A/N: Who's ready for sunny California? This chapter has a bit of heavy stuff, you are forwarned. Oh and I couldn't help but add two characters for a brief moment. Hehe...
Disclaimer: I own a grill. And the meat on it. SM owns all things Twilight.
Chapter 9: Californication
The next morning I silently cursed my alarm clock when it went off at the ass crack of dawn. I guess it really wasn't even dawn yet, the fucking sun was still hiding, and in my book, that means so should I. Hiding under my covers with my man, enjoying him in my bed just a little longer.
But I'm Bella Swan, and had no such luck.
The text I got from Alice reminded me who I was going with and that we were on a 'schedule'.
Her schedule, that is.
Edward loaded my luggage while I was in the shower, and I was ready to go within a half hour. We tried to get in a little lovin' time before we had to go, but leave it to Alice to make her presence known and walk in when things were getting good.
Fucking Pixie!
The airport was sad to say the least. We kissed like two love struck teenagers saying goodbye. You'd think that he was being shipped to Iraq and I was never gonna see him or something, the way we were saying good-bye. As much as I didn't want to leave him, by the look on his face, he was hurting just as bad. I was starting to think he was feeling the same way about me, as I was him. Could it really be true? I mean, this is me we're talking about here.
Edward held me in a tight hug in the drop off area until someone started honking their horn for him to move his car. I cursed the fucker who made me stop kissing my Edward.
I declared that he was either a prick or wasn't getting any from the wifey at home.
I kissed Edward once more, then grabbed my bags and went to check in giving him once last glance as he and Jasper pulled away in the Volvo.
After passing through security and explaining that no, there was not a knife between my tits, and that they were pierced to the male officer, I felt my pant pocket vibrate.
I pulled out my phone to see a text from Edward.
I'm holding you to your promise when you get home. I have the perfect ring
to put in that sweet pussy of yours. Have a safe flight.
-E
I blushed internally thinking about my next piercing I would be receiving as a homecoming present. I was so bad to have left Edward for the next three nights with no action especially with everything that went down last night. I could at least let him know what I would be bringing home with me...
I'll make good on my promise in just a few days. That sweet pussy you
speak of is also very... wet at the moment. Only for you, E.
-B
Ok, I know that it wasn't the nicest thing to do to him but come on, he can't say something like that and expect me to just say, 'Uh-huh, yup see you in a few days. Have fun with the blue balls, and I'll enjoy my carpal tunnel thinking of you.' Right.
My phone vibrated again.
You're killing me, B. Looks like a cold shower is in order, or
maybe I'll pay a visit to lefty. Talk to you soon.
-E
I tucked my phone back in my pocket trying to shake the thought of Edward getting himself off and followed Alice to our gate. I was tempted to make a side trip to the bathroom for my own action, but decided against it thinking of how disgusting public bathrooms were.
And I didn't want to get stuck in a compromising situation with the foot tapping thing and all. You never know who's in the stall next to you.
Our flight was uneventful an boring. I went over some notes of things to speak about at my signing tomorrow afternoon and listened to Hinder on my I-Pod, which only made me think of Edward and the back room at the shop. I noticed there was some new music on there as well and would have to thank Edward for stealing my I-Pod.
Alice was online looking for places for us to shop, giggling to herself unable to hide her excitement for a good shopping trip.
Go figure.
Rose would be meeting us at the airport in LA as she'd left last night for an early shoot this morning. Her next photo shoot happened to be during my signing so she'd be busy all day and Alice decided to work with her while I did my thing.
We landed, collected our luggage and made our way out to the loading area. Rose was there standing next to a shiny black Sedan, a large man with a bald head standing next to her. He took our luggage for us and we made our way into the car. Rose said her Agency provided the car for her time here and we were free to use it as well. It was nice being treated to this kind of life style. Although my book has earned me a good amount of money, my trips were not extravagant.
We took a lot of taxis.
It was early afternoon at this point and we were all starving and ready to catch up on each other, as Rose had been here alone for a day already.
We decided to eat at a cafe near the hotel and midway through our meal we spotted people that even in my wildest dreams I never thought I'd meet. There, sitting at the table across from us were Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. I couldn't help but stare at the two of them as they cozily brushed fingers here and there and leaned in close to one another talking. I had read tabloids about the two dating, but didn't want to read much into the gossip. But I was so ready to start a little gossip of my own, I mean between Rob and I that is.
Oh and those tabloids, yeah, they presented me some pretty sweet pictures of Mr. Pattinson; gave me some very nice happy time with my vibrator.
