Tammi Tallulah Takes Edward and Bella: Chapter 4
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EPOV
In a flash, Isabella was standing behind me. What the hell was going on?
“Isabella, what--” Her body pressed into my back, her hands against my shoulder blades.
“Please, just act as my shield.” She sounded frantic and upset.
I was on the look out for something that could frighten her, but there was nothing in sight. Nothing but a handful of people exiting shops or cars whizzing past us on the small jagged cobblestone street were all I saw.
“Is there a man with a pageboy hat walking our way?”
“Yes.” I mumbled under my breath.
“Is there a blonde woman with him? A young girl with curly brown hair?” Her hand gripped tightly to my coat.
“Yes and yes.” Did she know these people from somewhere? Duh, she was acting like the fucking grim reaper is going to take her life.’
“Oh God, Eddie. I need to get out of here. Please, just far away from here.” She was choking on her words, tears ready to spill at any minute.
I hadn’t chained up my bike yet, so I quickly hoped onto my bike with Isabella hopping onto the pegs. She wrapped her arms around me and pressed her face into my back, as I breezed passed them.
I didn’t know where we should go next, so I rode us to a small coffee shop. She still gripped tightly to me when I stopped. I noticed that she was shaking against me; was she aware that we were blocks away from them now?
“Isabella, we're somewhere else now.” I softly informed her, feeling her arms unwind from around me. My body instantly felt colder, missing the connection.
I watched as she wrapped her arms around herself. Once I chained my bike up, she held onto my arm with both her hands and pressed her face into it. We walked inside the cozy, armchair and sofa only set up coffee place. There was a small group of people on laptops in the front of the store, but other than that the place was empty.
I escorted us to the back of the store, away from the world altogether.
“Do you want a coffee?” I asked, removing my hat and fixing my mess of hair.
“Hazelnut, just milk.” She meekly responded, shedding her coat and scarf.
I purchased our drinks and bought a pastry for myself.
“Thank you.” Isabella cradled the ceramic cup of coffee in both her hands, blowing the top of it to cool it off before taking a test sip. She placed it back on its saucer on the table, before bending her knees to her chest.
“So…want to explain what that was?” There was no getting around what I wanted to ask. Her reaction to them was too much for my curiosity to hold steady.
She licked her lips, placing her chin on top of her knees. I waited patiently for her to collect her words. “That guy back there was Demitri. He and I went out a few years ago.”
From what I saw of him, he looked a good ten years older than her. “How old is he?”
“Thirty seven.” She made no move to look at me. “The woman with him was his wife Jane and their eight year old little girl is Bree.”
I was trying to do the math in my head, when Isabella had been with Dmitri. “When did you go out with him?”
“Seven years ago. When I first started college. We went out for two years.”
“So you went out with him when he had Bree already?”
“And he was married too.” I saw a tear trickle down the side of her cheek. “I had no idea he had a wife. He even promised me we would get married some day. He had a ring and everything.”
“How did you find out he was married already?”
“I had never been over his house before and decided to look for his address. I was stupid and young and wanted to surprise him. So, I went to his house and watched him kiss Jane goodbye, while holding Bree in her arms.” She stared off in the distance, a far off look in her eyes. “I remember driving away and heading to his job. I had to have answers.”
“He told me that I was everything to him and that he was divorcing Jane to run away with me. Well, it didn’t look like that at all; he looked beyond happy to be with her from what I saw. He tried to reason his way out of it and I ended up punching him in the face at his job and thrown in jail for a day. Worst of all? My parents lived hours away and none of my friends lived close by. So, who did I have to call to bail me out? The asshole I had punched.” She rubbed her nose against her leggings, using it as a tissue.
I didn’t like seeing someone cry the way she was; she was still holding a lot of it back, not wanting to make a scene. I grabbed a napkin from the holder on the table, walking it over to her. I bent at my knees, as she wiped at her tears.
“I felt like such an idiot when I finally noticed all the signs. The times he’d come over, how he left so early in the morning before he had to go home, never spending holidays with me. God, I felt like such a loser!” She cradled her head in her hand, likely reliving her realization again.
This was such a deeply personal moment, I felt unworthy to share it with her. I couldn’t imagine the cheating aspect, but the feeling like an idiot part. I had been an idiot and a moron many many times in my life. People have smacked me over the head and slapped me across the cheek because of the stupid shit I’d done. It’s not like I didn’t deserve it either.
All day, we had been sharing and I’d been always taught that doing that is caring. So maybe I should’ve shared something with her. I think I would’ve liked that myself.
I prodded my brain for a little nugget I could give her, something maybe on that level of personal pain.
“A few years back, I was babysitting my niece. She was dropped off at my apartment and her parents said they’d be back later. She was two years old and constantly looking for someone to pay attention to her. And I was still a complete pothead and didn’t want to deal with any of the real shit that came along with taking care of a baby for a few hours. I watched her for a little while, but I had stayed up late the night before smoking and betting online. So, I fell asleep on the couch."
