Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of the fantastic characters from the books. Just look what would happen if I did!
Chapter 11 – What the…?
EPOV
You know the old saying, "You don't know what you have until it's gone"? Well that is definitely true. When we got on the ship, I wanted to go with Bella. For some reason, I was afraid that I wouldn't see her again. Later when Alice brought her to the sports bar, I felt a sense of relief that I just can't explain. I wanted to run over and give her a big hug.
After the stupid life jacket drill, I knew she was going to come back down to the sports bar, but I just couldn't wait to see her. I went up to her room to find her. We sat out on the balcony watching the sunset together. I felt honored that she told me about her mom. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and kiss the tears away.
The piano bar was a blast! We were drinking and singing at the top of our lungs! I hate karaoke but I could really get into this! Bella surprised me with her ability to hold her alcohol. I didn't get the impression that she was much of a drinker, and her body frame is small, so I figured she would get drunk faster. Boy was I wrong! Maybe it was the fact that we didn't have dinner, or maybe it was because I was drinking scotch and she was drinking martinis but she definitely held hers better than I held mine!
All together, we had a great night. It was just like two good friends hanging out. The next morning, I felt like shit! My head was splitting and my stomach was upset. Alice gave me some medicine for my head, and forced me to eat some breakfast, but all I wanted was to go back to sleep. After my nap, I got up for lunch feeling much better. Jasper and Alice were spending the afternoon playing water volleyball in one of the pools on the upper decks. I had no interest in that, so I went looking for Bella.
When I couldn't find her in her room, I tried calling her cell phone but got no answer. I remembered her turning it off after talking to Mike. She must still have it turned off. I started looking in all the places I thought she might be. I even looked at the boat map to see if I missed anything. The more I looked, the more worried I became. What if she was hanging out with another guy and didn't want me to find her? She was an attractive woman. There were plenty of single guys on this ship that would love to hang out with Bella. The thought made me sick. She was mine! But, does she know that? You haven't told her anything. She even said that the other night was a one time thing. I had to find her. I had to let her know how I felt. Yes, she wore real clothes yesterday and her hair was sexy and soft as silk, but even if she went back to wearing oversized sweatshirts and granny buns I would still have these feelings for her.
I had to make things right between us. Jasper was right, she was a good girl. She needed to be treated like a lady should be treated. I needed to ask her out on a proper date. We can just forget that we ever fucked and start over. I will never be able to forget that! We gave her THREE with almost no effort on our part!! Right, just keep patting yourself on the back. We need to find Bella!
I ran into the Jamison's. I worked with Marg and had met Bill a few times at Christmas parties and such. I had their daughter, Brittany, in my second period class. I asked them if they had seen Bella. Marg game me a funny look and said no, but Brittany offered to help me find her. The girl is a bloodhound! In a matter of minutes, she came back and told me where I could find Bella. I paid her bounty and took off for the library.
I had to stop in the doorway and take a moment to just look at her. She was breathtaking! She was sitting on the leather sofa wearing white walking shorts and pale pink fitted t-shirt that had tiny pink and white roses embroidered around the scalloped neckline. Her white sandals were on the floor and her feet were tucked up on the couch beside her. The sun was beaming in through the window giving her an almost angelic glow.
When we talked, she told me that she was going to bed early. I was so disappointed, I could have cried. I had finally decided to ask her out and she was going to bed early! What the hell? I told her about the movie and asked if she would go with me. She said yes! When we were walking down the hall, I asked her if I could hold her hand and she said yes! Everything was working out beautifully!
I have no idea what movie we even watched. All I knew was that I had this precious woman at my side. She was sweet and innocent. She was everything a man could want in a woman. In the back of my mind, I still had a thing for Izzy but she was only a small part of what I wanted in a woman… maybe 20%. Bella was definitely at least 80%, maybe more! If I could have Bella, I would gladly walk away from Izzy. Sure I would miss her, but Bella was worth it!
I wondered what Bella would think if she ever found out about Izzy. She would probably leave me and never talk to me again if she ever found out that I actually had sex with Izzy… in front of an audience! Shit! I have to make sure she never finds out. I don't want to lie to her, but I don't want to lose her either. Hopefully she never thinks to ask. It's not something that comes up in general conversation, "Honey, have you ever fucked a stranger in front of an audience before?" No, she was so sweet and innocent; I doubt the thought would every come to her mind. She is not completely innocent, she does read erotica! True, but that's all make believe stuff. I'm sure she would never think to ask about something like that.