We didn't want to bother either of them or invade their privacy, but couldn't help but act like 16-year-old girls wanting to get some kind of proof that we actually saw them in real life.
Although I think we were a lot subtler about it.
Alice, Rose and I made our way over to the table Rob and Kristen were at. They looked at the camera in Rose's hand and I swear he groaned.
I literally felt the heat pool between my legs. Grunt again. Please!
We didn't want to be rude, but we couldn't help ourselves with wanting to have some kind of proof that we saw the celebrities. I nervously asked for a picture as Alice complimented them both on their awesome movies as they stood for the picture. A waiter took it for us; we each smiled like Cheshire fucking cats. We thanked them and went on our way.
What a first impression of Cali. if I do say so myself.
LA was awesome. It was warm, bright and sunny. I was glad we decided to do this as a girl's weekend, although, I felt a slight pain that Jasper wasn't here. I think he thoroughly enjoyed our trips across the country and the time we spent together and this was the first one that I've taken in which he was with.
But I needed this. We needed this. I'd never really had too many girlfriends in my life and needed to get to know Alice and Rose better.
That thought reminded me of the reason why I didn't have many girlfriends in my life. James. I never wanted him to look at any of them the way he did me. I never wanted them to be in danger because of my fucked up past and now I was starting to question if I was putting Rose and Alice in any danger being with me now.
I put those thoughts aside wanting to enjoy my time with the girls. This weekend was about fun, and that definitely was what was going to happen if I had a say in it.
We ended up shopping, and the term 'shop till you drop?', well that was invented by Alice and Rose. I was grateful that I'd brought my extra large suitcase so my purchases could make their way home with me. Alice's idea of course. Rose and Alice were shopaholics. I swear if they had a counseling group for that sort of thing, those two would be the leaders. Hi, my name is Rose…and I'm a shopaholic. 'Welcome Rose.'
After dinner in the hotel restaurant, we ended up back in the room with a few glasses of wine. Or bottles, but who's counting, right? Alice and I were jet lagged and I wanted to be fresh for my signing in the morning. I talked with Edward and Jazz before falling asleep telling them about our first day. Jasper's call was quick as he was more interested in talking to Alice than me, which I could relate with.
Edward seemed truly interested in our trip so far, but his voice sounded far away. I realized more and more that he depended on me just as I did him. I went to sleep that night dreaming of coming home to Edward, his hands on my body just like they had been that night at the shop.
Blissful sleep.
Too bad I was sharing a king size bed with my two best girlfriends, and was unable to have any 'happy time' thinking of my man.
Soon, I told myself.
I knew that our relationship was moving fast, but it just felt so natural. So right. And who was I to go against nature?
The next morning I woke to Alice jumping on the bed telling me it was time for me to get up. Who the fuck has that much energy in the morning?
Oh, that's right; Pixies have that much fucking energy in the mornings!
Apparently her and Rose wanted to help me get ready before they left for the day. They thought they had more style than me. I flicked them off and tried to go back to bed. It was true, I knew it, but I felt like being a bitch.
Reluctantly, I pulled my tired ass in the shower and when the water ran cold, I decided it was a good time to get out. I pulled on the soft white hotel robe and sat myself in a chair. 'Do what you want with me,' were my exact words.
The ladies went to town.
Alice picked out a black skirt that fell just above my knees with stilettos and a white off the shoulder short sleeved blouse. Rose decided that my hair would look best pulled up to show off my collarbone and placed a diamond necklace around my neck. To borrow, of course. Alice did my make- up and when I looked in the mirror, I actually liked what I saw. Not that I was ugly or anything, but it was just nice to get dressed up here and there, instead of the usual jeans and t-shirts I was accustomed to.
I guess it paid to take Alice with me; Jazz never had style like this. Nor did I want him to.
That would just be weird.
Alice decided to take a picture to send to Edward so that he knew what he was missing. I believe the title 'Am I fuckable?' was what Alice added. I rolled my eyes and waited for his reply.
He texted me a few minutes later.
I plan on fucking you when you get home. Just to answer your question.
You said I could do anything.
-E
I couldn't wait for Sunday morning when I could make him pay up. I don't think you could find two people more ready to jump in the sack. We'd taken our relationship as slow as possible up until now.
I was comfortable with Edward. There's not many people in this world that I can say that about. I wanted to be with him, and from the sounds of things, he wanted to be with me. I let him into my life, more than pretty much anyone else that surrounded me. Even though I knew Jasper was the one that said most of it, Edward was in my life, into my secrets one way or another.
