Disclaimer: As my name is not Stephanie Meyer, I do not own Twilight or any of the related stories. No matter how much I wish I did.
Chapter 1- EPOV
'What in the hell am I doing here?' I thought to myself as I sat at the bar table with my sister and friends. I looked at the diet cola I was sipping with disdain. It was flat, which would perfectly match the rest of my experience at this new bar.
The Blue Moon was the latest bar to open on the Seattle scene, a very popular night spot that still had a waiting list to get inside. You had to know someone to get in the door. Luckily, my sister's newest boyfriend had some connections, thus making tonight her "best birthday ever." According to her, anyway. Personally, I still preferred the Lion King party she had when she turned ten.
The place had a raw, industrial look to it. Apparently the developers spent a lot of money to make the place look like they hadn't put a dime into it. The lighting was harsh, the air was smoky and the music was unbearably loud. I couldn't hear myself think, much less hear what anyone else was saying. But other than my sister and friends, I don't think I would have been interested in much that was being said here.
The bar was modeled after a famous one from New York, the kind where the staff was rude to you on purpose and the scantily clad waitresses danced on the tabletops at designated intervals. It made them seem kind of desperate in my opinion, but I seemed to be the only one to think that way. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been a line a mile long outside consisting of nearly every other male from a 100-mile radius.
"Where is our waitress?" I heard Alice's excited voice yell from beside me. It was only 11:00pm, but the birthday girl was already "feeling good," bouncing up and down on her stool like a 5-year-old at Christmas. She looked cute tonight in her blue jeans and white sequined tank top, even though you could barely see her short, petite frame over the top of the bar table from the stool she was sitting on. I should have bought her a booster seat for her birthday.
Of course, in typical Alice fashion she accessorized with a sparkling silver tiara set atop her spiky, jet black hair. It read "Birthday Girl" in fake diamonds. She always liked to be center of attention, which surprised me because lately she only had eyes for one person. Her boyfriend, Jasper. Poor bloke, she had dressed him tonight to match her: dark blue jeans and a casual white button down, the sleeves rolled up a bit. I think she even managed to put some styling product in his dark blonde curls, although he had avoided having to wear a shiny tiara to complete the matching ensemble.
He sat next to her with one arm casually laid across the back of her bar stool. They had only been dating about 2 months, but you'd swear they'd known each other their whole lives the way they gazed into the other's eyes and were always joined at the hip. His blue eyes literally sparkled when he watched her. I'm sure he thought she hung the moon.
"Well speak of the devil!" my best friend, Emmett, boasted from the seat on my other side. His large personality was only surpassed by his even larger physical presence. Emmett could have easily filled two bar stools with his tall, muscular frame. His dark brown, slightly curly hair stood out starkly against his fair skin. He might have looked intimidating, except for the fact that he couldn't ever stop laughing and smiling with dimples that belonged on the Gerber baby.
Unlike the calm and cool demeanor projected by Jasper across the table, Emmett's personality matched that of my sister's. Only where Alice was uber-excited tonight because of her birthday, Emmett had that mischievous glint in his eye that could only be seen when he caused me trouble.
"Here comes your girlfriend," he said as he elbowed me in the ribs. If it hadn't been for his own new girlfriend Rosalie, sitting on his other side, I would have said something less befitting a gentleman. Lucky for him, Rosalie was the epitome of a lady, at least through her gorgeous looks: slender with curves in all the right places, long blonde hair curled to perfection and a million watt smile behind lips painted a sultry red. Surprisingly, though, it was not this perfect blonde that held his eye at the moment.
I followed his gaze to see fiery red hair slinking toward our table, a tray of shots balanced precariously above her shoulder. I couldn't help but grimace. The red-haired waitress had already stopped at our bar table too many times for my taste. Each time, she lingered a little too close for my comfort, leaning forward so I could get a good view of her assets via the super low cut, midriff top she was wearing. During her last stop, she had even been brazen enough to leave behind a crumpled piece of paper with her name, Victoria, and her phone number. Emmett thought this was pretty damn funny, and quite a few "hilarious" innuendos ensued.
"Next round's on me," I called as I jumped up from the table and headed for the main bar. I just barely heard Alice exclaim "Ooh, what pretty shots!" before I was out of hearing range.
Normally, I hated crowded bars and having to wait for my drinks. But tonight I would make an exception. Besides, I'd offered to be the designated driver, something I was quickly regretting. I was starting to think I'd need some liquid courage in order to make it through one night in the Blue Moon.
It took a couple of minutes just to get up to the main bar. I was surprised to see two female bar tenders standing around doing nothing, when there were so many people waiting to get drinks. It was almost as if everyone was waiting to be served by the same person. And then I saw her…
She had long, dark brown hair that was silky straight and pulled halfway back to stay out of her eyes. And what beautiful eyes they were: big and round and the most lovely, deep chocolate color I've ever seen. She was pale, but not in a ghostly white fashion. Instead, her skin looked like a porcelain cream, unblemished by the harmful rays of the sun. Her outfit was alluring, but not in the trashy way of the other bar tenders and waitresses. The light colored jeans and blue sleeveless shirt fit her curves well, but left more to the imagination.
She was small, no make that tiny. So much so that it made the bottles of beer and liquor that she was flinging around as if they weighed nothing, that much more impressive. It was no wonder why all the bar patrons were waiting to be served by her. It was the same reason I was now waiting for her. Her beauty alone would have been worth the wait, but this girl was putting on quite the show.
