CHAPTER TEN
"Just tell me. Whatever I did in this dream has obviously upset you." Edward was chasing me around the kitchen as I stowed away my dirty dish.
"I am not going to tell you. You were an asshole. It wasn't the kind of hanky panky dream you would wish me to have." I snapped.
"Well then it doesn't sound like a dirty dream at all…it just sounds like a nightmare." Edward pointed out.
"I'm going back to bed. I didn't get much sleep last night so do whatever it is that you do." I ignored his statement.
"Going to try for an even dirtier dream. Here's a hint. Picture all this in black speedos." He jested swirling his hips.
I gasped disgusted, "Don't be gross or I will kick your ass, addendum or not."
"I'll just keep harassing you until you tell me." He threatened following after me. "Just tell me already, it couldn't have been that bad."
I quickly flipped around on him, "It was. It wasn't the kind of hot steamy dream that you hoped I would get. You were mean and the worst part is that just a few days after you pretty much said what you said to me in my dream. You called me a dirty bitch. You made it quite clear how disgusted you were of me and even though I could tell myself that it was all a nightmare and that you would never be so cruel, a couple of days later, back in reality you threw in my face my sexual past. And yes you may have been shirtless and all muscly but I don't see that when I close my eyes. All I see is the truth and I'm not proud of it. I am a dirty Richie bitch. There. Are you happy?"
"Of course not. I never want to make you feel bad." He replied sincerely. "And about that whole Richie bitch thing…I'm really sorry about that."
"Well you do. You make me feel bad all the time. It's not your fault, it's who I am but every time I look at you, I see everything that is wrong with me. You're good and I'm evil. That is why I didn't want to be friends with you because sometimes ignorance really is bliss."
"Bella, you are not evil and I am not as good as you think I am. I have made mistakes in my past. Everybody does but it's how we learn from those mistakes that make us better people. I'm sorry that I called you names in your dream. I'm sorry I made you feel bad about your personal life. I have just about as hot of a temper as you do and I have a feeling that we would probably kill each other if we were ever more than friends. Which we will never be. I want to be your friend, Bella and part of that means that it's my job to make you feel better not make you feel worse so please stop looking at me and seeing everything wrong with yourself. I would much rather you look at me and see something right."
"Are all friendships this hard?" I muttered.
"If they're worth it."
Edward started to walk back down the couple of stairs to the main floor.
"Where are you going?" I asked worried.
"To clean up breakfast. You are a bit crabby so why don't you go and get some more sleep."
"Well…are you just going to leave again?"
He stopped and turned back to me, "I have to get to work."
"Your corner?" I asked.
"Yep."
"How will you get there?"
"The same way I got here. Walk."
"I can give you a ride…I hear that's something friends do."
I don't know what the matter with me was but suddenly I felt like Edward leaving would be the worst thing ever. I didn't want to be all alone again.
Edward walked backed up the stairs and stopped directly in front of me down a step. He was eye to eye with me and looking for the truth behind my eyes.
"How about I go down and clean up and you go and sleep for a couple more hours. I'll go to work and if you can manage it, I will leave you a shopping list on the counter. When you wake up, go to the grocery store and get the items on the list and I promise to be back here at seven p.m. where I will give you your first cooking lesson."
"Cooking lesson." I scrunched up my nose.
"Yes. You're going to learn to cook. If I'm going to release you back into the wild in two months, I want you to at least have a skill other than shopping and pestering."
I put my hands on his chest and pushed him away, "Go to work, Edward and don't come back."
He grabbed my hand at the last minute and pulled me back, "There's that temper. Don't be so sensitive. I was only joking. Part of being a good friend is also calling you out on your bullshit. So, are you going to behave?"
"Behave? Just because you're like fifty years older than me doesn't mean you can go all daddy dude on me."
"I hear you like older men. I think Carlisle Cullen is closer to fifty years older than you then I am. And if you didn't act so immature, I wouldn't have to tell you to behave."