Alice and Rose left around noon, and the car that my editor had arranged came for me at 1pm. My signing was located across town at a small bookstore and when I got there I saw people lined up around the block to see me. I was taken around back where I met with the owner. She set me up with my table and books and I took the quiet time to get my thoughts in order.
At 2pm the doors opened and people swarmed in. My editor hired a bodyguard that kept people at bay so that I wasn't bomarded all at once. Or at least that's what he was being paid to do. This way usually Jasper's job, it felt eerie without him here. I should have brought him. I should have brought Edward.
Even though I had Frank, I didn't know him and I felt alone.
Maybe I could convince Edward to start coming on these trips... I bet he'd like the alone time, and I would feel safe wherever I went.
Right now I felt vulnerable.
For the next three hours I signed copies of my book and talked with fans.
I was signing a book for a mom about my age when I heard my name whispered in a familiar voice.
"Isabella," I knew that voice. No one but my father called me Isabella. No one except for him. I looked up to see the same blond haired man that was looking at me through the window at the coffee shop not so long ago staring back at me.
"James," I started. I looked over at Frank who was staring off into space. He was going to be no help. Fucker. Trying to keep my cool so that I wouldn't scare anyone, I found my voice. "Wh-what are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay away." As much as I didn't want to panic, to show him how utterly terrified he made me, I also knew that Jasper wasn't here to protect me. Hell, I was practically alone with the way that Frank was doing his job. Or not doing his job.
James looked around to see if anyone was paying an attention to him and then placed his grimy hand on top of mine hard as he bent down so his face was directly in front of mine. "Where's Jasper, baby? Did he throw you to the curb finally?" My stomach fell and my body shook listening to his familiar voice.
Memories flooded my mind of the last time he touched me like this, what he did to me, what Jasper did. I was going to be sick.
"James, I think you need to leave. I have people to see and I don't want to deal with you." My voice sounded weak. I felt alone even though there was an entire store full of people looking on. To anyone around us, we looked like two friends talking in low tones. James had a way about him that made him look like a good guy, when I knew all too well that it was just an image he potrayed to everyone but his victims. I looked up at Frank but he was now talking to some leggy blonde with fake tits. Fucking useless!
James apparently didn't like the tone I took with him, his hand pressing harder into my own. "Don't be a little bitch, Isabella." He leaned in closer, smelling of whiskey and weed. "I came all this way to see you, don't make me regret my decision."
The pressure on my hand increased as I let out a shreik at the pain he was causing. James only smiled at my distress, a menacing smile that I remembered all too well.
Frank finally looked in my direction, must have heard me or became observant finally. His large body moved towards us until he was towering over James. James let go of my hand and started walking away, not seeming to be the least bit intimidated by Frank.
"See you later, Isabella." He had the audacity to wink at me as I swallowed back the vomit in my throat.
I watched as James left the store trying to compose myself so I didn't cause anymore gossip than I already had. I glared at Frank for being such a useless piece of shit, and was definitely going to be talking to Angela when I got back about hiring me a descent bodyguards if I ever came on one of these things without one of my guys again, although I knew that wouldn't be happening. Not after today.
The signing ended an hour later and I'd never been so thankful for one to be over. Usually I enjoyed these types of things, but knowing that James was lurking out there somewhere close, made me want to run and not deal with anything.
I took hundreds of photos with readers and signed I don't know how many copies of my book. I even had several people share their stories with me, saying that my book really impacted them and made them want to talk about what happened in their own lives. I was reminded once again why I wrote the book in the first place. People always wanted to know who my book was based on. My simple answer, which I have stuck to since I wrote the book, was that it was about a dear friend of mine that wanted to remain nameless. Most people were fine with that answer.
Frank dropped me off at the hotel entrance, and after thoroughly checking out who was standing by the front door and not seeing James, I made my way out of the car, and quickly up to my room. I didn't give Frank a second glance, too upset for his uncapable ass. If Edward, Jasper or even Emmett heard about this, I could kiss my chances of going anywhere by myself ever again goodbye.
I locked the door, knowing that only Rose and Alice had access to the room, and I think we were one of the only ones on the floor. I wondered where James was and if he was plotting anything. Knowing James, he was always plotting something. I just prayed that I wasn't alone if he decided to attack. The last time I'd come face to face with him was about a year ago. Jasper and I were still in Chicago and I was meeting my editor for a late supper. James had been following me and pushed his way into my apartment. Jasper had gone to an art show thinking that I was with my editor.
I never made it to the meeting.
