A/N: This story is just going to be a couple chapters long, that's why the chapters are so long. Bare with me, please :D
P.S. If you want to se the girls' outfits, jewelry and shoes, go to my profile and you'll see the links :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight what so ever.
BPOV
"Alice, hurry up!!!" I yelled, taking a sip from my low-fat hazelnut latte with a double shot of French vanilla and extra whipped cream.
"Oh shut up, Bella! This kind of thing takes time! Now get rid of that contradiction of a cup of coffee and help me with the dress!"
I groaned but didn't throw away my little piece of heaven. "I'll do what ever you want, but don't come between me and my coffee." I said putting it in the corner coming to the entrance of the fitting room in the swanky boutique.
"What do you think?" She twirled around giving me a full view of a gray figure-hugging, long sleeved, back-cutout dress. The cutouts had gold sequins and beading which went perfectly with Alice's sense of style.
"Very nice, it's elegant but sexy at the same time." I leaned on the side of the panel door, appreciating the beautiful dress.
"Oh Bella, it may be elegant all you want, but I don't plan on doing any lady-like things when I take this dress off…"
"Alice!" I screeched, "I don't need to know the morbid details of your sex life!" I could hear the slight gasps of middle aged women shopping around the boutique for their daughters' debutante ball. It was the I'm-So-Trashy-So-Let's-Say-I'm-A-Lady season, and I hated it.
"Oh come on Bella, you're not twelve anymore! Get over it!" She said as she gave a last look at her ass in the three-way mirror in front of her. I looked at her reflection with the same look of disgust that I had.
"Yeah, I'm a 25 year-old that lost her virginity to a horse." I said, blushing and trying to keep my composure.
Alice lost it right there, she was actually crying her little eyes out from the sheer hilarity she found in the unfortunate loss of my hymen. "It's not my fault Renee wanted me to take up horseback riding!" I yelled red as a tomato.
"Oh my god, that story never, ever gets old, seriously!" She exclaimed wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Come on you whore and get the dress off and pay for it. I'm leaving." I said in a huff about to walk away from the boutique when she called out. I looked back, startled thinking someone had punched her in the face or clubbed her in the stomach. "What's wrong?"
She looked at a dress that was hanging near the dressing rooms and ran to it, "this is your dress!" She grabbed it and thrust it upon me, people and myself staring at her like she was completely crazy. Which I wouldn't doubt for a second. "I made it just for you!"
"Alice did you forget that I'm not going?" I said trying to put back the dress, which was like she said, just my type.
"You are going, remember that my dad invited you and your family." She said taking the dress and looking at the size, when she saw it was my size she gave it back to me and I tried putting it back while I answered her.
"I know, but Charlie isn't going to be in Seattle and Renee is sick remember?"
"So? It doesn't mean you can't go and enjoy yourself!" She grabbed me by my arm and threw me in the fitting room next to hers.
She may have been 5'4" but it didn't mean she wasn't as strong as a bodybuilder. Before I could run out of the room my cell started ringing, I looked at the caller I.D. and saw it was Rosalie my other neurotic best friend.
"Rose?"
"Hey Bella, where are you? I can't find you." Rose was supposed to meet us after she got out of her photo shoot, Rose was a model, and a very well known one at that.
"We're at Pixie." I said known what her answer would be.
"Alice's shop? What are you doing there?"
"Alice wanted to have the 'shopper's experience' at her own boutique, can you believe that?" I asked rolling my eyes.
I could hear Rose laughing in the other end, "Typical Alice… ok well I'm a block away, I'll see you in a bit."
"Got it." I agreed and hung up.
"Was that Rose?" Alice called out from beside me.
"Yeah!" I answered looking at myself in the mirror, thinking it over.
"Is she almost here?"
"Yeah."
"Ok, I have a great piece for her!" She exclaimed.
I put the dress she had given me and hung it in one of the hooks in the wall and sat down in the little seat they had and thought about my situation.
I wasn't rich, but I wasn't in dire straights. Unlike Rose's banking family and Alice's medical family, my parents were a Chief of Police for a small town outside of Seattle and a homemaker.
I got by, especially because I was a columnist for the Seattle Times and was currently writing a book, wishing one day it would get published. Alice on the other hand, was a local designer, already having her own successful boutique in the middle of Seattle. Rose was a well-known model, recently her work load had gotten bigger because she was broadening her horizons and everyone wanted her as the face of whatever product they were selling. Currently, she had just finished a three-page spread of GQ as well as landed the cover. There was one word that could describe Rose in a second: she was stunning.
"Bella are you done trying on the dress?"
"Huh?" I came out of reverie, and realized that Alice was outside, waiting for me.
"Are you done trying on the dress? Let me see, let me see!" I heard her say enthusiastically.
"Oh hold on Alice, I kinda forgot." I might as well try it on to appease Alice, and as I started to undress I head Rose arrive outside.
