BPOV
I follow the hostess to the table Renee reserved under her name. I beat her here, which I meant to do, I refused to be caught off guard by this woman any more than I have.
I even let Esme dress me in her clothes. She was always elegant outside of work and I wanted to prove something. I might not know what that something is but maybe I'd find out today.
Cream chunky turtleneck. Check.
Light skinny jeans. Check.
Very expensive suede knee-high boots that were an apology gift from Carlisle. Check.
I might have even stolen one of Edward's camel wool coats. I swam in it but it made me feel like he was here with me instead of at a bar down the street.
My nerves have me regretting my decision of not inviting him along but I didn't want him to be subjected to the uncomfortableness that is sure to follow from this meeting.
Renee lied to me.
Point blank.
Charlie hadn't sent her here to ambush me and I believe him since he knows I wouldn't have liked it. Hell, he didn't like being put on the spot either and that was just another way I was like him.
The waitress comes and I order a glass of Riesling while I wait. I'm two sips in when Renee takes a seat at our table in the corner.
She frowns.
There is a partition around each booth which makes me somewhat relieved that we will have some kind of privacy if this gets loud.
"I hope you weren't waiting long," she says, hanging her coat on the hook beside her seat.
She looks just as pristine as the last time. Her khaki slacks look pressed as well as her silk white blouse.
"No, not long," I tell her as our waitress approaches.
She orders a Sauvignon Blanc and politely thanks our waitress.
She eyes me like she's giving me a good once-over.
I look polished and the fact that Edward and I had a quickie before we left only proves that I look good. Well, that and the fact that we're both horn balls.
"I'm happy that we could meet up again before I leave," she says somewhat awkwardly.
I nod and take a sip of my wine.
"Care to explain why you're here?" I ask casually before setting my glass down.
"I came to see you after I spoke to your father—"
"I talked to Charlie and he didn't send you here," I say, cutting her off.
She blinks.
"He gave me your address—"
"To send me a letter like you've been doing this whole time. He never wanted you to show up and disrupt my life. Dad has made mistakes but he truly knows me more than you do. The man has always made me a priority even after you left. Sure, he had his moments where I could see sadness but those were far and few between," I ramble.
"Bella—"
"Let me finish," I say through gritted teeth. "Did you ever stop to think about me at all? You just heard from your ex-husband for the first time in like eighteen years and thought to jump on the first flight out? You don't know me. What if I was a raging lunatic when you showed up?" I ask rhetorically.
I hear a loud snort from the booth next to ours but choose to ignore it.
Renee is quiet and our now wary waitress sits her wine down in front of her asking if we were ready to order.
Renee shakes her head but I decide to order the grilled salmon with rice pilaf.
I'm not going to let her ruin my appetite.
"Got nothing to add now?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
I can see the slight glare that she's fighting to contain.
"I'm sorry that I wanted to drop everything to see you," she snips, taking a sip of her wine. "I left my husband and child back home—"
"It wouldn't be the first time you did that," I finish.
I hear another snort but this time it's louder and I swear I also hear 'knock it off' being hissed.
Again I ignore it, turning my full attention back to Renee.
Our waitress comes back asking Renee if she's ready, she looks annoyed but orders the Cobb salad.
"I don't know what you want me to say, Bella," she says with a sigh. "I tried to fight for you."
"Did you? I think you wanted it to look like you tried so when this day came you could throw everything back on Dad. He isn't perfect, far from it actually but he did what he thought was right," I defend.
"How long did he wait to bring Sue in?" she asks with a look of disgust.
I'm a little thrown that she even knows about Sue or anything in Charlie's current life.
"Not that it's any of your business but Sue didn't start dating him until my sophomore year of college and I had no idea she was the one that got away until a few days ago. I think you did your damage on him, that's why he remained a single father until I was an adult," I snap at her.
She blinks at me and I'm on a roll.
"Speaking of digging in other people's business, how did you know Edward's daughter's name?" I ask with a glare.
She's thrown off again but somehow conjures up an answer.
"I was in your neighborhood and got somewhat turned around. This lovely woman offered to help me find my way. I told her that my daughter Bella lived there and she seemed to know you. She said Edward was an ex and told me about his daughter's mother. She's in rehab, right?" she explains looking displeased.
I know exactly who this lovely woman was.
Irina.
"That lovely woman is a catty cunt," I say frankly.
I hear a very pronounced snicker coming from the other booth and I've had it.
I climb up onto the seat of the booth and peek over the partition.
Emmett sits with an 'oh, shit' look on his face at being caught and Edward at least looks sheepish and apologetic.
I have two options.
I can rip them a new asshole or force them to join us.
As punishment, I choose the latter.