James was obsessed. He didn't know how to move on with his life and still saw me as the 17 year old he could control. I was strong that night and as he attempted to rape me, I clawed at his eyes and kicked him in the crotch. He hit me several times in the process but I was able to get away from him and that's when Jasper came home. He'd heard from Angela that I never made it for the meeting as she was concerned and called him, and he rushed home to check on me. I begged Jasper not to go to the police not wanting to make a bigger deal out of things than it already was, and after pacing silently for what felt like hours he agreed but made me promise this was the last time he'd let him get away with something.
The last time he would cover for me. I could tell it was eating him alive with guilt that he couldn't turn this guy in but I didn't want to be exposed.
I didn't want to be the victim.
James showed up at one more signing after that and then all was quiet. We were doing a lot of book tours and weren't in one place for very long, which worked in our advantage. Living on the road made it hard for James to track us but that life got old fast. We were growing up, and I know I was ready to settle down a little more. Jasper wanted to start working again, and I wanted to live a real life.
The incident in Chicago was also the final nail in the coffin for us to move and start fresh. So when my big stream of tours came to an end, we packed up and left. We hadn't heard from James in months, and taking that as a good sign, New York looked like a good place to try out.
I laid on the bed trying to sleep. I didn't want to think about James or this afternoon, but it was all that flooded my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about him and when I did finally fall asleep, my dreams, or nightmares actually, all surrounded him.
I woke when I heard the door open, immediatly I was panicked not knowing who was at the door, but when Alice and Rose's voices filtered through the room I calmed and felt my tension ease. They were talking about the photo shoot and all the clothes Rose modeled. The girls plopped themselves on the bed next to me, both tired from the long day. They asked about the book signing and I told them how well it went. They both seemed interested so I went into as much detail as I could.
Except for the part that included James.
Fucker.
Apparently Alice is a mind reader and said that my eyes gave me away.
"Bella, you're and awful liar. What happened?" She cornered me when the door closed and Rose turned on the shower. I waited a few minutes until I thought Rose was definitely in the shower before groaning in defeat.
"If you promise not to freak out, I'll tell you." I mumbled, staring intently into her eyes.
This hiding shit was eating me up. My stomach had been churning for weeks and I needed to finally spill it to someone.
"Promise. Whatever you say to me is just between us, sweetie." Alice rubbed up and down my arm, trying to comfort me, maybe ease my dirty secrets out of me.
I was clenching the blanket over my legs looking down at the hem realizing that I was actually going to tell her.
"I saw James today. He was at the book store."
"Oh my gosh Bella! What did he do? Where was Frank? What the fuck was he doing there?" Alice's questions came out rushed, her face looking pissed, scared, upset.
"He didn't do anything really. He just got real close and touched my hand. Hard. And said a few things, but that's it. And Frank, well he was too busy staring at some blond. James said he'd see me later." I looked up to judge her expression. She nodded at what I told her with a solemn look.
"Bella, I don't think this is the kind of secret we should keep from the guys. I mean, this guy's dangerous, right?" She went back to rubbing my arm making me feel better little by little.
"Yes. He's dangerous. But I don't need Jasper or Edward getting their panties in a bunch for something that didn't really even happen. Nothing happened. Why ruin our weekend or theirs?" I knew I was lying just a little, but I didn't want to leave and I didn't want Jasper to find out and get that restraining order. Alice had no idea how hard it was for me to say anything to her in the first place. This was a big enough step telling her about it, much less doing something about it.
"Something doesn't feel right about this Bella. I think you need to call Edward. At least tell him so that he knows what's going on." Alice shook her head from side to side as her voice shook.
"No Alice! You said that whatever I told you stayed between us. Come on, help me out here. Please?" I found myself begging her now, pleading with my eyes.
She didn't respond for several minutes, contemplating what she was going to decide.
"Look Alice, I don't trust too many people with my history, you know that. This is a big step for me to even tell you. You don't know what its been like holding it in that he's been in the city, and..." Alice cut me off.
"You what? You saw him in the city? When? Why the FUCK doesn't Jasper know about this Bella!" She yelled at me. Shit, this was just going to make things worse, telling her the other times I saw him.
"Keep your voice down. I don't need Rose knowing about this too." I tried calming her down, convincing her that this wasn't really even an issue for us to be concerned with. "It was no big deal. He didn't even talk to me. That night that you and Jazz went on the carriage ride in the park when I was at the coffee shop, I felt someone staring at me and looked up and saw James through the window. Nothing happened, that's why I didn't say anything." I was a coward and acting childish not wanting Jasper to actually turn him in an make me tell my story to the cops.
"For fucks sake Bella!" Alice got up and started to pace. I ignored her yelling, stuck in my own trance.
"And then I saw him when we went shopping the other day. He... he was the guy I ran into and you made me check out." Her eyes bugged out of her skin. "You thought he was hot."
