Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
The ladies who I run around in circles to correct my writings: Dannibags and piesmom. They have become my best friends in this whole adventure into fanfiction land. Thank you ladies for all the work you put into cleaning me up!
Edward's version of Revelations, more to come next chapter… stay with me.
Chapter 8
Disclosures and Full Truths
EPOV
The next morning, I felt like shit, when I woke up. I hadn't stayed up that long in years. Now that I was older, I was usually in the bed before ten, ironic that chasing after a woman caused me to oversleep. Just like what happened in my youth.
First, stop of the morning was at the coffee pot, I wouldn't be of any use until I got a cup in my. As the coffee pot, percolated my coffee, I opened up my computer and settled to check my emails. I hoped that an email from the authors, of a couple of stories I had read into the night, had accepted my help. As the computer came to life, I noticed that my coffee was done, and rushed to make the first cup of the day.
Opening my email, I noticed four authors on my list. Each one wanted my help, and I prayed that one of these was Bella. Everything I had done had been in the best interested of her. I wanted her confident and strong. And, if it meant finding her secretly and helping, then that was what I was going to do.
I clicked onto the email from WashingtonCallhum, and noticed her first chapter had been attached. Not wanting to waste any time, I downloaded the file, and worked editing the document. After doing my first pass through the document, my coffee cup was empty not only did I need a refill, but I also needed a shower.
Checking the time on my way, I noticed I only had a couple of more hours, until I meet Bella for dinner. Knowing I needed to blow off some steam, before I saw Bella, but especially after reading that first chapter. Reading the words associated with the lifestyle had me struggling to look at the chapter with a critical eye. But, I managed through determined to take care of things in the shower.
While in the shower taking care of business, I heard my cell phone ring in my room. I prayed it wasn't Bella calling to cancel our dinner. Quickly rinsing off, I wrapped the towel around my waist, and walked into my room. I grabbed my phone and noticed the college's number. I knew that the business office was still open. They would be open until the day before Christmas Eve, but I couldn't figure out why they would be calling. All of my grades had already been turned in.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, I dialed the number and waited for the caller to pick up.
"Mrs. Shelly Cope, Academic Advisor," she said.
"Mrs. Cope, it's Professor Cullen, I just received a call from you," I said, trying to figure out why she would even be calling me.
"Yes, Mr. Cullen, I wanted to call and let you know that Ms. Isabella Swan called and cancelled her Creative Writing class. I knew that you had given her an approval; actually you were pretty adamant about me allowing her to join. I wanted to let you know she wouldn't be attending."
I was stunned. I thought Bella had wanted to take the classes to get better at writing.
"Uhm, did she say why she was pulling out of the class?" I asked, hoping I hadn't overstepped any rules.
"She said she was terribly sick and needed the money."
"Thanks Mrs. Cope, I appreciate you letting me know."
"You're welcome Mr. Cullen," she said. We bid our good-byes and I pondered why Bella would change her mind.
I tried to call Bella, but she never answered. A sense of dread crept into my mind. Was she really that bad off? What happened, I had to know?
Deciding I could wait until I saw her, I shelved the worries and tidied up the house.
~MFIR~
When Bella didn't show up at the diner, I walked over to Newton's. If that little shit said something to her to keep her from coming. I planned on ringing his fucking neck. I was tired of him constantly putting her down, no wonder her self-esteem was for shit.
Lucky for Newton, his mother was behind the counter when I entered.
"Excuse me…" I said as I got closer to the counter "… I was wondering when Bella was getting off work. She was supposed to meet me for dinner over at the diner, but she never showed."
"Oh…" Mrs. Newton looked me up and down and licked her lips making me shiver "… she called in saying she had fallen and was hurt. Couldn't work, the poor dear can't seem to help falling. She's rather clumsy, are you sure you're interested in someone who falls all over themselves."
"I assure you, I find her clumsiness rather enduring. Do you know if she needs to go to the hospital? Did she say?" I asked worried.
"No, just that she had fallen. She sounded like she was crying into the phone so she must have been hurt pretty good."
"Thanks for the information," I said. I wasn't sitting and listening to anything Mrs. Newton had to say. I needed to get to Bella.
On the way to her house, I called the local hospital to see if she had been seen by the emergency room, but they said they hadn't seen her in months. I chuckled because I figured the hospital staff knew Bella by name.
Pulling in front of her house, I noticed her truck hadn't moved out of the parking lot. There was something more going on here and her having fallen or her being sick. I didn't know what, but I was going to get to the bottom of it tonight. I was tired of not knowing what was going on with her.
