Title and pen name: Midnight Blues by Envy5
Beta: N/A
Pairing: Edward & Bella
Summary: Midnight Blues, the hottest night club in town, is the hotspot of Chicago. Cool, confident Edward Cullen is the head bartender/part owner with his best friend, Jasper Whitlock. Edward has all the makings of a playboy on the outside, but he isn't in the inside. There is one bar maid in particular that has seen to that, Bella Swan. Although she and her fellow bar staff get along great, Edward wants more and he wants it with her, but does she want more from him, too? Could she?
Word count: 5,778 words
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Closing time was my favorite part of the night.
Things weren't exactly quiet during this hour, certainly not after a busy Saturday night like the one that we had just had, but things were calmer and much more relaxed. A few patrons still lingered, but I loved the mellow that took over after Last Call.
Being able to work with my friends had its perks and, to me, this was one of the best. We always took this time of the night to unwind and relax, just chilling out and joking around with each other until we decided to pack it in for the night.
Over the last few months, this had become the place to be in Chicago…Midnight Blues.
The atmosphere was electric and we attracted a variety of clientele from all across the city. We had the suits coming in for happy hour after work most nights, frat boys looking to score with some of the hottest ladies that the city had to offer on any given weekend to the wildest bachelorette parties where those same ladies were looking to make their last mistakes count…
As I wiped down the counters of the bar, I looked down at Bella and Rose counting out funds from the tip jar to split amongst themselves and the rest of the waitresses. It looked like the girls had had a pretty good night.
I felt the familiar pull in my stomach as I watched Bella. I spent most of my closing routine on the nights that I bartended in this very same spot, doing this very same thing. She stood there, laughing with her friends, completely oblivious to how beautiful she was. Her dark brown hair hung in loose curls down her back. Her shapely legs never seemed to end in the black mini skirt and heels that she wore thanks to Alice and her decision to put all of the girls in 'tip insuring' uniforms. Her white blouse was opened just enough to show the most delicious sample of cleavage that I had ever come across and it molded to her form in the perfect way. It wasn't slutty or trampy like some of the get ups that I've seen come in and out of our doors. It was flattering and unbelievably sexy on her. God bless those damn uniforms…
I blew out a sigh and carried some dirty glasses back into the kitchen.
When Jasper and I opened this place, my mom and dad thought we had both lost our minds. I guess I could see where they were coming from. We had both just finished college and could have done anything we wanted to do with our degrees. But with my head for business and Jaspers knack for marketing, it just made sense. Midnight Blues just made sense. Grant it, we had done our share of silly shit over the years, messing up the way best friends do while growing up, but this wasn't the same thing.
We combined what we loved with what came naturally for both of us and we had struck gold.
Jasper was a people person to the highest degree. He could read a person just by spending a short amount of time with them and he was always in tune with peoples' emotions and shit like that.
This was a big reason why he was so good with the ladies.
I liked to think that I was a fairly good judge of character when it came to people, but it could get irritating at times. Over the years, I'd found that it could be a bit of a burden to be able to see through the bullshit of others. Sometimes, it would be nice to just be blissfully unaware of those with less than honorable motives and intentions for the things they did or the things they said.
But this place was our baby and we had built it up from nothing. It was just an old burned out building, but we had turned the space into the perfect spot for night life.
When we started, my sister was chomping at the bit to work with us. I gave her a try seeing as how we needed as much help as we could get at the time and that turned out to be a bit of serendipity if there ever was one. In the first week of her being hired, she had us fully staffed with some awesome waitresses that weren't just great with the customers, but were also easy on the eyes.
After securing a dependable DJ, we were up and running.
I've never really had to try too hard when it came to the fairer sex. I knew from past experiences that they found me somewhat appealing, especially since they were the ones to approach me in most situations. But nothing could have prepared me for the first night that Alice had brought Bella in. I swear my jaw hit the floor as soon as they walked into the room and I had first laid eyes on her.
"Bella, I'd like to introduce you to my brother, Edward Cullen and his best friend and co-owner Jasper Whitlock. Gentleman, this is Ms. Isabella Swan," Alice said.
Her blush was simply exquisite. It highlighted her complexion and made her skin look like berries and cream.
As not to be rude amidst my ogling, I stood and raised my hand for her to shake.
