AN: here's the next chapter!

Chapter 32

BPOV

I lay in bed gazing up at the ceiling the following morning. I'd woken before the alarm and didn't feel like getting out of bed yet. Last night kept replaying on a loop in my head. The way Esme had clutched me to her had been alien at first and I hadn't known what to do with it. But then she'd started telling me how glad she was that I wasn't hurt. How scared she'd been for me when she'd heard, how she knew in that moment that she wanted to be there for me however I needed it.

She'd told me she knew she could never replace my mother, but in every way that she could, she would bet here for me from here on out. She'd just be a phone call away. By the time she'd finished talking and hugging me, I was at her mercy. I hadn't had a maternal figure in my life for a long time.

I barely remembered my own mother. Charlie had tried to fill the void of course, but he'd never remarried and most of my life it'd just been him and me.

Yet here Esme was, a virtual stranger, save for a few meetings here and there, offering to fulfil that role completely. I had soaked up the comfort she was offering me and basked in her warmth without shame.

I'd needed it, I realized as I started hugging her back. I hadn't realized how much I'd needed it, how much I'd been carrying by myself. I'd only just started to let Alice and Rosalie in, and she came knocking down my walls with a hug and kind words.

The more time I spent with the Cullen family the more I felt my walls crumbeling around me. The ones I'd pulled up throughout the years to protect me from people who only sought to befriend me for my money, for the fact that my father owned the Cubs, for the press and the fame and the riches. It had been difficult and in the proces I had shut myself away only letting a few people really know me, Angela and my dad being the chief ones.

And Jake of course. But he was a dog that didn't really count.

But here were the Cullens and Emmett and Rosalie. They hadn't asked me for anything, they were just happy to see me happy, providing me with their support without any strings attached.

I had felt the last of my walls cruble at the dinner table as we joked and laughed and spent time in one another's company without any worries. It was still a bit strange to me, but I couldn't imagine going back to my old ways, to trying to do everything on my own.

It was a bit of a breakthrough even if I said so myself. I was actually looking forward to therapy this afternoon.

When my alarm went off I hopped out of bed and quickly got ready for today. I took Jake on a quick walk and afterward grabbed a mug of coffee for the drive over to the park. I was a bit nervous to be driving today, but Carlisle was probably right that I should get back in the car as soon as I could. Still I couldn't help the slight tremor in my hand as I reached for my keys. I forced myself to grab it anway and with a deep breath headed out the door with Jake in tow.

He noticed something was up, because he stuck close to my side and I was grateful for his solid weight next to me.

As the elevator doors opened to the parking lot I was surprised by the sight of Esme and Carlisle standing there.

'What are you doing here?' I blurted out.

They both smiled at me. 'I figured this might be hard for you, so we wanted to offer our help by riding with you. It might make it easier.'

'But… but I'm fine.' I couldn't believe they would honestly go out of their way this much just to help me. I had never had someone do that for me, not without a price anyway.

Esme stepped closer. 'Darling, I know you're not used to this, but please just remember we care about you and want to help you whenever we can.'

I gazed at her for a moment before throwing my arms around her. 'Thank you.' I whispered in her ear.

The smile she gave me when I pulled back was almost blinding. Carlisle headed over to my car and opened the door for me. 'Shall we?'

I took a deep breath and then nodded. I was immensely grateful to them for being here, I was so glad I didn't have to do this by myself.

'Thank you, for doing this.' I told them again as I stepped into the car, after loading Jake in the back.

They only smiled back at me as they climbed in as well.

'now Bella.' Carlisle said on a more serious note. 'You may experience some panic when you start driving. I want you to know that it's perfectly normal. Esme is ready to take the wheel if need be. So you can just focus on yourself. Just take it slow and easy and let us know if you feel any stress or unease.'

I nodded and took a deep breath again. 'Thank you.'

I started the car. Esme and Carlisle kept a steady stream of conversation as I started navigating through the city. I was thankful for them as they kept me in the present. Without them I might have slipped back into the memories of what happened and succumbed to a panic attack. As it was I only flinched once, when a car merged into my lane quite suddenly and nearly cut me off.

My mind flashed back to the vans closing in around me and my hands gripped the wheel tightly. But Carlisle was quick to talk me through it, calming me down and telling me that it was a natural response my body was having. I was immensely proud of myself when I finally parked at the stadium.

