-Pretend Love-

Chapter Two:

He wakes up and groans.

Shit. Did I really just do that? I never do that. I never do this.

What was his name?

Grant. No. Gary, Graham...

Garrett?

Yes.

Garrett.

The sex hadn't been good.

I couldn't focus.

Every time I closed my eyes, I wasn't imaging the blue ones of the man above me. They would always turn green, with that look of fire in them.

At least he made me come. It had been a long time since the last time.

He stirs and yawns.

I roll over and pretend to be asleep.

He stomps into my bathroom and turns on the water.

God, will he just leave?

Like this isn't mortifying enough. I'll have a lot of explaining to do today.

I just left the bar last night without saying goodbye to anyone. I'm sure that he went home with that woman who he already knew.

I'm sure I'd find out soon enough.

"Bella, you can't just leave like that with random strangers without letting me know."

"He wasn't really a stranger, Alice. Your brothers know him."

"Be that as it may, you hardly said two words to me before you were out the door. So did you guys..?"

"Yeah. But I feel like shit about it."

"You shouldn't. Are you going to see him again?"

"Maybe."

It was a lie. I wasn't going to call him. He left a note on my countertop with a smiley face and his phone number scrawled below it.

No.

"Well good. Now go jump in the shower, kiddo, or you're gonna be late to Sunday dinner."

I sighed and hung up the phone, pulled on a hoodie, and threw my hair up into a bun.

I'd tried to get out of the weekly dinners with my best friend's parents, Carlisle and Esme, so I wouldn't have to see their son. The Cullens who actually spoke to me gave me so much grief after I skipped a few that I couldn't do it anymore.

Plus, I really did enjoy seeing the rest of them.

Alice and I were best friends for as far back as I can remember. She also had had two older brothers. Emmett was the oldest of the three, and Edward, the bane of my existence, was the middle child. Emmett and Edward were only a year apart, and Alice was a surprise two years later.

I grew up in the old ugly house house next door to them when we all used to live in Forks.

Her parents moved along with their children to Seattle after they graduated from college.

My parents sold their house and moved to Florida.

Charlie and Renee were never around except for holidays, because all they did was travel. When my gran passed away, she ended up leaving behind a bunch of money. They both kind of just...left.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not bitter or anything. I'm an adult now. And they did pay for my school. We're in contact, I just hadn't see them much.

After graduation, I finally settled into my own apartment downtown and got a job as an executive assistant for a 'big time' real estate agent. It had been going swimmingly until I was laid off a month ago, when a bad investment turned him upside down.

I had to borrow money from my parents to pay the rent, my cable got shut off last week, and I could barely buy groceries.

I needed a job, like now.

"Isabella!" Esme greeted me at the threshold of the Cullen residence.

"Hi Esme!" I sang and returned the big hug she gave me.

"Hi Bella," Carlisle said and hugged me as well.

I walked into the Cullen's expansive kitchen and saw Alice and Edward sitting a the breakfast table playing poker with toothpicks, just like when we were kids.

"Full house. Read it and weep princess," Edward said and slapped his cards down on the table and grabbed the mound of toothpicks from the middle of the table. He was all lean and long and looked sensationally disheveled. I watched as he flicked one of the toothpicks in and out of his mouth and smirked at his sister.

My stomach twisted into a huge knot.

"Cheater! I'm not playing anymore anyway," Alice said and jumped up from her seat and turned to me.

"Finally! I thought you weren't coming," she said grabbed my arm to lead me out of the kitchen.

"God, I'm like ten minutes late, Al."

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, you are telling me everything about your night last night," Alice whispered quickly into my ear.

"Nice try," I chuckled and released her.

"Ugh. Why not?"

"Because there is really nothing to discuss," I said and pushed a piece of hair out of my eyes. I was not discussing this.

"Ohhhh," Edward said knowingly as he walked past me and to the refrigerator.

"Oh, what?" Alice asked as I blushed furiously.

"Oh, nothing. I heard Swan made quite the impression on Garrett," he said and smirked over his shoulder at his sister again, continuing to flip that toothpick in and out of his mouth while running his hands through his hair.

"Well that's good news!" Alice exclaimed.

"I didn't say in what way," he chuckled.

I was mortified. Of course it wasn't in a good way. And I can't believe he'd already discussed it with Edward. The bad experience wasn't all my fault, but I hardly tried to get into it. On the bright side, I finally let my body have the release Garrett sloppily coaxed out of me.

"What-the-fuck-ever," I whispered and rolled my eyes.

"Shut up, assface," Alice said and smacked her brother swiftly in the back of the head with some force," it's none of your business"

Edward scowled at her and rubbed the back of his head.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Emmett said and bounded into the kitchen and took a seat next to me.

"Nope, but I'll give you one, brooooooo!" Alice said and gave her other big brother a big hug around the neck and a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey Bells," Emmett said and put his arm around me.

I always felt safe with Emmett around. I felt like could protect me from anything, and he did a lot when we were kids. He was so totally the big brother I never had. Edward always kind of just...was. Growing up, he didn't really care about what any of us other kids were doing. He was either outside hanging around with his friends or locked in his room. He was nice enough, but he would never really play with us or anything like Emmett did. But when puberty hit for Edward, the asshole switch flipped.

"What are we talking about that's got you all blushing and flustered?" Emmett asked and punched me lightly in the shoulder.

"Apparently Swan's a boring lay," Edward said non-chalantly and popped a grape in his mouth.

See. He's a such a dick. Why me?

"Shut up Edward!" Alice exclaimed

"Did you pop him one?" Emmett asked.

