Episode Seventy-nine: Restless

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Next: Episode 80

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Episode Seventy-nine: Restless 

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Edward and I went to bed rather early after our wonderfully relaxing day together. I think we both needed it. Everything had been so hectic for so long. The unexpectedness of our time made it even better somehow.  He had his fun, and I had mine. After dinner, we worked in his office, both editing for a long time. He had his videos, and I had my pictures. I decided that I wasn't going to show him his photographs until I was entirely done with them. He had actually taken close to a thousand in a very short amount of time.   

I woke up just before dawn all alone in our big bed. It confused me at first, blindly searching the sheets until I opened my eyes. The bathroom door was opened, and it was dark. Pushing myself up, I looked around to see if he was in the room. I could see out towards the pool, and he wasn't sitting out smoking as he sometimes did when he couldn't sleep. I began to worry about him.   

Quietly, I walked through the house to find him. It didn’t take very long. He was in his office, sitting in just his boxers. His headphones were over his ears as he focused hard on the screen. His hair stuck up all around it, long enough to curl around the band in places. The studio wanted him to grow it out so they could style it for the movie. Edward was staring pensively, his chin on his knuckles, as he adjusted some settings to make the video a little brighter. 

Carefully, I moved my hands over his shoulders. I didn’t want to scare him. Leaning over, I kissed his cheek lightly. My wild curls fell over us.  

"Have you slept any?" I asked curiously. His hand reached up and played with my hair almost automatically. 

When I looked up, I realized that he was editing a video from Australia. Jasper was on the screen with him, laughing. I pressed my temple to his own, realizing why he was awake. I kissed it gently. It was probably late enough that our boyfriend was in bed, but I wondered if they had talked any. I couldn’t imagine how much he missed him.  

"Yeah, I slept pretty hard, but I woke up a couple of hours ago, and I didn't want to bother you." He moved the headphones to his neck before leaning back in his chair. Edward turned his head to the side and lightly kissed me in return. "What are you doing up, lovely?" 

I sort of shrugged in answer. Edward turned his chair and pulled me so that I was sitting on his lap. I shook my head a little, biting my lip as I dragged my fingers over his chest. I didn't look at him but at my hand. 

"Just anxious, I suppose. I'll be fine."  

“What are you anxious about?”

I looked away for a moment. “This thing with Zafrina. I know it makes sense for what we’re planning to do. The things you want to achieve. Especially if we really do work together like you want to, in the future. Books and shows and-  It just seems so unreal. Yesterday you said all these wonderful things. Stuff that I wanted to hear fifteen years ago when I couldn’t get enough attention or love and affection.” I stopped, ashamed of what I was in the past. “But now, I feel so embarrassed for wanting the spotlight.”

He pulled back to look at me curiously. “Why?”

“Because I went about it the wrong way and obviously I wasn’t successful at it. It was clearly a very humbling experience for me. And now this. It’s just all so unbelievable,” I finished lamely, glancing up at him. “I never imagined…” I trailed off, shaking my head and swallowing the lump in my throat. 

"Which part?" He asked inquisitively. Edward pushed my hair out of my eyes very gently, combing it behind my ear.   

"All of it," I laughed, smiling slightly up at him before glancing down at the hand in my lap. I spun the loose-fitting ring that he had gotten me for Christmas around my finger absently. "The star part especially. I love you, but you are wildly biased." 

He laughed as well, but then he nodded. “Yeah, you know what? I am. I really fucking am. And I always will be, but you will never see what I do. I know that, no matter how many times I try to hold up a mirror. But there is something that I need you to understand. To me, you just didn’t hang the moon… You are the moon. You are my moon. You are my sun. You are my bright little star and the whole damn solar system, too. And you are going to make us both so much fucking money, baby.”

I couldn’t help but giggle at his dramatics, looking away again as I flushed brightly. “Mm, okay. Honestly, I don’t think we really need to worry about that. At least, you don’t. You’re almost a Disney Prince at this point.”

Edward bit his lip for a moment and shrugged. "That's true. But if I can help you make your first couple of million on your own, maybe you won't worry about this money thing so much. It obviously scares you. If you feel like we’re on equal ground, it won’t matter anymore.”

“Millions?” I teased. 

“Hey, you’re the one that said five million ain’t what it used to be,” he interjected.

“I guess so.”

 He continued on, “I don't think it'll take too long. The offer from Nestle is pretty fucking sweet, pun intended, and it's just the beginning.” I giggled again at his silliness, making him genuinely smile. “Bella, in five years, I see at least two cookbooks and a network cooking show all your own. Nothing to do with me. We'll probably start working on the first book next year. Summer to be out around the Christmas season, maybe. That’s probably the best time to release something like that. And since you're already taking such wonderful pictures of all the food as you go, it's just a matter of organizing the recipes. For the first book, at least. We may want to get more focused on the next one." 

“You’re serious,” I stated softly. He nodded. “Really?” His grin grew as he nodded again.  

“This is how you ended up making it to Jupiter,” I smiled as I smoothed my hand over his jaw and brought him into a slow and lingering kiss. He tasted ever so slightly of chocolate, probably his late-night snack. “I love how you think so big about everything. Do you even know that limits exist?”

“I do, but I ignored them.” He chuckled a little. “Jasper calls that being a dramatic bitch.”

I laughed as I very clearly imagined him saying it in his funny, purposefully silly, high pitched voice. Waffling my head from side to side, I smiled. “Okay, sometimes. Not the bitch part. Most of the time. Only when it comes to spicy food. And tattoos,” I teased lightly. 

