Sorry it's taken a bit of time to post this second chapter! First, I just want to thank you all for taking the time to read the beginning. As I mentioned last time, it has been quite a while since I've written anything and I truly appreciate all the comments! Hope you enjoy :)
And we all know these characters belong to SM.
Chapter 2: The Decision
I drove.
I wasn't sure where I was going. I just got onto the 110 Freeway and started driving as I fought to comprehend exactly what I had just seen. It was only 4:15 p.m. at this point and I knew Alice would still be at work for another hour at least and there was no way I was going back to work in this state.
I saw the on ramp onto the 10 Freeway and dangerously crossed 3 lanes to get to it suddenly knowing where I wanted to go.
Almost 45 minutes later, I was sitting on the Santa Monica Beach with my slacks rolled up and my heels neatly placed next to me on the sand. Even in mid-October, the beach was a perfect 72 degrees.
I had always loved the beach. The warm sand, soothing waves and the soft breeze. I spent many summers on the beach. In fact, Jacob and I first met at a bonfire Alice's sorority was having in Malibu. I had begrudgingly gone to the party at Alice's request and had accidently spilled beer all over Jacob's back. We instantly became friends. We didn't start actually date until a couple of years later.
The folder Mr. Daniels gave me stuck out of my purse like a sore thumb. Crossing my legs and needing a distraction, I pulled it out once again and looked at each of the documents.
Could I really make the move to the Pacific Northwest? Move over a thousand miles away from my friends and my parents?
There was no question my engagement to Jacob, someone I had committed the last 3 years of my life to, was over. Jacob. I had thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with him. My heart wrenched and twisted thinking about seeing Jacob with that unknown girl. What was he thinking?
How did this happen?
A lone tear spilled from my cheek onto the papers sitting on my lap. Don't do this Bella. Don't cry over him. He doesn't deserve your tears.
I could tell the few people walking or jogging along the beach were staring at the strange crying woman in a pant suit. I wasn't sure how long I sat, but it was long enough that the sun was finally starting to set. I shoved the folder back into my purse and pulled myself up off the sand, not bothering to shake the sand from the seat of my pants.
Walking back to my car, I pulled my phone out of habit and saw 21 missed calls. I had turned it to silent after Jacob had called me for the fifth time as I was driving over to the beach. I scrolled through the missed calls to see Alice's name. I clicked her name and let it ring.
"Bella where have you been?! Jacob has been calling me nonstop saying that you've run off!" Alice sounded panic. I can hear her dog barking in the background. She must have just gotten home.
"I needed to think." I mumble. "Listen, don't tell him where I am. I'll be over in a few minutes."
"That asshole! I have half a mind to go over there and kick him in the balls." Alice said angrily. She ended up spilling a few drops of red wine on her impeccably white tablecloth, but she didn't seem to care. "How dare he call me asking about you without saying a damn thing."
"I threw my ring at him."
"He deserves a lot more thrown at him if you ask me."
I nursed my glass thinking over the decision I had in front of me.
"I'm going to do it." I say quietly. I was resolved. I had to do this.
"Do what? Murder him?" Alice said, taking a sip of her wine. "I will be more than happy to help you."
"No, Alice." I roll my eyes. "I'm going to take the job in Seattle."
Alice stopped her angry ranting, on my behalf of course, and stares at me as what I said sinks in. She moved across the table and gave me a surprisingly tight hug despite her very petite frame.
"Of course you are." She pulls back and her round eyes get bigger. "What can I do to help?"
"Let me stay here for a few days?" She smiled and nodded giving me another warm hug.
"Have you told Charlie and Renee yet?"
"Ugh. No. I'm not looking forward to that call." I sighed. "But I better talk to them sooner rather than later."
Alice nodded knowing I had quite a lot of news to tell my parents.
"I will be waiting here for you with a fresh glass of wine."
I got up and headed out to her balcony to get some privacy, took a deep breath and dialed my parents' home phone.
Almost two hours later, I re-entered Alice's apartment, not feeling any better or worse. My parents were unsurprisingly shell shocked. My mother was as vocal as Alice was, but what worried me was my father who remained quiet for most of the entire call. He was a silent man normally, but I could practically feel his anger through the phone line. Since he was a cop, I no doubt he was thinking of ways to put Jacob in jail.
When I had told them about getting the promotion to Seattle, Renee started crying.
"I know why you need to do this." She sobbed. "You know if you need me there, I will fly up in a heartbeat!"
"Bella," my dad's gruff voice sounded a bit faintly. I could imagine my mom sitting in the kitchen, the phone on speaker sitting on the counter in front of her with my dad on his favorite recliner in the living room.
"Yes dad?"
"Jacob is a complete idiot who doesn't deserve you. And..uh...if you want me get him thrown in jail for a couple of days, I'm sure I can find a way."
