*Taps microphone* Anyone out there still interested in this confangled story? I apologize for the delay. Real life has been a monster and it's only about to get worse. Believe it or not, I'm gonna try and have this story wrapped in the next two months before I move across the country. Anyhow, enough of my personal bs.

Mad props to Irritable_Grizzzly for her quick beta job and Stephk0525 for assuring me that, just despite it's short length, it doesn't suck. Mamacat, any Yogi Berra ever quoted is all for you.

Not mine, blah blah.

"If you see a fork in the road, take it."- Yogi Berra.

Edward Cullen

"So, are you going to Chicago for the break?" Jasper asked.

"Yup, Alice is making me go," Edward sighed.

"So that means she's going with you? Any chance you might be working out while you're there?" Jasper had given up trying to be subtle.

"Jasper, do you want to go to Chicago with Alice and me? If you do that's fine by me, and I'm sure Alice wouldn't mind. I know we can easily get you a ticket to all the events around the city." Edward was laughing now. He felt bad for the guy. Ever since he'd met Alice, he was smitten. Alice had been trying to play coy, but it was obvious there was an attraction.

"Thanks, man. You know my cousin lives in Chicago, so I could always introduce you to her," Jasper offered.

"Are you talking about Rose? No thanks, man. From what you've told me, she would scare the hell out of me. Besides, after Lauren and Heidi, I've sworn off women, especially blondes."

"The women of Seattle will only see your single status as a challenge, Mr. 2009 Seattle Bachelor or the Year."

"You suck," Edward said laughing, throwing his workout towel at Jasper. He didn't like to be reminded of his dubbed title. The Mariner's locker room had been hell for two months after the article came out. He liked his teammates and knew their teasing was all in good fun, but what wasn't much fun was when his phone number and personal email were leaked on a gossip site, and he had to change his contact information. Twice.

Bella Swan

When Bella was little, she loved sports. Her father, Charlie, was a diehard Mariners and Seahawks fan. It was their Sunday tradition to make popcorn and have a picnic in the family room to watch the game, while her mother, Renee, went shopping with friends. Bella cherished those times.

At the age of five, Charlie enrolled her in T-ball. Renee had protested, claiming she was worried about injuries, but mostly it was about her baby girl getting dirty. Bella didn't care; she loved baseball and just wanted to see the smile on her dad's face. She wasn't the most coordinated child, and was on the smaller side, so she was always overlooked by the coaches, no matter how often they spouted "fair play".

Eventually Bella resigned herself to the fact that she was never going to be an all-star, and instead watched her little (for lack of a better term) cousin, Emmett, grow up to be a natural athlete. Emmett didn't have the finesse required to play baseball, in which the player had to be smooth, graceful, and have stellar hand-eye coordination. Emmett didn't have any of those attributes. Instead, he was a big kid, hard-hitting, and had a knack for knocking things over. He was the quintessential bull in the china shop. Thus his parents decided to let him play football instead.

"I told you that your meeting would go well. Aren't you glad you wore the suit?" Then She raised her voice to sound like Bella. "Yes, Rose, you're so smart. I'm so glad I have you as my best friend. I should always listen to you."

Bella snorted loudly, and several of the other restaurant patrons turned to stare. "Seriously, is that is what you think I sound like?"

"Pretty much." Then she noticed Bella had a decent-sized ball of bread in her hand. "You wouldn't dare throw that at me."

"You know me better than that."

Rose rolled her eyes. "You need to start trusting in yourself more. You didn't get that job by getting on your knees and crawling under the desk like Stanley would have." Rose paused. "Or did you?"

"Keep talking like that and I won't introduce you to Emmett tonight."

Rose gasped, "I love you."

"That's better. Keep talking"

"You know, if you're introducing me to your cousin, I could introduce you to mine," Rose offered.

Bella snorted again. "Jasper? From what you told me about him, I don't think we'd be compatible. Besides after the whole Newton thing, I'm swearing off men for a while, especially the pretty-boy athletic types."

"Anyway, if you're going on ESPN in two weeks, we need to get you dressed. Too many people have seen in you what you already have, and we need to punch it up with more suits like what you have on now," Rose was practically vibrating. Bella tuned her out, thinking about how excited she was about seeing her cousin.

Bella hadn't seen Emmett since May, right after he was drafted by the Bears. She wished she could have been there for him, but technically she was. When the camera crew focused on him, he was on the phone. The talking heads at the network all said he was deep in negotiations with agents and teams, but in actuality, he was listening to Bella telling her awful knock-knock jokes, trying to keep him from bolting from the building. Hating attention was something they'd inherited from the Swan family, even if Swan wasn't technically Emmett's last name. Ironically, they had both chosen professions in the public eye.

"Bella...hello? Where'd you go? I swear you zone out more now than you ever did in college."

"Sorry, I was distracted."

"I see that, but as I was saying, we'll go shopping this weekend. I won't take no for an answer," she said, looking smug and folding her arms across her chest.

"Whatever." Thankfully, Bella's phone chirped. Glancing at it, her eyes widened.

"Ooooh, I know that look! What is it?"

Bella tried to be casual, but inside her heart was pounding. "It's nothing. I'll call him back later."

Rose was curious now, "You have to tell me more about this nothing-person. I don't know anything except that you guys met in college."

Bella knew where this discussion was going, but she and Tyler had an agreement not to discuss their relationship. Her PDA chirped again, and this time it was Aro. "Hey, it's the boss-man. I gotta go." She grabbed her purse. "Sorry."

"No worries. You agreed to go shopping with me, the least I can do is pay for lunch. Call me later?"

"You got it. Thanks." She gave Rose a quick kiss on the cheek and took off.

The moment the elevator doors opened, Jane, Aro's assistant, was at her side. "He's really sorry he interrupted your lunch, but something's come up and it's a pressing matter." Bella bit her tongue. Jane was Aro's lapdog, and for her, everything was a pressing matter.

"It's fine. What's going on?"

"We just got wind there's a big trade that's going to happen in the next week with the Cubs, but that's all I can say." Jane shrugged and quickly knocked on Aro's door before walking in.

In a sense of déjà vu, Aro had Bella sit across from his desk as he tented his fingers and stared at her. She shifted uncomfortably. "What's going on? Jane said something about a trade?"

Her editor took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. "Yes, but I want to ask you a question, and be honest with me please."

"I've never lied to you before."

"What exactly is the nature of your relationship with Edward Cullen?"

Chapters four and five are almost done and will be with betas and prereaders by the end of the week!

Reviews get teasers!

Thank you so much for your time.