Chapter Ten

Jasper was waiting for me right outside of the jail, like usual. He was leaning against his SUV, waiting for me. When I looked into the front window, I could see the outline of a person, but that was all I could see. The windows were very darkly tinted.

"Well hello," He said as I walked up. "Didn't see ya this morning."

"Yeah, I went in early."

"I'll say. I waited for an hour before I finally went up and knocked on your door. The old lady next door told me you already left." He grinned. "She thinks I'm a handsome young man and that we make an excellent couple and to take good care of you because you're a special young lady."

I rolled my eyes. "Move so I can get in."

"Okay, snippy." He chuckled.

He stepped aside and opened the door for me. I slid into the back seat and was immediately greeted by a woman with dark black hair who was twisted around in her seat to face me.

I gave her a tight-lipped smile. "Hi."

"Hello," She said, looking me up and down. "I'm Alice, Jasper's girlfriend."

"Yeah, I've heard about you," I said, raising an eyebrow at her inspection of me. I was actually getting sort of uncomfortable.

"Mm." She nodded. "So, why are you going to my brother's apartment?"

"Cause I need to see something," I answered. "Edward called Jasper and told him. I would say you can call him and confirm but the inmates can't get incoming calls."

Her eyes narrowed at my words. "No I'm good. I trust my brother."

Her tone was clipped, implying that she didn't trust me. That was fine. I didn't really trust her either.

Jasper, who was now shaking with laughter at our interaction, finally spoke up.

"I told you that y'all are exactly alike," He said. "Spitfires."

I wasn't sure who he was talking to, so I just leaned back in my seat and crossed my arms. Alice turned back around in her seat and pulled out her cellphone. Jasper seemed to be the only reason the atmosphere of the car wasn't so heavy.

"It's about a forty-five-minute drive to Edward's apartment from here," he told me. "That's if traffic is on our side."

I sighed and pulled out my textbook that I kept in my nursing bag. If I had to sit in here for longer than twenty minutes, then I needed something to occupy myself.

However, I didn't even get passed the first sentence without Alice interrupting me.

"So, what are you studying?" She asked me, without turning around.

"Overall or this unit?" I asked, still looking down at my textbook.

"I know you're already a nurse, so you've finished school. What else do you have to study for?"

"I'm trying to get my practitioners license." I said. "I'm nowhere near done with it."

"Oh." She nodded. "How long does that take?"

"If I'm lucky, seven years."

"Is a practitioner the same thing as a doctor?" She asked.

"Yeah, sort of," I said.

"Then why not become a doctor?"

"Doctors have to deal with a bunch of bureaucratic stuff, and they pay a lot more for school. I want to actually help people and be able to spend time with my patients."

"That's noble." She nodded. "What will you be able to do as a practitioner?"

I wanted to roll my eyes at her questioning, but I knew she was probably watching in one of the mirrors. I didn't feel like dealing with any bitchiness during this ride. It was pretty clear she didn't like me very much, which was fine.

"I can write prescriptions. Make diagnoses. I could have my own office if I wanted. And all the other stuff nurses do."

"Hmm, that's cool. Will you make as much as a doctor?"

I made a face at my book. Why would she be concerned with how much money I would be making? It was none of her business.

"Eh. Depends."

"On what?"

"A bunch of different things, but I won't really know until I actually get my license."

She took a deep breath as she thought about this. After that, the rest of the ride was quiet. Jasper tried to start a conversation but was only met with one-word answers. I kept my face buried in my book, so I didn't look so rude. I couldn't say the same for Alice.

Edward lived on the top floor in a tall apartment building. I knew right then that Edward had to have a ridiculous amount of money because there was a doorman in a uniform standing outside of the large glass doors. If my rent was almost two thousand, then I couldn't image what Edward paid for this place.

"So, Edward's apartment number is 783. He lives on the twelfth floor. Don't worry about going through the front desk. Here's his elevator key," He said as he handed me a shiny, silver card. "And here's his apartment key."

I held both in my hand and muttered. "Wow, fancy."

Jasper got out and held the door open for me. "So, do you know how long you might be?"

"Um, I really don't."

"Can I pick you up in like… an hour? Maybe two."

"I'll call a cab." I said. "Don't worry about picking me up."

"No, no. I don't mind." He said. "You can text me, but it might be a little more than an hour. There's plenty to do in his apartment. Kick back, watch TV. There might not be any food in the fridge though since he's been gone."

"It's fine Jasper. Don't worry about me." I said.

