Bear No Malice | Paul Lahote

Eighteen

The slamming of my front door was my seven a.m. alarm as I shot up out of bed, heart pounding furiously as I worked to calm myself down. After a few beats of silence I pulled on one of Rhett's old flannels as I tip toed down the stairs, peeking around the corner of the railing to find Leah fuming on my front porch. Her anger was directed towards an equally pissed off Paul as her wiry frame blocked his entrance to the house. I heaved a breath of relief though I figured this intrusion probably wasn't any better than what my mind had originally conjured up.

I approached the door listening to their rather loud argument and thanked God I had no neighbors to hear it too.

"Suck it up! So you had to patrol a few extra hours. I'm sure it was such an inconvenience for you."

"I had shit to do, Leah!"

"Like come pine after Emma more?"

Ouch, Lee.

"Back off, Leah," Paul's voice was warning. "I'm not in the mood and I just need to see Emma. So if you could move-"

"She's asleep, but I'll be sure to tell her you stopped out."

I'd had enough of their back and forth. I opened the door before anything else could be said and smiled tersely at the both of them.

"Hi, not asleep. Awake at an ungodly hour on my day off because some people talk a little too loud." Paul's eyes raked over my bare legs, my sleep shorts not providing a lot of cover against the chill of the rising sun. But as they met mine, he looked away as though I'd burned him.

"Sorry, Emma," Leah sighed. "Paul was just-"

"Coming over to make sure everything was alright," he interrupted. "Sam didn't go into a lot of detail."

"I didn't give much detail," I answered, annoyed with his prying. "But since we're all here, you might as well treat us to breakfast."

Instead of arguing, Paul merely nodded in agreement. I waved them both back inside as I trudged up the stairs to throw on a pair of clothes. After a rough week and an even worse night of no sleep the only thing I'd wanted was a chance to sleep in, begin my three day stretch of no work well rested and ready to clean the house. But instead I was stood in front of my mirror at 7:13 a.m., pulling my hair into a ponytail and tugging on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, Rhett's flannel still on me. As I made my way back downstairs the bickering had stopped and instead they both looked at me, a different look directed in my direction as I approached them.

"So, where are we headed? I'm starving and I need coffee before I die."

Leah bumped Paul's elbow with her own, expecting his answer.

"I'll take us into town then we need to go to Emily's. Sam's calling a meeting." I nodded in agreement and pulled on my shoes. At least breakfast was free.
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Not an hour later we were all three seated at a corner booth of the local diner, steaming cups of coffee and full plates of eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy sitting in front of us. I ate quickly, my job not exactly the best place to expect a full lunch break. My pace, however, was no match for the wolves I was with, already on a second plate as I finished my first.

"Do you even taste it?" I questioned. "Or is it all just sucked down like a vacuum to the bottomless pits in your stomachs?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Paul chuckled as he polished off his coffee. "But you keep up pretty good."

"Hardly," I muttered. "What is this meeting about anyway?"

"What do you think?" Leah snorted. "Your doctor friend and his family."

"Doctor friend," Paul repeated. "You're friends with Carlisle?"

"Hardly, we work together. You know, same hospital and all," I reminded. "We've chatted a few times but that's about it."