A Change in Direction: Chapter Twenty-seven

6/11/2020

A Change in Direction: Chapter Twenty-seven

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Chapter Twenty-Seven

Carlisle cleared his throat and straightened his back slightly as he settled his eyes on his son. “You didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend.”

“Well, it’s kind of a new thing,” Edward explained, his expression confused by his dad’s. It was evident that he didn’t know what was going on, and he wasn’t getting the reaction he was expecting from him. “I was going to introduce her on Thanksgiving to the entire family.”

The man sucked in a deep breath through his nose, his eyes flicking towards me. “I see.”

“Why don’t I head out so I can give you two some time together?” I offered. “Dinner is almost ready, and... oh!” I squeaked. “The noodles. Excuse me, please,” I said, finally remembering my boiling pot. As soon as I came back into the kitchen, the timer dinged loudly. I was both relieved I hadn’t overcooked them and that I was out of that tiny space.

Mr. Cullen didn’t look pleased in the least to see me. That didn’t make me feel too great about the holiday. He obviously already didn’t like me, though I didn’t know why. What would the rest of his family think? Would they automatically see what he did? That I was lower caste than them? I couldn’t imagine there were many people in the same class as them.

For the first time, it bothered me. I felt like I had trailer trash written across my forehead.

“Are you okay?” I heard Edward softly in my ear after I poured the noodles into a bowl to take to the table. I turned slowly, frowning. It was like he could see my fight-or-flight instincts kicking in. “Don’t go. I want you to stay. Please?”

“Don’t you want time alone with your father?” I offered, really wanting to run but not wishing to vocalize that either. I couldn’t say no when he talked like that, anyway. Especially with his big sad eyes.

“I want you to get to know him. He’s very nice. You just have to get to know him.”

“I don’t really think he wants to know me,” I mumbled quietly.

“You just caught him off guard. If he didn’t want surprises, he should have let me know he was coming down a week early and not shown up at my front door.” He smirked as he ran his hands repeatedly up and down my arm.

“Why is he down here so early?” I asked, thinking to myself. I tried to figure out a way to leave, but nothing came to mind.

“He wanted to get more work done. There’s a lot to establish down here. This is one of the biggest projects we’ve ever undertaken as a company,” Edward explained with a slight frown. “I wish he would have called first. I’m sorry to just drop this on you. I thought I’d have time to prepare everyone.”

“It’s fine,” I sighed, rubbing my forehead gently with the heel of my palm.

“Please stay,” he begged again, touching my cheek lightly before leaning in to peck my mouth. I frowned but nodded, resting my face against his chest after his soft, pleading, kiss.

“Go change, and I’ll set up another spot at the table,” I breathed, knowing I had lost completely to his sad eyes and sweet lips. I had a feeling those two things would get me into trouble in the future.

“Thank you.” He kissed my temple before going up to his room with a small smile. I was about halfway through arranging the plates for another person when Mr. Cullen came in, wearing a pair of khakis and a button-down shirt. If this was him relaxed, I couldn’t imagine him at work.

“Would you like a glass of red wine as well? Or may I get you something else?” I politely offered.

“That will be just fine,” he answered, pulling out the seat at the head of the table I had already set up for Edward. For some reason, it annoyed me, but I couldn’t express why. I wanted to ask him if he knew he was a guest, and it was courteous to ask where to sit in someone’s home, but I didn’t. I bit my tongue hard. “So, how did you and my son meet?”

Well, that was a very loaded question. One I didn’t want to answer but knew I couldn’t get out of either. It was a fairly simple one that almost any parent would ask.

“He hired me as his personal chef,” I replied. I had no idea if he had mentioned me to his family at all, but I figured that was the safest bet. It was what I was doing at the moment, anyway.

His lips pursed in displeasure. “And how long ago was this?” He questioned next, his back stiff and straight. It was like someone had shoved a big metal pole up his spine. Or perhaps his ass.

“A couple of months ago. Nearly three now,” I answered as I poured wine into another glass. I fought the urge to gulp it down hastily. It wouldn’t have been a good thing to do in front of my boyfriend’s father.

Even if I needed it. Really badly.

“How long have you been dating exactly?” Carlisle pressed with his eyebrow raised in my general direction.

I cleared my throat. “Almost three weeks. Not long,” I mumble, wondering what the hell was taking Edward so long. I had never felt more uncomfortable in my life. “Please feel free to help yourself. Can I get you anything from the kitchen?”

“No, thank you,” he said, not looking at me. It was obvious I was being dismissed. I sighed and walked back towards the kitchen, leaning against one of the counters. My head hurt, as did my side, and suddenly I wasn’t hungry at all. All I wanted to do was take a nap and perhaps have a good cry.