'You did it!' Esme cheered as I put on the parking brake. She flew across the seat and hugged me tightly. 'I know you could!'

'Thank you.' I grinned as I hugged her back.

'You did really well, Bella. I would suggest you take someone back with you, I think driving alone might be a step too far still. But you did really well.'

I nodded. 'I think that's a good idea. I'll see if I can find someone.'

'And if you can't just call me, I'm in town today, so it's no problem at all.' Esme said.

'Oh, how are you going to get where you're going?' I asked, shocked at myself for only now realizing that they didn't have their car.

Carlisle grinned. 'Well, lucky for us, we have a son that happens to be here pretty much every day.' he winked at me.

I laughed and nodded. 'let's go find him then.'

We walked into the building and headed towards the second floor where there was an overlook to the field. I wasn't exactly sure if there was training going on, but it was a good place to start. The PT office was also down the hall, as was the weightroom. We walked over to the outlook and there was no mistaking Edward's bronze hair that was shining in the sunlight down on the field.

He was pitching with a catcher, no batter or any other member of the team present. He really had a lot of commitment for this team. it was amazing to see really.

'Looks like we found him in one.' Esme said smiling as she looked down at her son.

'Let's head down.' Carlisle suggested.

We headed down and stepped out onto the field. Edward spotted us almost immediately and called out for a break to the catcher, who I now noticed was Emmett.

I frowned at that. 'Were you catching Emmet?' I asked when they both were within earshot.

He nodded. 'I have to keep fit too.' He smiled at me.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes at him. 'of course.'

'What are you guys doing here.' Edward asked with a slight smile on his face as he regarded his parents.

'We came with Bella today, and wondered if we could take your car back.'

'Oh sure. No problem. My keys are in my locker, Carlisle you know the combination.'

'Thank you, son.' Carlisle nodded.

'Well, we do have to get going, I'm afraid. We'll drop your car back off tonight honey.' Esme said, quickly stepping forward and kissing Edward's cheek.

'No problem. I'll catch a ride here, so don't hurry on my account.' He assured her.

Esme turned to me, wrapping me in a hug too. 'you did so well, darling. Be sure to have someone drive home with you though.'

I nodded. 'I will.'

Carlisle and Edward were murmering together. As Esme released me they stepped away from each other and Carlisle and Esme set off with a quick final wave.

Edward turned to me. 'So, perhaps you could give me a ride?' he asked with a grin.

I smiled at him and nodded. 'Yeah, no problem. You'd actually be doing me a favour.'

Emmett frowned. 'How so?'

'Carlisle and Esme wanted to make sure I was okay driving. And I almost had a panic attack.' I admitted. Normally I would never have shared this with anyone. But I felt no shame or anxiety as I told Emmett and Edward what had happened. I knew they would only be concerned, they wouldn't judge me. They wanted to help me. it felt good to realize I could share this with them and not feel fear for the first time in my life.

They both looked at me with concern. 'Are you okay?' Emmett asked.

I nodded. 'Carlisle calmed me down. But he suggested I have someone ride with me tonight, just to be sure.'

Edward nodded. 'Of course. I'd be happy to.'

'thanks.' He smiled at me and I smiled back, trying my damnest to ignore how my stomach suddenly seemed to fill with butterflies.

I left the guys to their training again and headed into the office to get some work done. Jane was ready for me with a coffee and a list of things that had most priority today.

The first thing on the agenda was a meeting with Leah. She would be arriving in five minutes, Jane informed me. Then it was paperwork, and at noon a working lunch with Harry to go over the new hire interviews he'd taken over from me yesterday. And then it was more paperwork, shockingly, until I finished the day with meeting with Kate. I had to say having Jane to spell everything out for me was extremely helpful.

She dealt with planning everything and getting things to the right person in time. It was a blessing to not have to do everything on my own. I could delegate now and I was taking advantage of that.

'Thank you, Jane.' I said after she'd ifnished telling me what was on the schedule today. 'I need you to head over to the Art institute to get the notes of the last board meeting that I missed.'

'of course. Will you need me to take notes at the meeting with Leah, or do you want me to do this asap?'

'asap please. I can deal with Leah by myself.' She nodded and quickly gathered up everything, including my outbox mail to post it.

A knock at the door had her hurrying to it faster, even though she was alreay halfway there.

'Good morning, Ms Swan is expecting you.' Jane greeted Leah professionally.

