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Chapter 17

Edward's POV

Arriving back at my apartment in Chicago felt strange and very lonely. It certainly didn't feel like home, I'm not sure it ever did. I had a few important details I needed to wrap up before I packed up and completed that phase of my life and began making things right in my new one.

I walked the few blocks from my apartment to the Adventure offices. Chicago in the fall was nice, Washington in the fall was better. My cell phone rang, Alice's number as I reached the door to the building's glass front door. Quickly pressing the talk button, I barely had the phone to my ear before she was talking.

"Hey Edward… How's Chicago?"

"It's fine, Alice. I'm just heading into the office now to submit the article and tell my editor he can fuck himself."

"Edward, don't do that. You can't burn that bridge especially after working for him so long. Not a wise thing to do."

"I can Alice and I don't care about that bridge. If he was willing to throw me under the bus like that, after all this time working together, he doesn't deserve another fucking thought of consideration and honestly, I don't care what he has to say, nothing justifies him fucking with my personal life."

"Okay, calm down. That's not even why I called really…" Her voice trailed off in my ear as I pulled my hand from the door handle, pacing the sidewalk.

"What's going on Alice?"

"Nothing really…I just made a little trip out to the lodge today and…"

"You saw her? What did she say? How did she look? Was she ok?" I bombarded my sister anxiously with all the questions I'd emailed to Bella over the last few weeks. I kept getting the same responses… 'I'm fine, I just need time, I'll call you.'

"She's fine Edward, I promise. I know you didn't want me getting in the middle, but when we talked last, you just sounded so sad and worried. I had to go see her myself and talk to her woman to woman."

"Alice…"

"No Edward, I didn't do or say anything you wouldn't want me to. In fact, I think I may have left her with a few things to think about."

I sighed loudly, running my hand over my face in mild exasperation.

"So…she's ok? How did she look?"

"She's as beautiful as ever Edward," her voice lowering as if she was telling me a secret.

"She's just struggling with how she should be feeling about all of this. I have a feeling you're going to hear from her soon though, okay?"

"Really? Thanks, Alice. I mean it. If I were still there, I'd have gone myself. Not that she would have let me in the door, but…" I wondered if I'd ever be welcome in her door ever again.

"Just take care of what you need to and get back home."

"I will."

I pocketed my phone, finally making my way through the door of the building where the Adventure offices were housed with a renewed purpose. I headed towards the bank of elevators along the far wall of the lower level. I entered the empty car and waited as it took me to the offices of my soon to be former employer.

Aro, that asshole. The more I thought about the situation, the more pissed I became. He had no right calling Bella like that, simply because he wasn't going to get what he wanted. I managed a deep, cleansing breath. Alice was right, if I didn't get my temper under control, things could get out of hand. I definitely didn't need anymore issues with Aro. I wanted to turn my lodge review in, tell him to kiss my ass and resign…in that order.

As the elevator doors parted, Sam stood outside the car waiting to get on. When he noticed me standing there, his eyes widened and he quickly stepped in, pushing me to the back wall and pressed the first floor button.

"Edward, man, what the fuck happened?"

"What do you mean, Sam? I confided in you about what was going on. What'd you do? What did you tell him that made him call the White Swan Lodge and tell Bella what was going on?" I could barely contain my anger as weeks of pent up frustration finally bubbled over.

"Jesus, I didn't tell him anything other than what you told me to. All I said was that you weren't going to be able to do the review because you had a conflict of interest. I swear that's all." He raised his hands in defense as I had pressed him against the wall.

The elevator dinged, alerting that we'd arrived back on the first floor. I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes as Sam pushed me out of the elevator.

"Shit, man… did he really call the place?"

I laughed at the surprise in his voice, shaking my head. "He did, and he really fucked things up."