After the movie, I walked her to the room and gave her the kind of good night kiss that she deserved. I really put my heart into it. I have never kissed a woman like that before, with such passion but no lust. It felt… good! I invited her to breakfast and swimming.
The next morning, I showed up at her door at 8:30. She was dressed in some black shorts and a light blue tank top. I could see the strings of her yellow bikini tied around her neck. Her hair was down and hanging in waves. I am sure she didn't bother straightening it because we would be swimming today. We had breakfast from one of the buffet lines. The food was good. Afterwards, we sat and talked about what we usually do on weekends. I told her that I usually do some housework then grade papers. Occasionally I go to the gym. She said she does housework, has lunch with her father, and then goes grocery shopping for him. Apparently the man hasn't been grocery shopping in years. She pre-cooks some of his meals for him so all he has to do is heat them up. Man, she has him spoiled!
When we walked out to the pool, Jasper and Alice were already swimming. I pulled off my shirt and jumped right in. Bella went over to one of the chairs and kicked off her shoes. I watched as she pulled her shirt off and stepped out of her shorts. It was a good thing I was chest deep in cold water or my reaction to seeing her in that bikini would have been quite obvious! Jasper splashed water at me and said, "Dude, wash the drool off your face!"
Alice giggled, "Hey Bella, love the bathing suit!"
"Thanks Alice, Edward took me to pick it out. I got another one too. I will probably wear that one in Cabo."
She walked to the edge of the pool and jumped in. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed that she didn't turn around and use the ladder. I would have loved to see her perky ass in that bathing suit. Oh well, she's got to get out eventually!
Jasper swam over to me and said, "Edward, I ran into the Jamison's this morning. They said you and Bella were holding hands and snuggling pretty close at the movie last night. I know it's none of my business, but she is my friend. Are you just fucking with her, or are you ready to man up and be the kind of guy that she needs you do be?"
"I really like her Jazz. I more than like her! I don't think I have ever felt this way about a woman before. She makes me feel…"
Bella popped up from under the water right in front of me. "Hey guys! Doesn't the water feel great? What are you talking about over here that is making you smile like that?" She asked as she kissed me on the tip of the nose.
Jasper piped in, "Edward was just explaining to me why I shouldn't kick his ass."
Bella giggled, "Oh, and why is that?"
"Because he is going to be good to you." He said giving me a pointed look. "Best friend or not, hurting my buddy Bella is grounds for an ass kicking."
I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her close to me, "No ass kicking will be necessary. I promise."
Bella giggled, "What happens if I hurt him? Will you kick my ass too?"
Jasper laughed, "Hell no! He's on his own."
"Gee thanks, Jazz!" I said splashing him with water.
We played in the pool for a couple hours, until Alice insisted it was time for lunch. Jasper and I dried off quickly and ran through the buffet line. Alice stretched out on one of the lawn chairs to bask in the sun. Bella climbed out of the pool and dried off quickly before wrapping her hair in the towel and taking a seat on the lounge chair beside Alice. When we came back a few minutes later with food, Bella had taken the towel off of her head and set it aside. She was bending over with her head down and doing something to her hair by squishing it by little handfuls. When she flipped her hair back and fluffed it a little, it was full of curls. My heart started to pound in my chest. Her hair looks just like…
"I like it like that, Bella. It looks good." Alice said.
Bella stretched out on her stomach on the lounge chair. "In order to keep it looking like this, I have to put gel in it. The gel gets nasty when I get in the rain and it's kind of a pain to wash out, so I don't bother with it."
"You just need a better umbrella. I think it looks good and it's worth the hassle. Here you need to put some suntan lotion on or you'll burn." She handed her a bottle of lotion.
Bella looked over at me and smiled, "That looks good." She picked up a fork and speared a meatball. "Yummy! This really is good. Hey Alice, did you try the meatballs? Thank you Edward, you take such good care of me." She smiled.
"My pleasure." I said with a shaky voice. Why do I feel so uptight all of the sudden?
She sat up to eat the rest of her lunch while Alice suggested hair products. When she was finished eating, she sat the plate aside, picked up the bottle, and started applying the lotion to her skin. "Hey, Alice, how much longer until we have to leave for our spa treatment?"
"We have two more hours. You have time to tan." Alice said picking up a magazine.
Bella stretched out on her stomach and said, "Edward, will you put lotion on my back?"
