Edward.

"I'm really sorry for making you wait so long, guys," Bella apologized, her voice sincere.

We stood before both Alice and Jasper who–– by the looks of it–– had already finished eating, and Bella apologized again, "I'm really, really sorry!"

Alice stared at the both of us skeptically, then lowered her eyebrows as her lips pulled up into a reassuring smirk, "No harm done. We ate without you guys, so it's even."

Bella dropped her head and murmured, "Sorry", a final time before pulling out her previous seat. I followed suit, and sat next to her.

"Are you guys still hungry?" Jasper asked, staring at the full plates of food in front of us.

"No, I've lost my appetite." I told him, honestly.

"As have I," Bella smiled, her expression fierce. I bit my lip so that I wouldn't smile. Even if she did forgive me, I guess it was natural that she still harbored bitter feelings towards me regarding what I did. I would have to accept that. She was absurdly stubborn, after all.

"So," Alice started, "where did you guys go?"

I looked up to see her eyeing me incredulously, scrutinizing my face. Why did it always seem as if she was putting me on the spot?

I had forgotten just how uneasy she made me feel sometimes, until I was forced to be in her presence again. "Just a little shopping," Bella responded to her inquiry. I was surprised at how defensive her tone was.

"I can tell!" Alice turned her attention back from me onto her friend. Her eyes narrowed in disapproval, "Aren't we best friends? Don't you love me?"

Bella's eyes probed open at Alice's sudden accusation.

"Of course I do, Alice! What brought this on?"

Alice continued to stare at Bella, an expression of disappointment and irritation on her face, and said, "Liar. You went shopping without me."

Bella rolled her eyes at her friends childish behavior, and retorted,

"If I asked you to come along, we would have never come back."

"Is that why you asked Edward?"

My head shot up, startled, as my name was suddenly pulled into the conversation. What was this pixie-chick thinking? It was obvious that I had followed after Bella in her attempt to escape from me. Not only that, but Alice was fully aware of the prank I played on Bella. No one could be that oblivious; It had happened right in front of her face.

If anything, I was more bothered with the fact that she was not angry with me. Bella was, or so she claimed, her best friend, after all. And yet here she sat–– here we sat–– acting as if nothing had even happened.

"I didn't ask Cullen to do anything," Bella snapped, "He came all on his own, so…"

But by that time, I was unable to hear the rest of Bella's argument and Alice's assessments. My mind had frozen on the one devastating word that had come from Bella's mouth; Cullen.

'I must have misheard her,' I tried to assure myself, frowning. That was the only logical explanation. Why would she retreat back to the title she just previously addressed me as? It was not a misapprehension that she called me 'Edward', just little while ago. I know I had not misheard that.

I frowned again, as my mind wandered; thinking over the reasons and possibilities of her calling me 'Cullen'. If she had, then why?

I snapped out of my sudden train of thought, when I heard someone's cell ring. Even with the piercing sound of musical beeping, both Alice and Bella still continued their argument––too preoccupied to hear it ring–– despite the fact that it was loud as hell.

"Um… Bella," It was Jasper who took the initiative of getting their attention, "I think your phone's ringing."

Bella looked at him like he was speaking some foreign language or other, and I silently snickered at how bewilderingly absentminded she was. The difference in her character from when she was at work to now, surrounded by friends, was extremely laughable. I bit my lip so the snicker wouldn't raise in volume by even the slightest margin.

"Oh!" she suddenly gasped, and hastily grabbed her purse. I watched, biting back a chuckle, when her brow furrowed impatiently as she tried to wrestle the bag open. She somehow managed to tear the zipper open, and fished a hand inside to retrieve the phone that she had stuffed in when we first returned to the table.

"Crap," she breathed, instantly flipping the phone open and placing it over her ear, "Hello?"

And then her face did the strangest thing. An expression of shock covered it, and then it seemed as if nervousness had taken over. By the time her 'expression-slide' had ended, she look oddly…stressed.

"Jake… hold on a second, please," Before I could control myself, my head snapped in her direction and I felt my eyebrows crease from my forehead. Jake?

