A/N: I'm so blown away by your response to the story! Thank you so much for giving it a shot.
SMeyer owns all Twilight characters. No copyright infringement intended.
Let's get right to it.
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7.
Tuesday and Wednesday were like living a dream. Alice and I settled into a fantastic rhythm around the house. Jax loved her, and their collective love for all-things Barbie brought more pink into my house without my knowledge or consent. They had the same energy level, which amazed me, and Alice proclaimed that she never thought her best friend would be three-and-a-half years old.
Work was actually slow. Eric and I were working on a project to send old files to the hospital archives, and luckily, things were slow in the morgue so we'd made a lot of headway. Even Dr. Dracula was surprised at our progress.
Edward and I had our dinners together, and he even took a break at midnight to walk me out to my car and kiss me goodnight, usually just a brush of his lips against mine, but it was a kiss nonetheless. He was breaking down my defenses slowly, and I wasn't giving it a lot of thought.
The only thing to burst my bubble of happiness was the fact that I hadn't dreamed about Jacob since before I went to Seattle for his father's surgery. I tried not to think about it too much, but when I allowed myself to dwell on it, I was very bothered.
In some fit of masochism, I pulled out pictures of us, which in the past had actually sent me to my bed in a panic attack, but of late, when I looked through them there were only happy memories. Only a handful of tears fell down my face as I remembered the occasions reflected to me on the small colored squares of photography paper. I missed Jacob very much, but something else was going on with me, and I wasn't certain what it was.
Late Thursday morning as Jax was playing with her Barbie car while I folded towels, the doorbell rang. I went to answer it, expecting a bag-laden Alice, but instead was met with an exhausted-looking Edward Cullen. "Hey, come in. Why are you not home in bed? I thought you were off at 8:00?" I asked. Wednesday night when he walked me to my car, he told me he'd talk to me late Thursday afternoon because he was off at 8:00 AM and planned to sleep until late in the day because Wednesday evening had been particularly fucking brutal.
"Well, that was the plan, but I had the misfortune to run into Jane Volturi when I went to see my mother this morning. It was really fucking ugly, and I felt that I needed to come warn you about what to expect when you show up for work. She's now got it in for you, and she plans to make your life a living hell because you're dating me. Apparently, our dinner dates and parking lot kisses have been tweeted, and she follows it on Twitter. She's conjured up a scenario in her head that you stole me away from her, and she said she's going to make you sorry for it. There was no way I could let you walk into that without any warning. Plus, I've missed Jax. Where's my girl?" Edward called after a sweet kiss for me. He walked into the house and my daughter came running like she was chasing an ice cream truck.
"Redward," she squealed as he picked her up and gave her a loud kiss on her cheek. She hugged him tightly around his neck and scrunched up her little face in a look of sheer joy. It was a sight to behold.
He whispered something to her, and she nodded triumphantly. "Momma, will you make Redward some brefass? He's hungry and Mesme isn't home," Jax announced. I laughed at the co-conspirators and sighed.
"You two are coldblooded, you know. Fine, Redward, come into the kitchen, and I'll make you something to eat. Jax, why don't you go get a book and have your buddy read you a story while I cook?" I asked. She squirmed from his arms and he quickly dropped her to the floor, causing her to squeal again as off she ran.
"So, we're actually dating?" I asked. I needed to know, officially, what we were to each other. My daughter was so attached to him, as was I, and we'd been seeing enough of each other that I needed a label for it for my own sanity.
Jake didn't show up in my dreams any longer. I knew I hadn't let go of him, but I wasn't sure why I couldn't conjure him the way I used to. My dreams were spent with Edward Cullen, and we certainly weren't talking. That situation was what led me to ask the question.
"I think it's very safe to say we're dating. I'm taking it slow for your benefit, but I want more than just dating, Bella. I think I've made those intentions known," Edward remarked as I broke eggs into a bowl to make him an omelet. I pulled out bacon and cheese and mushrooms, which I knew he liked, and I began to make him something to eat as I processed what he'd said.
I quickly placed the bacon in the skillet to fry and went to the refrigerator to get Edward some orange juice. "You want coffee? I don't have decaf," I offered.
