His Dirty Little Secret Chapter 10, a twilight fanfic

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CHAPTER 10

BPOV ~

Monday, January 1st, 2007 ~

"Hey, Izzy," Maria called when I walked back into the dressing room after my set. "Your phone has been blowing up …."

"Thanks," I mumbled, heading in the direction of my station.

I really didn't want to go in, but I couldn't find anyone to cover for me, so I was stuck. I would much rather have stayed at home, wallowing in the comfort of my own bed.

Once I reached my dressing station, I picked up my phone. My eyes instantly zeroed in on the caller blowing up said phone. I jumped a bit when it chirped in my hand, alerting me to a new voicemail. Hesitantly, I pressed the talk button connecting to my voicemail, and brought the phone up to my ear.

"Please enter your security code," the automated voice prompted. I entered my four-digit code, and brought the phone back to my ear. "You have ONE new voice message. To listen to your—" I hit the number one on the phone, and then brought it back to my ear, taking in a deep calming breath.

"Hey … I … I just wanted to say, Happy New Year, baby ..."

Tears instantly filled my eyes, and I stood there a good ten minutes, silently debating, on whether I should call him back or not. I mean, it'd only been about twenty minutes since he called—

"Hey!" Victoria hollered, interrupting my internal debate. "Good show," she said, handing me a white envelope. "Stefan asked me to give you this." I was right about the dancing being one hell of a distraction. I discovered that while on stage, I could push all this shit out of my head and dance my heart out—force myself to forget for at least a few minutes about what a mess my life had quickly became.

Since the day Edward left, I'd made more money than I ever thought possible … we're talking a few g's a night—I knew now what Victoria was saying all those years ago, when she was trying to convince me to strip at the club. While strippers may have a bad rap, they financially didn't need to depend on anyone—and obviously men could sense heartbreak and a easy chick from miles away.

"Thanks," I mumbled, taking the envelope from her hand as I wiped my tears away.

"Aww," she soothed, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. "It's over now …. Now you can go home."

I pulled away, turning to my wardrobe. "It's not that," I explained, slipping my bra back on. "Edward called."

"Oh …." I turned back around to look at her, pulling my panties back on in the meantime. "What did he say?" she inquired, her voice a bit frosty for my liking. They didn't have to like him, or agree with my relationship with him, but at the end of the day, what I did was my decision, and them being my best friends, I expected them to be a bit more understanding—hell, maybe even a bit sympathetic, and a lot less bitchy.

"I didn't talk to him," I supplied, pulling my shirt over my head. "He left a message …."

"Okay …." She didn't say anything else, she just gave me a look that said, "And?"

"He just said Happy New Year." I shrugged, stuffing my stuff back into my bag.

"You're not going to call him back, are you?" she asked expectantly. My expression must have told her what she wanted to know. "Isabella Marie Swan, do not call him back. It's only been what, two days? Make that boy sweat! He has to realize you're not his personal Vegas bootie call!"

I sighed, looking at my feet. "He doesn't think that …." Yes, I thought that as well, but he never did anything blatantly to say that. He just acted as such.

Victoria didn't respond, in fact, she crossed her arms over her chest, and started tapping her foot insistently. Finally, I looked up at her, and she went on.

"He may not consciously think that," she affirmed. "But his subconscious most definitely thinks that. Until you put your foot down, it's not going to change, Bella." She sighed, putting her hands on my shoulders. "Look, if you were the kind of girl to be some dudes continental bootie call, I'd keep my mouth shut, but you're not.

"You're better than that! And we both know this seeing him once or twice a month is killing you …. Make him sweat. If he wants this just as much as you do, he'll make more time for you … and if he doesn't, then … well, then you know. Let him be the one to make the grand gesture. A phone call is nothing. After all, actions speak louder than words, dollface. Make him speak up loud and prove he's for real. Otherwise, he's not worth your time."

I nodded, tears falling down my cheeks. I knew Victoria was right, but that didn't make it any easier.

"I mean it, Bella," she added. "Don't call him."

I bit my lip, glancing at the phone sitting on the counter, and then back at her. "I won't."

Thursday, January 18th, 2007 ~

"Aren't you going to answer that?" Alice asked, referring to the phone ringing in my gym bag.

I shook my head, pulling my shoes back on.

"Still not talking to him?" she asked, sitting on the bench next to me.

I turned to look at her, suddenly very hopeful. "Do you think I should?" I asked, silently praying she didn't agree with my other friends, and told me answer the damn phone. I missed him terribly, and every time my phone rang, it took everything inside of me not to answer it and tell him as much.

"I don't know," she replied honestly. "How long has it been?"