"Isabella, it's a pleasure to meet you. You come highly recommended by Alice." I said, looking deeply into her chocolate brown eyes. I couldn't remember seeing a brown that deep before...
As she went to reclaim her hand, I noticed the electricity that seemed to pulse in between our palms, almost like a shock, but before I could put too much thought into it, Jasper swooped in with all of his southern charm. Bastard…
"Ms. Swan, the pleasure is mine," he drawled in that accent he only pulled out when he was trying to be smooth. He kissed her knuckles and that tantalizing blush came back in full force.
Alice cleared her throat, bringing everyone back to the here and now. I was grateful for that because I knew it would have been completely unprofessional for me to kick Jaspers' ass over a girl that I had just met, in the middle of her job interview no less. That emotion is one that still lingers to this day. The overwhelming feeling that she belongs to me continues to live and breathe within my veins with no justification whatsoever. It scares the shit out of me because I can't shake it and I don't really want to.
But Bella took the attention in stride, correcting us from jump, letting us know that she preferred to be called 'Bella' and that, after that day, she would not be responding to any other name.
Jasper immediately began referring to her as 'Sweet Cheeks.'
The rest of the interview went by quickly with Jasper and I alternating as we asked questions and with Bella giving it as good as she got it. We learned that Bella was in her third year at Northwestern with Alice studying Business and Public Relations. She was an only child and grew up in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. She kept good grades and considered herself to be responsible and trustworthy, etcetera, etcetera. Jasper asked one question, though, that immediately both pissed me off and piqued my interest...
"So, Ms. Swan, if you were to obtain this position, how would your boyfriend or significant other take to your being busy most weeknights and weekends? Between work and school, that would put quite the strain on your social life, don't you think?"
I wanted to punch him and kiss him all at the same time.
She took a long breath and looked up at me through her long, dark eyelashes. I could've cum right then and there…
"Well," she started after pausing to give the question some thought, "I would like to believe that anything worth having in your life is worth making time for and that any significant other would not only appreciate, but also support my drive and ambition to support myself financially through school."
I looked over at Jasper who returned my gaze with a raised eyebrow.
Bella continued…
"However, because I do not currently have a boyfriend or a significant other as you put it, it's a non-issue."
And with that, I not only would've kissed him, but I also would've slipped Jasper the tongue for his brilliance.
Instead, I thanked Bella for her time, told her that we would be in touch with our decision and walked her and Alice to the door with a reassuring wink to let my sister know that she had again brought us a winner.
I can honestly say that my attentions were caught at first by her delicate and understated beauty. She didn't bathe herself in makeup or spend ungodly hours on her hair like most women do; she didn't seem to have to. She had a natural appeal that was only accentuated by her choice in light make up and wavy curls. Her mind immediately called to me as well. You could tell that she was respectful and straight forward and that she would accept nothing less from those around her, no matter what capacity they were in her life.
You had to respect a person that was so upfront and unafraid when it came to being herself.
I said goodnight to everybody in the back and was taking off my apron when Emmett came barreling around the corner. "So, what's up for the night, Bro?"
If Emmett was anything, he was predictable. I pulled a Heineken out of the ice chest and tossed him a Corona.
"Same shit I guess, we usually just chill out here on Saturday nights anyway. Did you have something else in mind that you wanted to do?"
"Nah, just checking before I got comfortable."
Comfort for Emmett was wrapping himself around Rosalie. He was next to her at the other end of the bar in a flash, kissing her on the cheek and making her squeal in surprise.
I shook my head and tipped my beer bottle back, taking a long pull.
Tonight was the night…
I was going to not only tell Bella how much I wanted her, how so very much I needed and desired her…
I was going to show her.
I would make her believe me.
I can't count how many nights I had told myself this same thing, just to get stage fright at the last minute. What was it that Jasper had said? Oh yeah…I was a pussy.
I had spent the better part of the last six months watching and learning, becoming well versed in the inner workings of one Miss Isabella Swan.
She had no idea how absolutely captivating she was to those around her.
She could make this whole place light up with her smile and she made the worst of situations hilarious with her quick wit and her ability to find a snappy comeback to any and everything.
She was smart and articulate, tenacious and gorgeous to a fault. I had no idea why she chose to work here as a bar maid when she should be out conquering the world.
