Chapter 12
As long as you love me,
We don't have to be together 24/7.
As long as you love me,
I'm in heaven.
~As Long As You Love Me- Caleb Johnson
Jacob gaped at his wife and his arms hung limply at his sides. "What?"
Bella stood with her fists clenched and a livid expression painted across her face. She looked ready to either tear into Jacob or slam the door in his face. Luckily for Jacob, Bella didn't have time to act upon any of her feelings. The door across the hall creaked open and she noticed Caius peeking from behind the door nosily. She cursed quietly, then opened the door and allowed Jacob to enter their home.
Her husband didn't waste any time in grabbing his things and scurrying inside. Once the door was closed, Jacob locked it and dropped his luggage haphazardly on the floor. "Bella I,"
Bella held up a hand and Jacob stopped talking. "First, you don't text or call for days. Then when you finally do it's to tell me that you…" Bella narrowed her eyes at the man in front of her. "Why? It's the one thing I can't come to terms with. Why would you cheat on me?"
"Bella!"
Bella poked him in his chest angrily. "Is it because I'm not pretty to you anymore?"
"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever had the pleasure to see." Jacob caressed the side of her face, but she turned it away from him.
"Are you unhappy with us?" She muttered, almost so lowly that he didn't hear her.
Jacob made an incredulous face that was missed by his wife. "No, of course not!"
"Do you not love me anymore?" She screamed, closing her eyes with emotion. Jacob grabbed her by her arms and drew her close. When she opened her eyes, his face was somber and gaunt. He was mere inches from her face and she thought that he was going to kiss her so she pulled back causing his face to sag with sorrow.
"Isabella, I did not cheat on you." Jacob released Bella from his grip but moved his hands to her shoulders. "I don't know why you think I did, but I would never cheat on the woman I love."
Bella wanted to believe him but she remembered the text. "Maybe you were drunk and you don't remember." she reached into her pocket and pulled out the evidence. It didn't take long for her to pull up the message and she waved it in Jacob's face. "Then what is this?"
Jacob plucked the phone from Bella's hand and squinted at the tiny screen. At first he said nothing, then he chuckled quietly and handed the phone back to Bella. "I didn't send that." he told her softly.
"And why should I believe you?" Bella snapped.
"Well, one, I don't text like that." Jacob tilted Bella's chin up gently so that he could look into her eyes. "Two, I lost my phone days ago which is why I haven't been able to contact you." He leaned in close and rested his forehead against hers. "And three, why would you believe a text over what I'm saying right now."
Bella could hear the sincerity in her husband's voice and felt a tremendous weight being lifted off of her shoulders. "So you didn't cheat on me?"
"Never." Jacob opened his arms and slowly embraced his wife. "I love you too much Bella." When she accepted his hug, he rocked her side to side. "Whoever stole my phone has a sick sense of humor." He kissed her forehead sweetly and continued to hold her. "I can't believe you thought that I cheated on you. Are you okay?"
Bella thought about the past couple of days and her physical shutdown. If Charlie had not come, who knows where she would be. Would she have been able to help Alice in her time of need? She hadn't even left her room for her own daughter. Feelings of guilt swarmed Bella and she held on to her husband tighter. "I'm fine now." She told him honestly. "It's so good to see you Jacob." After Bella removed herself from her husband's embrace, she sent him an inquisitive look. "So you lost your phone?"
Jacob nodded ruefully. "Yeah, I think I dropped it when I was helping take stock and one of the employee's must've taken it." Jacob shrugged as though it were no big deal.
"And why didn't you get a new phone or call me from the hotel?"
Jacob scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well I kept hoping I would find my phone. But I guess now I have no choice but to buy a new one. And for some odd reason, the hotel wouldn't let me make out of state calls." Jacob scowled in remembrance. "But if I had known you were going to worry so much, I would've definitely bought a new phone asap."
Bella could tell that Jacob was telling the truth, and was very happy to be able to put the past couple of days behind her. If there was one thing Renee had taught her about men growing up, it was that sometimes they were clueless about things and often made mistakes. But she had forgiveness in her heart and was too pleased to have him return home to hold a grudge.
A week had gone by since Jacob had returned home. Bella felt more comfortable about everything with her husband by her side. He had also taken a shine to Midnight and had taken over the duties of walking the pup. Poop was no longer left as presents throughout the home and for that, Bella was grateful. She also didn't receive any unwanted phone calls from Edward which helped keep her anxiety under control. The only problem Bella seemed to be having was that she couldn't get in touch with Alice. After what had happened at the tavern, she had hoped that Alice would recover soon. But she had been missing from work and when Bella stopped by her apartment, no one answered. She was growing more worried about her, but Jacob reassured her often that she was okay.
"You said it yourself, when you asked the secretary, she had called off work. So clearly she's alive and just taking some time off of work." Jacob stirred the pot of spaghetti he was cooking and reached for the garlic.
