Lips of An Angel: Chapter 2

Tears blurred my vision as I watched Edward settle into the driver's seat of his Volvo. We had just said our final goodbye. He was leaving me to start his new life in Dallas. My grief hit full force the moment his car turned the corner out of my sight. Edward was officially gone. I fell to my knees as my heart broke into a million pieces. The only person who could ever put the pieces back together would be 1500 miles away by this time Monday.

I woke up from the dream of Edward leaving after graduation for the third time in the past week. As usual, my pillow was completely soaked with the tears I had cried in my sleep. The pain in my chest was as debilitating as the day he actually left.

I looked to my left to find James sound asleep. Once again my crying in my sleep hadn't bothered him one bit. I sighed and walked quietly into the bathroom. I needed a scalding hot bath to relieve the tension in my muscles. I plugged the tub, started the hot water with just a touch of cold, and poured the last of my Therapeutic Bath Minerals into the large tub. While the tub filled, I took my time pulling my hair into a messy bun on the top of my head and stripped my clothes off. I turned off the water once the tub was full and stepped into the steaming water. I hissed as I lowered myself fully into the tub. I laid my head back on a folded towel, placed a wet washcloth over my eyes, and let my mind wander back to the first time I saw Edward Cullen.

I met Edward nine years ago at college. It was my first day on campus, and I was frantically searching for my books in the bookstore. I had just knocked over a display of travel coffee mugs when I heard a heavenly laugh. I looked around and gasped when I found the source. A tall guy was leaned against the back wall with his hands in his pockets. He was talking with a cute dark-haired girl. They were laughing, and I felt a twinge of jealousy. For some strange reason I wanted to be the one laughing with him.

The guy was drop dead gorgeous. He was lean, but his muscles were defined in all the right places. His green eyes lit up every time he laughed. My hand twitched at the thought of touching his beautiful hair. It was a sexy mess of brown that reflected tinges of red when the light hit it just right. As he walked out of the store with the tiny girl, I was sure he was walking out of my life forever. I quickly found the rest of my books, paid for my supplies, and made my way back to my dorm room.

I couldn't help but smile when I thought about my first day of freshman English. I was the first student to class and sat in the middle of the room. I watched the class slowly fill with strange faces. The campus was huge, and I hadn't had a chance to meet anyone besides my roommate, Rosalie Hale. My eyes grew wide and my breathing stopped when the gorgeous guy from the book store walked into the class. The only seat left was next to me. My heart skipped a beat at the realization that he would be sitting next to me.

He settled in his seat and looked around to see who was around him. His eyes finally landed on mine, and I couldn't stop the annoying blush that appeared. I dropped my head and tried to focus on my notes. I couldn't stop the smile from forming when I thought about his musical laugh. I hoped I would get the chance to make him laugh soon.

I began to look forward to my English class because Edward was in it. We spent the first few weeks of class getting to know each other. After all of our conversations, Edward was the only person other than my parents who knew every little detail of my life. He wanted to know everything. For some odd reason I fascinated him. I didn't complain too much because he told me all about himself too.

I felt there was a connection between Edward and me, and I was getting frustrated because he didn't seem to feel the same way. When he finally asked me on a date, my huge smile lit up the entire room. He took me to dinner and a movie and we had the best time. The food was great and the conversation was even better. Edward was amazing, and I knew there was no way I wanted to let him go. Edward nervously asked me to be his girlfriend that night. I happily said yes and our relationship had officially started.

We loved each other with an intense passion, which was wonderful in the bedroom, but a bit too intense when we fought. We would get complaints from the neighbors due to our yelling. Occasionally a picture or knick knack would get thrown against the wall. Both of us had a fierce temper. Luckily the fights would end rather quickly. Usually after an hour of yelling we could be found in the bedroom taking advantage of make-up sex. We would spend a few days locked in our apartment celebrating our reconciliation.

Everything was perfect for us until a few months before graduation. We were busy sending resumes to companies and interviewing, trying to secure a job for after graduation. The only time we were able to sit down and spend time together was on Sundays, but even then we were both so distracted by the job search that our time was never relaxing. Edward was getting some good offers from all over the country, but nothing was quite right. He said he would just know when the perfect offer came.

A month before graduation I received the perfect offer from Twilight Publishing in New York. I was so excited and could barely breathe as I told Edward all about the job. His eyes were dancing with pride and excitement as he listened to me go on and on about my dream job, but I was hesitant to accept any job until I knew what Edward was going to do. I couldn't bear the thought of us being separated after graduation. Edward insisted that I couldn't pass up this opportunity. After a few days of Edward's encouragement, I accepted the job with Twilight. It felt like the right decision at the time.

I was completely caught off guard when Edward told me he would be taking a job in Dallas. That was 1500 miles away from New York. There was no way we could keep a relationship together with that much distance between us. At first I was hurt. It felt like he took a job that would be that far away just to get away from me. He explained that he didn’t want me to feel guilty if he accepted a lesser offer and he didn’t want to resent me if he did. As much as it hurt to hear that from him, I understood and appreciated his honesty.

