Chapter Ten
EPOV
I couldn't help but whistle as I made my way into the office. It was four weeks after the incident at the restaurant and it had been the best four weeks of my life. The gang was back and altogether. I could see Rose and Em getting back together soon as they flirted constantly. Alice and Jas were they same as always and Bella and I? Well, we still hadn't had our talk, but we were at least back on speaking terms. We had spoken a little about the 'Tanya' incident, but had not gone into the matter fully yet. We spoke almost everyday and saw each other at least three or four times a week. I was in heaven. I smiled a lot more now and everyone noticed. I thought back to the phone call from my parents I had this morning before I left for work. Neither Em or I had spoken to them in a couple of weeks so needless to say, they were surprised to hear the cheerfulness in my voice
Flashback
I had just poured my orange juice after my morning workout as the phone rang
"Hello?"
"Good morning, son. How are you?" My mother's sweet voice filled my ears and I grinned
"Morning, Mom! I'm good! How are you and Dad?" I answered cheerfully
"We are good. What has my baby boy so happy? Not that I am complaining! It's been too long since I heard you so happy" I felt a little sad at the thought of what I had put my parents through. For eight years I had pulled away from everyone
"Bella" I replied simply. I heard my mother gasp on the other end. I wasn't surprised at her reaction; this was after all the first in a long time she had heard the name fall from my lips
"Bella Swan?" she whisper
"The one and the same, Mom. Unless you know of any other Bella's?" I said teasingly
"Oh, my baby!" I heard my mother sob and then my Father came on the line
"Edward? Son? Why is you mother crying? What did you say to her?" I heard the panic in his voice and I felt bad. I was like my father in most ways. I also couldn't see the woman I loved cry. Not that any other woman had instigated that reaction in me. Only Bella. Hmm, I thought to myself maybe that should have been my first clue eight years ago?
"I'm sorry Dad, I didn't mean to make Mom cry. I just told her that I-"
"It's happy tears, Carlisle! I'm just so happy!" I heard my mother yell in the background
"Ok, now I really want to know. What did you say to her?" Dad asked
"Bella" I said again and I heard dad suck in a long breath too and I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face
"Bella? As in Bella Swan?" Dad asked. I rolled my eyes. Sometimes he and mom were just so alike that it was scary
"As I said to mom, dad, yes, Bella Swan, unless you know of any others?" I replied
"What…How…When?" I heard Dad splutter and I could help but laugh
"Four and a half weeks ago. We bumped into each other when I went to court to file my restraining order and we've been talking since" I said happily
"I'm happy for you, son. So…" he trailed off
"So, what, dad?" I asked confused
"Have you told her you love her yet?" I was stunned
"Wha…What…" now it was my turn to splutter, I heard Dad sigh
"Son, we could see that you loved her then and that kind of love doesn't just go away" I was shocked
"But-but, I only figured it out recently, dad. How could you see it back then?"
"Oh, son. It was always there, it just took you a while to catch on to it, now all you have to do is tell her" I sighed. God, I really had been an idiot
"It's not that simple, dad"
"Why not?" and so I launched into the whole tale. I told him about my anger, her hesitation, her now broken engagement and the fight. Everything
"So, as of right now, I don't know what we are. Sure, we are friends, but I really don't know if she loves me or not" I finished
"Well, son, if I'm right and you know that I usually am" I rolled my eyes at this "don't roll your eyes at me, young man, you know I am! She does love you too" I chuckled. My dad really did know me well. We talked for a few minutes about the business and our lives before I had to hang up
"I gotta go, dad. I have a meeting in the office at 9.30am and it's already 8.30am"
We exchanged goodbyes and promises to call more often and then we hung up
End Flashback
I was now at the office. I smiled at the receptionist as I walked in. That may have been a mistake. The girl constantly flirted with me and to be honest it was quite annoying
"Good morning, Mr Cullen" Lauren said, in what I assumed she thought was a sexy voice
"Good morning, Lauren. Has my first appointment arrived yet?" I asked
"Yes sir, they are waiting for you in conference room 1" she replied. I simply nodded and turned towards the elevators
"Mr Cullen?" I turned back
"Yes, Lauren"
"I was wondering if you would accompany me to lunch today" I raised an eyebrow at her. I was surprised at her forwardness.