I took the little bottle from her hand and helped move her hair out of the way. I dripped a little of the smelly liquid onto her shoulders and started spreading it around. I don't know why they have to make this stuff smell so strong. She reached back and untied the strap across the middle of her back. I added some more at her waist and started working it in, when I noticed a small dark spot that was just barely covered by her bathing suit bottoms. No, no, no! It can't be!
My hands started to shake and I felt a lump in my throat. I added a little lotion to the back of her thighs and spread it around, but I couldn't stop looking at the dark spot showing though, just above her right butt cheek. It has to be a flaw in the material! It's in the same spot. Maybe she has a bruise! Not shaped like that!
I slid my trembling fingers up her leg, to the place where the bathing suit was barely covering the dark mark and moved it aside. A black swan! I gasped.
"Edward, what's wrong?" Bella asked as she looked back at me.
"W- w- what's that?!" I slid backward, bumping my chair into the one behind me.
"It's my tattoo. It's a swan. Edward, what's wrong? You look like you've just seen a ghost." She said sitting up and letting her long curls hang down her back.
I got up, running my shaking hands through my hair. This has to be a coincidence, right? It's possible that two people have the same tattoo. It happens all the time. I paced back and forth for a moment.
"Edward, what's wrong? You're scaring me. What did I do?" Bella asked as she reached out for me. "Please, just talk to me."
I backed away from her hand. I had to think. I had to get away and just think. I turned and headed for the door that led to the rest of the ship. I didn't know where I was going, I just needed to go. I walked to the opposite side of the ship, but that wasn't far enough. I went up a level and circled the halls before climbing to the next level and then the next. I eventually found myself on the running track at the top of the ship. I ran on the track as fast and hard as I could while all of my thoughts collided.
She works a secret night job... At Heidi's Parlor!
She has a lot of cash… MY cash and god only knows who else's!
She is sweet and innocent… Apparently NOT!
She wears baggy shirts… And gets NAKED at night for men!
Mike was bad in bed… So she touches herself so other men can get off!
She deserves to be treated right… She is pretty damn good at treating herself right!
My stomach was sick at the thought of all the men who have probably seen her naked. I thought she was special! Why did it have to be her? I finally found a good woman to love and she turns out to be a… My mind couldn't even think the words. I just kept running. I ran until I collapsed on a bench beside the track. I was physically and mentally exhausted.
I had no idea what time it was. The sun had gone down and the deck was now cast in a grey hue. The spotlights along the track flickered on making large white dots along the path. The light behind me caused my shadow to stretch out in front of me on the ground. As I sat there concentrating on the form, I heard a voice.
"I thought I would find you up here." It was Jasper. He strolled casually over and took a seat beside me.
"I'm not in the mood, Jasper." I said flatly.
"Edward, Bella is pretty upset. What happened down there today? So, she has a tattoo, so does Alice. It's no big deal."
"I don't give a damn about her fucking tattoo!" I said venomously.
"Then what the fuck is the problem then? One minute we are in the pool and you are telling me that you are in love with her and the next minute you are running off like her head just spun around and she spewed pea soup everywhere!" Jasper took a deep breath to calm himself, put his hand on my shoulder, and said, "Edward, we have been best friends since our freshmen year in college. You know you can talk to me about anything. I may not agree with you all the time, but I always listen."
We sat in silence for a few minutes. I finally took a deep breath and said, "I have seen her naked, Jasper."
"Ok, does she have nasty boils or something, because I'm just not seeing the problem here? I was pretty sure you hit that in San Francisco."
I sighed and said, "No, you don't understand. I have seen her naked a lot!" Jasper was waving his hands signaling me to continue. "You know how I go to Seattle once a week."
"Yes, to that strip club… Wait, are you saying that Bella is a stripper? You have been driving up to Seattle once a week for months to watch Bella strip?"
"Well, not exactly." I said trying to figure out how to say it.
"So Bella is the one giving you a little VIP action on the side?" He laughed, "Hey, you know me. I'm not one to judge. My only question is why freak out about it now?"
"Jazz, remember Emmett's bachelor party? Remember the special treat Alice set up for Emmett? It was to a peep show. Behind Volterra is a place called Heidi's Parlor. It is a member's only club where people pay to watch… performances"
"What… like talent shows? I don't get it."
"These performances are… sexual in nature." I ran my fingers through my hair and concentrated on the movement my shadow made on the ground. "The performers put on a show and pleasure themselves while people watch behind a two way mirror... Bella is a performer."
