Chapter 2:
Author's Note:
I hope you liked the first chapter. I figured I'd post two to begin with… In order to (hopefully) get some feedback before continuing. Please review for me. I'd like to know that I'm doing something right.
Of course, I don't own Twilight. I'm just playing with the characters a bit…
While preparing dinner, Bella listened to the excited conversation Alice continued to have with her parents about the return of her brother. They were discussing the changes in rent – Carlisle and Esme were already charging them next-to-nothing considering the actual price of the property on the market – but the cost would soon be split three ways, making things even cheaper for them. It sounded like there might also be a possibility of Edward's girlfriend coming to visit in a few weeks but that was going to be discussed with Edward at a later date.
Soon enough, Bella received a text.
Bella, the plumber will be there tomorrow evening after 5:00pm - C
Thanks again, Carlisle - B
Bella quickly typed her response with her free hand as she sprinkled cheese over her dish before sliding it in the oven. Setting the kitchen timer, Bella wandered back out to the living area and made herself comfortable on the couch. Blocking out the conversation Alice was still having with her parents, Bella plucked her iPad off the coffee table and opened the Facebook application with the intention of scrolling through her newsfeed to pass some time. Instead, she noticed two new friend requests. The first name, she recognised immediately, Edward Cullen. Fair enough, she thought as she accepted the request, we'll be living together soon anyway. The second, however, she had never heard of: Tanya Denali. Who the hell is that? She wondered. She selected the name, opening the profile of this unknown woman. The profile was set to private so she couldn't see much other than a range of profile and cover pictures. Considering the professionalism of the photographs, it was clear that they were from modelling photoshoots. The woman was absolutely stunning. She was tall with perfect blonde hair, blue eyes and the body of a goddess. A number of the photos also included another woman who, while sharing similar features such as blonde hair, blue eyes and a gorgeous figure, had a noticeably different face. Unlike the first woman, whose facial features had a distinctly European look to them, the second was harder for Bella to define. She might be American but I can't be sure, Bella thought as she continued to scroll through the photos. Good Lord! Who is this woman and why has she added me? Bella wondered, tapping out of the friend request tab, deciding to deal with that later since the conversation between Alice and her parents was wrapping up.
"Ok. Goodnight guys. Love you both." Alice spoke into her phone before flopping down onto the couch next to Bella. "Wow." She sighed, looking completely stunned.
"What is it? I thought you were excited about this?" Bella asked, looking at her friend with concern.
"I am. I just… It's been so long. I just… Wow, you know?" Alice stuttered and then, like the flick of a switch, a grinning Alice bounced at Bella and threw her arms around her. "Thank you for saying 'yes,' Bella. Thank you so much. I can't wait to see him again."
In that moment, hugging Alice and trying to stay upright despite the force of her impact, Bella knew she had definitely made the right decision. However, after a few moments of thinking about how emotional everyone would be on Edward's return, Bella was afraid she'd start crying so, grabbing Alice's shoulders, she pushed her back to arm's length, looked her in the eyes and summoned all the seriousness she could muster. "You pick the wine, I'll choose a movie and the lasagne will be done soon. We're having a girls' night before your brother moves in."
Alice let out an excited squeal before bouncing off the couch and running to the kitchen to select a wine.
"It's a wonder someone so small can make so much noise." Bella muttered to herself as she rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the couch, heading towards their movie collection.
As she perused the collection, her phone chimed with a text message alert from her pocket.
I hear you're soon to meet the OTHER CULLEN. Dum dum duuuuuum! – Em
Emmett's text made her laugh out loud as she pulled The Ugly Truth from the DVD collection and set up the television for the movie. As the kitchen timer buzzed, Bella wandered in, still chuckling to herself about Emmett's text.
"What's so funny? Or have you officially lost it?" Alice asked, giving Bella a questioning look from the other side of the room before finally pulling a bottle of red wine from the rack and moving to the kitchen island.
"Your brother. Well, I suppose I should say brothers." Bella replied, pulling the lasagne out of the oven.
"What?" Alice questioned. "What'd they do?"
Placing the lasagne down and dishing it up, Bella slid her phone across the island to her friend who was now pouring two very generous glasses of wine. Unfortunately, Bella's phone was travelling a little too fast and, if it wasn't for Alice's lightning fast reflexes, both of the wine glasses would have been cleaned up in the process.
"Shit," Bella cringed, "sorry."
"All good." Alice laughed. I'm used to your clumsiness. Besides, you know I never waste a drop of wine."
"It's a good thing too – I need someone to protect me from myself." Bella laughed.
"With the wine or the clumsiness?" Alice teased.
"Both." Bella responded as both girls laughed.
Reading the text, Alice rolled her eyes. "What a drama queen… Good Lord! And they say I'm the dramatic one." She quickly tapped out a response and returned the phone to the countertop, plugging it in to charge.
You're a dweeb – A
"OK. We're all dished up. You take the wine – I've already shown I can't be trusted with it – and I'll take these." Bella said, picking up the plates full of lasagne and leading the way back to the living room couch. "I'm getting kind of nervous about meeting him now, you know."
"Who? Edward?" Alice asked, placing the glasses down on coasters and accepting her plate from a nodding Bella. "Why?"
"I'm not really sure. Maybe it's that message from Emmett –" Bella considered, taking a mouthful of her food.
"Ignore Emmett. You know he was just playing. He's a dork." Alice replied, making them both laugh.
"It's not just that though." Bella said between bites. "I don't know. I love everyone in your family so much. What if Edward and I don't get along?"
Alice finished chewing, swallowed her mouthful and looked at her friend in disbelief. "Are you kidding, Bella? You get along with everyone! I've never met a more agreeable person in my life. You're so careful not to offend that you would swallow your opinions just to keep everyone happy."