"Lauren, I don't dip the pen in the company ink, so I will have to decline your offer. But thank you anyway" I said evenly
"Oh, so you would agree if we didn't work together?" I stepped back in surprise. Was she serious? Before I could respond I heard my most favourite voice in the world
"And how do you know he doesn't have a girlfriend, Lauren?" I turned and found Bella stalking towards us, a look of restrained fury on her face.
Hmm, someone's jealous
No, she just doesn't like you being cornered anymore than you do!
Yeah…I don't think that's it
"He doesn't. I've worked here for nearly two years now and I have never seen him bring any girl in" Lauren replied tartly. I bristled at her tone. I was not happy at the way she was speaking to Bella. I opened my mouth to say something, but I should have know that my Kitten could stick up for herself
"Just because he hasn't brought a girl to his workplace, does not mean he doesn't have one, am I right, Tiger?" Bella was now looking at me, silently telling me to play along. I nodded
"Right you are, Kitten" I knew why she had used my nickname in front of Lauren. It was the same reason I would have if the situation was reversed. She was outing me as hers, even though weren't together. Yet. I liked it
"Tiger? Kitten?" Lauren looked from me to Bella and back again. I walked over to where Bella was standing and wrapped my arms around her waist from behind, leaning to rest my chin on her shoulder
"Lauren, meet my girlfriend, Bella. Bella, meet our receptionist, Lauren" I said
"You're not serious? You've never mentioned her before!" Lauren looked incredulously between us. I simply shrugged and turned my head to press a soft kiss on Bella's neck. I heard Bella's breath hitch and I smiled against her skin. I had affected her! Yes! That had to mean something, right?
I inhaled Bella's sweet scent as she leaned into me and whispered
"Lunch with me instead, Tiger?" I nodded against her neck and then released her
"Sure. Meet you at the restaurant at 12pm, okay?" I asked as she turned to face me. I gazed into her beautiful eyes and my heart soared at what I saw there. Love. Pure unadulterated, love. I kissed her cheek and then stepped back. I really wanted to kiss her lips, but I didn't want our first kiss to be in response to jealousy and the subsequent show we had put on. I wanted it to be because we really were together and after we had hashed out all our issues
"I have to go. My first client's already here and waiting but I'll see you at 12pm?" I asked again. She nodded
"Yeah. See you then" she leaned up and kissed my jaw. My heart sped up and crashed against my chest. I watched as she turned and walked out of the building. I strode off to my meeting, grinning goofily. 12pm could not come round soon enough. Today was the day. Today we would talk about everything we needed to.
Two and a half agonizing hours later I strolled into my restaurant. I found Bella sitting in our booth so I made my way over, waving to Laurent as I did
"Hey, Kitten" I said smiling
"Hey, Tiger" she smiled back at me and my breath caught in my throat. God, she was beautiful
"I ordered us the grilled cheese sandwiches with pancetta and some coke" I grinned, this girl really knew me well and knew what I would like without me even having to say it
"Perfect" I replied happily
We talked about our mornings for a while before our food came, which we then ate in comfortable silence. After we had finished, I leaned back into the leather cushion and gazed at Bella. I was unsure of how to start the conversation that was a long time coming. I knew it would be hard, but it had to be done if we were to move forward in our relationship. And yes, I wanted a relationship with Bella. I wanted everything with her. I took a deep breath and started. It was now or never
"Bella, we need to talk" I said and then cringed. Those words always meant one thing in any relationship and it was never good. I watched as Bella's face paled and her body tensed, so I hurried on
"Look, we have a lot of history and a few issues we need to discuss and I would like to talk about them now, if I may. We can't move forward if we don't and I, for one, don't want them holding us back anymore" Bella nodded
"I agree, Edward. We do need to talk. How about this? You ask the questions you have and I'll answer them" she said
"In true honesty?" I asked, she nodded. I thought about it for a second and then asked my first question
"Why did you leave without saying goodbye?" I asked softly. This was the hardest question of all of them, but the one that had always been at the forefront of my mind. Bella sighed and looked down at the table before she spoke
"Honestly, it was pure stupidity on my part. I see that clearly now. After I left you at school that day, I drove around for a while before I went home. Emmett called when I got home and asked where you were, saying you had run out of the parking lot muttering to yourself. I was still a little pissed at you so I told him you weren't with me and he should just ask Tanya" I flinched at the name and she noticed and smiled weakly, asking with her eyes if I was ok, I nodded for her to continue
"After I hung up, I went over to Tanya's myself and we had words. I saw your shirt hanging on the banister and she then said a few things and I know you know what words were exchanged, because Alice told me she had told you. I, well, I lost it. My heart broke that day and I knew that I couldn't see you with her day in, day out, so I left. It was my biggest mistake" she finished. I watched as her eyes filled with tears, my own prickling in response. I nodded and then asked my next question
"So, why didn't you come back? Or call?"
