I'm on a roll now! I'll try putting up a new chapter soon!

Read, and enjoy. Mainly APOV and some EPOV.

APOV

I sat at my desk, pencil in hand, staring thoughtfully at the blank white sheet before me. A few swift strokes later, a basic strapless dress had appeared on the page. I frowned thoughtfully at my work, and proceeded to add a few details to various parts of the dress, while simultaneously designing a handbag to go with it.

I held my sketch at arm's length, and scowled before crumpling the sheet with a single hand, and tossing it into the strategically placed wastebasket close by. The cuckoo clock I had found so adorable just one week ago, annoyed me constantly with its incessant chirpings every half hour, reminding me of my constantly nearing deadline.

As it did now. Against my better judgment, I looked up at the offending contraption to see what time it was. Nine a.m. Already!! I contemplated breaking the darn clock but decided against it.

I had woken up at five this morning and gotten to my office by six, so as to get started on my project. It was the biggest one of my career and I had told no one of it. Cheryl Williams, a respected fashion guru, had gotten in touch with me a week ago. She was the writer of a popular yearly article in Vogue, where the feature 'Top 5 new designers of the year', and she said she was considering putting me on that list.

I was required to have ten outfits ready by this evening, along with one additional 'centre piece' which would be the deciding factor in the selection process. Inspired by Bella's dislike for uncomfortable (yet fashionable clothing) I had designed a range of comfortable, yet great looking clothes.

Going with basic pastel shades, I emphasized in my designs that less could be more. The only problem I had, was with my centre piece. I had all my other designs ready, but now my creative flow had just run dry. I was fully aware that this opportunity could make or break my career.

I knew that the chances of being chosen were quite low. Cheryl had told me straight away that she was considering around fifty other designers, so she didn't want me to get my hopes up. It was one thing to be disappointed in myself, but I didn't want to disappoint my friends, so I hadn't told even Bella about what could be my big break.

I made up a date with Jasper to explain my nervous demeanor, and instead of picking out clothes for my 'date', I had been choosing what designs to use for today. Jasper did text me later that night, but he asked me out only for the next week. He said he was very busy with work, which worked out well since I was busy too!

I heard the door of my studio opening, and I saw Jessica enter. She had the brains of a sea weed, but she was good at what she did, and had a great sense of fashion. Her job was to get my creations from paper to cloth. She didn't know about the vogue article either, she just knew that for some reason she was being suddenly overworked.

"Hey Alice" she said. She was carrying a bag in her hand which she promptly dumped on my desk. "These are the dresses you wanted made" she explained, before strutting of to her desk.

I took them out, and examined each carefully. Like I said, Jessica was good at what she did. I couldn't find a single slip up on any of the dresses. I hung them carefully on a rack, because these would be a part of the display today.

I had to drive down to Cheryl's studio today, where my creations would be displayed on the ramp. Well, not just mine. Around ten other designers were being considered today. I was confident of my designs, but my centre piece still eluded me.

Where had that seemingly endless creative flow I had in my teens gone? I used to document my designs in albums which I still preserved to date. Suddenly, I had a brain wave.

"Jessica" I called out. "Can you get my old albums out for me?"

She went to the cupboard with all my designs, and pulled out what I was looking for. I eagerly took the albums from her, before going through my old designs. Not all of them were good, but a few of them were amazing (if I do say so myself!). I flipped through the albums till I found something that would go with the rest of my work.

Finally, I found the perfect piece, a dress I had designed when I was around fifteen. It was a bit crude, but with a little work, it would be just what I needed. I copied my design onto a fresh piece of paper, changing a few details here and there. I looked proudly at my work, and for the first time today didn't have the urge to throw my work away.

The accessories for the dress were relatively easy to design. Once I was completely satisfied with my work, I handed it over to Jessica, so that she could get it stitched.

"I'm sorry I've been working you so hard this week" I suddenly said. "You can take the next week off to make up for it."

"Thank you Alice!" she said and hugged me, before going out to get my dress done. Once she had left, I slumped onto the closest chair. I was mentally drained, and this past one week had taken a lot out of me. I was normally full of energy, but this was too much even for me.

