Chapter 6: Man on a Mission

Edward

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Seattle, Washington

This has to work.

This has to work.

This. Has. To. Work!

Those are the only four words my brain can muster at this point in my journey through hell.

Wedding planning hell, that is.

Well, no. Technically, I'm currently buried in the seventh layer of honeymoon planning hell, since this is the only job I've been gifted during this whole process of planning a wedding and everything else that comes with it. Besides planning the honeymoon and showing up to the actual wedding, this is all I have to do.

And I had readily, and eagerly, accepted my job without any hesitations. Planning a two week vacation to a tropical island with my girl in the dead set of winter?

Sign me the fuck up.

I should have known the ease in which it all had started wouldn't last long. I should have known, like I had seen with not one but two wedding date postponements for Bella and I so far, that it wouldn't go as smoothly as I had predicted.

But when has anything in my life ever gone according to plan? And why should planning my honeymoon be any different?

Gripping my phone in my hand, I pace back and forth in my office at work, growing more agitated by the minute as I'm forced to listen to ridiculous elevator music while I wait for someone to help me on the other end of the line.

How hard is it to rent a car anyway?

Apparently a lot more difficult than it used to be.

"Mr. Masen?" A voice cuts through my frustration and I pause my pacing, my eyes flying open at the prospect of finally being able to speak to an actual human being.

"Yes, I'm here," I reply hurriedly. I'm one step away from crossing my fingers for good luck as the battle with the rental agency continues.

I feel a sense of deja vu trying to lead me down a dark path as flashbacks of the last time I had rented a car barrel towards me.

"Would you be able to tell us the invoice number one more time?" The woman on the other end of the line asks.

I take another deep breath and rattle off the invoice number from the car I rented two years ago for my first Christmas in Forks with the Cullens. I pinch the bridge of my nose with my fingers. "It was a red, large – obnoxiously huge, actually – eight passenger van."

The Boat, it has affectionately been dubbed over time. What had been several unfortunate circumstances two years ago that ultimately led to me having no choice but to take the monstrosity of a vehicle for only myself, has turned into this: me calling the same agency to make sure I have it again.

This time on purpose.

"And you're asking for that same make and model?"

"I'm asking for that same vehicle," I reiterate, somehow my voice remaining calm while on the inside I'm starting to feel anything but. "The exact same."

I can hear the clicking of a keyboard as I wait for a response. Eventually the clicking stops and I know what's coming next. "Please give us a moment while we continue tracking it's location. Would you prefer if we called you back?"

They're not calling me back.

Sighing loudly, I flick my wrist to look at my watch. "At this point, yes. I need to get back to work. Who am I speaking with?" I ask, heading over to my desk to grab a pen and a post it. "I'd like to be able to know who to ask to speak with when I call you back tomorrow."

Because I'll absolutely be checking in on their progress, tomorrow and everyday after, until I have The Boat back in my possession.

At least temporarily.

"You can ask for Heidi," she replies, and with a few more promises on her end, I hang up the phone and place it on my desk. My eyes flutter closed in annoyance and I count backwards from ten before attempting to move on with my day.

This was supposed to be the easy part. The secret planning, the phone calls at work so Bella wouldn't suspect anything. Easy.

But of course it's not going the way I planned. All I wanted to do was rent the same stupid van that was a backdrop to Bella and me falling in love that first magical Christmas two years ago. We had spent four solid hours in that van getting to know each other, really know each other, on the way back to Seattle the weekend we officially met.

The day we met and the day we met met – two different things.

Gone is the Christmas witch who robbed me of that fucking toy — the Baby Yoda — for Jasper's toy drive. Fast forward to today and I get to spend every day, and the rest of my life, with the kindest, funniest, most absolutely gorgeous woman who somehow loves me back.

I'm the luckiest bastard in the world.

Maybe lucky enough to recreate that night in the backseat of the van. Our first date when I knew I'd die if I didn't get to call her mine.

