Am I the only one that giggles when I read the name of this story? Tainted Love. Heehee…Taint…anyone…just me? :shrugs shoulders:
Wow. I am surprised/happy with all of the reviews. You, peeps, are the best. Unfortunately, I have had to comfort Edward for the past week because he feels so hated at this moment in time. So, he has asked that I do the next chapter (not this one) in his POV. The bitch won't stop crying, so I agreed to it…after slapping him around a little bit.
Anyway…let's get in our time machine and go 4 years into the future.
BPOV
"Alice. I can't go to Seattle this weekend. I have to work and I have a lot to do for school." I tried to sound disappointed as I spoke on the phone with Alice, but really couldn't get myself to feel bad.
"Isabella! You come up with reasons for not visiting every fucking week!" I pulled the phone away from my ear in an attempt to keep my ear drums from bursting.
"Nope, you are wrong, Alice. Last month, there was a week that you didn't even ask me to go visit you." I smirked even though she couldn't see me.
"Don't be such a bitch. The only reason I didn't ask you to visit was because Rose and I went there to fucking visit you!" Alice was in full scary pixie mode, so I thought it would be best to cut the conversation short and try again next time.
"Al. Hate to do this. But, I need to get going. I have a shit ton of work to do before I head out for the night. And I need to get Irina ready before I leave." And, with that, along with a huff from Alice, we ended our weekly argument on why I can't go to visit my friends in Seattle.
Hanging up the phone after my chat with Alice, I began to think about how much my life has changed in the last 4 years. I thought I knew who I was while living in Forks. I was unstoppable and part of the most insane trio of women to ever grace the fair state of Washington. But, things changed during graduation. Well, the weekend before graduation, to be honest.
After talking Rose and Alice out of killing Edward, I spent the remainder of the weekend holed up in my house. Unfortunately, I was forced to get out of bed to attend the dreadful graduation ceremony. Being valedictorian, I was expected to give a heart warming speech about how we had our whole futures ahead of us and all of that jazz.
Instead, I went with something ridiculously quick and to the point. I believe it was something along the lines of "Bite me bitches." I may be paraphrasing, though. All I know is that I walked off stage as soon as I completed my speech and left Forks that night.
I ended up heading off to Dartmouth instead of University of Washington, much to the disappointment of Emmett, Rose and Alice. But, I needed to spread my wings and fly on my own. So, I have become a cliché. Sue me.
In typical Bella Swan fashion, I realized a year in to my English degree that I had no idea what I planned on doing with it. I tried my hand at writing a few stories, but even I thought they were shit when I reread them. So, becoming a world famous author was out of the question. Teaching, well, not something I wanted to do. So, it was in that mind set of "what the fuck am I doing here" that I called Victoria.
I knew she and Tanya had a nasty break-up about a month after Edward and I split. Alice kept me up-to-date on life at the club, which she and Rose still worked at occasionally. Victoria had informed her of plans to open a club or two in New York and wanted to know if she knew of anyone who may be interested in working there.
Calling Victoria was the best decision I could have made. It was during that call that I decided to transfer to NYU, change my major to Business, and go back to working for Victoria. In fact, she was willing to pay for my college as long as I worked for her. Win-win! Add the fact that she offered to allow me to live with her in her penthouse apartment and I couldn't find a reason to say no. So I didn't.
Here I am 3 years later, a degree in Business from NYU and practically running one of Victoria's clubs in NYC. Once I made the move to New York, I threw myself into my studies to finish as quickly as possible. The fact that I took mainly general education classes while at Dartmouth helped in transferring my credits to NYU.
As for the club, I started out there as just a cage dancer at Club Red, as I was back in Forks. But, quickly became in charge of all of the entertainment, even assisting in hiring other dancers. I worked my way up to General Manager when Victoria decided to open another club, plus a restaurant.
Working and living with Victoria has been great. She is like a big sister to me and together with Irina, we are a tight little family. I have learned to love my life in New York even though I miss Rosalie, Alice and Emmett more than I thought possible. I was where I was meant to be, though.
I was pulled from my thoughts by a light knock on the door. I quickly rushed to the door knowing who I would see and found one of my favorite people in the world.
"Esme! You're early!" I rushed to give my friend a hug before stepping aside and allowing her inside.
"No Bells. I'm right on time. You must have gone on one of your daydreaming stints again." Esme giggled as she teased me.
