AN: Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed!!
Disclaimer: I own the clutter that surrounds my desk...but not Twilight.
**
"So what were you getting at the mall?" I asked Jake as I reached for a chip.
Chapter 3 – Beneath the surface
BPOV
"Oh, I wasn't getting anything. Just having a coffee with a friend."
Before I had a chance to ask who he was having coffee with, he changed the subject.
"What were you doing there, Bells?"
"Well...guess who was featured in the Raleigh section of 'The Triangle Restaurant Guide'?" I stuck my nose up in the air proudly. "No autographs, please."
"No shit! That's great, Bella. I got a call from the editor to ask a few questions about you and to discuss your being in contention, but this is fantastic. Now all you need is to work on the other two sides of the Triangle and you'll be quite the triple-threat," he teased.
The "Triangle", as it was well-known in our area, and nationally in certain circles, referred to the area between the three main hubs of activity around the major colleges in the area. Raleigh had NC State, Durham had Duke, and Chapel Hill had UNC.
"Hey...can't I enjoy one little victory before you push me to win the crown?"
"No way. I know you have it in you."
I knew I did too. I'm not one for false modesty. I am damn good at what I do and it's just nice to be recognized and paid to do it.
"I know," I said lazily. That elicited an evil smirk from Jake.
Eleazar and his granddaughter brought over "the usual" for Jake and I and we immediately dug in. We both got combination plates. Jake got the chalupa, chile relléno, and beef burrito plate. I got the veggie plate that had a bean burrito, a cheese enchilada, and a tostada with refried beans and cheese. For lack of a better phrase, it was an "orgasm in your mouth."
Jake's face and neck started sweating after a few bites of the spicy chile relléno and I was enamored with my cheese enchilada. The light brown sauce was creamy and slightly salty. Every few bites, I would take a bite of the pasty refried bean tostada to cut the saltiness. The menu here was expertly designed. Each dish had complementary components that allowed you to feel completely satisfied when you were finished. All you needed was a little something sweet at the end, if you could fit any more, and it was perfect.
"Did you start the review from Volterra yet?"
"Oh! That reminds me. My computer decided to have an aneurism last night." I took a bite of my bean burrito.
Jake put his fork full of beef burrito down and looked up with fear in his eyes. "What. Happened."
"There were these colored lines and whirring noises and it wasn't pretty," I said laughingly.
"Bella, that's not funny! What are you going to do now? Is it ok? Did you lose your article? What about your drafts! When was the last time you backed up the hard drive?" He was really antsy now and I was feeling mischievous.
"What's that?" I said innocently.
"What.....what's what? Don't you know what a hard drive is??"
"Of course I know what a hard drive is, Jacob," I snorted pretending to play it off.
I got serious, "What is "backing up?"
Jake dropped his head in his hands, groaning.
"Bella....Bella, no. Are you telling me you've lost all your stuff?" He didn't look up.
I waited a few seconds for the sake of dramatics.
"Well, apparently I haven't lost all of my stuff because I just got you."
His head snapped up and with trepidation in his eyes, he said, "Explain. Now."
"Ok, ok...don't be angry. There's nothing to worry about. I called AppleCare and they were able to restore something called PRAM and since I had autosave enabled, I didn't lose anything," his face relaxed. "I do need to backup the hard drive when I get home though. I haven't done it in a few months and I think I'd be tempting fate if I held off any longer."
"You are a brat. You do know that, don't you?" I grinned widely as I cut another piece of my enchilada and plopped it in my mouth. He was right. I was.
"You scared the crap out of me. I really wish you would take advantage of your resources and upload your drafts to the company server."
"Jake, you know I am uncomfortable with people having access to my articles before they're finished. Plus I have my own stuff on my computer too, you know. Short stories and such. I wouldn't feel comfortable putting those on the server even if you do keep offering."
Besides, I had a little fanfic of my own on there and it was not suitable for a work server.
"Ok, I tried. At least the Apple place was able to help you. Did they say to do anything other than back it up?"
"No, that's all. Edward didn't mention anything else and I was going to talk to him today but he wasn't there..." I caught myself a little too late and Jake's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Who's Edward?"
Crap.
I didn't like discussing guys with Jacob because he always got weird. He seemed resentful of my single status and I didn't want to make him feel worse about his relationship than he probably already did.
