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Disclaimer: I do NOT own Twilight; I do however plan on meeting Mrs. Meyer for the third time at the Breaking Dawn premiere on Nov. 14!
Finally Rosalie and I are outside and the last thing I want to do is go home. Rose runs off to get us a cab and I am left alone with my thoughts. It is bad enough I was forced into this situation, but know I have to go home and deal with Jacob. In reality, I was already over the whole thing; after all it wasn't the first time he'd stood me up. What really got to me was his complete disregard for all and any plans we made, even when the plans involved the wedding. Just last week, we were supposed to meet with the wedding planner and of course he showed up more than forty minutes late. I'm starting to suspect that James isn't the only reason he has been putting off or showing up late to the appointments with the wedding planner.
Sometime I feel like I can't talk to anyone. Sure I have Rosalie but her opinion of Jacob clouds her judgment on the matter. And then there is my mother who pretty much worships the ground he walks on. My father is a bit more understanding, but he too cannot wait for the wedding. As for my two older brothers, they pretty much adopted Jacob into our family immediately after we started dating. Sometimes it seems all they care about is the attention the Black last name would bring. Somehow my parents have deluded themselves into thinking I like the attention I get for being engaged to one of the most sought out NFL star. In reality I couldn't care less. To me Jake is just a regular guy, who I met in a bar almost a year ago. I didn't even know who he was until the morning after our first date. I remember having my face plastered on countless blogs and even some magazines. Luckily the interest to know who Jacob Black's fiancée is has finally died down. I seriously have a problem with my personal life being displayed for everyone to see.
At last Rosalie finds us a cab, and we both settle in for the 20 minute drive to my place. We sit in complete silence, as I watch the city pass by from the window. Hmmm how I will miss getting lost in the streets of Los Angeles. Walking down Hollywood Blvd, taking trips to the downtown fashion district, or even walking down the boardwalk at Venice beach. These are places Rose and I escape to when our lives become too much to bare. What will happen when I no longer have the streets of the city I know and love to run to, or worse not having Ros…I stop that thought in its track. But it is too late though, I can feel the tears start to prick my eyes. I wipe them off before they can run down my face, the last thing I need to do right now is get sentimental about my move to New York.
I turn my head to face forward when I catch a glimpse of Rosalie looking at me. One look and I know she can already sense my fear. The fear that I am making a huge mistake by marrying Jacob Black. I open my mouth to say something but she beats me to it.
"I am so sorry Bella." It catches me by surprise, why is she apologizing to me?
"For what Rosalie?" I cannot come up with any reason why she would be apologizing. After all she basically dropped all her plans tonight to come and be with me.
She stares at me with tears in her eyes "for being such a terrible friend. This whole time all I've been able to see is how much you struggle with the decision to marry Jacob, yet all I've done is act like a selfish bitch instead of supporting you." I can't do anything but stare at the tears running down her eyes, and all I want to do is console her, but I know how important it is to let her finish.
"It's just that you are like a sister to me and I really don't want you to get hurt. You deserve a man who will treat you like the amazing woman that you are, someone who will love you unconditionally. If you think Jacob is that man then I really don't have any reason to question your judgment". I stare in awe, mesmerized by what she just said. I can see how difficult it must've been for her to put her prejudice aside.
A huge sigh of relief escapes my mouth, for the first time since Jacob put that diamond ring on my finger, I feel like I might actually be doing the right thing. I search for the appropriate words but my mind comes up empty. All I can manage before I pull Rosalie into a tight hug is "Thank you."
We pull up in front of my condo; I take a couple of deep breaths and step out. I wave at Rosalie as the cab drives away. I fumble around my purse looking for my keys and make my way to the front door of the building. Garrett who guards the lobby most nights greats me, and presses the button to summon for the elevator. I make my way in and head for the 5th floor. I step out and find the front door to my condo. As soon as I walk in I head for the kitchen and boil some water for tea. I decided to grab a change of clothes while I wait for my tea to cool a bit.