"Umm…," Bella quickly looked from me, and then to Alice, and said, "I'll be back in a second. Sorry 'bout this."

I turned to Alice to see that she was now frowning, and then her head dropped as a "go ahead" sigh escaped her. So… who the hell was Jake?

Bella shot up from her seat quickly, and nearly sprinted in the direction of the woman's restroom. I don't think the frown ever left my face.

"You look like you want to ask something." I heard Alice say. My frown deepened, and I looked at her. Once again, her eyes were piercing mine. Holding me.

"Not really," I tried to seem nonchalant, but the tightness of my voice was undeniable–– and I knew it didn't escape her notice. I was curious about the guy who was calling Bella's cell phone, and I would have left it at that, if not for Alice's sudden strange behavior which made me grow all the more suspicious.

"Hmm… Really?" She started, her eyes never leaving mine, "I assumed since she was your manager, and since you guys work so closely together, that you would be interested in who she was dating. Guess not." Alice shrugged her shoulders, as if she couldn't care less.

I, on the other hand, was frozen. Boyfriend?

"Alice!" I barely heard Jasper hiss at her. It was a hiss, but it lacked the angry authority needed to make it sound threatening, or even slightly strict. It sounded more urgent, as if he were warning her to behave–– or keep her mouth shut.

"Boyfriend," I asked her quietly, leaning in closer. I felt the warmth slowly start to drain from my body, and I almost gulped, "Bella has a…boyfriend?" My words sounded completely shocked, for which I completely was. Alice, however, did not show even a margin of fury or irritation at my rude disbelief that her friend could have a guy. That, or she knew full well that I was starting to boil inside, from something that I assumed was jealousy. But that was impossible. She wasn't a psychic. Even I didn't know about my feelings until just recently.

"Yup… well, more like lovers. Kind of."

My heart nearly stopped beating at the mention of Bella having a 'lover', but it resumed when "kind of" was added to what she was saying.

"What do you mean by 'kind of'?" I asked. I could tell that my voice was firm.

Alice's eyes continued to bore into mine, and then–– as if she were deliberating whether or not to tell me–– finally said, "Yeah. They aren't officially––" she formed bunny ears with her fingers to indicate the "quote-on-quote" meaning, "––going out, but they basically are."

My eyes narrowed at her nonsensical addle, and I leaned in closer so she could continue, "Jacob… well, Jake, isn't really her boyfriend, but they are madly in love…or attracted…or whatever they are to each other."

Alice sighed, and then continued, her inquiring eyes never leaving my face, "Jacob is younger than Bella, and her model at that, so they held off actually dating until Jacob became her number one model… and turns twenty… which should be in a few months, if I remember correctly," She paused, and cocked her eyebrow at me, her expression implying, "So, as I said, they've been kind of together for a few years now. And in a few more months, they really will be together."

Disregarding whatever double-meaning Alice intended by her suggestive tone, my sole focus was that Bella did have a boyfriend…who was younger than her and was a model.

I was literally seething.

I shut my eyes closed, trying to distinguish the burning flame that was erupting inside of me, and exhaled deeply. Wasn't it she who said that she didn't date colleagues? That younger men weren't in her target range? Or at least, that was what she had clearly meant with her ambiguous statements.

My hands balled into tight fists, and it took all the strength I had to keep it cool.

What was wrong with me, anyways? It wasn't as if I was in love with her. I was angry because she basically lied to me, and confounded because she actually did have a boyfriend–– who would have thought?
I wasn't going to allow myself to become jealous. I've never been before, and I certainly wasn't going to start now. There was no reason to. I was just attracted to her, and my desire to tell her how I felt was purely an in-the-moment feeling. I already had a girlfriend, and a beautiful one at that. So she couldn't make me laugh, or was possibly the most conceited being on the face of this Earth–– it didn't imply that Bella meant more to me. I barely even knew her.

I opened my eyes slowly, trying to settle my anxiousness. I didn't dare look at Alice–– almost expectant of the look of amusement she was bound to give me–– and pretended not to notice Jasper's eyes on me, either.

I wasn't jealous–– I was strictly annoyed.

