Penname: addisonj

Story Title: Mystery Box

Chapter: 14: The Call

Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight. I just use my imagination.

Thanks to my excellent betas: Mac214 and ErinB. And thanks for Project Team Beta for connecting us!

A/N: this is one of the first chapters that I wrote, so the style is a bit different than the last couple of chapters and at the time it referred to events I had not yet written. After all the events that happened in chapters 12 and 13, I kept this one a bit reflective. It's important, but not a lot of action. LMK what you think.

CHAPTER 14: THE CALL

Take the shortest route, the one that nature planned –to speak and act in the healthiest way. Do that, and be free of pain and stress, free of all calculation and pretension.

And then you might see what the life of the good man is like—someone content with what nature assigns him, and satisfied with being just and kind himself.

--Marcus Aurelius

For joy, apparently, it was all Franny could do to hold the phone, even with both hands.

--J. D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey

Molly should be happy. She should be ecstatic. She just attended a conference where her discovery of the Quileute Muybridge pottery (and the 300 year old Quileute artist who painted the primitive zoetrope work on the ancient pottery) was the biggest news in indigenous art in decades. All this and she was only a graduate student. The last minute invitation to speak at the Indigenous Art conference in Denver was a complete whirlwind. It was her first conference, and she and Dr. Wilson were almost as popular as the keynote speaker. They were being interviewed not only by stuffy scholarly journals but also by national news as well; even Reuters picked up the story. (It probably would be filler in section A of papers everywhere, but still). Molly was experiencing a career milestone that many long-time academics never experienced and she was only twenty-three years old. She was excited and appreciative, but Molly was not fully happy.

She missed Jacob. She didn't truly know how she felt about him; she was confused. Their relationship was developing slowly, but too quickly as well. They met in Dr. Wilson's office months ago and had since spent every weekend with him. She had spent more time with him than her now ex-boyfriend in the past four months, and her feelings for him, which primarily began as lust (as she would now admit) changed to a deeper appreciation for the man himself.

Then, the kiss. The sparks. The sex. She fell for him, but considered it short-term. She had always thought that Jacob was the fantasy and that Spencer was reality. She could not comprehend that she and Jacob would be anything other than a friend with benefits. But then it happened -- he imprinted. He came to her while she was sitting on the beach, when suddenly he just stopped and stared at her as if he had seen a vision from above or something. He'd said, "Oh. My. God." He had dropped their coffees, walked right up to her, squatted down so that their eyes were level, held both her hands in his, and said, "I adore you."

***

The imprint happened the same day they found the Quileute Muybridge pottery at Mrs. Greystone's house, and it had all snowballed into the exhibition at the University of Washington American Indian Museum and then to speaking at the conference in Denver.

Through it all, Molly and Jacob tried to define their relationship, but it was hard. Molly could tell he wanted more, but she felt overextended in every other area of her life. They talked on the phone every night for hours at bedtime. Molly liked Jacob's voice to be the last thing she heard at night. They texted during the day. He was the one she confessed her fears and hopes to. She was so excited about the discovery, but fearful; she was so young in her career that she felt as if she needed to present herself as perfect at all times. It was Jacob who heard the scared girl at the end of the day, mentally kicking herself when she thought she had cited the wrong source or was not prepared enough for media questions that arose. He reminded her of all the things that went right and how well-respected she was, and how important this was for her career in academia. And that he was so proud of her.

Jacob was also one of the first to find out when the pottery was authenticated, that the discovery was a huge buzz in the academic community, and that the buzz had made its way to La Push where a couple of scholarly journalists had already arrived. Jacob, acting as the impromptu mayor of La Push, was a one man chamber of commerce and answered questions, while careful to show the visitors all the other natural wonders of the reservation and promote the local businesses.

Jacob was also the one who also helped her with her tendency to feel overwhelmed when she took on too much.

"Seriously? Just breathe deeply for 10 minutes a day. Are you kidding me?" Molly was lying on her bed talking on the phone to Jacob just before bedtime. It was her daily Jacob fix.

"Really. Billy swears by it. And the man is mellow, you gotta admit," Jacob laughed in response.

"I can't turn my mind off for 10 minutes! I start to do lists or plan for tomorrow!"

"That's precisely why you need it! Are you still doing your yoga?" Jacob's voice was rich and deep and very sweet, not condescending at all. Molly remembered again why she broke up with Spencer.

"Yes, Dad," Molly mocked her Not-My-Boyfriend (yet).

"Hey, you're the one who told me yoga relaxes you. Do that dead man's pose and breathe deeply," instructed Jacob.

