…'Meyer' made the mold…but we are all here to break it…lol…

Chapter 12

TRAFFIC WAS awful this morning. You would think it was Austin for Christ's sake! But she had expected it now that the school year was officially back in swing. Bella had just dropped both of her daughters off at school for their first day and now she was headed in to work.

God she was tired. After last night's showing and how it had ended, she had not been able to sleep much at all. Needless to say she felt guilty for what she had done to Edward. But she knew he had deserved to be put in his place. She just wished that she had not pulled such a low blow and hurt him.

Shit.

Visions of him lying on the floor had haunted her all night. Who knew she could do something like that? Even when she was going through her divorce she had been able to control her anger at the most trying of times. There was something about Edward Cullen that brought out the worst in her.

Pulling in to the back of the diner, Bella parked her Jeep, grabbed her apron and headed to the back entrance. The staff at the dinner got to dress in jeans and a yellow and white '70s style V-neck t-shirt with 'Sam's Diner' displayed across the chest in red letters. Very comfortable and very Sam.

She could hear the clanking of plates and the sounds of food cooking on the flat grill. Feeling more at ease now, she headed down the narrow hallway past the office and grabbed her card to punch in for her shift.

"Morning, Bella."

"Morning, Ginger. How goes it this morning?" Bella smiled at the middle-aged waitress as she tied her apron around her waist tightly.

"We haven't been this busy since the beginning of summer, sugar. Thank God school's back in." Ginger smiled wide as she patted the heavy bulge of tips in her pocket. "Bet your girls were excited for school this morning." Ginger had worked here longer than anyone else, besides Sam that is. She was short and slightly plump, and her cheeks were as rosy as her hair was red. She had already reached for the jug of syrup and now began refilling the empty pitchers.

"Ha…you should have seen them, Ging. They were both a couple of bouncing jellybeans. I could hardly get their hair done before they were running out the door." Bella grabbed a bucket of clean silverware and headed to the wait pantry to begin her set-up duties.

"By the way, that was a beautiful…and exciting…showing last night, honey. Never knew you had a little tiger hiding inside of that frame of yours." Ginger winked at Bella and smiled knowingly as she followed her into the pantry.

Oh, God. And now it begins. The razing.

Rolling her eyes at her friend, she snarked back, "Oh, I see how you are…' Bella threw a sugar pack at the older woman's shoulder, "I knew this was going to happen. That's enough out of you, Ginger. I don't want to start my shift off like this. I'm just gonna get to work now." Bella gave the older woman a mock warning glare and walked to the coffee machine to start a fresh batch of coffee.

As she worked, she could hear snickering in the background and she glanced around to see what was going on. There was no one there. Huh.

Pouring a cup of the fresh brew for herself, Bella headed in to the back prep area to grab the lemons and a serrated knife. As she moved back to the wait pantry she heard the snickering again. This time she saw Ginger and one of the cooks, River, whispering to each other and smiling at her.

Whatever…obviously her co-workers were showing their immaturity today.

Finished with the lemon slices now, Bella walked back through the kitchen and towards the hidden doorway at the end of the hall. Going through it she entered the main dining area and walked up to the cashier. "Hey, Kelly. I am ready to take tables now, alright?"

Kelly was a college student working part-time in the mornings at the diner. She was bouncy and bright with short curly hair and big brown eyes. Her glassed resembled those of a librarian and she had the biggest dimples anyone ever saw.

"Oh, Bella! Good. You are in section two this morning and you have your regulars, Mr. and Mrs. Marcum, waiting for you at table 8." She smiled wide and continued as she leaned in to whisper, "That was quite a show last night, Bella. I won't be forgetting that for a long time to come. Sock it to 'em," she giggled as Bella rolled her eyes again. "By the way, most all the other sections are full so I am gonna need to double-seat you when the next customer comes in, okay?"

"Not you too, Kelly. I thought at least you would be big enough to lay off the wise cracks." Bella poked her in the side with her pen and smiled as she left to go greet her regulars.

Walking through the crowded floor, she spotted Mr. and Mrs. Marcum and approached their table, a warm smiled on her face. "Good morning, you two. Aren't you guys a little early this morning?" Bella took out her pad and waited for their answer as she leaned against their table.

"Well good morning, deary," Mr. Marcum said as he was reaching for the creamer. It was known to everyone who worked here that Mr. and Mrs. Marcum liked to be served their coffee as soon as they were seated at their usual table. He poured and stirred as he spoke, "We had to be up and about this morning, don't you know. The whole town is a bustle this new fall year and we wouldn't want to miss out on anything."

"That's right dear. But I fear that nothing can top your art show last night. That was very eventful." Mrs. Marcum just stared at Bella with a wicked little smile on her lips. "And that young man didn't come out of the kitchen for almost an hour after you left, sweetie." Her eyes practically twinkled after she said that line.