And all I want to do is plan a surprise mini- honeymoon on top of the one she already knows about. Is that too much to ask?

Just us, a winter road trip to some of our favorite places on the west coast, before flying out to Hawaii, in the van that started it all.

I just have to find it first. Apparently, it's like finding a Candy Cane in Santa's workshop.

Nearly impossible to distinguish from all the rest.

Knowing it's in my best interest to put it to rest for the day before I take my sour mood home to Bella and she catches wind of my skullduggery, I flop down into my chair at my desk and stare out the window for a moment. I could really go for some time away from the office for lunch to clear my mind, but Emmett is working from home today and I know I have tons of work to catch up on. I've pushed aside deadlines and phone calls to make sure this surprise honeymoon happens, and I know I'll spend the next several hours making up for it. I don't mind it. I still love my job after all this time, even though I traded in my travel time for an office in downtown Seattle. I've discovered that after years on the road, most days I prefer to work in the office than at home. While I definitely don't miss the travel my job once required, I find being able to speak to clients in person, to get out of the house a little bit, breaks up days that could become monotonous after a while.

Those days I do work from home are usually the ones where Bella is home, too. Even though I spend most of the time in the spare room/office down the hall, I still love hearing her move around the apartment, just doing the things I love about her the most. Singing while she cleans. Dropping f bombs as she cooks us dinner. Blasting Christmas music the minute the clock strikes midnight on November 1st.

I could have sworn I heard Christmas music in the background while we were giving out Halloween candy a little over a month ago, but the jury is still out on that one.

All those little things add up into all the reasons why I cannot wait for this woman to be my wife. I had no vision in mind for my future; I was comfortable with the status quo I called my life. I never realized how black and white my life was, and how much color Bella brought with her, until she painted my December with light and love before my Grinch-heart could stop her.

Which is why when I make my way through the door later that evening, with Chinese take out in my hand and still no word from the rental car agency, all the hurdles I jump through each day are worth it when I see her in the middle of a pile of wrapping paper and a decently sized pile of presents to the side. She is watching The Holiday with a glass of wine perched on the coffee table next to her as her face sparkles from the glow of our Christmas tree lights.

She is truly the magic of Christmas that I get to have all year long.

For the rest of my life.

That is if everything has gone according to her plan — and if it has gone anything like my surprise mini-honeymoon plan, then we'll need all the help we can get.

I hope her to do list for today has a lot more checked off than mine does.

The worst part? I can't even tell her about it. I can't tell her how I've spent the better part of my day hunting down the van — The Boat — that I can credit to contributing to one of the best nights of my life. I can close my eyes and remember it all like yesterday. Our first date at the tree lighting in town in Forks, the little Christmas tree drawn into the steam on the windows after we lost ourselves in each other — in the back row of the van— that same night.

I need that boat back.

"I spoke to the venue again today," Bella says later when we're wrapped beneath a blanket on the couch, her words wrapped around a yawn. She finished her second twelve hour shift tonight and I can feel her exhaustion begin to set in.

I tighten my arm around her as she buries herself deeper into my side. I settle on The Santa Claus now that our first movie has finished and gently toss the remote onto the coffee table. "Again?"

"I told myself I wouldn't call again," she replies with a sigh. She turns her head up to look at me. "I'm not one of those brides, you know? I truthfully don't mind if the centerpieces don't match the chair covers."

I chuckle softly and place a kiss on the top of her head. "Then what is it?"

"I just want to marry you." Bella says simply. "And I'm afraid that bad luck comes in threes and something will happen to this venue too and —"

"The venue doesn't matter," I interrupt her, hating the way her brows furrow in worry. I move so her eyes meet mine, and I can only hope I can make her believe in herself the way that I do. "Bella, I'll marry you anywhere."

The kiss she gives me is the determination I need to find this fucking van once and for all.

Your reviews fill us with all the Christmas Magic!