"You mean the Corpse pose?"

"Yeah, Seth was showing me. I'm pretty good at it!" Jacob responded.

Molly laughed, "Wow, that makes me so proud of you. But why are you doing yoga? And when did Seth start?"

"After you went running on the beach and you showed him some stretches, Seth went out and got a yoga DVD. I admit I do feel better afterwards. We're thinking of bringing an instructor in to do a weekly class at the high school gym until the new recreation center gets built."

"You never did explain to me how the Rez gets all this money," Molly said carefully.

"Our investment advisor is psychic," Jacob responded in a neutral tone.

"Har har, Jacob Black. Enough joking, back to the yoga. A class on the Rez would be a great idea! But you seem so calm, Jake, I can't see you needing to do yoga; I don't see you doing the Downward Dog," Molly teased.

Molly couldn't see Jacob rolling his eyes but just knew that he was.

"You didn't know me as a teenager. I was quite passionate and had a pretty strong temper. I can still be pretty determined. Sometimes I think everyone could use help finding their center."

Molly sighed and thought how wise her Not-My-Boyfriend (yet) was. Jacob just stayed on the line until she was ready to speak her thoughts.

"I'm remembering the beach at La Push. I love sitting there looking at the stars. It's so beautiful. You can actually see the Milky Way and thousands of stars. I miss it so much. I miss you." Her voice was soft.

"I miss you too," he responded softly as well.

She was about to say those other three words, but she didn't want to go there. Not yet. Maybe not ever? She thought it'd be like saying it during an orgasm, screaming, "I love you!" and then collapsing on his chest. Nope. Those words were too important to say lightly or just in the throes of passion. And although Molly was doing her Downward Dogs and Corpse poses, she was still a mass of nerves getting ready for the conference. She wasn't ready to open that door.

"I miss you," she said again with feeling, hoping he could read her emotions behind it.

"I love you, U. Dub." Jacob's voice was deep, smooth, and full of passion, but also had the strength of certainty. He was resolute in his love for Molly. She wished she was as certain.

***

Molly stayed in touch with the pack. She knew Jacob would put up a brave front, but she had heard that someone who imprinted could actually be physically ill if they were separated from their mate. Quil and Embry gave her updates on how Jacob was acting at the shop -- they would tell her what music he was listening to.

"Damn, Molly. All that Iron & Wine is making him emo! And the words make no sense!" Quil wailed to Molly one day.

Another day was Nine Inch Nails.

"'Hurt'? The NIN or Johnny Cash version?"

"Molly, does it even matter?"

Another day Quil complained about listening to Pink. "'Don't Go'? Oh man!"

Molly was ready to hop into her car when Quil told her Jacob changed his ring tone for her to Death Cab for Cutie's "I Will Follow You into the Dark".

"Quil, do we need a suicide watch for him?"

"Chill, Molly. He'll be fine. We're all like brothers. We look out for each other."

***

At one of their Tuesday night Cosmo Club meetings, when Molly arrived stressed and grim, Nancy took her by the hand and said, "Let's play a game. Let's think of the absolutely worst things that could happen. Me first: my dad dying of cancer."

"Tsunami destroying my family," Shannon said.

"Death by suicide bomber," Karen added.

"Genocide," said Shannon.

"Death of any of you or my family," Karen responded.

"Okay, Molly," said Nancy, turning her head with a twinkle in her eye. "What are you all mopey about? A gorgeous guy is crazy about you, and you're not sure if you want to spend the rest of your life having wild monkey sex with him?"

Molly lifted her head, smiled at Nancy, then the rest of the Cosmo Club. How the hell did she get such good friends? She sheepishly raised her glass, and her friends clinked their glasses together.

"Hear, hear!"

***

Molly had hoped that once the exhibit gala opening was over, she could start focusing on Jacob but that was not to be, because that was when she and Dr. Wilson were unexpectedly invited to Denver for the Indigenous Arts conference that was only three weeks after the exhibit opening. Molly had to spend all her time preparing for the conference; they would be delivering a major paper, and they actually only had two weeks to prepare since one week would be spent printing, copying, and preparing the logistics of their presentation in Denver.

Molly was looking forward to the conference, but she really wanted to decompress. It would need to wait. Jacob would need to wait.

The conference went really well. Dr. Wilson gave a fabulous presentation, Molly was able to field some of the questions, and she made some excellent contacts in the academic community. She even had offers from several prestigious Ph.D. programs from around the country. The National Museum of the American Indian was anxious for the Muybridge pottery to be on permament exhibit and had hinted that Molly could consider employment there. It was better than she had hoped. It might even be worth the sacrifice to her personal life.

