All characters belong to SM, I just like playing with them.
Much love goes to Uk Alice, pre reader extraordinaire.
My Beta, Lamomo. Without them, this wouldn't be worth posting.
Chapter 6
Bella woke the next morning with a throbbing headache. She was determined to get up and take Jake for his morning walk. Her disjointed dreams that night were filled with images of The Jogging Man and his fluffy puppy. He had kissed her and she could still feel his lips against hers. She desperately wanted to see him and ask him his name.
As she went to stand up, her head spun wildly and she had to sit back down. Her head pounded as she went to stand again, but every muscle in her body ached and she groaned as the pressure in her head made it hard to see. Making her way to the bathroom, she fumbled through the medicine cabinet to find some cold and flu meds.
She winced as she gulped down two tablets, drinking out of the faucet to rid her mouth of the acidic aftertaste. Jake whined a little at the door, waiting impatiently for her to take him for a walk.
"I don't think it's going to happen today, Buddy." She told him, shaking her head, which made it pound harder. Bella slowly made her way through the house and opened the back door.
"This is it for you today, sorry Jake." Bella hung onto the doorframe as her body swayed as her head felt like it was spinning. "I got to sit down," Bella mumbled as she staggered to the living room and fell onto the couch. With her head whirling, she fell asleep.
Edward was woken by sloppy licks. He was a little startled, and as he sat up, he knocked Nessie off the couch. She yelped a little as she hit the floor.
"Oh shit, sorry Nessie," Edward said as he fumbled to pick her up off the floor. The room was in darkness, except for the glow of the TV flickering. "God, Ness, what time is it?" Edward looked out the window, noticing that the sun hadn't even begun to light the morning sky. Standing, he stretched then reached down to pick up his mobile phone.
"Shit, Ness it's 5 am, 'spose you need to do your business, hey?" Sleepily, Edward slipped on a shirt and sweat pants and made his way downstairs with Ness cradled in his arms. The brisk chill of the morning air woke Edward instantly and he hopped foot to foot, reminding himself to put shoes on if he was going to go outside this early.
"Hurry up Ness, I'm freezing here. My toes are going to drop off." He watched as Nessie sniffed the terrain and was relieved when she had finally done her business. Scooping her up, he hurried inside and was glad when his feet hit the carpet.
"Well, we have an hour or so to kill before we go for our walk. Hey Ness, you think you can learn to sleep in?" He ruffled her fur as he entered the apartment, pouring out some dog biscuits for her to munch on.
Edward opened up his laptop and synchronised his Black Berry with his appointments for the week. He memorised his appointments' dates, the clients' names and addresses. Edward sighed as he opened up the files for the Resort Development. It had been pushed back a week, due to the builders. This usually meant that, if they said he could start on the landscaping in a week, he'd generally start in two.
That left Edward's calendar relatively empty, with just some consultations, and for those he hoped the clients would a little adventurous, he was in the mood to think a little outside the box. He had come across some great hybrid plants, which were quite spectacular when in flower.
Sighing, he went over his calendar one more time before shutting off the laptop. He spun around in his chair, "Well, little missy, we have some time to kill before you work your magic for me this morning." Nessie wagged and padded over to him when she heard her name. "You are a cutie, you know that?"
A little while later, Edward decided that he couldn't wait any longer, he slipped on his Nikes and leashed Nessie. He figured he could leave a little early as there was no way Nessie could keep up with his jogging pace. It was going to have to be a walk today, unless he jogged whilst carrying Nessie.
As they made their way to the park, Edward started to get a little nervous. The stillness of the morning, that usually calmed him, wasn't working its charm today. He didn't want to mess this up.
"Hey, how are you? I'm Edward." He kept rehearsing in his mind. He could see her beautiful smile and he desperately wanted to know her name. What if she wasn't there? What if she didn't want to speak to him? What if… Yesterday she'd been the one who asked him to walk with her but that did nothing to ease his nerves.
As he rounded the last curve to the bridge, he paused briefly and took a deep breath and pushed his nerves aside, knowing that it was now or never. He unleashed Nessie and whispered, "Ready to work your magic, Ness?" Nessie wagged and ran in the direction of the bridge.
