Thank you again to Javamomma0921 for her red pen work.
Thank you to Ms. Meyers who gave me a playground for this sandcastle.
~HOH~
Chapter 8: Get a little bit closer now
"So we are all cleared for meeting with the Masen Foundation representatives tomorrow?" Bella inquired, looking over her glasses as she tucked a loose curl behind her ear.
"Everything has been taken care of," Maggie reassured, looking down at her copy of the itinerary. "Tomorrow your team meets for brunch in the foyer of the Masen estate followed by each member exploring the rooms that fall under their expertise."
"Rosalie to the garage and stables; Alice to the bedrooms, et cetera," Bella murmured to herself as she nodded, dashing a note on her copy.
"Garage?"
"Apparently the garage was added later on top of part of what had been the stables. Rosalie wanted to explore a bit to see if everything was destroyed or if more information could be gathered there."
"Ah, okay…"
A knock garnered their attention and both looked expectantly toward the door to find Jessica standing there, nervously gripping a piece of paper.
"Ah, Miss Stanley!" Maggie smiled, white teeth flashing.
Bella heard Jessica gulp and a wan smile graced her own lips. While Jessica reminded her of Mr. Newton, she knew logically that she should bare the woman no ill will for that. She thought Jessica was a bit of a flake but it would be most unreasonable to hold her responsible for her fiancé's actions. Still, a large part of Bella wanted to be nowhere near Jessica and fought the urge to take a step away from her.
"You wanted me to let you know when I found anything," Jessica quietly stated, taking a hesitant few steps into the office.
"Yes, yes! Did you find anything?" Maggie exclaimed, holding her hand out expectantly.
Jessica nodded.
"Well?" Maggie was getting a bit impatient and motioned for Jessica to get on with her report.
Jessica gave her the printout and took a quick step back, as if she felt she would be burned if she stood too close to the older woman.
Maggie quickly scanned the transcript and blinked a few times.
"Does it mean anything to you?" Jessica enquired, her nerve returning ever so slightly.
"Um … yes." Maggie rapidly stood up and then sat back down with a huff. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Maggie stared at the paper as if it was going to suddenly start speaking.
"Ms. Green?" Jessica squeaked worriedly.
The two minutes of silence in the room was deafening. Bella and Jessica looked at each other and then back at Maggie, wondering just what was going on.
"Is everything a'right, Magenta?" Sweetie inquired, suddenly appearing in the room just behind Bella and Jessica.
Jessica and Bella looked at each other as if to say 'no, I didn't hear her walk in either.' They both shook their heads and returned their attention to Maggie.
"It'll be fine," Maggie murmured, gently placing the paper on her desk. "You two go on. I just … I just need to gather my thoughts. Umm … Sweetie?"
Sweetie looked at Maggie expectantly before nodding.
"May I speak t' yah a moment, Miss Stanley?"
Sweetie smiled warmly before she took Jessica's arm and gently guided her to one side of the office. Bella was more concerned for Maggie and paid no attention to the words Sweetie whispered into Jessica's ear, effectively removing any memory of the message she had decoded.
Bella and Jessica nodded and as soon as Bella had collected her belongings, the two left the room.
"That was just plain odd," Jessica muttered, scratching her head with one overly long acrylic nail.
"I will agree with you on that. What did Sweetie wish to talk to you about? Did she give any indication as to what was on the paper that upset Ms. Green so?"
"Talk to me?" Jessica chirped, tilting her head to the side. "She didn't talk to me about anything."
Bella's brow furrowed as she watched Jessica step toward the elevator doors. She was certain she had seen Sweetie pull Jessica aside and whisper into her ear.
Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced her temples causing Bella to flinch before the same gentle, warm sensation she had experienced when she thought she saw Sweetie and Maggie in the bar with Angela flooded over her. Bella stumbled on the carpet ever so slightly and caught herself against the wall.
Jessica spun around as she reached the elevator and looked expectantly at Bella.
"You okay?" she inquired, her eyes looking up and down Bella as she righted herself.
"I…I guess I tripped." Bella straightened her jacket and gripped her papers a little more tightly before joining Jessica at the elevators.
"Happens to me all the time," Jessica replied breezily. "No sense of balance whatsoever."
Bella hesitated ever so slightly but steeled herself and took the next step forward.
"Miss Swan?" Jessica asked sheepishly.
"Yes, Jessica?"
"I want to apologize for Mike's behavior."
"You are not responsible for his choices."
Bella cringed at the formality of her words. She knew Jessica deserved better than this, but it was the best she could do at the moment.
"No, I know I'm not." Jessica smiled sadly, her eyes shining ever so slightly. She quickly blinked to clear her vision. "But I can be sorry he did that to you."
Bella nodded silently and pressed the call button. Once the elevator arrived, the two climbed in: one to the far left and the other to the far right. It was just after the doors closed that Jessica decided to speak.