Oh yeah. Between her and Rosalie, they made enough in tips during a busy night to finance a small, third world country…
But I thanked my lucky stars that she was working here while she finished up her degree and that I had the chance to see her and merely be in her presence most nights of the week.
Don't get me wrong, Bella was anything but perfect. But all of those imperfections made her perfect for me and she had no idea.
She was clumsy as all hell, managing to drop an entire tray of drinks in the VIP on her first night. Her mouth, while quite enticing, could work against her at times. She hadn't learned quite when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em.
But I loved it.
Sure, as one of her bosses, it gave me a migraine from time to time, but Bella was a great employee and I would continue to bide my time until I could pull my head out of my ass and finally tell her how I felt.
"So, you still holding onto your fucking torch for the young Miss Swan?" Jasper said as he saddled up next to me at the bar, interrupting my thoughts.
"Hmm. I have no idea what you're talking about, Mr. Whitlock," I deadpanned, reaching in for another beer.
"Yeah, and I'm the fucking Queen of England, Cullen." Jasper laughed. "I thought you had to be getting some to be as whipped as you are, Young Sir."
"Say what you want, Jazz, but these things take time. I'm not just going to mess up without being sure of what this could be. I'm not just out for a roll in the hay with her. You know that." I said, hoping he understood where I was coming from.
"Yeah, I know, but you're going to drive yourself bat shit crazy over thinking this. Sometimes you just have to go for it and put yourself out there." he said.
I knew he was right to a certain point, but hell, he had as much experience as I did with wanting something more with a woman.
"And, umm, it looks like you need to get on that sooner than later," he nodded down towards the end of the bar where the rest of the girls had congregated to dole out the tip money. "Newton seems to be making his next move his best move."
I looked over and saw Mike Newton pulling on Bella's waist, trying to pull her away from the group of girls. She was smiling as she tried to push him away from her, but he was being more persistent than usual. It was pretty well known that Newton considered himself to be a ladies' man and had made no secret of his interest in Bella. She had made light of his pursuit of her, but he was one of those guys that didn't seem to be able to take no for an answer. He was a damn good DJ, but I would thoroughly enjoy breaking every last one of his fingers if he tried anything out of sorts with Bella. My Bella…
"Motherfucker…"
I chugged the rest of my beer and slowly made my way down to the other end of the bar. Bella had been turned around so that she was pressed completely up against Mike as he breathed heavily into her ear, his lips coming dangerously close to her throat. I felt myself growl deep within my chest as I got closer to them.
"Ladies, how is everything looking tonight? Everybody do alright in the tip department?" I figured a neutral approach was the best approach, especially with so many employees in the immediate vicinity. Jessica was the first to respond.
"Oh yeah, Mr. Cullen, we all did well I think."
It didn't escape my attention that she had done her best to squeeze her breasts together a little more as she leaned towards me against the counter. Remember what I had mentioned earlier about trampy? Yeah…
"Great, Jessica. Bella, how did you do tonight? No accidents to speak of?" I said quickly, hoping to draw everyone's attention to Bella and to Newton who was currently trying to suck her skin off.
"Yes, Mr. Cullen, no accidents, not tonight anyway," she said, finally able to give Newton the push he needed to back the fuck away from her.
"Great, great," I responded, not only for her answer, but for the space that was now between them.
"Ladies, feel free to stay and hang out if you'd like. Bella, I was hoping to have a word?"
"Sure, no problem," she said, cutting her eyes at Mike as she followed me towards the opposite end of the bar. I turned toward Mike and his face had fallen as he watched Bella's ass walk away from him.
"Mike, when you get a moment, you may want to throw some music on." His face had turned ten different shades of red at this point. Douche bag.
As I looked up, Emmett had joined Jasper and they were both watching me in hysterics. Jasper had refilled his jack and coke, shaking his head in my direction while Emmett nursed a fresh Corona.
"Whew, that was fucking classic!" Emmett bellowed.
"You can go fuck yourself," I said, meaning every word.
Bella pulled up a stool and untied her apron, laying it across the counter.
"What's up, guys?" she asked as she tied her hair into a low side ponytail that flowed over her shoulder.