'Thank you, Jane.'

Jane turned to me as Leah stepped inside. 'I'll be leaving then, call me if you need anything.'

I nodded my thanks. She left and closed the door behind her.

Leah walked to me and sat down in one of the chairs in front of my desk.

'Would you like something to drink?' I asked her.

'Some water would be nice.' She said pulling some papers from her briefcase.

I grabbed her a bottle from the small fridge and then sat back down, turning to her expectantly.

'How have you been?' she asked, concern in her voice.

'I've been okay. I had support yesterday, and today. It definlty shook me though.' I admitted.

She nodded. 'understandable.' She let out a big breath. 'I've released a statement on your behalf and security was lucky enough to snap a few photo's of the vans so I've put those on blast as well. I'm still going round and trying to find out who they work for, but so far I'm coming up empty.' She rubbed a hand over her face. 'the good news is, that the response to the statement has been overwhelmingly supportive. The public absolutely abhors what was done to you, so that's good. The press can't spin this in their favour if even a single photo from that scene is published. The bad news is that chances of suing someone or holding someone accountable are very low.'

I sighed. 'I figured that would be a long shot.'

Leah nodded, her lips pressed together in a tight line. 'I'm afraid this stunt proves that although we're making headway, they're getting slightly desperate at creating a story. I want you to be prepared that they might start making up things soon. I will try to fend off most made up stories, but I won't be able to stop it all.'

'Is there anything we can do?'

'I'm focussing on the team as a strategy, to show they're doing well under your leadership, so I would like your permission and the teams to do some promo's, a few shorts of training sessions, perhaps some interviews. A day with… those sort of things.'

I mulled it over. 'okay, I think that should be fine. I'll talk it over with Harry and Emmett see who would be the right fit for such a promo.'

She nodded. 'alright. when will you be able to have a list of names for me?'

'Probably tomorrow or the day after.'

She nodded and jotted something down. 'alright on to your socials then.'

I braced myself. I knew this was coming.

Leah looked at me steadily. 'you don't seem to have any.'

I nodded. 'yeah, it's not really my thing.'

'Alright and I can see that. But right now, having socials can really work in your favour.'

'why? It's just pointless echo chambers that do more harm than good.'

'Fair enough, but they do inform public opinion a great deal.'

I sighed. 'I'm not really comfortable with displaying my private life.'

'I know, so I've been thinking about it. I was thinking we might use Jake.'

I frowned. Jake's ears perked up as he heard his name. 'what?'

'I suggest making an Instagram account and featuring your dog almost exclusively. Jake at the park, Jake with the players, Jake with a baseball bat.'

I smiled at the idea of Jake being on the field and running around like a giant puppy. 'That… actually sounds pretty adorable.'

'Your dog is amazing, Bella. And it will probably simultaneously warn people to keep a distance with a dog that size next to you, and get people to fall in love with you a bit. It will turn people in your facour.'

I bit my lip. 'won't it take a lot of time to make the pictures and post the pictures regularly?'

She nodded. 'it's quite an undertaking. So if you'll let me I'll have my assistant be in charge of the posts. You just have to supply us with photo's and clips. Once a week would be enough. Then we can stagger release them throughout the week. If you sent a lot at once we can use them for longer.'

'how many would you need?'

'at least five every week.'

'oh that's no problem.' I loved taking photo's of Jake. So I had no shortage of them. 'I have cute puppy pics of him too. So we can throw those in.'

'Alright. the first picture I'd like is Jake in a Cubs hat and shirt with a bat in his mouth.'

I grinned. 'I'll try to take it today.'

'if you could, on the field would be best. That will be the opening pic for the account and with the proper channels informed, it won't take long for your followers to go up.'

I smiled and nodded my thanks at her.

We discussed a few more things, like a few headlines that she'd been able to pull and some requests for interviews, which I delined. I wasn't interested in being a public figure, which thankfully Leah understood. She did warn me that when the season opened and we started winning I wouldn't be able to say no to interviews anymore, especially not if we were to qualify for the world series. I'd have to get my face out there. but for now it was fine.

We closed the meeting with me promising to get her those pics as soon as I could.

After Leah left I threw myself into work for an hour or two dealing with the more boring side of running things. By the time lunch was rolling around I grabbed Jake for a quick walk around the park so he could do his business and then headed to the lower level restaurant to meet with Harry.