I wasn't angry–– I was only irritated.

I was devestated so much as I was surprised.

At least, that was what I was trying to convince myself, before Bella's chair suddenly moved from beside me.

Bella.

"I missed you too, Jake," I said, trying to mask the guilt that was rippling in my stomach. I couldn't have felt any worse, not that I wanted to.

When I had picked up the phone, still seated at the table, and pulled it to my ear, I almost stopped breathing when Jake's all-too-familiar voice sounded from the other side, "Bella."

All I could do was sit there, frozen, the sound of him calling my name in that breathtaking voice of his. A feeling of instant happiness had clouded over me, but not nearly long enough until the guilt kicked in.

I wanted to speak to him. I knew he was probably waiting there at my apartment, and I felt guilty for making him wait. But the guilt of kissing Cullen–– and how vivid the images were as they suddenly came pouring into my head –– was even stronger than that.

The confusing thing was, even more than the shame of kind of cheating on the guy I loved, was the desperate need to leave the table. For some reason, I just couldn't have a conversation with Jake while Cullen was there. I didn't know why, and even now, I just can't comprehend why I felt like I didn't want Jacob to know about Cullen. That I didn't want Cullen to know about Jacob. Before I even knew it, I had already excused myself to Alice, and–– after sneaking a glance at Edward–– rushed away from them, feeling strangely guilty. And the feeling was strange, because in that moment–– though it only lasted until I made it to the woman's restroom and heard Jake's voice again–– I wasn't exactly sure who I felt guilty about.

'Don't be stupid,' I mentally hissed at myself, 'It's none of Cullen's business who you're sort of with.' At least, that was what I was trying to convince myself.

"Bella?" I was suddenly brought back from my thoughts when Jacob called my name, trying to retrieve my faltering attention.

"I'm sorry, Jake. Umm… what were you saying?"

I relaxed a bit as Jacob's soothing chuckles came flooding into my ear. That's why I loved him. If it were me he had been ignoring, I would have been undoubtedly irritated.

"Have you come back to Earth now? Or should I go to Mars and get you back?" His voice was as charming as ever–– his tone warm. Playful.

"Ha ha, very funny," I told him sarcastically, rolling my eyes in the process, "Now, while I'm still on Earth, would you mind being so kind as to tell me what you were saying?"

"From when you were still listening? Or after you so rudely ignored me?"

Rolling my eyes again, I waited.

"Alright already," Jacob said sourly, "I'll tell you…again."

I laughed at his sullen attitude. I was beginning to miss him more and more, and that feeling was starting to overpower my previous guilty conscience.

"I asked where were you having dinner." He said, his question stated, rather than asked.

My eyebrows pulled together. "Why?"

Jacob sighed into the phone, and said, "So I can pick you up, of course."

And the guilty conscience came running back to bite me in the ass.

"No," I tried to sound as calm as I could, "You don't have to do that. I already brought my car." There. That was a very good excuse. I almost wanted to compliment myself. It was a good thing that I didn't hitch a ride with Alice, like I usually did on so many of our dinner dates.

When Jacob spoke, you could almost hear the frown in his voice,

"Are you that far off?" He asked.

"No, I'm at some restaurant called "Mis Amas Vin"… or something." I told him, trying to pronounce the name as I remembered Cullen saying it.

"Oh, that place," Jacob said, his tone matter of fact, "Yeah, I've been there a few times."

That surprised me. I never knew that Jacob came here. We usually had dinner together. Or at least, that's what I thought.

"You come to this restaurant?" I asked, curiously. Well, I could certainly see him in here. He fit into the whole grandeur-life just as well as Cullen did…'Why are you thinking of him again?!'

"Like I said; a few times. It was always with clients after shoots or something," I could almost hear the nonchalant shrug in his voice, "but It's not my favorite place to eat. Some of the French dishes are kind of good, but the Japanese––" he shuddered dramatically, "––Yuck! Some of the weirdest things I've ever heard of. Did you know they actually make soup out of cow guts?"