Esme Platt was my closest friend in New York. I met her in a group therapy session for depression. Victoria had talked me into going when she realized I was still having trouble getting over what happened with Edward. I felt so silly going to therapy because I was depressed that I got my heart broken.
Esme was at the therapy session due to depression over multiple miscarriages. In fact, the day of therapy, she had been told she would never be able to carry a child to term. She was devastated and revealed thoughts of killing herself. She helped me put things into perspective and we built a strong friendship together. Each helping one another get through the days. Our therapist, Carlisle, was amazing and mentioned on more than one occasion how happy he was that Esme and I found each other.
"Bella?" I snapped out of my thoughts when Esme hit my forehead with her palm. She learned a few months into our friendship that violence was a quick way to get me out of my daydreaming.
"Sorry. Um. I'll let Irina know you are here. She has been in her room trying to decide which dolls to take to your place for the last 2 hours." I laughed and turned toward Irina's room.
"Rini!" I called her as I made my way to her door. "Sweetie. Are you ready to go to Auntie Esme's?" I smiled at the beautiful 4-year-old.
"No. I can't pick just 2 dolls to take with me. They all want to come and I don't want to make them cry." Her steel blue eyes were wet with threatened tears and her bottom lip was jutted out in her attempt to con me into letting her take more dolls with her. Luckily, Esme was prepared with a way to get out of this.
"Rini honey. You don't need to bring any dolls with you. I no for a fact that there are 2 new American Girl dolls waiting for you at my house." Esme was kneeling down on Irina's level as she spoke to her and it broke my heart that she would never be able to experience having her own child. She was just such a natural mother.
"Woohoo! New dolls! What are we waiting for? Let's rock and roll!" Irina jumped up and shoved pass the two of us standing in her doorway. I laughed at her enthusiasm.
"I take it Emmett was teaching her new sayings again." Esme shook her head and giggled.
"Yeah. I'm just glad she is no longer telling everyone 'don't hate the playa, hate the game'. That was beginning to get embarrassing." I rolled my eyes, thinking of all the things Emmett teaches the sweet little girl.
I walked Esme to the door where Irina was not so patiently waiting, overnight bag in hand. After quick goodbyes, I was alone and realized I needed to quickly get dressed for work.
Walking to my closet, I went back to thinking of how much my life has changed in 4 years. Irina was definitely a big change that required a lot of adjustment in my life, but it was all part of living with Victoria.
After Tanya and Victoria broke up, all of the work they had put into adopting a child was wasted. The agency they were working through decided the home environment was not stable and denied Victoria's request to continue the adoption as a single parent.
When I got back into contact with Victoria, she explained that she decided to go with an international adoption and was matched with a little girl in Russia. Before moving to New York, Tori was going to head over to Russia for a few weeks to get Irina and bring her home. So, part of our living arrangement meant that I was to be a big sister of sorts to Rini. And I wouldn't change a thing.
Within an hour, I was dressed in my new pink Max & Cleo cap-sleeve v-neck eyelet dress that ended mid-thigh and had thrown my hair up into a high ponytail. I liked mix up what I wore to the club each night. There were nights that I went hard core business woman, but some nights I felt like being flirty and dressing a little more casual. Tonight was one of those nights.
I made it to the club around 9 to find it already pretty busy. After checking in with the bartenders, I made my way to the office to work on some paperwork. I liked to get the boring business stuff out of the way before mingling and checking on the entertainers. Luckily there was not much that needed to be done and I was able to go back out to the club quickly.
Walking back out, I saw my favorite bartender working his cute little ass of trying to keep up with the orders. I slowly walked to him and sat at the end of the bar, watching him for a little while. Paul, also known as Future Dr. Sexy in my circle of friends, and I have been dating for a little over 7 months. He's a med student at NYU and absolutely perfect. He has dark olive skin with jet black hair that he wears a bit long. His dark, almost black, eyes are amazing and I find myself feeling safe when I am with him.
Our relationship is odd to most people, but it works for us. We are technically exclusive, but not ready to officially make a declaration of commitment. He says I have commitment issues, which I whole-heartedly agree with. I have never told him about Edward, but he realizes something must have happened in my past for me to be so cynical when it comes to relationships.
"Hey gorgeous." I was startled by the sudden proximity of Future Dr. Sexy. Seriously, I'm thinking of getting him a white lab coat with that embroidered on it.
