Disclaimer: Once again I don't own any of the characters from the series. Also I haven't been using a beta so all errors are mine. Sorry I haven't been updating this story. However I've had other things on my mind. I'm quite frankly surprised people even bother reading this anymore! Hopefully with the coming year I'll be able to update this more often.

Chapter 4 – When One Door Closes, Another Opens

Alice smiled as she rummaged through the clothing racks. She had a warm, fuzzy feeling bubbling through her entire being. It was really reassuring to her that her instincts were right. Not only with her fashion sense, but her gut feeling about going to New Moon last night. She discovered a missing part of her extended family, an opportunity to fulfill her dream, and something more. That Jasper Whitlock was yummy in her opinion, not that she would ever admit to calling anyone "yummy."

Maybe it was her inner Southern Belle talking, but he was appealing to her in every , she had a way to get a hold of him if she was inclined to. Half the table on Sunday night swapped business cards as a way to get each other's phone numbers. Alice had been debating about calling Jasper since this morning, but now was as good a time as any.

She quickly finished picking out various articles of clothing and hurried them to the fitting rooms. There was a big magazine spread for the June issue of Elle and the clothes for the big fashion shoot still needed adjustments. The models were having a fitting today. After the precious clothes were dropped off, Alice went to her desk and pulled out her iPhone and pressed Jasper's name from her phone book.

The line rang twice before a smooth voice answered the other. "Jasper speaking."

Alice resisted the urge to grin stupidly at the sound his greeting. "Hi, Jasper. Is it a bad time for you?"

Jasper chuckled. "No actually I was thinking about getting lunch. What about you?"

"I'm on my lunch break in a few minutes too. I'm glad I'm not interrupting a business lunch or something. That would be too embarrassing, but I just had a feeling this would be the right time," Alice said cheerfully.

Jasper paused a moment before speaking again. "You want to get lunch with me? I think you said you were at 40th, right?"

Alice smiled at that. She couldn't help but be impressed when a guy actually remembered a random detail like where she worked. "You're right. I work along Fashion Avenue and 40th."

"How about I meet you at Guy and Gallard in ten minutes? I'm a few minutes away myself," Jasper replied.

"It's a date," Alice said with a wide grin spreading her face. The call ended and she quickly did a check in her compact. She quickly powdered her face and applied a fresh coat of her favorite ruby red lipstick before leaving the office. There was nothing like a spontaneous lunch date with a cute guy to make her day better.

Rosalie took one last look at her face in the compact mirror. She was calmly sitting at the table. She had to remind herself that she was in a restaurant… in public with anyone able to see her. She was very reluctant to meet Royce, but he was rather pitiful on the voice mail message he left on her cell phone. Perhaps the discovery of new cousins made her more optimistic because she was now waiting for her cheating ex-boyfriend. He warned her he might be a few minutes late because of a meeting with a client this morning, but he would have a reservation at their favorite bistro.

Rosalie sighed as she gently sipped the water from the goblet by her plate. She had far too many dinner dates with Royce at this bistro. While she would occasionally eat here, she knew she couldn't make this restaurant a regular eatery anymore. There were too many memories and realizing the kind of guy Royce is, he would probably bring new girlfriends or "flavors" to eat here.

It wasn't long after they broke up that word got around among her jet set acquaintances what happened. A few people told her they suspected he was cheating on her. Rosalie had a polite smile on her face the whole time. Inside she was seething at the insincerity and superior tones in beneath their commiserating words. Looking back on it, she grew to appreciate Alice and Bella even though she knew them barely a whole week.

She glanced as she spotted Royce in one of his many sharp business suits approaching her table. The only good quality Rosalie was willing to concede was that he knew how to dress well. Royce was pretty frivolous and superficial, but he appreciated the finer things in life and he made some effort at the investment firm where his father was one of the vice presidents.

"Hello," Royce said politely as he took a seat. He looked nervously at Rosalie before picking up the menu by his place setting.

Rosalie nodded slightly before opening the menu. It seemed rather pointless in doing so when they had eaten here at least once a week when they were still together. Rosalie was aware that he usually ordered steaks for dinner or a Reuben sandwich for lunch. She ordered fish or chicken normally. Today's lunch was definitely a chicken Caesar salad kind of day. She closed her menu and stared at Royce. "Why did you want to see me?"

Royce looked up sharply with eyes slightly widened in shock. "What… what do you mean?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "I know you have a specific reason for this meeting considering you were the one cheating on me." She made sure she kept her voice low as there were some diners near their table.

Royce sighed before closing the menu and looking at his ex-girlfriend. "I want you back, Rosalie."

"You have got to be kidding me," Rosalie hissed at him. Rosalie was regretting this lunch meeting with every second.

Royce nervously twisted the napkin on his lap. "Rose… I… have realized that I was being a total asshole to you. You deserve loyalty and faithfulness. I want to do better and do right by you if you give me a chance."

A waiter approached the table. "Good afternoon Mr. King… Miss Hale. Are you ready to order?"