My mouth clamped shut into a tight line, and I struggled with the urge to either barf again, or laugh hysterically from the irony. I decided on neither of the two options. Instead, my mood suddenly turned glum, and my eyes narrowed into slits. Did I actually agree to forgive that jerk? Why was I such an idiot?

"Umm… Bells?" Jacob called from the other line, his voice slightly worried.

"What?" My tone was divided between a question and an irritated snap.

Jacob was now fully alarmed by my sudden change in attitude, "You okay?"

'Don't take it out on him', I reminded myself, 'He's not the one who tricked you into eating the thing. He's also not the one who accepted the apology of the guy who did it, either." Scowling, I thumped myself lightly on the head. You know you did something stupid when your own head was mercilessly accusing you. I couldn't even get a break from myself!

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that, Jake. I just thought of something…unpleasant." Huge understatement there.

"Right…well, are you really sure you don't want me to pick you up anyways?"

I hated to turn him down when he sounded so hopeful, but I'd rather die then have him come and see me in this dress. There was also the chance of Cullen meeting Jacob that set my nerves on edge, though I was still at a loss as to why I even felt that way. Still, I knew I didn't want them to meet. That was enough convincement for me. At least, for now it was.'Like they aren't going to bump into each other at the agency,'

"I'm alright," I assured him, "I'll be back soon. We're all but done, anyways."

Jacob sighed, dejectedly, and said, "Fine. Hurry back soon, okay? I miss you more and more every second you're not with me."

After years of hearing Jacob's romancing words, I still felt myself grow red. My heart felt tight in my chest. I felt so stupid for not wanting to see him. What happened with Cullen was just a mistake.

A pleasant mistake, but a mistake, nonetheless. There was no point in trying to hide from Jake. We hadn't seen each other for a whole month. It was wrong of me to let Cullen become an impediment on my time with him.

"Same here," I told him honestly, ignoring the further burn of my face, "I'll see you in a bit."

Jacob sighed again, "Yeah."

"Bye," I giggled, before closing the phone shut.

I inhaled in one final breath of air, as if there would be no clean air left, and stalked out of the bathroom, into the direction of the table.

As the gap between me and the table decreased, I felt as if my breath was caught in my throat. What was I getting worried for, anyway?

Without glancing even the slightest bit at Cullen, I pulled my seat out, and sat beside him as I usually did. I smiled apologetically at Alice and Jasper, who had appeared to be engrossed in some conversation, and braved myself to look at Cullen.

"Sorry for taking so long," I apologized, smiling.

Cullen stared at me for a while, completely causing all breath in my body to cease circulation, and then smiled a dazzling, yet somewhat tight, smile.

See? Everything was just normal.

Too bad my heart refused to be the same.

Edward.

It took everything I had to smile so benignantly. I was pretty sure it was a smile. It might have been a bit firm, but I was an expert at hiding how I really felt. Or at least, I was an expert–– before my emotions reached such a complicated and perplexing state.

Bella returned to the table looking completely normal. Or so I would have thought, if I hadn't notice that extra shine to her.

So she was happy. Jacob made her happy.

I almost scowled.

"So, how's Jacob been?" Alice suddenly asked.

Bella's eyes widened in horror, and then narrowed into slits. Alice just continued to stare at her, unmoving. Her question sounded innocent enough, but I had an intuitive feeling that that was not the case. She had purposely told me about Jacob–– I sneered the name–– but her reasons for doing so had be stupefied. What was her purpose?

"He's fine," Bella said quickly, after what seemed like an entire minute. I watched her expression furtively, and it was obvious that she did not want to persist on that subject. Neither did I, for that matter.

"So, how about we head out to the dance floor," Jasper interjected, calmly, "They've already started to clear out the center."

"Dance," Bella turned her frosty glare from Alice, to a more composed expression at Jasper, "What do you mean by 'dance'? Here?"

Jasper nodded, a slight flicker of relief crossed his face, but vanished in the next second. He reminded me a lot of the middle man; someone who worked to avert people from dangerous territory. And from the way Bella had been staring at Alice, and the boiling feeling in the pit of my stomach, Jacob was a dangerous subject.

