AN: Shocked that anyone even read it, let alone reviewed and liked it!

Disclaimer: I own pink converse sneakers, but not Twilight.

**

Finally, I heard a click and a live voice came on the line.

"Thank you for calling Applecare. My name is Edward. How can I help you?"

Chapter 2 – I just called to say

BPOV

"Hi, my Mac is eating itself. What do I do?"

"What is it doing?" the man on the phone asked.

"EATING ITSELF!" I know I sounded like a lunatic and I could not care less.

"Heh, no, I mean what, specifically, is it doing?" he chuckled slightly.

"Oh, I was writing my review and it freaked out and now there are these lines all over the screen. Did it erase my article?"

"Do you have auto save enabled?" he questioned.

"…I have no idea. Is that bad?"

My heart was pounding and my hands were trembling. I could no doubt rewrite one review, but what if my computer was really sick and I lost my files. The last time I had backed up onto an external hard drive was four months ago. That was a ridiculous amount of work to lose. Most of the articles on my computer were drafts that had not been published yet. I would lose my entire reserve if I couldn't get them back.

Not good.

"Ok, we'll figure it out. What computer do you have?"

"Macbook Pro. It's only a year old."

"Alright, what is your OS?" he asked.

What the hell is an ahs.

"What is an 'ahs'?" I was puzzled.

"Heh, operating system. You know, PCs use Windows. What do you use?"

At least he was patient with me.

"OH! I think it's the Jaguar." I said, proud that I had remembered something technical.

"Leopard?"

I sighed. So much for being technical.

"Oh, yeah! Sorry, it's a company computer."

"Ok, these lines, what do they look like?"

"They're just colored vertical lines covering the whole screen." I hoped that description would be sufficient enough for someone who knew Macs, because I didn't.

"Ah, ok. I think you just have to reset your PRAM – that's parameter random access memory. It shouldn't take long. Let's go ahead and restart your computer and I'll tell you what key combinations to hold down while it's rebooting."

After I restarted the computer while pressing the correct keys, the lines were gone and he was able to show me that I did have the auto save enabled so my review, as well as my stored draft articles, were safe and sound. I made a silent resolve to back up my hard drive tomorrow since it was Saturday and I'd have plenty of time.

"Holy crow, thank you Edward! I love you!" I clasped my hand over my mouth and my face and neck felt hot. I knew I was blushing. I cannot believe I just said that out loud to this poor guy who saved my computer.

"You're welcome…?" He sounded as if he was waiting for me to finish his sentence.

"Oh! Bella, Bella Swan." I said hoping he would let my little outburst of affection go.

"Well, Bella, Bella Swan, I'm Edward, Edward Cullen. I figure we should at least exchange names before you profess your love to me."

Did I hear a chuckle?

"I…I'm sorry. I was just so excited. I guess we're done then?"

"Wow. I've had some short relationships in my life, but this one tops out."

That time he was definitely laughing at me.

"Ha ha, well, thank you for your help Edward. At least one of us kept their cool and you had a very soothing voice even though I was a panicky freak of nature."

"Anytime, Bella Swan. You were lovely." He paused for what seemed like an eternity. "Thank you for calling Applecare."

He just said I was lovely. I blushed again and began to stammer my words.

"I…I….Thank you….Bye."

I hung up feeling a bit warm. I saved my article again just to be safe and powered down my computer. The next time I turned that bitch on would be tomorrow when I backed it up.

I finished my glass of wine out on the patio of the condo and brought Jessie outside to sit with me and enjoy the night air. She was so cute. She turned around at least four times before plopping down on the far corner of the deck as if there was a bed there, when really, it was just the wooden slats beneath her.

The stars were coming out. We were just out of range of the lights of downtown so we could see them perfectly. I loved to sit out here on the lounger and just stare up into the sky. To imagine all of the things we can't see from this world. Of course there was other life out there. There had to be. There was too much space and too much unknown for it to be just us. I always thought it was funny how some people insisted that we were the only living planet in the solar system, let alone the galaxy. Impossible.