"You're touching me." I shook my wrist at him where his hand still wrapped around reminding him of our little "contract."
"You touched me first."
"Now who's immature?" I rolled my eyes and pulled my hand out of his grasp and returned to heading up to my bedroom.
"Be sure to buy exactly what I put on the list." He called after me.
"Be sure to see yourself out and Edward…" I turned back to him when I reached the top, "Have a nice day at the office."
"I already got a picture of you on my desk, sweetheart. Mwah." He blew me a kiss and I huffed turning back to my room.
Grocery lists! What did I look like, Carol Brady? I threw myself back down into my comfy sheets and pulled the covers back over my body. I tried to get to sleep but I couldn't help myself, I spent the next hour trying to listen for the sound of the front door closing.
I couldn't imagine Edward walking all the way up here. I mean it was a good half mile straight up a disgusting hill. Going down wasn't going to be too much of a problem but coming back up was going to be a real bitch. If he wasn't so irritating I might be nice and pick him up at the bottom later today but then again he gave me shopping to do. His list better not be complicated.
The next time I woke up it was already one o'clock. I think all the nightmares and personal revelations had taken a toll on my beauty sleep the past week. I decided to treat myself to a long hot bubble bath curious as hell about the list that Edward had placed somewhere in my kitchen. I rarely went to the grocery store unless I was picking up a quick something. I was nervous just thinking about the list he would leave and whether I would even know the ingredients. I didn't know what made me more nervous, the shopping or the cooking that he intended to show me how to do.
Since when did shopping make me nervous? Oh yeah, right about the time that I met Edward and he kept me from buying those gorgeous heels. In both colors. I sighed. Pretty soon I'm going to have to return to the scene of the crime and buy some new clothes. I can't go the rest of my life with what's in my closet.
I opened the doors to my walk in closet and look around. It's been awhile since I really appreciated all my beautiful things. I ran my hands over the soft material that my maid had expertly color coded and changed out for seasons. Jemma really was the best at keeping everything up and in its place.
It took me a long while to find a proper outfit for shopping. I was a tad dressed up but since my social calendar had taken a hit on the stock market, I had nowhere else I could wear some of these things. I may have overdone it but it was important to exceed expectations every once in a while.
I finally made it down the stairs and to my dreaded grocery list after three. Edward said he would be back around seven. There should be no problem getting this list done and done. I perched myself up on my stool and took a gander.
"Skinless chicken breasts, lime, salt, corn tortillas, red wine and vinegar? What in the hell are you making Edward Masen?" I sighed. The list had about a dozen other things on it and for the most part all of it seemed normal enough.
I grabbed my purse and headed out to the local Whole Foods. After spending over two hours going up and down every single aisle in four-inch heels, I was seriously regretting ever allowing that dude into my house. He asked for red wine but what vintage? What price range? And don't even get me started on the damn spice aisle. I spent nearly an hour there looking through to find the ten different spices on his list.
By the time I was done at the store I was limping back to my car. Grocery shopping is a lot harder than anyone makes it look. I didn't even take the hundreds of bags from out of my car. I hobbled into my living room and fell into my couch. Even Horizons didn't work me like this.
The doorbell rang later but I wasn't planning on getting up from this couch. Keeping up with my Kardashians was the only thing on my radar.
"I rang the doorbell. I knocked. I hope you don't mind me going through your garage." Edward complained walking through the door. I continued to stare straight ahead. He walked over and assessed me, "Please tell me you're not still cranky. I thought you took a nap today."
"Look at my feet Edward. You said we were friends but you did this." I pointed down at my reddish blisters. "I spent over two hours at the store trying to find everything on that stupid list."
Edward reached down and picked up one of my offending heels. "In these? Why would anyone ever go to the grocery store wearing these? It's not a club, Bella. You didn't see a velvet rope at the front doors did you?"
