Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or the characters.
Esme loudly opened Starbucks' door, which was located near her apartment in New York City.
"Hey Henry! Can I get a Latte please? Thanks!" She told the shop's clerk while paying for her coffee. This was Esme, always spontaneous and friends with everyone.
She looked around and realized that the place was crowded. There was only one seat available and it was on a blond guy's table that Esme had never seen before at the shop, which was weird because she knew everyone since she went twice a day everyday to that Starbucks, but she was running late anyway so maybe the guy used to get his coffee a little later than she did.
Henry called her to get her coffee and she did and then headed to the guy's table. She could only see his back from where she was standing but now she could see his whole face and he was gorgeous. He definitely looked like a super model. His eyes were electric blue, which almost made Esme say "wow" aloud.
Leaving his good looks aside she approached the table and asked if she could sit with him.
"Of course you can." He said while getting up to push the chair for her. He was also a gentleman then. Wow again.
"Thank you. It was the only seat available. I don't want you to think that I'm an easy girl like that who just starts flirting with a stranger at a coffee shop."
"That was never my impression of you. I had already realized that this seat was the only one empty. I'm Carlisle Cullen, you know, just so I'm not a stranger anymore. May I ask your name?" He asked politely.
She just couldn't say no to those eyes.
"I'm Esme Platt. So…I've never seen you here, and I know everyone that comes to this shop so I should have already seen you, right?"
"I'm new around here. I used to live somewhere else. It's the first time I come to this Starbucks so you haven't missed me by any chance." Carlisle explained. "Now it's my turn to ask again. What do you do for a living?"
"Guess" Esme said defiantly.
"Let's see. You seem to have an affection for people so maybe a nurse?"
"Well, I do like a lot of people but I'm not a nurse. Not even near that. I have everything that has to do with hospitals, even and especially doctors."
"Why do hate doctors? They save people's lives!" Carlisle couldn't believe that someone might actually hate doctors.
"Yes, they do, but they can also kill people. And they're so full of themselves it irritates me. They tell what to do and what to eat…they almost own your life! And they're always so busy it must be hell to date a doctor."
"Well, I think that a doctor does his best so that his patience is healthy but let's not get into that. I still haven't figured out what's you job." He said not wanting to ruin the first talk he was having with this beautiful woman who was somehow different than all the others he had ever met. "A magazine writer, or editor." He guessed again.
"Boy, are you bad at guessing!" Esme laughed. "I've already realized you won't find out so I'll just tell you. I'm an architect. What about you? Are you a business man?" Her guess seemed plausible since he was wearing a suit and he lived in NYC.
"That's right!" He lied. He didn't feel comfortable lying but he had to if he wanted a chance with Esme, since he was a doctor and she hated doctors.
"Oh, and I forgot to tell you that I play every Friday and Saturday with my band at bars, or restaurants, or whoever owns a place and wants us. And we do birthday parties too but for friends only." She told him happily. She absolutely loved her band and performing, even if it was for five people only.
"And what do you play?" Carlisle wanted to know.
"Acoustic guitar. And I sing. We're going to be play this Friday at Stitch Bar starting 9pm. Make sure you show up ok? I'll be waiting." Esme told him while getting up and heading to the door.
He sure would see her again on Friday night.
Friday night
Carlisle opened the bar's front door. It was a very expensive bar, which made him think that Esme's band was good. He couldn't wait to see her again. He had been thinking about her since he met her and that was driving him crazy. This is kind of thing never happened to him.
He walked until near the little stage. He sat at the countertop on a seat that he could watch Esme but that she wouldn't be able to notice him.
He ordered a Martini and soon after Esme and her band showed up. Her band was formed by her, another guitar player, who was a very pretty blond girl, a bass player who was a blond guy that looked like he was the girl's brother, a drummer who was a very big guy that had a childish face and finally a piano/keyboard player who was a slender guy with what seemed to be a bronze colored hair.
Esme greeted the crowd and they started to play. The first song was "The Smile On Your Face" by Allison Krauss, but it was a slightly different version. Esme voice was absolutely beautiful. Carlisle thought he could easily hear her singing everyday. He didn't pay attention to the other songs just to Esme. He recognized one song though, it was "Breathe" by Michelle Branch, and once again it was a different version.
When Esme announced that the song they were about to play was the last one Carlisle realized that he should buy her a flower or something so he ran to the nearest deli and bought two red roses, one for Esme and the other to the blond girl so it wouldn't seem that he was too much into Esme.
He stood still when he reached the place where the band was. He realized that there were two more girls that seemed to be Esme's friends as well. He didn't really know what to do plus the big guy was looking at him so he decided it was best not to move.
"Carlisle! You actually came!" Esme said happily.
"Yeah…I brought you this, I hope you like it. The other is for the blond girl that's on the band." He told her handing her the rose.
"Oh, thank you. It's beautiful!" Esme exclaimed.
"And the other girl would be me. I'm Rosalie. It's nice to meet you Carlisle." Rosalie said stepping in front of new addition to the group.
"It's nice to meet you too Rosalie. You and your band played beautifully tonight. Congratulations."