"Now see here," he began in a laugh as he leaned in, pulling me to him at the same time in for another lovely kiss. At first, he was smiling against my lips, but then it became deeper and more intense. "Do you want to go back to bed for a while?" He asked when he finally pulled away.

“I’m really awake. I don’t know if I could fall back asleep,” I admitted. 

"What would you like to do, then?" 

I bit my lip as I considered it. There were probably a dozen things I could be doing, but all I could think about was the meeting and wanting it to go well. “Zafrina is coming over mid-morning. I could make a really nice breakfast to serve to her. And if I’m going to make a fancy meal, you might as well film it. We could get some videos done early. We were going to have all that camera equipment out anyway. Might as well give you some more backup stuff.”

He let out a heavy and happy sigh. Edward was practically glowing, his smile bright. “Yeah, we could do that. What are you thinking about making?”

Humming, I leaned against him, my back to his chest. "I can't decide between sweet or savory. I was thinking blueberry rolls with cream cheese frosting or roasted asparagus, mushrooms, and grape tomatoes with baked eggs again and toast. Also, I was going to make a strawberry kiwi salad in a mojito syrup, because I know how much you like your fruit. All of it here in California is so good, and I can't get enough."   

“Oh, that all sounds amazing,” he mumbled as he put his chin on my shoulder. Both of his arms wrapped around me tightly. “I don’t know what to tell you. They both sound good. With some bacon on the side.”

I quickly nodded in agreement. “I could do both. And we could make four videos before she even gets here. The rolls, the egg bake, the salad, and we could do a quick one on how to make oven-cooked bacon since we have such lovely thick stuff from the farmer’s market. Then for tonight, I was going to make lasagna, breadsticks, and salad with peach tea. And chocolate custard for dessert with fresh whipped cream. So, how many videos is that altogether?” I began to count my fingers, thinking out loud. “One for the tomato sauce, then the lasagna itself, the bread, the salad dressing, custard, and the bourbon whipped cream, too. So, like, ten? That seems like a productive day without leaving the house.”

Edward quickly squeezed my waist, turning his face slightly to the side to press a tender kiss to my cheek. I brought my hand up to his, closing my eyes as I savored his attention.   

"Yesterday, when I said that I was excited to work with you, this is what I meant.”

“I love doing this. I’m so glad I get to.”

“Me too,” he said in a playfully pleasant voice. “So, why don't we grab a quick shower, and you can get even prettier while I'll set up the cameras."

“Want me to fill in your eyebrows?” I teased. 

He grinned. “Yeah, that would be great actually.” 

Together we went into the bedroom. The sun was just beginning to glow red hot over the mountains, setting everything on fire with golden light. I stopped to look at it, feeling almost awestruck. Edward wrapped his arms around me from behind and placed his chin on the top of my head. I pulled them around me tighter.  

“It’s so beautiful,” I breathed. “I’m so happy we live here. I feel so lucky.” 

I felt him nod in agreement. “Every day here with you is a gift.”

I giggled softly. “You’re being extra charming this morning.”

"I try," he teased before pausing. "Can I take a picture of you right now?" He asked, almost timidly. "It's such a lovely background. It can just be on the phone." 

“Sure,” I smiled in response. “But I want one with you, too.”

“Okay,” he grinned cheerfully. 

Instead of giving me directions, he quickly led me over to the bed and had me sit on my knees in the very middle. I was wearing the beautiful silky red nightgown that I had gotten when we first started dating. The first time I wore it was the night that he sold his script to Disney, along with the now-notorious pink Target lingerie. Edward playfully fluffed up my curls as he stole kisses with a smile. Once again, he was in a terrific mood, and it washed over me like the sunshine that poured from the window.  

He took several pictures with his phone of me from different angles, all with the mountains as the backdrop. Looking away or playing with my hair. He purposefully made me laugh to get shots of that. Finally, he crawled onto the mattress. Edward settled behind me so he could hide his face in my curls with the sun rising perfectly in the background. He lifted the camera above us, taking several more shots with his extended arm.  

Giggling, I moved my hair to the side to kiss him. I heard the camera going the entire time. His other arm wrapped around my waist, hugging me to his toned body. It felt amazing.  

"Can I post a couple?" He asked in my ear with an innocent smile. "You look amazing, and everything is covered." 

I bit my lip and only thought about it for a second. “Of course. But first...” I took off my nightgown and turned to face him on my knees, kissing his cheek. “Why don’t you take a picture or two for Jasper? Give him something nice to wake up to.”

Edward chuckled happily, his big hand sliding up my back as he brought me closer to him. I turned my face to the side more as I kissed his ear. Gently, I tugged on it, making him moan. I heard him take several pictures as I did. I could only imagine the scene of my bare light brown sun-freckled back with my black curls everywhere as I kissed our shared love, his long pale fingers standing out against my skin. All while the sunrise glowed in the background. 

He hummed in pleasure, finally dropping the phone to the side so that he could kiss me properly. Fisting my hair with one and grabbing a whole handful of my ass in the other, Edward kissed me savagely for several minutes.  

“Come on, handsome. Let’s go fool around in the shower before we get to work,” I said breathlessly as I finally pulled away from him. 

"This day has just started, and it just keeps getting better and better," he teased as he pulled me off the bed. Dramatically, he threw me over his shoulder. He loved that he had the ability to just toss me around like a rag doll. I didn't hate it, either. It gave me the chance to grab his gorgeous ass. "And better." I gripped tighter. "And better." I giggled, slipping my hands down the back of his boxers. "Oh! And better," he said in a cheesy voice.  

Carefully, I wiggled my butt, kicking one of my legs up. “Wait until you see what I do to you in the shower.”

Edward smacked my ass playfully. “And better…”

It was going to be a fun day.  

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