"Wait up, Ness!" Edward exclaimed as she ran out of his sight. He jogged after her, but she was nowhere to be seen.
"Shit! Nessie, Nessie!" Edward called as he made his way to the bridge. Nessie was nowhere to be seen and neither was the Girl by the Bridge. Edward grew a little frantic as he called and searched the surrounding bush.
"I can't even look after a little puppy!" he scolded himself as he searched. "NESSIE!"
Some bushes moved to his right and a scampering of paws and a playful bark erupted from the undergrowth. A flurry of fur and leaves almost rolled out of the bushes.
"Nessie, you scared me…Jake?" Edward sighed in relief, as he watched the russet-coloured dog and Nessie play. He looked around to see if the Girl by the Bridge was anywhere near, but had no such luck.
"Where's your Mom, fella?" Edward asked as he looked about the forest, a strange sense of foreboding washing over him. Edward's heart sunk as he searched for the girl, with the dogs following closely behind him.
"Oh my god, I hope nothing has happened to her." His heart was racing and his stomach churned at the thought that The Girl by the Bridge could have been abducted. There was no sight of her. He scooped up Nessie and jogged to the start of the boardwalk, hoping that someone there might have seen her.
His heart fell as he saw that the park was nearly empty. Placing Nessie back on the pathway, he ruffled Jake's fur.
"Where's your Mom, boy?" as Edward patted him, he realised that there was a tag attached to the dog's collar. Relief washed over him. Kneeling down, he read the inscription, that only included Jake's name and a mobile telephone number.
Edward pulled out his phone and dialled the number, hoping desperately that the girl answered the phone. The phone clicked through to the message service.
"Hi, you've reached Bella's phone. Sorry I can't answer at the moment, but if you leave a message I'll get back to you as soon as I can."
As he heard her voice, his heart raced with conflicted emotions, the thrill brought about by the musical lilt of her voice saying her name, and the disappointment that she didn't answer swirled around his mind, almost making him miss his cue to leave a message.
"Ah, hi. I found Jake at the park, oh and I'm Edward, give me a call." Edward hung up and cursed himself as he realised that he didn't leave his number for her to call him back. As he redialled her number he decided to send her a text instead.
Entering a short message, Edward tried to figure out what to do with the dog and wondered if he should call the police about the missing girl. Deciding against that, he tried to think of what else he could do.
"The Vet!" He exclaimed as he recalled the conversation they had yesterday, "Paws Claws and Feathers." Edward leashed Jake with Nessie's lead and he scooped up Nessie, starting to jog back home.
Getting back to his apartment block almost took what felt like an eternity. Entering the car park, he made his way to his car then wondered if he should put Jake in the back tray or up the front with him and Nessie.
"Aw, stuff it." Edward mumbled as he opened the passenger door, placing Nessie on the seat and letting Jake up in, surprised that he didn't need any encouragement.
"So Jake, your Mom is Bella, hey?" He said as he started the truck, and mused that Bella was a perfect name for his Girl By the Bridge. "She is definitely beautiful."
Pulling up outside the vet clinic, he hoped that Bella would be there, he prayed that she was there, and that Jake had just escaped from the backyard.
The little bell chimed as Edward entered Paws, Claws and Feathers with Jake and Nessie.
"Hi there, I can I help you?" an older woman with a mane of red hair asked him in a thick Irish accent.
'Please let her be here,' Edward thought as he pushed his nerves down.
"Ah yeah, I'm looking for Bella. I found her dog down at the park this morning. I was hoping she was in."
"Actually, Bella was meant to start work about half an hour ago, let me give her a call." The lady smiled and picked up the phone at the front counter.
Edward's heart raced, hoping she would answer her home phone. Relief flooded him as the lady started to speak with her.
"Hi, Bella…You sound terrible…No…No, you stay home…No, stay home and have some vitamin C…Oh Bella, I have a young man here with Jake…Yes, it's definitely Jake…Jake's fine…wait a sec." The lady put her hand over the receiver and asked Edward, "Can you drop him off? Bella sounds really sick and won't be coming into work… That is, if you don't mind…otherwise, he can stay here and I'll drop him off at the end of the day."
Edward nodded, "Sure, I can do that."
