TUiB:4- Scarlet Begonias

The characters and story of Twilight lived in Stephenie Meyer's head long before I came along and read it. They belong to her. This story however, has lived in my head long before you read it and it belongs to me. I don't intend any copyright infringement and you better not either.

All the HHDs in the world to KatieTV for the pre-reading and the constant pimping. Makes me want to, oh I don't know, tell everyone to go check out her fic My Indentured Love. Love to SugarTits just for being her. I would love to tawk to you over cawfee anytime. And a special Happy Birthday to Buhbeesgirl! Your little par-tay last night is what gave me the sleep deprived creativity flow to finish this today.

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We'll I ain't never been right as I ain't never been wrong
As everything works out the way it does in this song
Cause once in a while you get shown in the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right

~~Scarlet Begonias, Sublime

~~~~~~~

~~BPOV~~

"So, you're all checked in, hon. You're over in Scarlet Begonia, that's right here," she said circling an area on the map she just handed me. "We don't do room numbers here. All the cabins are named for a flower. Your roommate's already here, she's got one of the keys here is the other. Now this," she handed me another paper with the key, "is our little daily newsletter telling you what's being served at what time and where and all the other other goings on. You'll get one under your door each morning. And I've been instructed to send you into the living room to check in with the conference folks before you head to your room."

"Okay, thank you. And the living room is...?"

"Just straight through the foyer you can't miss it. When you're ready to go to your room come on back out here and one of our boys will take you down in the golf cart."

I thanked her again and rolled my suitcase across the wide open room towards a massive fire place surrounded by the kind of furniture that looked like it'd swallow you whole the second you sank into it. There were walls of bookshelves and small tables and chairs tucked together some with game boards on top waiting to be played. Just at the entrance was a long skirted table where two women sat with a sign reading "Northern California's Writers Conference Check In." Obviously I was in the right place.

"Welcome! You need your registration packet? Name?"

"Isabella Black, oh I mean Swan, sorry it's under Swan." When I first booked the trip online I used my maiden name and Charlie's address for the contact information. I didn't want a paper trail in case I decided not to ask Jake if I could go. Charlie had called me when the packet came and I kept meaning to contact them and change it but I forgot.

"No problem. I just saw your packet when I checked in Randall Stevens...Swan, Swan," she said flipping through the folders in front of her. "Oh, here it is! Okay, sign off right there that you've arrived. Here's an updated schedule for you that shows any changes since registration as well as the location of your classes. We've added several new events so make sure to look it over. Your name tag and lanyard is in there too. Make sure you wear that pretty much all the time. It's what identifies you as belonging since we have the entire resort reserved, anyone that doesn't have one of those shouldn't be here. All of the staff wear red lanyards and yours are black," she pulled at the name tag necklace around her, "so if you need something or have any questions just find someone in red." She finished her spiel smiling up at me and pulling off her reading glasses.

"Great, thanks." I walked from the table and saw Garrett waiting for me. "Hey, you didn't have to wait for me."

"You look a little overwhelmed. Thought I could at least get you delivered to your room. Where you at?" He plucked the circled map from my hand. "Oh you're in English Garden. I'm over here in the Southerns, Magnolia." He tapped on the area of the map to the south of us.

"Unique concept." I said.

He nodded and motioned to a young guy in shorts and a light green polo shirt. "This place is like no other. They've done a good job creating their own little world here. They used to move this conference around each year but when they found this place, oh five or so years ago, they've never left. The center loves us, they tell us it's their favorite conference of the year. "

"Yes, sir?" said the polo shirted boy.

"She's headed to Scarlet Begonia and I'm over in Magnolia."

"Of course, here let me get those bags." He reached out for our luggage and I followed Garrett onto the waiting golf cart.