"I called off the engagement," she murmured, almost more to herself.
"I'm … sorry?" Bella wondered just what the right response to that statement was. Should she be congratulatory? Commiserative? Shouting praises to a pantheon of gods and goddesses?
"I'm sorry I didn't see how he could be sooner. It would have saved a whole lot of time I've now wasted. We started dating six years ago. That's a long time to turn a blind eye to how disrespectful he can be."
Bella nodded again, still unsure how to respond.
The door opened to her floor and she began to disembark the car.
"Thank you for your help, Jessica," Bella smiled.
"You're welcome, Miss Swan." A faint tinge of pink colored the tips of Jessica's ears.
"Bella. Please call me Bella."
"Okay." Jessica paused before her smile grew even bigger. "Bella."
~HOH~
"You wan' to tell me why you go whiter than me over that paper?" Sweetie murmured, pouring Maggie a strong cup of coffee.
"Ever the one with a turn of the phrase," Maggie muttered before taking a deep draw on her drink.
"Go on," she replied with a carefree shrug.
"It's from his journal. A letter. Something he didn't want just anyone to read."
"I would think that was obvious," Sweetie chided with a wan smile. She crossed the room and curled up in the armchair across from Maggie's desk. "Let's try this another way. What kind of letter?"
"He was gathering information about a threat on Marie's life. There're names here, but I don't recognize them. We weren't completely in the same social circles."
"Why would Anthony write it in code?"
"He may have felt his staff was compromised. Perhaps that sparked him. He would have done anything to protect his wife."
"And apparently paid for it with his life."
"We're not entirely sure of that."
Sweetie wrinkled her brow and shook her head at the denial of her longtime friend.
"I know he disappeared," Maggie insisted. "I know we can't find him or Marie anywhere, any time!"
"Which means we are going to have to be extra careful with Miss Swan and Dr. Cullen if you wish to retrieve your brother and his wife as well as keep them safe."
"You know we will be."
"I jus' wan' you to remember that. We're breaking quite a few rules to even attempt this!" Sweetie tapped on the arm of her chair to emphasize her point. Her eyes flashed a warning to which Maggie had the sense to dip her head and look remorseful.
"I have the right to prevent his loss," Maggie murmured quietly.
"Yes, yes. I understand all that. He's your brother and …"
"It's more than him just being my brother!" Maggie yelled, her face turning red in frustration. She threw the paper on her desk and rubbed her face with a defeated sigh. With a quiet voice, she continued. "I'm the child of our parents' youth. He was the child of their old age. It killed them when he disappeared. He was supposed to be the normal one. The one to have a dozen kids. The one to compose a few hundred concertos. I just want to put their souls to rest."
Sweetie cast a glance toward the door Bella and Jessica had left through.
"But that doesn't mean y' can endanger the lives of innocents to assuage their pain," Sweetie continued.
"They'll be fine." Maggie spoke with confidence and stared directly into her friend's pale blue eyes.
"Make sure of it."
~HOH~
It was half-past eight. The only people stirring within the walls of Hands-On History were the night watchman and Bella Swan. While the watchman was safely and comfortably ensconced at his bank of video monitors in a cushy chair in a comfortably climate controlled room, Bella was sitting cross-legged on the floor with piles of printouts before her.
She pushed up her glasses absentmindedly before reaching for the pencil that held up her messily-done bun. She undid her hair, letting it spill casually over her shoulders as she leaned forward and scribbled something on her paper.
Yes, most people in the modern age would find it easier to piece together the reports from the different departments on a computer screen but Bella was old school. She liked the feel of paper in her hand, of scribbling notes to the side of typewritten text, and to shuffle paragraphs literally rather than just cutting and pasting. She noticed an errant scrap of paper under the conference table and got up on all fours to retrieve it.
"Knock knock!" came a loud, male voice.
Bella jumped and bashed her head into the underside of the table. A curse flew past her lips before she could stop it.
"Oh, Bella! Are you okay?"
Edward crouched down, his ragged backpack over one shoulder and a pizza box in his hands. His eyes conveyed a sense of sincerity and concern.
"I'm fine," she grumbled, scooting backward on all fours before rearing up on her haunches. She rubbed a growing knot on the back of her head. "I have had worse," she sighed, knowing that that was all too true.
"I figured you would still be working, and I thought I'd bring you something to eat. I have just a little more work to do before sending you my final presentation on the Masen project," Edward stated, a hesitant smile on his face.
"That would be wonderful! Thank you!" Bella smiled genuinely. "I'm famished!"
A few minutes later, the two were sitting side-by-side, the pizza box between them. Edward pulled a couple of cans of soda from his backpack.
"I didn't know what you liked so I brought a variety," he murmured.
"You are very kind."