I sat there for a while, before getting up and looking at my designs once more. I realized that I was over obsessing, so I decided to call Bella to take my mind off work.

I dialed her number out, waiting impatiently for her to answer.

"Hi Alice!" she finally said.

"Hey Bells. I'm bored. Entertain me please"

She laughed, before saying "Sorry Alice, but I'm at work right now, so I can't talk much. Why don't you call Edward? He's at home with Ethan."

"How come Ethan isn't at school?" I asked.

"He was feeling sick this morning, so the doctor volunteered to baby sit!"

"Aww! That's adorable!" I gushed.

"So, are you all set for your big day?" she asked.

For a moment I froze, before realizing that she was referring to my alleged date with Jasper.

"Yep! I can't wait" I lied smoothly. I heard someone calling her in the background. She hurriedly apologized to me, saying she had to go, before putting the phone down.

Great! Now whom do I talk to? I decided to take Bella's suggestion and call Edward. It could be entertaining, I guess, and I was already getting along well with him. Besides, the sexual tension between him and Bella was driving me insane and I wished they would do something about it.

Maybe I could persuade him to make the first move. I dialed out the house number.

"Hello?" said Edward sounding annoyed, picking up the phone almost immediately.

"Hi Edward!" I said, amused. Maybe he had thought I was a salesperson or something.

"Alice?" he asked sounding surprised.

"Yup, it's me", I said cheerfully.

"Is it just me or are you more high than usual?" he asked. I decided to mess around with him a little

"You silly boy!" I crowed. "I can never be high. I'm not even 5 feet" I said, pretending to be offended.

"That's not what I meant" he began, before realizing that I wasn't serious. "Okay, why did you call?"

"Can't I just call my future brother in law for fun?"

"How am I your brother in law?" he asked. For a doctor, that boy sure is dense. Guess I'll just have to spell it out for him.

"Umm…duh! Bella's like my sister, and if you had any nerve, you'd be married to her very soon!" I said, frustrated.

He was quiet for a while.

"Alice! I love her. And I really don't know what to do about it' he finally said. "She means everything to me, and I don't want to mess this up"

Before I could reply, however, I heard the sound of someone crying.

"Edward, why is Ethan crying?" I asked, worried.

"I don't know" said Edward. I heard Ethan suddenly shout "I hate you, Daddy!"

"Edward! Give the phone to Ethan, please" I said. I guess he did because the next thing I heard was a sniffing noise, and a weak "Hello"

"Hi Ethan' I said gently. "Will you stop crying, and tell Aunty Alice what wrong?"

"I hate Daddy!" he stated.

EPOV

"I hate Daddy" he stated, and my heart shattered. What had I done to cause this sudden change in behavior?

He was quiet for a while. I assume Alice asked him why he hated me (That's what I wanted to know too) because he said, "He said he loves someone else. But I want him to love Mommy!"

I was so relieved I almost laughed. He was only upset because he thought that Bella was not the one I loved. Oh! If only he knew how wrong he was.

Ethan soon handed the phone back to me, wiping his tears away.

"Good luck Eddy" was all Alice said before hanging up. Ethan stood before me, his head down, looking very embarrassed.

"I'm sorry I said I hated you daddy" he said. "I thought you didn't love mommy"

"I love your mother very, very much" I assured him.

"Mommy loves you too" Ethan said matter of factly.

"You think so?" I asked hopefully.

"I'm sure of it" he said confidently.

"But if you both love each other, how come you never kiss?" he suddenly asked. "In all the movies I've seen they always kiss if they love each other".

I hesitated to answer.

"You don't really love her, do you" said Ethan sadly. "If you did then you would kiss her"

"I do love her" I said but it fell upon deaf ears.

He looked like he was going to cry again, so I hurriedly said, "Don't worry. The first thing I'll do when Bella comes home is to kiss her. Then you'll see that I really do love her."

"Promise?" asked Ethan, his eyes lighting up.

"I promise." I replied.

What had I gotten myself into?

How did you all like this chapter? Worth the wait, or are you mad with me for taking so long?

Review!