The cart bounced a little as it pushed off from the curb and we started down the narrow road flanked by tall eucalyptus trees, reaching cypresses, and crawling vines. The main house was perched on a cliff by the ocean and there was a wide yard and grassy areas filled with benches and picnic tables for enjoying the view. We turned into the forestry and little cedar cabins squatted every few hundred feet, all facing towards the water.

"Here you are. I'll catch you at the Welcome Reception," he said as the cart pulled up and stopped at my cabin. I told him goodbye and followed the golf cart driving bell hop to the door. It was open so I tucked my key in my pocket.

"Hello?" I called out into the room. There was a small sitting area just as I walked in with a fireplace in the corner. Along the back back wall were cabinets and a kitchenette. There were doors on both sides of the room and a head peaked out of the one on the left.

"Hey. Hold up, I was just changing. Your room is over there," the head had an arm that pointed to the door directly across, "I'll be out in just a minute."

I maneuvered my bag around a love seat and through the door to a tiny but cozy room. There was a deep red comforter and mountain of pillows on the bed. Prints of flowers hung on the walls and an antique mirror was over a small dresser. This wasn't typical hotel furnishings. I felt like I was at a guest room in a close friend's home. I lifted my bag onto the bed and headed back to the living room.

I lowered myself to the chair facing the window to gaze at the ocean. It was the same ocean as in La Push, just a thousand plus miles of shore between us, but it seemed brighter here, louder almost, and more alive. It was another ocean.

A large body in a flowing dress swished in front me she bent down to the table where a burning bundle of a sweet smelling plant lay in an ash tray. She picked it up, blew a little on the embers and waved it around me.

"Sage for purification. Smudging frees up the positive energy and clears out the bad. I always cleanse a new space." She frowned a little as she moved the bundle from the right to left across my chest. "You're Isabella? Zafrina Romance, welcome to the herd."

She continued moving the sage around me with a hint of concern in her eyes before dropping it back onto the ash tray on the table. It was by far the strangest greeting I'd ever received.

"Bella. And thank you. But why were you doing it to me?"

"Sage can purify an aura of a body as well as a dwelling. I just cleared out some of that gunk honey, that's all. Tell me how you feel." She leaned back on the couch propping her bare feet up on the table. She had rings on her toes and a tattoo near her instep.

Tell her how I felt, well slightly creeped out for one, but oddly enough a little lighter. Like she cured a headache I didn't know I had. "Relaxed, I feel relaxed."

Zafrina scratched at her knee and smiled. "Exactly," she said as though it made sense. "So Bella-Bella. What brings you into the madness?"

"I don't know what you mean."

Her smile widened showing off large shiny teeth beneath her full lips. "The madness that is creating words on a page from the voices in your head. How did you find yourself here?"

"By accident."

"In life, there are no accidents."

"I like that." I thought over the meaning in my head. "When I found this online it did feel like I was meant to."

"Of course you were. We're all destined for something more, Bella. It's just that most of us don't bother trying to find out what that is."

"You're an interesting bird, aren't you?" I cocked my head to the left and took in her wrinkle-less face.

She nodded unfazed by my bluntness, "It's the wisdom of the crone. I spent a lot of years learning what I know now." She examined me again and spoke, "I took you for a maiden but you're a mother aren't you? This is your season." As she spoke she touched her tattoo of a circle flanked by two crescents. "Your face is deceiving. So young. I'm sure there are many that would want to skin you and wear it."

And we're back to creeped out. "Uh..."

She chuckled to herself, "You don't see it Bella but it's there. So what do you think of of Scarlet Begonia? It's my favorite I request it every year."

"I love it," I breathed, " You stay in this one every year?'

"I do. We all have our favorites. I always ask for a roommate since the double occupancy rate is so much lower. Funny enough, I get a new one each time. I'd be hurt if I'd liked any of them."

"Oh. Well I guess the bar isn't set very high for me is it?"

She laughed from her belly. "You've already surpassed it by a mile."