Alice didn't say anything again for a long while. She continued to pace and chew her nails. Finally she looked up and I waited patiently for her answer, knowing that it would either allow us to continue on with our weekend, or land us on a flight back home.
"Alright Bella. I'll keep your secret for this weekend. This weekend only. And when we get home, you WILL tell Edward and Jasper. I love you and I don't want to see you get hurt. I couldn't handle it." She wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug as I held her close to me.
"Thank you, Tink. I really appreciate it. And if it makes you feel better, I will tell them about all of it, when we get home. And I'm sorry for getting you into this fucked up mess. I just really needed to talk to someone. Lets not let this ruin our weekend. I'm looking forward to the rest of our girl time and I know you and Rose are too."
She nodded at me and shot me a smile. I knew she wasn't happy about my decision to keep quiet and I felt horrible to put her in the middle of it, but didn't want to blow this out of proportion. Nothing had happened.
Nothing yet.
Rose's shoot from earlier today was running behind schedule and she would need to finish up tomorrow. Alice and I were invited to go with and I was told that we would even get to check out the new D&B line. Alice rambled on and on about her day and was stoked to head back again. I have to admit that I too, was just a little excited thinking that we could maybe model some of the clothing and get a few freebies in the process.
Alice being Alice booked our schedules out for us for the whole trip, and we had 6:00pm massages and pedicures downstairs at the spa. We quickly ate our room service and made our way down to the spa. After dressing in the softest robe I had ever imagined, we started with pedicures. Throw in the complimentary champagne and I was on cloud 9. When we were finished there, we had full body massages completed by three of the hottest guys, although after telling Jonah about Edward, he wanted to see a picture of him, and then became more interested in looking at my 'pretty boy' than working on my sore back.
I was really feeling relaxed by this point and was forgetting about my earlier troubles.
After we were done at the spa it was close to 10pm and it was time to hit up the clubs. The three of us got ready together making me feel like I was back in high school all over again. Living with your male best friend for your adult years didn't give you a whole lot of dress up time. The last time I remember doing something like this was before I met James and actually had friends.
We bought a ton of new clothes on our earlier shopping trips, and were ready to show them off for our night out on the town.
Alice decided on a strapless dress with stilettos that showed off her beautiful artwork. It was deep blue and looked sexy as hell on her. Rose had on a blood red spaghetti strapped dress with a plunging neckline; one of the freebies from today's shoot with matching red 'fuck me' heels. And finally it was down to me. I chose to go with a green halter-top dress with a plunging neckline, which showed most of my back and ended several inches above my knees. I paired it with a short set of heels so I wouldn't kill myself. I was clumsy enough that I didn't need to add heels to the mix. I decided to wear my hair up, curling it first then pulling it into a clip.
If we were dancing I would get hot and sweaty.
Rose called her driver, Tiny, to pick us up and we were out the door by 11pm. We decided to go to "Midnight Sky" which had people lined up around the building to get in. The car drove right up to the front doors and we were escorted in, no waiting in line. Apparently the bouncer recognized Rose from the last Sports Illustrated that she had done the cover for.
There were several girls bitching about us cutting in line but we just shrugged them off.
Skanks!
Inside we were granted access to the VIP lounge thanks to our friend Rose, and the drinks began to freely flow. Alice, Rose and I stayed linked to each other the whole night. We had guys back home and weren't interested in dancing with any sleaze tonight.
By midnight I was feeling pretty good. Grey Goose had my mind flowing free as a bird. The three of us were getting pretty bold and were taking provocative pictures with our phones and sending them to the boys wanting to see who could get the best texts back from their man.
Apparently they were all over at Emmett's playing poker with his friends Seth and Conner so they were looking at the pictures together. Because of the free flowing alcohol, most of the pictures were provocative with lots of groping and boob touching.
Some guy paid Rose and I $100 to make out with each other after watching us from the sidelines for a while, which we gladly did.
Come on, we were friends, why not have some fun with it? Alice being the devil she is, recorded the whole thing and sent it to the boys. Rose spent the next half hour texting Emmett. She looked hot and bothered every time she looked up and I could only imagine what pervy things were coming from Emmett.
Edward sent me MANY texts indicating what he would be doing to me when I got home which only made the pain in my panties a little more unbearable.
Did I say I was ready for Sunday morning yet?
By 2am, we were getting tired and decided on one last dance before calling it a night. Rose called Tiny and he was waiting out front already. 'Man Eater' by Nelly came on and that song gets me going every time so I pulled the girls out to dance one last song.