"I woke up about an hour later to my niece crying. I went to see what happened and saw her vomiting. She had found a bag of my pot, and ingested some of it."
Isabella looked down at me, her mouth hanging open. I was used to that look from people when I told them this story.
"I panicked. I called my sister and told her that she was really sick and I was taking her to the ER. My sister was livid as you can imagine and didn’t allow me to see my niece or her for a while. I was afraid her husband would beat me up too.”
“My niece is such a big deal in my life and the fact that I did that to her, made me feel like the lowest of low. So, I decided to quit and move back in with my sister.”
I glanced down at the floor, reliving that stupid time in my life. “That was probably the first time I ever took responsibility for something, but I never want to get it to that point again where it takes a huge breaking point to convince me I’m wrong.”
I felt a soft hand rest on my knee. Looking up at Isabella, she had a sad smile on her face. “Thank you.” She barely whispered, before I placed my own hand on hers.
We hung back for a little bit, just chatting about menial things. Apparently, Isabella wants to move into the city at some point when she can afford an apartment that is ‘bigger than a small walk in closet’. I told her about my job search and she said she might have a connection for me; any help is good help for me.
The cold, smelly city air hit our faces once more. A nasty smell from one of the grates below us seeped into my nose. I pulled out my phone one last time, feeling kind of gloom that this would be our last clue. Our last chance. “Do you want to try one last time?” I held out my phone, as she stared at it contemplatively.
“Sure.” She smiled up at me. Was it too cheesy to think that I liked when she looked up at me like that? Showing a trust and confidence that made me want to smile myself?
The clue led us to the Flatiron District. We hopped on the subway and biked our way again toward our location. The DJ also mentioned that this part of the giveaway would be different, in that the first three who arrive there would have to answer some trivia questions and the person who answers the most correctly wins the doll.
I don’t know what it is about this time of year, maybe it’s the company I was keeping that day, but I wanted to state the truth. Confess things I never thought I would.
“Isabella, I was the one who stole your clothes and bra.” I blurted out when I stopped biking to our location just a couple blocks away, the Flatiron building itself.
“What?” She shrieked.
“Yes, but I didn’t mean to take yours. I was trying to steal Lauren's. She owed my friend Peter some cash, but he gave me the wrong locker number. And then I heard you coming out of the shower, towel around your waist, and I panicked. I hid while you searched for your clothes.” I was out of breath once I finished confessing. I braced myself for the inevitable and more than deserved face slap and possible crotch kick. Goodbye, boys.
She stood there mouth agape, looking up at me. Then, her face went into a big fat know it all grin. “I already knew it was you.”
“What? How?” I was completely shocked. All these years at feeling bad for never telling her and she knew this whole time? She knew the whole day we were together!
“Your hair.” She messed with my hat covered hair. “It’s hard to miss.”
“Well, your boobs aren’t that hard to miss either. I could pick them out of a line up.” She gasped and slapped me on my arm. “What? You have very nice boobs. Don’t girls like compliments?”
“Yes, but not about…things that are not normally seen by the general public.” She pushed me away from her.
I couldn’t tell if she was feigning offense or actually pissed at me. “Are you mad?”
She rolled her eyes, trying her best not to smile. “No.”
“Well good, because your boobs starred in a couple fantasies of mine.”
“How do boobs star in fantasies? Are they dancing around on legs?”
Was she trying to kill me? “Uh, don’t give me ideas. I would enjoy a pair of dancing Isabella boobs right now.”
She laughed loudly, walking backwards in front of me. “Well, I’d like a pair of dancing Edward ass cheeks right now.” She turned around and ran off in the direction of the building.
I think she forgot that I had a moving vehicle with me and easily caught up with her, skidding to a stop in front of her. She giggled, placing her hands on the handlebars. We entered a stare down, waiting for someone to make a move.
My thoughts went to just how kissable not only the tattoo behind her ear was, but the tiny piercings that graced her nose and below her lip. The rose on her cheek called out to me to press my lips against. Even the widow’s peak that started her hairline itched to be kissed. I felt myself leaning forward, still undecided as to where to go.
A sharp breeze blew past us, as I jutted myself out of my stupor.
“Shit.” Bella ran off to the front of the building.
She was a short little thing, skateboarding and weaving around people gracefully.
When I arrived at the curved corner of the building, I had just caught up with spiky haired chick. Isabella wasn’t too far behind, but there were hordes of other people heading my way. It seemed like everyone had the same idea and hope of getting that damn doll one last time.
There was a small stage and sound system set up, as two bodyguards stood on either ends.
