A Late Disclaimer! I only own the plot - Characters belong forevermore to SM!
Said and done, 2 hours later I had a visit from what can only be described as an enthusiastic pixie with spiky short black hair, clear blue eyes and a sparkly personality to match, I felt that she would fit right in. I also recognized her immediately - Alice Cullen.
"Alice!"
"Isabella!"
It seemed that we were both equally astonished to be in each others company again, you see Alice and I played together as kids and were best friends until the age of 8. When mom died, I slipped away, spending more time in my own head and my introverted nature that was prominent before, got even worse.
I relied on my father and nonna and it felt weird being happy for a long time and I did not want to drag Alice down into the pit of despair with me, so I told my nonna that I did not want to spend time with Alice anymore and the good women accepted it. However I missed Alice dearly for the better part of 5 years. I haven't talked to her in roughly 15 years.
The shock did not help my eloquence.
"Your name isn't Whitlock! Is it?" I got rewarded with a pearly joyous laugh and a near tackle, thank God that Alice did not weigh more than a feather.
"BELLA! It is you! How are you? How have you been? Of course I'm not a Cullen any more! I'M GETTING MARRIED! It has been aaaaaaaaages since I saw you last! I've missed you so much! Wait do you own this adorable shop? Why didn't Angela tell me? Why didn't Rose! OUHGH! I'm going to maim her!" I could not contain my chuckle at the exuberance of the greeting or the unstoppable flow of words, Alice was exactly as I remembered.
"I'm good, wait, what married? To whom?!"
"Jasper Whitlock of course, the love of my life!"
"Hmm, Alice I think we need to slow this down, We have about 15 years to catch up on, do you want tea? or perhaps coffee? Chocolate? Cake? I have plenty of all above." I said with a laugh, Alice had never been able to turn down cake, especially not hazelnut and chocolate.
"Cake please! And tea if its not to much trouble."
"Not at all, sit down and I'll be right back."
Alice and I stayed in the shop for hours, talking about everything really, I wasn't kidding when I said that I missed her, it felt like after all that time not talking to her I would impose myself on her unwillingly. The main reason for us being such good friends when we were younger was however the fact that my mother and Esme Cullen were the best of friends and always relied on each other for advise. That in turn led to my father and Carlisle Cullen to a tentative partnership and later to them being fast friends.
Carlisle Cullen were namley the most influential Mafioso in the US. You do not get to that position without garnering a few enemies here and there. The handling of said enemies was my father - and by extention - my mothers territory. I knew this due to a practical side deeply ingrained in both my parents, they were cynical and yet somehow logical and loving enough to see that I, their only child, would end up involved in that part of their lives soon enough. Therefore I knew since the tender age of 5 about my parents line of work and all the danger it entailed.
I also knew not to say anything to anyone, ever. If they wanted to stay by my side, they would wait until I was ready to say something myself and would not try to force the truth out of me.
The partnership is another secret keeping me from Alice all of those years ago, she did not know about it. I always figured it was because of her two older brothers, Edward and Emmett, Alice herself would not be in the direct line of fire, so to speak. Or maybe it was just the fierce optimist embodied in Esme and her protection of all of her cubs.
After rehashing all major life events, we end up at Jasper Whitlock. Apparently Alice was not married just yet. But she was happily engaged with a gorgeous if flashy ring containing a massive rock on a band of white gold - I did not know Mafia henchmen made that much money. But then, the world is full of surprises and then according to Alice, Jasper is second in command to Edward a position shared with Emmett but on different areas. While Emmett apparently had grown to what Alice referred as a "Muscle Monkey" and was head of security, Jasper was a clear strategist. He knew how to work battle fields and how to work persons to expose their own secrets. She only spoke of Edward as a genius, a stubborn genius with a flair for dramatics and a wild temper who was cool and collected when faced with a challenge.
Mmm... The new Generation of Cullen Mafioso sounded promising.