I exited my car and knocked on the door. I could hear her sobbing through the door and knew I had to get to her.
"Bella, open the door," I yelled. I looked through her picture window and saw lights illuminating from it.
"Bella, open the fucking door. I know you're in there, and I know something is wrong. You weren't at Newton's, and you were supposed to work today. You called Mrs. Cope and dropped the class, telling her you were ill. I know for fucking fact, you're not, so open the DAMN door."
Her sobbing increased, and I couldn't stand outside this door without being able to touch her any longer.
"Fine, I'm breaking the fucking thing down, on the count of three," I yelled louder than before.
"One," I said as I waited, hoping and praying she would answer. My worst fears rushed to the forefront of my mind.
"Two," I screamed, and heard footsteps coming my way; easing my fears a little.
"Three," I said as she pulled open the door.
"How fucking hard was that?" I asked, fuming.
"Extremely," she whispered. She pulled the door open, and walked into the living room. Before she could even, make it to the couch, she about crumbled to the floor crying.
"Bella, tell me what's wrong. I know something is wrong," I said, shutting the door and coming into the living room. I walked over to her, and spun her around, pulling her into my arms.
She grabbed my waist, and hung on for dear life. She couldn't stop crying and I beside myself with worry. What had happened to her? If it was that fucking Newton, I would kill him.
"Shh, baby girl, don't cry. I can't handle it when you cry," I cooed in her ear. I kissed her hair, forehead and cheek, wanting to reassure her, that I was here for her. I didn't stop rubbing her back, and I pulled her tighter into my arms. With my hands, I tried to help her calm down, but also it grounded me from completely breaking down. I couldn't stand to see a woman cry, and even though I hated to admit it; it broke my heart and filled my own eyes with tears.
She pulled back and looked at me. I turned my head, quickly from her gaze, so she wouldn't see the tears that had welled up in my eyes. I sniffed, because it never failed that when my eyes get misty my nose, decides it wants to run. Not wanting her to think I was soft; I stood from the couch, and walked over to the picture window. I could feel her eyes on my back, but not only that I could see her reflection in the window. I could see the worry in her eyes, and I had seen women get this look. The look, the one where they think they had been too fragile for the male ego, and the man plans on bolting out the door.
"I'm not leaving," I said, not turning around.
"You're biting your lip," I said, looking over my shoulder at her.
"How did you know?" she asked, wondering.
"I can see your reflection in the window." I ran my hand through my hair, and turned to face her. Walking back to the couch, I grabbed her hand. I started rubbing circles on the back of her hand, hoping I was conveying, a sense of calmness that she would be able to tell me; what was going on in that mind of hers.
"Why were you crying?" I asked. She shook her head, and that wasn't good enough for me. I was tired of her hiding.
"Tell me," I begged.
"I can't," she replied.
"Why? Why can't you tell me?" I asked, increasing the pressure and circles I was rubbing on her hand.
"You will think it's stupid. I promise all these tears are hormonal, nothing more," she said. She thought I bought that emotional, hormonal crap. Most men run off screaming when women said those things, but I wasn't most men. Did I think hormones could have played a part in her behavior? Of course, but I wanted to get the root of the problem.
"You're lying," I said, calling her bluff. There was a little twinkle when she had said it. It wasn't like she hadn't tried to scare me off before. Hell, the first time we meet she tried to scare me off by mentioning fan fiction. She held my gaze and tried to change the little twinkle there, but it still hadn't faded. She sighed and I hoped this meant; I was finally getting somewhere with her..
"I can't help if I don't know what the problem is to fix. I want to help you. I don't like you lying to me, or holding things back from me," I said, pushing the hair from her face, so I could get a better look at her. Even though she had been crying and didn't look like she had done much all day. She was still beautiful.
"I got a bad review today; it hurt. Then, being the fact that Mary came to see me, yeah that made it worse," she said. Yep, hormonal and over thinking everything I bet.
"What is a review exactly?" I asked, wanting to make sure I knew what she was referring to.
"Just like it sounds … someone looks over my work and makes an opinion. They're either good or bad, but this one hurt and accused me of plagiarizing someone else's work. Someone I barely even knew existed a day ago."
"Does this mean I finally get to see your work? I mean, I could read the stories and tell you the similarities and the differences, if you are interested." A part of me wanted to hop up and down in my seat, because this was the moment I had been waiting for.
