Redone! (the plot's obviously still the same, but it's a little more polished) :)

Hello! Its been a while since ive updated lol…sorry about that. I had a stroke of inspiration today and I wrote this in a few hours. Please forgive me, but it's rough and a little choppy. Overall, it gets to the point, but I would like to inform you that I'm going to re-write it. It wont be this weekend (I'll be in DC and traveling around PA) but next week I'll hopefully have the edited version up. It'll be longer, more flow-y, and Bella will be more Bella-y as well as Alice. I might throw the meeting in there, but idk yet.On that note, I'm looking for someone to beta this story. If you're interested please let me know!!

Once again and always, there's some stuff in this chapter that prob wouldn't work out in real life. Please keep in mind that it's a fanfic, but I ALWAYS welcome help on the subject! Real photographers out there please don't kill me!

Disclaimer : DOT (or anything else mentioned in this chapter! No copyright infringement intended)

Camera Back.

The rear-most panel of a camera body. Some cameras support interchangeable backs in order to support different features and allow the photographer to switch from one film type to another.

For some reason, nothing I was doing, had been doing or will be doing could help me in this current predicament. After an unfortunate all-nighter, three tubs of Ben & Jerry's, and four sad movies later, Alice was still mumbling in her sleep. It was a habit she picked up from me apparently, probably after all of those months of insomnia when we had to camp out in the living room due to the interior decorators Alice had hired. She always shook me awake in the early morning to get me to stop talking, but that usually just resulted in me glaring at her, rolling over and continuing my nonsense rambles.

Alice was on the floor of the living room, having been too out of it last night to register that she wasn't – in fact – in her bedroom. She continued to mumble about her father and ice cream and watermelon. I don't know where the watermelon came into the equation; I think it was just a random dream. I smiled down at her as she flopped in the floor and giggled when she started to snore lightly.

Several minutes later she started rolling around again, while I – having been up for several hours – had cooked, listened to her, run some errands and dug through old pictures of her family. It was honestly boring without Alice. I couldn't find myself to do anything interesting without her awake and bugging the daylights out of me.

But to say that in those several hours I got nothing of importance done would be nonsense. Trivial things were accomplished, true, but I also laid out a plan for my portfolios, arranged our calendar to fit in her father's funeral and grabbed a fruit smoothie from a vendor below on the street. I love those.

And so now I was currently sitting at our kitchen table, sorting through the endless unopened mail while simultaneously writing a letter to Justin, my boss. I couldn't quite figure out what there was to write; I mean I went to work, got called back, and was denied both pay and entry. Granted I could complain (and would make damn sure I would) but I had to remind myself on several occasions to be professional about it. Nothing seemed to be working out, though. Every time I wrote something down I would read it several thousand times, contemplate how it could be taken by my boss and the editors, and then proceed to erase it and skip back to the mail pile. It was becoming impossible to get any work done.

Alice made grunting noises now before rolling over so far that she hit her head on the leg of out coffee table. I threw my hand up in front of my mouth to stifle my giggles when she looked up. Her normally spiky hair was flat on one side and she looked as if she didn't know where she was.

The poor girl grumbled something incomprehensible before pulling at her untamed head of hair and wrestling to get up from inside the sleeping bag. After several futile attempts, she made her way to the fridge simply to proceed to slide down it to the floor. I looked on at her amusedly before continuing to sort through the monster of a mail pile.

"'Morning, Bells," she slurred.

"Good Afternoon, Alice."

"How was your evening?"

"Besides having to listen to you talk and gaining eight pounds it was alright." Okay, maybe I exaggerated a little bit here. I only gained two pounds from the ice cream…I checked. "How was yours? Did you actually sleep or was it just random rolling?" I giggled.

She chuckled tiredly, "No, there was actually some sleep mingled in with the other stuff. I can't believe I started sleep talking. I'm getting more like you every day," she mused. Alice lifted herself from the tile floor and clawed her way back up the fridge. "Did you eat anything or should I make you something?"

"I ate a few hours ago. And even if I didn't, Alice, I wouldn't trust you to make a poptart." She waved her hand dismissively at the comment before continuing to rummage around for something suitable to eat. She closed the door only to reopen it several seconds later to grab the milk from the door and set it on the kitchen counter. She grabbed her favorite cereal, a bowl and a spoon and fixed herself some Captain Crunch.