"Almost three weeks."

"Hmm," she hummed, standing to close her locker. "What's his messages been saying?"

I looked at her curiously, not really understanding what that had to do with answering his phone calls.

"I mean," she explained, obviously sensing my confusion. "Is he freaking out yet? Threatened to come see you if you don't answer his calls …."

I shook my head, internally freaking out—did he not miss me as much as I was missing him, was that why he hadn't been threatening to come see me? Was it really over as far as he was concerned? "No—" My phone chirped, alerting me to a new voicemail, causing me to glance at Alice, though I'm not really sure why.

She just giggled, saying, "Check the message."

"Oh, right," I retorted, calling my voicemail.

"Please enter your security code," the automated voice prompted, and I quickly entered my four-digit code before bringing the phone back to my ear. "You have ONE new message—"

"Bella, baby … I just want to talk to you …. Make sure you're okay …. Please, call me back …."

"Well?" Alice asked, as I hit the end button.

I looked to her, and then to the phone. "Um, maybe he's starting to worry?"

Alice giggled. "One week …."

My eyes popped up, meeting hers. "One week, what?"

"Before he starts threatening a visit out here," she explained, the look on her face telling me it should have been obvious.

"Okay," I replied nervously. "And what do I do then?"

Alice smiled. "You call him back."

Monday, January 29th, 2007 ~

I was just walking into my bedroom from taking a shower when I heard the ol' familiar chirp coming from my phone, alerting me to a voicemail. I walked over to my dresser, and picked up my cell phone, not bothering to check the caller I.D. before connecting to my voicemail.

"Please enter your security code." I entered my four-digit code. "You have ONE new message—"

"Bella … I'm really starting to worry about you …. I'm going to be in Vegas this weekend … and, well, I'd really like to see you. I just need to know you're okay …. Please, call me back …."

I played the message again, because I wasn't quite sure I heard him correctly. I mean, he did say he was coming to Vegas, right? That was what I heard. Right?

Suddenly, Alice's words from a week or so back rang out loudly in my head.

You call him back, I told myself, picking up the phone. You call him back.

Edward answered on the second ring, though he sounded a bit frazzled. "Hello?"

"Edward?"

He exhaled a large breath, sighing, "Yeah, baby, it's me …. Thank you for calling me back …."

My eyes instantly started to fill with tears, and I wanted nothing more than to tell him how wrong I was. How much I missed him, but I knew that I couldn't. I needed to stay strong, because as much as I missed him, nothing had changed.

"Bella?" he asked, just as I heard a car door slamming. I wondered briefly where he was.

"I'm here, Edward …." I really didn't know what else to say, so I didn't say anything.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I …." I almost told him I missed him. "I shouldn't have called …."

"No!" he yelled. "Bella?"

"I'm still here …" I whispered, wiping the tears that had fallen away.

"I'm glad you called," he stated, leaving no room for doubt. "I wanted you to call …."

"I miss you," I whimpered, because I am so fucking weak and my mouth spoke without telling my mind what it was going to do.

"God, baby girl," he sighed. "I miss you too … so much …. Can I please see you this weekend, Bella? I know you said …."

"I'm not sure that's―" I started to protest.

"Please?" he interrupted. "We'll talk ... I'll be there all weekend. Actually, I'll be there until Monday …. Please, just say you'll see me …? Please, don't cry―"

I sniffled, wiping away my tears, again. "When?"

"Whenever is good for you. I have a meeting at one on Friday, but otherwise, I'm free."

God, do I? I thought chewing the shit out of my lip. I desperately wanted to see him—but was I ready? Had it really been long enough, and more importantly, would my heart survive seeing him—especially if things didn't end well?

"Okay," I whispered after a few moments of silence.

"Did you just say, okay?" he asked.

I miss him ….

"Yeah," I sniffled. "I don't work this weekend, so call me when you're done with your meeting," I lied, but I figured I could either call in sick or get someone to cover me if I decided to go through with it for real—if he even showed up.

"Thank you, Bella," he beamed, and I could picture his smile perfectly, which only made me smile.

"So, I'll see you this weekend, then?" he asked, again.

"Yeah," I sighed, hoping like hell I didn't grow to regret my decision.

"Okay …."

"So … bye?" I asked, though I really didn't want to hang up.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I'll, well, I'll see you this weekend …. Bye, baby …."

"Bye," I cried, and then hung up the phone.

God, please, don't let me be making a mistake…

**Author's Note**

Sorry this is short, but it is setting up for the next chapter. Big things are coming! Grab onto your seats ladies and gents cause there's about to be some drama up in this joint!