Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

The Road Back

By Mama4Dukes

Chapter 08:

By Sunday, Jasper was collapsed face down on his bed, wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into. For this week, he basically tailed Paul or Bella to learn the ins and outs of his job. Paul still had no experience in litigation yet. Bella told Jasper, point-blank, that it would be his job to teach Paul courtroom strategies. “Oh, and by the way, you’ll be the prosecutor for all the traffic cases next Tuesday. I’ll be in Port Angeles all day.” Talk about trial by fire!

“Jasper, honey, shouldn’t you wake up and have breakfast?” Charlotte Whitlock walked into his room.

“Sure, Mom. I’ll be right out.”

He got up, splashed some water on his face, and walked to the dining table.

“Long week at work?” Peter asked.

“Yeah, Bella is a slave-driver.”

“I heard that about her, but I also heard she’s fair. She’s a lot like Charlie. How do you like your new job so far?”

“I enjoy what I’m doing. It’s a lot more work than I’m used to.” Jasper shook his head. “I didn’t realize we had so many idiots residing in Clallam County.”

Peter let out a full belly laugh. “That’s what Charlie always says. Are you sick of seeing him yet?”

“I had no idea I’d be seeing so much of him, and I didn’t realize how hard the Chief of Police worked.” He looked earnestly at his parents. “I owe you both an apology. When I initially came home, you took me in after I, for the most part, ignored you for seven years. It’s sad to say, but I was embarrassed about my roots, especially after seeing Alice’s lifestyle. I was seduced by the glitz and the glamour and developed a chip on my shoulder. I thought I was better than everyone in Forks until I realized that having a four-year degree or even a law degree is no big deal.

By my previous thinking, someone like Bella, with two Ivy League degrees, should have been living the high life. Instead, she works as a Prosecuting Attorney, drives a ten-year-old Toyota Tacoma, and lives with her parents. When you need help at the gas station, out of the goodness of her heart, she helps.

And then there’s Paul Lahote. He went to college part-time and finally started law school after his wife got her master’s degree and established herself as a teacher. I didn’t have to do that. You both paid for my undergraduate education at a private college, no less, and even helped pay for my housing costs when I went to law school. Dad, a humble mechanic, and Mom, a bakery owner. Neither of you is college-educated, but you are successful business owners in Forks. And I was arrogant enough to look down on you and think I was better than you. Instead, I should have appreciated you and honored you for everything you’ve done for me-just like my friends did when you were in the accident. Bella told me that they were taking time out of their schedules to keep the service station open while you recuperated. My friends are just better people than I am.” Jasper ended his monologue with tears in his eyes.

“They aren’t better than you are, Jasper. The fact that you’re able to admit your mistakes is a mark of a good man.” Peter Whitlock stood up and drew Jasper into his strong arms. “We love you unconditionally. I know the road back was a hard lesson, but you stepped up to the challenge and proved yourself worthy of being a Whitlock. I’m proud of you. I’m proud of everything you’ve accomplished. And now that you’ve got your balls back, let’s eat.”

They sat back down at the table, and his mother turned to him with a severe expression. “Jasper, honey, your father has it wrong. Our love is conditional. If you dare get back together with that Alice Brandon again, I will personally cut your balls off.”

“Oh, Mom, you don’t have to worry about that. I will never get back together with her again.”

---

Six months later, Jasper had settled in nicely to his new career. The office, though busy, was a pleasant place to work. He, especially, enjoyed working with his team. Bella and Paul were friendly and easy to work with. Professionally, he won the Employee of the Month Award after he covered for several of his co-workers when the flu ran rampant in the office.

In his personal life, he had gone out on a few dates. As a favor to Sam, he let Leah set him up with her cousin Emily Young. It turned out to be a huge mistake. She was clingy from the onset, and one date was enough, especially after she showed up to his office with a plate of muffins the next day. He was the laughing stock of the office after that. Paul even gave him a magnet shaped like a muffin.

After Emily, he asked one of his former classmates, Angela Weber, out on a date. She was very nice, but they simply didn’t click. Their interests didn’t align at all. Word around town was that she was now dating Ben Cheney, another classmate.

Following the muffin lady, one of the attorneys, Maria Newborne from the Port Angeles office, asked him out on a date. She was a junior prosecuting attorney out of Texas, and since they had that commonality, Jasper was hopeful they might do well together. She lived in Port Angeles, so he arranged to meet her at a little Italian restaurant called Bella Italia. He arrived at the restaurant and found her seated at two tables.

“Hey, Maria, it’s good to see you,” Jasper greeted.

“Humph!” The woman tapped her watch forcefully with two fingers. “You’re late! I expect my dates to be on time.”

Jasper flipped his wrist to look at his watch. It was only one minute past the time they agreed to meet. “I apologize.”

Maria huffed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t let it happen again. I like punctuality in my men.”