***

Molly was surprised when her cell phone rang just as she picked up her luggage at SeaTac Airport. The conference was over and she was home. She was ready to call Jacob to let him know that she had arrived and that she would drive to La Push the next day as they had planned.

The call number was unfamiliar. It was from the UK.

"Molly Martin. Can I help you?"

"Hello, Molly. This is Bella Cullen." The call was from the UK, but the accent was American.

Molly had to go through the Rolodex of her brain to place that name. She nearly gasped aloud: Jacob's first love!

Molly was many things, surprised and confused topped the list. And when Molly was doing something unexpected, like talking to the One-Who-Broke-Jacob's-Heart, she just went into etiquette autopilot. "Hi, Bella. Can I help you with something?"

The feminine voice sighed on the other side of the world, slipping through Molly's iPhone and into her ear. "Molly, I'm sure this must be a surprise, but I got your number from Seth. I hope you don't mind."

Damn Seth! thought Molly. "No, not at all," were Molly's out-loud words.

The voice spoke carefully. "I wanted to introduce myself and answer any questions you may have about Jacob. He was my best friend during the most important part of my life. I wanted you to know about him from someone … far away."

There was a pause. What the hell is going on here? What kind of ex-girlfriend calls a potential girlfriend? What kind of fucking twisted world is this?

Molly wanted to change the subject. She did not want to share her own personal drama with a stranger, especially someone Jacob had loved before her. "Jacob mentioned you're married and living in Europe now?" Molly asked in the casually friendly tone used for office holiday party banter.

A delightful, twinkling laugh followed. "Yes, I married my Edward. We moved to a little village north of Inverness in the Scottish highlands. Do you know that area?"

Molly instinctively shook her head, then mentally yelled at herself for using physical gestures on a phone call. "My father's family is from Galway, Ireland. We went to the UK years ago. Traveled through the south of England through Wales and Ireland, but never made it to Scotland, unfortunately. I would love to go there sometime – I've heard it's as beautiful as Ireland, if not more so."

"Yes, it's beautiful here."

"I heard the food is dreadful though. Have you had haggis?"

A pause and then laughter. "No, I try to avoid most of the food, but the wild game is good."

They spent a few moments discussing safe topics like traveling through Britain, getting used to driving on the left side of the road, the beautiful accents, and other places in Europe they'd visited. They agreed that Salzburg and Florence were beautiful, and both wanted to see Prague. Then they chatted about the pack, comparing Seth's version of the pack gossip he had shared with Bella to Molly's and carefully avoiding any mention of Jake for several minutes.

However, Bella started reminiscing about her time with Jacob before his growth spurt such as how they played as children before her parents divorced. The two women somehow found themselves back to the original topic, the one Molly had tried to avoid. Molly felt that she had been played by an expert chess player and conceded defeat. Time for the direct approach, thought Molly.

"Bella, why did you really call? It must be late there."

"Oh, I don't sleep much. I …" Bella paused. "I called because I think I may be the only person to know what you're going through right now. We're the only two women that Jacob has ever loved, and I understand you have a big decision to make and that you're uncertain."

Molly was surprised and could only manage to say, "Oh."

"Not that Jacob imprinted on me--" God, Seth tells that woman everything! "-- but I know what it's like to be loved by Jake. I know what went into my decision. I know Jacob and I know if there was no Edward, I would be with Jacob now."

Silence. Molly had no idea what to say, so she put on her analytical hat, which she wore when she was stressed. She saw this call from Bella as a problem to be researched and solved. "But your experience does not necessarily correlate to mine, and these are not the same circumstances. I have more complications in my life, and this whole imprint thing…"

Bella interrupted, "But it's the same Jacob. And he loves with his whole heart…" Sigh. "This isn't going how I planned."

"How did you plan this, Bella?" Molly's voice reflected her growing irritation, and she wasn't afraid to show it.

"Molly, I wanted you to hear from someone not at La Push. I'm imagining that Leah and the pack are protective of Jacob, and Billy just wants what's best for him. I think I can be a little unbiased and help you process this."

More silence. Since when is an ex-girlfriend unbiased? thought Molly. And where is Karen or Nancy with a witty comeback because I am floundering here…

Bella continued, "Molly, you may hate me because of what I did to Jacob, but forget about the past and focus on you two now. Jacob's the sort you can grow old with. He'll stand by you through thick and thin. Forever."

Forever.