Bella felt heat rush up her face in embarrassment. "You know about that, do you?"

What would they think of her now?

Mrs. Marcum continued with glee, "Of course we do, honey. There was not one person there who couldn't hear the whole exchange in the kitchen." She took a careful sip of her coffee. "Now Bella, dear, Max and I have a nephew who I think would be perfect for you to uh…whip into shape…"

Ugh!

"Stop right there, Ruth. I am sure that our little Bella doesn't need to hear any of that." Mr. Marcum waived his wife away. "We will both have our usual this morning, dear. But I think I want to add some brown sugar and currants to my oatmeal." He was smiling excitedly.

Bella looked at the pair of them like they had grown antlers out of their ears. She wondered what had gotten in to the two of them. They weren't normally this spunky.

"Alright, I will be sure to add that for you, Mr. Marcum." Bella's lip tugged up at the corner as she eyed them warily and wrote down their order. "I get your peach jam for you, too." Bella slid their condiment caddy to the side and walked to the kitchen to post their order.

Ginger was just coming in with a tray of empty glasses. "Hey, Ginger. Does anyone need help in their sections? I have only got one table right now and Kelly told me you all were almost full." Bella reached for the peach jam in the fridge for Mr. Marcum as she spoke.

"No, we are fine. But I do know that you just got another table. He's a cutie too. My, my." Ginger fanned her face and smiled widely at Bella as if she had a secret to tell but wouldn't.

"Thanks. I'll be right there." Bella frowned at her co-worker as she continued to the coffee machine to fill up her thermos. She walked to the wait pantry and grabbed an extra spoon for the jam and headed out the double doors back toward table 8.

Mr. Marcum was chatting with someone in the booth behind him but turned around quickly as Bella approached and refilled his cup, setting the jam in the center of the table. He coughed quickly before he spoke, "Thank you, deary. I wonder if it is too much to ask for you to close those blinds just a bit for me. Seems my eyes are sensitive this morning."

Bella blinked at him. Did his eyes just glint with amusement? "Of course I will, but I didn't know you had problems with your eyes."

"Oh, it's just a recent ailment, dear," Mrs. Marcum spoke for her husband, "and it only acts up occasionally." She was smiling like there was no tomorrow.

Bella backed away from their table, again eyeing the pair in front of her like they were aliens from outer space. She turned to her left and reached across the booth on her tiptoes to turn the blinds closed a little…when all of a sudden her foot caught on the corner and she crashed into the cushioned seat…or more specifically…she crash landed directly on top of the person who was seated there.

Umph!

That's when she heard him.

"That's the second time you have fallen on top of me in three days, B. I am beginning to think you are doing it on purpose to torture me."

His voice was a strained whisper as he spoke into her ear. Bella looked up and saw the most gorgeous green eyes ever and knew without a doubt just who she had fallen onto…again.

"You seem to keep going after my midsection, too…" his lopsided grin instantly made her heart pound. But that remark shot straight to her guilty conscious.

Dammit!

Edward's eyes never left hers as he let one hand move her fallen hair back off her face before he placed his hands around her waist and helped to lift her back to her feet.

Regaining her footing, Bella huffed out her breath in a whoosh, exasperated and embarrassed at the same time. God, things could not get any worse!

She whispered venomously to him as she glanced quickly around her, "What are you doing here, Edward?"

Edward grabbed the coffee thermos from his lap and handed it to her gingerly, "I am, ah, getting some breakfast, Bella." His eyes were the picture of innocence.

"You are not just getting some breakfast and we both know that!" As she spoke, she smoothed her apron over her hips and threw her shoulders back, glaring at him a little as she swiped the thermos from his waiting hand. "It seems a strange coincidence that you have been here for almost a month and never once came in before last night…"

Edward glanced at his menu, a little nervous now but determined still, and looked back at her with his intense stare, serious as hell now. "Look, B. I am sorry about last night…and I just want you to know that. I am sorry for every stupid thing that I have done since the first moment I laid eyes on you up on that ladder…with that perfect behind of your I hope you can't blame me..." He smirked his perfect lips at the end of that, remembering all too well just what he had noticed first, looking more handsome than ever before.

Bella gasped at the memory of exactly how she had landed. And now she couldn't help but remember the feel of him between her legs, too. Her thighs clenched. Her nipples throbbed.

Edwards eyes glanced quickly at her breasts through her t-shirt.

Her face flamed.

Fuck my life…

Trying to hide her reaction, she looked at him suspiciously and said, "Oh, so let me get this straight. You think that just because you waltz in here and apologize…and tell me how pretty my rear end is…" she heard a hoot from Mr. Marcum behind her, "…that everything will just fall willingly into your lap? That you can still go on with your…with your…pretend play?!" She looked at Edward dead in the eyes and leaned forward with both hands on the table, smashing her boobs together in the process, "Well let me tell you something, Edward Cullen…Not. Gonna. Happen. You better think about how you are going to fix this, now!"