It was at times like these when she was so beautiful without trying that I became completely tongue tied around her. She stood up on the top rung of her stool, gaining the height she needed to reach past me to grab a beer out of the ice chest.
I barely held back a groan.
"Hey Bells, it looks like Mike is turning up the heat and getting bolder with you. What are you going to do about that?" Emmett asked, without any finesse or tact I might add. But God love him because I sure as shit wanted to know the answer to that myself.
"I know, right?" She responded sounding completely exasperated which made my heart soar. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I thought for a second I was going to have to kick that fucker in the nuts. I was going to if it wasn't for Edward walking up when he did."
I secretly loved how Bella was comfortable enough with me around our friends to call me Edward, but reverted to 'Mr. Cullen' when we were around the rest of the wait staff. It was an incredible turn on and had supplied me with endless material for my fantasies.
"Trust me, Sweet Cheeks, your bosses will be sure turn a blind eye if you ever feel the need to," Jasper laughed as he and Bella clinked glasses.
"Amen to that," Emmett added. "But please be sure that as soon as you finish, we'll be there to pound that asshole's face in."
Bella's giggle was like music to my ears.
"Edward, you said you wanted to speak to me?" she asked as she turned her gaze in my direction.
"Oh yeah, I did, didn't I?" I asked, my voice an octave higher than I would have liked. I couldn't very well begin the conversation that I wanted to have with her with Jasper and Emmett hanging around. "It's nothing too pressing. We can chat about it later."
"Oh, ok," she said. Jasper just sighed and shook his head, mouthing the word 'cock blocker' in my general direction.
I narrowed my eyes at him as he stood up and stretched.
"Well, not that this hasn't been a time and a half, but I've got people to do and places to see. If you'll all excuse me," he said as he made his way over to my sister who was dancing with Angela to the music that Newton had just put on.
"Wouldn't they make the cutest couple?" Bella asked, completely out of nowhere.
"I'm sorry?"
"I was just saying how I thought they made a cute couple. You don't agree?"
"I don't know. Jasper has never struck me as the couple type. He and I would need to have a conversation before I could get on board with something like that." I laughed.
"Never mind. That's the kind of answer I should have expected from a big brother. My mistake." She said, raising her hands in surrender. I hadn't meant to react poorly to her question, but my sister coupling up with my best friend was the last thing that I had on my mind at the moment.
"Did you want some help with the rest of these?" Bella asked, effectively changing the subject.
I looked down at the remaining dirty glasses lined up on the counter. I hadn't realized that there were so many. "Sure, if you don't mind."
"No, I don't mind at all."
We both picked up some glasses and headed to the kitchen area. I held the swinging door open for her as she slid past me.
"Ladies first," I said, glancing down when I knew she wouldn't notice me checking out the assets.
"Edward, you're always so proper and gentleman-like, even when we're doing the most mundane of bar duties." Bella giggled as she turned the hot water on at the sink and started washing glasses.
"That's not a bad thing, I hope." I said as I sat my glasses down next to her and grabbed a towel to dry them with.
"No, but it's definitely an uncommon thing. Have you always been so well mannered?" She looked up at me through those dark eyelashes of hers. She clearly had no idea what she did to me.
"I'd like to think so." I said after taking a moment to regain my composure. Instead of composure, I gained a front row seat into her huge brown eyes staring directly into my green ones, like I was getting ready to reveal one of life's deep, dark secrets. I found myself getting lost in them as I unconsciously took two steps closer to her. "A lady deserves the attention of a gentleman, no matter what she's doing."
I was standing so close to her, I could feel her sharp exhale of warm, cherry scented breathe. Something had shifted between us in that moment and, even though I had no idea what it was, the thumping in my chest told me that I liked it.
"That's an interesting way of thinking about it," she said after another shallow exhale and a step in my direction. "What else would you say a lady deserves?"
If I had been thinking clearly, I would have removed myself from the kitchen and this moment as soon as I smelled her cherry lip gloss, but seeing as how I never thought clearly around Bella, my Bella, I only seemed to be pushing myself further into this moment.
"Well," I said, taking a chance and running a single finger along her forearm, feeling the silky soft skin there. "A lady deserves so many things. She deserves to be the center of the world to her gentleman. She deserves to feel special."