The wheels in Molly's brain started to spin; this was starting to sound familiar. She started to remember a long ago (about five months ago) conversation in a diner, a conversation about true love with a certain Quileute:

Molly frowned slightly. "I don't fall in love. I could have a crush, but love needs to be slower to be real. I don't believe in fairy tales or any of that romantic crap. Oh, I love me those romantic comedies and will cry at Romeo and Juliet – both the Leonardo diCaprio and Olivia Hussey versions – but it's not real. I mean, I believe love like that could happen, but it's not real. It's not long term. It's like a chemical reaction, but will that last through the bills and the mortgage and the in-laws and desperately looking for childcare when the oldest has stomach flu and you have a presentation to the department chair at 9am.

"Love needs to grow. It needs to start slow through mutual respect and attraction, survive the bumps and grinds of everyday life, and become a heartfelt thing of true beauty that becomes the love that lasts 50 years, the love of two octogenarians holding hands at the assisted living center, knowing that each would die without the other, but choose to live."

Molly's eyes grew wide at the memory. Was she already living her dream of love? She went through a mental checklist. Her feelings for Jacob grew over time. Check. It was a physical attraction that grew slowly through mutual respect and attraction. Check. It was surviving the craziest period of her life. Check. Hell, it was more than surviving; she was surviving through it all in a large part because of him! He was always the one who was there for her, simultaneously encouraging her and pushing her to do her best. Check. Was she already in love with Jacob? Check??

Her love wasn't crazy and addictive. It grew and grew until she realized it was him. Her best friend. She loved her best friend. Her better half. The one she had to share her day with because if she didn't share it with him, if she didn't tell him about it, it would have been as if it did not happen. Because he was such a part of her life that they were two halves of a whole -- not that she was half of a person without him, but she was more of a person with him.

And it wasn't just the sex or his body or his looks. It was the person inside. He could be short and bald and pale and fat and she would still love the person inside of him because he was the love of her life.

She didn't imprint, but suddenly she felt a pull of gravity towards him. She had to be with him. She had to spend her life with him. She wouldn't die without him, but she didn't want to live without him. She loved him. She was in love with him. She had to be with him. She had to be with him now.

Bella spoke. "You two are adults. You can think with both your head and your heart. They can be in sync. Think with your heart. What does your heart say?"

"Run to La Push and don't look back," Molly said quickly without thinking. She had known the answer all along. It was just waiting in her subconscious, waiting to be picked up off the curb, dusted off and put on display.

Molly would later swear that she could hear Bella smile over the transatlantic phone lines all the way from the Highlands of Scotland to SeaTac Airport in Seattle Washington. How did cell phones work? Sounds? Bytes? Airwaves? Molly had no idea, but she knew there were little wordless smiles from Bella's mouth traipsing from the Highlands of Scotland over the North Pole, across Canada into the Pacific Northwest, wordlessly telling Molly: You found your answer. We're on the same team.

Through the phone line, Molly heard a velvety smooth man's voice in the distance, and Bella gave a quiet sigh. "Molly, I need to go now, but I've really enjoyed talking to you. More than I expected, quite frankly. I started this call for Jacob, but I think I may have found a new friend. Please feel free to call me anytime you'd like. I don't sleep much."

Now it was Molly's turn to smile. "Thank you, Bella. I appreciate it."

Bella continued, "I felt like I needed to do this. I hurt Jacob so badly years ago; I needed to help make things right for him. I hope I did that now."

"Yes, yes you did. Thank you for doing this." The call had begun with Molly pissed off that Bella called. Why the hell does an ex-girlfriend call? She then remembered that Bella was also Jake's best friend during a key part of his life as well. And she knew that Bella meant well and was just trying to help. She really seemed like a nice girl. No hidden agendas, no ulterior motives, just wanting to help out an old friend through unconventional means.

A small part of Molly didn't want to end the conversation, but larger part of her really wanted to hang up so she could drive for four hours to a certain Native American reservation with the funny pseudo-franglais name.

"Goodbye, Molly. You don't need to call and tell me what happens, I'm sure Seth will."

Molly laughed. "Yes, you're absolutely right. Thanks, Bella. I gotta run, too. Bye."

Molly heard the phone disconnect and she smiled softly. Then, she suddenly looked at the time. Shit! If she left now, straight from the airport, she could get there before nightfall.

***

A/N:

* Please review! Reviewers get teasers of the next chapter

* There is one more chapter (15) and then an epilogue. Not sure when the epilogue will be posted since I have not written it yet.

* Ever since I read J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey in high school, I love telephone conversations in fiction. It inspired the call in this fic as well as in my Rachel Black fic. I am certainly no J. D. Salinger, but I do love the fictional Glass family.