"No coffee. Eventually, I need to get to sleep, and I fear for the state of my stomach lining as it is. That shit they call coffee at the hospital is really fucking harsh. I might have to start taking my own. So…no comment on the dating thing?" he asked as he sipped his orange juice.
"I'm not sure what you want me to say. I suppose what we're doing could be defined as dating. It, um, just sort of sneaked up on me. I'm not opposed to it, it's just that I guess I didn't realize what we were doing," I answered as I turned the bacon in the skillet.
"Bella, I believe I've been…" he began. Just then, Jax flew into the kitchen with three books and promptly jumped onto Edward's lap. I heard the "umph" from Edward and turned to see a look of pain on his face, and I quickly deduced that my little girl had racked him up. It was all I could do not to laugh.
"Stories," Jax announced. Edward took a deep breath and picked up the first book and began reading as I continued making him breakfast. Fifteen minutes later, I shooed my daughter away so that the man could eat in peace, and I served him something to eat.
"Oh, good God, this is so fantastic," he remarked between bites. He was eating as if he hadn't eaten in a week, though I knew that we'd shared pizza the previous night in the garden at the hospital before the rain started.
I chuckled as I sipped my coffee and watched him enjoy his food. The moaning and groaning over the simple omelet I'd made for him reminded me of some of the sounds I'd dreamed about him making as I was doing some very naughty things to him. I was a little bit uncomfortable thinking about those dreams as I sat across from him, but I was a lot turned on by it. I tried to keep the flush in my cheeks at bay, but of course, I couldn't.
When he finished, I cleared his place, and he rose from his chair. "Thanks for the heads-up regarding Jane. I'd rather not be hit unaware when I walk into the morgue this evening. Get some sleep and call me when you get up," I instructed as I ushered him to the door.
"I'm not leaving yet. Do you have a lawn mower, or does Emmett use his when he cuts your grass?" Edward asked. Emmett McCarty and I had made a deal when I moved in across the street from him and Rosalie. He'd cut my lawn, and I'd make him a pie or cake of his choice. I insisted on paying him for gas, but I found that the money always seemed to find its way back to my house. The McCartys were good neighbors to say the least.
"I have a mower, but Em has a riding mower, so he uses his for the bulk of it, and then uses mine to do the close work. I'll cut my grass later after Alice gets back from wherever she spends her days," I announced. The man was like the walking dead and needed to sleep. The last thing he needed to be doing was operating dangerous machinery.
"Nonsense. I love cutting grass. I had my own little lawn business when I was a kid. I haven't had the opportunity to cut grass in a long time, and yours needs it. Now, point me in the right direction, and then come sit on the porch and give me a little eye candy to stare at as I tempt you by taking off my shirt," Edward teased as he pulled me into a hug. The temptation was too much, so I agreed.
"Jax, get your shoes and let's go outside," I called. She didn't hesitate and was back in a flash.
Edward picked her up and opened the front door, waiting for me to go out before the pair of them. He pulled the door closed behind him after ensuring that the door wasn't locked from the inside, and he grabbed my hand leading me to the garage. He handed Jax to me, and he opened my detached garage and gasped.
For a minute, I wasn't sure why, but then when I saw where his eyes were cast, I knew what was wrong. "It was Jake's. It's a '67 Camaro. He restored it himself, and it was at Billy's until I got the house. It's up on blocks so that the tires don't dry rot," I announced.
I walked over to the car and pulled the tarp off of it, revealing the candy-apple red Camaro. It had a black convertible top, and it hadn't been driven since before we went to Texas. As soon as I moved into the house, I got Embry to move the car from Billy's house to mine. He and Quil Ateara put it up on blocks for me, but it hadn't been driven in over four years. I was pretty sure that wasn't good for the engine.
"Daaaang. That's something," he remarked. It really was a beautiful car. I couldn't part with it, and I'd decided that I'd hang onto it until Jax was old enough to drive and then have it overhauled and give it to her for her sixteenth birthday as a gift from her father. That was, unless I needed to sell it for one reason or another. Those reasons would have to be very dire because I couldn't think about parting with the car for any reason whatsoever. I actually forgot about having it until I went into the garage. Emmett had commented on it once, but when I broke down in tears, he never mentioned it again. Why talking about it with Edward wasn't killing me was beyond my comprehension.