I always wanted to have sex to that song. I imagined it hard-core. Lord knows my vibrator had gotten a good work out to it a time or two in the past. Ok who am I kidding? My vibrator had to be rewired because of that song!
The three of us were grinding on one another when I felt a pair of hands wrap around my waist moving their way up my chest and all the way down to my core. His sweaty forehead rested in the crook of my neck as he kissed near my ear.
"You look hot, Isabella." James. What the fuck?
I tried to remove his hands from my waist but he pulled tighter backing me into his hardness. He was drunk and when he's drunk he's violent. He was always violent, but I was scared shitless of him when he was drunk because he didn't know his limits. He didn't realize the pain he caused with just a simple touch.
He grasped onto me a bit harder as I tried to get away from him grinding his fingers into my hipbones. He moved his hands to my upper arms and turned me around slamming me into his chest. The grasp he had on my arms was sure to leave bruises and hurt like hell.
"James, you're hurting me!" I yelled, again trying to squirm my way out of his grasp. "Let me go or so help me God..." I was angry and not going to let him do this to me again.
His grip on my arms tightened if that was even possible as I cried out in pain.
"Isabella, when are you going to finally realize that I'm not going anywhere? I've been waiting a long time for you baby. Why would I give up now? Not when I have you alone." His smile made me sick to the stomach, along with the heavy smell of cheap whiskey on his breath.
"If you haven't noticed, I'm not alone James. WE are not alone." I yelled at him.
He shook me jerking my body towards him, making me rub against his body even more. "Fuck Isabella! You're turning me on so much with the feistiness. Keep that up and when we get back to your hotel, I won't last very long." He leaned in to kiss my neck as my knee lifted hitting him in the crotch. His grip loosened slightly.
I felt like this had all been happening in slow motion, but really it had only been a minute or two since he'd come over to me. Rose and Alice were too caught up in grinding with each other to notice that something was wrong. After I kneed James and he got his bearings back, he lunged for me. Rose stepped in front of me and pushed James back, her long red nails against his chest.
"Beat it buddy. She's got a guy. Go fuck off!" She yelled at him, pointing a finger in his chest.
"Isabella, who's the blond? She could come in handy later." James gave Rose his menacing smile as he licked his lips and grabbed for my arm.
The more I tried to pull away, the tighter his grasp was becoming. Rose pushed James making him burst out laughing. She pushed him again and I could tell he was getting annoyed with her. I wanted to scream at Rose to back away, she didn't know who she was dealing with, but she just kept getting in his face pissing him off further.
Alice disappeared and the next thing I knew there was a bouncer pulling James off of me away from us. God Bless Alice and how fast she moved.
James was dragged out of the club, his eyes never leaving me, shooting daggers the entire way.
"Who the fuck was that, Bella?" Rose asked, as she grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the bathroom. Alice was on my other side holding my hand.
"That was James." That's all I had to say. Alice shot me a knowing glance, as did Rose. I assumed that Emmett had told her what he knew because she didn't even question it.
Alice's face fell, she looked as if she was going to cry. Stupid Bella for getting her involved!
Once we were in the lounge outside of the bathroom, Alice pulled me to the couch and into her side. She was rubbing along my arm as I sat there in a daze. I wasn't going to cry. He wasn't going to get to me like that.
She rubbed my upper arm and I flinched in pain. Rose, who was kneeling on the floor in front of us gasped.
"Shit Bella!" She put her hand over her mouth. "Look at your arms baby!"
I looked down to see bruises in bands forming over my left arm. I looked over at the right one and sure enough bruises were beginning to form. I got up and ran into the bathroom, both of them following behind, Rose locking the door.
I pulled my dress down and looked in the mirror at the bruises beginning to form on my hips. There was no way I was going to be able to hide this from Jasper or Edward.
Edward.
How was he going to deal with this shit?
They weren't going to let this go, and Jasper made me promise him that I'd do something about it this time.
Damn it!
Alice had tears in her eyes as she looked at my almost naked form in the mirror.
Rose looked pissed. She was not the type of person you would want to mess with. She stood up to James and didn't back down. Part of me was proud of her for being so brave. But, she also didn't know what he was capable of and I prayed she never did.
Alice grabbed my dress from the floor and slowly pulled it up my body as I stood there in a trance. I gave her a weak smile and thanked her for her help.
As soon as I could compose myself enough, hand in hand we made our way to the entrance not wanting to take our chances anymore tonight.
Our car had to circle the block as we had taken so long, so there we stood at 2:30 in the morning on the sidewalk. Alice and Rose never left my side as we waited. I grabbed a smoke and inhaled as much as my lungs would allow, letting the nicotine calm me.