"Because I was stubborn and again, just plain stupid. After Alice came back to New York after graduation, we didn't speak about you. I asked her not to. It was just too hard to hear your name. My second mistake. After that, as more time went on, I felt too ashamed" I nodded again
"And now?" I asked, she sighed still looking down at the table
"And now, I still feel ashamed, but it's too damn hard to stay away from you. I missed you too much and can't do it anymore. I missed my best friend" I sucked in a breath at the last words. Was that all I was to her?
"Is that all I am to you, Bella? Your best friend?" I asked. Bella slowly raised her head and looked me dead in the eye as she spoke; I saw the determination and sincerity there
"No, Edward, you are much more. You always have been, but I was never anything more than that to you" she said honestly. I leaned forward and took her hand into mine, the familiar electricity flowing between our joined hands
"Do you feel that too, Bella?" I asked she nodded. I tried to regulate my breathing before I spoke. It was time. I was going to be honest with her
"Bella, when you left, I broke. You and only you have the power to fix me. Kate tried in college, but I see now that it was never her who could. It was always only you. Bella, I loved you then and I love you now. It's always been you, Kitten" I said the last softly. Bella gasped, her eyes widened as she stared at me. The unshed tears in her eyes fell, as did mine in response. I stood up and slipped into the booth next to her and wrapped my arms around her as she sobbed into my shirt
"I'm sorry, Tiger, I'm so, so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt you! I'm so sorry!" she cried. My own tears fell unchecked as I shushed her, stroking her hair. We sat like this for a few more minutes while she calmed down. Finally she pulled back, but only just enough to raise her face to look at me. She raised her hand and placed it on my cheek. I sighed contentedly as I leaned my head into her hand
"I love you too, Edward. Always have, always will" she whispered. My answering smile was huge. I leaned down slowly, looking from her eyes to her lips in a silent question. She tilted her head back in response, giving her acceptance just as silently. I leaned further and captured her soft lips with my own. It was slow and sweet, just as our first kiss should be. Our lips moved together in perfect synchrony, as if they were two pieces of a puzzle that fit only with each other. In that moment I saw stars and fireworks. It was heaven. I licked her bottom lip, asking for entrance and she gave it immediately. Our tongues met in a dance as old as time, but new for us.