"Hiya." I leaned over the bar to give him a quick kiss before realizing I was probably flashing my barely-there panties to the entire club. Oopsie.
"Want a drink?" I nodded even though I knew he didn't need an answer, since he already had a bottle of Grey Goose in his hand to begin making my Vodka Gimlet.
He passed me my drink before quickly filling a few more orders. I noticed he was way too busy to chat with me, so I emptied my glass, blew him a kiss and went on with my normal routine for the night. Lucky for me, things were going smoothly at the club, so I was able to leave pretty early, trusting the staff to close up for me.
The next morning, I woke up to the sound of my phone vibrating on my night stand. After debating whether I wanted to place it between my legs and allow it to keep ringing or answer it, I decided I might as well see who was calling. Paul.
"Sup?" I answered, still groggy, but thinking that since I couldn't use the phone to get me off, maybe Paul would come over and help me out.
"Shit. Iz. I'm guessing I woke you." I could hear the worry in his voice.
"Eh. No biggie. What are you doing up, though? You worked last night and should be sleeping." I heard him laugh in the phone and realized I could also hear other voices in the background. "Um. Where are you?"
"Oh, well, a friend of mine from my days of pre-med moved into town and happened to show up with his brother at the club last night. We hung out after I got off work since you went home early. In fact, we have been up talking all night and catching up." I'm pretty sure he said more, but I tuned him out. It was too early to listen to more than a few sentences at a time. I was in the middle of pondering why he chose to always call me Iz instead of Bella when his voice rose over my thoughts.
"..so, what do you think?" My eyes widened when I realized he was asking me something.
"Um…yes?" I made it into a question because in actuality I was asking if it was a yes or no question that I was to be answering. That answer seemed to make him happy, though.
"Great. So, we'll meet you at the coffee shop at 2. Call me if anything changes." Phew. He gave me the information I needed without me needing to ask what exactly I agreed to. Sweet!
"Sounds good. See you later." I ended the call with Paul and began to walk around the apartment in an attempt to find something to do. I knew I had a good hour or so before Victoria would be getting up to pick Irina up from Esme, so I decided to go out for a run.
I quickly threw on some short shorts, a tank top and my running shoes before grabbing a bottle of water on my way out of the apartment. It had been a few days since I had a good run, so I went in the direction that would give a nice long route to circle back to the apartment.
An hour later, I was slowing down as I could finally see my apartment building in sight when I heard someone yell for a taxi. I froze. Typically, I ignored all other sounds around me, irritating Victoria to no end because she was convinced my obliviousness would get me in trouble one day. But, there was something about the voice I heard.
I knew the voice and it sent shivers down my spine. I spun to try to find the source of the voice. Just as I turned, I saw flash of bronze-hair in the back seat of a cab. Staring after the cab, I knew I was going crazy. It appears my sweaty brain was beginning to hallucinate, so I finished my trek back home and threw myself into a nice steaming hot shower.
"Bells?" I heard Victoria's muffled voice through the door to my bathroom.
"Come on in Tori." I called out to her. After living with her for so long, I could really care less if she was in the bathroom with me while I took a shower. She's seen it all before.
"I hate to do this to you, but Demetri just called and said our seafood shipment didn't come in this morning at the restaurant, so I need to go sort things out. He's freaking out." I could hear the distress in her voice and knew her Executive Chef must have been a real asshole to her on the phone.
"Do you need me to kick his ass?" I questioned her and she chuckled.
"Possibly. I'll let you know. I'm thinking of putting his balls in the meat grinder before service tonight, though." We both laughed at her empty threat. "Actually, I was wondering if you could get Rini. I'll try to wrap things up quickly, but I don't want to leave her with Esme all day." I stuck my head out of the shower.
"You don't even have to ask. Of course I'll pick Rini up. I was thinking of taking her shopping at Kate's boutique anyway." I smiled at my friend.
"That would be perfect, actually. Kate said she designed some clothes for Irina and wanted one of us to come by and check them out." Victoria looked at her watch and back up at me.
"Get going. The sooner you leave, the sooner you can get back to Rini." I shooed her away with a wave of my hand.
After my shower, I called Esme to let her know of the change in plans. After telling her about my plans to take Irina shopping, Esme asked to tag along to find something for a big date. I agreed because I couldn't stop myself from wanting to pry into her love life and get as many details as possible.