~~~~~~~

I was showered and changed and holding my breath. I wanted to be snuggled deep within that sea of pillows listening to the ocean while I read a book but Zafrina put the kibosh on that short lived fantasy. She insisted that skipping the Welcome Reception was not an option so here I was entering a party of small-talking strangers. Cue the soundtrack to my own personal nightmare.

I smiled and nodded as she introduced me, taking notice of the bar in the corner of the room. As soon as I had an opening, I excused myself towards it. I took my free beer and tried to ignore the feeling that I was being stared at. When I turned around, Zafrina wasn't where I left her and I was alone. Sipping my beer I felt my nose tickle. I inhaled again and closed my eyes just for a moment. It was the scent that accosted me in the lobby. The smell of musk and soap mixed into perfection. When my eyes opened I was looking right at the source and he was looking at me.

He stood half way across the room from me and there was no reason I should have been able to smell him from here. I could almost see a wafting tendril of scent stretching from him to me. It beckoned me, called me over, invited me in.

I looked down at my hands and realized my fingers were pressing into the glass bottle with too much force. If I really thought I could, I might have shattered it in my hand. I looked back to the scent and he was still watching me with steady eyes and an expression I couldn't read. He tipped his beer back, keeping one eye on me and I saw someone motion in my peripheral vision.

"Bella, come here doll!" Garrett opened his arm to me and waved his hand. He was standing with a large group including Mr. Can't Keep My Eyes to Myself. "Guys this is my new pup. I found her at the airport all scared and alone. I'm going to keep her, she's housebroken and everything."

The group laughed and I shook waiting hands forgetting each name as they were given. There was only one name I wanted to know. Even though I wasn't looking at him, I knew he was looking at me. I could feel him. Each look was like having a million tiny fingertips shooting from his eyes and pressing into my skin. They hovered on my cheekbones, slid down my neck and landed briefly on my chest before going to my lips. He eye touched my lips so long and hard they ached like I'd spent a week outside without Chapstick. I slipped my tongue out to wet them and I'll be damned if his gaze didn't cause my right knee to buckle.

And then, I was in front of him, and Garrett was introducing us and I had no choice but to look at him. Big mistake. Big. Huge. From thirty feet away I knew he was attractive but I wasn't noticing the details. With less than three feet between us I was subjected to the perfection of his angular face, the silky wave of his golden hair, and the deepness of the green eyes that would not stop touching me. I dropped my eyes from his to find a moment to breathe and smiled at his dark cuffed Levis and casual white shirt. He was rocking his own style from the top of his pompadour head to the bottom of his black boots.

Garrett spoke again but I was rendered deaf under his stare. I think the introduction was over and I was meant do something that appeared normal like shake his hand or say hello. I looked to his hand and the fingers twitched. I knew he was was looking at my hand too because my fingers were burning. Neither us moved our hands out to each other. We knew better. I'd have to settle for hello, hoping I wasn't mute also.

"It's nice to meet you," I stumbled out. I uncrossed my left arm from across my chest and pushed my hand into my hair. He looked down to my name tag and I smiled realizing he hadn't been listening either.

"The pleasure is mine. Isabella."

I'm pretty sure that's when I became a puddle on the floor. I thought he could burn through my skin with his eyes. Little did I know, his voice could evaporate me.

"You're from Forks?" He said it like he recognized the name and not like he was making conversation. His surprised eyes were on my name tag. I could still feel him through the plastic.

"You've heard of it?"

He laughed. "You could say that. My parents, they live there."

"Oh shut up. That's a good line. Won't work on me. Do your research, my town only has a few thousand people and if you were from there I'd know it."

He smirked, "It's not a line. I didn't say I was from there there. They live there."

"Okay then. Who are your parents?" I peered at his name tag but it was twisted and the words were turned in and not facing out towards me.

"Carlisle and Esme Cullen." He took another swig of beer as my hand shot out to flip his tag. My fingertips grazed the muscles of his abdomen and he recoiled in as though I had tickled him and he choked on his beer.