A woman in glasses stood near a small set of stairs leading up to the stage. She looked official looking, like she had something to do with this contest. “Over here!” She waved her hand in the air and made eye contact with spiky haired chick, me and an older lady with glasses two feet next to me.
Bella ran up to me, just before I reached the woman. “Go!” I lightly pushed Isabella toward her, instead of me.
“I’m Angela, what’s your name?” The lady with the glasses asked the three women.
“Alice Brandon.” The spiky haired girl said.
“Isabella Swan.”
“Shelly Cope.” The old lady croaked out.
Just then, an attractive strawberry blonde woman stepped onto the stage with a microphone in hand. “Hello New York.” The small crowd that was quickly becoming a big one, responded with claps and whistles. “How are you doing, New York? Its cold out here isn’t it? Well, my name is Tanya and I am with Tantamount Studio, creator of the wonderful show ‘Tammi Tallulah’.
There were a few more claps, before Tanya continued. “Many of you have braved the cold to get your hands on the highly coveted doll version of the star of our show. Sadly, this will be the last chance to get it before Christmas. However, for all your efforts, you will receive a ten dollar gift certificate to put toward your purchase at JCPenney’s and a free ‘Tammi Tallulah Goes Big Screen Concert’ t-shirt. ‘Tammi Tallulah Goes Big Screen Concert’ will be in theatres early next year.”
I rolled my eyes at the corporate push to get people to pay an asinine amount of money to see some stupid teenager dance and sing around on screen.
“Now, please give a warm welcome to the three people who arrived at this location first.”
Alice, Isabella and Shelly all walked onto the stage, looking out at the crowd.
I heard someone murmuring behind me. “Is that Alice Brandon on the stage?”
Another voice chimed in. “My gosh, that is. She’s one of those competitive people at all these contests. She always wins. I see her on the news quite a bit because of them.”
Shit. I really hoped this Alice chick knew next to nothing about this show.
“Ladies, congratulations on making it here first. Introduce yourselves.”
Each of them stated their names, before Tanya continued. “Now, I’m going to spit a few questions at you about the show and you have a minute to answer as many of them correctly as you can.”
All three of them nodded their heads.
“Okay ladies, we drew your names out of a hat and the order will be Shelly, Alice and Isabella will go last. So, Alice and Isabella, would you kindly take a seat on one of the stools right behind us?” Tanya gestured to the three stools downstage.
Tanya quizzed Shelly, who stumbled on a few questions and ended up getting six of them right.
Next, Alice came up and she was a pro at this game. If I wasn’t rooting for Isabella, I would be impressed. She looked determined and confident in her answers, never blinking or thinking twice. She ended up getting twelve questions right.
“Finally, Isabella.” Tanya announced, as Isabella walked toward the front of the stage. “Isabella, you need to get at least twelve questions right to tie it otherwise, Alice wins the doll.”
I felt my stomach twist in knots. I prayed to whatever God this Tammi Tallulah character worshipped that Isabella would get those twelve damn questions right.
“Okay, Isabella here we go.” Tanya read off all of the questions from her card. Isabella was doing fantastic, getting the first seven quickly off the bat.
“What is Tammi’s favorite holiday?” Tanya asked.
Isabella licked her lips. “Uh, Thanksgiving?”
“No, her birthday. What is the name of the dog that Tammi found sitting outside her middle school?”
“Butterscotch.” Isabella didn’t hesitate.
“Correct.”
Isabella got questions nine, ten and eleven right. Now, she was up to question twelve; the do or die moment.
“What did Tammi Tallulah’s dad tell her was the most important thing in the world?”
Isabella was drawing a blank. She shook her head, her mouth hanging open. I waited with baited breath for her to say something, anything. A guess was good as any at that point.
“Five seconds, Isabella.” Tanya warned.
Isabella blurted out her answer as her time ran out. “Love?”
“No. Taking out the trash.” Tanya turned her attention toward Alice. “Congratulations, Alice! Come on over here!” The crowd clapped for Alice as she pranced toward Tanya.
My heart fell, as I watched Isabella slump back to her stool. She looked completely heartbroken. How I wished I could duplicate this piece of shit doll, and let her be happy? She rubbed her hands up and down her face, before Shelly and her were escorted off the stage.
I pushed toward the side of the stage, hoping to comfort her in some way.
“Isabella!” I yelled out to her.
She was forlorn and a little teary eyed.
“I’m so sorry, Isabella.” I placed a hand on her arm, rubbing it hopefully in a comforting manner.
She shook her head. “It’s okay. I’ll just… I don’t know what I’ll do. You think she’d be okay with the free t-shirt?” She sarcastically waved the t-shirt in her hand. “Here ya go, it’s basically a burlap sac on you, but you’ll grow into it in ten years.” She pushed back tears but a lone one escaped, colored black by her mascara.