"Thanks!" Esme answered before Rosalie could. "Let me introduce you to these amazing people here. You already know Rose, and this is her boyfriend Emmett, they love each other since ever but they only admitted it in College so until then it was a living hell to be near these two." She informed Carlisle. "This is Jasper, Rose's twin brother, who dates Alice since 12th grade but only because she moved here to New York that year because if they knew each other since birth they would have started dating right then." Esme smiled. They sure made a cute couple, even though Alice was way shorter than Jasper, which usually made couples weird. "Oh, and she's our stylist, hairdresser and make-up artist! Edward, our pianist is her brother and he dates Bella, who is our manager."
"That's a great group of friends you have. So, you know each other since high school?" Carlisle asked.
"Not exactly. I know Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett since birth. Our families have been friends for ages. We're all the same age. And then we met Edward and Alice in high school when Edward and us were seniors and Alice, a junior. And we finally met Bella a year ago when she moved to NY and happened to be our favorite restaurant's chef. She's my age as well." Esme explained.
"Wow, that's amazing. And how old would you be? If you don't mind telling me of course." Carlisle asked wanting to know if he was also the same age as Esme was.
"We're 26. Alice is 25 naturally." Esme answered. "What about you?" She questioned.
"I'm 28. So I guess that makes me the old guy." Carlisle smiled shyly.
"You're not old! C'mon! You're just the oldest of us all, which is perfectly fine for me." Esme told him. "Let's go somewhere now, the night is waiting for us!"
They then went to a bar in the middle of the street near where Carlisle and Esme lived, and he found out later that everyone lived near there. Actually, Esme and Rosalie shared an apartment, and so did Alice and Bella. They lived in the same building. Emmett, Jasper and Edward also shared an apartment that was in a building that was right next to the girls'. And Carlisle ended up finding out that his building was in front of Esme's.
He. also found out that Alice was a professional stylist and had her own brand, Rosalie was a car designer, Emmett owned a sports shop, Jasper was a journalist who worked for the New York Times and Edward was a musical producer.
Carlisle quickly made up that he was in the stocks market. He barely knew about business but he knew a few things about stockings so he was good. He wasn't going to tell the truth until he knew that Esme would be okay with it, or until he realized that they had no future together, which luckily wouldn't happen.
When it was 3 am the waiter went to their table and announced that the bar was going to close in a few minutes and asked if they wanted something else. They didn't so they just got the bill. When they were ready to leave Carlisle knew he had to make a move with Esme so he just followed his instincts.
"Do you want a ride home?" He whispered on her ear sending chills all over her body.
"Guys, I'm gonna take a ride home with Carlisle ok? See you. Love you guys! Good night." She said rapidly and right after got up and grabbed Carlisle's arm so he would follow her. He only managed to wave goodbye to his new friends.
"What was that? Why did you leave so fast?"
"I didn't want to hear what they had to say." She said annoyed. "It's just…they always make a remark that I'm not going to like. And Emmett is great at making people feel uncomfortable and I didn't want you to be his next target." She explained.
"And why is that?" He already got his hopes up. Maybe he had affected her like she had affected him?
"You realized right away that I have an affection for people. I can't help it." She smiled.
He opened the car's door for her and when he was in the car he made her another question.
"Don't you get hurt because of that often?'
"Yeah…Sometimes. I've learned through the years what kind of people I should love, not just like. I choose my friends very carefully. You see, these 6 people you've just met are my only real friends. They are the only ones I know I'll have for the rest of my life. I try to choose my boyfriends wisely as well but that doesn't always work out." She sighed.
"You've had bad boyfriends then?"
"Not all of them were bad, but they never really were what I was hoping for in the first place. I was lucky enough not to have a violent boyfriend or anything like that, but I had one that used to be rude with people that were less fortunate than he was. I just couldn't stand that. I broke up with him on a restaurant because he was being so mean to the poor waiter."
"Wow. That's horrible. It's ridiculous to treat people like that. We're all the same." Carlisle said feeling sorry for Esme.
"That's what I think too!" She exclaimed.
"Well…I guess we're here." He stopped the car. "Wait up! I'll open the door for you." He quickly added when she moved to open the door.
"You're quite the gentleman, you know? You must have tons of fans out there." Esme noted feeling kind of jealous.
"Not one of them calls my eye. You can be sure of that." His eyes showed that he was telling the truth. He couldn't care less about the girls that would flirt with him on the street or at the hospital.
"Alright then mister." Esme laughed. "Is this you cell phone?" She asked grabbing his right pocket. Carlisle couldn't say a word with her hand on there. He felt like such a 10-year-old.
"Huumm…yeah." He gasped.
"Call me alright?' She told him giving back his phone.
"Can it be tomorrow?" He felt stupid right after he heard what he had said but he couldn't help his eagerness to see her again.
"Sure. Just don't call me before 9 am. I sleep until a little bit later on Saturdays. And I have to work tomorrow, so it's better if you call me in the afternoon."
"I have to work tomorrow too so, I'll call you around 7 pm."
"Okay. Goodnight, then. Have sweet dreams." She said and placed a kiss on his cheek. He mumbled a goodnight back to her.
He sure would be having sweet, sweet dreams tonight.
Author's Note: I don't even know if Stitch Bar has live music. I just googled "New York bars" and this one came up and I liked the name.
Please R&R! Thanks!