Jasper was a hundred percent sure it wouldn’t happen again because, so far, this date was turning out to be a nightmare. He decided to look at the menu, although he already knew he was going to order something loaded with garlic and onion to repel the witch.

The waitress stopped by to ask if they wanted something to drink. “We’ll take a bottle of Pinot Grigio,” Maria ordered.

“Whoa there. Hold on. I won’t be drinking any alcohol tonight. I still have to drive home. Are you sure you can drink a bottle of wine by yourself?” Jasper asked.

“What do you mean you won’t be having wine? We need to celebrate our relationship.”

“Hang on there! What relationship?” Jasper snapped out in horror.

“Between us, silly.” She smiled a sickly, simpering smile. “And you won’t be driving back to Forks; you’ll be staying at my place.”

“Uh, we’re just having dinner together for the first time,” Jasper replied.

“I like you. I can see you have fire and drive. You and I will do well together.” Maria licked her lips and actually purred. She purred.

“I think I should come back,” the waitress squeaked.

“Stay!” Maria demanded.

“Alrighty, then.” Jasper stood up and handed the waitress a twenty-dollar bill. “I apologize for the disturbance. This is for your troubles.” Then, turning to Maria, he said, “Clearly, this was a big mistake. I’ll be heading home now.”

He could hear Maria yelling as he left the restaurant. She was actually worse than Alice.

Jasper quickly left the restaurant, jumped into his car, and drove straight to Forks. He didn’t want to go home, so he went to Edward’s house. Perhaps a friend would be able to calm him down from his traumatic experience.

“What are you doing here? I thought you had a date?” Apparently, Paul Lahote and his wife Rachel were having dinner at Edward and Jake’s house.

“It didn’t work out.”

“Clearly.”

“She was bat-shit crazy. I’m not joking.” Jasper explained what happened at their meeting. He refused to call it a date. It was more like a trip on the crazy train with a live grenade exploding in front of him. “First, she freaks out on me for being one minute late. A single minute. I don’t consider that late. Then, she snapped at both the waitress and me before ordering a bottle of wine. When I told her that I didn’t want any liquor because I was driving, she announced I was staying at her place, so I didn’t need to drive. And so, I handed the waitress a twenty, apologized for the disruption, and left. I could hear Maria screaming as I left.”

“Psycho…” Rachel said. “And I thought the muffin incident with Emily Young was bad.”

“Right? At least Emily was a nice, crazy lady. This Maria woman is a certified grade-A nutcase.”

“You should just ask Bella out on a date,” Paul suggested. “I can tell you like her.”

“I can’t do that! Bella is my supervisor.”

“So, what? There are no rules against it. For God’s sake, Jason Jenks is married to one of the senior prosecuting attorneys in Port Angeles.”

“He is?” Jasper asked.

“Yes, he’s married to Tanya Denali. She uses her maiden name professionally, but she’s known as Tanya Jenks at PTA meetings. Their daughter was a student in my classroom last year,” Rachel explained. You know that they live in Forks, right?”

“Tanya Denali? The hot blonde in the Port Angeles office with the big knockers?” Jasper questioned.

“Really, Jasper? You’re going to talk about a woman’s breasts instead of her brains? She’s an intelligent attorney, and I thought you were, too!” Rachel admonished.

“He might be an attorney, but he still has eyes, honey. I don’t see how anyone can avoid noticing Tanya’s tits,” Paul pointed out, then turned to Jasper. “Yeah, she’s the one. They’ve been married for ten years and have three kids.”

“I had no idea. I still don’t think it’s a good idea to date a co-worker.”

“But you want to date her. I’d love it if two of my best friends got together,” Edward opined. “Are you hungry, buddy? We’ve got plenty of food. Come and sit.”

So, Jasper sat down, considering whether or not to ask Bella out on a date. It was an excellent idea, but should he?

---

By lunchtime on Monday, word of Jasper’s disastrous date had gotten around, not only to his office but to all of the Forks. He knew this because his father’s posse had surrounded Paul and him during lunch at the diner to get the inside scoop.

“I swear, there are no keeping secrets in this town,” Jasper noted.

“Yeah, but you already knew that,” Paul pointed out as they walked back to the office. “Anyway, Rachel wants to set you up on a date with one of her co-workers.”

“No way. I’m too disturbed to go out on another date for a while.”

“I told her you’d say that, but she said just to ask anyway. Heck, I wasn’t even on the date, and I’m still bothered by it.”

A few minutes later, they arrived back at the office. They had several hours of work ahead of them, so they got to it immediately. Around four pm, there was a massive disruption. Maria Newborne stormed inside and confronted Jasper with her hands on her hips, looking like a raging pit bull. “How dare you abandon me at the restaurant the other day! What do you have to say for yourself?”

Jasper could see his five other co-workers stop doing to watch the proceedings. He didn’t blame them. He’d do the same thing if he were in their shoes.