"Holy fuck!" Jasper said he turned to look directly at me. "Why didn't I know about a place like this? There is a place in Seattle where I can go to watch women get themselves off? Do you know how valuable that information is, Edward? It's like having insider information! Sure women say they like it, but they lie like hell, too! If you could get a general consensus of what a woman REALLY likes, you could rock their world!"
What? Did he even hear what I said about Bella? "Jasper, calm down!" I said giving him a dirty look. "If Alice wanted you to see something like that, she would have set it up for you a long time ago."
"Shit, you're right. She would kill me." He said with a scowl on his face. We sat in silence a little longer and then he said, "If you have been driving all the way to fucking Seattle for months to watch her… do that, why are you just now freaking out about it?"
I sighed, "I didn't know it was her. When she performs, she always wears sexy clothes and has her hair down and curly. She wears dark makeup and this lace blindfold. Bella's hair is always up at school. Until this cruise, I have never seen her wear makeup and you have seen the way she dresses at work! I didn't know it was her! Izzy is sexy and confident and has this sexy little black swan tattoo on her ass."
"Izzy being…"
"Bella's stage name. Anyway, Izzy was the woman of my fantasies. She was hot and horny and cocky and fun. Bella is sweet and humble and caring and kind. Bella was perfect…" My voice trailed off.
"It sounds like she is still perfect, to me." Jasper said with a nod. "Think about it, man. You have little miss perfect, police chief's daughter, school librarian by day, and hot, sexy, wanton goddess by night! She can do dirty things to you all night long and still smile sweet for the public in the daytime!"
"How can I have a serious relationship with someone who masturbates in front of strangers? How many other men have seen her? How can I sleep at night knowing she is out there doing that?" I said shaking my head.
"Hold on a minute there!" Jasper gave me a stern look. I hate it when he does that! "You ask how you can have a serious relationship with someone that does that… How about asking yourself how she could have a serious relationship with someone who pays to watch other women get off?"
"I haven't been back since Bella and I have gotten close!"
"Has she been working up at that place during that time?"
"No, her car has been in the shop. That's why she was riding with us."
"Ok, so we can safely assume that she stopped… performing… when you stopped… attending. Correct?"
"I guess so. But her circumstances were not the same. I stopped because I found someone I was serious about. She stopped because of car problems. It's not the same."
"How do you know it's not the same? Have you talked to her about it?"
"No, of course not! I just found out!"
"I suggest you talk to her about it. She may have a good reason for doing what she is doing. Before you go making assumptions, I think you need to talk to her. Be honest with how you feel about what she is doing. Let her know what's going through your mind. Right now, she is pretty torn up. She thinks you are mad at her, but she doesn't understand what she did to deserve this. She loves you, man! That doesn't happen very often. The least you can do is talk to her." He stood up to walk away and said, "Anyway, you know you can always talk to me."
When I looked up again, he was gone. He was right. I needed to talk to Bella, but I sure wasn't going to do it tonight. I just wanted to go back to my room and take a shower. I was sweaty and exhausted. I staggered down to my room and climbed into the tiny little shower then collapsed on the tiny little rock hard bed. Bella is in a big soft king size bed! Shut up!
Sometime while I was sleeping, we arrived in Mexico. I was going to be doing an extreme canopy excursion today. I threw on some cargo pants, hiking books, and a t-shirt, put my wallet and my passport in a plastic bag, grabbed a baseball hat and was on my way. The line was really long to get off the ship, so I stopped to grab a bagel before heading down there. On my way off the ship, they made me stop for a picture. Whatever! There were guys with signs loading people on buses to different locations. I found my bus and climbed aboard. The bus was almost full, but I managed to find the one seat that was empty. The driver counted the people in the bus and checked over the list before she shut the door and we were on our way.
It didn't take long before we were loaded onto the little boat that was taking us upstream. Once we arrived at the location for the hike, they split us up into groups of eight. Each group got a tour guide. My tour guide's name was Julio. Julio was probably in his mid twenties. His English was pretty good. He looked like he spent a lot of time working out. He was wearing a spandex shirt that was at least two sizes too small. It was so tight you could see if he had lint in his bellybutton! Why do guys do this? Do women really think guys dressed like that are attractive? I think they look ridiculous!
"Hello. My name is Julio. I am going to be your guide today. Do we have any experienced hikers with us today? If so, raise your hand." Julio called to the crowd. I raised my hand. I looked around and saw a man off to my right with his hand up as well.