In the dark I can make out Jacob's body sprawled out on the bed in nothing more than a pair of boxers. He turns so that his face is illuminated by the light streaming from the window, and all I see is the guy I fell in love with. Yeah, he can be insensitive and inconsiderate sometimes, but he is also the man that took me away to Santa Barbara on our third date. We spent the whole weekend locked away in his vacation home, drinking wine, and cuddling next to the fire place. I almost felt like I was back in high school, celebrating an anniversary for every month of our relationship. Now if he could only remember to show up to our meetings with the wedding planner on time….
I pull on a black silk nightgown, and head outside to drink my tea. I walk around the condo as I sip on my tea, and try to imagine my life with Jacob. He's career forcing him to be away from home, and leaving me alone for months on end. Was I prepared to put up with such a hectic schedule? What about when we decided to have kids, would he be able to work around his schedule to spend more time at home? Would he decide to retire early, or would we travel with him? That's often the case for most woman married to professional athletes. All I know is that if he is willing to put in the effort to make it work, so would I.
Once in bed Jacob wraps his arms around my waist, and pulls me into his body. I can't tell if he is awake or still sleeping, but then he whispers a soft "I'm sorry" in my ear. That's all it takes for me to relax and let myself enjoy the heat radiating from his chest.
The next morning I wake up at 7:30 am so that I can be at work by 9. My job is to run the office my father keeps downtown. I'm in charge of the P.R for all the restaurants, and the clubs my parents co-own. It's a rare occasion when I actually have to come into the office; I can usually get away with working from home. Today my parents are coming over to discuss the details for the renovations of the club they are buying out. My mother is also dying to know how the plans for the wedding are coming along. Typically girls would prefer to ask their mother's for help planning their weddings, not me. I figured she'd likely go overboard, and I'd end up with a wedding where I'd only know a hand full of the guest. She'd probably invite every magazine and newspaper in the L.A area.
I don't hear Jacob outside so I assume he had an early meeting. A lot of endorsement deals have been coming his way, so he spends his days in meetings, and flying back and forth from New York. Once in a while I make those trips with him; after all we need to find a place to live before the wedding.
When I walk out of the room Jacob is seated on one of the breakfast bar stools. Next to him is a bed tray with some yogurt topped with granola, a bowl of fresh fruit and a mug of coffee, my usual breakfast. He catches sight of me, as I walk across the living room to get to the kitchen.
"Oh hey, I was hoping to get done before you got up. I didn't think you'd be up for another hour." Jake says as he walks over to me.
"Believe me if I had a choice I'd still be sleeping. My parents need me to be at the office by nine. They're coming in to explain the renovation for the club they are buying on Sunset."
He wraps his arms around me and says "I've missed you. I feel like we've barely had time to be together". He leans in for a soft kiss. I follow his lead and wrap my arms around his neck, and deepen the kiss.
Sadly I remember the reason why I'm up so early, and pull away. "Baby, as much as I would like to stay with you the whole day, I can't. I should probably get going; you know how my dad feels about punctuality.
I quickly eat the breakfast that Jacob prepared for me and head out. I pull up at Swan Enterprise and as always Angela the full time manager of the office greets me with a genuine smile. She is one of the few people that work for my parents that I actually like. Most of the girls in the office only stay because working for Swan Enterprise guarantees an entrance to all the top parties in town. They're all snobby stuck up bitches that don't know the first thing about my parent's business. I often question what my father was thinking when he hired them. Turns out they are good for business, a lot of their families invest money in the company, and they spread the word about the clubs and restaurants. I guess it's a win win situation when I'm not the one having to put up with them. Angela is different though. She's the only one I've actually bothered to build a friendship with. She attends business school at USC, so working here is building experience for the future. She might even get to take over my position when I move to New York.
"Hey Ang." I say as I hand her the cup of chai tea I picked up for her on my way over. "How's it going? Has my dad called?"
"Thanks Bella, you remembered." She says as she takes the first sip. "Everything is great, just trying to get through school. I'm lucky your father is so flexible with my schedule, and he did call earlier today to tell me you were coming in. How are things with you? Have you and Jake decide on the location for the wedding?"
"I've been alright, going a little crazy with all the planning but nothing too bad. I'm just glad I've finally convinced my mother I don't need two hundred people at the wedding. We haven't made the final decision on the location, but Jake and I really liked a property in Santa Barbara. It's right by his vacation house." My thoughts immediately go to the beautiful beach front property Jake and I fell in love with when scouting for locations.
