Chapter 2

I've got my ticket for the long way 'round.

The one with the prettiest of views.

It's got mountains, it's got rivers,

It's got sights to give you shivers,

But it sure would be prettier with you.

~Cups- Anna Kendrick

"What's wrong?" Bella asked, immediately going into red alert.

Alice didn't get a chance to explain. The man who lived across from Bella, opened his door and growled at the pair. "Will you keep it down?!" he narrowed his eyes. "Some of us are trying to sleep!"

The pixie haired woman whirled around and smirked. "Caius, why don't you put a sock in it? It's only 6 o'clock old man. Go harass people who care."

Caius glared at Alice but retreated inside of his apartment and slammed the door shut. Bella tried to stifle her laughter at what transpired and invited Alice inside to see what was going on. Once the short girl had entered the apartment, Bella closed and locked the door. Since Jacob was on the phone and Renesmee was playing on the floor, Bella lead the way into the kitchen where Alice promptly sat on a stool at the island. "Is that Jacob's spaghetti?"

Bella already knew that Alice was going to ask for some, so she grabbed a plate and loaded it with spaghetti. Sticking a fork inside, she slid the plate across the island until it was across from Alice who looked delighted. "Now tell me, what's the problem?" Bella knew that with Alice, this problem could be anything from something as minor as finding a gray hair or as major as being fired from work.

Alice tore into the spaghetti, diminishing it by half in less than two minutes. "I took your advice and went on a date with that guy from tinder." Alice looked into Bella's inquirous face and shuddered. "He was a complete psychopath!"

Renesmee looked up from her toys at her mom and the lady from downstairs. "Mom what's sigh-cool-pat mean?"

Bella glanced over at her daughter in mild embarrassment. "It means crazy."

Renesmee looked satisfied with the answer and returned to her toys.

Bella lowered her voice then returned to her conversation with Alice. "What did he do?"

By now, Alice had finished the plate of spaghetti and pushed it to the side. "Well he took me to 'It's Greek To You' for starters."

"I thought you hated Greek food?" Bella cocked her head to the side in contemplation.

Alice made a look of horror. "He loves the stuff! He bought us a sample platter to share. It contained numerous dishes. I had to eat hummus." Alice gagged and clenched her fists that were resting on the island. "The food wasn't even the worst part!"

Intrigued, Bella asked "What was the worst part?"

The young woman stared into her friend's eyes without breaking eye contact. "He still lives with his mother."

Bella could not contain the laughter that erupted from her mouth. "Wait," she wheezed. "What? How old is he?"

"35." Alice responded curtly. "A little older than I like 'em. But I thought, why not give it a try. And with your encouragement I thought he'd be great." Alice shot Bella a scolding look.

"Oh no you don't." Bella finished laughing and tried to make a stoic face. "Don't blame me for his mommy issues. I only said to go out with one of your tinder dates."

Alice visibly deflated. "I know. At this rate I'll never find my soulmate. I'm nearly 30 myself."

Bella scoffed, placing her hands on her hips. " Mary Alice Brandon, you are only 27. Stop that."

Alice shuddered and threw Bella an indignant look. "You know I hate that name. I should legally drop the Mary. Alice is better."

"I think you're name is great." Bella leaned over the island to pat Alice on the shoulder. "So he loves Greek food, is 35 and still lives at home...anything else about him you don't like?"

The woman in question crossed her arms and pouted cutely. "His taste in music is questionable."

"What kind of music does he like?"

Alice looked Bella dead in the eyes and whispered, "Folk Music." Bella could not contain the laughter that erupted from her mouth. Alice narrowed her eyes at her friend. "It's not funny. Who the hell likes folk music?!"

Bella leaned over and covered Alice's mouth. "Hey, Renesmee can hear you. Don't cuss so loudly." While Bella loved her apartment, she didn't like the layout. The kitchen and dining room were essentially one room and only blocked off from the living room by a bunch of half-walls. So anything being said in the kitchen at normal volume, could be heard in the living room and vice versa. Sometimes it came in handy when Bella wanted to keep an eye on Renesmee, but most of the time it annoyed her.

Luckily for Bella, her daughter was too absorbed in her toys to have heard Alice's slipup. "Sorry Bella. I forget you have offspring." Alice took a peek behind her, through one of the half-wall and spotted Renesmee having a great time with her toys. "It must be nice."

"Having kids can be a wonderful experience. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll have them one day too." Bella reassured her friend.

Alice whipped around and looked at Bella peculiarly. "No, I meant it must be nice to have someone to make you spaghetti." She peered around Bella at the pot of spaghetti. "I may be 27 but I eat like a high school boy on the football team."

A light laugh was given to Alice as Jacob entered the kitchen and kissed his wife's cheek upon entry. "If you want to you can take a plate home."

Alice slid over the plate she had consumed the spaghetti from. "No takesies-backsies. Pile it on Jacob."

Jacob took the plate and dumped spaghetti on top, when he showed Alice how much was on there, she pursed her lips so he added more until a small mound had formed. She seemed satisfied with the amount so he then covered it in aluminum foil. "Oh Jacob, who was that on the phone?" Bella asked while he gave the plate to Alice.

Jacob sighed and Alice took the plate before hopping off of the stool. "I'm going to go, because this seems serious. See you tomorrow at work Bella." Alice exited the apartment, making sure to slam the door which Bella suspected she did to annoy Caius who no doubt was likely to be lurking around in his own apartment.

"You okay Jake?" Bella became concerned when her husband ran a hand through his short hair in exasperation. "Who called?"

"My boss called." Jacob rested his forehead against Bella's and sighed.

Jacob worked at the local retail store Filmores. Filmores sold everything from food to clothes and even toiletries. It was the most popular store in the city, and also happened to be one of the biggest. Jacob had worked there for the past four years and had moved up in rank from sales associate, to manager to supervisor. Becoming a supervisor included a great promotion but a lot of responsibility with corporate now weighed down on his shoulders. Recently the store had been encountering numerous issues that Jacob found to be stressful.

"Apparently they're opening a new Filmores in South Carolina." Jacob paused, seeing the look of confusion on Bella's face. "They want me to supervise there for a few days next week to help hire people and get the store started."

"South Carolina?" Bella quickly ran through in her head how far away that state was from Washington. She hated the thought of being away from her husband for so long. "What did you tell them?"

"Well they're only asking. They're not forcing me to fly down there. So I told them to give me a day or two to think about it as I need to talk with my wife first." Jacob sent her a half smile. "They'd pay for my airfare and I'd get a stipend of five thousand dollars."

Bella was taken aback by the amount. "Wow that's a lot of money for just a few days."

Jacob agreed and slipped his hand into hers. "So what do you think?"

The brunette glanced over at their daughter who was happily playing with her toys. "We're going to miss you."