Disclaimer: All the lovely characters in this story belong to Stephanie Myers. I am borrowing them for my entertainment and of course, yours.
"Do you know if that publishing office is hiring?" I questioned Alice. Over the past week Alice and I had become friends. As she had predicted we were probably going to become best friends. We'd spent most of the week together, omitting the two days out of the week that were Jaspers. They had an agreement that every single Wednesday, and Thursday they were to be spent alone. No friends, no family, just the two of them. I found it quite romantic. They were setting aside alone time for themselves.
"The one in Forks, or Seattle?" She questioned flipping through the channels of the TV. Normally we spent time at her house, but since Emmett had made it perfectly clear we were going to dinner with him we decided to stay here.
"Preferably here, but Seattle is an option." Even thought I'd rather not make a four-hour commute. If I ended up getting a job in Seattle I'd probably just move there, Forks might be home but gas is expensive.
"I know a few girls who work at the Forks publishing office. I'll put in a good word for you. If you're looking for something now I know the clinic is hiring for receptionists. Carlisle and Edward could put in a good word for you." At the mention of Edwards name my stomach was instantly filled with butterflies. I'll be the first to admit it, I had a slight infatuation with the man. Then again, who wouldn't? He's a Godlike creature and has this lopsided goofy grin that made my stomach turn in a good way.
"Edward works at the hospital?" I questioned nonchalantly. Alice gave a slight snicker shaking her head finally settling on ANTM. Alice had been making it perfectly clear that she figured out about my slight infatuation. She said it didn't matter if I owned up to it or not, she just knew these things.
"He's following in my fathers footsteps. He's a pediatrician." That brought up a whole new set of questions I had about Edward. Did he like children? What was his life like as a child? Did he always want to be a doctor?
"Maybe the hospital is the best option for now," I mused only pretending to watch the TV. If I remembered correctly the publishing office doesn't hire until March. I had a good three months before they started hiring. If we're being completely honest, seeing Edward every day has it's plus sides.
"How do you plan on getting there every day though?" Alice had noticed my lack of transportation. I looked at her as if she were the dumbest person on the face of the earth. How did she think people had gotten around before the invention of vehicles? The hospital is only a 30 minute walk from Emmett's apartment complex.
"I would walk, maybe take the bus?" It was meant to be a statement but came out as more of a question. I don't think Alice had ever really had to take the bus anywhere. She'd grown up where money basically grew from the trees in her front yard, she probably got a car the day she turned 16.
"Carlisle's working until six," Alice looked at the clock. "We can go down there now and talk to him before they fill the spot. Rosalie and Emmett can just meet us at the hospital," Alice announced turning the TV off. We had a good hour before the two of them graced us with their presence. I shook my head shooting a quick text to Emmett letting him know we would all meet up at the hospital. After I sent him another text assuring him it was because I was trying to get a receptionist job, and not because I was injured. I actually wasn't sure why Em was forcing us to attend dinner with him anyways.
"This is your car?" I questioned looking at the yellow Porsche.
"Like it? I got it for my 18 birthday right before I got cut off." I tilted my head in confusion. "Carlisle does this thing with all of his kids where he supports you until you're 18. You know like every parent, he gives you a roof over your head, food to eat, birthday presents, just because presents when he's in a good mood. When you're 18 though you're basically on your own. He pays for the first 6 months of an apartment – as a graduation present – then he's done. Unless you royally fuck up." It sounded like a good enough plan.
"So you got this instead of the apartment?" I questioned putting the pieces of the story together.
"I didn't need an apartment. I moved in with Jasper the second I turned 18. I've been with Jasper since high school. When he found out we were moving to Washington, I was 17 and he was 20. We did the long distance thing for almost a year before he got transferred to Seattle," she explained. "Carlisle asked me if I wanted him to pay for six months of rent with Jasper's apartment, or if I wanted something else. I chose this."
"Weren't you worried about things not working out? I mean, if you broke up would Carlisle just let you come back?" In my eyes, relationships just didn't last most of the time. I couldn't even imagine moving in with someone the second I got out of my parents house. Then again, Jasper and Alice seemed to have been together for a while.
"Not in the slightest. There's this feeling you get when you know someone is yours forever. You just look at them, and they look at you, and you get this feeling throughout your entire body and you just know that this is your person. Jasper's my person, and he always will be." Alice got out of the car. "Come on," she motioned to the small clinic.
It was the fastest trip to any hospital I'd ever had. We walked in, Alice asked to speak with Carlisle, she informed him I was looking for a job and wanted to fill out an application. Carlisle gave me my app, waited for me to finish filling it out, and then he looked everything over, and told me he'd give me a call. Alice assured me I already had the job, and that Carlisle was only following formalities.