"You know sometimes people like to look nice. I have nowhere else to dress up for anymore since I no longer have any friends who enjoy the finer things in life. I can't wear this stuff to Horizons so I thought it would be nice to look decent for a change."
"You don't need these fancy clothes to look decent. You always look good even when you have just woken up or have crazy fury eyes on me. All this stuff…you don't need it. You're beautiful without these torture traps." He tossed the shoe back to the floor and walked over to my kitchen. He went straight for the refrigerator.
He didn't have to say such nice things when I was trying to be pissed off. I didn't know if he actually meant it or if he was just saying it to calm me down and butter me up.
"Where's all the food?"
"In the car. There was just no way." I shook my head trying to return to my programming.
"You left the chicken in the car? You…didn't think that maybe it should at least be refrigerated?"
I didn't answer because I knew that I should have at least taken that bag out and oh maybe the eggs and milk too. It was much easier playing pissed off then I fucked up so I didn't reply.
"Would you help me?" he asked directly.
"Keys are on the sink." I continued to sulk.
"Bella. Stop being lazy, get up and come help me." He ordered.
I tried to look offended but he just stood there with his hands on his hips all authoritative.
"I mean it."
I huffed pulling myself off the couch. I grabbed my keys and slammed open my garage door. I knew I was being over-dramatic but my feet were the innocent bystanders in all this. Once we had every last bag in the house, Edward asked me to set my alarms and close the garage door.
I pulled myself up on the bar stool and watched as he took things out of bags and placed them in different areas around the kitchen. "You sure did buy a lot."
"I was confused sometimes so I thought it was better to have too much then too little." I replied.
"Good rule of thumb." He said placing certain contents on the sink in a line. "Where is the red wine vinegar?"
"There's the vinegar and the red wine you put over there." I responded.
"No…no…Bella. Red wine vinegar. It's all one thing. Not red wine and vinegar."
"How the hell am I supposed to know that? Your list had red wine and vinegar was on the second line. See." I pulled out his list furiously pointing down to the offender.
"I ran out of room on the first line which is why I indented the second line." He explained.
"You wouldn't have run out of room if your writing hadn't been so flowery. My god you write like a little girl. I thought boys had small structured handwriting."
"No, psychopaths have small structured handwriting, which we already agreed on day one that I wasn't allowed to chop you up into little bits and pieces."
I groaned loudly entirely frustrated beyond belief.
"Well now what are we going to do? I'm starving over here and my feet are not stepping back in that damn store tonight."
Edward sighed and tossed the list back onto the counter. He stood there contemplating for a minute but my growling tummy wasn't allowing for it.
"This isn't my fault."
"Of course it isn't. I should never have let you go to the store without supervision. I never realized just how bad it was. We have a lot of work ahead of us, Miss Swan."
"Well, I never realized I was such a hopeless charity case." I pushed myself off the stool and went over to my food drawer.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" I pulled out all the takeout menus in my drawer and started to go through them.
"No. No takeout food." Edward said pulling all of my menu's away from me. "This stuff is bad for you. We have plenty of good food right here; we are not eating takeout food anymore."
"Speak for yourself Wolfgang Puck who moonlights at a homeless kitchen. I refuse to starve while you come up with something out of half ingredients."
"You're not going to starve, Bella. You don't know the first thing about being hungry. I know you had at least one good meal today, now imagine that meal was supposed to last you a couple of days and then come back to me and tell me about how you're starving." He barked.
For the first time that day I was able to take a mental step back and really look him over. His clothes were completely filthy. His hands were brown from dirt and whatever else. The irony of it all was that for the first time I had completely forgotten that Edward was homeless. Something he had asked me to do several times. I had managed to look past all the dirt and smells he incurred from his day job and finally was able to just look at him like a regular guy that was until he yelled at me for not understanding hunger.