It seemed like hours later when we finally pulled apart and we were both panting when we did. Bella was the first to speak
"Wow. Just. Wow" she said breathlessly. I chuckled in response and nodded
"Couldn't have said it better, my love" I replied, equally as breathlessly. We stared at each other for a long moment
"Bella, Can I take you out to dinner tonight?" I asked, suddenly shy
"Of course. Wait, as in a date, date?" she asked
"Yes" I replied, smiling crookedly. She reached up to stroke my cheek
"I love that smile. I would love to go out on a date with you, Edward" she smiled brilliantly and for a moment I lost my train of thought before I shook myself out of the Bella induced stupor
"Great, I'll pick you up at 7pm?" she nodded. I hesitated and then asked the most important question
"Does this mean you are my girlfriend?" she chuckled
"Edward, we just played tonsil hockey, I think it's safe to assume that, don't you?" I smiled widely before I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers once again quickly
"Awesome! That means I can now kiss you whenever I want! Yay me!" I said happily. Bella laughed loudly
"Yay you! And Yay me too! Coz, I get to do it too…boyfriend" she added shyly
"I like the sound of that…girlfriend" we smiled at each. I leaned down to kiss her again when we heard a throat clear behind us. I turned to find Emmett grinning widely
"Well, looky here. What do we have?" he wiggled his eyebrows, still grinning. Bella blushed and buried her face in my chest as I chuckled
"Hey, Em. What are you doing here?" Em walked over and slid into the booth facing us
"Lunch. So does this mean that you two finally grew a pair and admitted your feelings to one another?" he asked. I nodded and looked down at Bella, who was now leaning her head on my shoulder. I leaned down and kissed her head
"Aww, look at that. Isn't that sweet" Em said, still grinning, I simply rolled my eyes at him
"Seriously, dude, I'm happy for you two. It's been a long time coming" he turned to Bella then and said in the most serious voice I had ever heard him use
"Thank you, Bell. You've brought my brother back. I love you, lil sis" Bella reached over and clasped his massive hand in hers and squeezed, he smiled back
"So when are you gonna tell the rest of the gang?" he asked, looking back and forth between me and Bella, who now looked terrified
"Oh God, pixie is gonna torture me!" she said, I couldn't help it, I laughed loudly
"Kitten, don't worry, I'll be there with you too" I said
"Tiger, she'll torture me for details! She's going to freak!" she said frantically. I pulled her face up to look at me and gazed right into her eyes with all the love I had for her in me
"Baby, Please don't panic. Do you not want to tell them yet?" I asked, she shook her head vigorously
"No! No, that's not it! I know! Lets play with them a little!" she smiled and I could see the evil glint in her eyes
"What do you mean?" Em asked, Bella turned to face him
"I mean, I'm going to tell them that I have a new boyfriend and Edward will tell them that he's 'sort of seeing' someone and then on Friday, we'll all meet here for dinner" I couldn't help but admire her thought process. We discussed the plan on how to out us for a few more minutes and then Bella looked down at her watch and said she had to go to a meeting. She gave me a quick chaste kiss on the lips and left. She had been gone not five minutes when Emmett turned to me and spoke
"Well, this has been the most interesting lunch. Ever!" I laughed and quickly said my goodbyes too. I had a 3 o'clock meeting across town and it was now 2pm. It would take me 45 minutes to get there and with traffic it could very well take up to an hour. As I walked out into the sun, I felt as if I was on cloud nine. I had my girl.
Friday came round quickly. Bella and I had had our first date on Monday and the second on Tuesday. I had taken her to dinner and then Carnegie Hall to see the New York Symphony on Monday. It was a perfect first date, which ended with the most perfect kiss outside her apartment. The second date had simply been a picnic in the park, followed by a moonlit walk. Simple, but perfect for us.
I was now on my way to the restaurant to meet Bella and the gang. We had both told them (except Emmett, of course) that we were separately seeing new people. Alice had freaked when I told her and Bella informed me that the little pixie had almost shouted the house, or rather apartment down when Bella told her about her 'Mystery Man'. We had both laughed so hard when she told me that Alice had threatened to kill the 'Mystery Man' and do unspeakable things with his body parts. Yep, they were going to be surprised! Bella was loving playing out this plan and it made me so damn happy to see her happy. The cab dropped me off outside the restaurant and I made my way in.
