chapter┊ ✦. :: two
♡ ﹙ remodeling﹚  ❋ ˚ ݂ ꛒ

For it being her first day at work, it was a very heavy one for Lydia, who could barely catch her breath without having to rush to attend to another patient. The downside of it all was that she didn't have a bed to go and rest in, nor did she have a kitchen to prepare some dinner.

She was beginning to hate herself for her decision to move so suddenly without fitting the house to her needs. But it was already too late to turn back.

As she took off her uniform and changed back into her warm clothes, she left the locker room to head towards the parking lot. The hospital was quite cold, but it was even colder outside; she felt quite relieved for deciding to wear a wool hat and a pair of gloves. She was about to leave when she noticed the heavy rain falling intensely. She could wait a few hours for the intensity to lessen or run out and get wet since she hadn't brought an umbrella. What a dilemma.

"It seems like there's a strong storm," she jumped at the sound of that voice—it was Dr. Cullen. She hadn't heard him approaching.

"Yes, it seems so," she didn't look at him, "Do you live far, Dr. Cullen?"

He smiled a bit without taking his eyes off her, although he quickly looked ahead where the raindrops were falling hard against the ground.

"Somewhat. How about you?"

"Just ten minutes by car, although with the rain, I drive slower and it takes about twenty."

He nodded.

"By the way, call me Carlisle. Our shift is over."

Lydia looked at him with a furrowed brow.

"I don't think so," she cleared her throat and adjusted her hat, "See you tomorrow, Dr. Cullen."

He stifled a big smile and watched her run through the rain to her car. The pleasant scent of grapefruit and honey disappeared in a couple of minutes, and he also headed to his car to go home.

Getting home in one piece with that storm turned out to be a relief for Lydia. The downside was that she couldn't go buy anything to eat and would have to wait until the next day. She remembered that she hadn't called Mrs. Cullen, and it was already somewhat late, but at least she could try. She wanted to resolve that issue as soon as possible and have a somewhat decent home to live in.

She had charged her phone at work so the battery was at full capacity. She went in search of the card Charlie had given her and checked a couple of times to make sure each number was well-marked before pressing the call button.

It only rang twice before someone answered. It was a soft and pleasant woman's voice.

"Hello, is this Esme Cullen?"

"Yes, it's me. How can I help you?"

"Hi, my name is Lydia. I'm looking for an interior remodeling service, and you were recommended to me. I apologize for the late hour; I just got off work."

"Don't worry, I'm available twenty-four hours any day of the week. Would next Saturday work for you to meet?"

"Of course."

"Perfect, just give me a minute to schedule it," there was a moment of silence on the line, "Can you tell me your name and your address?"

Carlisle entered the house and quickly took his things to his room before returning to the living room where Esme, Alice, and Emmett were.

"Lydia Knox," he heard the blonde say, and he looked at his sister-in-law, who was on the phone. He also heard her give an address that Carlisle recognized—it was near where Sheriff Swan lived.

"Alright, Lydia. Then we'll see you at your house next Saturday," Esme replied, "Do you have any ideas of what you'd like?"

"Carlisle?" Alice's voice came through, and he looked at her.

"Yes?"

She smiled but furrowed her brow.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, just thinking about work things."

"How was your day?"

He wasn't sure what to say; he knew Alice already knew, but he didn't know what this girl expected to hear.

"Very well, thank you. And thanks for the recommendation this morning."

She squealed with excitement under her breath.

"Well, Rose and I were thinking of throwing a party for Esme and Evander's anniversary. What do you say?"

"Of course, not every day you celebrate a hundred and five years of marriage," they both smiled. Those jokes about time were quite common and amusing.

"Perfect. I'll tell Rose you're in agreement."

Emmett had been very distracted playing video games, so he didn't pay attention to any of the words they said. Alice left, bouncing, and Carlisle looked at Esme who was still on the phone. He didn't manage to hear what Lydia had replied to the previous question.

"I see, you want something a bit more modern."

"Yes, although for now I don't have any furniture," he heard her laugh, "I even sleep on the floor, so it would be fantastic if you could quote me some furniture."

"What's your budget, dear?"

"I don't have a fixed one, but I'll be here indefinitely, so I'm not looking for something cheap, but not something luxurious either."