"Jake worked on that damn car all the time. Most of our date nights were spent in his garage with him working on the car and me sitting on a lawn chair talking to him. Of course, when he painted the damn thing, I was nowhere around. When he revealed it right before we graduated high school, I was stunned at how beautiful it was. He told me it was for me, but I told him it was ours. He smiled when I made the announcement, and then commented, 'we'll drive it to our honeymoon.' That's exactly what we did," I explained.
"Well, he had some skills when it came to restoring it. Now, show me where this lawn mower is," Edward replied as he reverently placed the tarp back over the car. I pointed to the corner and showed him where the gas can was, and he took over.
Jax and I sat on the front porch and played a game of Hi-Ho Cherry-O as I watched the handsome doctor remove his shirt and cut my front lawn. After the front was finished, he moved to the back, and we moved to the back porch. He moved the sandbox that was shaped like a turtle and shut off the mower. "We should put this up on wooden planks so it doesn't mess up the yard," he announced.
"What?" I asked. I liked my yard, though I didn't really spend a lot of time in it, but I wasn't sure about what he was talking.
"I'll bring over some two-by-fours and put this up on them so that it won't make a permanent mark on the lawn. Actually, I could dig a spot for it so that it's more permanent if you'd like. Also, I'll come fix that gutter," he announced, pointing toward a spot where my gutter was loose. My dad had planned to fix it, but he didn't have time, and I certainly had no idea how to do it.
"I'll hire someone. You've got other things to do besides become my handyman," I responded as Jax squealed triumphantly at defeating me yet again. I may not have been paying attention due to the hot shirtless man mowing my yard.
"Mrs. Black, I hate to inform you, but handyman services come with the title 'boyfriend'. Now, may I have something to drink?" he asked. His pronouncement of 'boyfriend' threw me, so I hustled into the house after reminding Jax to stay on the porch.
I quickly made him a glass of tea and grabbed Jax a juice box, and before I returned to the porch, I took a deep breath. Girlfriend was the opposite of boyfriend, and if he considered himself my boyfriend, then he certainly considered me his girlfriend. I wasn't sure what to think about that information.
I walked back outside and saw Edward swinging Jax around in the yard and then putting her down, laughing heartily as she stumbled around, clearly dizzy. Once she was able to walk steadily again, she ran to him and shrieked, "again." I watched a second go-round of it and abruptly put a stop to it before projectile vomiting became involved.
"Okay, you two. Cold drinks," I called from the back porch. Edward chased Jax around the yard until the two climbed the three steps and collapsed at the small outdoor table and chairs that graced my small porch.
Edward took a long sip of his tea and smacked his lips when he was finished. "I do believe that you make the best iced tea I've ever had," he joked.
"It's instant," I announced. He laughed. It didn't seem he cared at all.
"I'll finish the trimming. You should go home and get some sleep. You could actually go upstairs and crash in my bed if you want. There're fresh towels in the bathroom if you'd like to shower," I offered. The man looked dead on his feet, and I felt quite guilty for allowing him to cut my grass.
"Um, Jax, could I trouble you to go to the front porch and get my t-shirt?" Edward asked her. She nodded and quickly blew inside through the back door.
When he was sure she was gone, he took my hand and kissed it. "Bella, if I ever have the opportunity to be invited into your bed, it won't be for a nap alone. I'm waiting for the occasion to spend time there with you. Now, I'll see you tonight for dinner, and don't let anything Jane Volturi says to you have any impact. You call me immediately when she begins her tirade, and I'll be right there," he instructed.
He quickly looked to see if Jax was coming out of the house, and he pulled me into a sweaty kiss. It was a different kiss than any of the others we'd shared. It was quite passionate with tongue and everything. It was the passion I'd been seeking from him, and it lit my body on fire.
As his tongue swept across my lips, I didn't hesitate to invite it inside and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer as his hands moved slowly down my sides, finally resting at the top of my ass. I was surprised by his statement regarding my bed, but I was jumping up and down inside. Was I actually considering sex with Edward Cullen? Yes, I believed I was.