Bella watched with disdain as he dumped more than enough minced garlic into the pot and stirred happily. The apartment always smelled so strongly for days after Jacob cooked that Bella sometimes joked he did it to ward off any vampires. "It's just so unlike her to not contact me. Especially after what happened." Bella noticed Jacob reaching for the garlic again and she slyly moved it out of his reach. "So you really lost your phone?"
Jacob glanced at his wife with a stoic face. "Are you going to bring that up everyday?"
Bella shrugged noncommittally. "I mean, it just seems so unfortunate that you would lose it when you were away."
"I know. If I had thought someone was going to steal it, I would've stuck it in my bra like you do." Jacob waggled his eyebrows and Bella shoved him playfully.
"Shut up." She smiled to take the bite from her words. "I really missed you." Bella stood behind her husband and wrapped her arms around his torso.
Jacob leaned back into her and rubbed his but against her crotch. "Jeez Bella, since when did you become so sexual?"
"Jacob!" Bella removed herself from behind her husband and couldn't help laughing at his antics. Sometimes he could be such a jokester. It was one of the reasons she loved him so much. "Quit playing before Renesmee accidentally overhears. Remember what happened last time?"
Her husband scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he recalled the incident. "Well at least now she thinks a horndog is a dog that plays the french horn. Things could be worse. At least she didn't hear us talking about a-"
"If you finish that sentence I will kill you." Bella narrowed her eyes at Jacob and placed her hands on her hips. "She's right there." Bella didn't take her eyes off of Jacob but pointed at the entryway of the kitchen where Renesmee was standing with a lollipop in her hand looking at her parents curiously. The small child left without a word and soon Midnight was racing through the hall to find the child. "You are going to have her saying weird things at school again." Bella whisper-yelled at her husband.
Jacob grabbed Bella around by her waist and brought her close to his body. "I've missed you too." He told her sincerely, kissing her passionately on the lips.
Bella stretched to her full height so she could wrap her arms around his neck. The kiss deepened and she felt Jacob lift her up, so she wrapped her legs around his waist. Jacob pulled back and trailed kisses down her neck. "Jacob." Bella practically purred. "We can't do this right now. Renesmee is in the other room."
Jacob sighed against Bella's chest and slowly lowered his wife to the floor. "Fine. But maybe later after we put her to bed we can…" Jacob left the question in the air for Bella who merely turned away with a blush covering her face.
"We'll see." she cheekily murmured. Bella returned to Jacob's side as he continued cooking the spaghetti and she saw him looking for something. When he couldn't find it, he returned to stirring the spaghetti.
Jacob tasted the spaghetti and turned to his wife. "Do you think this has enough garlic? I can never tell." Jacob held out the wooden spoon towards his wife that was dripping sauce.
Bella felt as though her nose hairs were being singed from how much garlic emitted off of the spoon. "I think you're good." She told him without tasting. Instead she kissed his cheek and exited the kitchen. "I'm going to get the mail." She told her husband as she left the apartment and headed downstairs where the mailboxes were located. While grabbing her mail from the slot, she ran into Maggie, the elderly woman who lived with her husband across from Alice. Maggie and her husband were rarely seen outside of their apartment and sometimes Bella wouldn't see her for weeks. "Afternoon Maggie." She greeted after grabbing her mail.
It would seem that Maggie had the same intention and reached around Bella to capture her own mail. The older woman was shorter than Bella by nearly a foot. Her plump body and white hair reminded Bella of Mrs. Claus and since the woman was always so kind to her, it just reinforced the notion.
"Hello Isabella." Maggie greeted sweetly. Maggie was just short enough that the mailbox was out of reach and she had to stand on her tip toes to reach inside.
Bella took pity on the woman and helped her by reaching inside and giving her the mail. "Here you go Maggie."
Maggie took the mail and sent Bella a grateful smile. "Why don't you stop by for tea, dear. I have a pot brewing." Maggie didn't give Bella a chance to turn down her offer as she shuffled towards her home. She held the door open for Bella who reluctantly entered the apartment.
Bella had never actually seen the inside of Maggie's place. The apartment had strange aroma of peppermint and moth balls. China cabinets were stacked against almost every wall and were filled with knick knacks and various pictures of who Bella could only assume to be Maggie's family. Technology was lost on the elderly woman as the only thing Bella could see from this century was a telephone hanging on the wall and a radio.
Maggie led Bella through the living room and into the kitchen which had more pictures of Maggie's family. Bella took a seat in the dining room and found mounds of yarn stacked neatly against the half wall with different size knitting needles poking through man of the skeins. "So you like to knit I see?" Bella asked when she noticed the tablecloth laying across the dining room table was made of yarn.
"I do." Maggie told her, placing a cup filled with hot tea in front of Bella. "But the tablecloth was crochet." Maggie smiled then brought over some milk and sugar. "Would you like some?"