"The AppleCare person I spoke with over the phone. He knew his stuff and I never really thanked him properly," I could feel my cheeks beginning to blush.
"What would you consider proper thanks?" Jake's eyes clouded over and his demeanor changed. I was a little nervous about this reaction, to tell the truth.
"I don't know. Actually saying 'thank you' might have been a start, but I was so excited on the phone that I really didn't think about it until after we hung up." It registered in my mind that I had just told Jake, my friend and boss, that I was excited on the phone with Edward and needed to thank him "properly."
"You know, anxious about almost losing my work," I amended.
Jake picked up his fork slowly and resumed eating his burrito. I knew he was protective of me but sometimes the sheer jealousy that I saw in his eyes unnerved me. It made me want to tell him not to get married. If he was so jealous of someone single who was meeting new people and who didn't have the same set of responsibilities he did, then he should either get over it or get out.
I thought he was going to let it go when I noticed he was staring at me from across the table.
"Ask me again why I was at the mall," he said grimly.
"Why?"
"I was getting free coffee from a barista at the coffee shop near the bookstore. She thinks I'm cute."
His gaze dropped from mine and he resumed eating.
I continued to gape at him. Is he freaking kidding me? He needs to figure out what the hell he wants and he needs to do it soon. The wedding was only a few months away and most of the planning had already been done. The people, the deposits, and the vendors. None of that really mattered, of course. If he didn't want to be with Leah, then he should not lead her on and allow her to believe his heart was in this.
"Jake."
He would not look at me.
"Jacob," I said more forcefully and he glanced up at me through his eyelashes. I immediately calmed a bit. His eyes were so torn. So broken.
"You know you have to choose. Either you are ready for this or you aren't. The sooner you figure it out, the better for everyone involved, don't you think?"
"It's too late. Everything is basically done. I just have to show up and sign my life away."
I sighed. If this was how he truly felt, then he definitely was not ready. He needed to break it off.
"Don't marry Leah."
He reached his hand over the table to cover mine and I put my other one over his. His eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly like he was about to say something, but he hesitated.
I did not envy his position at all. Afraid to give up who you are for someone you are not sure you want to be with. I guess to him, it would feel like signing your life away.
Carmen came rounding the corner and stopped short when she saw our hands on each others. I immediately pulled mine back into my lap for fear that it would set her wheels-a-workin but she was already grinning like a giddy child. She brought over the check and Jake got his wallet out to pay for the both of us.
The grin widened.
"Oh my, Bella. What a gentleman your Jacob is. We'll see you two in here next time." She winked and waved as she took the money and tip away.
I grabbed my bag and rose from the table and walked over to hug Eleazar who was standing near the magazine rack at the front door.
I just kept walking right out the door to my car and Jake was right on my heels. I turned around and almost smacked my face off of his chest.
"Whoa, sorry Bells," Jake stammered.
I sighed again. I sincerely hoped he didn't think I was being too harsh on him back in there.
"Look, I like Leah. I do. Which is why you need to figure your shit out so she doesn't wind up with a husband who doesn't want to be one. If you really feel like you'd be signing yourself away, then you shouldn't do it."
Before I could say anything else, Jake had his arms around me and was hugging me something fierce. His face was in my hair and it was the tightest hug I'd had in a long time. I was relieved that he didn't think I was being cold about his relationship with Leah. He seemed to genuinely need a friend.
He pulled away and held onto my shoulders as he spoke, "Thank you Bella. It means a lot to have someone to talk to. My brothers have been hot or cold about this whole thing. The ones that are still married are pushing for me to do it and the ones that are divorced are shooting off warning flares."
I chuckled and extricated myself from his ginormous hands. I clicked the unlock button on the key fob and got in the car.
"Any time, Jake. You know that by now."
"Yeah, I do."
I closed the door and waved as I pulled out of the lot and got on the main road back home.
**
EPOV
It was a beautiful Saturday in the Triangle. I had jogged the Tobacco Trail by my house late this morning and then swam some laps in the pool of the housing complex. I took a quick shower and then headed out to Guglhupf for a late brunch at around 2:30pm.