"What are you doing?" she asked with her mouth full as she sat down.

"Organizing the mail you refused to look at for the past week."

"Oh. Sorry about that, Bella. It's just with the whole - "

"I know, Alice." I cut her off with a small smile. "Don't worry about it." She smiled a small, grateful smile at me before looking back down at her cereal. She didn't need to talk about this right now. Maybe in a day or two, but I knew the wound was much too fresh to rip back open. Besides, my selfish side couldn't help but hope for a quiet day; I had loads of paperwork and bills to catch up on and another crying episode really wouldn't help any.

"Do you maybe want to go to a movie today?" she asked tentatively.

I continued on with the mail, separating everything into piles while playing with a bobby pin I had stuck in my mouth.

"Maybe," I offered. "I have a lot to do but we should definitely do something. What do you have planned for today?" Please not shopping, please!

"Um, well I'm picking up new music from my dance partner and I'm supposed to go out on a date with some guy later on, but I'm figuring I should just cancel. I'm not really in the mood."

I looked up at her incredulously. "Are you serious?" I asked. "Since when isn't Alice in the mood for dressing up?"

"Since her father died," she mumbled.

"Ah, Alice don't worry about that just this second. Go out on a date! It'll make you feel so much better. Maybe you'll meet the guy of your dreams tonight, huh? Huh?" I elbowed her jokingly. Alice cracked a smile and chuckled.

"I don't even know the guy, Bella. It couldn't be that much fun."

"Oh, yes it could be! You'll get to dress up and do your makeup and I'll bet he's adorable. Maybe you'll find a good yoga partner."

Alice had tried to get me to do yoga with her for the past four months. At first, I agreed, thinking it would be good for me, but after three weeks poor old me couldn't take it anymore. I had the back pain of an old man lifting a grizzly bear, and my balance wasn't helping me any. I constantly fell out of the positions and the instructor would glare me down until I would just get up and stand in the back of the room until class was over.

"I doubt it, Bells. He'll just be another guy."

"Pish-posh," I waved my hand at her. "You can't possibly know that," I reasoned.

"I'm psychic, Bella. Yes, I can know that." Alice likes to think she's a psychic. No matter how right she was when she guesses, I doubt I would ever believe in psychics. Mumbo-jumbo, is what it is. Let me tell you…

"Whatever, Alice, I don't want to hear anymore. Go and take a shower and get ready for the day. Pick out your date outfit and come get me when you're done. We'll have another day out today," I smiled at her.

Alice leaned over to give me an awkward side-hug. "Thank you, Bella," she said quietly. She kissed my cheek before getting up to put her bowl in the dishwasher and heading to her room.

I tossed the pile of mail that was in my hands and sighed while I leaned back in my chair. Bella Productive Time was officially over.

I printed out the draft I had finished for my letter to Justin. I read it over a few times and decided that it definitely needed work, but I wasn't exactly sure what it needed. I mean I wasn't the greatest of writers, but I knew how to write a persuasive paragraph if need be. Only this one wasn't flowing right; I had all the details and requests wedged into the letter but to me it didn't seem finished. I didn't know what could be so hard about writing this. All I had to do was ask for a bonus (at least, if not haggle my way into getting a paycheck) or a spread or something!

I don't know what is up with this company. I had never worked as a photographer with a company with such a strange contract in my life. Granted, I hadn't been in the real world of photography for too long, but I knew what a contract generally looked like; I had seen enough of them.

When I was younger, both of my parents were world-renowned photographers. My mother had started out with it as just a hobby, doing freelance work for local newspapers and keeping a small album of her favorite shots before making a profession of it after meeting my father. My father had grown up around cameras and artists on his side of the family, so he knew what his passion was long before your average person. After making it out of school and into the real world, he got proposals from all sorts of companies to do work for them.

My father had been with Still Life Photography – the agency I'm currently hooked up with – from the start of his career. Many of his pictures can be seen in Justin's office or in the main lobby. Some of my mother's work can be seen there too, as well as in magazines such as Reader's Digest, Family Circle and Good Housekeeping. Needless to say my mother has subscriptions to all three magazines and positively adores them. She scribbles out her pictures with Sharpie in every single issue, but always reads the rest of the magazine. She only works for them for the free subscriptions; she hates seeing her pictures much like some people prefer not to watch themselves in an embarrassing home video.