With that, Bella turned around swiftly and left him there with his mouth handing open at the sight of her ass strutting away from his presence.

His palms twitched.

Damn if she wasn't sexy when she was pissed off. She was certainly a force to be reckoned with. He knew he was going to have his work cut out for him.

She marched into the kitchen and back to the wait pantry fuming. Ginger was making iced tea at the end. "I need you to take table 7 for me."

"Sorry, honey. No can do. I am swamped along with everyone else. You will just have to do it yourself." Ginger raised her brows and smiled at Bella, batting her lashed playfully in the process.

Damn!

Bella glared back at Ginger and stormed into the kitchen. Grabbing a large serving tray, she placed the Marcum's order onto it and mumbled to herself under her breath, "…whole world is against me…"

Grabbing the loaded tray, Bella headed back out to the main room and caught Edward's stare again. He was smiling and just waiting for her to come back.

She looked away quickly and approached the Marcum's with their order. "Here you are. I hope everything is the way you like it." Bella waited for their response knowing that Edward was watching her intently.

Mrs. Marcum spoke first, whispering and nodding behind her sympathizing, "Everything looks perfect, dear. Except you, that is. Why don't you go on over there and talk to him?"

Bella's eyes whipped to her, dumbfounded, and she couldn't stop herself. "Who's side are you on anyway, Mrs. Marcum?"

With that she turned and stomped back to Edward's booth, the grin on his face not sitting well with her at all as she practically barked at him, "Fine. I can to be professional." She took out her pad and pen and said with as much dripping sweetness as she could, "What can I get for you today, sir?"

Edward raised one eyebrow at her in challenge and turned to his menu. "I'll have the short stack of gingerbread-banana pancakes and some bacon, with coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice…pretty please..." Pursing his lips, he continued with a gleam in his eye, "Also, I will need an ice-pack and a dish-towel…," his eyes glanced sideways at her when he finished and then meaningfully down at his crotch.

Bella's eyes almost popped out of her head as her mouth hung open is disbelief. And to top it all off, she heard another loud hoot from Mr. Marcum behind her. Ignoring that as best she could, she stared down at Edward like she wished him dead, and said in a clipped voice, "I am not bringing that last part to you, Edward. No way!" And with that she was off again.

Holy hell! Who did he think he was?

There was absolutely no way that she would willingly humiliate herself by bringing him an ice-pack for his damaged package. The package that she herself had personally affronted twice now, albeit unintentionally and very mildly the second time around. God, she felt like she was in high-school again.

She turned his order in to the kitchen and went to get his drinks. After placing them on the small tray, she glared at Ginger, who was looking at her innocently as she strained the iced tea.

Traitor…

Going back out to the front she grabbed the coffee thermos and went to refill the Marcum's coffee again. They always wanted a top-off. Mr. Marcum said cheerily, "I think this is going to be a very interesting year, don't you, Bella?" His wife playfully swatted his arm as she giggled a little.

Bella could barely suppress the snarl that was ready at her lips. "I think you are wrong, Mr. Marcum. This year is going to be as lame as last year." Bella's eyes darted to Edward at the mention of the word lame. Mr. Marcum just smiled wider at that.

As Bella neared Edward again, she carefully placed his beverages on the table near his right hand. Edward could not mistake her hostility, so he reached for her hand before she could move away again. He felt bad for constantly putting her in a bad mood. "Bella, look, I really didn't come here to make you angrier at me, and…and I was completely kidding about the ice-pack and towel." His eyes were pleading with her but she refused to look at him and instead stared at Kelly at the front desk. Kelly was watching them openly and making puppy dog eyes at her as she mouthed, "…so cute…" to Bella.

Jesus!

The next thing she knew, Edward started to massage her palm, causing Bella's knees to weaken and her heart to lurch in her suddenly pounding chest. She turned her eyes to him as he continued.

"I want us to be friends, B. Like we used to be." He was pleading with her now.

Bella ripped her hand out of his now. She sat down at the booth opposite from him and spat, "How can we possibly be friends like we were, Edward, when you have the whole damn town thinking that we are engaged when it's not even true? Hm?"

His eyes widened as he took in her barely contained fury. He was so stupid to do what he did.

"Look. There is only one way you can make it up to me and I am not about to make it easy on you by giving that away." Bella stood up again and took a step back so he couldn't reach for her. "Now, I will go get your breakfast so you can eat and be on your way that much sooner."

Damn. She's really pissed off. This was going to be a lot harder than he had originally thought.

Plan two in effect a.s.a.p.

a/n…i think things are fixin' to turn around for mr. sexy…leave me some love…review review review…

xxx jess