That place was amazing. It started out years ago as a small German bakery and then was expanded to include an industrial, yet quaint, two-story cafe. My favorite item on the menu was, by far, the Eggs Arnold. Not to be confused with the Eggs Benedict. The Arnold had a large, thick piece of fresh homemade bread, toasted to a medium brown. On top of the bread were three different types of salty cheeses and some baby spinach leaves. There were two perfectly poached eggs on top of the spinach and the whole thing was drizzled with a hollandaise sauce that would make Wolfgang cry.
As usual, I left them a generous tip and headed home.
I dropped the keys on the hall table and grabbed a glass of ice water before I sat down on the couch in the living room. I logged into my email to find that I had one notification from work. I was not a fan of having to work on my days off, but it was my job to at least call in and find out if they needed me.
"This is Sam..."
"Samantha, Edward Cullen. I received a page through my email. Is everything alright?"
"Oh, hi Mr. Cullen. Yes, everything is fine. A customer came in looking for you and she wanted me to tell you 'thank you.'"
She?
"Oh? Who was it?"
"Let me check the note, hold on one second, please," I heard some rustling and was growing impatient.
What customer would come into the store and ask for me by name?
"Bella Swan."
Say what now?
"Ah. Did she leave a way to contact her?"
"No, sir. Just to say 'thank you' and then she left. Although we have some information on file."
"No, that would not be appropriate. Thank you Samantha. I will see you next week," I hung up feeling warm. I felt like I needed to take my shirt off to escape the heat that was gliding up my neck.
Bella, Bella Swan. The lovely female caller from yesterday. Her personality was intriguing. She seemed to be something of an oxymoron; she was brazen and outspoken one minute, and shy and quiet the next.
Her voice was comforting even in her fits of anxiety at the thought of losing her work on the phone last night. I was glad that I was able to help her.
I had just shut my laptop and grabbed the remote for the television when my cell phone started to buzz in my pocket. I muted the television and looking at my phone, I flipped it open.
"Dickhead," I answered, oh so lovingly.
"Hi Assbasket. What are you doin?"
"I was thinking of watching a movie. You?"
"I just got off the phone with your sister and she wants to go dancing tonight. You in?"
Alice. My baby sister. And Jasper. My best friend.
It wasn't always so easy to discuss their relationship even in the most minute and abstract ways. Eventually, it became more comfortable as the realities were more easily handled than the scenarios I made up in my head about my poor, helpless baby sister. She was neither poor, nor helpless, and she could handle herself just fine. Secretly, I was proud that those fiery qualities she inhabited were what drew Jas to her in the first place.
"Where? Buckhead?" Please say yes. Then I can say no because I hate that back hills place.
"No, we were thinking over in Chapel Hill. A place or two on Franklin Street. What do you think?"
Ah, more my speed.
"Yeah, I'm in. What time?"
"Well, Alice wanted to do dinner first..." he sounded hesitant.
"...and?"
"At your house." He said it quickly, like ripping a Band-aid off a small child. "But we would bring everything, you know she can't cook. She wants to go to Jersey Mike's and get some subs. We would come over around 9. Then we can pregame for a while and then call a taxi for 11. Is that...ok?"
My sister was a force of nature and her boyfriend was a tree branch, bending to her will.
"Yeah, sounds good, but we don't need a taxi. I'll DD. I'll see you two at 9."
I hung up and unmuted the television. I brought up the HBO on Demand menu and scrolled through. IFC on Demand was previewing a new movie by this British actor everyone was making a stink about. I wondered what all the fuss was and loaded up the movie.
While it was processing, I made a bag of popcorn in the microwave and got a bottled sweet tea out of the fridge.
The sountrack alone made me chuckle and it turned out to be a pretty good movie. He was able to make a pathetic dork of a young man into someone with a heart and a little bit of soul. I'd have to look into more of his stuff.
I must have dozed off shortly after it ended because I woke up 3 hours later in a sweaty ball on the couch. It was almost 8 o'clock and if I didn't take another shower, I would be stuck going out with "couch hair."
Showered and dressed, I opened up iTunes and put some music on. I got three glasses out of the cabinet and filled them with ice.
At exactly 9 o'clock, the bell rang.
**
Hmm...EPOV is difficult. Not sure I like it just yet. We shall see!
Reviews are love!!