“Hey, are you okay?” Edward questioned as he came to search for me. “You look kind of pale.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just have a bit of a headache. Um, where do you keep the aspirin?” I asked, pulling out a little cup for water. I filled it from the tap and slurped it down quickly before filling it up again. It did nothing to help, but I guess I shouldn’t have expected it to.

“Why don’t you go sit down and get started while I get you something for your head?” He offered sweetly, rubbing his hands over my shoulders gently again. “A meal would do you good.”

“Yeah, probably,” I lied. A bottle of liquor would have doubtlessly done me better. He led me into the dining room, pulling out my normal chair for me. I thanked him politely, setting my cup down beside my full glass of red wine.

“I’ll be right back,” he informed his father as I looked down at the table. I really, really, didn’t feel hungry. But, I knew I had to eat something if anything else to make Edward feel better. So, I put a small pile of spaghetti onto my plate with a meatball and a little sauce, along with a handful of salad.

If someone could cut noodles in annoyance, I think Mr. Cullen was doing just that. Like my very presence was bothering him. I felt my skin heat in shame.

When he came back, Edward placed the pills in my palm before pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “Here you go, love. Oh my, your cheeks are flushed. Are you not feeling well? Do you have a fever?” Lovingly, he brushed his knuckles over my jaw.

“I’m fine,” I murmured before popping the tablets into my mouth and swallowing hard. If I had any intelligence, I would have feigned illness and left, but he had asked me to stay.

We spent the first five minutes at the table eating in silence. I could tell it was bothering Edward, who kept stealing glances over at his father from underneath his thick eyelashes. Finally, he smiled at me reassuringly, deciding to start a conversation himself. “This is amazing. Do you like it? Bella is an excellent cook.”

“I’ve had better. I’ve had worse.” He shrugged. His son’s eyes went wide in surprise at his response. My cheeks turned redder, and I stole a big sip of wine. It wasn’t exactly a compliment or an insult. It was the way he said it that was more bothersome.

“Dad,” my boyfriend muttered under his breath. “What has gotten into you?”

His nose lifted in the air slightly, not looking at either of us. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Carlisle responded, a frown deeply etched onto his face. He would have been so handsome otherwise. I could see so much of Edward in him, but not like this. Not with how he was acting. “I’d like more wine, Ms. Swan.”

“Okay.” I stood up and went to get another bottle from the kitchen.

“What are you doing? No, sit down, please. You’re not our waitress. And that was extremely rude. If he wants to ask for another drink, he should do so politely.” He looked directly at his father, who showed no emotion. I froze in my position, not sure what to do. “Please, Bella. Sit.”

I did what he asked, feeling like my head would crack open as the blood buzzed in my ears. The two men stared at each other for a long time, no words coming from either. Finally, I just swallowed and stood up with my barely half-empty plate. “I’m done. I’m going to go do the dishes.”

Neither of them broke the staring contest to acknowledge my remarks. It was a little creepy, to be honest. Like they were having some sort of silent conversation. When I got to the kitchen, I ran to the fridge to pull out a half-drank opened bottle of white wine and took a swig directly from it before quickly putting it away. Laying my head against the cold stainless steel, I wondered where the pleasant evening I had planned had gone.

I went to the sink and worked on the dishes, trying to keep my mind off the fact Edward’s father hated me, and I knew him all of... what? An hour? I think it was a shock to my boyfriend too. Apparently, he didn’t normally act like that. So, it must have been something personally against me.

When every dish was in the washer, I realized I had to go out there and get the food. But before I could enter the dining room, I heard Edward talking in a low and rather frightening growl. “No. I won’t calm down. This is unacceptable. You can’t show up at my door without a single warning like I’m just one of your managers you have to scare into line. You are being so rude to not only me but to Bella on so many levels. What the hell has gotten into you?” He demanded, slamming his fist down on the table so that the silverware rattled.

“I have no idea what you’re referring to.”

He scoffed. “Bullshit. Why are you being so unpleasant to my girlfriend?” He pushed, his voice a harsh whisper still. “You’ve just met her. Do you honestly think this is the impression of our family I wanted to give her? I realize you’ve been on a plane for a few hours, but that doesn’t give you the right to be a pompous ass to her or to me.”

“Watch your language,” Carlisle snapped. “My mood has nothing to do with my flight.”

I peeked into the room so they couldn’t see me. I didn’t want to get in the middle of what was happening.

“Ah, so you realize you have a bad attitude.” Edward rolled his eyes as he pushed his half-eaten plate away from him.