I ran that same finger up the rest of her arm and allowed it to linger along her collarbone as I followed it with my eyes and landed on her soft, supple lips. They were begging for me to quit messing around and kiss them.
I trailed my finger along her cheekbone, realizing that Bella appeared to be just as mesmerized as I was.
"A true lady deserves the world."
Bella parted her lips to speak, but before she could utter a word, Emmett came bursting through the doors of the kitchen, making Bella jump. I took three steps back in response.
"Dude, what the fuck are you doing in here? Newton's about to settle an argument for us. Jasper swears that Teddy Pendergrass drops more panties than the Isley Brothers. I think that's bullshit."
Once he finally stopped talking, he took a deep breath and looked at the space between me and Bella. I rolled my eyes at his unasked question and threw the towel that I had barely used to dry glasses and threw it over my shoulder. "Bella and I were doing some cleaning up after tonight's service."
She looked away quickly and continued to wash the glasses in the sudsy water.
"Oh, ok. Well, when you guys finish, you should come out and help us decide. I'm so gonna wipe the floor with his ass!" He said as he went back out the door as quickly as he had come.
"Huh, I wish I could be so easily amused." Bella smirked up at me after a few moments. I was glad to hear her sass after what could have been a very awkward moment between us. I wasn't sure how she was feeling about what was about to happen or about Emmett interrupting it.
"Yeah, he's always been one of those kids that could be occupied for hours with bullshit toys like Ball in a Cup." I laughed.
She joined me. "Yeah, I can totally see that."
Rather than tempt fate twice, I opted not to go back to my drying duty and decided to do a quick run of the inventory before it got too late in the evening. I had already had a few beers and wanted to be done before I started in on a few hard drinks.
"I'm gonna go over some inventory, Bella. Holler if you need me." I called over my shoulder as I walked further into the kitchen where we stored the liquor.
"Ok." She replied.
After about a half hour, I was satisfied with the state of our liquor supply. I had jotted down a few essentials that would need to be ordered Monday morning and had made a mental note to do that and order a few more beer steins. As I stood and placed my notepad in my back pocket, I could hear some shouting from the front of the club and "For the Love of You" blaring through the speakers. By the sound of it, Emmett and Jasper were still in the heat of battle.
I chuckled and went back toward the front of the kitchen where I found Bella standing on her tippy toes precariously on some stacked milk cartons and reaching into a cupboard that was clearly too high for her. Even though I had been side tracked by the view, her calves and ass looking absolutely stunning in the position she was in, I was able to make it over to catch her right as she started to take a tumble.
"Bella, are you nuts?" I asked as she squealed in both surprise and relief. "I told you to holler if you needed help."
The way she fit so perfectly in my arms made me wonder if she would feel just as perfect within my embrace. I wound my arms tighter around her waist just to test my theory.
Yep. Perfect.
"I – I didn't think I did. I thought I could reach it fine with the cartons." She answered as she looked up at me and stroked the hair on my exposed forearms. Again, I found myself lost within her gaze, lost in the feel of her and lost in another moment where we found ourselves closer to one another than we rightfully should have been.
I felt my face moving closer to hers of its own accord. If I was crazy, I would have thought she was also moving in my direction. As her sweet breathe blew across my face, I may have gone just a bit nuts.
"Thank you for catching me," she whispered, almost too quietly for me to hear her. She looked up from my chest into my eyes and I couldn't help but notice the hooded, lazy expression that had come over them. I looked between her eyes and her lips, again wanting to heed their call.
"Hey Edward, is there anymore amaretto in the back?" Rosalie yelled, much louder than she really needed to.
"God dammit!" I yelled before I could stop myself.
I was more frustrated than I thought at being interrupted a second time. Bella giggled as she smoothed out her skirt and walked to the back of the kitchen to get a bottle of liquor for Rose.
"Here you go, Rose," Bella said as she handed her the bottle. "Let's go check on the boys and their little competition."
Bella pushed Rosalie through the doors before she could say anything about my blow up. I couldn't be sure if Bella knew or understood my frustration in that moment, but as she looked over her shoulder before the door swung shut behind her, I knew that she did.
I stood stuck in that same spot, feeling my jaw clench and pulling on the roots of my hair.
