Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of the characters. I don't own any of the places either, unless I make them up, then they are mine, but for the most part they are not.
I awoke with a start. My eyes stung with the sudden brightness I had inflicted upon them and I searched for the source of my rather abrupt awakening. As struggled to clear my head from the fogginess of sleep; a shrill ring accompanied with the sound of vibrations on my night stand voided the silence in my room. I shied away from the sound; it made my head feel like it was splitting in two. Oh great, I thought to myself, I'm hungover.
--Flashback to the night before--
"Awww, come on Bells, just one last shot?" Jacob pleaded.
I happened to be on my fourth "one last shot" and I really couldn't remember how many I had before saying that I had to leave.
"I can't Jake, I have another wedding to do tomorrow….no….not a wedding…..a….uh….business luncheon, yeah that's what it is."
Man, my head was spinning. "What time is it anyways?"
Embry looked at his watch for a long while, probably trying to focus enough to read the little numbers on it, I guessed. "Four thirt- se…..whoops, sorry….Five thirty-seven a.m."
"FIVE THRIRTY-SEVEN!!" I screamed.
How could I have let this happen? Sure, it was nothing new to wind down from a night of work, after all, the catering company we worked for allowed us to finish off the food and alcohol left over from an event.
Usually there was nothing left, considering that we were one of the most sought after catering companies in L.A., and our food was truly to die for. But, lucky for us, the wedding we worked tonight was full of actors and models that didn't eat much of anything so we practically had a feast waiting for us when the reception was over with.
Normally, I don't drink very much after work, but tonight I was celebrating the fact that Alice and I just moved into a new beach-front condo in Santa Monica. Alice's uncle is renting it to us at a very low rate (try free!) while he is going off on his yacht to sail the world and "find himself again". Translation: He's bored and wants to get away from work for a while.
Another shrill ring broke me from my daydreaming.My phone kept ringing so I grabbed it and flipped it open to make the horrible noise stop.
"Hello?" I answered half groggily, half whiney and highly irritated.
"Bella!? Where the HELL are you?" The voice on the other end of the receiver shrieked at me.
Oh shit! Alice!
"Do you have any idea what time it is? You were supposed to meet me in front of the Oceana at 11:30 so we could set up for the luncheon and its 12:14 right now!! We are supposed to start serving in ELEVEN MINUTES and I am completely ALONE. I knew I shouldn't have left you with the boys last night, I know you and Jacob have been friends since the beginning of time and all, but seriously, that boy………"
I stopped listening to her little rant. I needed to get up, get ready, and be at Oceana in eleven minutes. Impossible.
"Oh no, Alice, I am soooooo sorry!!" I pleaded into the phone. I could only hope that she wasn't as mad as she sounded.
"SORRY! You are SORRY that you aren't here and I'm stuck to do a very important luncheon with some very important clients, and you are sorry!" she shrieked in a decibel so high that only animals could hear.
Okay, so maybe she was exactly as mad as she sounded. Crap.
After a few more shrieks from Alice, I told her that I was on my way and that I would see her in a few. I was up and out the door in record time, sliding into my Saturn Aura, I began to think about the events in the past year that had led me to where I am today. Jacob and I dropping out of college after a few years with the plan of going to L.A. to get away from the boring, rainy life of Forks, Washington. Of course, the plan wasn't very well thought out. We arrived in L.A. with no degrees, no contacts, and barely any money.
My memory went back to the first few months of us working two jobs each just to keep our crummy, shack of an apartment. And then my thoughts drifted to that faithful day that I met Alice Brandon. Jake and I had been walking along the shopping district of Rodeo Dr., just window shopping, because we sure as hell couldn't afford any of that stuff.
It was starting to get very warm so I shrugged out of my jacket and was in the midst of tying it around my waist when I heard this little shriek followed by the force of a tiny body tackling me to the ground.
I was then lectured about the do's and don'ts of the fashion world for a good five minutes before I summoned enough courage to ask this crazy stranger to get off of me. Strangely enough, we quickly became good friends after that.
I learned that Alice's parents died when she was quite young, leaving her to live with her very wealthy uncle. He was the owner of one of the most popular catering businesses in southern California called Fuji. And, luckily for Jake and I, they were in need a few more servers.
So that's how I ended up here, living with one of my best friends, working for a catering company and making more money than I did with the two jobs I had before combined. Jake works part-time at an auto shop on top of catering, he tells me that he thinks being a mechanic is the right path for him; he just needs a little bit more money before he can start up a business of his own.
We were lucky to have found Alice. She really made our life here a whole lot better. I can't believe how lucky I am.
My phone started ringing as I turned onto Ocean Ave. I frantically tried to search for it in my black hole of a purse. Note to self- get a smaller purse. I finally was able to grab it, only for it to slip out of my fingers and on to the floor of my Saturn.
Oh forget it, its probably just Alice and I will see her in a few minutes anyways.
I looked back to road to notice several things at once. First of all, I was going much to fast on this busy street. Next, there was a dog that was running right through the inside lane of traffic and lastly, the car in front of me had hit its breaks in order to avoid the doggie turned frogger.
My reaction time was just a little too slow and the silver Mercedes in front of me was just a little too close. I heard the sickening crunch of metal on metal before I felt it, but then I did feel it, and the force knocked the breath right out of me.
Oh my God. Oh my God…..OH MY GOD!! I just hit a car. No, not a car. A very expensive car. What am I going to do! I can't afford this! Oh, what am I going to tell Alice?
I don't know how long I had been sitting there in my little soliloquy. But a sharp tapping on my window brought me back to reality. I hesitated, not wanting to face the person whose back bumper I had just destroyed. I must not have reacted quickly enough for them because I heard the aggravated tapping once more, just a little louder.
I guess I better get this over with.
With that final thought, I rolled my window down and sheepishly looked at the presence right outside my window.
To say I was surprised would be an understatement. Shocked maybe; flabbergasted, yeah, that seemed to fit well. Whereas I was expecting to look at some 60- year-old, golf playing, retiree; I was now directly staring at…..a crotch. I immediately averted my eyes and flicked them up to a safer focal point.
They didn't get very far, because I was suddenly distracted by the nicely tapered waist and flat abs that led their way up to a well defined muscled chest and strong-looking arms. Even with the dark grey button up, pushed back at the sleeves; you could see the perfection. I wanted to reach out and touch him, just to see if he was as well defined as he looked. He had the body of a swimmer, or dancer even; long, lean muscle; but still very powerful.
A throat-clearing cough brought my attention from the beautiful body. I slowly made my way up to the face of my victim. My breath came out with a sudden whoosh of surprise. The face was ten times better than the body. His jaw, now clenched with annoyance, was strong and led my eyes up to his mouth. Even with his lips pressed in a thin a line, you could tell that they were anything but thin. They looked full, and soft, I bet he was a good kisser.
Whoa. What's up with ogling? Get a hold of yourself, Bella.
I quickly assessed the rest of his face, straight nose, nice cheekbones, hair that was dark, but light at the same time. It had a strange metallic sheen to it, like bronze, or a deep copper. Either way it was very nice. I saved the eyes for last because, well, then it would be time for me to own up to what I did and I wasn't exactly looking forward to it.
Taking a nice, calming breath, I looked up…… and gasped. Two amazing, piercing emerald eyes were starting down at me, practically boring into my very soul.
This is quite possibly the most beautiful boy I have ever seen. How lucky am I that the car I accidentally hit belongs to this guy that could easily pass for a Greek god?
My infatuation ended rather abruptly though, with the next words that came out of that perfect mouth.
A/N: Tell me what you think. Good or Bad. I can take it.