I smiled a bit, I knew him too well. "I'd love to take you up on that offer, but I wouldn't want you to get into any trouble because of him. I think I'll be fine...I just need some time."
"Of course honey. Time heals all." Renee chirped in. "You need a fresh start."
"A fresh start." I nodded and talked to my parents for a few minutes longer, suddenly wishing I was home with them. Granted they lived not too far away, but it was getting late and suddenly I was very tired.
"Mr. Daniels?" I knocked softly on his office door. It was early the following morning and I was hoping I didn't look like I had been crying all night.
"Yes, please come in." He looked up from his computer screen and upon seeing me enter smiles. "I hope you come bearing good news."
"If by good news you mean I'm accepting the job, then yes." I smile as much as I could muster that early in the morning.
"I'm glad to hear it. I was a bit worried that the move would pose a problem between you and your fiance." Mr. Daniels said.
"Nope. There isn't a problem."
Two weeks later, after hastily tying up all my loose ends and saying goodbye to my parents and friends, I found myself sitting in LAX waiting for my flight to start boarding.
I couldn't help but think about what had gone down between Jacob and I only 4 days earlier.
Mr. Daniels had given me an entire week of to prepare myself for the move. Everything was happening so fast and I wasn't going to get much free time between arriving in Seattle and starting work since the grand opening was scheduled the weekend after Thanksgiving. Which meant I only had about a month to form a team and plan the big grand opening party.
After dodging Jacob's calls and any face to face encounters for an entire week, I knew I was going to have to go back to the apartment we shared sooner rather than later to start packing my things.
I arrived at the apartment a little before 9 a.m. on Thursday, knowing he was going to be at work. I was only giving myself 3 hours to pack the essentials, clothes, toiletries, my kitchen appliances (God knows Jacob wasn't going to be using any of that stuff), my books and movies I owned, before a moving truck came to take all my boxes. I had a surprising amount of boxes and I looked around the apartment checking to make sure I wasn't leaving anything of mine behind.
I wasn't going to take any of the furniture as the apartment I had found came furnished with the essentials. I was only going to have to buy myself a new bed.
Just as the moving guys came to take the last of my boxes, Jacob walked into the apartment. My blood instantly ran cold.
"Bella." He rushed toward me but stopped short when I held my hand out signaling him to stop. "Bella, please. Can we talk?"
"You have 5 minutes." Finally finding my voice and proud of myself that it was steady.
"I'm sorry."
"That's all you have to say?" I say, furious all of a sudden. "It's a little too late for that, don't you think?"
"You wouldn't answer my calls and when I dropped by Europa, they told me I had to leave." Jacob pleaded. I saw the regret and guilt in his eyes which would have softened me in the past. Not this time.
"What you did is unforgivable. I can't even look at you without wanting to punch you in the face." I started to move toward the front door, it was time for me to leave.
"I know. I know. You can punch me if you want, but I need you to know that I still love you. I made a mistake!" Jacob followed after me, suddenly desperate and it was not attractive in the least.
"A mistake?" I turned around. "A mistake?! You slept with someone else, in our bed."
"I know. I was weak. And I will spend the rest of my life apologizing and making up for what I had done." Jacob finds my hands and holds them tightly. What I once thought were strong and protective hands held me in place and I wanted nothing more than to wash my hands in bleach.
"You don't get that chance. If it wasn't clear before, we're done. We're over. I'm leaving." I slip my hands out of his clammy ones.
"So that's it?" He says after a beat. I was almost out of the apartment when he said that.
"That's it? Of course that's it. What did you really expect me to do?" I turn around, no longer able to hold the fury that had been boiling inside of me for the past week.
"You're going to throw away three years because of one mistake I made?" Jacob's eyes suddenly filled with tear and I was slightly taken aback. Not once during our relationship had I seen him like this. "I know it was a huge mistake and I don't know how else I can apologize. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
"Yes, it was one huge mistake. But you have to understand that no matter what you say, I'm never going to be able to trust you. And what do you think I was going to do after you had told that woman that you 'love only her'?"
"That…" Jacob paled, obviously forgetting that I had heard that much during his sexual tryst. "That...was in the heat of the moment. I didn't mean that. I barely even know her."
"Well that makes me feel so much better." I spat out. "Enjoy the rest of your life."
With that, I turned on my heel and walked out of his life once more. He didn't even bother to follow me, knowing he wasn't going to say or do anything to make things right.
"Flight 3896, group 1 boarding has now begun."
I was snapped back to the present and began gathering my things to begin boarding.
I was just a few short hours from starting my new life. I've never been this terrified before, but there was a shining glimmering of hope for me. I was excited doing something I had never dreamed of doing, embarking on a new adventure on my own.