The hostess was a bit surprised to see Jake next to me, but I quickly assured her he would calmly lie under the table and woukn't be in anyone's way. She was still hesitant but led me to the table.

'Ah Bella.' Harry greeted as he got up and kissed my cheek. 'are you feeling better?'

'Yes, thank you.'

'I'm glad. I hope they catch those assholes.'

I shook my head. 'it doesn't seem likekly.'

Harry went off on a tangent then that I had to interrupt by assuring him I was fine and that Leah was on it. still he grumbled about disrespectful press for a minute longer until the waitress came and brought our lunch over.

'So, tell me about the interviews.' I quickly said when the waitress left again.

'Right. So their contracts are up this month. So it's the perfect timing pretty much. They can begin whenever we want.'

'what did you think?'

'They're young, full of energy. Sam had a few good remarks about some of our players, where they could use help and how he would do that.'

'Oh?' I asked intrigued.

'yeah, he made some good points about Seth.'

I frowned. Seth was one of our better batters and I said as much to Harry.

He nodded. 'Yeah, he is, but apparently according to Sam that means he's overworked and therefore could use some specialtiy training to make sure he doesn't injure himself. The image of Seth striking that fast ball during training a few days ago sprung to my mind and I nodded in agreement.

'alright, and what about… Cameron?'

'ah yes, Jared Cameron.'

'Right that was it, sorry.'

Harry smiled at me. 'He was good too. Not as outspoken perhaps as Sam, but he noticed some weaknesses in our batting averages. So he seems to know his stuff. '

'How did they feel about working for a woman?'

'Both were fine with it. Neither said anything to your detriment at least, but I guess we'll have to see if they hold to it.'

I nodded. 'Do you think hirign them would be a good move?'

Harry pondered it for a moment. 'the press will probably not like it. they're young, they've only coached college ball… it might be ammunition against you.'

'But can they deliver?'

'I think they can.' Harry nodded. 'I watched a few of their college games. They have a good team.'

'Alright. I'd like to meet them one last time and then send out their offers.'

Harry nodded and we spent the rest of our meeting going over a few particulars with the club, ticket sales were up, so that was a good thing and hHarry reminded me that new merch would have to be made for the upcoming season. I quickly asked him to take care of that. Then we moved on to Leah's request and Harry was enthusiastic about the idea. He even thought about combining the two issues. Inviting someone to come see how the merch was made and finally debuting it through the promo's. I nodded and harry promised to look into who would be the best fit for more intimate interviews. Merch was something the entire team was involved in, so then they would see everyone.

We finished up our lunch not long after and if let good about everything we'd discussed. As I entered my office again Jane was there, with the notes from the board meeting in her hand.

'They invited you to a fundraiser gala for the institute in a month.'

'oh. Okay… leave the invitation in the inbox, I'll take it home.'

'They would like to know if you'll be attending in advance.'

'No doubt to get some more publicity… I'll let you know when I know if I want to go.'

She nodded.

'I need you to invite Sam Uley and James Cameron for their second interviews. Preferably tomorrow if thye're able. I want to see them as soon as possible'

Jane nodded and quickly jotted it down. 'anything else?'

I shook my head. 'no that was all.'

She nodded and headed out of my office again. I quickly settled back into my paperwork afternoon and by the time four o clock rolled around I was glad to see my in pile being nearly gone. Just a few more pieces, that I would take home with me tonight. The workload was slowly but surely getting more manageable.

There was a brief knock. Then jane stuck her head in. 'Kate is here, Ms Swan.'

I nodded. 'let her in.'

'okay, you can go through. Can I get you something to drink?' she asked as Kate stepped past her.

'No thank you.' Kate smiled at her.

She closed the door again.

'how are you?' kate asked me, sitting down in the chair acros from me.

'I'm okay.' I smiled at her. IT was nice to see everyone caring about me like this. and it felt even better to realize that instead of making me feel suspicious about their motives, it made me weel warm inside. People genuinely cared about me here. It was a good feeling.

Kate and I had a good meeting, she confirmed Leah's suspicons that taking legal action would be nearly impossible against the assholes who nearly wrecked my car. We then went on to talk about the club, there were some forms to sign but nothing major on her side. We quickly wrapped everything up and I headed out the office after gathering my things in search of Edward. I still had to do some photo's but I was sure Edward wouldn't mind helping me with those before we headed home.