The lady uncovered the receiver, "Bella, he's going to drop Jake off…No, you stay in bed…Vitamin C and lots of sleep OK?…take tomorrow off, too…No buts…You take care. Bye, Bella."
"Thank you so much, young man, Bella thinks he escaped this morning from the backyard. I'm Siobhan, by the way," The lady extended her hand to Edward.
"I'm Edward, nice to meet you."
"The pleasure is all mine," Siobhan smiled wide as she wrote down an address on a business card. "Bella would have been devastated if she lost Jake, thank you for looking after him, a lot of people wouldn't even think of it."
"Um, it's the least I could do," he said as Siobhan handed him the card and he slipped it in his pocket.
"Thanks again, Edward," Siobhan called as Edward made his way back out to his truck.
Edward got the dogs into the cabin of the truck and he pulled out the card. The address seemed really familiar and, as he started up the truck, he realised why. Pulling out his Blackberry, he opened up his calendar and scrolled through his upcoming appointments.
Bella Swan.
Edward smiled and laughed to himself. He ruffled Nessie's fur, "Well, looks as if I would have met her anyway. Now…just one more stop, before I take you home, Jake."
Bella hung up the phone and eased herself up off the couch. As the blood flowed, her head pounded under the pressure. Shuffling to the back door, she cursed as she looked out over the disaster of her back yard.
'There must be a hole in the fence there somewhere,' She thought as she looked over to where the back fence should be, hidden from view by a tangle of vines and weeds.
Closing the door she made her way to her bathroom to freshen up, and wondered who found Jake.
"Must be Emmett," She mused, figuring that he was the only man who knew both Jake and herself. After looking at her reflection in the mirror, she decided to jump in the shower. The water was refreshing but did nothing to stop the fog and pressure in her head. Feeling too crappy, she slipped into some comfortable cotton pants and a Snoopy T-shirt two sizes too big for her. Slipping her feet into her Sylvester the Cat slippers, she mused that Sylvester's nose was about as red as her own at the moment. Grabbing a brush, she tried to comb the knots out of her wet hair. The doorbell chimed and she yelled "just a minute," but it ended up in her coughing and having to blow her nose. She had to hold onto the wall to get her equilibrium back as her head spun.
'Just great, I can't even freakin' stand straight.' Bella slowly makes her way to the front door.
Bella hung onto the door handle as she opened it, hoping that it would keep her upright. She looked up and the sunlight made her wince. She had to do a double take, as she couldn't believe who was standing before her. Her hand slipped on the handle and, instead of opening the door wider, she slammed the door closed.
'Shit, shit, shit,' her heart was beating wildly as she tried to get over the shock. She fumbled with the door handle as a dog scratched on the door.
Taking a breath, she composed herself and opened the door again.
"Ah, sorry, my hand slipped. I, um, didn't mean to slam the door." She stammered as she looked into Jogging Man's eyes. He was smiling at her and running his hand through his hair.
"I think you lost something," he said as he let Jake go. Jake bounded and jumped up on Bella, knocking her into the house. She landed with a thud on her backside and Jake was instantly on top of her, licking her all over her face.
Bella's head spun wildly as she tried to push Jake off herself, "Ew, Jake stop it."
"I'm so sorry, shit, are you OK?" Jogging Man said as he tried to help her up. With her head spinning and fuzzy, she let Jogging Man help her up. His hand felt so strong in hers, his arm around her waist so warm, made her legs feel like jelly.
"I'm OK, Jogging Man, Jake's just…" Bella stopped mid-sentence, realising what she had just called him. She wanted to crawl back into bed, 'Oh my god! I just called him Jogging Man.'
The man looked at her curiously and, with a big grin gracing his face, he continued to help her up.
"I ah, I um…Thanks, Sorry, head's not working properly." Bella tapped her head and felt the heat rise on her cheeks as she stepped away from him. He was utterly beautiful.
"Well, 'Jogging Man' says you're welcome." He laughed lightly, "I'm Edward, and you must be Bella, otherwise known to Jogging Man as the Girl by the Bridge."
Bella laughed nervously, "Oh, well Edward is much better than Jogging Man… God, I can't believe I called you that to your face… Ah, thanks for bringing Jake home…" Bella started to sway as her head began to swim with dizziness. She clung to the doorjamb to keep herself upright.