"A taxi from here to your place is expensive. Please don't leave without texting me to come get you. I really don't feel like being chewed out for leaving you stranded."

"No one will chew you out," I said as I turned to the building. "I'm fine. I survived without you transporting me before I met Edward."

He sighed. "Well, please, just try to remember to text me?"

"I shouldn't be long, why don't you just wait?"

"We're doing something," He said as he looked at Alice. "Oh wait, I'll text Emmett. He lives just a few blocks over."

"Jasper, it's fine—"

"Nah, it's fine," He grinned as he got back into the car. He shut the door before I could argue.

I rolled my eyes and turned to the building. I wasn't sure who Emmett was, but hopefully I could sneak out before he saw me. I didn't feel like riding in a car with a total stranger. I wasn't sure what Edward's and Jasper's obsession was with finding me a ride, but I was getting kind of sick of it. Even if it was convenient and not expensive.

I stood outside of Edward's door, wondering why I was even here. I can't believe Edward goaded me into coming here. It wouldn't change anything. I didn't care if we had met before, he was an inmate now.

When the same couple who eyed me as they walked into the apartment, walked back out, still eyeing me, I decided I needed to bite the bullet and walk into his apartment before someone called the cops.

His apartment was so perfect it was almost sickening. Once you walked passed the door, you were greeted by a large, black framed mirror at the end of a long, pristine white hallway. On the glass table underneath the mirror was a glass vase filled with a beautiful bouquet of blue flowers. The blue flowers somehow made the room not so monochromatic.

I shut the door behind me and walked to the glass table to inspect the large golden statue that was beside it. As soon as I walked into the hallway, the lights slowly turned on, dimming until they reached their full brightness. I rolled my eyes at how overboard that was, but I wasn't surprised.

After seeing that the statue was just some naked woman posing, I walked into the main room.

The living room was magnificent as well. It stuck with the white and black theme, with pops of bright colors here and there so it didn't look so dark. The entire back wall was floor to ceiling windows, showing off a large patio that overlooked the city.

In front of the large fireplace was a white, grand piano. It made me wonder if Edward could actually play or if it was just for show.

This room was bigger than my entire apartment. Edward didn't say where his study was, so I opened the first door I came to. It was a large closet full of coats and shoes. I closed the door and went to open the next. Behind this door was just a bathroom that was three times as big as mine.

I sighed and shook my head. One person did not need all of this space. I didn't really want to venture up the wide spiral staircase because I didn't want to see any more of this huge apartment, but I was here, and I might as well see the proof Edward was bragging that he had.

There was a long hallway at the top of the staircase with several dark wooden ornate doors. There were six doors, so I just started opening them.

Bedroom, bedroom, bathroom, mini movie theater, and finally, a room that greatly resembled an office. I left that door open so I could easily find it again. I was assuming that the last door was Edward's bedroom. There were two fancy doors to this room.

I pushed the doors open and immediately knew that this room was Edward's. It was the fanciest room in the entire apartment, and that was really saying something.

I only took a brief look around, not wanting to be impressed with his room. The room was very impressive though. I walked straight to his nightstand and opened the top drawer.

"Ew," I said as I spotted a box of condoms and a large bottle of lubricant. I scolded myself when I peeked at the size of the condoms and couldn't help but be impressed with Edward again. I mean, when a man needed extra-large condoms, it was pretty impressive, even I could admit that.

There wasn't a red box, but plenty of nudity magazines. I snorted, covering my mouth to contain the giggles. I didn't think Edward was the type to keep these kind of magazines. He reminded me of a guy who constantly had some new girl in his bed to keep it warm.

Since there wasn't a red box in this nightstand, I walked to the other side of the bed, where the other one was sitting.

This nightstand didn't have Edward's private, sexual things in it, which I was grateful for. There was a notebook, a reading light, a large chapter book with a bookmark halfway between it, chap-stick, lotion, and a red box. This was definitely Edward's everyday use drawer.

I took the box out of the drawer and when I opened it, I realized why Edward had explained the key to me in great detail.

There were probably a hundred keys in the box. I sighed and sat down on the bed to sort them out. Luckily, it wasn't too hard because the key Edward described to me was pretty strange, even among all of these weird, different colored keys.

Once I had the key, I hurried to the office. Alright, before I left the jail, Edward told me that his lockbox was sitting on his bookshelf. He had told me it was a black, medium-sized box and as soon as I looked over at the bookshelf, I saw it.