His father leaned in as he crossed his arms. “The help? You’re dating the cook? Are you insane? She’s a gold digger. And how old is she, anyway? She’s a child!” Carlisle threw right back, his coolness all gone.

My boyfriend’s face was horrified, his mouth hanging open. “Seriously? The help? Bella isn’t ‘the help,’ and so what if she was? It makes no difference. And she’s not a gold digger. How can you assume that?! You’ve just met her! By the way, she’s twenty-seven. Hardly a child.”

“She doesn’t dress like an adult,” he scoffed. “And I can already tell she came to you for money-”

He threw his hands up. “Ah, no! It’s not like that! I offered her the job. This wasn’t- Jesus, I’m an adult. I can determine when someone is using me. I’m the one who-” He grunted in frustration. “Bella gets flustered and tries to buy dessert when I take her to dinner! She tried to quit when we… when we started dating. You’re acting insane! This is so unlike you,” he hissed the last word. “What the hell is the matter with you?”

“What about Jane? Heidi?” The man said instead of answering. It was a classic deflection.

“I was in college! That was over ten years ago, dammit! When are you going to let that go? Yes, I realize I was thinking with my penis, and they just wanted cash, but I was a teenager. It’s hardly like I’ve made the same mistake since then.” He sat back and glared at him. “You’ve never given Emmett shit for the thousands of girls he fucks! Honestly, I was really excited for you to meet her. She’s an amazing person! And then you go act like an ass.”

He didn’t normally curse excessively, so when he did, I knew he was furious. It made me shrink away at his infuriated words.

Carlisle stood up quickly, nearly knocking the chair over. Silently, I watched from my hidden spot along the wall as he defended me. I felt the tears roll down my cheeks as sadness and frustration coursed through me.

“Don’t you think if I could control the women he goes around with, I would? Honestly, Edward. I thought you were smarter than to date a girl that-”

“Shut up. First, she’s not a girl. She is a brilliant woman, and you will not speak badly about her. You don’t know her. You didn’t even give her a chance. Second, control him? So, what? You can manipulate me? Is that it? Am I your puppet? Is that why you showed up at my doorstep unannounced? To see me dance?”

“That’s not what I meant at all!” Carlisle bristled, and I could practically feel the roll of his eyes.

I could have slapped the sass right off his face.

“You need to find a hotel. You’re not welcome in my home if you’re going to act like this. We will keep this trip strictly business,” he stated, his voice colder than I had ever heard it before.

“Edward Cullen, get back here! We are not done!” He shouted at his back as he walked away.

He stopped, his spine straight. Slowly, he turned. “Masen. My name is Masen, and don’t you forget it!” He growled, his fist clenched tightly. With that, he swept out of the room.

I fled to the kitchen, hoping to get my tears to stop before I found Edward. I didn’t want him to know I had heard that whole exchange. It was sweet that he defended me as he had, but I didn’t want to rip him and his family apart. That was the last thing I wanted. I wanted, no, needed, them to like me. I realized that.

When my eyes were almost dry, I went to the dining room to pick up the plates and food. Mr. Cullen was still sitting there, drinking out of Edward’s glass.

I hoped I could turn around and go back into the kitchen again, but he spoke in a voice so dead, it was chilling. “I’m done with my plate. You can take it away.”

I don’t know what snapped inside of me. I wasn’t sure what bothered me so much about what he said or how he said it, but it did. Suddenly, the approval of a person I had just met didn’t matter to me in the least. Especially when he had been so disrespectful to his son.

“You can take your own damn plate into the kitchen. As Edward said, I’m not your waitress, and if I were, I would have dumped your spaghetti into your lap. You have no right to talk to me that way, and you have no right to speak to him the way you are, either. You cannot just show up at someone’s home and act like a giant dick. Seriously, what the hell did I do to you to make you hate me automatically, huh? I’m sorry I’m not dressed in Armani or whatever to make dinner. I don’t get dressed in the morning for you. And I don’t want your son’s money. I don’t want his cars or his house. I want him because he’s a good man. Also, he is no puppet. You know, he talked about you like you were something amazing. This great guy with a kind spirit. But from what I can tell, you are nothing more than a passive-aggressive, heartless, bitter, old bastard.”

His spine remained bone stiff throughout my entire rant and as silent as the grave. It only pissed me off further that he didn’t react at all. When all the emotion whooshed out of me, I flipped off the back of his head as he looked away, not giving a damn about the food. I had to get out of there, or I would explode. Without a single glance back, I went to get my purse and jacket from the foyer before sending a quick text to Seth. I waited the five minutes it took for him to get there outside in the pouring rain.

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Thanks to Gina for proofreading!

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