But me, I love to see my work out there. I love displaying it and watching people's reactions to the scene. It intrigues me.

I stood up from the table and threw my work-in-progress into my bag as I stretched and yawned. I stumbled my way into the bathroom and turned on the shower as hot as it would go.

*~*~*~*~*

When Alice was finally ready for the day, she picked out my outfit and then we were off to wander the streets of New York City. We drank tea at a favorite café, ate hot dogs, window shopped and even bought tickets off a street vendor to see Spamalot on Broadway. Alice bought us beenies at a small corner shop, and I had to admit they were adorable. Hers was a soft pink while mine was a deep, forest-y green. It was a surprisingly chilly day out today, and the hats fit in remarkably well with our outfits.

Alice was coping amazingly with all that had just happened to her. Neither of us brought it up and we tried to evade all topics that had anything to do with it, but I was still amazed with her. She hadn't cried once since her episode last night.

Maybe five hours into our day, I got a call from Still Life Photography asking if I could come in for a meeting with Justin. They said that anytime within the hour would be fine, so me and Alice hopped in a cab and made our way over to the tall office building. Alice had assured me – after me asking about a thousand times – that she didn't mind the trip. She had never seen where I worked so she was apparently excited to see something new.

I rummaged around in my bag before we arrived to check that I had my letter. I was planning on dropping off a finished version later in the week, but I guess now was as good a time as any.

When we arrived at the building, Alice was practically jumping in her seat while I hyperventilated on her left. The nerves were overwhelming for some reason and I couldn't help but take captive of my bottom lip in between my teeth.

Alice bounced inside ahead of me before stopping just inside the lobby. The white, high-ceilinged room looked impeccably clean and professional and caused her to go wide-eyed.

"Wow," she murmured, taking it all in.

"Yeah, its nice isn't it?" I smiled down at her. She looked so thrilled to be here, it was kind of entertaining.

"I'll say." Alice proceeded to walk to one of the walls to examine the photographs. They were all taken by photographers that had at one time or another worked for the company and had become successful in their careers. I was so waiting for my time to come.

Alice walked up to a particularly bright green photograph of a frog on a lily pad. She admired it for a minute before making her way around the circular room to admire the rest. I followed her silently, watching for her reactions like I always tended to do. She stopped at one in particular that made me smile. This photograph was a shocking shade of blue with a flower in the lower right hand corner that was blooming into the center.

"Charles S. Swan," she read aloud. "Oh my God, Bella, isn't that your dad?" she asked excitedly. I smiled and looked at the picture.

"Yea. He took that in '03. Isn't it neat? It's one of my favorites."

I remembered when my dad took this picture. He had just come home from a trip to South America, much like myself, and was showing me his portfolio he had put together. I remember 'oohing' and 'ahhing' whenever a particularly beautiful picture came up. This had been my favorite in the bunch and he had made me a copy to hang in my bedroom wall. I still have it, but I keep it at home. It never felt right to take it out of the room.

Alice asked me several more questions about my father's work and his history as a photographer. I told her all about his trips around the world and even how he and my mother met. She pestered me to tell her all about the proposal too, hoping it was better than the first date story, which in all honesty, wasn't that hot.

"Aww, Bella! That's adorable!" she smiled up at me. "Just think, to be in Paris when you meet the love of your life! How much more romantic could you get?"

"I don't know, Alice. I'm sure there are tons of more romantic things," I offered while we walked. "I'm sure it was great to be in Paris but location doesn't really matter all that much –"

"Isabella Marie Swan, I swear to God if you say one more thing about Paris not being the most romantic city in the world I will personally drag your ass shopping for the next month with no mercy!"

I cringed. "Paris is great," I amended. Alice smiled. "All I'm saying is that it's what's said that counts more than anything. I mean you could be on the most beautiful boat in the world at night with roses, candles and the whole she-bang, yet the speech would have to be just as lovely. You can't let the scenery do all the romanticizing for you. You have to work it."

"Well, yeah, I mean that's true, but still I'd rather get proposed to on a giant boat than in like, a dark alleyway or something," Alice shrugged. "Someone might steal my ring!" she laughed.

I chuckled and we walked to the front desk as we continued our round around the lobby. "Boats are nice."

