Chapter 2: The Truth

After looking at several pieces of property, Emmett and Bella finally decided on a location. It was a two story building set back bit from the road just past the police station. Perfect for keeping her toys safe. The entire first story was to be gutted and refitted for a garage. The upstairs was going to renovated to Emmett's specifications. All they needed to do was to employ a contractor to handle the renovations and then Emmett would make the final move from Houston.

"Now that that's done, wanna go grab a bite to eat?" Bella inquired. "Charlie's probably at the diner. I can call Jaz and the three of us can surprise my dad?"

"I guess. Need to meet the ol' man sometime."

Bella hit Jaz's number on the speed dial and waited for him to answer. A quick conversation ensured and the plans were finalized. Both Bella and Emmett put their helmets on and started towards the diner.

***

Within the diner, heads turned as the two motorcycles pulled into the parking lot. As Emmett and Bella climbed off the bikes, a dark orange Pontiac GTO pulled in and parked beside Charlie's cruiser. Jasper quickly exited the car, set the alarm, and joined them as they made their way to the door.

The diner was silent as the locals scrutinized the newcomers. Brushing it off, Bella quickly scanned the room before noticing Charlie in a booth towards the back away from the others. His initial expression was of surprise but morphed into one of pride and fatherly love as Bella motioned to join him. As the group made their way to his table, Charlie slowly turned his steely gaze to the rest of the diner's patrons. Everyone quickly turned back to their dinners and conversations.

"Dad! I hope you don't mind us crashing your party. I'll be honest with you. I knew you were here so it was completely intentional."

Charlie chuckled. "Why would I mind having my daughter joining me for dinner?"

"Let me introduce you to some very important men. Emmett and Jasper. Charlie. Charlie. Emmett and Jasper." Taking the seat next to her dad, Bella continued to inform Charlie on the group. "Emmett is my mechanic. With the amount of toys I have, I found the best way to ensuring their safety was to get a personal mechanic. It took me almost a month before I could convince him to take the job."

"Only my daughter would have a personal mechanic when others might have a personal assistant or trainer." Charlie snorted. All three men laughed while Bella blushed.

Emmett extended his hand to Charlie, "Its a pleasure to meet you. Aside from my mechanic duties, I also work as a Bella's personal bodyguard. I take her safety very seriously and when necessary make arrangements for additional protection."

"Thank you. If there's anything I can do to help just let me know." Charlie shook his hand and turned to Jasper. "And what's your job?" Giving Charlie's hand a good solid handshake, Jasper explained "I'm Bella's manager and studio producer."

"Uh, that doesn't exactly tell me what you do, now does it?"

"I guess it doesn't. As her manager I negotiate with the record label, private events, concerts, those sort of things. When we're in the studio I ensure all recordings sound exactly like they should. Also should she get sidetracked by something other than work, its my job to get her back on track."

"You'll be seeing both of them a lot Dad. Before you know it, they'll be like the sons you never had! Geez, better stock up on groceries now."

At that moment Molly, the waitress, appeared at their table ready to take orders. For the remainder of the evening, Charlie, Jasper, and Emmett swapped stories about Bella while she desperately tried to hide underneath the table. Only after dinner and dessert had been finished, did the group decide to call it a night and head their separate ways. Bella and Charlie to his home and Jaz and Em to Jasper's.

"Take care of my bike Em." Bella threatened. " You KNOW what will happen if you don't."

"Don't worry about her. I'll park her in the living room."

"Seeing how thats MY living room you're talking about, don't I get some say in the matter?" Jasper teased.

Winking at Bella, Em replied "Sure, you can decide if you want it on the rug or not."

"Okay guys have a good night and I'll see you tomorrow." With a wave, Bella trotted over to her father who was inspecting her chopper.

"Nice bike Bells. Emmett has a good looking machine as well."

"Uh Dad?"

"Yes?"

"That's not Em's motorcycle. Um, it's also mine." Bella stared at the ground waiting for her father's reaction.

"Yours? Just how many do you have?" Mentally Charlie was questioning exactly how successful his daughter was in the music industry. Personally, he didn't think classical compositions were popular enough to make that kind of money.

"Well, I need to take this one back to storage since I'm driving my blazer to school. I can show you if you're interested?" Glancing up at her dad, Bella noticed his puzzled look.

"Okay. I'll follow you." Charlie headed towards his patrol car. By the time he was settle in and had manuevered the car out of the parking spot, Bella was calmly idling by the exit ready to go.

***

The drive to the storage lot was a short one. Pulling up in front of 5A, Bella motioned for Charlie to park. Bella had the space opened and was already backing the bike into its spot when Charlie walked up. He whistled when he saw the Ducatti.

"I've only got the three bikes right now. I'm sure my collection will continue to expand at a later date but right now, I just want to play it cool for a while."

Inspecting both bikes, Charlie asked about her "collection."

"Well you've seen my three bikes and my blazer. In the next space, I have my classics." Waiting until Charlie was clear of the automatic door, Bella closed the door and locked it. Growing up in Houston she had learned to keep her toys on the "DL." The only people who knew exactly what her "collection" consisted of was Jasper and Emmett. Even Renee wasn't privy to the knowledge but only because she tended to be scatterbrained and would blab to everyone. Charlie was a completely different matter. Bella knew she could trust Charlie with the information. Hell, if something was to happen with one of her cars, he would be the first one to know.

Using a different key, Bella opened up the adjoining space. Inside was a 1970 Pontiac GTO, 1979 Pontiac Trans-Am, and a 1971 Plymouth Barracuda. Charlie's mouth dropped. Bella even thought she saw him wipe some drool off.

"Nice Bells. I'm impressed."

"Oh just wait. It gets better." Closing the storage space, Bella proceeded to the next one. Here she had a 2010 Yukon Denali, 2008 Ford F150 Foose Edition, and a 2004 Ford Lightning.

Scratching his head and with a look of awe, Charlie asked "What exactly do you do again Bella? I'm thinking that maybe I'm mistaken about your career."

Bella could tell Charlie was starting to get overwhelmed. Closing the space, she took pity on him and started towards his car. "How about we talk about that on the way home?"

She laughed as Charlie half walked half ran to the driver's side. Only once they were headed home did Bella ask Charlie to clarify his statement.

"From what Renee told me I was under the impression that you had made a career from classical music composition. I just didn't think that genre of music would be successful enough to buy that number of vehicles. You aren't doing anything illegal are you Bells?

Sighing, "No Dad, I'm not doing anything illegal and its been years since I was involved in classical music." Bella wondered how to tell him exactly what she did without sending him into cardiac arrest. There was no pussy footing around it.

"Dad, I'm a rapper."

"A wrapper? I don't understand. You professionally wrap gifts for people?"

"Ha ha. No Dad. I mean like the genre rap or hip-hop music. Like Tupac, Biggie Smalls. A rapper." Bella closed her eyes and waited for the blow up. When after several minutes Mount Charlie still hadn't erupted, she glanced over at him. His knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel.

"We'll finish this discussion once we're home."

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