An: This chapter took forever to write. It's the last one before Bella and Edward will meet up face to face.
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Chapter 7 – Waffles and the Art of Scheming

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Dear Diary,

"all good things must come to an end" as the saying goes. My summer in New York got a rather abrupt ending. Apparently I had a bit of a meltdown. Apparently it involved me purposely putting my hand through a glass window… or so they say… I really don't remember any of it. All I know is that I had a couple of really bad panic attacks, which in itself is nothing new, I have been dealing with those since I was about six years old. I still maintain that, whatever else happened, it was just normal adolescent behaviourtriggered by too little sleep and too many intoxicating substances.

The next thing I remember is waking up in an ER having my stomach pumped. There was talk about putting me on a suicide watch, but in the end they just sent me home to mommy dearest. And that's when the real meltdown happened if you ask me. Turns out home wasn't home anymore; turns out my mom had gotten herself engaged while I was gone and as a result of that she expected me to pack up all my stuff and move halfway across the country with her. Turns out my new step dad-to-be was the reverend of a Baptist Congregation in effing Seattle."

Anyone with any intelligence knows that moving during your senior year is not advisable. To be honest that whole year is pretty much a blur to me. Sending a teenager out into the public doped up on mind-altering drugs is a certain recipe for disaster. Talk about major meltdown drama!

This was also the year my brother vanished from the face of Earth. From what I have gathered he got in trouble with the law or something… There was a trial and everything. I've been told I was called to give testimony, but I don't remember any of it. All I know is that he quickly became a taboo subject in our home.

So yeah, that was a rough time for me. The only highlight I can think of was the computer my new step dad bough me for our first Christmas 'together'; a bribe to get me to stick with therapy. Once I got the hang of the technical stuff, I spent hours and hours online, browsing web sites, joining mailing lists and chat rooms.

It was through the internet I first heard of 'Forever Dawn', the NY nightclub where my Eddie showcased his music on a semi regular basis. Needless to say I watched every youtube video I could get my hands on. Sometimes he preformed alone and sometime he had his guitar playing friend Jasper Whitlock on stage with him. Edward was the real star of course, but they made quite a good team together, they had their own little fan club and everything.

Most of the fan girls I spoke with online didn't get that Edward and I were soul mates. I got tons of hate mails, but I also got a real life friend out of it. Her name is Maria and we became instant buddies when we realized we both lived in the Seattle area. She was a freshman at University of Washington at that point and was new in town just like me. She was soooo cool, she had a soft spot for Jaz (the guitar player) and we immediately began making plans visiting New York over the summer. Oh, good times. That road trip definitely deserves an entry of its own.

Love always,

Angela Cullen

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...
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The first phone call…

… from Officer George Franklin, of the Seattle police department, came just as special agent Bella Swan had begun to tidy up her desk after yet another tiresome day (of doing everyone else's paperwork) at the office.

The man was very sparse with details over the phone, but Bella got the gist of it. Officer Franklin wanted to know if she would be interested in discussing the Cullen stalker case with him in person and if she was familiar with the early work of a certain photographer going by the name of Jamie T Wilson. Apparently a new photo had resurfaced, in Seattle of all places, and apparently Edward Cullen himself had advised the police to speak with her directly. It was the first sign of life she had received from Edward in months.

Bella spent the rest of the evening contemplating how to word her request in order to get her boss, FBI Chief Inspector Jenks, to sanction her trip Seattle. All her fretting turned out to be unnecessary, though, because any information regarding the notorious Jamie T Wilson, or his alter ego James Turner, was hot commodity around the bureau.

The man was wanted for numerous violent offenses, including assault, battery and firearms violations. He was also notorious for producing pornographic materials and had a previous sexual-assault conviction which was why Bella had taken to calling him Mr-pervy-porn-photagrapher' or Triple P for short. Even in hiding this man, this perverse creep, still managed to stir up quite the controversy with his alleged involvement in the murder of the nephew of, a now-retired, but still very influential and well-connected, Supreme Court judge. Needless to say, whoever brought this man to justice would be greatly rewarded.