After much too short a time, we heard Jax storming through the house, and he pulled away from me. I was grateful that he understood that it was far too soon for her to see me in his arms. He was very respectful of my situation that way.
After she flew through the door with Edward's t-shirt, he took the shirt from her and thanked her. After he'd pulled it on, much to my dismay, he picked up Jax and kissed her cheek. "Guess who wants you to come over on Saturday night while I take your mom to dinner? Mesme," he announced.
"Oh, Edward…" I began my protest. He held up his hand.
"Bella, that's why mom called me up to her office this morning, she wants Jax to come over on Saturday while I take you to dinner, and she won't take no for an answer. If I tell her you won't agree to it, she'll come after you, and you know how she is. I won't step in and rescue you if she comes at you with the full Esme Cullen experience…guilt, pressure, force if necessary. It's not really pretty," he answered.
"Crap. Fine, she can go to your parents' house while we go to dinner. It'll give Alice time for Jasper because I believe he's off this weekend," I responded, remembering the schedule. Edward and Jasper were both off, but Emmett was on, which actually made me laugh.
It was unusual that the three weren't on together. That's how they got labeled the "God Squad." When the three of them walked down the hallway together, it was like witnessing three Greek gods strolling through the heavens.
"Yeah, he is. So, I'll see you later," he answered. He took my hand and carried Jax with us to the front door. He kissed her cheek and put her down, and then he leaned in and whispered, "I can't wait to see you later. I'll be thinking about you all afternoon." He kissed my cheek and then he left. I was left breathless.
##
As the elevator stopped on the basement floor, I dragged myself out of it and immediately heard the shouting coming from the morgue. The double doors weren't sound proof, and the voice I heard wasn't exactly what I expected.
I saw Eric sitting in the floor next to the doors lost in his eavesdropping, and I couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "Eric Yorkie, you snooping little bitch. Are you tweeting this?" I asked as I saw his phone in his hands.
He scrambled to his feet and looked at me. "Fuck no. This shit is too hot for Twitter, little girl. I'm waiting to get the 'Dr. Sex Hair' tweet that he's in the building. Mama Bear called him ten minutes ago, and he's due to arrive any minute now," Eric confessed.
"Edward's coming in? He's only slept for…" I began as I looked at my watch, "four hours." He'd left my house at just before noon, and it was ten minutes before four o'clock.
"Well, how do you know how long he's been asleep, Miss Thing? Was he sleeping at your house?" Eric probed. Of course the gossip queen would ask. I suspected that he was responsible for most of the gossip at the hospital, but I couldn't prove it. He was very sneaky.
"He stopped by when he got off shift to warn me about Jane. He stayed and had food, and then he cut my lawn. We're friends. That's the kind of thing friends do for each other," I explained. It didn't sound honest to me either, but it was the crux of the visit and I was going with it.
"Yeah, right," Eric commented with the added eye roll that I didn't appreciate. Just then, we heard Esme Cullen tell Jane to "pack your shit and get the fuck out of my hospital." That shut up both of us, and then we heard the ding of the elevator just as the phone rang in the morgue.
"I ain't going in there," Eric called. I walked inside and grabbed the phone, seeing the two women squared off in the hallway outside of Jane and Aro's office.
"Morgue. Bella Black," I answered.
"Hi, Bella, it's Nancy on five. We need you to make a pick-up. I've got the chart, but I didn't have time to enter it into the system. It's weird. The guy's name is Black," she added. Immediately, I felt panic settle in my chest like a knife.
"I'll be right there," I answered as I dropped my shit on the floor and ran passed Edward and Yorkie as they were standing in the hall.
I didn't waste time waiting for the ancient, creaking elevator…I took the stairs. Billy was supposed to be in Seattle in the hospital. If he'd been released, surely someone would have told me. As I hit the second landing, Jacob was standing there, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest like he was waiting for me.
"Where's the fire?" he asked as he smiled at me. My heart lurched in my chest, seeing him for the first time in a while.
"I'm supposed to pick up a body and they told me it was a Black," I answered.
"Bells, there are a lot of people named Black in this part of the country. Dad's in Seattle in the hospital, and even as lame as my sisters' are, they'd never have let him check himself out of the hospital. It's not Dad. Now, how do you feel about what Edward told you today? I think that's mostly why I'm here," he responded.