My life was miserable after he left. We talked on the phone, but I had to stop that after about three months. It was too hard to sound happy, so I used the excuse of being too busy to find time to call. Emails became our only interaction. I was comfortable with that. I was a good writer and could hide my reality from Edward.

If it hadn’t been for my job and my best friends Alice and Rose, I would’ve totally shut down. They spent the majority of that first year without Edward comforting me with chick flicks and Ben and Jerry’s. On the first anniversary of the day Edward left for Dallas, Alice and Rose insisted that I go to a club with them. They were relentless, and I finally gave in. If I could’ve gotten away with it I would’ve worn sweats and tee shirt to the club, but Alice and Rose refused to let me. They dressed me in a jean mini skirt and a navy tank top. I stood my ground and refused to wear heels. They relented and let me wear my black Chucks.

That night I decided it was time to wake up and live my life again. I would always love Edward, but I couldn’t wait around with a broken heart for him to come back. I had a fun night with my girls, and we decided to have a girls night out every Friday night. Their boyfriends, Jasper and Emmett, were more than happy to let us have our night so they could have their guys night. The next three months we never missed a Friday night out. Alice and Rose taught me how to dance and flirt. My flirting never led to anything. Those months I was still single, but I had finally found peace.

That August I met James. He was definitely a handsome man. I wouldn’t classify him as beautiful like Edward, but he had no problem getting the ladies’ attention. His short blonde hair, ice blue eyes, and rugged bad boy features turned the heads of most women. I couldn’t quite understand why he was so insistent on dating me with the amount of women falling all over him.

I had flirted with him at a club one Friday night and didn’t expect anything to come from it as usual. James had other plans. He pursued me relentlessly. We always changed what club we went to each week, so it surprised me every time he would show up. We would spend the night dancing and talking, and he ended every night asking me on a date. I always refused. Alice and Rose thought I was crazy to shoot him down every week. After a full month of his relentless pursuit and the girls hounding, I finally agreed to go on a date with James.

We had just sat down with a fresh drink after dancing for an hour. My feet were starting to hurt from the heels Alice insisted I wear.

“Swan, you know what time it is, right?” James asked with a smirk.

“Yes, James. It’s time for me to shock the hell out of you.” I picked up my beer and took a quick swig.

“Now, how exactly do you plan on shocking me, beautiful?”

“Why don’t you just get on with our weekly routine and you might just find out.” I quickly downed the rest of my beer and prepared myself to do the unthinkable.

James grabbed my hand and started rubbing circles on it. “Bella, I had a great time tonight and wondered if you would go out to dinner with me tomorrow?”

“Dinner would be lovely, James.” Thanks to my liquid courage I was able to get that sentence out without hesitation. James placed a quick kiss on my hand, and we made plans for dinner the next night.

We had a nice time on our date. It was the first time I had been able to spend an entire night without thinking about Edward and what he was doing. That night I gave up hope on ever reuniting with Edward and came to the conclusion that I could be content without the love of my life.

I loved James, but I wasn’t in love with him. I never could bring myself to actually say the words. I always told him how much I cared about him or how much he meant to me, but those three little words seemed to elude me.

James continually asked me to move in with him. I wasn’t sure what my problem was, but something in the back of my mind kept me from accepting his offer. James wanted a commitment from me that I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to give him.

The sound of the bathroom door opening brought me out of my memories.

“Hey, beautiful. It’s awfully late to be taking a bath. Is something wrong?” James settled on the floor next to the tub.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I thought this might help me relax.”

“Nightmares again?”

He caught me off guard with that question. “Y-you knew about my nightmares?” I whispered.

“Yes, darling. Your sobbing has woken me up the past few nights. I tried waking you up the first night with no luck. The last few nights I just rolled over and went back to sleep.” He rolled his eyes.

“I’m sorry I keep waking you up, James.”

“Well, if you don’t get these things under control, I’ll have to insist we spend the nights apart,” he sneered.

What the hell was his problem? I was the one having the nightmares. He just had a bit of interrupted sleep.

“I’m sorry I’ve disturbed your sleep, James. I don’t know what’s going on with these nightmares. Maybe we should just spend our nights apart for a while,” I sniffed.

James sighed. “Finish your bath and come back to bed. We can deal with this tomorrow.” He kissed my forehead and went back to bed.

The next day was a disaster. My current editing project for work was an 800 page novel. I was halfway through the novel when the notes I had saved on my laptop for it were lost, the newest intern ran into me and spilled a fresh cup of coffee all over my white dress, and I broke a heel on the way home from work. James was a complete ass to me the entire night. He kept making snide comments about my dreams. I was getting really tired of his shit. The last few weeks I had been wondering what we were even doing together. I was seriously considering ending our relationship.

“James, what the hell is your problem?”

“What do you mean, sweetheart?” He batted his eyelashes trying to bait me.

“Don’t bat your lashes at me. You have been an ass to me all night. What did I do?”

“I’m just tired. I haven’t gotten much sleep this week,” he sneered.

“You know what? You don’t have to sleep over here. You have an apartment you can go home to.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to be an ass. Let’s just go to bed.”

James’ apology wasn’t heartfelt, and I refused all of his sexual advances once we made it to bed. He got extremely frustrated, but I was still pissed at his attitude. He could go take a cold shower for all I cared.

