AN thank you for your messages of support. it means a lot.

here's the next chapter, sorry it's a bit short. Hopefully the next one will be uploaded in the net few days too, so you won't have to wait too long :)

thanks for reading and hope you'll enjoy this one.

Chapter 26

BPOV

I sat behind my desk after Leah left my office. I was upset to put it midly. To hear Leah put it bluntly like that, that I couldn't see Carlisle, Esme and Alice again hurt. I had enjoyed my time with them. It had seemed so normal. Just a regular family dinner. And they were such nice and friendly people.
Walking with Edward was also being taken away from me and that sucked too. I knew it had hurt Edward that I had accepted it so easily. I hadn't wanted to show him that it hurt me too. But it did. It hurt that I wasn't going to be able to spend more time with him. In the short time I'd come to know him, I'd started to look forward to our walks. I enjoyed my time with him and the dogs.

But I was thankful that dinner with all of them was still on the table. At least I still had that.

I wiped my cheeks as the tears started rolling down them. It was all a bit overwhelming suddenly. It felt like I was losing people I cared about. While I knew that wasn't exactly the case, I could still see everyone, I just needed to make sure I wasn't caught in a situation that could be construed as compromising. But it sucked to hear it put that way. All because some people were trying to make money off of me; making up stories and trying to get their hands on a big enough story to ruin me.

I sighed and stroked Jake's fur as he put his head in my lap, sensing I needed his support right now.

'At least I still have you, boy.' I said, kissing him on the head.

I sniffled and then dried my tears. There wasn't anything I could do about it, except hope that the press would lose interest in me sooner rather than later.
Who was I kidding, that was probably never going to happen. Not for the next few years at least. I sighed.

I got back to work as best I could for the rest of the afternoon before calling it a day when I realized I'd been staring at the same blank page of an excel spread sheet for about an hour. It was useless trying to force it. So I packed up my things and headed home with Jake, taking a slight detour to walk him.

As I was cooking my favourite comfort meal of spaghetti carbonara my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number and hesitated before finally deciding to answer.

'Hello?'

'Hi, is this Bella?' the voice on the other end was cheerful and seemed familiar.

'Uh, yes? Who is this?' I asked.

'Oh sorry! It's Alice! Alice Cullen. We met Saturday?'

'Oh Alice, sorry I didn't recognize your voice.' I quickly apologized.

'Don't worry about it, I didn't expect you to.' She paused for a moment, then let out a breath. 'so I hope you don't mind, but I got your number from Edward, well more like demanded he give it to me, he didn't want to, so please don't blame him. I kind of forced him to.' she rambled.

High energy was one way to describe Alice. She was a force to be reconed with and I struggled to keep up with everything she was saying while also trying to keep my spaghetti from overcooking.

'But anyway… the reason I asked for your number was that I really felt we clicked Saturday and I'd like us to be friends.'

'I enjoyed meeting you too, Alice.' I assured her.

'Great! So Edward filled me in on your press troubles and that you're not really in a position to come to my house anymore, but I was wondering if you'd want to go out for lunch tomorrow?'

'Lunch?' I asked, caught completely off guard. Here I'd been lamenting the fact I was losing people and then Alice just came in and offered exactly what I had wanted. A sense of normalcy and friendship.

'Yeah, that should be fine right? Just us girls out in a restaurant?'

'uh yeah… I think that's fine.' I said. I was still slightly taken aback that Alice wanted to be friends at all. And there was some doubt creeping in. Though I wanted nothing more than just have regular friendships, I also knew people would love to take advantage of my name and position. I had to be cautious. She'd seemed genuine enough on Saturday, but I never really knew who to trust. But Alice didn't give me a chance to voice my concerns or make excuses.

'Great, so do you want to meet at the restaurant? I'll text you the address. I know this great place that Jazz and I went to last week. It's great! You'll love it.'

'uhm sure?' my response sounded more like a question.

'Great! Let's say one?'

'that's fine.' I found myself agreeing.

'Awesome! See you then!' she enthused before the line clicked. I stared at my phone in wonder for a moment. Had that really just happened?

I shook my head and smiled to myself.

I plated my food and parked my butt on the couch switching on my guilty pleasure; TLC.
Say yes to the dress was one of my favourites. It was vapid and there were pretty dresses. It was exactly what I needed after a long day.

Just as I was getting swept into the drama between a mother and daughter about the colour of her dress, I was startled by my phone rining again. I glanced at the number and saw that it was Edward.

I quickly answered. 'Hi.'

'Hi Bella.' He seemed nervous.

'What can I do for you?' I asked when he didn't continue.

'I'm sorry about Alice.' He blurted out.

'Alice?' I asked confused.

'I asked her to behave herself. I told her about the press and everything and I was sure she was going to behave and you know leave you in peace… but I should have known she wouldn't.'

'What are you talking about?' I was confused. Had Alice done something?

'Didn't she call you?' he asked, sounding confused as well.

'Yes. About an hour ago. Why?'

'You didn't mind?'

'That she called? No, not really. I was surprised at first. But we had a nice time on Saturday and she'd felt the same.'

'So you don't mind that my sister called you out of the blue and butted herself into your life?'

I laughed. 'I was shocked and surprised at first. And before I knew it I agreed to a lunch date.'

'Yeah, she's good like that'

'But I don't mind Edward. I'd like to hang out with Alice again. She's nice.'

'That's one word for her.' he groused. Then sighed. 'Are you sure you don't mind? I can call her and make sure she stops harassing you. If you don't want to have lunch with her you can just tell me and I'll make sure she wound hound you about it.'

'Edward, it's fine. I like your sister.' But then I got insecure. 'unless you don't want me to hang out with your sister… will this reflect on you?'

'No! No, of course not. I don't mind you hanging out with Alice. If you guys hit it off and you really don't mind her pushy personality I don't mind at all.' he quickly assured me.

'Well, alright then. Then I'm having lunch with your sister tomorrow.' I smiled.

'Okay.' he said. His voice sounded relieved. 'good. I'm glad.'

'good.'

'Just… promise to tell me if she oversteps at all tomorrow okay? Alice can be a little enthusiastic sometimes.'

'I'm sure it will be fine.' I assured him.

He sighed down the line again. 'I'm sorry we can't walk the dogs together anymore.' He said after a moment of silence.

'So am I.' I said softly.

'But I'm glad the dogs will still be able to play at Emmett's.' he said. I smiled, getting the feeling that he wasn't just talking about the dogs.

'Yeah, me too.'

it was quiet for a moment, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable.

finally he sighed. 'I guess I'll have to let you go.'

'Will you be at Emmett's tomorrow with Mike?'

'yeah. It's my turn to bring the take out, so if you have any preferences just let me know.'

I smiled. 'Good to know. I'll think about it.'

'What are you up to tomorrow?' he asked.

it seemed he wasn't quite ready to hang up yet, neither was I to be honest, so I was glad. We spent another fifteen minutes on the phone talking about our days and what we would be doing tomorrow. Until we finally said goodnight.

I went to bed that night with a smile on my face even though the day had started out really rough, it ended with me making a new friend and getting to know Edward better. It felt good. And I drifted off into a dreamless sleep without issue.