Chapter 33
Paranoia
The only valid point of view
If you know what I'm saying
~Being Followed- Duran Duran
"Bella it's just me! I'm sorry for scaring you!" Jacob hurried to the other side of the couch, after removing his hands from his wife's eyes. "I'm so sorry." He squeezed her body tightly against him and rubbed soothing circles against her back. "Are you okay?"
The tremors slowly stilled and her body sagged against Jacob's burly frame, seeking comfort. "I'm sorry for screaming." Bella practically whispered. She could still hear her heartbeat in her ears and cursed internally at the reaction. Was she really so on edge that even her husband could frighten her? "I don't know what came over me."
"Mommy are you okay?" Renesmee asked hesitantly from the doorway.
Both Jacob and Bella turned around and found their daughter standing in a puddle, legs shaking. She looked like she was on the verge of tears as Midnight yipped at her side.
"I'm sorry. Did I frighten you?" Bella reluctantly pushed her way out of Jacob's embrace and took Renesmee's hand in her own, forcing her to step out of the puddle. "Did you wet yourself?"
Renesmee nodded in shame. "I didn't mean to. I got scared. Why did you scream, Mommy?"
Jacob took over responding and lifted his daughter from the ground. "I made a mistake and startled your mother. It was my fault." He kissed her cheek sweetly and looked at his wife seriously. "I'll run her a bath and we can talk later. Okay?"
Bella nodded and watched Jacob take their daughter upstairs with Midnight trailing behind. She glanced down at the puddle and sighed just as the house phone began to ring. She looked at it warily before picking it up on the third ring. "Hello?"
"Hey Bells. I didn't want to worry you, but I'm going to be stuck at work. We're on a homicide case and it's easier to sleep here than go back home."
"Is it the one from the news?"
"Yeah. These damn reporters are everywhere." Charlie paused and shouted something in the background. "Don't wait up for me. Love you!" He hung up before Bella had a chance to respond so she merely placed the phone back on the ringer and cleaned up the mess Renesmee had left.
As she tucked the cleaning supplies back into the cabinet, her ultrasound fell out of her pocket and landed on the tile. She gently picked it up and laid it on top of the fridge. It didn't seem like now was the best time to tell Jacob of the news so she decided to wait until a later date.
It took Jacob almost an hour to bathe Renesmee and tuck her into bed after reading her a story. By the time he made it to Bella, she was half asleep on Charlie's bed. "Hey, are you awake?"
Bella responded by turning over in bed and wrapping her arms around Jacob's torso. "I'm sorry I screamed. I guess I'm just on edge."
Jacob ran a tanned hand through her hair and kissed her forehead. "It's okay. I shouldn't have covered your eyes." He laid down in the bed so that they were lying side by side, face to face. "So, I don't know if this is the best time, but some weird things are going on at work."
"How so?" Bella pulled back to look into Jacob's beautiful brown eyes. "I forgot you had that meeting today. Are you still fired?"
"Well that's the weird thing." Jacob scratched his head thoughtfully. "The person who fired me, didn't have the authority to do so."
"Who fired you?"
Jacob shrugged and couldn't help but groan. "I don't even remember. But they're investigating it."
"What about that time you went to South Carolina? You never got paid for that. Did they tell you about that?"
"That's where it gets even stranger. All records of me working is missing. It's almost like I wasn't there but just randomly took off work for a while." Jacob's brow furrowed in bewilderment. "What makes it worse is the people who I worked with aren't speaking up about it. Everyone claims that I was never there."
Bella snuggled into her husband as she felt his body tense from the recap. "That's bizarre. What is going on?"
"I have no clue, but we're trying to get to the bottom of it."
"This has not been the best year." Bella felt burdened by all of the issues that seemed to have arisen. "I know it's crazy, but I want to blame Edward. It's so easy to blame him for everything. But there's no way he could be the reason behind it, ya know?"
Jacob absent-mindedly combed through Bella's hair with his fingers. "That's true I guess. But it is a weird coincidence that all of this started happening the moment he got out of jail. Right?" Jacob cast a glance at his wife only to find her sound asleep.
As the week progressed, Bella couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. Sometimes the hairs on the back of her neck would stand, but when she would scan the area, no one was around. To make matters worse, during class, Jane would stare at her aggressively and always made sure she was the last one to leave the room. While Bella tried not to let this bother her, she wondered if Jane had something up her sleeve. The only reassurance she had was that Jane was a teenager. What could she actually do to her, an adult?