After a head-nod filled phone call, the receptionist sent us up to Justin's office on the 18th floor. Alice was bouncing around in the elevator and had an ear-splitting grin on her face.

"And what are you so excited about?" I teased.

"Oh, nothing!" she sang. I laughed at her and her giddiness and waited for the elevator to open for the correct floor. "Are you excited to meet Justin?" I questioned as we walked off the elevator. "Because he isn't very interst- Oof!"

I hit something hard as I walked off the elevator and I was damn certain that it wasn't a wall. Before I hit the ground I felt two arms wrap around my waist, and after I hit the ground I felt 150 lbs crushing me into the carpet.

'Can't. Breathe -!" I felt my face growing hot as I lied on the floor with my head pushed into the carpeting. The body on top of me seemed to be shifting its weight around, putting more pressure on different parts of my body. I squeaked several times before the person got up off of me, and dragged in a huge gulp of air. Alice helped me up and as I struggled to stand. I blushed even harder when I saw two pairs of men's loafers on the ground in front of me. I refused to look up as Alice circled around me, fixing my disarray of hair before picking up my beanie that had fallen to the ground. "Are you alright?" she asked as she dusted it off.

"Yea – yes. I'm fine. Thank you, Alice," I stumbled on my words.

Two other voices asked me the same question just then, both very distinct yet both a deep man's voice. I looked up to find one man closer than the other, reaching his arm out with a look of concern on his face.

The one standing farthest away from me had black hair and a Still Life Staff T-shirt on under a beige vest. How cliché photographer is that? The other man, the closer one, was taller than the first. He had blue eyes and blonde hair, a boyish looking face and was close enough to touch me. They were both good-looking men. I blushed ten-fold.

"I'm so sorry," the blonde man spoke, "I didn't even see you walk out of the elevator. Are you alright?" he asked, concern lacing his tone.

"Yes, I'm okay, th-thank you." I looked down.

"I'm Mike," he said as he reached his hand out. I shook his hand tentatively. "This is Tyler."

"I'm Bella and this is my friend Alice. If you'll excuse us - "

"Where are you going?" Mike asked, seemingly interested. He continued to stare at me.

"I have a meeting, and we really must be going. Thank you for your help." I started to walk down the hallway as Alice followed, when Mike felt the need to ask me something else.

"Can I have your number?"

What? Dear Lord.

"What?"

"Can I have your number?" he repeated.

I looked at him incredulously. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"No!" Alice burst out laughing beside me, clutching her side as I glared down at her.

"Come on, I'd like to take you to dinner. To make up for practically smothering you," he answered to me. Alice rolled her eyes and turned to continue walking down the hallway, leaving me to fend for myself. I would kill her when I catch up with her. Damn girl.

"Uh, sorry, but I have to go."

"Please?"

"Sorry!" I whirled around and started to run down the hallway before the tip of my shoe caught and I fell again. I got up as quickly as possible before stumbling and running back to Alice. I heard muffled laughter behind me and my blush increased for the umpteenth time.

"Alice, how dare you leave me back there?" I seethed.

"Oops," she giggled. I rolled my eyes and threw my hands in the air.

"Did you want me to humiliate myself?"

"Bells, you already did, I just didn't want to wait around and see what loser back there had to say."

"You suck."

"Love you too, Bella," she laughed.

I was always so jealous of Alice. She carried herself with confidence and always knew what to say in a conversation. She was gorgeous, hilarious, and God knows – coordinate! She had everything she could ever want, while I was just plain and simple.

We made it to Justin's office door and I took a deep breath. I knocked on the foggy glass right below the words Justin Meyer, C.E.O. Still Life Photography and held my breath.

"Come in."

*~*~*~*~*

We sat at home with out feet on the glass coffee table watching Finding Nemo, my all-time favorite movie. I was busy quoting every line to the movie silently while Alice was flipping through the fashion magazine I bought her at the airport. I was glad she liked it; it wasn't an extremely well-know magazine, but it had its base in NYC and she said it had promise. If she was happy, I was happy.

Well, uh. Sorta.

The meeting with Justin consisted of a lot of calm arguing on his and my behalves and a lot of bouncing and touching of desk knick-knacks on Alice's part. Justin wasn't too thrilled with that, but only asked her twice not to touch them before giving up. He figured it was a lost cause well before most people did. Props to him.

