Chapter 2: Tusitala
Disclaimer: S. Meyer owns these characters.
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Jumping off that cliff suddenly lost all its appeal. It would just dredge up memories—memories that brought me to this miserable state of mind. My second idea was to get even with the little minx. Yeah, why not give her a dose of her own medicine. See how she likes feeling like crap!
Why in the holy hell would she think I would bring another girl over here? That's just not my style. If she wasn't interested in me, then why would she care anyway! Unless . . . Ahh, I didn't even want to go there right now.
I was gonna fix her wagon—but good. It was time to have a man to man talk with Bella's dad. I picked up the cell and called the chief. "Hey, Charlie, sorry to bother you at work, but can I come over to the house and talk to you? Yeah, she's mad at me again. Is she gonna be there tomorrow? Oh, over at Edward's, huh?" I never thought I would ever be happy to have her hanging out with the bloodsucker, but these were not ordinary circumstances, and I needed her gone.
"You're off tomorrow, right? Great, how about one o'clock? See you then—and thanks, Charlie."
Oh, man, what did I just do? I hope this doesn't backfire on me. It's gonna be hard to get to sleep tonight. Groan . . .
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I went over and over in my mind what I would say to Charlie—and then after countless rehearsals—I decided to chuck it all and just wing it. Putting the bathing suit and receipt in a plastic bag, I was ready with my evidence. I got into the Rabbit at 12:30 and headed towards the Swan residence.
Charlie greeted me at the door. "Hey, kid, what can I do for you?"
That was it—I was ready for the hot seat. I swallowed hard, "Hi, Charlie, thanks for having me over this afternoon. I just needed to discuss something with you."
"Well, come on in, then." He motioned me into the house. "Have a seat."
I sat down on the couch, placed the bag beside me, and looked around. "Bells isn't here, is she?"
Charlie sat across from me in his Lazy Boy, peering at me thoughtfully. "No, like I said, she's swimming over at the Cullens'."
Great, when she comes home, he can see for himself what I'm talkin' about.
"So, what's up?" he asked.
Clearing my throat, I blurted out, "Did Bells tell you what our fight was about?"
"No, what happened?" He leaned forward in his seat.
"This is what got her so upset." I pulled the suit out of the bag, along with the receipt, handing both to him.
Charlie's expression was unreadable. He looked up at me and staring me straight in the eye, said, "You know I think of you as my own son, Jacob, but I don't like the idea of you buying swimsuits for my daughter. I'll be happy if there's more to this story." He laid the suit on the arm of the chair.
"Oh, there's more all right. If you only knew the half of it . . .
"Okay, where to start . . ." Hesitating, I took a big breath, and let it out slowly. "I picked up Bells last Monday. She wanted to go cliff diving, so I took her to First Beach. When we got out of the car, she removed her cover up. Now, this is the thing, Charlie—she was wearing this little yellow string bikini. It practically gave me a heart attack. She looked good enough to eat. I told her to wrap a towel around herself so I wouldn't be tempted to sneak a look.
"It was really hard not to think about it. I kept seeing her in that little yellow bikini, knowing that it was the only thing barely covering her body—which was now under that towel.
"Hell, it's hard enough to control myself when she's got a coat on. And here she was staring me in the face nine tenths naked.
"Anyway, on the third jump, her top got loose and floated away. I had to carry her to my house—topless. I gave her one of my tees to wear. I didn't peek—Scout's honor. But to top it off, she started kissing my lips off— and I mean seriously kissing me. What's a guy supposed to do? I had all I could do to restrain myself.
Charlie stood up from his seat, his face was turning an odd shade of purple.
I patted my hand in the air, motioning for him to sit down. "You can sit back down, Charlie. I swear to you that nothing happened. But, jeez, I was in a lot of pain for hours afterwards, if you know what I mean. I always try to be good around your daughter, but she's got to stop wearing stuff like that. Suppose someone else had been with her. Things might have gone differently.
"That suit next to you was my idea to solve the problem. I got it so she could change into it, instead of teasing me by wearing next to nothing. I showed it to her, and she thought it belonged to another girl. I bought it for Bells, but she won't believe me.
"Anyway, I thought maybe you could talk to her so she'll show me some mercy instead of so much skin. Oh, and hey, do me a favor and ask to see the suit she has on today. I guarantee it'll turn your hair grey.
"That's it—my whole pitiful story. And now, she's mad at me!"
Charlie scratched his head. "That's quite a story. I still don't like that you bought her that suit, though. I'll reimburse you for it when I get paid next Friday, and I don't want any arguments about it. Leave it here for her so I can show her the receipt. That should convince her.
"I really appreciate you coming over here to talk to me. That took a lot of guts."
"It's not just for me; I don't want to see her getting hurt. You might as well know . . . I'm in love with your daughter, chief."
"I'm way ahead of you, Jacob. I've known that fact for a long time now, probably since the first day you came with that truck. It's written all over your face every time I see you two together. She could do a lot worse—Edward, for instance. I don't know what she sees in him.
"Anyhow, I'll talk to her this evening. Wish me luck. I'm not very good at this sort of thing."