"Very good." Julio said, "The important thing to remember when hiking as a group is that we all have to stick together. To keep the experienced hikers from taking off and leaving the rest of the group, I like to put them at the back. They can help keep people from falling behind. So, señores, can you please go to the back of the line?"
The hiker guy and I walked to the back as Julio started us on our trek up the side of the mountain. The hike started off relatively smooth. The path we were taking was well worn, so we didn't have to worry about people twisting their ankles or slipping on the grass. We hadn't been gone more than ten minutes when an old man started to lag behind. Hiker guy and I had to keep on him about it. Five minutes later, we ran into another tour group that was taking a break on the side of the path.
Julio yelled out to our group, "How's everybody feeling? Are you getting tired?" Some people groaned. "It is only going to get harder from here. The group that you see here is taking a less extreme tour. They are going to hike the trail and go to the zip line, but because of the breaks they take along the way, they will not have time to rappel the falls. If any of you would like to go with that group and take the easier trek, come see me and we will switch you to the other group."
The slow guy and a few others walked forward. Julio and the other tour guide exchanged information on a few people. A few minutes later, we were on our way. We left four behind and gained three, two men and a woman. As we started walking again, I noticed that Julio kept talking to the new woman. I couldn't see her very well because her back was to me and she was wearing a floppy mesh hat. I could see that she was wearing some khaki cargo pants and a red tank top thing, like women wear when they are working out. She had a thin long sleeved shirt tied around her waist and was wearing a pair of hiking boots that looked like they had seen plenty of use.
As we climbed higher and higher up the mountain, Julio felt the need to help her more and more. I thought this was funny because she didn't appear to need his help. At the half way point, we stopped for a break. Julio passed out bottles of water from a cooler at the stopping point. The lady Julio had been fawning over the entire trip took her hat off.
"Bella?" What the hell is she doing here? No wonder Julio, the wonder stud, was hanging all over her!
When she looked up at me, I watched as her face shifted from confusion, to recognition, to happiness, to sadness, and settled on anger. "Edward." She said in a stone cold tone. "If I had known you were going to be in this group, I would have taken the other trek." She would have… What? What the hell? Is she mad at me? What did I do? I fumed!
Julio decided it was time for us to move on again. He reminded me and hiker guy to stay at the back, helped Bella up, and led us further up the trail. Of course he kept her at his side the entire time, so he could talk to her and make sure she was doing fine. When we had to climb up steep rocks, he was there to hold her hand and help her up. Once she was up, he delegated the task to someone else. It was like they were out for a hike together and we were all just following them, like puppies. It was pathetic!
The hike ended with a zip line ride though the canopy which led us to a place where we would do the rappelling. As we approached the zip line station, we ran into another group. They were all waiting to go down, so we were waiting behind them. Julio, the wonder stud, thought this would be a good time to chat a little more with Bella. I moved closer, so I could hear what he said.
"…so you have nothing to be afraid of. If you feel you cannot do it, you can ride down with me in the…" Julio was saying as he leaned closer to her.
"I think I'll be fine. Thank you." She sounded quite irritated. I may have smiled a little.
"If you don't mind I would like to call you to make sure you…" This guy just doesn't stop does he?
Bella looked up and said, "Edward! So, how was your hike?" She looked desperate for an escape from the clutches of Julio, wonder stud extraordinaire.
"Not as good as yours, apparently." I said with a sour smirk. "Did your little tour guide educate you on all of the native flora and fauna?"
"No, I think he was more interested in my landscaping than anything or anyone around us. I spent more time trying to keep his hands and eyes off of me than I did looking at the forest around us! It was pathetic."
The thought of him touching her made me sick to my stomach! That stirred up thoughts of all the men that jacked off while they watched her at Heidi's. "What, he didn't pay enough for you?" I snarled. I sure paid a whole hell of a lot of money to see her body!
Her head snapped up and she gave me a dirty look. "I believe you should clarify that statement before I take it the wrong way!"
"Oh, I'm sorry! He probably would have wanted to actually participate and we can't be having that, now can we? It's much better to keep the strangers on the other side of the glass!" I said through clenched teeth.
Her face dropped and tears started flowing freely down her cheek. "How did you know?" She managed to whisper with a ragged breath.
I threw my hands up in the air and said, "I recognized your tattoo, Bella! I mean, hell, you did a good job of disguising yourself! You really had me fooled! All this time I thought you were so sweet and innocent! I never even suspected it! Now that I know, it all is starting to make sense. I mean your name, Isabella, you go by Bella when you are the good girl that everyone loves and you go by Izzy when you are the bad girl that everyone loves TO WATCH! Fuck, Izzy, did you really think you could flaunt that beautiful ass in front of me for MONTHS and I wouldn't recognize your fucking tattoo?"