"Yes please." Bella helped herself to the sugar while Maggie poured a dash of milk into her tea. "Thank you." Bella sipped the tea and found it to be the pleasant taste of peppermint.
Maggie sipped her tea gently and turned her attention to Bella. "So how are you dear? How have things been at the school?"
"My kids can be a handful." Bella laughed as she recalled an instance that happened during the week involving a critical debate over the main character of the book they were reading. She went into depth when describing what had happened to Maggie. "I just couldn't believe they were comparing her to the queen of England. They had such valid points that I let them lead the discussion until the end of class." Bella smiled and looked into her nearly empty cup of tea. "I'm so happy I became a teacher. The workload can be a bit much, but it can be really rewarding."
"Your classes sound lovely." Maggie had finished her tea during Bella's story and had grabbed one of her skeins of yarn and began knitting. "How's the husband?"
Bella remembered the couple weeks Jacob had been gone and how she had spent a couple days almost comatose because of heartbreak when she thought he had cheated on her. "We're doing much better."
"Better? What had happened?" Maggie paused in her knitting and sent Bella a concerned stare. "Are you okay?"
"We just had a miscommunication that caused issues." Bella tried to steer the conversation away from her problems and Maggie took the hint and didn't pry.
The elderly woman continued knitting but focused her attention on Bella. "Communication is key in a strong relationship. It's how Liam and I have stayed in love for the past 50 years." Maggie smiled fondly at thoughts of her husband.
"That's a long time." Bella downed the last of her tea and set it off to the side. "Where is Liam?"
Maggie pointed toward the bedroom. "He's in the room taking a nap. We're going to a week long festival in California. Our plane leaves in a couple hours so he's preparing himself."
"What festival is it?" Bella asked curiously.
"It's some kind of music festival." Maggie shrugged and glanced down at her needles. "Oh darn I missed a stitch." she murmured. After Maggie had set aside her knitting, she returned her attention to Bella. "We go to so many festivals and things it's hard to keep track. I don't like staying in this apartment too long. I like to travel. And who knows how many years I have left on this earth."
Bella reached out patted the top of Maggie's hand. "Don't think like that. I'm sure you have many years left."
A soft laugh escaped Maggie's thin lips. "I don't fear death, Isabella. When it is my time to go, I will gladly depart this place. But until that day, I want to enjoy the rest of my time here doing things I was too afraid to do when I was younger. Do you know we went sky diving a last year?"
"Really?" Bella couldn't imagine the elderly woman in front of her, jumping out of a plane. "What else have you done?"
Maggie shared her bucket list with Bella and told her about things she and her husband had completed. "We may be old, but I feel like I'm your age." Maggie paused for a moment then an idea came to her. "My grandson has a second home in California. Maybe I can get him to visit Liam and I."
"And you can stay in the home instead of a hotel." Bella suggested.
"True." There was movement in the other room and Maggie glanced at the cuckoo clock hanging on her wall. "Well I need to finish packing." She looked at Bella as she stood up slowly from the table. "Thank you for entertaining an old woman, Isabella."
Maggie led Bella to the front door and unlocked it for the brunette. "Have fun at your festival Maggie." Bella half waved before stepping out of the apartment.
"We will. You must stop by again some time." Maggie suggested before returning the wave and closing the door to her apartment.
As Bella left she walked by Alice's apartment and decided to test her luck with knocking on the door. She knocked a few quick raps then listened for a response. When she received none, she turned to head up the stairs. Just as her foot touched the first stair, the door to Alice's apartment creaked open and a lone figure peered out eerily. "Who is it?" called out a sharp voice that didn't belong to Alice.
Bella returned to the doorway that was only cracked open and she could just make out the figure of a woman behind the door. "Uh hi." Bella greeted nervously. "Is Alice here?"
"She's dead." The woman snapped before slamming the door shut.
A/N: Got lost in the week...I thought yesterday was Friday. Sorry for the late update. Anywho, wow! Some of y'all were really in a tiff about the previous chapter lol. While I appreciate any and all reviews (seriously, they make my day no matter how long or short), I wish y'all would review through your accounts so I can respond properly. But regardless, I shall respond now.
Megan39- If someone has drugs/ date-rape drugs in their system, your body will naturally flush it out. You only go to the hospital if you have been sexually assaulted or if you have an allergic reaction (rare). Since Bella was able to retrieve Alice before she could be assaulted, it was okay for her to merely take her home and allow her to sleep it off. Also, Bella wasn't in the best state of mind when she left to get Alice, (the Jacob debacle) so her behavior might seem a tad erratic and confusing. I'll try my best to eliminate as much confusion as possible but there will always be an air of mystery with the characters so bear with me. I hope this helped and thanks for the review!
Sarah88- You're very intuitive and I'm sure you're going to be able to predict a few things that are going to happen throughout my story. I look forward to your future reviews and I hope you stay enthralled!