end designer brands kind of guy.
He knew there was nothing he could do about Whitlock right now, and so he slowly turned his back to the window to face the woman currently looking at him impatiently while waiting for his reply.
"If it's so important to you."
He walked away from the window and sat down on the comfy couch positioned against one of the walls in the spacious and luxurious office.
Esme opened her mouth to continue, but before she could say anything she was interrupted by the office door opening and her husband walking in.
His face was open and soft until he noticed Edward on the couch. Then his expression quickly changed into a hard, sneering glare which was directed at his nephew.
Carlisle and Edward didn't have a particularly good relationship, and it had become increasingly worse when Edward had been hired as a manipulator on Esme's request.
There were few things Carlisle hated as much as he hated that his wife and nephew used his school for such an immoral purpose, her 'perfect partner program' as she called it. He'd had countless fights with Esme about it. She had promised that there would be no more cases after the previous year, but when Renée Swan had written and asked for help with her daughter, Esme couldn't refuse her high school best friend.
He'd given an ultimatum after that.
Isabella Swan would be the last case or he would close the school. He didn't want his academy to be dragged in the mud if the truth of what his wife was doing ever came out.
Carlisle looked back at Esme and intended to speak, but then changed his mind and shook his head. When Esme opened her mouth, he put his hand up in the air to stop her. "I don't want to hear it, my love. What's going on here is between Edward and you. I ask you to not involve me in it. I was hoping to have a chat, but as I can see that I've interrupted something, we'll have that conversation some other time." Edward chuckled and Carlisle turned his light-blue eyes back to him. "Is something funny, Edward?"
Edward shrugged with an amused smirk. "A lot of things are funny, but I doubt you want to hear them."
"Please, enlighten me."
Edward leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and looked straight into Carlisle's eyes. Green clashing with blue. "Tell me, does it hurt to have that stick shoved that far up your ass?"
Carlisle didn't honor Edward enough to reply. He only turned on his heel and left the office without another word.
Esme let out a deep sigh and glared at Edward. "Why do you always have to do that?"
With an unsympathetic grin, Edward leaned back on the couch again and pleaded ignorance. "Do what?"
"You know exactly what I mean. He's your uncle, Edward."
"By marriage, not blood," he reminded her. "We've never made it a secret that we don't like each other, so why should I pretend otherwise?"
Esme didn't point out how good of friends the two men had been when Edward was younger. Carlisle had adored Edward when he was born, but as the younger man grew and became more like he was in the present day, Carlisle started to pull away. Instead, Esme let it go and fetched Isabella's file from her desk so that they could continue their meeting.
{=A=}
"You can say whatever you want, Mr. Whitlock. Horses are not my thing. I would rather clear the dung out of the stable stalls than sit on a horse."
Mr. Whitlock chuckled heartily. "Well, we can't have that, can we? Mrs. Cullen would skin me alive if she found out I forced one of her students to do any sort of labor in the stables."
"I'm really sorry," I apologized.
"No, it's not your fault, Miss Swan. It saddens me that my lessons are the only ones you won't participate in, but I understand. You just enjoy the rest of your break," he said with a smile and tilt of his head like the cowboys in the movies Dad liked to watch before he walked off to the paddock and the rest of the girls.
I chuckled at his manners and made a move to lay back down when Edward suddenly sat down next to me, startling me enough to make me jump in fright. "Holy shit, Edward, you scared me."
"Sorry," he said with a sheepish look before his eyes shifted to Mr. Whitlock's retreating form, and he frowned.
I looked between him and Mr. Whitlock in confusion. "Is everything okay?" I asked and briefly wondered if he and the riding instructor had had some sort of fall out.
"Not really," he answered without meeting my eyes again.
My stomach clenched with worry. "What's the matter?"
Edward finally shifted his eyes back to me. "Do you like guys like that?" he asked with a nod toward the spot where Mr. Whitlock had disappeared.
"Guys like what?" I was feeling so confused because I had no idea what he was talking about.
"You know..." he trailed off and started to pluck at the grass. "Country-boy guys with a constant tan and cowboy hats."