"That's great!" Angela says as she continues to sip her tea. "Ben and I are talking about maybe moving in together. It would just be more practical for both of us, since I already spend most nights at his apartment."
"So you and Ben are getting pretty serious?" I am genuinely happy for her. In the two years that she has been working for Swan Enterprise Angela has had her fair share of relationship problems. "Will you be getting a place together, or are you planning on moving into his place since its closer to campus?"
"We haven't thought it through that far. We just want to make sure the relationship can handle us moving in together. I mean, I don't know the first thing about living with a boyfriend."
I lean in closer to her and put my hand on her arm "Hey there is nothing to worry about." I give her a reassuring smile and continued "just make sure that's what you really want, don't feel pressured to say yes just because it's more convenient." How ironic that I would be the one giving Angela relationship advice. Since I should probably be the one getting it. "Anyway I should probably go in and get ready for my parents".
My parents arrived a bit later with blueprints and estimates for the renovation. All I have to do is contact the contractors and send out the checks. I also have to make sure the building is up to code, and renew the liquor license. I can do all those things from home in less than a week. If only it was that easy to get my mother off my case about the wedding. She is also curious about how the house search is going. I guess it's understandable, I am her little girl, and she wants to make sure I have a good life. I almost feel guilty for not letting her get more involved in the wedding. To make up for that, I decide to invite her to my next dress fitting. I'm torn between two gowns. One is a beautiful rose colored Oscar de la Renta, and the other a beautiful sweetheart neckline with feather embellishments by Monique Lhuillier.
After my parents leave I decide to take Angela out for lunch at a local Bistro. After running a couple of errands, I stop at the grocery store and pick up the ingredients for Jacob's favorite meal. After getting all the things I need to make chicken parmesan, I head home to get started on dinner.
After about an hour of getting started Jacob comes home and, it's as if I live with a five year old. He tries to convince me that it is important for him to check if the marinara sauce has all the right ingredients. He also volunteers to help me make some chocolate chip cookies, but just ends up eating all the chocolate. After about his eighth attempt to deep bread into the marinara sauce, I kick him out of the kitchen. After a bit of a tantrum he goes off to shower before dinner.
After setting the table and opening a bottle of wine, we settle down to eat. Jacob starts telling me about his meetings. I tell him about the meeting with my parents, and remind him that we have a meeting with the wedding planner to decide on the location for the wedding. After dinner I finally let him have some of the chocolate chip cookies, which he claims came out delicious because he helped make them. I let him think whatever he likes, and ignore the fact that he doesn't know the first thing about baking.
After dinner he helps me clear out the table and load the dishwasher. Once we're done wiping the counters down, he comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. He starts kissing my neck and when he gets to my ear he whispers "I love you" into it. I turn around to face him and lean into him so that I can enjoy the heat in his chest. It's been a while since we were like this. I look up to meet his eyes and finally allow myself to truly forgive him for standing me up last night, and for not being more involve with the wedding.
This time I am the one who initiates the kissing. It starts of slow and tender but it quickly turns into heavy desperate kissing. I wrap my arms around his neck as he pushes me into the counter. He cups my ass and picks me up to press his hard-on into me. I hop on to the counter and wrap my legs around his waist. He kisses down my neck, and slowly lifts my shirt. I feel a shiver run down my back as he caresses it. He makes his way back to my ass lifts me, and starts towards our bedroom.
Once he sets me down I yank his shirt off and press our bodies together. I slowly lay down on the bed and he follows my lead. Our kisses continue to grow more heated, when all of a sudden his phone begins to ring. At first we ignore it, but after the fifth call he stands and yanks his phone from the nightstand. He looks at it and sighs "it's James. It must be important, I should probably get it". With that said he storms out of the room to answer the phone. Under any other circumstances I would have been pissed, but Jacob seemed genuinely worried about the call.
After about twenty minutes on the phone, Jacob comes back into the room looking extremely anxious. One look and I know there is something very wrong. He just looks at me and says "we need to talk".
Oh oh nothing good ever follows those four words. Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you liked it please let me know, and if you didn't I'd still like to hear from you. Until next time ;)