I finally made my way to the bar directly in front of her. Rowdy people from either side of me were yelling their orders. But the girl looked directly at me with her mesmerizing, chocolate eyes. Suddenly it was as if the world went silent. Her luscious, pink lips moved, but I didn't register any sound coming from them. I just stood there with what could only be considered a goofy grin on my face, the right side of my lips raised in a crooked half smile. Then a drunk stumbled into me from behind, almost spilling his beer down my back, and it was like someone turned the volume up. I could hear again.
"You ok?" I heard a beautiful, worried voice ask. I turned my attention back to the bar to see the girl with the chocolate eyes looking at me, concerned.
"Uh, yeah," I answered. Smooth.
"So you gonna order something or just stand there staring?" she asked, gesturing to the crowd around me who was ready to order. I couldn't help but look down at the counter sheepishly.
"Right," I said as I tried to refocus and remember what my friends were drinking. "How about a white Russian, gin and tonic and two Bud Lights?"
The bar tender went to work, starting with the most complex drink first, the white Russian. After expertly mixing everything together, with a few impressive over the shoulder tosses of the Kahlua, she then mixed the gin and tonic before popping the tops on the two beers.
"Anything else?" she asked. I couldn't think of any witty answer, so I simply nodded my head. Yep, real smooth.
"Ok, that'll be fifteen bucks," she said after quickly adding together each drink in her head. While I pulled some cash out, I finally got my thoughts together.
"What's your name?" I asked and handed her a twenty dollar bill.
"People round here call me Phoenix," she answered as she put my money in the cash drawer and pulled out my change.
"Yeah, we call her Ph-Phoenix," a drunk a few spots down the bar from me managed to spit out. He looked about my age, maybe a college guy, but he was dressed in work clothes with oil stains and was by himself. Maybe he stopped in for an after work drink, but then again, how in the hell did he get past the waiting list of perfectly dressed patrons outside? "Hey Phoenix, what do ya say we go out to my truck for a little bit?" he asked.
The nerve of this guy! How dare he talk to her like that, like she's a common piece of trash? I gathered myself and started towards the man. But before I could take a complete step, Phoenix had already diffused the situation.
"James, that sounds like fun and all, but what would that nice girlfriend of yours say?" she asked. His face fell, as if he was just remembering something very important. "What was her name again, Vicky?"
His eyes seemed to glaze over a bit, before he began to mumble. "Yeah, my red-headed Vicky. But she's not as pretty as you Phoenix."
"Aw, thanks James," she said easily. "But I think maybe you should head home to Vicky now." She plucked the empty beer bottle from his hand as he stared at her in awe. After an awkward few seconds, at least to me, he finally broke his gaze, nodding and pushing away from the bar.
Coming back to the cash drawer, Phoenix retrieved and handed me a five dollar bill, but I shook my head.
"Keep it," I said.
"Appreciate it," she responded as she smiled and put the five in the tip jar. As she moved to take another order, I blurted out the first thing in my mind.
"So, could I take you out sometime?" I closed my eyes and scrunched my nose in a tight grimace as I realized what I'd just done. How pathetic could I be?
I opened my eyes expecting to see her laughing at me. Or better yet, maybe she would be looking at me mortified, ready to call security to escort me out. Instead, she kept mixing her next order, only glancing at me once out of the corner of her eye. She seemed to be… thinking about it.
"Um…" she finally broke her silence. "I'm not really supposed to date customers. Sorry." Oh, well. While I was outright disappointed, I guess it certainly could have been worse.
"Can't blame a guy for trying," I said, managing to maintain a bit of dignity. "Maybe some other time." I started to walk away, but threw in one more sentence just for the hell of it. "I'm Edward by the way."
"Nice to meet you Edward," she said sincerely with another warm smile. I gave her a quick wave before gathering up all the drinks and heading back to my table.
"Geez dude, did you get lost?" Emmett asked as I sat back down and placed the drinks on the table. I didn't think I'd been gone that long, but looking at my watch I was surprised to find I'd been at the bar for almost an hour. Rather than tell them about the girl of my dreams, which they'd never let me live down, I changed the subject.
"Where are the girls?" I asked Jasper. Instead of saying anything, he just turned his head in the opposite direction. My eyes widened as I saw three girls on top of the bar, the shortest, pixie-like girl hanging from a pole. An empty shot glass dangled from her left hand. Alice.
Behind her, our waitress Victoria was acting as Alice's personal cheerleader, egging her on to continue swinging around the pole. Rosalie stood to the side. She probably would have been having a good time if she hadn't been so preoccupied with catching Alice in the likely event that she fell off the bar. Which, by the look of things would be any minute.
"Looks like the birthday girl is enjoying herself," I muttered. Jasper just nodded. Of course, Emmett couldn't just leave it alone.
"She's not the only one enjoying herself," he said as he gestured to the group of men that were starting to gather on the floor beside where the girls were.
"Time to intervene," I said to Emmett, mostly because Jasper was already out of his chair and heading that way. Luckily, we were able to talk Alice down before she either injured herself or started a fight.
As we walked to the bar's exit, I couldn't help but sigh. For the first time ever, I did not want to leave a place like this. And it had nothing to do with the atmosphere or the drinks. Before I walked outside, I glanced once more at the main bar. I couldn't see her, but there was still a large crowd. I caught the glint of a spinning bottle above the patron's heads, followed by a loud group cheer. She was at it again, entertaining the masses.
Stepping outside, I inhaled the brisk night air. I knew then that I would be back.