Edward blushed and smiled embarrassedly as he pushed his glasses back up his nose with a grin. He was thankful that in the course of their almost daily lunch dates, he had learned her favorite pizza toppings. And her favorite books and movies. And that she couldn't stand okra in any form. Edward chuckled at that memory, earning a side-glance from Bella.
The two continued eating, her from the Hawaiian half of the pizza and he from the garbage can side. Bella wrinkled up her nose at the artery clogging pile of meats and vegetables on his side of the pizza.
Edward looked at her curiously as he took a large bite and gave a deep sigh of contentment.
"I don't see how you can eat that," she muttered, daintily taking a sip from her soda.
"I spent an extra hour in the pool so I could enjoy this, I will have you know," he smiled, patting his flat stomach before happily reaching for another slice.
"I will stick to this, thank you." Bella hoped he had not caught her eyeing the toned strip of flesh that peeked out where his button down had pulled out of his jeans.
Edward did notice and smiled to himself because he had just barely missed being caught eyeing a sliver of black lace peeping out from the neckline of her blouse.
"Suit yourself."
The two continued to eat in companionable silence, sighing contently as they filled their bellies.
"So how is the sorting going?" Edward asked, taking another swallow of his drink.
"Good. Good." Bella set her can down and reached for a small stack of papers. "Everyone has done such a fabulous job, my job is pretty easy. They have found details that no one else could and I can't wait to finish this just to read it in its entirety."
"Anthony Masen was a talented composer. Very short lived, but rather prolific. I recorded one of his pieces as part of my presentation if you want to hear."
Bella nodded enthusiastically so Edward reached into his backpack and pulled out his MP3 player. He placed one ear bud into his ear and scrolled through the list of playlists until he found the right one. When he heard the opening notes, he offered her the other ear bud. Bella took it with a smile and placed it into her ear closest to Edward. They sat side by side listening to the music. Bella's heart swelled with the music, so much passion by someone so talented. It totally came through the music and through the performance.
Bella could feel the intensity and desire pouring forth through the ear buds. She could only imagine what it must be like to be the muse to such talent; to inspire someone to create every emotion through a scale of notes and to place pen to paper to save that passion for people centuries later to enjoy.
Bella wiped a tear from her eye and sniffed as the music faded. She tried to avoid Edward's concerned gaze.
"I'm fine," she muttered, swiping at her eyes.
"Bella?" he inquired, concern filling his voice.
"It's nothing."
"Bella?" he whispered. One hand gently rose to lightly touch her face, his thumb stroking away an errant tear.
She smiled a watery smile, blinking rapidly in an attempt to dry her eyes.
"Sorry," she stated self-consciously. "That was just so sadly beautiful. As if he was writing of a great love lost and then regained. I cannot imagine how …"
Edward shook his head slowly before hesitantly bending down and placing a gentle kiss on her lips. The touch was ever so light and ever so sweet and maddeningly too short. Edward pulled back ever so slightly.
"I'm not sorry," he murmured before leaning down and kissing her more deeply.
Bella sighed happily into his touch, her hands coming up to wrap around his shoulders.
"Me either," she smiled.
~HOH~
"And this is purely them?" Maggie inquired, not looking away from the small mirror she was using to spy upon Edward and Bella.
"I told you …" Sweetie began before she was interrupted.
"I know, I know. I just have to ask again."
"Magenta," she sighed, folding her arms across her chest, her bracelets jangling angrily.
"Well the spell won't work if they don't really feel something for each other."
"I do believe I told you that from the beginning."
"Yes, Miss Logic."
"Yes, Miss Emotion," she mimicked mockingly.
"So, tomorrow?"
"Yes, tomorrow."
Maggie looked back into the mirror at the young couple quietly talking about the project and clearly enjoying each other's company.
"Rule number two," she whispered to herself.
~HOH~
AN: In case 'the rules' aren't universal: rule number 1: Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine. Rule number 2: Forgiveness is easier to obtain than permission. Rule number 3: You will get over it.
I worked for 5 years in a (seminary) library and this was posted in the break room. Who says librarians don't have a sense of humor? Okay, so it was the IT-slash-audiovisual guy that posted it, but still …
I do apologize for the lack of review replies. For Evermore Experience, I tried to answer every one but real life and a few FFn glitches have made that increasingly more difficult for me. Do know that I read and treasure each and every one. Thank you.
If you did read Evermore Experience, two things—first, chapter 2 of the Journal of Liriope Missouri Hermitage went live last week. You can find the link in my profile. Second, there will be a short sequel (Beyond Evermore) but it will not start posting until HOH wraps up.
Thank you for your well wishes on my trip. I leave in under 3 weeks. Hopefully, there will be another HOH update between now and then as well as an entry into the Age of Edward contest.
Until then, let me know what you think!