"Well, I guess I better go. Thanks for seeing me."
Charlie stood up and patted me on the back as I got ready to leave. "Why don't you and Billy come by Monday night? There's a game on. I can barbeque some hamburgers, and pop some popcorn."
"Sounds good. I'll have my dad call you. Bye."
When I got to the car, I practically slumped into the seat. Whew, that was tough. But maybe some good would come of it—that is, if Bells didn't kill me first.
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The Cullens' had the most gorgeous and the largest swimming pool anywhere. It had realistic rock formation around the perimeter, and the cement surface was painted dark blue to mimic nature. The pool itself was secluded behind high walls and trees to prevent prying eyes from any glimpses of unintentional sparkles escaping into the atmosphere. It was Eden, situated in Forks.
Edward met Bella before she slid off the seat of the Chevy. His angelic face lit up as her hand reached out to his. He clung to it while he helped her down to the driveway's surface. He heard the ever-escalating beating of her heart at his touch.
"You have no idea how much I love having you here. Come with me to the garage. We'll take the golf cart out to the pool."
On the way, Edward smiled at her, releasing the butterflies that resided in the recesses of her stomach. The sunlight glinted off his bronze mane, and millions of diamond facets glinted from his skin. His golden eyes shone as he glanced over at her.
"I imagine that this means you've forgiven me for making those disparaging remarks about your friend, Jacob. I'm sorry I attempted to restrain you from seeing him again. It was thoughtless and cruel of me. I should have realized how my actions would reap the opposite results, no matter that my intentions were only the best. I wanted to protect you from his volatile nature. I see now the error of my thinking. You were correct. I don't believe that Jacob would ever hurt you. From, this moment on, I will trust your decisions."
Smug was the only way to describe the expression on her face, as she spoke. "Good, because you know that I will see him if I want to. And no one is going to stop me, not even a bronze haired Adonis."
"I'm extremely cognizant of that very fact," he chuckled." You are without exception, the most stubborn example of the female gender I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.
"Good thing you don't need air to breathe," she laughed, "because that was quite a mouthful."
Edward made no further comment except to say, "We're here." He stopped the cart and led her to the gated pool area.
Once inside the gate, Edward removed his shirt and shorts, revealing his swim trunks. Bella was nearly blinded by the glittering beams emanating from his toned body.
Bella removed her cover-up and Edward let out a gasp. "Bella, that suit doesn't leave much to the imagination. But what I can see, I like." He winked a golden eye at her.
Racing up the rungs of the diving board, he dove off, somersaulting in the air in a precise triple revolution dive. A perfect 10, naturally. Everything Edward attempted was perfectly executed.
Timidly advancing into the pool, Bella was surprised that the water was tepid. It was like taking a bath without the soap—quite a contrast to the icy assault of the ocean at La Push.
As she waded out deeper into the pool, Edward's head suddenly popped up beside her. With the water dripping from his hair onto his face and the drops clinging to his lashes, he appeared to be a water nymph, a creature of mystical proportions. She was nearly overcome by his beauty.
"Is the water warm enough, love? We had a heater installed for you."
"It's great," she agreed. Was there nothing the Cullens couldn't afford?"
"I turned up the heater so you'd be more comfortable." He lifted her up in his arms, twirling her around in the warm liquid.
The two of them played in the water, splashing and dunking each other. Edward of course cheated, because obviously, he didn't need to take a breath. After a while, Bella's skin started to wrinkle, so she climbed out of the pool. Edward was right behind her, like a bee drawn to a flower. They both ended up on a large outdoor divan. He had an oversized beach towel ready to wrap her in. They snuggled up together, soaking in the rare sunshine.
Having Edward's face so close was doing funny things to her. There was a burning hunger coursing through her body, a feeling that she couldn't deny. She was gazing into the eyes of that angel. It was intoxicating, and she impulsively touched her lips to his mouth of cool marble. He was hesitant, but Bella was determined to get in her fill of his kisses today. She would love nothing better than to waste the rest of the day kissing Edward.
Right on cue, Edward pulled away—just as things began to heat up. It was so unfair of him. Why did he always have to be so responsible?
"Feeding time for the human," he joked, as he removed Bella's arms from his neck.
They drove back to the house and went inside. Edward whipped up a salad and a side of fruit. He enjoyed watching her eat, knowing that it made her happy. He had a strawberry mousse made especially for her. Bella felt almost guilty eating the delight when Edward couldn't join her.
The mousse tantalized every tiny taste bud on her tongue. The flavor was unbelievable—true culinary magic.
By this time, her bathing suit was dry, so they spent the rest of the afternoon listening to music and talking in Edward's room.
Bella tried her darnedest to continue their previous activity, but Edward wouldn't cooperate, and finally said, "You know, love, you're making this very difficult for me, especially since you're wearing that red enticement. I know my limits, so I think it's time to call it an evening."
"Darn, I guess it is getting kind of late—I should go." She snuck in one last kiss, and Edward had to pry her fingers from his hair.
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A/N: Tusitala was the nickname the Samoans gave to Robert Louis Stevenson when he lived among them. It means Teller of Tales.