Just as the car showed up I caught James in the corner of my eye. He made his way towards me and before I had a chance to move, he pushed me up against the building behind us as I was tugged away from Alice and Rose. His hand wrapped tightly around my neck. I could feel the scratchy brick digging into my raw skin, burning with each new cut. I gasped for breath as his hand was constricting my airway and I was starting to get light headed.
"Isabella, I'm tired of the games. You're going to pay for that little stunt back there!" He said, never loosening his grip. His eyes were dark, the look so familiar. The look that haunted my dreams for so many years. "Do you remember how to pay me?" His eyes were menacing, glaring down at my chest. Yes James, I don't think I will ever forget how you made me PAY, you sick fuck!
I closed my eyes and took the lit cigarette that was in my hand and pushed it into his arm. He loosened his grip grabbing at his arm, and I slipped away as he screamed profanities my way. He went for me again when Tiny, our driver pulled him off of me and slammed him up against the building.
I backed away out of his reach as Rose and Alice pulled me into the car with them, locking the door when we were all safely inside. From the window I could see our driver punching him dead on in the face, nose, stomach and ribs. He was screaming at him about how to treat a lady and that if he followed us, he would regret it. Minutes later the car was taking off and we were heading towards the hotel.
I was sitting in Rose's lap, that was how I was pulled into the car, with her arms around me holding me tightly. Alice's hand was rubbing my thigh as she sat at my side. They both gave me their love without words as no one had the right words to say. My hands were wrapped around my throat as I rubbed at the pain.
I couldn't talk to them right now. If I talked, I would cry, and I wasn't ready to open those wounds yet.
When we got back to the hotel, the driver opened the door and helped us out. When he grabbed for my hand to help me, I kept his a little longer and thanked him for his help.
"Don't worry about it miss. No real man lays a hand on a lady. That fucker needed to be taught a lesson. Please excuse my French." His name was Tiny, although he didn't live up to the name. At all.
"You sound just like my boyfriend Edward. Thank you for what you did, I'm sure he'll be happy you were around tonight." I said trying to hold my emotions in.
He enveloped me in a hug that I wasn't expecting, but gladly accepted. I needed to feel his big arms around me. I felt safe.
Rose told him she would add in an extra $2,000.00 if he spent the night at the hotel with us. He gladly accepted the job, but said he didn't need to be paid. Never the less, I made my way over to the ATM and withdrew the money shoving it at him. Rose tried to stop me saying she would pay for it, but this was my fight and I wasn't going to let someone else deal with the mess I created.
Tiny would be staying with us, and it made me able to relax just a bit. The last thing I needed was to worry that my friends were now in jeopardy because of me.
At 3 in the morning, we made our way back to the hotel room. Alice, Rose and I would share the king sized bed as we did the previous night, and Tiny would sleep on the pull out couch. He told us about his wife and kids and that when he called his wife to tell her where he would be, she praised him for being such a gentleman. That was one understanding wife. Letting her hulk of a husband shack up with three girls for the night.
Alice decided to call Jasper when we got back and the loud mouth told him everything that happened. I loved her but seriously, loud mouth fucking Pixie was all that was going through my mind at the moment.
I could hear him yelling from the other side of the room where I was trying to clean myself up. I knew he would kick himself for this. He always did. It had never been Jasper's fault but it was just his way to take the brunt of it all.
My phone was ringing non-stop.
Edward.
Of course it was Edward.
I finally decided to answer after the 16th time, and give him the best face I could. I still hadn't cried and didn't plan on it.
I was in the bathroom changing into my robe, careful not to get blood on the white fabric, when I answered.
"E." I said as calmly as I could. I could hear Jasper yelling in the background and Emmett swearing up a shit storm. Edward took a big gasp and then started in just like I knew he would.
"B, what the FUCK is going on? Alice told Jasper that James was at the club?" He was mad, his screams echoing off the walls. He was mad at me?
"E, please don't be mad. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. He found me at the book signing and I kindly told him to fuck off, and then he was there tonight. I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me." I slid myself down the wall cradling my knees to my chest with my arm wrapped around them, trying to comfort myself. My back hurt like hell but I didn't care.
"Baby, baby. I'm not mad at you. I'm irate that I'm not there, but I could never be mad at you, B. This isn't your fault. I knew I should've gone with you, or at least Jasper! Damn it!" I heard glass shattering and everything went silent on his end.
"What was that?" I asked, chewing on my nails, worried that it was something expensive.
"Ugh...A vase? I don't know." He said 'I'll buy her a new one' to someone. Probably Emmett. It was Rose's. "Baby, did...did he hurt you?"