I must have dozed off at some point because I woke up to Jessie snoring in the corner. I picked up my empty glass and as soon as I moved, Jessie was up and wiggling her little body all around my legs.

We went inside to get ready for bed. After a quick shower, I got comfy in my usual warm-weather sleeping combo – panties and a tank top. The humidity here was ridiculous and even with the air conditioner on, you'd be surprised how muggy the air was all the time.

I let Jessie onto the bed and climbed in to get comfortable. It had been a stressful evening and sleep came easily.

**

Morning came sooner than I'd hoped for and I awoke with a groan. Jessie was lying next to my face wagging her tail and giving me kisses on my cheek. I got up, put a bra and some shorts on, and took her for a walk around on the grass down outside the complex. I saw my new neighbors, Peter and Charlotte, pruning their herb garden on their ground floor deck. I was never into gardening. I guess you could say I have a brown thumb.

I'm a fish killer too. In college, I got a baby shark and a suckerfish to keep the tank clean. One week after I got them, I went away for the night with friends and when I got back, the suckerfish had died. The tank was filthy and the shark wasn't doing so well. I had a feeling it was going to die so I stayed up with it until it finally took its last breath around 5:30 the next morning. At the end, its breaths were so labored and it let me softly stroke its side, pushing into the touch of another living thing as if it knew it was saying goodbye.

I was so distraught that I called my father hysterically. He was already at work at the station, but he took the call and soothed me as much as he could over the phone. Later he told me that when he got off the phone, a colleague came up to console him for the loss. My dad explained to him that it was his adult daughter's fish that died. The colleague just put his hand on my dad's shoulder and said, "Oh man, I know that's gotta be hard on someone. Losing a pet like that."

My father wanted to laugh but just nodded and walked off.

He may not have appreciated the condolences for a fish, but I sure did and I was glad he told me. I sent the colleague flowers anonymously and my dad always suspected that it was me, but I never owned up to it.

We got home from our walk and I got her dishes up off the floor so that I could fill them with water and her special food. She has Colitis which is an inflammation of the large intestine, so if she eats too much fat, she gets the poops. I buy a low-fat lamb and rice recipe and she loves it, so it's a win-win.

I got dressed in a pair of khaki capris and a teal short-sleeve shirt and got ready to run my errands. I had to swing by the mall to see if the new restaurant guide for the area had made it to Barnes & Noble yet. I was told I had a shot at being quoted for a review I did over in Raleigh. It was supposed to be out last week, but sometimes book releases get held back for one reason or another.

I drove the ten minutes down the road to the mall and parked as far away from the doors as I could so that I would be forced to walk and get in a little exercise. Everyone always said that was the best way because you did something healthy and you protected your car by being further away from the craziness of the lucrative front parking spaces.

The humidity was the only thing about North Carolina that I really wasn't fond of. After being here for a large part of my life, I was getting used to it. My dad had moved us here when he got the Chief job during my freshman year of high school. I could get used to it, but that didn't mean I had to actually like it.

My mom and I spoke often on the phone, but she had gotten remarried to someone a few years younger than she was, so she was always trying to prove she could keep up. I loved her and her crazy, erratic ways. She wasn't always accessible in a mom capacity, but she was very caring and she always made me laugh.

After wandering around the mall doing a little window shopping, I got to Barnes & Noble and they had the book. Right away, I flopped down on the floor in front of the shelf that I had just plucked the book from and began flipping through the pages to see the "Raleigh" section. Sure enough, there it was! They used an excerpt from my review for their book. I couldn't wait to show Jake! I loved when I got to update the ol' resume. It made me feel accomplished.