I took a step back and then another. "Maybe…you should go and clean yourself up. I'll take care of dinner and…it won't be takeout food, I promise." I said softly. "You could go and use the guest bedroom if you like. There's a shower and tub in there…"
"You're going to cook dinner?" he asked incredulously.
"I have one meal up my sleeves…go…go wash off the day." I started to pull out a pan and I lit the stove while he stood there watching me. "Go Edward!"
He shook his head and then turned toward the room I had pointed to. I gave him a good solid ten minutes before I snuck into the guest bedroom and pulled his dirty clothes off the bed. I quickly ran them over to my wash room and threw them into the washer with soap. I knew he wasn't going to have anything to wear so I placed a quick call into my good friends over at Barney's to have something delivered ASAP. Delivery wasn't something they did often but for a price I usually found anyone would deliver. Edward had said no takeout food. He never said anything about no takeout clothes.
I had just finished up with my first grilled cheese sandwich, something a nanny once taught me when I heard him yell from the bedroom.
"What did you do with my clothes, Bella?"
He did not sound happy.
"Calm down little orphan Annie, your rags are being washed as we speak. The sun will be coming out tomorrow."
He poked his head out of the guest bedroom with my white guest towel wrapped around his wet body.
"That's not funny, Bella. What am I going to wear the rest of the night?" He snapped.
From where I'm standing, a towel looks like the perfect substitute. Yes. Please and thank you.
"Bella." He yelled once more and that snapped me back into reality.
"Takeout is on the way."
"Dammit Bella, I told you no takeout." He marched all the way over to me and skid to a stop when he saw me pull the last sandwich from the pan.
"I know. Takeout clothes. Grilled cheese for dinner." I handed him a plate with a couple of sandwiches upon it, "You're welcome."
He looked incredibly lost as he placed the grilled cheese plate down on the counter while holding his towel in place with his other hand. He started to pry open the sandwich to inspect it.
"I didn't poison it. I told you I would make dinner. This and instant pudding are about it for me but this goes to show you that I am not as helpless as you think I am."
"I am…incredibly surprised." He responded. "Not exactly a healthy dinner but…I'm proud of you."
"Well, it's not exactly gourmet like the ones you paid for which for the record I would just like to point out that technically food trucks is takeout. I sincerely think you should consider that if you're on the whole my body is a holy temple and none should pass through these lips that aren't healthy and organic. Might be a bit of conflicting interests if you plan on opening your own truck someday. Just sayin."
"I never said I wasn't going to eat takeout food ever again. I just don't want you only relying on takeout food when I have the ability to teach you how to cook your own food. It's a life skill, Bella and I think one you could definitely benefit from."
"Life skill." I scoffed.
"Since you find yourself with so much time on your hands these days, why don't you expand your horizons and take a cooking class or an art class." He suggested.
"I think I have enough of expanding my horizons with being at Horizons."
"I just think that it would help with opening your eyes to all of life's possibilities. For someone so incredibly independent, you're also incredibly sheltered. You have no grasp of real life out there."
That made me really think for a moment. Edward didn't feel like I had diversified my portfolio enough so to speak. I wondered if he was right. Maybe I was too sheltered and lacked real knowledge of how life was for others. I mean I knew that there was a big leap from where I was monetarily to where someone like he was. Maybe I did need an education in real world experience.
"This is the quietest you've ever been." Edward remarked after a few minutes.
"I'm thinking…about what you said and I think you're right. I do need an education on the real world. I need to walk in someone else's shoes for a day and really see what others…have to deal with."
"Wow that would be very…progressive of you. I think it's a good idea." He beamed up at me.
Edward and I were like from two completely different universes. We had our own languages and currency. If I was really going to show him, I would have to take on a challenge so great that he would have no choice but to respect me. He thought I lacked real world knowledge and probably thought my dainty little self could never last one day in his shoes but for the sake of proving something I would go the extra mile and walk a day in the life of Edward's shoes if it got him to shut up.