I heard her gasp as she realized who I was. "Shy Boy?" He face turned bright red, then she turned around and punched me right in the face! Her punch landed directly on my left cheekbone, almost knocking me over! It hurt like hell! "YOU FUCKING HYPOCRITE!" She screamed as she reared back to take another swing at me. Somebody grabbed her and pulled her away as she continued to yell, "YOU, of all people, are going to stand here and judge me for the things I did? Things that YOU PAID ME TO DO!"
I glared and her and said, "It's good to see you are putting my money to good use! So, what, your weekly payments weren't enough? You decided you would try to make me fall in love with you, so you could get your hands on the rest of my trust fund?"
Her face turned and even brighter shade of red and she lunged for me again. Thankfully, Julio stepped between us, catching a sharp right to his chin. "You seem to forget that YOU were the one that came to ME! YOU were the one that filled my calendar so no one else could see me! YOU were the one who sat there on the other side of that glass watching me EVERY WEEK, Shy Boy! EVERY FUCKING WEEK! YOU were the one that kept coming into the library to talk to ME! YOU are the one that asked ME out! YOU are the one that KISSED ME! YOU are the one that made ME FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU!" She dropped to her knees, coving her face with her hands and in a soft voice said, "You are the one that broke my heart!"
The whole crowd was silent. The only sound was her crying. Someone brought ice for her knuckles and Julio's jaw. My left eye was slightly swollen. I was sure it would bruise, but I wasn't about to worry with the ice. I had hurt her. I had broken the heart of the only person I have ever had feelings for. I did this! I hurt her! She was right. I was just as much a participant as she was. She didn't chase me, I chased her. I was being an ass and taking out my own insecurities on her. At that moment I wished I could take back all the things I said.
Bella took a deep breath and stood up, not looking at me, and marched to the zip line with determination. She stepped into the harness and without a word, stepped off the platform and headed down the mountain. I stood there and watched her disappear into the trees. The further she got, the more my chest ached. I wanted to scream that I was sorry but she was too far away to hear it.
Other people started down the zip line. The crowd started talking again. An old man came up to me and looked at my eye. He said I had a "nice little shiner" but it would be alright in a few days. Someone came and put a harness on me. I barely even noticed. I felt like I was in a thick fog. Someone led me to the platform. There may have been some instructions, but I don't know for sure. I felt the wind in my hair and a slight falling sensation. I have been told that it's exhilarating. I didn't notice.
The only thing going through my mind was Jasper's words, "It sounds like she is still perfect, to me. Think about it, man. You have little miss perfect, police chief's daughter, school librarian by day, and hot, sexy, wanton goddess by night!"
By the time I reached the bottom of the line, I had made up my mind. I had to find her. I had to apologize for the nasty things I said. I had to beg for her forgiveness for hurting her and humiliating her like that. I needed to talk to her about my concerns so we could work through it. I needed to get her back!
A/N – Happy Tuesday! (I hope.) Ok, it was the moment you have all been waiting for. They finally figured out each other's secret identity! I hope you're not too terribly disappointed. You all know that Edward just wouldn't be "Edward" if he didn't freak out and go completely overboard. Besides, all good stories need some drama.
Status update, for all of you that are playing along at home: 486 Reviews and 708 People following the story through alerts and favorites. I know I have not had time to respond to the reviews. Sorry about that. Please believe me when I say that I do read every one and greatly appreciate all the nice things you have to say.
Don't forget to keep posting reviews on the stories you love. It really makes the writer feel like all the hard work is worth it. (Though I am kind of cringing thinking about the reviews I am going to get with this chapter!)
A special thanks to NoWayWithWords. She has been busy writing! She let me have a sneak peak at the first chapter of her new work in progress. I think you are going to love it. I will let you all know when she finally posts it. (I am so excited!)
Another interesting side note… I finally got the first chapter cleaned up enough to post on the "other" website (you know the one I am talking about.) They have some pretty strong quality standards, so I have to do quite a bit of cleaning up (not the smut, just the typos, grammar, and punctuation). I am doing it to make myself a better writer. If you are one of the people that visit that website as well, pop on over and drop me a review. I would love to hear from you!
OK, I really do need to get to work. I wonder where I could find a bullet proof vest to wear until next Tuesday…
Thanks for reading!
A Little Distracted