FBI Chief Inspector Jason Jenks was an observant man, observant enough to know that agent Swan was still hung up on the Cullen case; a stalker case that had been officially closed for little over three weeks. Jenks had done his research; he knew there was an old personal connection between his agent and the Cullen family. It didn't matter that the threat had been completely eliminated or that the case had nearly cost agent Swan her job, she still would not rest until all de loose ends had been tied up. It was booth foolish and admirable all at the same time.

Jenks was an intelligent man, intelligent enough to know a motivated agent was a more successful agent. Upon hearing agent Swans request to follow a lead that seemed to be connected not only to the Cullen case, but more importantly to the murder of Judge Harrington's nephew, he decided on the spot that he would give her some maneuvering space.

Jenks had, of course, suggested that Swan ought to bring fellow agent Eric Yorkie with her on her little excursion. A bullet Bella dodged by promising to wait until Clearwater was back from his trip to New Mexico. A promise she intended to keep. She would wait for Seth, but only because he was the only one she trusted to watch her apartment and water her plants while she was out of town. This was a solo mission…. Hopefully, Seth would cover for her… he almost always did…

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...
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The second phone call…

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…the one from Alice Cullen, came around midday the following day. Her reason for calling was similar to Officer Franklin's, only this second retelling of the events that had gone down on Seattle was vastly different from the first one. Never on to hold her tongue, Alice spared no details in describing her brother's current dilemma. And what a dilemma it was!

A paternity claim; how very… well, absurd and preposterous, for lack of better words, unless it was true of course. Unless the child was actually Edward's. Alice certainly seemed to take the claim seriously. The whole thing wasfar fetched, but not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

It wasdifficult to remain objective…hard to be unfeeling. There was something unsettling about the whole situation.

And then was that other tidbit of information that Alice had let slip in passing. Renee's name was mentioned and as always, when Bella's mother was involved, there was drama.

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The third phone call…

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…had been long coming…

"Isabella," Renee greeted her daughter with a tone of voice that bordered surprise and irritation. "I did not expect to hear from you this early in the morning. Phil is resting. We only just got in from the airport a few hours ago."

"I didn't call to speak with Phil…" Bella interjected."…and a quarter to nine is not that early. I called because I thought we could go out for breakfast together, just the two of us. "

"You know I don't do breakfast," Renee was quick to point out.

Bella closed her eyes, reminding herself to remain patient. "Okay, let's make it coffee then. You still drink coffee don't you?"

There was a pause of crackling static over the phone line. "I'm here for three whole days; surely there is plenty of time to make proper dinner plans."

"What if I told you that I'm not free for dinner any night this week?" Bella stated, an edge of defiance creeping into her tone. "What if I told you that it's breakfast or nothing at all?"

"Are you giving me an ultimatum, Isabella?"

"I guess I am," she said with sudden clarity. "If you want to see me at all while you're in town, I suggest you meet me in the lobby half an hour from now."

There was a snort from the other end of the line.

"Half an hour," she repeated and then hung up the phone before her mother could say another word.

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...

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Breakfast with Renee…

… turned into brunch when her mother made a point out of taking her sweet time to get ready. Because God forbid actually going a day without having your hair straightened. And then there were clothes to be steam pressed and nails to be manicured.

Bella got her revenge by picking an all-you-can-eat Waffle bar for their destination. Her mother was (as expected) not too impressed with her choice, but agreed to sit down for some decaf coffee and a super small, barely there, taste portion of the Eco-Farmed, Whole Grain, gluten free waffles.

In an act of rebellious defiance Bella went ahead and sampled every treat available from the buffet spread, but as she settled down at the table with her mother, eating was not at the forefront of her mind.