"Are you Ok?" Edward asked, as she tried to stop the feeling of the room spinning around her. She nodded, which made her head throb more.
"I just need to sit down." She said as she let go of the doorjamb. She took a step back into the house. "Would you like to come in?" She asked, trying to keep her voice steady. As she took another step, her legs folded underneath her and the house spun, she waited for the pain as she hit the floor but it didn't come. Strong arms caught her, picked her up and carried her inside. Placing her on the couch, he gently lay her down.
"Thank you," She whispered. 'My knight in running sweats.'
Edward looked down at The Girl By the Bridge. She hardly weighed anything in his arms. Her face had turned pale and a light sheen of sweat covered her forehead. He wondered what he should do now.
"Can I get you anything?" he asked.
"I'll be ok in a minute, my head hurts," She said quietly, "I hope you've had your flu shots, I don't want to get you sick." She laughed lightly then cringed; the laughter obviously making her head hurt more.
Edward laughed, "Here you are, dying, and you are worried that I might get sick… Now, where is your medicine cabinet? I'll get you some Tylenol or something…And yes, I have had my flu shots."
"Um…in my bathroom, through to the right, but really don't trouble yourself, I'll be ok in a minute."
Edward rolled his eyes. He went to the front door and picked up the package he'd brought, he made sure the door was closed properly and then went for the bathroom. He was nearly tripped up by Nessie and Jake as they played Tug-O-War with a teddy bear. He found the bathroom and searched the cabinet, trying not to pry into her belongings, and closed the cabinet as soon as he found the cold and flu tablets, he brought out the Tylenol as well.
He looked around the room. One toothbrush, one razor, lots of perfume and, hanging off the towel rack…
'Holy mother in heaven!' Exclaimed Edward to himself, as he spotted a delicate red lace bra. Edward quickly exited the bathroom, trying not to think of her wearing it.
Her house was simple, with furnishings on the minimal side, and he realised that it looked like there was just one person living here. There was no sign of any male belongings and this made Edward hopeful.
"Here, Bella. I'll get you some water, where is the kitchen?" Edward asked as he placed the tablets on the coffee table.
"It's ok Edward, I can get it," she said as went to sit up.
"No, you stay there. I don't want you to faint."
Bella sighed and pointed in the direction of the kitchen. She wondered whether she should really let loose in her house someone she didn't know. As she tried to reason with herself that Edward was a stranger, she couldn't really believe it, as he had been at the forefront of all her thoughts and dreams lately. She actually mused that this could all be a dream and when she would wake up he wouldn't be here at all. As she heard him rummage in her kitchen, she thought that it would be extremely nice to have him here all the time. 'Baby steps, Bella.'
Edward placed his little package on the counter and started opening cupboards. First, he needed a bowl. The tableware in Bella's kitchen was eclectic. Nothing matched, but somehow each piece tied in together. Edward chose an Asian-inspired bowl and poured the contents of his little package into it. He placed it in the microwave and started it up. Next, he looked around for some bread. He couldn't find any.
"Ok, no bread," he murmured to himself as he opened a drawer to find a spoon. As he expected, none of the cutlery matched either. He looked around the kitchen once again, just in case he'd missed the bread. His eyes settled on a photograph. It was of Bella and an older man in a police uniform. Looking closer, he could see a resemblance there and he realised that this man must be her father. Edward could not pry his eyes away from hers. Though she was smiling, there was a wistful sadness there and he wondered what it was that made her sad. Lying next to the framed photograph he saw another - this one was of a woman, dressed as a hippie flower child. Standing next to her was a young girl with long dark hair falling down to her waist, with a chain of daisies on her head like a crown. Edward looked closer. It was Bella. She must have been about thirteen. He smiled to himself; seeing that her mother looked like a hippie while her dad was a cop - now that was a mismatch. Edward laughed lightly at this little insight into the Girl by the Bridge.
Pouring some water into a tall glass, he carried the steaming soup and water back in to the living room.
"Here you go." He said as he placed them in front of her.
"Oh, you shouldn't have," she said as she looked at the bowl of chicken soup, a blush rising in her cheeks.