"Listen Edward, I don't know what his plan was, or why he did it, but you know how it goes. He's only looking to meet his deadlines, get his bonuses and he doesn't care who he screws to do it either. In his big picture, you're not even a blip on his bullshit radar, so this doesn't surprise me. But it's going to piss him off even more that you wrote a favorable review. He gets nothing personally talking up the small places."

"Well that's why I need a favor from you," I said, staring him in the eye. "You need to make sure he doesn't change a word of this review and it gets into the next issue exactly as I have it."

"Edward..."

"No Sam, you have to promise me." My hand grasped his shoulder tightly hoping to convey the importance of the one, last task.

"I'll do what I can." I arched my brow, driving home my point. "I mean it, I will." He assured me.

I dug in my bag, grabbing a hardcopy of the review I wrote. "Here's my copy, but I'll email you the original too."

"Alright, man, I'll take care of it."

"Listen, I have to get back up there. Aro and I need to have a little conversation. And then I have to pack… I'm moving back to Washington," I told him with confidence as the elevators pressed together.

Oo~TWSL~oO

I knocked hard twice, pushed the door open quickly and strode with swagger into his office. He sat arrogantly at his desk, black hair slicked back and beady eyes reading something on a monitor. He didn't even flinch when I walked in.

Clearing my throat I stepped in front of his desk. He turned to look at me, smirking. I'd never felt as violent before as I did in that moment.

"Edward!" He exclaimed. "You made it back to the office. How was the vacation?"

"Fuck you, Aro. I'm only here to provide you with my resignation and to submit my last assignment. I can't believe you have the balls to pretend that what you did was professional." My voice was steely, yet calm.

He stood from his chair, meeting my stare. "I did what I had to do to get the job done, something you should take note on. Besides, you weren't sent there to test out the help, you were there to write a review... You want to define professional?"

"Sam told you I couldn't do it, didn't he? He explained I had a conflict of interest. There was no reason for you to call the lodge like you did and talk to Bella. Absolutely none."

"Bella? Oh, you mean Isabella Swan? Yes, she told me how you had made yourself at home there… cutting firewood? Really Edward? I always had you pegged for more of an urban guy." He scoffed.

"You don't know me at all Aro." I dug inside my bag, pulling out my letter of resignation, slamming it on the desk between us. "Consider this review, my last. This is my letter of resignation."

I turned to walk out of his office, exhaling to settle my anger. "For what it's worth Aro, I appreciate the opportunities, but screwing with my personal life was a big mistake. You may have had a part in ruining the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Oo~TWSL~oO

I found myself sitting on the worn but comfortable leather couch near the entrance of Muggs, the popular coffee shop on the corner. Sipping my strong, black coffee, I impatiently fidgeted with my cell phone.

I was still hopelessly waiting for her to call, text or email…anything to give me some indication that we could work the mess out.

"Edward? Is that you?"

My eyes ran the length of a long, lean pair of legs encased in a pair of tight jeans that I hadn't seen for quite some time.

"Heidi! Hey, how are you?" I stood, placing my coffee on the table next to me. She pulled me into a tight hug, her soft lips found my cheek.

I pulled out of the embrace as her hands slid down my arms, her fingers tangling with mine. It had been quite a while since I'd seen Heidi. We'd always connected on a hot physical level, and in the past I wouldn't have had a second thought about taking advantage of that but now…

I fell back onto the couch, as she slipped in next to me. I untangled our fingers and rested my arm casually along the back of the couch behind her. She angled her body into mine, laying her warm hand on my thigh, squeezing gently.

"How have you been, god, it's been so long. Have you been traveling?"

"I have actually." I nodded, watching her hand slide slowly up my leg. "I actually just got back from the Seattle area. I'm leaving Adventure magazine and moving back there indefinitely."

"You're leaving? Well, that's too bad…" She purred and pouted.

I felt her curves melting into my side, as she leaned in closer, and her hand resumed its path towards my groin.

"You know, Edward," she giggled. "My car is parked out back…" She whispered, "What do you say to one more goodbye… before you go?"