"Mrs. Black, may I speak with you a moment?" Jane asked after the last student had left the classroom.
Bella tried not to let annoyance seep into her voice as she agreed. "Sure Jane. What can I help you with?" It was Thursday or as the kids liked to say, Friday Jr. Bella was ready to head home and finish up planning her surprise dinner for Jacob. She wanted to announce her pregnant to him a fun way but needed to prep a little more. Jane was cutting into that time and it never seemed to be for a good reason.
Jane pulled out the essay she had written last week and received a B-. "Why didn't I get an A?"
Bella lifted up the paper and began to flip through the pages. Numerous paragraphs had underlined red marks, circled phrases and x's. If Bella were being honest it was a C paper, but she felt bad for the student and bumped it up. "Well Jane, you have a lot of run on sentences, misspelled and syntax errors. Also the flow of your essay is all over the place and your thesis doesn't tie into your conclusion." Bella smiled ruefully and handed the paper back to the girl. "You got a decent grade. I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth."
Jane cleared her throat and dropped the essay on the desk. "Do you know who my father is?"
Bella could feel tension building in her gut. "What does your father have to do with your grade?"
"Well I don't think he would be pleased to know that you are targeting his daughter."
"Excuse me?" Bella felt shock resonate on her face. "I am appalled you would even say such a thing."
Jane pointed at the essay and grabbed her book bag. "I expect that changed by tomorrow or there will be consequences."
Jane did not wait for Bella's response but instead stormed out of the classroom. Before Bella could gather her bearings, her door swung open and Alice raced inside in a tizzy.
"I swear he's following me!" Alice shrieked and slammed Bella's classroom door shut. "At first I thought it was my imagination, but I see him everywhere."
"Who?" Bella asked, already knowing the answer.
"Aro!" Alice shuddered at the mere mention of his name and jumped when the door began to open. "No!" She slammed the door shut and someone cursed loudly from the outside.
Bella glanced out of the window of her door and repressed a chuckle. "Alice, please step aside. It's just Demetri." After Alice had side-stepped away, Bella opened the door and welcomed in their friend and fellow coworker. "Sorry about that Demetri. Alice thought you were someone else."
Demetri walked in rubbing his nose. "Alice, please be careful. I'm not trying to become disfigured anytime soon."
"Ha." Alice rolled her eyes but smiled at Demetri. "Sorry. I'm glad it's just you. I thought it was...nevermind."
"Okay?" Demetri leaned against one of desks and crossed his arms. "I'm not trying to be a nosy Nate, but are you two alright? You've been weird these last few days."
Alice and Bella exchanged worried glances before locking eyes with Demetri.
"I think Aro is following me." Alice blurted out. "It's freaking me out! I'm terrified all of the time."
"What?" Demetri gaped at the pixie haired woman. "The new principal? Why would he be following you?"
"It's a long story." Alice shuddered and walked over to Demetri. "Buy me dinner and I'll tell you all about it." She looked up at him with pleading eyes."
Demetri laughed and flicked Alice in the middle of her forehead. "As great as it would be to buy you dinner, I've already made plans for the evening."
"Oh la la. Do tell!" Alice clasped her hands together in excitement and nudged Demetri with her elbow. "Does it involve, you know who?"
"Voldemort?"
"No that's he who shall not be named." Bella chimed in. "You know she's asking if it's with Max."
As a light blush escorted it's way into Demetrius cheeks, the women knew their assumptions were correct. "Yes. He wants to go out for a movie premiere. Since it's Thursday, the showing is at midnight."
"You are going to be tired tomorrow!" Alice quipped. "What movie are you seeing?"
"Oh I forgot. Its some superhero movie about a bug man I think. I don't know. I'm only going because Max asked." The smile that graced Demetrius face was filled with such love that the women exchanged knowing glances. "Well I best be off. I should grab a nap in before the movie."
"Tell us tomorrow how it goes!" Alice waved as he left then turned to Bella. "Jazz finally got in touch with me!"
"Oh thank goodness." Bella hugged her friend and led her from the room. "So why was he AWOL?"
Alice clutched her heart and her face fell. "His grandparents passed away tragically and he dropped everything to arrange the funeral."A tear escaped from her eye and she wiped it away. But he did say that next weekend he's going to visit since it's been so long!"
"That's wonderful!" Bella paused and side-eyed her friend. "For the whole weekend?"
Alice giggled demurely. "Bella, every girl has needs."
A/n: Next update will be on the 30th or sooner! Stay tuned and prepare yourselves. It's gonna be a doozy O.O