"Siobhan said you were sick so I just…Um it always makes me feel a little better…" Edward's words trailed off as he realised that he was being very presumptuous bringing her soup. He didn't really even know her, even though he saw her every day. He nervously hid his hands into his pockets and was about to apologise.
"No, it's very kind. Thank you." Bella said as she could see the nervousness in his eyes. She took some Tylenol and sipped the water. "The soup smells divine," she said as she took a sip of the soup.
"I'll have a look at your backyard while you eat," Edward said, fidgeting, unsure of what to say next. It sounded easier to get on with business than to make awkward conversation.
"Why would you want to look at my backyard?" She asked, quite confused.
"Didn't you call for someone to landscape your backyard?"
"Yeah, I did… the business card is here somewhere…God, where is it? Alice gave it to me." Bella said as she searched the coffee table.
"You know Alice?" Edward said, surprised.
"Yeah, she gave me the card. Her brother's number… Where is the card?" she fumbled around some more.
"It's me…" He said incredulous, and for the first time he mentally kicked himself as he realised that The Girl by the Bridge was this Bella.
"What's me?" Bella asked as she continued to search, "the card was here yesterday."
"I'm Alice's brother, Cullen Landscape Design." And quietly, under his breath, he whispered to himself, "And you're that Bella."
Bella stopped her searching, "Oh, you're that Edward?" She looked up to him and was at a loss for words. Jogging Man was Alice's brother and Alice was trying to get her to date Jogging Man. 'God damn it, Jogging Man and Alice's brother are one and the same!'
Edward started to laugh. It lit up his eyes and, even though Bella was feeling sick, she couldn't help but think how beautiful he was when his eyes lit up like that, creased at the corners, his whole face animated. His laughter was infectious and Bella laughed along with him as she pictured in her mind Edward, Alice's brother as she had imagined him - short, exuberant with dark spikey hair. How wrong she'd been.
"That Edward? I hate to think what she has said," he grinned.
Bella groaned inwardly for not thinking before she spoke, 'Damn fuzzy head.'
"Nothing bad, it's just that… you look nothing like Alice, you're so tall…" 'and handsome and hot and I should have listened to Alice.'
"Yeah, Alice is on the short side, I obviously hogged all the tall genes and she was stuck with the short pixie ones," He laughed again, running his hand through his hair.
Edward then had to shift his eyes away from Bella, because her oversized Snoopy top had slipped off her shoulder and wet drips from her hair were running down her chest, making the swell of her breasts glisten with moisture.
"Um…So, can I have a look at your yard?" Edward asked tentatively, shoving his hands back in his pockets. He needed to get some breathing space. He needed to stop thinking for a moment. She was too beautiful.
"Sure, but be warned, it's a war zone out there and the weeds have won."
"Great, I won't be long then." With that, he made his way to the backdoor.
Bella sighed; she couldn't believe that Jogging Man was in her house and that he would be redoing her backyard. He'd been thoughtful enough to bring her soup when he knew she was sick. "Thank you, God."
Taking another sip of her soup, she wondered how on earth she could have been this lucky. She wondered if she should bring up that Alice had tried to plan a date for the two of them, but she dismissed the idea almost immediately - that would just be too awkward. She smiled as she took another sip. Edward had brought Jake home, Edward had brought her soup, and Edward was now in her backyard.
"Edward Cullen." She said quietly, liking the way his name rolled off her tongue.
The back door opened and closed gently and Bella listened to the heavy footfalls coming her way.
"Well, I think we are going to have to start from scratch. There are a couple of fruit trees up the back that we can save but the rest has to go. It will be a nice blank canvas. Oh, and I found the part of the fence that Jake got through, I'll just get my tools and board it up for you."
As if on cue, Jake and Nessie barrelled through the living room with Nessie in pursuit of Jake who had a now ripped up purple bunny soft toy. Jake playfully let Nessie grab hold of it and he dragged her back across the room.
"Do they ever stop?" Edward asked as he shook his head. "Nessie has been up since five, you would think she'd be tired by now."
"She'll grow out of it, just not when she has a play buddy. They seem to get along really well." Bella mused as she watched the dogs' shenanigans. The tugging and pulling had now developed into a rollie wrestle, with Jake letting Nessie roll all over him, with small play bites to his neck, ears and legs.
