Esme
It had been another few weeks since the battle. Carlisle and I still hadn't talked to Bella. I talked to Edward, but I hadn't gotten to talking to Bella alone either. I assumed he hadn't done it yet.
Carlisle was spending more and more time at the hospital than usual. If he had an afternoon shift, he would often call and say he was staying late. We had postponed our Christmas, which then led on to cancelling it all together. When I asked the kids if they wanted to have it, they said they didn't really care. One year without it wouldn't matter. Carlisle was meant to have the week off, but his schedule changed. The kids were off doing their own things, so I was often left alone at home. He never stayed late at work unless absolutely necessary if I were by myself at home, but he had been lately. I was becoming suspicious. He wouldn't cheat, would he? He seemed far too faithful for me to even consider it, but right now, after picking up yet another phone call with him saying he was staying late, I was beginning to question his loyalty.
"So we aren't going to Seattle for that movie tonight?" I reminded him of our plans.
"Oh no, Esme. I am so sorry, I completely forgot. I will tell them I can't stay."
"No, it's okay. You have to work. I'll see you when you get home."
"I love you, Esme."
"Do you?" I whispered quiet enough that he shouldn't have heard, but if he was really listening and paying close attention, he might have. I hung up the call and threw my phone in front of me. A knock on the door disrupted my thoughts.
"Come in." I allowed weakly. I was upset, tired, irritated and slightly aggravated. This all showed in those 2 words.
Rosalie and Bella came in quietly. "Edward told us what you're thinking. Personally, we don't agree, but what daughter would? I think you should go down to the hospital. You might find that he really does have to work." Bella said.
"And if we're wrong, then you deserve to know anyway, and he doesn't deserve to have you." Rosalie added.
"Thanks girls, but I think I'm just going to hunt. I'll occupy myself until he gets home." I smiled, still weak.
Rosalie hugged me and they walked out swiftly.
I stood up and changed into something more comfortable before walking out the balcony. I jumped down to the ground from there and ran to the forest.
Rosalie
"We need to find out the truth. He isn't treating Esme the way he should." I said as we walked back downstairs.
"Yeah, but what are we going to do? Go to the hospital and wait in his office for him to return with a girl locked on his lips?" Bella asked.
"What we will do is go to the hospital to see if he is actually there. If he is, we go to his office and we either walk in without knocking, in case he already has someone with him, or we wait quietly. We make sure the nurses don't know we are there, so they can't warn him. Then we wait for him to come back. If he is alone, then we explain why we were there and that it was an honest mistake. If he isn't alone, well then he is dick and we can slap him."
"If he is alone and was in fact working, and we explain the mistake, it will kill him. He never wanted us to think badly of him. We have never had a reason to think anything bad of him. He will be heartbroken.
"I'll tell you though, if this is what ends their marriage, then don't say I didn't warn anyone…" She said as we walked outside.
"Why don't you believe in marriage?" I asked. "Well I know why, but why not now? Do you think there is no value in it?"
We were running through the trees now, towards the hospital.
"Yes, I do believe there is no value in it. It's just a piece of paper. It doesn't hold anything else with it."
"It holds commitment. It shows your undying love for this person. You would do anything for them, they are your everything."
"Carlisle isn't Esme's everything. She has Alice, Emmett and Edward. She wouldn't do anything for him. She wouldn't kill a human; she wouldn't kill one of us. Sure, they may be committed, but it's not like marriage strengthens that. It's just a piece of paper."
"She would kill herself for him…"
"You think?"
"I overheard them talking about it. She said that if he ever dies, she's going with him. That sounds like everything to me. How long have you been thinking about this, anyway?"
"Since the day my parents got divorced. It was my fault, too. That makes it all the more pointless; if someone else can ruin it, then was there really any love or commitment in it anyway?"
I didn't say anything else. I would be thinking about this conversation for a while, but I know I will always see value in marriage.
We ran in silence for a few more minutes before we reached the hospital. We straightened our hair up and made sure we didn't get anything from the damp forest onto us.
We walked inside where dad was standing behind the front desk talking to another doctor. He looked up briefly and noticed us straight away.
"Shit, what's plan D?"
"What was plan C?"
"I don't know, I lost track of the plans. What do we do?"
"We turn around and walk out as if it never happened." We did just that, but dad followed us out, seconds behind us.
"Yeah, that was real smart." Bella muttered sarcastically.
"Well I didn't know what to do!" I whispered with my voice a higher pitch than usual.
"Girls?" He walked over with silent footsteps. "What's going on? Is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine." Bella assured.
"We just came to see how you were…" It was so obvious that I made it up on the spot. He knew instantly that I was lying. Why did I continue to try to lie to him anyway? No matter how good my acting, he always saw through it.
"Do you want to come into my office?"
"No, you have to work, it's okay." I answered too quickly.
"Okay, come on." He pushed us inside and led the way down the corridors.
"Smooth…" Bella whispered cynically.
"Shut up, I was put on the spot." I defended.
"I could have done a better than that."
"Then why didn't you!?"
"Because you dove right in!"
He closed the door behind us and motioned for us to sit in the seats across from his desk. We obeyed, and he sat on the edge of his desk. "So? What's going on?"
"Nothing." I answered.
"Okay, well you were bickering the whole way here about your answers to my questions, you're nervous, you're answering too quickly and you're both avoiding eye contact." He called us out.
"Shit, you better tell him." I said to Bella.
"Don't try to blame this on me! It was your idea!"
"Girls!"
"Okay, just please don't be upset or disappointed in us or yourself, and please don't tell Esme that we came, but we came to see you." I gave in.
"About what?"
"About why you've been working so much lately. Esme is becoming suspicious. She hates herself for even considering it, but she thinks you could be having an affair. She's upset, but she doesn't show it around you. She wouldn't dare let you know what she's been suspecting." Bella completed.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, "I am literally working. I'm not having an affair!"
"We didn't think you were, but she does." She defended.
"Bella thinks this is what will end your marriage…" I said.
"Bitch!"
"What?"
"You are such a little snitch!"
"Well I'm not going to lie to him! He would see right through it!"
"You didn't have to bring it up in the first place!"
"Stop. Now. I'll go tell them there is a family emergency and I have to go home. We'll sort it out there. Bella, has Esme talked to you?"
"Why yes, we had a conversation just this evening."
"No, I mean about marriage."
"No…"
"Well I'll ask her to do that. Your assumptions are going too far and its becoming unhealthy.
"It is not." She sat up properly, offended
He raised his eyebrows, "It definitely is." She went to deny it again, but he cut her off, "Who is the doctor here?"
She rolled her eyes and stood up.
"Would you like to search my office for signs of my assumed affair? Or can we just go?"
I rolled my eyes at him, "We can just go."