Renee was not going to like the exchange of words they were about to have. She trusted her mother not to make a scene in public, but she had a feeling that things would turn unpleasant real fast once this particular can of worms was opened... and she knew it would have to be opened… there was just no way around it. There was a line that needed to be drawn, something Bella realised she should have done a long time ago, but hadn't because things had been rolling along so nicely it just didn't seem worth the bother.

Not too surprisingly it was Renee who took charge of the conversation. "So, Isabella, you got news for me?" she asked - or rather, stated, while sipping on her non caffeine, non sweetened coffee. "…bad news, I take it, because the last time you took me out for breakfast was the morning you told me that you were planning on marrying that no-good biker boyfriend of yours."

"That wasn't necessarily bad news…" Bella interjected. "Marrying Jake was a good decision at the time."

"Right, because the whole marriage thing worked out so well for you," Renee responded, ripping the heart shaped waffle on her plate into pieces. "Let's try this again…. Do you have something you want to tell me? It must be important for you to go through all this trouble."

"Alright," Bella conceded after a lengthy stare down with her mother. "There is something we need to discuss. Important? Yes. Bad news? No. I wouldn't call it 'news' when it concerns an old issue that has yet to be ironed out properly."

"An old issue? Now you got me intrigued."

"You should be, this is right up your alley."

"It sounds to me like you want to ask my opinion on something. Why, Isabella I'm flattered, I didn't think my opinion was something you valued."

"Do you want to hear this or not?" Bella replied, pushing her plate away untouched. The mere thought of food made her stomach turn in disapproval..

"Go ahead, I'm listening."

"I got a phone call the other day, from an old friend of mine. A really old friend, from Forks."

"It's nice that you keep in touch with your old friends, dear." Renee said brushing some invisible lint of her clean, white shirt.

Bella sighed. "Her name is Mary Alice Brandon."

Renee looked up, but her face was blank and impassive as she spoke. "You say that like I should know who she is."

"I know you know who she is. You were photographed with her mother just the other week, some event for The Children's Aid Society, I believe."

"And who would that be?""

"Esme Cullen."

"Right, the Cullens, of course," Renee nodded, seemingly unfazed. "They do a lot of charity and so do I. Is that what you want to talk about? My charity work?"

"No, I want to talk to you about Edward Cullen. I know you recognize that name and I know you remember the first time you heard it."

"He is that juvenile delinquent you went to high school with, isn't he?" Renee asked with a raised brow. "The one that was stupid enough to let himself get caught messing around with the police chiefs daughter, who was still a minor at the time, mind you…"

"A few traffic offences hardly makes someone a juvenile delinquent," Bella blew out a frustrated breath. "We both know Charlie jumped the guns on that one."

"I still maintain that the Cullen boy was not nearly good enough for you, Isabella." Her mother twisted her face into a disapproving frown. "That is quite possibly the only thing Charles and I have ever agreed on."

"I was only a few weeks shy of turning eighteen and quite frankly both old enough and mature enough to make my own decisions on who to hang out with and what situations to get myself involved in."

"I disagree, of course, but you already know that much."

"I always figured the Cullen wealth and stellar reputation would sway you over given some time."

"Ah, but the Cullens are only his adoptive family. They boy was born in a trailer park for God's sake. You can do so much better than that, which I believe I told you ten years ago."

"You never even met the guy." Bella shook her head in a 'you're-hopeless' sort of way.

"What does that has to do with anything? I was right to warn you about him, wasn't I? He broke your heart multiple times, if my memory serves me right."

"You just couldn't stay out of it, could you? I mean, threatening him? Was that really necessary?"

"You know as well as I do, that it was your father handling all th-.. "

"I'm not talking about ten years ago." Bella's voice rose an octave. "I'm talking about the restraining order you threatened him with over the phone just a few weeks ago!"

"Oh, so that's what your friend was calling you about?" Renee concluded nonchalantly.

"You're not denying it then?"

"You know me, I bark worse than I bite."