"Yeah. This place is famous for their dance parties. Once the kitchen is closed, it becomes something like a club. The only difference is that they only play music from genres like Swing, Blues, Jazz, Salsa… you know, the classics."

Bella's expression dropped, and she looked utterly panicked. I watched as she bit her lip in frustration, and then glanced down at her watch.

"Are you going to dance?" she asked, looking back up to Jasper.

Jasper's lips pulled into a large, toothy grin and he nodded, "I love dancing. When I first heard about this place, I was a little uncertain…but once my friend told me about the dancing––" his grin grew even wider, "–– I was sold."

Bella opened her mouth to say something, but clasped it shut when the lights in the restaurant turned dim. I should have been surprised, or at least interested, when everything suddenly went dark, and golden lights began flashing all around. I would have been, if not for the fact that my head, along with my heart, was in total chaos.

The sound of light Spanish music erupted throughout the restaurant, reverberating. People all around us starting standing from their seats, walking towards the large, empty space in the center of this place. Jasper, too, had stood up.

"Would I be so honored as to have this dance, Alice?" He asked her, offering his hands to her.

Alice smiled brilliantly, and nodded, placing her hands on Jaspers' so that he could pull her up. She bounced up like a feather, and intertwined their fingers with his. Jasper returned the smile.

"Well," Alice said, turning her attention back to us, "Aren't you guys going to dance?"

Bella nearly hissed at her, and said, "Alice, you know I can't dance!"

Alice rolled her eyes, "Who cares?

"Alice!"

I wasn't surprised that Bella was so dead set against dancing. After all, she couldn't even walk along a flat surface without being in danger of tripping on something. I could only guess at just how dangerous dancing–– which requires actual movement–– was to her.

If this had happened an hour ago, I would have laughed. But I was far too irritated to find anything funny.

"You owe me," Alice said, pulling her hands softly from Jasper's hand, and crossing her arms over her chest, "After disappearing on us for so long, and this is all I ask of you; to have fun with us."

Bella scowled at her, "What happened to 'no harm being done'?"

"Bella," She pouted, her eyes falling in sadness, "please? For your best friend?"

"Argh," Bella groaned in defeat, "Fine! But who do you expect me to dance with?"

Although my head was not turned in their direction, I still saw Alice's eyes fall on me. I also saw when Bella's hand began to shake in desperate refusal. Was she embarrassed because she couldn't dance, and didn't want to humiliate herself in front of me? Or did she not want to dance with another man besides her boyfriend?
So she could kiss them, but refused to dance with them?

I was starting to boil again.

"I think that's a great idea, Alice," I said, turning my head towards them. Both Alice and Bella's attention snapped on me, and Bella gave me a suspicious, and slightly dreaded look. Alice looked a little smug.

"Umm… I don't really think that's a good idea," Bella started, dropping her head, "I'm really not a good dancer."

It took a great deal of effort to keep that smile on my face.

"It's all in the leading," I tried to assure her, rising from my seat,

"Come on. It could be fun."

Bella looked up at me again, from under her eyelashes, and I felt my heart skip. She really was extraordinarily beautiful tonight…

" I don't think we should," she said again, but her eyes remainedon mine.

"But why not? It's only natural to dance with your date."

She flinched at the word, and I put out my hand for her to take,

"C'mon. I promise I wont let you fall."

Her face lost all traces of resistance as she glared at me. Though that had faltered, she still looked imminent. Hesitant.

"Fine," she snarled, taking my hand and pulling herself up, "but only one dance."

"Fine." I returned her word curtly, twirling her around, pulling her along with me towards the crowd of moving bodies.

By the time we found a spacey place to start, the Spanish music had already ended, and a slow Jazz song had started.

"I hope you know that I can't dance at all." She pointed out, her expression sour.

I couldn't help but laugh. Bella was really too cute.

"It doesn't matter, since I can." I reminded her, grabbing her hands and pulling her body into mine. I bent my head low, so that my lips were nearly an inch from her ears, and whispered, "Just follow me carefully."

She gave a short nod, and I smiled. I was confident in my dancing skills. Many women complimented, praised, and even swooned over me for it.