I got on line and paid for the book and walked out of the book store and back out into the mall. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Apple symbol down the walkway from where I was standing. I thought, "what the hell…I'll go thank Edward for helping me yesterday…and I can also check out the iPods while I'm in there." I already had a 30 GB video iPod but it was a bit of a clunker and I was thinking of a cute little nano for everyday use. Maybe in blue.

The Apple store always looked so sleek and modern. It also made me feel like a Dell on the day after Christmas. My Macbook was technically owned by my company. I doubt I would have spent the money on it if it was coming from my own bank account.

I walked in and was accosted by a very chipper sales associate. His name was Eric. And he loved Apple products. A lot. I politely told him I was just looking and went to find another employee to inquire as to Edward's whereabouts.

A few minutes later, a sweet looking teenager came out of the Employees Only area and I decided she was more approachable than Eric Apple.

"Excuse me, hi. I was wondering if Edward was working today?"

"Who?"

"Edward. He works in AppleCare."

"Sorry. There's no Edward in AppleCare."

What is she talking about? I just spoke with him last night. I was tired, but not delusional.

"I spoke to an Edward Cullen last night when I called in for my Mac. Are you new?"

"Oh, you mean Mr. Cullen. Yeah. He's not here today; it's Saturday."

She began to walk away and I stopped her. She was very frustrating for such a sweet looking young girl. Then again, she was a teenager.

"Well, if you could, would you tell him that Bella Swan stopped by to thank him for his help?"

I enunciated each syllable of my name very carefully to try to improve the chances that she would remember it.

"Yeah, sure, have a nice day."

I sighed. I don't remember ever being like that as a teen. Even Rosalie who had attitude for miles had more respect, especially for a customer where she worked.

No use letting it get to me though. It's universal.

I wandered over to the iPods and immediately had a tech crush on the pretty blue nano. The 16 GB one was almost $200 but I knew I could get it on Amazon for a bit less plus free shipping. Ahh, the life of a single homeowner. Internet shopping and coupons were a way of life.

On the way home, I was stopped at a red light and noticed Jake in his car next to me. I waved at him and when the light turned green, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out to check the text and it was Jake.

Lunch? -J

I saw him in my rearview mirror now, directly behind me. I started punching keys one-handed without ever taking my eyes off the road. I had skillz.

El Dorado, c u in a few. -B

I pulled into the parking lot of the little Mexican restaurant shortly after that. Jake was behind me and parked in the spot next to mine.

El Dorado was fantastic. The food was delectable and the atmosphere was very quaint. The middle-aged owners knew us by name after our first review and as we fell in love with them, they fell in love with us as well.

"Bella, Jacob! Come, sit! Eleazar, go and get them some wine!" Carmen shouted to her husband. "Here, take a booth, relax! What are you two up to today?" She winked at Jake.

He sighed and stood by the booth, allowing me to choose which side I wanted before he sat. Carmen and Eleazar had long been hoping that Jake and I would "end up together" and made it known every time we showed up at the restaurant. It didn't bother Jake but it made my whole face turn a bashful pink. Jake had been such a good friend to me for so long that it seemed strange to ever think of him as anything else.

"Just out running errands and we bumped into each other so we thought we would pay a visit to our favorite little restaurant on the strip." Jake really knew how to butter up Carmen. She ate it up.

"Ah, there. You see? Nothing is accidental." She said, matter-of-factly.

Eleazar rounded the corner by the kitchen and brought us a small carafe of their delicious Mexican wine that they buy online every month from Casa de Piedra. The wine is made in Baja, California but it transports you to the warm, spicy air of Mexico with every sip. Eleazar's granddaughter was right behind him with some tortilla chips and salsa for the table.

Eleazar nudged my shoulder and gave me a little smile as he turned to go back to the kitchen with Carmen. He had also been pulling for Jake and I to get together and was highly disappointed when Jake had finally popped the question to Leah.

"So what were you getting at the mall?" I asked Jake as I reached for a chip.

**

I know it seems like a weird stopping place....but there's a method to my madness. I hope you liked it. :o)