"What? Why would I do that?"

"Talking shit," Emmett said sternly, "What if someone said some shit like that about Alice?"

"Stop talking about this, guys!" She said and plopped down on my other side.

Edward scoffed and smirked at Emmett. "That's different."

"I smack that smirk right off your face, you little shit," Emmett said and got up quickly from the stool, making it scrape loudly across the floor.

"Ohh, I'm so fucking scared," Edward replied and waved him off dismissively,"please." But I saw how he flinched and I smiled to myself. He quickly turned back around to the fridge to snack some more.

"Just shut up, Ed," Emmett replied.

"Yeah well, your buddy has a small dick," I said directly to the back of Edward's head.

"Atta girl, Bells," Emmett said and patted the top of my head," but Garrett Garrison, though? That guy's a douche!"

I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

"Well my night was great," Edward said, still rummaging through the fridge.

"Oh yeah? Do tell bro," Emmett replied.

"I took Tanya home with me again," Edward said and finally turned to face us.

I knew it.

"Shit man. That's kind of like playing with fire. But...does she have any friends?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah. Lots of friends," Edward replied and winked at his brother.

I wondered why she'd be 'playing with fire'.

"Next weekend then. You down?"

"I'm down. I'll call her later this week and set something up with her and her friends."

My stomach churned and I felt nauseated. At myself mostly.

"You guys are so gross, I can't believe all you want to do is hang out with sluts," Alice said and looked at her brothers in disgust. "You guys are supposed to be respectable business men. Like, if daddy knew the way you talked about this shit..."

"Mary-Alice! We do not use derogatory language in this house," Esme chided as she walked into the kitchen and slapped Edward's hand away from the bowl of grapes he was holding.

"Mom. It's their fault," she pouted and pointed to her brothers.

"Boys. Please stop talking about whatever you're talking about. I'm sure it's not appropriate dinner conversation. Now set the table."

"Yeah, mom," they replied in unison.

The dinner went surprisingly normal, like it always did. We talked mostly about the land development company Mr. Cullen owned. Well, they talked. I was pretty much tuning them out since I had nothing to contribute on the job front. I just sat there with my head down and stole glances at Edward as he pushed food around on his plate instead of eating it, like he'd done forever. He always ruined his dinner by snacking ahead of time.

"So Bella, heard anything new on the job front?" Carlisle asked.

"No. Unfortunately, no. I've applied to around thirty places and have only had one interview. I didn't take the job because I realized it was a call center that pretty much steals money from the elderly," I replied and sighed, "Plus, I can't find too much with only a six months worth of work experience. Any kind of higher paying job isn't interested. I'm thinking I may have to suck it up and just get two."

"Two jobs, Bella? Nonsense. We have an opening at the office. I wanted to talk to you about it if you're interested."

"Really? You're serious?" I asked, smiling at him.

Edward rolled his eyes, Emmett gave me a small smile, and Alice started bouncing in her chair.

"Yes. It's administrative, which I know you have experience with. It doesn't pay a ton, but it should be enough to cover–"

"I'll take it."

"What!? Dad! I promised that position to Alec," Edward cut me off.

Carlisle gave Edward a hard look and raised his voice. "Get over it. I don't give a rats ass what you promised someone without discussing it with me first. It's high time to start doing what you were hired for instead of jerking around with your deadbeat drinking buddies. Do you know how many qualified applicants there were for the job I gave you, Edward?"

Oh, burn!

"Fine," he replied and slammed his fork down on his plate. I pretended not to notice the look of disappointment that was written all over his face.

"So, Carlisle, when do I start?" I asked quietly.

"Can you come in tomorrow morning at 8?"

"Really?"

"Yes, if it suits your schedule."

"Sure. I really don't have much going on anyway," I smiled.

"Great. See you in the morning dear." He stood up from the table. "Boys. A few words in my office. Now," he said without looking back to his sons.

"But what about dessert?" Emmett asked, looking longingly at the key lime pie on the table.

"Now," Carlisle said sternly and walked out of the room. Edward threw his napkin down on the table and they followed after him.

As soon as they left, Esme, Alice and I half the pie and cleaned everything up. We kissed Esme goodbye, and I told her to thank Carlisle again for me for the job.

I wondered what exactly I'd be doing, and I was elated for the opportunity. I would do the best I possibly could.

Alice walked beside me down the long driveway and pushed the keyless entry on her little yellow Porsche, "I'm meeting you at your apartment."

"Why's that?"

"You're going to need something to wear tomorrow. I've seen your wardrobe and it's pretty sad, Bells. Plus, you never know. You could meet a nice guy or something. Oh! Have you seen Jacob Black lately?"

"Alice. I'm not going to work for your father so I can look hot and hook up with little Jakey Black."

"Bella, you haven't seen him since we were kids. He's not "little Jakey Black" anymore," she said and fanned herself.

"Ugh. Just. Whatever. Fine."

"I'll run to the shop and I'll be right over."

After a week's worth of outfits were put together for me with specific instructions on how to do my hair and wear grown-up makeup, I finally pushed Alice out of my apartment and fell into my bed, where I slept for a mere five hours.

The next morning, I reluctantly woke up early and took her advice to make some extra time to get ready.

Before I left, I peeked at myself in the full length mirror, a bit surprised at my appearance. She had a valid point. I did look a lot better with some makeup on and my hair not all knotted up in a bun. She'd picked a nice black pencil skirt and a green silky blouse. And heels. I turned again and looked at myself from the back.

I looked good.

Well, for me, anyway.

Maybe a little change is exactly what I need.

So...let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading!-Rosy