Rosalie and Royce made their orders before the waiter left. An awkward silence ensued for a good minute before Rosalie finally spoke again. "You've got a lot of nerve trying to wine and dine me into taking you back," she said softly while glaring at him.

Royce calmly took a sip of his water before explaining. "Rosalie darling, we've got real history together. We had great times together, things in common, and we even come from similar backgrounds. You've always said we were practically made for each other."

Rosalie resisted the urge to groan at that. "I also thought we were going to get married, but we clearly aren't doing that any time soon. You don't seriously think that I'm going to just forgive you and pick up where we left off."

The conversation was temporarily stopped as lunch appeared at their table. The waiter politely asked if they needed anything else before leaving the couple alone. They calmly ate in silence for five minutes before Royce was finally able to answer.

"I really do miss you, Rosalie. You're the best thing that ever happened to me," he said calmly.

Rosalie scoffed as she stabbed her chicken with her fork. "That hardly stopped you from having some flavors on the side. I'm just the idiot that didn't see it until…" she trailed and quickly began eating more of her food.

Royce stopped eating and watched her. "What do I have to do… to get you back?"

Rosalie put her fork down after she swallowed her salad. "You could crawl across burning coals or buy me all the jewelry I could want… I deserve a lot more than that."

Royce swallowed before speaking. "What more can I do or say that will make you change your mind?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes and huffed at that. "Absolutely nothing! I want nothing more to do with you, Royce! I'm trying to move on with my life and you should learn to do the same. However I doubt you'll have much trouble. You have an easy enough time finding a new woman to replace me with," she said with a slight sneer.

Royce looked as though she had just slapped him. "That's not fair, Rose…"

Rosalie chewed on more of her salad as she considered him carefully. "Let me guess, you're thinking that if I started seeing you again, it'll favor you in my dad's eyes, right?"

Royce sighed at that. "Look Rose…"

"It won't work. Even if I was stupid enough to forgive you, my dad isn't going to help you out anyways. You're not qualified for executive positions in any of his companies. You're wasting your time. Why don't you find some other heiress to marry. Maybe she'll turn the other way when you cheat on her," Rosalie said frankly as she finished off her food.

Royce glared at that. "Fine then maybe we're better off breaking up. Your father won't help me then."

Rosalie smirked at that. "Nope! Even if you were qualified, there's no way he'd hire you after you cheated on me. You're the type who'd do it again. He's not the perfect dad, but even he wouldn't favor a guy who hurts his only daughter." She finished her lunch and pulled out $30 and placed it on the table. "I can't even hate you anymore. You're just too pathetic to make it worth it." She stood up and walked away in her most dignified manner.

Bella knocked on the office door. She heard a clear "come in!" before stepping inside. She glanced nervously at the editor-in-chief. Ms. Janice Dogoda was a fair, but tough boss and knew what she wanted for her magazine.

"So you're here with your last article for me?" Ms. Dogoda asked frankly while barely glancing from the piece of paper she was scribbling on.

Bella cleared her throat. "Yes, I've finished. I'll be clearing out my desk tomorrow morning and be out after a couple hours." Bella had no doubt in her mind that quitting her job at the magazine was the right decision.

Ms. Dogoda looked up at that. "You realize I'm not going to throw you out on your butt, you know. I just want you to be sure that you're making the right decision. Your articles are well written and if you stick around another three or four months, I was going expand the material you could working on. I know that's what you wanted." She seemed to be examining Bella quite intently.

Bella nodded at that. "It just seems to me that it really is the right thing. My grandmother worked really hard on the cafe she started. I'd like to keep it running since she did leave me the business."

Ms. Dogoda seemed to be studying her before relaxing in her chair. "Very well then, Bella. We will miss you and I wish you luck."

Bella smiled. "Goodbye." She walked out of the office and headed back to her desk. She could start bringing a few of the smaller items home with her tonight since she did have one large shopping bag at her desk. She really would need the next morning to sort the items that needed to be thrown out and what could be taken home.

Once she was certain Bella wouldn't be coming back in, Janice Dogoda immediately went on the phone and dialed a number quickly. After waiting for two rings, she heard a woman say hello. "You were right about her. She did choose to leave the magazine. Real shame too since she's the best junior writer on my staff."

"I'm sorry you're disappointed, but there are far more important things to think about. I think you've been editor-in-chief for far too long if you're losing track of things," the other woman said.

Janice Dogoda glared. "I kept my side of the bargain. I'd keep my end of our little deal watching out for Swan and you'd keep me out of whatever business you're in the middle of. You know I don't want to get involved in all this huge stuff you get into. I'd like to stay out of these things."

"You're right. I said I'd keep you out of it and I will. You've done everything I wanted and expected from you. Now I've got a meeting with a few other people," she said.

"Goodbye Minerva," Janice Dogoda said bitterly before hanging up her phone.

Laurent carefully looked at the street signs and then examined the sign on the top of the storefront. He was fairly sure he got the right place. He entered and saw there were a few patrons enjoying their dinners. He took a seat at the counter when a waitress in a clean uniform approached him.

"Welcome to Marie's Café! Can I help you?"

Laurent smiled pleasantly "I'm sure you can."