In the 3 years I have known Esme, she has gone on one real date. It ended in disaster when the guy told her how badly he wanted kids in the future an didn't see a reason to continue the date when she explained that she would never be able to carry a child of her own. Since that time, she swore off dating. For her to be going on a date, and to be excited about it, is a huge deal.
I met up with Esme and Irina at my friend, Kate's boutique called Igloo. Kate moved to New York from Alaska a few years ago and decided to open her own boutique. She couldn't think of a good name for it, so I jokingly told her to just call it Igloo. The name stuck and now almost 2 years after the store opened, she is raking in the dough and Igloo has been featured in fashion magazines. I keep telling me she owes me a cut of the profits, but she laughs every time.
After my typical hug and cheek-kisses with Kate, Esme and I got busy trying to find the perfect outfit for her date and Irina went into the back of the store with Kate to try on the clothes designed especially for her. I waited a good ten minutes before I started with some questions.
"So…" I turned to Esme so I could watch her reactions to my questions. "What's his name?" Esme tensed, bit her lip, and shook her head.
"What do you think of this dress?" She held up a black matte jersey dress with sheer mesh insets and a nude lining.
"Possibility. How about this one?" I held up a red satin halter tiered dress that would barely cover her ass knowing she would hate it.
"Absolutely not!" She scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Well, it would help if I knew a little more about the man you will be going out with." Shit Bella. How very uber-sly of you.
"He's a doctor." She said quietly as she lifted another dress from the rack and held it out for my approval.
"Add it to the try on pile." I pointed to the stack of dresses I found for her to try on. "A doctor, huh? How did you meet?" I said in a sing-song voice.
"Um. Well, we've known each other for a while. We met at a group thing." I noticed she wouldn't look at me as she spoke, which both pissed me off and made me more interested in this mystery man. I sighed.
Pulling a few more dresses for her to try on, I began to think of a way to get some real answers out of her. Before I could complete my thought, though, Irina came prancing out of the back room with Kate in tow.
"Mama Bella! Look what Auntie Kate made me!" Esme and I moved our attention over to the adorable child. She was dressed in a white sundress dress with orange flowers scattered all over. The top criss-crossed in the front. She ran to stand in front of me and twirled around, making the dress flare out.
"You, my dear, look beautiful!" I clapped before picking her up and spinning her around. I placed her back in front of me and turned to Kate.
"Gorgeous work, as always. I don't understand why you don't just start a children's clothing line." I shook my head and smiled at my friend.
"It's more fun to know that Irina is getting a one-of-a kind wardrobe. I don't think I want to deal with any kids other than her anyway." She ruffled Rini's hair and grabbed her hand to tug her to the back room again. "Come little one. We have more to show them." I immediately turned to Esme.
"Es. You know you can tell me anything right?" I tilted my head to the side and raised an eyebrow. I could feel she was hiding something and didn't want her to think I would ever judge her.
"I know Bells." She sighed and turned to look me straight in the eyes. "I just…shit…this is so confusing."
"Talk to me. I'll listen without making any comment if you want." I placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a small smile. She sighed again and I knew she was ready to spill.
"Okay. But, no judging." She pointed a finger at me and gave me what I call her 'mom look'. I put my hands up in surrender. "Carlisle."
Silence.
I waited for more than just the one word, but nothing else was said.
More silence.
"Carlisle what?" I finally couldn't take the silence and asked.
"Dr. Carlisle." Now, I was getting irritated.
"What about him?" I didn't understand why she felt the need to bring him up. We both stopped going to group therapy 2 years ago. Wait! Group thing…group therapy…she's going on a date with a doctor. Fuck!
"ESME! DR. CARLISLE?!" I couldn't stop myself from raising my voice. I was completely shocked.
"Shut up!" She hissed. "Listen. We stayed in touch after I finished therapy. He is a really great guy and last night, he called and said he couldn't stay away from me any longer. It was completely surprising and wonderful. If you only knew the fantasies I have had that star him…" She trailed off as her eyes became glazed in dream world.
"Uh. Hello. I've seen the good doctor and he has been in some of my fantasies as well." I teased her. As surprised as I was that she was going on an actual date with Carlisle, it made sense. I remember the way they would look at each other when we were in therapy. And the fact that he knows her past helps put my mind at ease about the situation.