"I need to get upstairs. I don't have time for this," I announced as I tried to brush passed him.
"That person isn't going to be anymore dead when you get up there than they are right now. Talk to me. You brought me here," he answered.
I sunk down on the stairs, and he sat down next to me, waiting for a response. "He says we're dating, and we're boyfriend and girlfriend. I've only been your girlfriend," I answered.
"So? Those are just words. Do you want to be his girlfriend like you were my girlfriend?" Jacob asked. He had a point. It was the same question I'd asked myself on more than one occasion…what did I want to be to Edward Cullen and what did I want him to be to me?
"Honestly, without hurting your feelings, yeah, I do. I want to be Edward Cullen's girlfriend, and I want everyone to know it," I responded, realizing that I wanted it more than anything in the world.
"Thank God," I heard from the stairwell. It was then that I saw the bronze hair as he climbed the stairs. I hadn't heard him come in, and I was completely embarrassed to be caught talking to my dead husband in the stairwell of the hospital by the man who I thought I could love and wanted to love me back.
When he reached the landing, he sank down on the step in front of me. He didn't look at me like I was crazy, which I appreciated. "Is he here now?" he asked, referring to Jacob.
"Wow, he's pretty accepting of the fact that you're batshit crazy," Jake commented.
"Shut up. No, I don't mean you Edward. I'm…um…I'm talking to Jake. He just called me batshit crazy, and maybe I am. Look, I haven't talked to him in a while. I just got a call to pick up a deceased, and Nancy told me the name was Black. I immediately thought of Billy," I answered.
Edward turned to me and rested his hand on my knee. "Billy's fine. I spoke to his doctor in Seattle earlier. He's actually off the drip, and they're able to manage his phantom pain with anxiety drugs," Edward announced.
"What's phantom pain?" Jake asked.
"What's phantom pain?" I asked.
"It's the perception that there's pain associated with the missing limb. It's in the mind, but it's still pain. We treat it with mild meds or placebos. We can't turn off the mind's interpretation of a situation, as you well know, so that's what they're doing. The fact that he was paralyzed doesn't alleviate the fact that he knows he's missing part of a limb. Therapy will help, but for now, it's being controlled with meds. Now, Mom fired Jane. She wasn't that great a pathologist in the first place, so it's not a great loss for the hospital. Aro didn't even come to her defense. I can go with you to collect your next admit, and I'll come back for dinner at your break," Edward offered.
I turned to see Jake still sitting next to me on the step. "Um, I can get it myself, but dinner's great. Can you give us a minute?" I asked, knowing I sounded completely unhinged.
"Sure. I'll be downstairs," he offered. He kissed my cheek and walked back down the stairs toward the morgue without looking back. Once I heard the door close, I looked at Jacob.
"See, I told you he loves you. No other man on the face of this earth would have listened to you talk to your dead husband and act like it was perfectly normal. You better snatch him up while you can," Jake prompted. In my heart, I knew he was right.
"What happens to you if I do?" I asked. I needed help with regard to how it was all going to mesh together. Only Jake could give me clarity on that issue.
"Bells, I'll always be here for you if you really need me, but you need a living, breathing man to love you. I can talk to you and listen to you and offer suggestions, but at the end of the day, we both know that you're talking to yourself through my voice. You need to move on from that. I've been gone for a while, and you need, no…you deserve a man to be there for you who has his own opinions and suggestions. You know that what I tell you is what you already know. You just need to hear the words come out of my mouth so that you can accept them. You know I'd have really never gone along with a lot of the shit we've talked about. This is all you. You need to let me go. Remember what Dad said…he learned to let go. It's time for you to let go," Jacob announced and then he was gone. I couldn't help but cry. I didn't think I was ready, but maybe I was. I guessed that time would tell.
I dried my tears on my sleeve and made my way up the next two flights of stairs. I went to the nurses' station and found Nancy waiting for me. "Bella, I'm sorry. Her name is actually Blackwell, and she's from Sequim. She was here visiting her boyfriend. This one's an autopsy because the police suspect foul play. Your dad's actually here," she announced and pointed to my dad standing against the wall talking to a man I didn't recognize.