Behind her, Alice tapped Isabella’s shoulder. “Hey.” The tiny woman said, cradling the coveted doll in her hands. “I just wanted to say that you played a great game up there.”
“Thanks.” Isabella made no move to make eye contact with her.
“And well…don’t tell anyone this but…here.” Alice held out the doll in its plastic and cardboard box to Isabella.
“What?” Isabella now looked at her, thoroughly confused.
I was confused myself. Wasn’t this whole thing about getting the god damn doll in the first place and this woman was just giving this to her?
“I like entering contests, but I don’t always like the prizes. I’m more in it for the adrenaline and journey than the end result. So, enjoy it. And don’t tell anyone that I do that sometimes. I have a reputation to keep up.” Alice winked before walking away from us.
Isabella turned toward me, still shocked at the event that had just taken place. She was holding the box as if it were a bomb rather than a child’s toy. “Did that really just happen?” She laughed through her words.
“I think…it just did.” I crossed my arms, looking down at a Bella in disbelief.
“Wow. I can’t believe it.” Isabella smiled up at me. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For…I don’t know, helping me out today. Just thank you.” Isabella wrapped her arms around my neck, my own arms encircling her waist.
She smelled like mint. Why hadn’t I noticed that before? It was the most delectable mint anyone could ever smell.
My lips itched to make some sort of contact. With her tattoo within distance of my mouth, I turned my head slightly and pressed them to it. “You're welcome.”
---
We victoriously rode back to Penn Station. Isabella would shout and throw her hands up, before almost losing her balance and throwing her arms around me once again.
Once there, I checked the train schedule. “Looks like my train leaves in a half hour.”
“Forty five minutes for me.” Isabella glanced at the large board above us.
We stood around waiting for our trains to arrive, enjoying the silence that settled on us. I’d catch glances from her and vice versa. Was it weird that I liked looking at her, admiring her? Fuck it if it was, I loved it.
“So what are you doing on Saturday?” Isabella asked, shyly biting her lip.
“Well, I’m doing a family get together during the day, but I’m free after that. Why? Do you…want to hang out?” I sounded like a fucking teenager with the way she was making me feel.
“Maybe.” She bumped my arm, glancing up at me.
“Sure, I’d love to hang out with you.” I berated myself for sounding like an idiot.
The last call for my train was announced. I really, really wanted to stick around with her.
“So, that’s my train.” I turned to face her. I swallowed back my sadness at this day coming to a close. “I really don’t want this day to end.”
“Me either.” She whispered.
“I’ll…call you?” I hedged.
“Okay.”
“Okay, I’ll…talk to you soon…Isabella.” I wrapped my arms around her one more time.
She felt so nice. Her small body pressed to mine, as I memorized the mint scent that was her. I memorized every single thing that made me like her from today. And maybe I would find more things to like about her in the future.
We separated and I walked backwards with my bike to the entrance leading to my train. She blew me a kiss; I caught it and was on my way.
As the train pulled away, I suddenly realized something.
I said I would call her.
I didn’t have her number. Or an email address.
I hung back my head against the wall of the train. My hope was that she was the type to get Facebook or Myspace and I could contact her that way.
Shit.
---
“Shoshanna, sit down. Mommy can’t pick you up right now.” Rosalie coached Shoshanna to take a seat at the table, as she brought in some food from the kitchen.
It was a tradition in our family to celebrate Christmas dinner on the weekend before. I don’t know why, I think my parents hated dealing with crowds at the food store a few days before the holiday.
The family also had a tradition of inviting lots of non-relatives over including some co-workers and neighbors.
The door bell rang. “Eddie, could you get that for me? That’s either the baby-sitter or Emmett’s golf buddy.”
I sighed out and made my way to the door. Hopefully this person wasn’t another annoying doctor co-worker of Emmett’s or a baby-sitter that will just sit and pout throughout the dinner. Too many of them were complainers.
The bell rang once more. “Fuck, I’m coming.” Don’t people have patience anymore?
My hand went to the knob and I flung it open.
My jaw hit the floor.
I couldn’t believe who was standing in front of me.
“Isabella?” I breathed out, my cheeks instantly flushing.
“Eddie?” She smiled, holding the gift wrapped Tammi Tallulah doll in her hands.
“Isabella!” I heard Shoshanna running and screaming, before she made contact with Isabella’s legs. She hugged her tightly. “Did you get it? Did you get it?” She kept asking over and over again.
“I’m not telling you.” She looked down at the little girl.
“Oh please, oh please!” Shoshanna jumped up and down, unwilling to let her slide.
“You can have it, but Eddie has to invite me in first.” Isabella looked at me, worrying her bottom lip. I missed that lip. And her too.
“Come in, Isabella.” I gestured for her to finally step inside.
We exchanged smiles, as I closed the door.
Hope you enjoyed it, Lillybellis!
Chapter 3
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