“Answer me! Who do you think you are leaving me in the middle of the date at a restaurant? You humiliated me!” Maria slapped Jasper across the face, then turned to Paul. “Leave us!”

Paul crossed his arms in front of his chest. “No, that’s not happening. First of all, this is our office here. We’ve got work to do, and you’re interfering in our workday. Second, you have no right to tell me or anyone else what to do.”

Clearly frustrated with Paul, Maria hurled a stapler towards him. Paul caught it deftly with his left hand and placed the stapler gently on Jasper’s desk away from Maria’s reach.

Maria was now snorting angrily through her nose, her jaw and fists clenched in outrage. She stomped her foot like a child. “Jasper, out in the hallway now! You are going to hear me out if it’s the last thing I do!”

“No, I will not. I have nothing to say to you, Maria. You need to leave,” Jasper replied calmly. He remained seated so as not to be a threat. He wouldn’t put it past this woman to file all sorts of aggrievances against him.

“Aargh!” Maria growled in shock and slapped Jasper a second time. Then, seeing that the stapler was out of reach, she hurled her phone across the room beyond him. This time, Bella caught the phone. Jasper was currently thanking God that Bella had been on the softball team in high school; otherwise, she might have been injured otherwise.

“I believe this is yours, Maria.” Bella held the cell phone up. “I’d like to speak to you in my office, please.” She stood in the doorway with a stern expression on her face. When Maria didn’t respond, she added, “Immediately.”

“Um, I was just leaving,” Maria stammered.

“In my office, now, please,” Bella repeated calmly. She closed the door to her office as soon as Maria entered.

“Are you okay, buddy?” Paul asked.

“Jasper, I’d file an incident report with one of the supervisors,” Victoria Sutherland, another junior attorney who started with him, suggested.

“That’s a good idea,” Jasper admitted. “It’s best I cover my ass with someone like her.”

“Yeah, maybe you should take a break from dating. Between the Muffin Lady and Psycho Maria, your track record isn’t that great.”

“Good idea, Vicky.”

Several minutes later, the door to Bella’s office opened, and Maria scuttled out with her head down and tears in her eyes. Bella gave all six of the junior prosecutors a sheet of paper. “This is an Incident Report. I’d like an eyewitness account of what happened from each of you on my desk before you leave. Thank you.” With that said, she re-entered her office, closing the door behind her.

“Should I talk to her?” Jasper asked Paul in a whisper.

“Fuck no. Bella looks pissed off. I’ve seen her lose her temper once, and it wasn’t a pretty sight. Wait until tomorrow to talk to her.”

“Yeah, that might be a good idea.”

---

Jasper had a full day of traffic court on Tuesday. But, of course, the courthouse location in Forks didn’t help. Everyone from the judge to one of the accused had something to say to him, which ended up prolonging the day.

Austin Marks, a Forks High graduate from his class, who was there on his third drunk driving charge, stated, “I’ve been hit by women tons of times, and let me tell you, they have powerful slaps. So, my suggestion is to stay away from women. They’re nothing but trouble.”

“I’ll take that under advisement. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. Oh, and never drink and drive, or you’ll find yourself in my shoes.”

“I’ll remember that, too, Austin.”

“See ya.” Austin grinned as he was led away to his jail cell to serve his fifteen-day drunk driving sentence.

When Jasper finally returned to the office, Bella asked to see him.

“Hi, Bella.” Jasper greeted.

“Jasper, have a seat.” She was sitting at her desk with her fingers steepled together.

After he was seated, Bella asked, “Are you okay after yesterday’s incident?”

“I am. I was more in shock than anything. I never had a single date go as bad as it did.”

“Yes, Jacob told me about Friday night. It sounded like a nightmare. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that Maria Newborne was released from her position today. We have zero-tolerance for violence in the workplace, and with six witnesses, not counting yourself, stating that she slapped you twice, threw a stapler, and her phone, there was no chance of her staying in her position.”

“Six witnesses? There should be only five,” Jasper corrected.

“No, there were six witnesses. I, too, saw the entire incident from beginning to end. I just wasn’t in your line of vision. In any case, she is no longer an employee in Port Angeles, so there will be no chance of you running into her at work. Between you and me, the Port Angeles office is happy you took the proverbial slaps that got Maria fired for them. She has been a problem for a while. More than one complaint has been filed against her by clients and co-workers alike. Mr. Jenks and I both suggested she consider taking anger management courses when she was let-go today.”

Jasper whistled out a breath. “I had no idea that one date could go so wrong.”

“I would like to think that someone like Maria is an exception to the norm. It simply isn’t normal to behave the way she did in any setting.”

“Thanks for your help with this, Bella. I’m sorry it happened.”

“Jasper, this truly wasn’t your fault. Maria is clearly unstable and needs counseling. You were just an innocent victim in this.” Bella tapped her hands on the desk decisively. “Okay, get back to work.”

“Will do.” Jasper stood up and nodded in gratitude before leaving the room.