Edward shook his head, "Yeah, they do…I'll just go get my stuff."
He made his way to the truck and pulled out his toolbox from the back tray. He slid out some plywood that would perfectly cover the gap in the fence. Making his way through to the backyard via the side gate, he pushed through the vines, bushes and weeds to the hole in the fence. This yard was massive, big enough to build another house on. There was so much potential.
As he pounded on the nails, he wondered what Bella would like to do with it. He smiled as he realised that this would take about a week to finish. A week spent with, well, near Bella. He wondered if he should tell Bella that his sister had tried to set him up on a date with her, but decided that would just be too much of an uncomfortable conversation. Driving in the last nail, he made sure the gap was filled.
"No dog is getting out of this fence." Slipping his hammer into his belt, he turned and pushed through the garden to the house.
Entering the living room, he was surprised to see Bella with Jake on one side of her and Nessie on her lap fast asleep.
"See, she does sleep, Jake just had to puff her out first." Bella smiled as she patted the little puppy. "Oh, and she had to kill Sylvester."
"Kill Sylvester?" Edward asked, a little confused. Bella stuck up her foot. The Sylvester the Cat slippers she wore were now minus a red nose. Actually, the nose was still there, but hanging precariously by a thin thread.
"Poor Sylvester," Edward laughed.
"He put up a good fight," Bella laughed.
"So it seems, I might have to buy a pair for myself," Edward said thoughtfully.
Bella snorted, then covered her mouth as she laughed.
"What?" he asked.
"Sorry, I was just envisioning you going to bed in Sylvester slippers. You just don't seem to be the Looney Tunes type." She started to laugh harder. Seeing her eyes start to water made Edward smirk.
"Oh yeah? Well, what type do you think I am?"
She looked him up and down, her eyes settling on the hammer, which was still in his belt, and started giggling all over again.
"Bob the Builder...Sorry… it must be the cold and flu tablets," Bella wiped her eyes as she tried to contain her giggles.
Edward laughed with her, "Yeah, well, I'm not too bad with a hammer and nails I suppose, but forget the overalls! Anyway, how about I start on your backyard tomorrow, I've got a week free. Have you got any ideas of what you want out there? It's big enough to build another house!"
"I've got a few ideas, but you're the professional, what do you think?"
"You could do anything you want, I could run through your ideas with you if you like, and then start from there?" Edward hoped that she would say yes, just seeing her happy and playful made him want to spend more time with her.
Bella held her breath as she realised that she would have to spend time with Edward, even if it was just on a professional level. It was better than nothing.
"Yeah, sure. When would you like to do that?" She asked tentatively.
"I have a few things to do this morning, how about this afternoon, or this evening?" Edward asked as he pulled his Blackberry out of his pocket and, scrolling through his calendar, he made sure he would be able to move things around. He then realised that it wouldn't matter, that he would move them anyway to make time for Bella.
"How about I make you dinner as thanks for the soup and bringing Jake home?" Bella's heart started to beat faster as the words left her mouth and nerves began to creep in at the thought of a whole evening with Edward.
"You don't have to do that, Bella." He said as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. He glanced at Bella and saw that beautiful blush rising on her cheeks.
"But I'd like to. What time suits you?" She said diplomatically, fearing her nerves would get the better of her.
"Ok then, how about six?"
"Six is great…"
They both looked at each other and the room was filled with a moment of uneasy silence.
Edward broke the void, "Um…I should get going, I'll ah …see you tonight, then."
Bella scooped Nessie up from her lap and stood, As she handed her over to Edward, their hands touched and Bella felt a warmth run through her, settling almost like butterflies in the pit of her stomach.
"Ah…and bring Nessie, too. She can eat my other slipper." Bella said, trying to break the strange feeling she had.
"I'll bring some of her toys, we have enough to open our own shop, don't we, Ness?" Edward grinned, "I'll see you at six." He made his way to the front door, with Nessie still asleep in his arms.
When Bella closed the front door behind him, Edward let out a breath; the tingles running up his arm were still there.
"Eight hours, Ness." Edward smiled as he made his way back to the truck.
Driving off, he laughed. "She's beautiful, Ness."
O~O~O~O~O~O
A/N: Yay we made it!
What would you like to see in your "Perfect" garden?