I was just starting to drift to sleep when my cell phone started ringing. I groaned when I saw it was midnight. I had no idea who would try to call me that late.

“Hello?”

“May I speak to Bella Swan, please?” I didn’t recognize the voice on the phone.

“This is she,” I answered warily.

“This is Deputy Crowley with the Forks Police Department.” My heart dropped when I heard who he was. I prayed Charlie was okay. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but Chief Swan was shot and killed in the line of duty this evening.” I burst into hysterical sobs. “I’m so sorry, Ms. Swan.”

“I-is my m-mom okay?”

“The doctor gave her some Valium to calm her. Would you like to speak with her?”

“Y-yes, p-please.”

“Bella,” my mom sobbed.

“Mom, is he really gone?”

“Yes, baby.”

“What happened?”

“Your father walked in on a robbery in progress at the all night gas station. The doctors said he died instantly, so he didn’t suffer.” My crying kicked up again, waking James this time.

“Bella, what the hell? You really need to get these damn nightmares under control.” James turned over and looked at me confused. “Who the hell are you talking to?”

“M-my m-mom,” I stuttered.

“What’s she want? Doesn’t she realize what time it is here?” He actually growled.

“My dad died tonight,” I whispered.

“So, he’s dead. He’ll still be dead in the morning. Get off the phone and let me get back to sleep. We can deal with this tomorrow.” James glared at me and turned his back to me. I quickly left the room and shut the door.

“Bella, why do you stay with him? He’s always so mean to you.”

“I honestly don’t know, Mom. I’ve been thinking about ending it the past few weeks. I think I’d rather be alone than put up with his temper and mood swings.” I took in a deep, shuddering breath.

“Baby, I booked you a plane ticket for the morning. I emailed you the information. You can pick up your ticket at the airport. I really need you with me.” I could tell she wanted to break down, but the Valium was doing its job and keeping her calm.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“You get some sleep. I don’t want you missing your flight because you overslept. I love you, baby girl.”

“I love you too, Mom.”

I hit the end call button on my phone and broke down crying. There was no way I would be going to sleep that night. I checked my email and found my flight information. My plane would be leaving at seven in the morning. I longed for the comfort of strong arms to help hold me together. The problem was the arms I craved were in Dallas, not my bedroom. Edward would want to know about Charlie, so I grabbed my phone and pressed the number two speed dial.

"Honey, why're you calling me so late? It's kinda hard to talk right now,” his wonderful velvet voice whispered.

"Eh-Eh-Edward," I choked out between sobs.

"Honey, why are you crying? Is everything okay?" My heart ached with each of his words.

"Ch-Charlie is d-dead."

"I'm so sorry, baby. What happened?" I could hear him fighting back the tears.

"There was a robbery at the all night gas station, and he walked in at the wrong time. The robber shot him. The doctors said he died instantly, that he didn't suffer." I hoped he could understand what I was saying through my sobs.

"Oh, Bella. I wish you were here now. I miss you so much. It's so good to hear your voice." My heart rejoiced at his words.

"I miss you too, Edward. I dreamed about you the last few nights,” I whispered. I didn’t want James to know my dreams that woke him up were about Edward. There was no telling how he would react to that.

"I've dreamt of you too, baby. Not having you there when I wake up has been torture." His confession brought on a new round of tears. "Bella, baby, where's James? Does he know you're talking to me?"

"N-no, he doesn't. He would go ballistic if he knew. Luckily he's dead to the world right now." I rolled my eyes thinking about James’s comments.

"Did you tell him about Charlie?"

"I t-tried. He said Charlie will still be dead in the morning, so let him sleep and he'll talk with me about it then."

"Bella, what the hell are you still doing with that douche?" Edward growled into the phone.

"Edward, I honestly don't know. How could he be so cold about my f-father d-dying?" I totally lost it. Even Edward knew I made a mistake being with James.

"Baby, I'm so sorry. Do you guys live together?"

"N-no,” I stuttered.

"I hate to see you so miserable. After his reaction to this, please take a second look at your relationship. If he can't be there for you at a time like this, then he is not worthy of you." He hated to see me miserable, yet he so easily got in his car five years ago and left to start a new life without me. I had to stop that train of thought right there. I didn’t fight for our relationship either.

"I've been considering calling it quits for the last few weeks. He's been so distant and loses his temper at the drop of a hat. I just can't take it anymore. Tonight was the last straw." I broke down in tears again. These tears were not for my father, but for the shell of a life that I’d lived for the past three years.

"Baby, do you think you will be okay until tomorrow?"

"I think so. Mom booked me a flight for tomorrow morning. I'll be in Forks by two in the afternoon."

"Good. I'll book the first flight I can get and be there before you know it." My heart skipped a beat. Was I really going to get to see Edward again?

"Edward. You don't have to do that. I know you have a job and Tanya. You can't just drop everything to comfort me."

"Bella, I can and will drop everything. I have bereavement leave, and Tanya is a big girl. She will be fine without me. I meant it when I said I would love you forever. You drop everything to be there and comfort someone you love."