He thinks that being me is so easy to do. He thinks that having money at my disposal makes life easier. He couldn't last one day in my shoes; especially if it was those damn heels I wore to the store.
"So what do you plan on doing for this little exercise?" He inquired.
"I have an idea…I don't think you'll like it but…like you said, I need real world exposure."
"What idea." He became very serious all the sudden and placed his empty plate down.
"You think I'm telling you. You'll just try to talk me out of it and I want to prove to you that I can handle it."
"Bella, what idea?" He asked more forcefully.
I took his plate from him and gave him my all superior knowing look.
"I'm not messing around. What idea?"
I rolled my eyes and smirked, "Geez, calm your panties….I mean…towel."
As if on cue my doorbell rang.
"Takeout clothes." I cheered and then ran off toward my door. I checked quickly to ensure that it was Barney's delivery and flung my door open.
"Someone has new undies that I'm sure they just can't wait to get twisted." I sang coming back with the bag of clothing.
I handed him the bag and he huffed taking it and quickly heading toward the guest bedroom.
"I noticed that the pants you were wearing seemed a tad big so I got you a size smaller than the jeans in the wash. Do they fit?" I called in after him.
"Yeah, they fit." He walked out and I had to control my eyes so they wouldn't bug out of my skull. None of this makes any sense. You can't tell me that Edward couldn't get a job looking like that. He could be a runway model practically. Clean him up a bit and it was like a brand new shiny penny which means that Edward was most definitely homeless by choice. Stow that away for later to think about.
"What?" He asked looking to me.
"Uh…nothing…it's just." I shook my head, "A lot going on up here." I tapped on my head.
"Sure there is." He flopped down on my couch all irritated.
"What's your problem? New clothes don't feel right on your high-end virgin skin?" I jested.
"No. I want to finish the conversation we started. I want you to tell me what you're up to."
I sighed, "You're like a dog with a bone. I was just planning on being…you for a day. You said I have no idea what it's like to be hungry so I will go a whole day without eating and live off the land..er…streets."
"You plan on being homeless for a day?" He asked disbelieving.
"A whole day. One twenty-four hour period. Yes."
He looked at me and then started laughing hysterically.
"Laugh all you want but I'm going to do just to prove you wrong about me. I can sit around for a day with cup in front of me. Big whoop."
He tried to stop laughing but his tears were a bit much, "Bella, you wouldn't last an hour sitting around all day as you put it. You would be complaining about the hot sun or hard ground. No shower. No takeout or five-star restaurants. No toilets….where exactly do you think I go to the bathroom. Most places kick you out the second they see you coming and won't allow you the use of a restroom unless you buy something. And then don't even get me started on all the people you will have to interact with. Hell, you barely interact with the homeless people down at the kitchen and now you want to be amongst them?"
"You think you're so tough because you do this on a daily but I will show you Edward Masen that I too can be tough. Do not underestimate me. Do not tell me what I can and cannot do." I pushed myself off the couch, "You can stay the night if you like or you can just fucking leave without even a note but tomorrow morning I am setting out and won't be back here for twenty-four hours. I need my beauty sleep so if you'll excuse me; I have one more night of comfy cozy."
"Bella…all right enough with the joking. You're not staying on the streets for a night." Edward called after me.
Nothing pissed me off more than hearing someone tell me I couldn't do something. Just like the stupid Jacob Black bet, I hated when others tried to challenge me. Who the hell did he think he was telling me I couldn't hack it? I'm sure there would be a learning curve but I was just going to sit on my wall and keep my head down. No one would bother me and twenty-four hours later he would have no choice but to tell me how wrong he was.
If I was going to prove myself then there was no better place than his "scary" skid row to do it in.
AN: Thank you all so much for your continuing support of this story. I see all the different theories on Edward and I would love to just say it but I know some people actually want to be surprised and wait for the story to unfold. But yes, Edward is not all he seems to be. See you all soon!