In the end, after phone calls to publishers and NatGeo, we had agreed that my photos could be used in the documentary and some are under consideration for an ad for the show. So, on those notes, I was thrilled. My dream was coming true, and my name would be out there in the open, but there was still one major downturn. My payment was…not great, to say the least.

I had offered to call my lawyer more than once, but it actually wasn't necessary. I know that it wasn't the smartest this to do – leave out the lawyer – but I knew Justin wasn't trying to screw me over. He had been friends with my father and I've known him for quite some time. He was trying to do all he could but National Geographic wasn't helping any.

In the end, I would not and will not get paid for my trip. The good news was that I didn't have to pay for anything that I did on the trip, such as food rations, gasoline, etc. and Justin gave me a small bonus. It was nothing extraordinary, but it would suffice for the time being. I would still be late on some of my bill payments, but Alice that she would help me since it was her fault I wasn't being paid in the first place. I had told her time and time again that it wouldn't be necessary but she whipped out the puppy-dog eyes on me. It's simply impossible to resist those. It's crazy.

"Hey, Bells?"

"Yes, Alice? What can I do for you?"

"You know how you're all into nature photography? I mean that's the only thing you shoot right?"

"Yea, why?" Alice was fixated on a page in her magazine while she spoke to me. I turned back to the television.

"I was wondering why you chose nature? Why not fashion or commercial or something?"

"Commercial stuff, Alice? Really? That's absurd," I laughed. She didn't respond, but continued to read her magazine. "Um, I don't know. I think it's that nature is just so beautiful. It's innocent and undisturbed." I leaned my head back against the couch as I truly contemplated this for the first time. No one had ever asked me directly why I chose nature. "The true tale of life," I confirmed. " It's not always pretty, but it's real. The story of life and death… and uniqueness. People can do that, sure, but it's not as interesting or worthy, even. It doesn't meet the standards. I think that we all try to imitate it, but it just doesn't add up." I looked over at Alice to see if I could get a reaction. She offered none and so I blushed and looked back to the television.

"Uh-huh. That's real deep Bella," she said sarcastically. "How desperate are you for money?" she asked. Alice picked her head up from her magazine and stared right at me. "How much do you not want me to help you with your bills?"

"I'd rather you didn't pay for anything, so I guess a lot. Very desperate and I don't want you to have to waste money on me. At all…"

"Well, good!" Alice slapped her magazine onto my lap and pointed to an ad on the bottom of the left page. "Read it and weep, Bella Baby."

Photographer Needed

That's all of the ad I actually got to see before Alice started talking to me at such a high speed I had to look at her to try and read lips. "Alice! Slow down! Breathe. Good. Now talk to me like a human."

"Bella don't you see? This is perfect! They're looking for a photographer; you're looking for a job! And it's here in New York! It says it's only for a few days and that the pay is good! I'll call right now!" Alice jumped up off the couch with the magazine and headed toward the kitchen phone.

"Alice!" I shouted. She stopped and turned around.

"Yes?"

"I don't know anything about this job! Care to elaborate before I say yes?"

"Ugh, Bella, who cares? It's for a magazine."

"Okay, and?"

"It's a fashion…shoot?" she gave up hesitantly.

"Alice! That's not my thing! I just got done explaining to you about how - "

"Hush, Bella Baby." Alice held her hand up to stop me. "You are looking for a job and you need money. An opening has just literally landed in your lap and you're turning it down? Bells, come on! It's only for a few days. Stop whining!"

"Jeez, Alice! But - "

"No buts!"

"But-"

"None!" she shouted. The ring of authority and finality that was in her voice made me want to dissolve into my seat. Who knew someone so tiny could be so threatening?

After no rebuttal from me, Alice jumped up and down and ran into the kitchen. "You won't regret this, Bella! I promise!"

"Let the good times roll," I muttered.

Thank you for reading! I want to thank Leon McFrenchington who first told me about the contract that Bella had with NatGeo. It is indeed a strange one, but that's how it has to be lol. Im feeling Edward next chapter!

Oh, and for those of you thinking that Alice is already on the fat track to healing, she's not. Everybody copes with loss in a different way, and I'm illustrating how Alice does it using personal experience.

As always, household items to my reviewers. I hope you enjoyed your phonebooks :) Please, please, please just take a minute and review! (could I maybe get to 25 reviews overall? Just a thought!) It means the world to me :)

Much Love 3