Chapter 8
My dad turns out to be quicker than I expect to accept our potential living situation when we discuss it over dinner.
"You're both welcome to live here as long as you want," he tells us. "But I understand the situation and I'm glad Edward's able to help you out, Bella. Please let us know if there's anything we can do to help."
Bella thanks him and smiles at me across the table.
Later that night, I begin to take stock in what we'll need for the apartment, assuming we're approved for it. I start making a list of everything from bedroom furniture to bath towels.
I'm interrupted by a knock on the open door frame and look up to find Bella standing in my doorway.
"Hey, come on in."
"Thanks," she says, smiling at me and taking a seat at my desk. Glancing quickly at my list, she says, "It looks like we're thinking along the same lines tonight. I was just considering what I'll be able to take from the condo."
Dread settles in my chest as I think about her words. "Will you have to go back there?" I ask, trying to keep the emotion out of my voice.
"I don't think so," she answers, screwing up her face a bit. "I'm going to call my friend Angela tomorrow and see if she can help me out. I think if I'm really detailed, she can pack my things for me and have them shipped up here."
"Will Jasper be pissed?"
"Maybe, but I don't really care. I was thinking that as long as I'm fair about what I take, I can just send him a list of what I want and we'll go from there. We both put money into the belongings, so we should split everything as close to equally as we can."
I reach across the space separating us and put my hand on her knee. "You're sure about doing this?"
"Yeah, I'm sure," she says without hesitation. "The more I think about it, the more I feel good about this option."
"Okay." I nod decisively at her. "Well, there won't be any rush to physically move, so we can still stay here until we figure out what we need and wait for your stuff to be shipped. But, hopefully, you'll have a permanent address tomorrow that you can give to the lawyer."
She closes her eyes and smiles. When she opens them, she looks right at me. "I really hope this works."
With a squeeze of my hand, she untangles our fingers and stands. "I'm gonna go read for a bit," she says, thumbing over her shoulder toward the hallway. "Shakespeare's waiting."
I return her smile and nod. "Goodnight, Bella." I walk over to her and hug her close, inhaling her floral scent before letting her go.
"Goodnight." She hugs me back tightly for a moment, then slips out of my embrace and crosses the hall to her room.
The ringing of my cell phone wakes me in the morning. I glance at the clock and see that it's nine thirty already. I must have been more wiped out from yesterday's events than I realized.
Reaching over to the nightstand, I pick up the phone and look at the display. I don't recognize the phone number but answer it anyway.
"Hello?" I clear my throat to get the morning grogginess out of my voice.
"Hi, Edward?" the voice asks.
"Yes?"
"This is Garrett Sullivan from Heritage Apartments. How are you this morning?" My heart skips a beat, knowing this call will either fix Bella's problems or throw us back to square one.
"I'm good, Garrett. How are you?"
"Good, good," he says. "I know you and Bella were anxious to sign a lease quickly, so I wanted to let you know right away that your credit check came back already. Everything looks good, and the apartment can be yours as soon as you're ready."
I let out an audible gust of air as he continues. "If you need some time before starting the lease, I'll just need you to leave a deposit so I can hold it for you."
"I don't think that will be necessary, Garrett. I'll just check with Bella and most likely we'll come by today to sign the lease and pick up the keys." I jump out of bed and pace across my room momentarily before deciding to go look for Bella.
"Okay, I'll be here all day, so come in any time. If I'm not around, I usually leave a sign on the door to say when I expect to be back since my assistant's on vacation this week. I look forward to seeing you both."
Reaching the living room, I find Bella curled up on the couch with a cup of coffee in front of her and Shakespeare in her hand. She looks up as I enter the room.
"We'll be looking forward to it, too. Thanks, Garrett."
As soon as I end the call, I look at Bella and see she's wide-eyed, waiting for me to tell her what's going on. "That was Garret," I say, gesturing unnecessarily to my phone.
"And?" she prods.
"And, the apartment's ours as soon as we want it."
She lets out a shriek before the words finish tumbling out of my mouth and jumps up, tossing her book on the floor. Crossing the room in two steps, I meet her halfway as she leaps into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist.
"Oh my god, this is so great!" she exclaims. "Thank you, so much, Edward. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She peppers my cheeks with kisses while I hold her, laughing.