Indefinitely, huh? What had brought Lydia to this boring town so far from the big city? It was obvious that she belonged to a big city; everything about her indicated it.

"I understand," Esme made some notes in her planner, "So, is it okay if we meet at noon?"

"Of course."

"Thank you for contacting me. We'll keep in touch," the woman smiled broadly.

"Of course. Thank you very much."

The call ended, and Esme looked at her brother-in-law.

"Is everything alright?"

"Was that Lydia Knox?"

She looked at him confused.

"Yes, it was her. Do you know her?"

Carlisle nodded.

"She's the new doctor at the hospital. Today was her first day."

Esme's expression changed to one of curiosity.

"And how is she?"

He shook his head with a smile.

"I don't think she likes me very much."

"She seemed quite pleasant to me. She needs an interior designer, and Sheriff Swan gave her my card."

"I see," Carlisle stood up and went to his study.

He couldn't think of anything else but Lydia. And he was very curious as to why she didn't like him. He hadn't been rude or said anything inappropriate, but she seemed to not want him even a little close. This would be quite interesting for the man.

🫀

Lydia looked at herself in the bathroom mirror after taking a very warm shower. It was her second day, and she had managed to wake up on time; besides, she wanted to go buy something to eat before going to work since she hadn't had dinner the night before and her stomach was more than empty. After talking to Esme Cullen, she went to sleep, and as soon as she touched the air mattress, she fell deeply asleep.

She had only been sleeping on that thing for three nights, but her back was starting to hurt a bit. She missed her old bed and her old blankets. She missed her old life.

She brushed her hair and applied some makeup, then searched for warm and comfortable clothes to wear and finally grabbed her coat and

purse along with the car keys. It wasn't raining anymore when she got outside, but it was very cloudy. There was still almost an hour before she had to go in, so she had enough time to go get something for breakfast while she drove.

Upon arriving at the hospital, she remembered she had to enter from the back, showed her ID, and was allowed in. She parked her car and took a deep breath. She had to adapt to her new life; it was still somewhat complicated, but she had to do it.

She got out of her car after a minute of reflection and showed her ID to the guard. He also seemed as serious as the other one.

"Good morning," she greeted him amiably with a smile.

"Good day," he replied with a deep voice, "Go ahead, doctor."

"Thank you."

She went straight to the locker rooms where she put on the surgical scrubs and her coat. It was cold, but it was more bearable than outside.

She walked to the emergency room, and upon entering, she came across Dr. Cullen's figure. She pursed her lips, determined not to be in the same room as him, but she wasn't five years old, so she entered and took the file of one of the patients.

"Good morning, Dr. Knox," Carlisle's voice was heard.

She didn't look up.

"Good morning, Dr. Cullen."

He smiled softly but continued with the patient he was attending to.

Lydia knew guys like Cullen. They felt superior and unreachable. First-class idiots. She didn't need to know him to know he was like that. Maybe she was judging him too quickly, but after dealing with so many people like that, she couldn't help it, and she knew she had to stay away from him, or her whole perfect world would crumble.

"Dr. Cullen, your nine o'clock appointment is here," Sarah spoke from the entrance.

"Thank you, Sarah. I'll be right there. You can tell them to come into my office."

"Alright, doctor."

"Lydia, do you mind taking care of Mr. Jones?"

The named one looked at him and shook her head.

"Alright."

"He just needs a couple of stitches on his leg; he injured himself while hunting in the woods. I've already cleaned it up, and the material is ready."

"Alright," she barely looked at him when she focused all her attention on the man on the stretcher, "Mr. Jones, I'm Dr. Knox. Can you tell me how you did this?" she smiled at him.

Carlisle looked at her curiously, and although he wanted to stay there, he left to attend his consultation.

🫀

At some point during the week, Lydia started competing with Carlisle, and he followed suit. It started with who arrived earliest. Ten minutes before, half an hour, an hour before the shift. But every time Lydia thought she had arrived before Cullen, she saw him in the emergency room attending to someone else.

Then it was who attended more patients per day or who sutured better without leaving a scar. It was a constant silent struggle, and Lydia just wanted to surpass Cullen in everything he did, but somehow he was always two steps ahead. And he knew it and did it on purpose. He knew that irritated Lydia, and he found it quite adorable.

If Lydia managed to get a surgery, he had already done one and had another one scheduled. If she had attended to three people in less than an hour, Cullen was already on the fifth in the same time frame. Everyone seemed to love Dr. Cullen, even the children.

Lydia just got angrier with each passing day, but Carlisle seemed rather amused. He could let the girl win, but he wanted to catch her attention somehow, and that seemed to be working.

On Friday at the end of the shift, Lydia and Carlisle met in the parking lot. It was a fairly quiet night because it wasn't raining, and it wasn't so cold.

"How was your first week at work?" the blonde asked with a soft voice.

She looked at him with narrowed eyes; for a Friday, he still seemed fresh and full of energy. She could barely stand on her feet. How could a person be so... perfect? She hated him.

"Quite good. I think I like this place."

He nodded.

"I'm glad. Have a good night, Lydia."

"See you later, Dr. Cullen."

Lydia watched the blonde get into the nice black Mercedes; he even had a cool car. She also got into hers and started at the same time. Both drove the same way for a couple of minutes until it was Lydia who turned to go into town. She still had to go get something to eat.

Early on Saturday, Lydia tidied up her little mess to receive Esme Cullen. She felt a little bad for not having anything to offer the woman, not even somewhere to sit, but she hoped she would understand.

Just as the woman had said, at twelve o'clock sharp, they rang the doorbell, and Lydia went to open it. She found herself face to face with a beautiful woman with brown hair and golden eyes like Carlisle's. She also had very pale skin.

"Hello, you must be Lydia," she greeted kindly, "I'm Esme, and this is my son Emmett."

"Hi," the boy greeted with a half-smile.

She noticed the presence of the other boy, equally attractive as Esme and Carlisle. Only he had black hair and was very muscular.

"Hello. Please come in," she stepped aside, "Sorry for the bold question, but how old are you? Your son looks like he's sixteen or seventeen at most, and you look really young."

Esme let out a soft laugh.

"Emmett is my adopted son. In addition to him, I have four others of the same age. My husband and I got married quite young, but we couldn't have children of our own, so we decided to adopt."

"I understand, and sorry for prying."

She felt really embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it. By the way, Carlisle told us about you."

"Oh... really?" that did surprise her a bit.

"Yes, he said you're a magnificent doctor."

"Oh... thank you. I think."

Emmett returned with a bag. Esme took out a camera and took photos of the house, both downstairs and upstairs.

"I'm an architect," the woman explained when they reached the upstairs bathroom, "but I really like interior design."

"She designed our house," Emmett said proudly, "it's fantastic, you should come see it someday."

"It's not that great," Esme spoke modestly.

Lydia smiled.

"Well, I'm bad at all this decoration stuff, so I leave it in your hands."

"I promise you won't regret it," they went downstairs, "I'll take some measurements. Alright?"

"Of course."

"Emmett, take the measuring tape and place the end on that wall over there."

The boy did as instructed. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing, and Esme didn't need to tell him what to do next when he was already doing it.

"Emmett is something like my assistant," Esme explained while jotting something down in a notebook, "he accompanies me when I have these kinds of jobs, and he

's very helpful."

"I understand."

A couple of hours passed; Esme measured walls and asked some questions.

"It'll be good to start as soon as possible. If you don't have any inconvenience, I can come during the week while you're working to get everything done. But if you prefer, I can only come on weekends when you're around."

"You can come during the week; I have no problem with that," she spoke quickly, "although I'd love it if you started with the bedroom. I can hardly feel my neck anymore from sleeping on the air mattress."

Esme nodded in understanding.

"I understand. I'll send you a list with the materials we'll be using along with some options. I'll also add some furniture according to what you're looking for, and you just let me know what you prefer, or if you have another option in mind, you can let me know."

"Thank you very much, Mrs. Cullen."

She smiled.

"Just Esme."

"Alright, Esme," she let out a short laugh, "when can you start?"

"Later today, I'll send you the list. If you return it to me tomorrow morning, we can start on Monday. I still have to make some calls, but I'll take care of the technical aspects."

"Perfect. Again, thank you for everything."

"It's nothing; we'll stay in touch. Anything, don't hesitate to call or send a message."

She nodded, and they both left. Lydia watched them drive away from the porch. She definitely liked that woman more than Carlisle.

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