I walked over to him and waited for his acknowledgement. He saw me and winked at me which meant for me to wait. "Don't leave town without coming down to the station. We need your statement, and Officer Michaels is going to get it. We'll have follow-up questions. Now excuse me. I need to talk to my daughter," he commented and then walked toward me.
"Hi, Dad," I greeted. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and guided me toward the chairs.
"Bells. How've you been?" Dad asked. He was looking at me carefully, and I knew I couldn't lie.
"Well, I got a call from the nurses' station that I had a pick-up and the last name was Black. I guess you know what I thought," I responded.
"Yeah, I guess that would throw you. Well, I talked to Billy today, and he's doing well. Apparently, Dr. Cullen has been on his doctor's call sheet every day. That's gotta be somethin' that he doesn't do for every family. By the way, who's watchin' Jax?" Dad asked. There hadn't been phone calls between us for me to explain to them what was going on in my life, so I knew I owed them an explanation.
I looked up the hallway and saw the guy with whom my dad had been talking leering at me. It was unnerving, so I looked away. "That would be Alice Brandon. She's Emmett McCarty's little sister and she's living with us and babysits Jax at night while I work. You and mom should come over on Sunday and meet her. I know you'd love her," I answered. I couldn't help but look in the guy's direction again and see him wink at me. I shuddered, which caused my dad to look around and eye the man carefully.
"That's Laurent Boudrioux. He's from New Orleans and just settled here. The dead woman was his girlfriend. I think he's bad news, but I got nothin' to hold him on yet. We gotta wait for the autopsy results," Dad announced. That reminded me that I was on the clock and needed to get the deceased downstairs.
"I need to go. Sunday…don't forget. I'll call you tomorrow with a time. Em and Rose are back, so we'll make a party of it," I tossed out. He kissed my cheek and I left him sitting in the chairs.
As I walked by Laurent Boudrioux, he stared at me like he was undressing me, and it immediately made me want to shower. It was completely unsettling, and I tried to push the thought out of my mind, but it wasn't easy.
My thoughts went to his dead girlfriend and how quickly things can change. I was sure she didn't get up that day and think it would be her last on earth, just as Jacob hadn't gotten up the day he was killed and thought it was his last day alive. It made me realize that I'd better start living in the here and now because no one knew how much time they had left. It was time to make some decisions, once and for all.
##
An hour later found me back at my desk logging in Miss Blackwell, a forty-year-old white woman with no children and no history of mental illness to hint at the allegation that she'd committed suicide.
I wondered if the same could be said for me. I wasn't diagnosed, officially, but I was pretty sure that I was mentally ill in some capacity. Dr. Denali had alluded to it on more than one occasion when she used to head up the grief group, which was why I'd stopped going on a regular basis until Reverend Weber took over. I didn't like to think about myself that way, and I hadn't appreciated her insinuation at the time.
I was grieving, and maybe I wallowed in it too long, but plain and simple, that was what it was. I was actually starting to get to the other side of it, or so I hoped. It seemed that Edward Cullen was like a salve to my soul, and I welcomed it because I wanted to believe that maybe I was ready to move on. I hoped I was, anyway.
I had a daughter to bring up, and I couldn't hide behind my grief any longer if I was going to be the best mother for her and make Jacob proud of me. I didn't want to be known as the crazy woman on Fifth Avenue in Forks, Washington. I didn't want to be the grieving widow forever, either.
I hated the labels that had accompanied Jacob's death. That poor thing. Young Widow. Poor Mrs. Black. Batshit-crazy-talks-to-her-dead-husband Widow Bella Black. I wanted to be something new, and the fact that Edward Cullen called me his 'girlfriend' suddenly made me smile and accept that word as a label with which I believed I could live.
"Mrs. Black, could I have a word?" I heard called from the pathology lab. It was Dr. Dracula and I had no idea when he'd shown up. I couldn't help but punch Eric in the shoulder when I rose from my desk and walked by him. He could have given me a warning, at least.
I walked into the room and closed the door. I knew about Eric and his tweets, and I didn't want him to overhear the reprimand that I was certain was coming my way. It would hit the 'circuit' sooner or later, but I needed to buy time to brace for hearing how convoluted the story would get as it made the rounds.