Then, did that mean I was hoping for something?

I wrapped one of my hands around Bella's waist, and folded my free hand into hers.

She just stood there, dumbstruck.

"I'm pretty sure you have to place your other hand on my shoulder, so we can start dancing." I told her, letting my eyebrows pull up in amusement.

Bella glanced around quickly, to the sea of people who were around us–– dancing in the same position.

I snorted. Did she mistrust me to the point that she had to assure herself that I was not tricking her? If that were truly the case, I would have to start earning her trust quickly…

"I know that," she snapped, grasping my shoulder tightly. I smiled again, but my thoughts remained elsewhere. Even when my feet began to move, in rhythm with the Jazzy beat, I was still lost in thought.

There was no need for me to want to gain her trust. She had a boyfriend, already. A young model boyfriend. There was no longer a need for me to want to get closer to her.

And yet, I still wanted to.

But if that were the case, what did that entail? Did it mean that I wanted to intervene in their relationship? That I liked her more than I thought?

'Don't be stupid, Edward!' I told myself, twirling Bella around me in the process.

So I was attracted to her. And yes, I had been previously thinking of ending it with my own girlfriend to see how things could go between us. I was curious to see how these feelings would result, and to what extent they would go. But that was only because I was attracted to her, and she was so interesting. Maybe, like a scientist sought interest in an alien–– I was interested in Bella because she was so different from everything else I knew. Because she made me feel different when I was with her.

I thought all this, but there was something missing. Some important factor that I could not figure out–– so that I could not put all the pieces together.

"Are you alright, Cullen?" Bella suddenly asked.

Her voice pulled me out of my thoughts, and I looked down at her to see that her face was clouded in worry.

"Yeah," I muttered softly, still continuing to dance.

"If you say so," she said. Her eyes remained worried.

I tried to keep my thoughts from wandering again, by allowing myself to become immersed in dancing. I now paid attention to what we were doing, and how Bella was coming along.

She didn't look bad dancing at all. If anything, I thought it was cute how she kept glancing at her feet to make sure she was moving okay.

"Don't worry," I assured her, smirking, "As long as I'm your partner, you wont mess up."

Bella rolled her eyes, but refrained from looking down.
Huh. So she believed me when it came to my own values.

"You aren't as bad as I thought you would be," I told her before pulling her away from me, and the reeling her back in, "I figured you to be much worse."

Bella scowled again, and I resisted the urge to chuckle.

"Just because I cant dance, doesn't mean I've never been dancing before." She snapped, tightening her grip on my shoulder. If I didn't know better, I would have thought she was trying to hurt me.

"Oh?" I asked. From the way she so vehemently refused to dance when her best friend asked, I was curious about the people who convinced her to go. Bella didn't strike me as the type of person who went clubbing, at all. "Do you go often with, Alice?"

Bella's face suddenly turned a light shade of pink, and she ducked her head to avoid my gaze.

I stared at her, bewildered by her sudden reaction, until everything clicked together in my .

I grit my teeth together, and felt my hands marginally tighten. Everything in me told me to drop the subject. To never speak of it again, in fear that I would explode. I, of course, ignored that warning. I was far too annoyed to heed it.

"So I take it that this Jake person is your boyfriend." I found myself saying, my tone tight.

Bella's eyes opened wide and she shot her head up in surprise.

Must have figured that I didn't know.

"How did you…?" She started, her eyes averting my stare.

I shrugged, as if it didn't matter, and said, "I thought you didn't date younger men."

I had to gulp down the blazing heat that was rising from within me, when her face darkened an extra shade.

"Or that you didn't involve yourself with people you work with."

Bella remained silent, as I threw questions at her that clearly labeled her as a lying hypocrite. Every second she remained quiet, I grew all the more angry.

"Are you dating him to make yourself feel young?" I asked, my voice edged with bitter accusation.

Bella did not say a word. Though we were still dancing, we were going at a pace much slower than the original beat. It felt as if we were in slow motion, compared to the all the bustling people around us.