I set us both down on the couch, but she continues to hold on tight to my neck, burying her face in my shoulder. I feel her hot breath cover me like a blanket as she sighs, and my arms tighten around her.
Realizing we won't get anything taken care of if we stay tangled up like this, I give her a little nudge. "Garrett said we could come over any time today to sign the lease and pick up the keys. What do you say we go get dressed, head to his office, and then I'll take you out for a celebratory lunch?"
Sitting back on my lap a bit but keeping her arms on my shoulders, Bella says, "I have a better idea. How about I pack up some sandwiches, we go to Garrett's office, and then we have a picnic in our new apartment?"
"That sounds great." I can't contain my smile as I tap her on the ass and we both get moving.
It takes about forty five minutes for us to get ourselves together. Bella has a few blankets and pillows in her arms as she comes down the stairs. She shrugs when I look at her quizzically.
"I thought we'd need something to sit on for our picnic."
"Ah, good idea," I comment. "Do you need me to grab anything?"
"Uh, yeah. If you don't mind, there's a small cooler in the kitchen that has our sandwiches in it. Can you grab that?"
"Sure. I'll be right out." I open the front door and point my key fob at the car to unlock it for Bella then make my way into the kitchen.
I see the cooler on the counter and decide to peek at what Bella packed for us. There are sandwiches wrapped in foil with napkins and forks on top. Moving the sandwiches to the side, I see two bottles of water underneath and a container that looks like cut fruit.
Making a decision on impulse, I quickly repack everything into a larger cooler and add a few extras to the mix.
When I walk outside and put the cooler in the back seat, Bella leans over with a confused look. As soon as I sit down, she says, "That's not the right bag."
"I know," I tell her nonchalantly. "I added a few things."
She lets it go and we head over to our new apartment complex.
It takes about a half hour to go over the terms of the lease and sign everything, and we then head over to the apartment with Garrett for a walk-through to make sure everything is in order. He points out our two labeled parking spaces, which thankfully are relatively close to our entrance. Once we confirm that there are no obvious problems with the space, Garrett hands us each a set of keys and officially welcomes us to the complex.
As soon as we hear the door at the bottom of the stairs close, Bella lets out a sigh of relief. I turn toward her and smirk.
"Welcome home, Bella."
She rushes at me and throws her arms around my neck. "This is so great," she squeals into my neck. "I'm so excited!" Stepping back, she says, "I better call Mr. Jenks so he can get started on the paperwork."
"I'll go move the car into one of our spots and bring our lunch in while you call him."
It only takes a few minutes to get back to the office and move the car. I throw the strap of the cooler over my shoulder and juggle all of the blankets and pillows in my arms as I make my way back to the door of apartment 1635. I struggle with the door knob momentarily but eventually make my way inside.
Bella's still on the phone with her lawyer and must have wandered into the kitchen, so I lay out the blankets and toss the pillows on the floor. Opening the cooler, I pull out the sandwiches, fruit, napkins and forks but leave the water bottles inside. Instead, I take out two clear plastic cups and a bottle of champagne.
She ends the call and walks back into the living room, speaking as she goes. "He's got almost everything drawn up and said it should be done by … Edward!" she admonishes as she takes in the bottle of champagne.
"This is a celebration, right?" I ask, opening the cage on the bottle top.
I'm rewarded with one of the smiles that lights up her face. "Yeah, it is." She plops down next to me on the blanket as I rip the foil off of the cork.
"Ready?" I push my thumbs against the cork and wiggle. Bella grabs the cups and holds them up. The pop of the cork echoes off of the empty apartment walls and she laughs as some champagne spills from the bottle, but she's quick to get a cup underneath it.
I fill both cups and place the bottle on the edge of the blanket when Bella hands me one.
Holding my cup up, I offer a toast. "To our new home, and the start of something wonderful."
"Cheers," she says with a grin, tapping her cup against mine.
We both sip from our cups, but our eyes remain locked on one another. I take a deep breath as I look at her over my cup and make a decision. This time, I'm not waiting for her. Gently setting my cup down, I slowly lean in, with every intention of kissing her.
A/N: Once again, your reviews blow me away and keep me writing! We broke 100 reviews with chapter 7! Thanks for all the love.
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