"Ew. Bells. What if we get married one day? I have to think about the fact that you have dreamed of having sex with my husband." She grimaced.
"Woah. Talking about marriage already. You haven't had a first date, yet." My eyes were wide in shock. She rolled her eyes, shrugged, and grabbed her stack of dresses, rushing to the dressing room before I could comment further.
Irina and Kate came out with more outfits as Esme tried on dress after dress. I perched my cute little ass on one of the velvet couches Kate had in the store and gave my opinions when asked.
After 3 hours of clothes flying around the store, we completed our purchases. Esme ended up with a black stretch charmeuse and metal combo dress with cowl neck and empire waist detailing. It took a lot to get her to buy the dress since it was very form fitting, but after I explained that Carlisle wouldn't be able to keep his hands off of her in that dress, she yelled "SOLD!"
Irina made out very well with a completely new wardrobe, all placed into 10 large bags. As I was paying for her new clothes, she went on and on about how we had to go to get all new shoes and accessories to go with her new outfits. I swear she is related to Alice!
A quick check of my watch told me it was 1:30, so Rini and I needed to hurry to the coffee shop to see Paul. I called Victoria's assistant and asked him to pick up Irina's clothes from Kate's and we bid Esme a goodbye.
Twenty-five minutes later, Irina and I strolled through the doors of my favorite coffee shop-slash-ice cream parlor, Bean There Cone That. A quick look around showed Paul was not there yet, so I placed an order for the two of us and grabbed one of the seating groups, collapsing in the soft cushion of the over-sized chair.
Alec, the owner, came over with my latte and Rini's toasted coconut ice cream quickly. He sat and talked to us for a bit since Irina is my little man-magnet. Seriously. I'm not sure how she does it, but men love talking to the precocious child. She was in the middle of asking Alec what he thought of the 'icky-momic cries', also known as economic crisis, when the door chime signaled new patrons. Alec excused himself and I turned my full attention to Rini, who now wanted to discuss Dora the Explorer versus Handy Manny.
"There's my girl!" Paul's loud voice filled the shop. I turned to greet him and caught a flash of bronze hair heading down the hallway toward the restrooms. Twice in one day? I don't usually hallucinate about him that much. Strange.
"Hey baby." I couldn't help but give him a huge smile. There was just something so comforting about his voice. He'll make a great doctor, since just his presence and voice can make people feel good. He leaned down to kiss my head before kneeling in front of Irina. "Hey cutie. I think you got bigger since I last saw you."
Irina giggled and jumped into Paul's arms, giving him a huge hug and kiss on the cheek. "Hi Paulie!" He settled her back in her seat with her ice cream before pulling me out of my seat, sitting down, and pulling me to his lap. I giggled at him being so cuddly.
"How has your day been?" I questioned, while laying my head on his shoulder. He rubbed my back and kissed my forehead.
"Good. Just catching up with a friend. He just transferred to NYU to the medical program, so I was giving him the heads up of what to expect." I tilted my head to look up at him and smiled. "He should be over here in a second. I can't wait for you to meet him. I think you'll like him."
"If he's a friend of your's, I'm sure I will." I winked at him.
"What did you end up doing with your day off?" He took a sip of my latte and shrugged when I glared at him.
"I took Rini shopping. You will be happy to know she won't have to worry about purchasing new clothes until she's twenty. I swear she will be able to wear a new outfit every day for the next two months." I shook my head thinking of Kate's obsession with making clothes for Irina. Paul laughed.
"Well, at least she'll be the best dressed 4-year-old at preschool." I chuckled and turned my head to look at Irina while she made a mess of her face eating her ice cream.
I throat was cleared behind us and Paul turned his head slightly toward the person taking a seat in the chair next to us.
"Hey man. I would like to introduce you to my, um, well, this is Iz, uh I mean Bella." Paul tried to introduce me, not really knowing what to call me. I rolled my eyes at him and smirked before turned to greet the new person.
"Bella. This is my good friend, Edward." I heard Paul say the name at the same time I was greeted by green eyes, wide with shock.
"Edward." I whispered.
A/N: Sigh. I think I'm going to turn this into a Bella/Paul story. I like Paul. I want to give him a hug. But, Edward…I want to do naughty things to him…okay, sticking with a Bella/Edward story.
Oh, and I know someone asked if Carlisle is Edward's father in this story. No. But they are related.
Peace out.