"Is that a bad thing?" Bella asked.
"It could be," replied Alice, "if it ever makes you unhappy…" Alice trailed off thoughtfully as she took another bite of lasagne.
At that moment, Bella's phone chimed with another text alert. "Damn. I left it in the kitchen." Bella muttered before hopping up and fetching it from the kitchen counter.
Hanging out with Quil and Embry tonight for a movie night. You should join : ) – Jake
"Who is it?" Alice called as Bella came walking back to the couch.
"It's just Jacob. He wants me to join him for a movie night with the guys." In the past, Bella had been more than happy to hang out with Jacob and "the guys" – a number of whom worked at the gym with Emmett – but lately Bella was feeling a little uncomfortable around Jacob. She'd had a hunch for a while that, despite growing up with Bella and seeing her at her most awkward, geeky times – Jacob wanted more than friendship from her.
"Urgh! Tell him to go away!" Groaned Alice as she polished off her last bite of lasagne. "We're having a girls' night! No more talking about guys! Now, I'm going to get another piece of this deliciousness and you're going to hit play so we can focus on the important stuff: wine and chick flicks!" Alice laughed at her own joke before heading into the kitchen with her plate.
Bella, chuckling despite herself, hit play on the remote and sent a quick reply to Jacob.
Sorry Jake. Already having a girls' night with Alice. The wine is open and the movie has started : ) – B
"Damn, Bella." Alice said, coming back into the room with another plateful of lasagne, already shovelling it into her mouth. "You're going to make someone very happy one day with this cooking. You're amazing." She plonked herself back down on the couch. "Oh! One last boy thing! Mum and Dad said Edward's flight comes in at 8:00 tomorrow and they've arranged a cab from the airport for him. So… I guess he'll be here late tomorrow night." Alice smiled happily.
"OK," Bella said, smiling back at her friend, "I'm looking forward to meeting him." I think, she added to herself, still unsure of why she felt so uneasy about his arrival.
As the film played and the male and female leads discussed the most attractive ways for a woman to wear her hair, it reminded Bella of the random model who added her on Facebook.
"Oh, Alice! I need to show you something." Bella said, reaching for her iPad again. Alice gave her a look, warning her against bringing guys into the conversation again. "It's OK, it's all girl stuff." Bella said, opening Facebook and the friend request tab again. "Here, look." She continued, passing the device to Alice.
"Tanya Denali…?" Alice gave Bella a questioning look as she perused the same photos Bella had looked at earlier. "Who is she?"
"I don't know." Bella shrugged, picking up the plates and taking them into the kitchen with Alice, iPad glued to her hand, trailing not so far behind. "The request just came through tonight." Bella explained.
"Really?" Alice said thoughtfully, still scrolling through the photos.
"Yep." Bella replied as she loaded up the dishwasher before moving to lean against the counter, watching her friend's confusion.
This was exactly the reaction she expected from Alice. While her own reaction had been thoroughly overwhelmed, intimidated and confused as to why a woman such as that would seek her out, Alice, the always confident Alice, was just trying to solve the mystery of who, in fact, the woman was. She was never intimidated by anything. Who could blame her? Bella thought, she's tiny but she's stunning. With her dark hair and blue eyes, she has the confidence to go along with the gorgeous appearance. Bella, while happy enough with her appearance, had resigned herself a long time ago to being nothing more than average. Where Alice was naturally slim and petite, Bella, though she knew she wasn't overweight, constantly cursed her curves and went to the gym frequently to try to rid herself of them. She regularly wore loose clothing in an effort to conceal her shape – a crime Alice, the future fashion designer, was frequently trying to rectify – and she always wore makeup. Not a huge amount of makeup, just enough to conceal the pale complexion she despised so much. Along with these things, her thick mane of brown hair never seemed to cooperate with her but, if Alice had her way, she would style Bella's hair every day for her.
"Such is my envy," Alice would say, "You're lucky I love you so much or I might cut it off. Sure, I've made the most of what I've got" – with her thin, black hair, Alice had decided a pixie cut would work best – "but women would kill for your hair." Bella never believed it. If women want this hair, they're sorely mistaken, she told herself as she brushed her hair each morning, it's a total pain in the arse. The only thing Bella had going for her, as far as she was concerned, was her bust size. Her breasts weren't excessively large but they were perky and generous for someone of her size. Alice definitely agreed on this point. In fact, it was one of her strongest arguments in relation to Bella's clothing. "Come on, show off the girls, you know you love them!" This argument always made Bella laugh, if only out of embarrassment.
"Oh!" Alice exclaimed, making Bella jump, effectively bringing her back to the here-and-now. "Of course. Why didn't I realise sooner? She must be Edward's girlfriend." She handed the iPad back to Bella with a proud smile on her face – she had solved the mystery – and wandered back to the living area, plopping herself back down on the couch.
"Seriously?" Bella asked, trailing behind her friend and gaping at the photos again, "That is Edward's girlfriend?"
Alice glanced at her friend with a slightly confused expression on her face. "Well, yeah, I think so." She replied. "I mean, with final assignments, exams and graduation, I haven't had a chance to talk to him much in the last couple of months but he's your only mutual friend, we know he has a girlfriend and Mum and Dad mentioned that she's a model… It makes sense… Why are you looking at me like that?" Alice questioned.
"I don't know. I'm just surprised, I think." Bella replied, lost in an astonished daze. "She just seems so… I don't know… So… Heidi Klum?"
"She is beautiful, isn't she?" Alice laughed, agreeing. "And, though I haven't seen him in six years, I'd like to think he wouldn't be dating her unless she has a personality to match. I guess we'll find out soon enough." Alice shrugged, turning back to the film.
Wow, Bella thought as she relaxed back into the couch, turning her attention back to the movie. Just… Wow.