"Since you both are so interested in the conversation you can sit through it over here," I tell them.
"I don't think they need to hear this," Renee argues hastily.
"Em is like a brother and Edward is my significant other, so I feel more comfortable with them here. You had a choice to bring Phil," I point out as both slide into our booth.
"Did I?" she asks surprised. "I didn't think you would meet with me if he were here."
"To be frank, Renee. You don't know Bella," Edward says as he finally speaks up.
I can see her defenses rise and a disgruntled look etch her face.
"I know all about you," she says with malice.
I roll my eyes.
"Edward isn't on trial here," I say dryly.
"But I am?" she asks in disbelief.
"You are the one stalking around my life," I point out bluntly.
"Bella it's been eightteen years—"
"I never left Forks until recently. You knew where I was! You want to know what I think, the letters were a way for you to cover your own ass," I declare.
Em gasps.
The waitress takes this moment to bring us our food.
"Sorry, we moved tables. Can you please bring our orders over here?" Edward asks politely before pointing at mine and Renee's food. "And add their orders to my bill."
I see the impressed look on Renee's face and it pisses me off all over again.
"You wanted the people in your new life to think you tried with me. You painted Gram and Dad to be the villains in your little narrative," I say honestly.
"I've always been honest with them about my past—"
"So, Phil knows you abandoned me at school? That you didn't show up and it took Charlie an hour after school to pick me up. He was all over the place with worry trying to figure out where his wife was.
I refused to go back after that and it took a week for him to talk me into going back. I was such an anxious child because of you," I hissed in a rant.
The waitress again is back with the guys' orders. She reads the room and hurries to let us get back to whatever this is.
Edward looks pissed while he glares at my mother and Em pats me on the back.
"You were always so confident," she mumbles.
I take a bite of my salmon.
"I was a confident child until my mother left me on my first day of school. Then I became an introvert that kept to herself. I refused to go to sleepovers in fear that Charlie would disappear. But Charlie being the Dad that he was let me have sleepovers and let us watch Disney movies probably until our brains were rotted. He gave me my childhood back after you tried to rob me of it," I say letting out a heavy breath.
"Bella—"
"Let us at least enjoy our food," I say after cutting her off.
This place was more than a little bougie and hard to get into. Renee made the reservation and it was probably easy for her to score a table and Edward more than likely asked Carlisle for a favor to get a table for him and Em. The least I can do is enjoy the culinary experience even if the night has gone to shit.
I dig into my meal but can feel Edward's concerned eyes on me. When I choose to look up, I catch Edward and Em sharing a look while Renee is quietly picking at her salad.
The waitress comes back and I order another Riesling. The others follow me getting another drink for themselves too.
I finish my food and Renee eyes me.
"Does this mean I can speak now?" she snips.
"For someone eager to get into my good graces you are not even trying. You start off by lying to me from the get go," I tell her.
"I needed to see you—"
"You shouldn't have ambushed me. You got to prepare, but because I was so thrown by the mere presence of you, I had no clue where to even start," I roar.
A few patrons look our way and I don't even care if I'm causing a scene.
"I love you, you are my daughter," she cries.
"I can't do this," I tell Edward.
He nods in understanding.
"I'll call when I'm ready," I say standing. "Em, come on."
I stand and Em helps me with my coat.
I look at Edward.
"Go, I'll pay the bill," he tells me with a smile.
I hate leaving him alone with her but I can't keep going in circles with this woman who seems to not care about me but what her past actions look like to her current friends and family.
"She has nerve, huh?" Em asks once we're outside.
The crisp winter air feels good.
"I'm still mad at Charlie, but I feel like I get why he is the way he is," I try to explain.
"She's a trip, that one," Em says with a snort. "She was giving you a whole woe-is-me spiel."
"Right?" I yell into the night air. "So it wasn't just me?"
"No, I think you were totally justified in losing your shit. The question is what do you want from all of this?"
I blink.
A part of me doesn't want to write her off just yet, but the other part of me thinks I will never get anywhere with her.
"I obviously don't trust her, but I don't really know her. If that makes sense," I say, a little confused.
Em nods.
"So does this mean you're cutting the Chief some slack?"
"I mean, I think he needs to sweat it out," I snicker.
I'm not going to make him sweat for long just a little bit.
"Ready?" Edward asks now joining us.
"Where is she?" I ask.
"Bar," he says, shaking his head. "I also just got an earful while we waited for the bill and my card back."
"What was the earful about?"
"I'm too old for you and you will get bored," he says, rolling his eyes.
Good to know he's unbothered by her.
He wraps his arm around me while we walk down a ways to catch an Uber as Em gives us a play-by-play of the event as if we weren't there.