Edward Cullen, West Hollywood, CA read his tag. He wasn't lying.

"Small freaking world. I know Dr. Cullen. I've made his acquaintance many a time in the hospital ER. I thought he only had two kids. The little pixie and the linebacker."

"My sister and brother, Alice and Emmett."

"Yeah, I met them once at a charity event for the children's center. Seen them around during holidays and stuff. How is it that I've never seen you?" I prayed that didn't sound as obsessive as it did in my head.

"Never had much reason to go," he said like it explained anything.

His eyes dipped into mine and held me there lost in this bubble we'd created around us. His words echoed in my head, "never had much reason to go," and I heard the word that was left unsaid, before.

~~~~~~~

It was morning and I was in my second class of the week. I had an hour and and a half in here then lunch and the next hour and a half class. As fascinating as I was finding the lecture, all my thoughts were on him. Edward.

We had, wisely, kept our distance after the most intense meeting I've ever had. He drifted back to Garrett and the gang of hoodlums he was swapping stories with. Zafrina found me and tucked me back under her wing introducing me to authors, organizers, and fellow attendees. She knew everybody and I should have been grateful and interested but I was consumed, my mind elsewhere. Edward.

I'd fallen into my bed using at least ten pillows around my body so the bed seemed less empty. I tossed and turned all night in my little nest plagued with the hottest dreams I didn't even know my mind was capable of creating. When I woke, the pillow I'd tucked between my legs was damp and I was mortified. I was flushed and hot and sticky and entirely too giddy when I discovered my shower had a massaging head. It took all of two minutes remembering the eye touch and the way his voice said my name before I was quaking against the wall and whispering his. Edward.

You would think that would have been enough, that I would have worked him from my system so to speak. But no, every time the door opened at the beginning of my classes I watched as each person trickled in and found a seat. I wanted it to be him every time but it wasn't. Edward.

I met Zafrina for lunch in the dining room and pretended I wasn't looking around the room for him. The level of my pathetic-ness was inching higher by the minute. I stabbed at my salad and forced myself to listen to my roommate. We were discussing our afternoon classes. You know, when I'd have another chance to possibly see him. Edward.

"Hey Z? What does this mean?" I pushed my schedule across the table to her and tapped on my next class.

"Finding Your Voice; a workshop dedicated to the art of discovering your unique voice as a writer. I think it's pretty self-explanatory."

"Yes thank you. I actually am not an idiot. I meant this," I said tapping again where it listed the instructor's name."

"T.B.D., to be determined. Ahh, yes I heard about that. Afton what's-his-name was supposed to do that course. Dropped out last minute. I don't know who took it over. I hope someone good for your sake. It's invaluable to take when you're starting out."

"Hmmm. Yeah me too. I was looking forward to this one the most. Speaking of, it's time to go."

We gathered our belongings and headed to conference rooms on opposite sides of the building. I slid into a chair in the front vowing I'd pay more attention this time. I'd be lying if I said I didn't still look for him each time the door opened. When all the seats were full I swallowed my disappointment and focused on the empty presenters' table in front of me. Not this one, maybe next time. Edward.

My nose knew it before the rest of me did. The door opened and it cried. I swear to the Dalai Lama, it cried. His scent was here and as he strutted into the room, so was his eye touch. His gate slowed as he eyed me in the front row. He cleared his throat and rubbed at the back of his neck. I wondered where he would sit. I'd offer him my lap if it didn't seem a tad presumptuous. Shit, I'd give him my seat and sit on the floor. I was that happy he was in my class. Edward.

He let go of me and looked around the room clearing his throat again. He stepped towards the front table, and to my confusion, set his bag on top.

"Good afternoon. I am the last minute replacement speaker for this seminar. You may know me better as E.A. Cullen, author of Vampires after Midnight which is now becoming the Bleeding Hearts series. But you can call me Edward."

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~~I'd love reviews more than you'd love for Edward to eye touch you all night~~