My hand grasped her fingers firmly.

"Heidi, you're beautiful, and we had a lot of fun when we were together, we really did." I looked into her big blue ones as the hopeful gaze turn puzzled. "But, I'm actually in a relationship right now. I have someone very important to me, and I couldn't hurt her like that. So… this is the only kind of goodbye we'll be sharing."

I smiled gently at her as she pulled her hand free of mine. "Well, she's a lucky girl whoever she is." She scooted away; finally we appropriately looked like a couple of friends enjoying java and small talk. She told me proudly about her nursing degree and internship, and I told her about trails, and native birds around the lodge. Then as quickly as she had appeared, she was gone. I grabbed my bag, tossed my coffee cup and headed for my apartment.

Oo~TWSL~oO

Over the next couple of weeks, I packed and shipped most of my belongings to my parent's house. I made service notices, and said more farewells. The apartment was exposed in its true nature… an empty shell housing my sterile existence. My time at the lodge with Bella was the most content I'd ever been.

I pulled my novel notes and notions into my lap and relaxed back with intentions to write a bit before sleep took over. A soft knock on my door startled me from my fictional world. I tossed my notebook next to me on the floor and grasped the door handle, roughly pulling it open.

My mouth gaped open in surprise. "Bella?" Stunned that she was standing and breathing in my doorway, I stared still like a fool. She nervously shifted from one foot to the other, biting her lip while I stood motionless.

"Um…hi, Edward. Mind if I come in?"

"Oh god, no. I mean yes… Please… I mean… ignore the mess," I bumbled and fumbled reaching for her hand, pulling her hard into the apartment. As my fingers laced with hers the immediate sensation when our skin touched set me on fire. I prepared to fight, grovel, love… whatever was necessary.

She grasped her oversized bag with her other hand as I pulled her forward. When we entered the living area, her gorgeous eyes darted around the room, taking everything in.

"So…you really are moving to Seattle?" Her eyes settled on mine as we stood painfully close.

I nodded my response. "There's nothing here for me, Bella. Everything I want and need is in… Washington now."

She sighed gently as her eyes dropped, fixed on her feet.

"Bella," I whispered, "What are you doing here? Not that I'm not incredibly happy to see you, but… you came all the way to Chicago?" I reached for her hand again, stepping closer.

"I had to come…" She dug into her bag and pulled out a magazine, handing it to me. I realized it was the most recent edition of Adventure…I closed my eyes and blew out a deep breath.

"Bella, I can explain…"

She stared, her eyes narrowed. "I think you have a lot of explaining to do. What do you mean 'the frosting on the chocolate cake is too sweet?'"

I gasped, my mouth dropped open, again completely shocked. My mind raced, rapidly contemplating the different ways the immediate scene could play out. Her bag dropped to the floor, she pulled her hand from mine. Suddenly her fingers were buried in my hair and running smooth along the back of my neck. And the minute her sweet lips touched mine, it was all the confirmation I needed, I was home…

A/N

Thanks for reading – please consider leaving a review I love hearing what you think!

So- apparently being on vacation gets me writing. Imagine that!

I really appreciate everyone reading and reviewing and tweeting and being so lovely to me. It makes me smile!

SO- no new recs this week – I haven't had any time to read new stuff but how about some that I still love?

The Companion by samrosey – I'll be hosting a readalong for this story on 2/17 at 8CST I hope you'll join me. I don't wanna be lonely and it's a beautiful story! www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/6413228/1/

The Art of Breaking by jdbeaner a lovely story everyone should read. Love her Edward www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/6192792/1/

All the Wild Horses by elusivetwilight – Rancherward makes me want a cowboy – nuf said… http:/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/6435667/1/

Love is the End by phoebespromise – I adore this story it's heartbreaking but beautiful – check it out! www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/6445022/1/

Drift by denverpopcorn – it's complete and I love this story www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/6388820/1/

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