"I texted Emmett and told him to meet us at the diner." Alice explained making me tilt my head in confusion. "Esme's diner, she owns a small little hole in the wall all the college kids go to," Alice explained shrugging her shoulders. "On her days off from the office, you can normally find her down there." Alice insisted on walking since we were about five minutes away. That didn't bother me one bit, but I made a mental note to ask her to drive her car one of these days.
"This doesn't look like something Carlisle would pay for," I noted more to myself. I couldn't imagine Carlisle paying for a hole in the wall diner. I can't imagine it brings in a mass amount of money.
"This isn't Carlisle's. This is all Esme's, she's had this since before she even met Carlisle. It's actually where they met. Ask for the story." We walked into the diner seeing college students drinking coffee, cramming for their next test. I looked around seeing Esme having a conversation with a girl, who couldn't have been older than me before she even noticed Alice.
"What are you doing here?" She questioned making her way over to the two of us.
"I decided to put a good word in for Bella at the hospital. She needs a job," Alice explained for me.
"We could use some help around here," she said with a smile. "That's if you don't get the job at the hospital," I was slightly surprised at the fact that she was offering me a place to work in case things didn't work out with the hospital for some reason.
"Bella wants to hear the story about how you met Carlisle." Esme leaned against the bar shaking her head.
"I think you're the one who wants to hear it," she said looking at Alice. "Alice has always loved this story," Esme coos her eyes filled with love.
"You can't help but want to hear it over and over again. Now tell her the story," Alice basically pleaded with Esme.
"My mother owned this diner, and when she died it was left to me. I grew up in this diner," I couldn't picture a younger version of Esmé in Forks. In fact, if I didn't know her I wouldn't even picture her here now. "I came home to fix the place up and sell it. Carlisle walked through those doors one night, at two in the morning. He sat in that booth every single night - or morning - and ordered the same thing every time. We would have short little conversations, and eventually the short conversations became longer and longer. It got to the point where he would come in at two and not leave until five because we would talk for hours, about everything. Three months late he asked me on a date. We knew almost everything about each other before the first date." I gave a small smile at the story. It was something right out of a chick-flick.
"So you never sold the place."
"I took it as a sign. If I would have sold this place, I never would have met Carlisle. Naturally, we moved away from Forks, I left the diner in the hands of a friend until I came back. Coming back was always the plan. Forks has always been home." The words Forks has always been home rang in my head reminding me of my reason for coming back.
"I know you don't officially work here, but could you be a dear and refill Edward's coffee? I need to go take their order," She pointed to a group of kids who had just walked through the door. I hadn't even noticed Edward until she said something. I took the coffee pot from the warmer walking over to Edward. He was flipping through paper work.
"Black," he said without even looking up at me. I glanced over his shoulder, not able to help myself from taking a peak at what he was doing. "Hasn't anyone ever told you it isn't polite to read over someone's shoulder?" There was a joking edge to what he was saying.
"Shit. Sorry." I said making him give a small chuckle.
"Don't let Esme hear you curse, she'll never let you hear the end of it. This is the part where you ask what I'm doing. You're not a very good spy Isabella." I gave a small blush. Normally I didn't like my full name, but for some reason, I loved the way it fell from his mouth.
"What are you doing, Edward?" I questioned casually.
"I'm going over a few house listings. I'm thinking of moving into Seattle," he answered just as casually. "Put the coffee pot down, tell me what one you like." I tilted my head to the side watching a crooked smile play at his lips. "You were the nosey one. I heard somewhere a females opinion on houses are always the best. If I ask Alice she'll dedicate her life to finding me the perfect house." I shook my head doing as he asked. Alice was watching us like a hawk.
"First of all, are you looking at mansions or houses?" I questioned sitting down next to him. This time it was his turn to look confused. "Your parents have a mansion, not a house." He gave a chuckle sipping the coffee.
"You don't even want to see the Italy house. It's three times the size of this one. By my standards a house, by Carlisle's standards, a closet," he slid the papers over to me. "Some of them are fixer-upers. I'm not sure I have the time for that." I over looked the photos taking three of them out automatically.
"Someone told me fixer-upers are the best houses. I say it's true, unless you don't have the time. You don't want to be stuck in a crappy house. They're all nice enough. Personally, I like this one," I pointed to the smallest house in the bunch. "It's good enough for one person, the other ones all seem too big for just one person." Edward looked me up and down letting that cocky half smile come through yet again.
"You're basing this off the assumption that I'm single." I felt myself blush. I knew he was single, Alice had made that very clear. "At any rate, I like that one as well." He took it from my sight. "I'm assuming their here to drag you to dinner," He nodded to Rosalie and Emmett. "Better you than me. Catch you later Isabella." I watched him duck out of the diner before Emmett and Rosalie could ask him to join us.
A/N: Originally I was going to have Bella waitress at Esme's. Then I figured, she's got a college degree, why would she waitress? Also the publishing office isn't really in Forks. It is a work of fiction c:
As always, let me know what you think!(: