Keeping Up With The Cullens 3

“Rosalie you sit here.”Irina grabbed Rosalie’s arm and led her to the end of the table where Isabella was sitting at the head pushing her down into the seat to Isabella’s right with Tanya across from her. The group had spent time in Isabella’s mechanics garage where Isabella showed them some of the things she had invented that weren’t on the market to include an electric powered motorcycle that could apparently go faster than any other two wheeled vehicle that had been made. The woman had also gone over some of the features of the van they rode in to include explaining how she came up with some of her ideas for things. Rosalie had hung on her every word trying to take in as much knowledge as she could from Isabella. Rosalie had been completely inspired listening to her idol and was aching to get home to work on something. Rosalie wasn’t sure what but she wanted to make something. Now she for some reason was being pushed into a seat at the dining table the group was going to have lunch at putting her as the closest of the students to Isabella. Rosalie wasn’t sure exactly what to do once she sat down so she followed Tanya’s example and filled her plate with food.

“So Rosalie Irina tells us that you are looking to step away from the public life.”Tanya said.

Rosalie swallowed her mouth full of food before answering the surprising question. She wasn’t expecting to be talked to by anyone other than the students and maybe Irina.”Yes I wish to focus on a career in robotics and no longer be on camera all the time.”

“How will that affect your family?”Tanya asked.

Rosalie hesitated for a moment before deciding that being honest was the right way to go.”We actually had a discussion about it yesterday and none of them are happy about me not wanting to be on the show because the network said if I’m not involved they will cancel it. I have one season left on my contract and am not planning on renewing. As to my family I am thinking of agreeing to doing a spinoff that is based on me repairing cars because my family will get paid for being on it. I want them to have a chance to save up some money before I completely step away.”

“How is your father holding up knowing that he is losing his license?”Tanya leaned over and filled Isabella’s glass with apple juice then put food on the woman’s plate.

“How did you know about my father?”Rosalie didn’t think anyone knew about the lawsuit.

“Your father has been rather aggressive in his want to work with Isabella. So aggressive that Isabella looked into him a year ago trying to figure out a way to get him to leave her alone. She passed along the information she uncovered to the medical board and hired the victims a lawyer to sue him.”Tanya told her.

Rosalie paused the forkful of food mid air she was putting into her mouth hearing that.”Wait Isabella is the reason my father is being sued and lost his license?”

“No your father’s own actions are the reason those things happened.”Tanya corrected.”If he wasn’t taking advantage of lower-class citizens than he wouldn’t be in trouble. The person to blame in this situation is Carlisle. Isabella was only helping his victims and preventing him from doing it to anyone else in the future.”

“What exactly was he doing?”Rosalie wanted to know what her father was getting in trouble for.

“He was claiming people were sick when they really weren’t and putting them through treatments and procedures they didn’t actually need so that he could charge them for everything. He targeted low-class citizens because they couldn’t afford to get second opinions.”Tanya explained.

“What the fuck?”Rosalie hadn’t thought Carlisle did something that bad. She figured he screwed up a surgery by accident.

Tanya smiled sadly at her.”Your father has been doing this his whole career. Isabella traced some of his victims back to the first hospital he worked at.”

“Jesus.”Rosalie wanted to be angry at Isabella for exposing Carlisle but all she felt was grateful Isabella stopped him.”Do you know he actually gave me a whole folder with a proposal to give to Isabella before I left the house this morning. I was never going to do it of course but took it so I didn’t have to argue with him.”

“Let me guess his pitch was about all the great things Isabella could do for him and him offering nothing in return.”Tanya guessed.

“That was exactly it.”Rosalie was extra glad she didn’t bring it with her.”I’m surprised that you allowed me to come on this trip knowing I’m related to him.”

“Irina vouched for you. She said that you are someone Isabella should meet and the reason she pushed for Isabella to let your class visit.”Tanya told her.

“She allowed everyone to visit because Professor Denali wanted us to meet?”Rosalie could think of no reason Irina would want her to meet someone like Isabella.

“Yes and Isabella is being extremely rude by not joining the conversation.”Tanya reached over and grabbed the tablet out of Isabella’s hands.

Isabella made a move to grab it back.“What are you doing?”

“You promised Irina that you would talk to Rosalie. If you are messing around with your tablet you can’t do that.”Tanya told her.”Plus you need to eat not just drink juice.”

Isabella sighed, picked up her knife and fork then turned her attention to Rosalie.”So Rosalie I’m told you are into robotics. What got you into that subject?”

“It’s kind of embarrassing.”Rosalie wasn’t sure she wanted to admit how she got into robots to her personal hero.

“I won’t make fun of you.”Isabella promised.

“When I was twelve I learned who you were and I was fascinated with all the things you did by the time you graduated MIT. That got me interested in technology and vehicles. I like robotics the best because it has so many applications.”Rosalie took a sip of her drink to hide her blush.

Tanya chuckled.”Oh Bella you have yet another fan.”

“Don’t be rude Tanya.”Isabella said.

“You’re right. I’m sorry Rosalie it wasn’t nice of me to laugh. I just find it funny that Isabella inspires so many people when she hates everyone in the world including me and my two sisters.”Tanya explained.

“No it is rather funny telling the person who inspired me that they shaped how I have lived my life in such a big way.”Rosalie would have laughed it someone told her they had such an impact on their lives the way Isabella had on her own.

“Still everyone has someone or something that inspires them. I myself was inspired by my mother who was quite the accomplished mechanic. The woman could fix anything. When I was very young I used to try and help her when she was working on a project. My first word was wrench.”Isabella said.

“That’s kind of cute actually.”Rosalie thought it was adorable that Isabella’s first word was wrench.

“We think so too.”Tanya agreed.

“Are you working on any projects right now Rosalie?”Isabella asked.

“I don’t have classes until the next semester starts and I’m in-between restoring cars.”Rosalie was a little embarrassed to admit that after seeing all the things Isabella had been working on.

“Do you have a specific type of car you like to restore?”Isabella asked.

“I just pick ones that catch my eye.”Rosalie wished that she had a more impressive answer to the question.

“I have a Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic that has been sitting around that you are more than welcome to.”Isabella offered.

“Oh no I couldn’t take that car from you. It’s way to rare and valuable.”Rosalie badly wanted the car. It just wouldn’t be right to take it from Isabella.

“Take the car Rosalie.”Tanya told her.

Rosalie looked to Tanya in confusion. The other blond was looking at her in a way that made Rosalie think that Isabella offering the car meant more than she was saying.”Then I will happily take the car. I just need to arrange how to get it to my house.”

“I will take care of that.”Tanya said.

“Wonderful.”Isabella went back to eating her food.

“What are the plans for after lunch?”Rosalie was going to ask Tanya what just happened the first chance she got.

“Isabella is planning on showing you all her studio.”Tanya told her.

“What kind of studio?”Rosalie was hoping it was a tech design studio.

“I have convinced her to let you see the studio she makes her sculptures in. I wanted her to show you her painting studio but she refuses.”Tanya said.

“How did she get into art?”Rosalie had never heard of Isabella being an artist.

“Her grandmother was a famous painter and gave Isabella lessons. When Isabella showed interest in making sculptures her grandmother set up lessons with one of her artist friends.”Tanya explained.

“Is it rude to ask who her grandmother is?”Rosalie only knew the names of Isabella’s parents but nothing about the rest of her family was known to the public.

“If it was anyone but you asking then I wouldn’t answer but I have been assured by Irina that you aren’t someone who would tell the world private information about Isabella.”Tanya said.

“I would not.”Rosalie wouldn’t even tell her family what she saw or heard during the visit.

“That being the case Isabella’s grandmother was Molly Harold or known to Isabella by her real name Isabella Swan. Isabella was named after her.”Tanya told her.

“Holy shit. My parents have one of her paintings.”Rosalie knew exactly who Isabella’s grandmother was. The woman was considered one of the greatest painters in history. Her name was listed amongst the other greats like Monet, Van Gogh, O’Keeffe and Picasso.

“Isabella idolized her and wanted to be a painter like she was. She would have dedicated her life to her art but she has a passion for technology and solving problems as well.”Tanya said.

“I would love to see some of her paintings.”Rosalie was even more curious to see Isabella’s art after finding out who Isabella’s grandmother was.

“We will see if Isabella is up to it. She is already over this whole tour.”Tanya told her.

Rosalie looked over to Isabella who was only halfway done eating playing with her smart watch. A smart watch that looked far more advanced than the one Rosalie had and the one she had was the best one on the market.”I understand being done with hanging out with a bunch of people if she is not use to having people around.”

“Isabella prefers solitude. She doesn’t even like me and my sisters around most of the time. We don’t let that bother us though. Even though she hates it we make sure she has regular human interaction.”Tanya said.

“Can I ask how you know Isabella?”Rosalie didn’t even know that Irina who she had been taking classes from for years knew Isabella. None of the sisters were linked to her in public.

“I adopted Isabella when she was 10 years old and myself and my sisters raised her.”Tanya cut off Rosalie’s question.”The reason I adopted her isn’t my story to tell.”

“I won’t push.”Rosalie wanted to but was just going to just count herself lucky that Tanya was telling her anything. She looked around and noticed that there was no one sitting next to her or Tanya for two seats and Irina and Kate were keeping the attention off of Rosalie, Tanya and Isabella. Rosalie took that and the fact that Irina set up this tour for Rosalie to meet Isabella as there being something else at play than Rosalie knew. It was just that she didn’t know how to find out what that was without insulting someone.

“Good idea. Now what is your ideal career look like?”Tanya asked.

Rosalie’s first instinct was to say working with Isabella but held back. She didn’t want to come across like a weird stalker.”I would like to be working in the robotics industry in a place where I would have the freedom to work on whatever projects I wanted and not have to answer to anyone.”

“That’s a lofty goal. One not many people achieve.”Tanya said.

“I know it likely won’t happen anytime soon. Not only do I need to finish school I need to find someone who will hire me. That being an uphill battle because of my fame or should I say what I’m famous for.”Rosalie had to fight twice as hard as everyone else to be taken seriously.

“It was a shame MIT didn’t take you. You had the test scores and a better application project than most of those who applied at the same time you did. I personally would have recruited you before you turned high school age but with you being homeschooled you were overlooked.”Isabella said randomly proving that even though it didn’t look like it she was actually paying attention to the conversation.

“That’s kind of you to say.”Rosalie wondered why Isabella let them talk about her like she wasn’t there when she was paying attention the whole time. It didn’t seem like the woman was mad about it however.

Isabella shrugged.”It’s the truth. As a matter of fact you were more qualified than anyone in the graduating classes going as far back as my own. Which is understandable because I was a prodigy. You would have been as well if your mother didn’t force you to model and let you actually pursue your interests.”

“How do you know all that?”Rosalie wasn’t aware that Isabella knew such personal details about Rosalie’s life that even the public didn’t know.

Tanya chuckled.”Isabella knows everything about not only you but everyone in this room. Things that you wouldn’t believe she knows.”

“How is that possible?”Rosalie didn’t think anyone could have that much information.

“She can tell everything about a person by just looking at them.”Tanya told her.

“That is one of the reasons I hate crowds.”Isabella said.

Tanya laid her hand on Isabella’s arm.”We are working on that.”

“It’s not a priority so I don’t care how long it takes.”Isabella went back to her watch.

“Eat your food it’s probably cold by now.”Tanya told her.

Rosalie watched Isabella begin eating again. She wondered why Tanya treated Isabella the way she did. It seemed like Isabella was a perfectly functional adult but Tanya and her sisters babied her. It was weird. That and the way that the sisters all talked for Isabella or about Isabella like she wasn’t there. Rosalie also didn’t know how to take the fact that Isabella knew so much information about her and the others. It seemed like she was missing giant pieces to a bigger puzzle and Rosalie was frustrated by the lack of information.”The food is delicious.”

“Thank you these are family recipes.”Tanya said.

“I heard your mother is having Gina Torrent write her a cookbook. Is she going to be marketing herself as the ultimate housewife now that Carlisle is likely going to be put in prison?”Isabella asked.

“Isabella you were told not to talk about that.”Tanya scolded.

“What do you mean put in prison? You just said he was going to lose his license and get sued.”Rosalie wondered if her parents knew about this.

Tanya shook her head.”It wasn’t something that we were supposed to talk to you about. Isabella was specifically told not to bring that up to you. I think she did it because she hates Carlisle so much. As to him being put into prison the district attorney’s office is putting together evidence to have him charged with numerous crimes. The evidence that Isabella provided will likely convict him unless he gets a really good lawyer but I doubt anyone that would put their name on this case would be cheap. Carlisle won’t have the money to pay that type of person once the lawsuits are over.”

“Should I tell my parents about this?”Rosalie wasn’t sure if she wanted to.

“Even if you do it won’t make a difference. Personally I would stay as far away from this as I could. You worry about your reputation now if you stand by Carlisle’s side while this is going on no one will want to touch you.”Tanya told her.

“Carlisle was talking about needing the income from the show. Yesterday they were trying to convince me to do a spinoff so they could make more money. I was considering it but if he did what you said he did I want nothing to do with him. Hell I don’t want to live in the same house as him.”Rosalie would never look at her father the same way ever again.

“He will likely ask you for money to pay for his lawyer.”Tanya said.

“I’m not paying for his lawyer. No matter what kind of guilt trip my family tries on me.”Rosalie wouldn’t pay for Carlisle to get away with his crimes.

“Do you have a close relationship with your family?”Tanya asked.

“I really thought I did but like I said yesterday I told them I wanted to leave the show and all of them including my brother’s girlfriend ignored my reasons for leaving and called my interest in robotics a hobby. They wouldn’t listen to me so I just agreed with them to stop the fight. Alice my brother’s girlfriend is the worst. She promised her agent that I would star in her fashion show, speak to the press and attend certain events at New York fashion week because that is the only way they would give her a spot.”Rosalie was not doing it.

“Alice uses child labor in her overseas manufacturing plant for her mass produced line that she sells at Sears.”Isabella told her.

“What?!”Rosalie blushed in embarrassment when she realized she had gotten everyone’s attention with how loud she was. She took a deep breath and lowered her voice to normal levels.”Are you serious?”

”Yes she knows all about it as well because she toured the factory last year. I have pictures of her walking around with children working on what are obviously her clothes if you want them.”Isabella offered before taking another bite of food.

“Why do you have those pictures?”Rosalie couldn’t think of any reason Isabella would have investigated Alice.

“Irina took interest in you and wanted to know about who you were as a person and who you associated with. Isabella used her resources to find out that information.”Tanya explained.

“Your brother Emmet is using black market steroids and is likely going to be kicked off the collage football team within a week or so because they are going to be doing random drug tests. Apparently they have been concerned with some of the players’ behavior.”Isabella said.

“Isabella. We told you not to just blurt things out like that. You were also told not to tell Rosalie all of this.”Tanya scolded again.

“Emmet is using steroids?”Rosalie believed Isabella was being truthful she just didn’t think Emmet could be so stupid.

“There were talks of cutting him from the team due to his excessive partying and bad grades. He was talked to by the coach and told to shape up or he was going be kicked off the team and lose his scholarship. Emmet decided that instead of cleaning up his act he needed to just preform better. To do that he found a local drug dealer that works out at the college gym to sell him homemade steroids.”Isabella told her.

“Shit.”Rosalie wasn’t sure what to do with that information. It did make her wonder about her other siblings and her mother.”What about my mom, Jasper and Edward.”

Tanya sighed.”Go ahead.”

“Edward’s band didn’t get let go from the record company because of poor sales. They were released because Edward was having a relationship with one of the executive’s then 15 year old daughter. Yes he knew how old she was at the time. The relationship lasted two years. Edward had to pay the family not to bring charges and the band was released from their contract. When his band mates found out what happened they dumped Edward and are in a new group with a different name.”Isabella told her.

“She was 15?”Rosalie felt sick to her stomach knowing that.

“The real reason the parents didn’t press charges is because they didn’t want their daughter to be splashed all over the media. Edward isn’t allowed to contact her though.”Isabella said.

“There is nothing about Jasper is there.”Rosalie couldn’t handle something going on with her twin.

Isabella shook her head.”Other than the fact Alice is only with him because of the show and the fame it brings her he is pretty clean. He doesn’t know about the child workers. Alice is keeping that from him.”

“Thank god.”Rosalie was relieved at least Jasper wasn’t hiding a dark secret.”How about my mother?”

“She has been stealing money from you since you got your first paycheck.”Isabella told her.

Rosalie thought about that for a minute.”You know that doesn’t surprise me.”

“Not even a little bit?”Tanya asked.

“No, Esme has always been obsessed with wealth and fame. It would be exactly like her to steal money from me. I mean she forced me to model when I was 8 years old and put me on tv when I was 12. The woman doesn’t care about me.”Rosalie had known all her life she was simply a tool for her mother to use to make her own life better.”I’m going to cut off all the access she has to my finances when I get home.”

“I can do it if you want.”Isabella offered.

“That’s alright I can do it. I need to look at my contract with her as well. I never really thought about it much because it wasn’t important now I’m worried about what is written in it.”Rosalie hated that she was so trusting.

“Give it to your lawyer because she has a clause in it that she gets 25 percent of the profits off of anything you patent.”Isabella told her.

“Fucking hell.”Rosalie rubbed her forehead trying to ease the headache she felt forming.

“Isabella are you done eating?”Tanya asked.

“Yes I don’t want anymore.”Isabella said.

“Finish your juice and we can continue the tour.”Tanya told her.

Isabella finished her juice then stood.”I think after the studio I am done with this.”

“That’s fine. I’m proud you stuck it out this long.”Tanya stood and turned her attention to the rest of the group.“Alright everyone Isabella is going to show you her studio where she creates her sculptures.”

“Wonderful.”Irina said as she and everyone else stood as well.

“How many other rooms does the castle have?”Rosalie took a spot walking next to Tanya. She felt that she was allowed after having such a personal conversation with the woman.

“The castle is five floors and has over a hundred different rooms.”Tanya told her.

“That’s crazy.”Rosalie couldn’t imagine what she would do with over a hundred rooms.

“It’s what Isabella wanted and none of us can say no to her.”Tanya smiled fondly at the woman in question.

“How was this built? I mean no one has ever mentioned it and I would expect anyone involved in the project would brag about it.”Rosalie knew even if they signed legal documents that someone would talk.

“I won’t tell you how she did it but I will tell you Isabella built the entire thing and the security wall in less than six months by herself.”Tanya said.

“No way she built this that quickly and by herself.”Rosalie didn’t believe that for a second.

“It took her longer to furnish the place than it took her to build it.”Tanya told her.

“How is that possible?”Rosalie just couldn’t wrap her mind around such a feat.

“When it comes to Isabella anything is possible.”Tanya said.

“I’m starting to understand that.”Rosalie wondered what the woman couldn’t do. Walking into her art studio Rosalie was taken aback by how lifelike the piece in the middle of the room that was half finished was. She hadn’t seen the other pieces up close yet but figured they had the same lifelike detail as the one she was currently looking at.”Is that the same woman from the fountains?”

“Yes that is Isabella’s rendition of Aphrodite. The goddess of love.”Irina explained.

“Is a lot of her art modeled after that goddess?”Kent asked.

“Yes Isabella is incredibly inspired by that goddess.”Kate said.

“Are these her sketches as well?”Rosalie wondered why the goddess of love inspired Isabella so much. All of the drawings on wall were of her. Rosalie was curious if Isabella was a hopeless romantic at heart and that was why she focused on Aphrodite.

“Yes all Isabella’s art is based on her original designs.”Irina told her.

"Alright I’m done.”Isabella announced then walked out of the room.

Rosalie blinked in shock at the abrupt exit.”Is she ok?”

“She’s fine. That just means she wants us to leave. Which is what we are going to do. Everyone let’s get back to the van. Our tour is officially over.”Irina told everyone causing more than one person to voice their upset.

“You should all be thankful. I didn’t think she would make it past the entertainment room.”Kate said.

“I’m just happy that she actually spoke to everyone.”Tanya added.

“She spoke to me unprompted. Is that good?”Rosalie wanted to know if that meant that Isabella liked her.

“Irina told her to talk to you. However you did make progress with her based on the fact that she is giving you a car.”Tanya told her.

“Wait Bella gave her a car?”Kate’s voice was laced with shock.

Tanya nodded.”She gave her the Bugatti Atlantic.”

“Holy shit. You impressed her.”Kate said.

Rosalie felt uneasy at the looks she was getting from the three sisters.”How does her giving me a car prove she was impressed with me?”

“She is testing you. She wants to see if you are as good as Irina has made you out to be. If you pass the test she will likely give you something else to work on.”Tanya explained.

“Congratulations you Rosalie Cullen just got your foot in the door with Isabella.”Irina told her.

“Shit.”Rosalie hadn’t expected that to happen. She was happy it did she just didn’t expect it to.

“Yeah shit. You are the first person she has taken an unprompted interest in for anything other than one of her projects that wasn’t family or me and my sisters. So no pressure but don’t fuck up that car.”Kate said.

“That doesn’t make me feel very confident. I don’t even know where I’m going to get parts for the car.”Rosalie doubted that Isabella would be impressed with reproductions.

“Isabella will be sending all the original parts you need for the car when the car itself is delivered. All you have to do is put it together and make it look brand new.”Irina told her.

"That’s it huh.”Rosalie thought that sounded impossible.

“Come on I’m sure you want to get home and start researching the car. It will likely be delivered tomorrow.”Tanya said.

“I do want to start researching it.”Rosalie gave one last look around the studio before following the group out of the room. She was upset that the tour was over but if she passed Isabella’s test then there may be more visits in her future. Rosalie tried to think about what Isabella found out about her that caught her interest. Rosalie wasn’t that exceptional of a person. Hell based on everything Isabella found out about her family Rosalie would steer clear of herself. She was linked to multiple scandals. Three of them that could have made the person go to prison. Four if she counted Esme stealing from her. Then there was Alice’s child labor force. Rosalie had never liked Alice and hearing that just confirmed her belief that Alice was a horrible person. Rosalie was definitely not wearing Alice’s clothes ever again. She was going to be staying away from her family and their drama the best she could. That meant that she was not going to be doing any spinoffs or signing on for extra seasons. She was just going to fulfill her contract and forget all about public life. It was her dream since she was 12 years old to work with Isabella and if she played her cards right that just might happen.