Why was she not saying anything? Did she feel bad for technically lying? As if I had caught her red-handed? Was she silent because I was right; and had perfectly hit the mark. Or, perhaps, because she just didn't want to talk about him. Because something might have happened between them.

I was wishfully hoping on the latter of those assumptions.
We danced and danced, as if stuck in our own little world. Bellarefused to look up, and I was getting angrier by the second.

"Could it be that you only used him? Toyed with his feelings so he can become your number one?"

That one hit.

"What the hell did you just say?" Her head snapped up, and she glared with me with so much ferocity that I would have backed away if not for the fact that I was probably just as evenly angry as she.

"Don't talk about Jacob like you know anything about him. Like you know anything about me."

My eyes narrowed into furious slits, and before I could even think about saying anything, my words rolled out in a hiss, "Since you're so desperate, it could have been with anyone, then?"

Bella's mouth dropped open, and then clamped shut in a tight line.

She broke free of my hold on her waist, and pulled her hands from my own. I watched, cautiously, as she stomped a step towards me, her glare murderous. I was preparing her to take a swing at me, like she so often did. And since I was, I was left totally unprepared when her thick heel came crashing into my foot.

"You damn bi––!" I howled, pushing her away from me and my throbbing foot.

I looked up at her, my own face twisted in fury, to see that her middle finger was completely flipped at me.

"I don't ever want to see your damn face again, you stupid bastard!" She growled, turning on her heel and stomping away.

I was far too enraged to even think it was my fault. I stormed back to the table–– completely ignoring the searing pain in my foot, the stares of the people around me, and Alice's voice as she called out my name.

I grabbed my jacket from off my chair, and dropped a fifty dollar bill on the table, before walking to the large spiral staircase, up it, and then out of the main doors.

"My car," I nearly snapped at the valet nearest to me. He quickly took the numbered paper from my hand, and ran off to the back of the restaurant.

In less than two minutes, the same guy arrived with my car.

I opened the door, and exhaled a deep breath before sliding in.
Being in the comfort of my favorite silver Volvo calmed me down a little, but not nearly enough to wipe the irate expression from my face.

I turned the key in the ignition, and stepped down hard on the gas petal. I took a quick glance in the rear view mirror, making sure that no cars would be in danger when I sped off, and shot my foot down in a desperate attempt to get away.

I drove farther and farther ahead, refusing to look back at the two people who remained in front of the restaurant, caught in a sickening embrace.

It was obvious now; I wasn't just irritated or angry–– I was irrevocably and earnestly jealous.

Jacob.

"Bye," Bella giggled from the other line.

I sighed again, and shut the phone after she had ended the call.

Why wasn't she here?

It had been a month since I had last seen her. A devastatingly and torturously long-as-hell month. But I had finally managed to come back.

My father's condition had improved tremendously, and he was finally discharged from the hospital. It was only a shame that he didn't leave his poor attitude behind.

There was also the news of the end of my successful contract with 'Le Vogue'. Bella would be more than pleased to hear about that.

At the thought of Bella, I sighed again.

I missed her. More than anything, I wanted to just drop the stupid contract and come back to her. But I couldn't risk dropping a job and, in turn, losing my position as Twilight Runway's best model. I had waited three years for Bella to become mine, and I wouldn't let anything come in the way of that. Not even my own selfish desires.'It's only a few more months,' I reminded myself, falling into the light gray sofa's in her living room. After all the time I've waited for her, a few measly months was nothing. Or at least, that was what I was trying to convince myself.

"Bella," I murmured, stuffing my face into the sofa cushion, "Come home quickly."

When the director of the commercial and shoot for 'Le Vogue' had finally given me the O.K to leave, I flew out of Los Angeles the same day. I left every piece of luggage I had behind, instructing the hotel to send it to my pent house in Seattle. I couldn't spare even an extra second of being without her. I had to see Bella. I needed to see her.

Glancing at my watch one more time, I moaned when I realized not even five minutes had passed.

I was going to go crazy from waiting.

"Argh!" I groaned, hopping to my feet in exasperation.

I pulled out my cell phone and called the nearest taxi company.

I just couldn't wait any longer.