"Please don't leave, when you find out. I've really enjoyed being with you, and I don't know if I could handle it if you left," she said as tears streaming down her face again.
"Why would I leave because of what you read or write? I'm not that shallow, and you're forgetting I teach English, so… I don't see the problem with what you read or write for that matter."
"It's the subject matter. A lot of people look down on people, who read or active in the lifestyle," she said, looking down at her lap. I reached out, placing my fingers under her chin, and raised it to make her look right at me.
"Lifestyle? Explain," I stated. Please God, let her be talking about what I think she was.
"It's not porn… well… not really, but BDSM," she whispered, the last part of the sentence. I about shit my pants. How was it that this woman had fallen right into my lap?
"I see," I said, straightening up in my seat, and pulled my hand away from her chin.
She got up and walked away from the couch, and into what looked to be her kitchen. I could hear her rifling through something. Within minutes she walked into the living room carrying books and grabbed her computer.
"These are the books I was accused of plagiarizing, and this is my story," she said, opening her laptop to the fan fiction site and showed me the story Dominance and Submission.
My mouth was watering in anticipation of what she was bringing me to look at, but when she opened her laptop to reveal Dominance and Submission, I chocked on my spit. She shut the lid of the computer, like she was about to pull away the one thing, I wanted more than anything at the moment.
"Wait… what are you doing?" I asked, holding out my hands to keep her from shutting the lid.
"You…" I placed my hands on her lips"… Stop over thinking everything for a moment," I said, I sighed and pulled at my hair, dreading what I was about ready to admit to her. I hoped she didn't back out now, we had come this far.
"I've actually read these books," I said. She looked shocked.
"Don't look so dumbfounded, Bella. Do I need to remind you that I am an English Professor again?" I shook my head
"Please tell me you're not reading them to teach to the students," she teased. I chuckled, but shook my head no. The board of educators would have my ass if I had.
"Actually, Bella… I love to read. When it was on the best seller list, I decided to give it a try. Now, the Sunrise Series… Well, I already explained the allure there. Let's get back to the case at hand, though; so you like to read these types of books?" I asked.
"Yes," she replied with her head down.
"And you like to write stories that have these elements in them?" I asked, lifting her chin to look at me. I wanted to see her eyes when she admitted it.
"Yes," she replied a little stronger, looking directly in my eyes. When she admitted to liking to read BDSM stories and write them. This opened up a whole new world to her, and I wanted to be the one to guard her through it.
"Have you ever been involved in the lifestyle?" I asked, licking my lips, never removing my eyes from her. I wanted to know, and if she had, it would make things a little easier.
"No," she whispered.
"Uhm, have you thought about going to a club, play party, or munch? Because they could help you to learn more about the lifestyle," I asked.
"I've thought about it, but didn't know how to get involved. Plus, I was a little scared. I mean, I know I shouldn't be, but there's just something about it that seems wrong," she replied. I could see her thinking that and as a single woman I wouldn't have wanted her in a club. But, with me she could experience it all."I have a confession …" I pulled away from her and looked away hoping that with the next words she didn't reject me "… since the day I meet you, I was intrigued by you. When I learned that you liked to write and wanted to become a writer, better your writing, I became even more enamored with you. I've begged to see your work … to be able to explore your mind, more so than what you give me with words. So, a couple of weeks ago, I got desperate." I rose from the couch, and walked over to the picture window, again.
"I found your story. I've known about it for a day or two now. But it wasn't until this moment that I knew it was you." I turned and walked over to her, and was kneeling down in front of her.
"Bella … I'm Master Callham … I wanted to help you, and I still do if you will allow me. Please Bella, let me help you. You have something brilliant, and with a little fine tuning, you will be perfect, more than perfect," I begged.
"Oh, my fucking God," she exclaimed.
"That means…" she said.
"Means what?" I asked, hoping she made the connection.
"You live in the lifestyle."
"I do," I confirmed.
She started bouncing around in her seat like a giddy school girl with a new shiny toy. Watching her behave like a school girl had my pants getting tighter.
A/N: All right ladies, it's been a while I had to go back and read the story before I could continue with another chapter. So, everyone knows what everyone is now. Edward is aware that Bella likes to read BDSM. He has come clean about being dominate. Fasten your seat belts because we are about to turn it up a notch or two. On another note … Down on Main Street will be published soon, and between 9/14 and 9/18 I will be removing the story. If you would like a copy … there is a link on my profile page. Thank you for all the support and reviews. I will keep everyone posted as to when I plan on removing others as I rework them and get them ready to publish.