I was silent for a long time. I couldn't deal with this right now. I know I was acting immature but I just couldn't.
Edward took my silence as a yes, and I heard more glass breaking. "Edward stop! Breaking Rose's things isn't going to change anything. What's done is done. Go to my apartment if you want to break something." I was trying to lighten the mood knowing that anything else that he broke was only going to cause a more shit to happen. "I really hate those glass figurines on top of the entertainment center. Go for those."
I heard him chuckle lightly before taking a deep breath.
"Bella,... what did he... do?" His voice was more serious, all the calmness gone.
"It's nothing, E. A few bruises... and that's it." I said, as I rubbed my throat, trying to down play it so Rose didn't break HIM when we got home.
From the other side of the door I heard Alice yell, 'a few bruises my ass!' I got up and opened the door to see her laying down in front of it, with Rose's head in her lap. They didn't even try to get up when I opened the door.
The little sneaks were spying!
"What did Alice just say?" Edward asked, his voice angry once again. God I swear this man had ears of a dog!
"Nothing. She was just talking about going for a smoke, which is a great idea. So listen, Edward. I. Am. Fine. No need to worry. I'll be back in your arms on Sunday. Tiny is here and we paid him to stay with us over night. So don't worry. Ok?"
Alice told Jasper about Tiny, and apparently he had his phone on speaker. Thank God I didn't have to explain to my jealous boyfriend why there was a guy staying with us.
"Put him on the phone." Edward said point blank. Yes sir.
I tried to reason with him thinking that he was going to play the jealous boyfriend card, but there was no doing that. Reluctantly, I moved my way over to the couch and gave Tiny my phone. Edward was having a very serious conversation with our driver. That much was apparent by the look on Tiny's face.
After 10 minutes of talking, Tiny handed me the phone and I said goodnight to Edward. He sounded a lot calmer and I silently thanked Tiny for whatever he said. I told Edward I'd call him in the morning and we hung up. He pleaded with me to come home saying that he was checking flights right now but I refused to let this ruin our time here in Cali.
And maybe I was just a little scared to go home right now too.
Alice hung up with Jasper who'd been giving her and Rose a play by play with my conversation with Edward.
Was nothing sacred?
Not with these people, no.
I guess we were all in this together at this point. Or at least that's what I was being told. They knew what they were getting into when they became my friends. And after tonight, they were still here. I kept telling myself that, thinking that I would somehow finally believe it.
It was now close to 5am, Rose and Alice were still awake with me, even though we had to be at Rose's photo shoot in 3 hours.
Alice and I never talked about the fact that I made her keep quiet. I saw it eating her up and was upset with myself for getting her involved.
I was selfish to put her in the middle of this.
After much prying from Tiny, I realized what had made Edward so calm. Tiny was now our official bodyguard until he personally dropped us off at the airport on Sunday morning. Edward offered him $5,000 for the remainder of the weekend. Tiny accepted and wasn't leaving our side.
I sent Edward a text 'you are soooo dead' and went to crawl in bed with my girls. We all lay there in our robes together. I was lying down on my side with my head on Rose's stomach and Alice's head was on Rose's knees. They wanted to know about James. I hadn't ever told anyone my full story with James. I tried to drop it and we talked more about the hot night we had. Up until James entered the picture.
We talked for the next few hours before getting up to take showers.
We stopped by Tiny's house after so he could grab some clothes and we got to meet his wife who was sweet just as we thought. We then proceeded to the photo shoot for Rose.
Alice and I were deadbeat, and instead of trying on all of the freebie clothes that we planned on, we lay on a couch together and watched as Rose strutted her stuff. Thank God for make-up as the bags under her eyes from no sleep were easy to see miles away.
The photo shoot lasted until 5pm, poor Rose could barely keep her eyes open. Tiny drove us back to our hotel where we decided to crash for the evening. We had our fill of the city for now and didn't want to test the waters again.
Tiny or no Tiny, our trip to LA was done.
Sunday morning, we packed up and headed to the airport. Although Edward bribed him to stay, I paid Tiny the money that was owed to him and thanked him for all of his help. Not only was this the longest weekend of my life, it was also the most expensive. He hugged us all good-bye and we boarded our plane.
Only a few days ago I was looking forward to going home.
To my Edward.
Now, with bruises up my arms, hips and around my throat, and deep scratches covering my back, I was scared to face the boys.
A/N: So...James is trying to pry his way back into B's life. What did you think? He's a bit possessive over our dear Bella. Next chapter Bella and Edward have a heart to heart about her past. It's a bit intense!
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