My eyes widened in amused disbelief. "Are you serious?" I asked half-believing he was joking, but when he didn't answer and only continued to tear at the grass, I realized he was very serious. "I can't really say I do. You know I'm a city girl."
"Yeah, but you can't tell me you didn't think he was charming."
"Who?" He gave me a pointed look. "Mr. Whitlock? He's way too old for me. He must be at least thirty-five."
"But if he wasn't," Edward pushed. "If he was our age, would you want someone like him?"
"Why are you wondering?" He didn't answer me, and I took a hold of his hand that continued to abuse the grass. "Edward, you're not jealous, are you?" He just shrugged, and I immediately rose up on my knees so that I could face him more comfortably. "You have nothing to be jealous of. I do not want someone like Mr. Whitlock. Never have, and never will."
He finally looked at me again with soft eyes and then leaned forward to give me an equally soft kiss that left me tingling all over. When our lips parted, he leaned his forehead against mine and whispered. "Then who do you want, Bella?" His warm breath washed over my face, and I shivered.
"I want you," I breathed out. "I thought you would know that after last night."
"No, you never said that you felt the same," he replied with a small shake of his head.
I thought back to the previous night and realized that he was right. He had poured his heart out to me, telling me that he was falling in love and that he wanted to move to Seattle so that we could stay together while I hadn't reciprocated.
Pulling away from him completely so that I could look into his eyes, I traced my hand up to place it on his neck. "But I do. I've already fallen," I said, and his eyes lit up with cautious hope. "I knew I had a while ago, but I was scared to tell you."
"Why?" he asked softly. "Were you afraid I would reject you?"
I shrugged. "Yes and no. I was more scared of what it would mean when the summer ends. It was never my plan to fall in love. I was only supposed to spend the summer here because that's what Renée wanted. It would get her off my back for a little while at least."
"Yeah, but that was before last night, right? I told you, I'll apply to UDub, and I'll move to Seattle. I meant what I said, Bella. I want to be with you."
"And as happy as that makes me, I don't think you understand the lengths Renée will go to make sure we can't be together. I hate to say it, but you're not the kind of guy she wants for me."
He sighed and rubbed his neck with his hand. "What kind of guy does she want for you, then?"
I pulled away from him and looked out over the castle grounds. My gaze touched the trees that surrounded the glade I now knew was over there, and I felt warm as thoughts of last night once again flooded my mind.
It was nothing I wanted to do, but I knew I had to tell him about George. I took a deep breath and decided to treat it like a band-aid.
"You know how I told you that I don't have a boyfriend waiting for me at home."
"Yeah," he answered cautiously. "What? Do you?"
I hurriedly shook my head. "No, I don't. I didn't lie to you about that, but it's a bit more complicated."
"How so?"
"I had a boyfriend who broke up with me not long before I was sent here. His name is George Carter, and he is from a high-upstanding family in our social circle. According to Renée, he's exactly the kind of guy I should be with, and one of the reasons she sent me here was that George wanted me to refine my personality before taking me back."
Edward frowned incredulously. "Taking you back? You mean he's expecting you to gratefully fall back into his arms when you get home? Why would you do that when he broke up with you? Why did he break up with you?"
I smiled at the flood of questions Edward spewed out. "You're the only one apart from Becca who's been able to see it from my point of view."
"Look, Bella," he said and leaned toward me again while looking at me with an intense gaze. "I don't care what Renée thinks of me. I don't care if there's a whole flock of guys waiting to be with you back in Seattle because if you want me, and you want to be with me as much as I want to be with you, they can try all they want to keep me away from you. They won't succeed, though."
A/N:
We got to hear a little more from each side there!
Did anyone else notice the little transformation of Edward's smile in Esme's office? Because it's kind a hint ;-)
As you can see, Carlisle is not a part of the scheme. He knows of it, but he doesn't approve and never have. More about that in later chapters.
More sweet talk from Edward. What do you think of what he's saying? Do you think everything is a lie?
Please, tell me your thoughts, I thirst for them :-D
Stay awesome!