Edward Cullen: A Work in Progress

One Month Ago

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Things I own: a Bose sound dock, purple nail polish, and clothes that are too big.

Things I don't own: Twilight and all characters associated with it. They belong to the esteemed Stephenie Meyers

Chapter 7: One Month Ago

I was sitting in my apartment, jamming on my guitar. It was my day off. I had worked the past six days straight. Angela was sick and Alec was let go. I was pulling double duty as a tattoo apprentice and shop manager. When I wasn't inking people, I was ordering stuff and maintaining the schedule. I spent the morning doing laundry and cleaning out the nastiness that was my fridge. Half of the shit in there was unrecognizable, growing green fuzz and sprouting horns. The afternoon was at the store, buying more food for my fridge to grow fuzz.

I finished my errands and made some dinner. A healthy meal of pizza and diet coke. YUM! I washed my dishes and was sitting on my second hand couch that smelled like cat piss. Perhaps I can con Alice into coming furniture shopping with me. I need a new couch. This is gross. I was playing my guitar idly, just letting the notes flow from my body. My eyes were closed and I was enjoying the quiet. God knows that it is NOT quiet at the shop. Emmett is always booming. The music is pumping. Bella is always yelling. At me. You'd figure that after Alice's birthday, she would have eased up.

Yeah, not so much.

If anything, she's gotten harder on me. More of a bitch. More of a tyrant. I was so over it. I had laid my heart on the line and she responded by turning up her bitch-o-meter to extra high. Her expectations of my artwork were insanely unobtainable. Her critiques were inconsistent. Her mood was sour and I had no idea why. I made the decision to call her out on it tomorrow. We were opening the shop and a few hours alone before the rest of the crew showed up. Bella didn't have any clients booked and I had caught up on all the ordering.

My phone rang from my coffee table. I picked it up and saw that it was Alice. "What up, Midget?" I barked into the phone.

"Can you tattoo Jasper for me?" she asked.

"Um, sure?" I snorted. "I'd have to check my schedule."

"Great. He wants the date he met me and the date he proposed tattooed on his right wrist," Alice chirped.

"Why me? You have a roommate who is a tattoo artist and you're friends with Emmett."

"Honestly?"

"No, I want you to lie, Alice," I said dryly.

"Ass."

"You know this, Midget."

"You have really nice handwriting. Very neat and it translates well to tattoos," Alice answered for me. "I'm surprised you even entertained the idea of being a doctor. Isn't it a given that doctors should have horrendous, illegible handwriting?"

"Sure, Alice."

"Also, Bella has been weird the past few weeks. Cold. Detached. Bitchy," Alice said in a frustrated tone. "I think she's bitter that I'm engaged and she's not. However, she's not even seeing anybody. Unless you two are bumping uglies."

"No, Alice. She's been displaying the same behavior at work. Times ten," I sighed. "She's been horrendous to me. Especially."

"Oh, Edward, I'm so sorry. You looked so comfy when I walked out on you at my birthday. Like you were about to kiss," Alice said.