The gang was all here. I was the last one in, as per the plan. I walked to 'Our Booth' as it was now known. Alice and Jasper were facing the door, so they saw me walking up and waved
"Edward! Where's your date?" Alice asked as I approached
"She's here, Ali, calm down, you'll get to meet her soon enough" I replied, winking at Emmett who snickered into his drink as I slide into the empty space beside Bella
"Hey all, how's it going?" I asked as I looked round at each face, saving the best for the last
"It's going great! We're just waiting for the two new additions to turn up so we can order. Which reminds me, Bella, where is your 'Mystery Man', shouldn't he be here by now? He's late and you know that means a point knocked off, right?" Alice was on a roll, so before she could go any further, I turned to Bella
"Hey, Kitten" she smiled up at me and I couldn't help but smile back
"Hey, Tiger" she winked at me and grabbed my hand under the table. Alice huffed
"Ok, so now you've said your hellos, are either of going to answer my questions?" she asked. I chuckled and shook my head the same time Bella did
"Ali, you will meet my man when I wish for you to do so and not a minute before" Bella said firmly
"Same goes for me, Al" I said, equally as firm. Alice huffed again and started grumbling. I looked down at Bella and raised my eyebrow in silent question as to whether now was a good time to start showing them what we meant. She nodded ever so slightly and together we raised our clasped hands and brought them to rest on the tabletop. No-one noticed as they were all too busy reading the menu. I stroked Bella's hand slowly. She looked to me and nodded again
"Baby, what are you having?" I asked, winking. We knew that if nothing else, our new nicknames would out us faster than Alice could say Dolce & Gabbana
"I'm not sure, I'm thinking of sticking with the Mushroom Ravioli, How about you, Honey?" she replied, grinning back at me. I really wanted to kiss her at this point, but knew that I would have to wait for the right moment. So instead I dropped a quick kiss on her forehead before replying
"The Ravioli is exquisite, but I think I may have the Pancetta and Chicken Paste Verde" I answered, all the while aware of the rest of our gang looking back and forth between us, all puzzled except Emmett, who was smiling widely
"Mmm, that does sound nice too. I'll tell you what, you order that and I'll order the Ravioli and we can just pick at each other's plates"
"I like that idea" I again raised my eyebrow in silent question for the next step and she again nodded slightly. I removed my hand from her grasp and wrapped it around her shoulder. We turned back to the gang, who were still looking puzzled. It was Rose who spoke first
"Erm…I'm confused. If you two are dating other people, why are you acting like you are dating each other? Won't that confuse your dates when they get here?" Em chuckled from beside her and nodded for us to bring it on home. I looked down at Bella and she smiled back at me before turning back to our friends
"Well, my boyfriend is already here. Would you guys like to meet him?"
"My girlfriend is also here, care to meet her, guys?" Rose rolled her eyes
"That's kind of the whole point of tonight, isn't it?" she asked. Bella and I nodded to her then turned back to face each other
"Hello, boyfriend" she whispered
"Hello, girlfriend" I whispered back before I leaned down and kissed her lips softly, finally. And wait for it 3…2…1
"AHHHHHH! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! YOU! AND YOU!" I smiled against Bella's lips and pecked them one more time before pulling away and facing our friends. Emmett and Jasper were smiling widely and Rose and Alice were sitting there with their mouths hanging open. Bella, Em and I burst out laughing as Alice and Rose snapped their jaws shut. Rose turned to Emmett and glared
"You knew? You knew! And you didn't tell me?" she asked him, Emmett nodded
"I found out on Monday. By accident, of course. I came across them having lunch here and found them eating each other instead of food" Emmett said, still smiling. Rose turned back to us and raised an eyebrow
"He's telling the truth, Rose. Bella and I met for lunch on Monday. We talked everything out and have been together since" Bella nodded her affirmation before she leaned her head onto my shoulder. I leaned down and kissed her head, in much the same way I did on Monday
"Oh my God! I'm so happy for you two! Finally!" Alice half squealed and half whispered as she wiped a tear away. I looked down at Bella and saw her smiling; I couldn't stop my smile in response
"We are too, Al, we are too" I murmured. I felt as if my heart was bursting with happiness and it was all thanks to this wonderful creature next to me
"I love you, Kitten" I whispered in Bella's ear. She tilted her head up and kissed my jaw
"I love you, Tiger" she whispered back amidst the 'awww's' from our friends.
Dinner was a loud affair after that. Peppered with many questions, jokes and general fun. Bella and I were the first to leave as we were driving down to Manhattan the next day to visit my parents. Some people may think it was too soon for the 'Meet the Parents' routine, but Bella and I had know each other for 12 years and Bella was already on good terms with my parents, so this was merely a formality. They loved her already and had done for as long as I had.