What was happening tonight? I had wanted to get Bella alone to bridge the topic of how I felt for her, but we never seemed to have the opportunity. What we did seem to be making time for was more close encounters than we had ever had together in the span of a few short hours. Was it possible that she knew how I felt about her already? Could she be capable of feeling the same sort of things for me? Would we even need to have the conversation that I had been putting off for far too long?
I had a million and one questions but no answers to speak of.
Once I pulled myself together and splashed some cold water on my face, I walked out to the dance floor where everybody was gathered, listening to the songs as Newton played and Jasper and Emmett called them out, claiming to have the perfect song to make any woman melt.
"Ok, fuck the bullshit, I'm not playing anymore."Emmett yelled as he tossed back the rest of his beer. "I've got something for you fuckers that will bring the house down and crown me king."
Instead of telling Newton what to put on, Emmett got behind the turntables himself.
Most of the staff had already headed out, calling it a night. My sister was gathering her things and asked Bella if she needed a ride. Bella nodded and Alice went to get their coats.
"Leaving so soon?" I asked, unable to hide the disappointment I felt at not being able to talk to her or clarify any of the things that had happened, or didn't happen, between us tonight.
"Yeah, Alice is gonna give me a ride home, my truck is on the fritz again." She said, not making eye contact with me.
"Bella, that truck of yours is on its way to a slow, painful death…"I started, but she cut me off before I could continue.
"Hey, don't disrespect the truck," she chuckled.
"I could always give you a ride if you wanted to hang out a little. I've had you doing more bar duties than you should have had to do."
"No, you didn't Edward. I was more than happy to help. And I wouldn't want to put you out. My apartment is on the way to Alice's." She said.
I knew this was the case, but I didn't want to see her go home, at least not without me. Not wanting to look like the punk that I was starting to feel like, I figured it would be best to hold onto to what little dignity I had left and not argue with her. "Ok, just be careful."
"Ok." She whispered.
By the time Alice had returned with their coats, Emmett had found the song that he was looking for and the slow, mellow, and completely appropriate words of Luther Vandross came pouring through the speakers like molasses.
'Let me hold you tight, if only for one night. Let me keep you near to ease away your fear. It would be so nice, if only for one night.'
"Emmett, you jack ass, that's Luther. I thought you were trying to say that the Isley Brothers were better than Teddy P.?" I yelled over the music, trying to keep my mind from going haywire at the implications of the song on what I felt at that very moment.
"I know, I know," he yelled back, "but who in the world could beat Luther Vandross?"
And he was right, nobody could beat Luther Vandross in the panty dropping department. Nobody.
'I won't tell a soul. No one has to know if you want to be totally discreet. I'll be at your side, if only for one night.'
At this point, I was totally done. I had wasted yet another night and several perfect opportunities to put myself out there and once again, I had wussed out completely. I was so frustrated with myself by this point that I volunteered to stay behind and lock up as everyone made their way out to spend time with their significant others.
I figured I would stay behind and play some piano and wallow in my own self pity. I'd rather have my own music mocking me than the king of panty dropping music, that much was for damn sure.
Bella and Alice were the last ones to leave, Alice hugging me tightly and kissing my cheek, promising to call me in the morning for our regular Sunday brunch date.
Like I had done on many nights, I swallowed my regret and looked Bella dead in the face, wishing she could read my mind and all of the things running through it.
"Have a good night, Bella. I'll see you later." I said, hoping I was hiding the lump in my throat well enough.
"You too, Edward." She said as she looked up at me with an expression that I wasn't familiar with. I closed the door behind them, leaning up against it and closing my eyes tightly.
As I went to lock it a few moments later, there was a tiny knock on the door.
I looked through one of the windows, but figured one of the girls must have forgotten something because whoever it was was too short for me to see them.
I opened the door and started to walk towards the bar, but something told me to stop.
I stopped and turned around, looking into the darkened doorway and recognizing the curves of the silhouette that stood there instantly.
We both stood stock still staring at each other for what could have been several minutes, or several hours, I couldn't sure.
Before I knew what was happening, my Bella had ran across the bar and launched herself at me, wrapping her legs around my waist as I caught her, cupping her delicious ass in my hands.
I was still unable to find my words when she put her tiny finger up to my lips, stopping all of my thoughts before they had a chance to interrupt us, again.
"Shut up and kiss me, Edward…"