"What you did is wrong on so many levels. Firstly, what could possibly have made you think that I would be okay with you answering MY calls, on MY cell phone? Secondly how did you even get access to it? I realize it must have been around the time I flew in for Phil's fundraiser, but how and why? What did you possibly gain from that?"

"You were a mess. You showed up at our doorstep looking like a wasted shell of your former self. You slept for nearly eighteen hours straight. I'm your mother, I know when something is not right."

"That still doesn't give you the right to steal my phone while I'm sleeping."

"I didn't steal it. I merely switched your SIM card to ensure a stress free weekend without any unnecessary interruptions. You obviously needed time away from whatever it was that was eating you."

"Unnecessary interruptions? Most calls I get on that phone are important, work related calls. Edward Cullen is very much involved in a case I'm working on… or was working on."

Renee's eyebrows shot to the top of her forehead in a matter of milliseconds.

"The case I'm not suppose to know anything about? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that particular case closed, finished, finito. Besides you were off duty that weekend, so it wasn't like you missed anything too important, anyway."

"I just love the way you rationalize things."

"If you must know, he only called about a handful of times; never once introducing himself properly, never once stating his reasons for calling. He was rude. arrogant and quite frankly not worth the fuss you're making."

Bella felt her temper flare, but held her tongue. She had gotten the answers she came for. In a moment of insight she rose from her chair and grabbed her jacket and her purse "This discussion is pointless. I don't see how you can pass judgement on something or someone you know nothing about. I wish you would stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."

"And I wish you would start taking my advice seriously, Isabella. I truly have your best interest at heart. We are family, and merely trying to make sure that you accomplish the goals that I know you are capable of accomplishing."

"That's a load of crap if I ever heard one."

"Maybe, but it's also the truth. Now, sit down and finish your tea, dear."

"I think I'll pass. All this mother-daughter bonding is giving me a headache… but then again it almost always does. I don't know why I expected it to be different this time."

With one last look at Renee, she turned away. Even though her insides were roiling, she kept her calm and walked away with her head held high.

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AN:
A short introduction to Renee Dwyer – the mastermind with a master plan

Bella, who had absolutely no recollection of her parents marriage, what so ever, had been fifteen the year her mother first introduced her to the man that would eventually become her new step dad. As it turned out, her mother's new love interest was none other than the highly popular and much sought-after Phil Dwyer, a retired major league baseball player, whom her mother had fallen head over heels for after having backed into his car at the Whole Foods parking lot.

Luckily the infatuation was mutual. Phil Dwyer was more than a little smitten with the slightly older, but utterly charming (read quirky) Renee Higenbotham and he was surprisingly open to the idea of taking on a teenage stepdaughter. You see Phil was in the midst of launching a political career and accessories like a wife, a kid and a readymade family would undoubtedly look good to have by his side when campaigning for higher office.

Renee had, prior to that point, always been the happy-go-lucky type; childlike in her mannerisms, with the emotional age of a teenager. Although there are no official job requirements for being the wife of a successful politician, it's fair to say that those qualities didn't do her any favors in her strive to master the role as Phil Dwyer's wife.

A certain amount of attention and scrutiny was unavoidable, especially after the local press got their hands on some rather compromising nudie video footage of Renee and Phil getting it on in a semi public, hotel swimming pool. Contrary to popular belief, all publicity is not good publicity…

As you can imagine, the embarrassment of having your mothers tities plastered on the front page of every newspaper in town, was excruciating. So much so, that Bella voluntarily agreed to go stay with her estranged father until the storm had blown over, or until she could secure her high school diploma…

While Bella settled into the small town life of Forks, Renee began a transformation towards becoming a responsible adult and a contributing member of society; a makeover overseen by the best image consultant and media coach money could buy, courtesy of Phil Dwyer. Of course Renee being Renee, she took it too the extreme. By the time Bella was reunited with her mother, Renee had turned into a very polished, very cynical socialite with some serious control issues and an unhealthy obsession with public image and media manipulation.