"I wanted to apologize about the things that my daughter said about you. She's distraught over the break-up with Dr. Cullen, and the fact that he moved on so quickly to you caused her to make some harsh remarks regarding your values. I truly hope you won't bring a suit against her and will chalk them up to the fact that Edward Cullen's a womanizing Casanova who broke her heart and not hold them against her. Jane's never been a good judge of character when it comes to the men with whom she keeps company, and when she began seeing Dr. Cullen, she fell in love with him too quickly.
"He seemed to encourage her, and when he dumped her so unceremoniously, it was more than she could take. I hope you won't be taken in by the likes of him. I don't know your history, but I know you have a young daughter, and I'd guess that you wouldn't want to go through the heartbreak that my Jane is going through at the moment. I'd hope that you'll find it in your heart to speak to Dr. Esme Cullen on her behalf and get Jane reinstated.
"Esme doesn't seem to see how much her son uses women and casts them aside. He told Jane he was in love with her, you know. Jane is a smart, savvy, worldly woman. How she allowed herself to be taken in by the likes of Edward Cullen is beyond me. Anyway, I wanted to apologize. I know she'll be remorseful when she settles down. I just didn't think the apology should wait," he finished.
I was stunned. Was he right? Was Edward Cullen such a user that he'd told Jane Volturi that he loved her? He seemed so flippant about their relationship when he talked about it, and he'd mentioned that she was fucking Dr. Simmons on the side. Was that even true? I was at a loss, but I had to respond because Aro Volturi was looking at me expectantly.
"Dr. Volturi, I've been through a lot in my life. I'm the Widow Black from Forks, after all. I won't allow myself to be taken in by anyone. Now, as for your daughter, I'm not sure what to do about her because she said some pretty malicious things about me, but I'll take your apology on her behalf into consideration. By the way, I quit," I answered and turned on my heel and walked out.
It was all too much and I was full up. Surely I could get a job at the "Ben Franklin" or the "Thriftway." Dealing with the bullshit at the hospital wasn't worth the pay anymore.
"Eric, it's been great working with you, and I hope you'll keep in touch. I'm out…Tweet that," I tossed out as I gathered my things from my desk, thankful that I didn't have much. I had a picture of Jake and me at a carnival from high school, and I had a picture of Jax. It was easy to leave, and I felt like a weight was being lifted from my shoulders with every step I took.
When I climbed into my car without a word to anyone else, I sat on the parking lot for a moment. I saw Edward's fancy sports car pull into the lot, and I saw him approach the entrance of the hospital with flowers in his hands. I wasn't sure what to do about him, but I wasn't going to sit there and contemplate it, so I started the car and went for a drive. It was still light, so it was easy to find the park and pull the car over.
As I settled on the bench near the playground, I turned to my right and saw Jake. "Wow, twice in one day. So, you quit your job over what that self-serving prick and his slutty daughter said about you and Cullen? Surely you didn't believe half of that bullshit," he responded in typical Jake fashion.
"He raised some valid points," I commented as I reached into my purse and pulled out a bottle of water that I'd started earlier in the day. Suddenly my throat was dry, and I felt like I was going to pass out.
"He raised nothin' but bullshit. That guy is trying to keep you from suing his daughter for slander and trying to get her job back in the process by preying on the poor widow. Fuck, Bella, you're smarter than that. I can't believe I'm saying this, but text Cullen and get the jackass to meet you here and talk to him. Tell him what Volturi said and allow the man to defend himself. That's the fair thing to do. You didn't get to defend yourself against Jane, but give Cullen the opportunity to do it. You and I both know it's the right thing to do," Jacob snapped. He'd never ever really snapped at me when he was alive, so I knew it was all me.
I did as he suggested and pulled out my phone, sending Edward a text.
Meet me at the park where we took Jax. We need to talk.
If he showed up, I'd give him his shot. If he didn't, then I'd chalk it up and go back to my humble life. No harm, no foul.
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E/N: Wow, she quit her job! Boyfriend/girlfriend? Lots happened. I look forward to reading what you think about it.
Till next time…xoxo