"Hey Alice, where's Bella?"
"She's trying on a dress I gave her, here, you try this one!"
"Hmm… not bad. But I thought Bella didn't want to go to your Mom's party."
"I don't!" I yelled out.
"She's still going, it's going to be amazing." I gave out a dry laugh. Unlike Alice and Rose, I wasn't a big party person and preferred reading Austen and drinking a glass of wine, with the lights soothingly dimmed, than drink my weight in Cosmos, Long Island iced tea and various different kinds of martinis while dancing to sexually explicit music and having clothed sex on the dance floor of a crowded, humid dance floor.
"So after the dinner part of the party, there's going to be a DJ?"
"Yeah, Mom said that as soon as all of her friends and family leave, we can have the house to ourselves, because she and Carlisle are going to stay overnight at the Edgewater Hotel."
"What about the alcohol, is it BYOB?"
"No, Carlisle said that I could take full advantage of the two bars but I could only invite fifty people and that those people had to stay overnight that way there wouldn't be any worries about drunk driving or any other kind of unwanted effects from the alcohol. Even though we have the room," their house was HUMOUNGOUS, "I told everyone that they needed a designated driver and before they could even step into the house they needed to give me the numbers of said people and call them reminding them to come when they or myself called them to come pick them up."
I may have been 110 pounds, but Alice's dress was skin tight, it was taking me forever to put it on, they on the other hand didn't know that I was having trouble with the dress, and I wasn't going to ask for help just yet.
"So anyone bartending or is it self-serve?"
"I asked a friend of mine to bartend and he agreed. But since there's two bars, the one in the living area and the one by the barbeque pit, I asked him if he knew another bartender that would want the gig, and he said he would make a few calls and let me know by five tonight."
"Is he cute?" Rose's interest piqued. I laughed internally, that girl loved anything that moved.
"He's cute, very adorable." That was weird. Alice wasn't going into details about a potential lay?
"Is something wrong with you?" I asked fixing the dress, I had gotten it on with out so much as a broken ankle!
Applause please!
I was so clumsy, that I broke an ankle once trying to put on my shoes, true story, so to put on such a tight dress without needing to go to the emergency room, was a total success and shocker for me and anyone that knew me.
"No, why?" Alice asked, confused as I walked out, for them to see. "Oh Bella it's perfect!"
Rose wolf-whistled and gave me a wink. I blushed, of course.
The dress was a metallic animal print style that hugged my body with all over stretch ruching and as Alice would say "accented with one puff shoulder and elbow-length sleeve". I had to admit, it was pretty awesome and it showed off my curves in all the right places.
"Oh my god, Bella you have to take it. I made it just for you and I knew it would come in handy one day!" Alice started to clap her hands and start jumping up in down, like a five year old. Some people would consider this childish but it was so darn cute when she did it.
"I'm sorry Alice, but you know I don't want to go to the party, and I know you did it just for me and I appreciate it, but I don't think I need it right now." I tried not to hurt her feelings.
"Bella!"
"Yeah, Bella just go for it. Have some fun, don't be so uptight." Rose told me, going into the fitting room next to mine to put on Alice's selection for her.
"I don't know…"
"Bella, please. I want you to get out of your bubble and explore. There's a reason why you say that you lost your virginity to a horse." She whispered, trying to be discreet since the boutique was bursting with Paris Hilton wannabes by this time of the day.
I thought about it, and even though she was using that little piece of fact to her advantage, I knew she had a point. And somehow I did need to go out and let my hair down for once in my sad, sad life.
"Alright fine, I'll go and I'll get the dress, but you have to promise you won't make me dance."
"Oh, you won't need me to force you to dance, you won't want to stop, I can just tell." She said in an ominous voice. I didn't know what she meant but I didn't ask, Alice gave me the chills sometimes because her intuition was freakishly right.
"Yeah right." I said, either way. By this time I had managed to take of my dress and get redressed and walked out, to wait for Rose.
"Oh my god Alice this dress is fucking amazing!" Rose exclaimed, walking out of the fitting room and showing it off.
Unlike mine, that was a one-shoulder, dark metallic color, Rose's was a black body-baring dress, with intertwined rhinestone circles holding up the straps, the dress had a draped neckline and twist cutout back, and it fit Rose's persona perfectly.
"Your boobs look like they're gonna pop out." I noted.
"That's the whole point! Rose likes to show off her body, don't you Rose?" Alice said, appreciatively.
"Yeah, you did a great job with this one Alice." Rose said looking at herself from an angle, which looked afuckingmazing by the way.
"Come on Rose, you'll ware it tonight, let's go that I need to go help Esme with the preparations for the dinner party, and see how my party's preparations are going."
When Rose was out, wearing her normal clothes, we went up to the cash register and before Rose and I could say anything Alice litarly chucked her credit card at her employee, "Evelyn ring up the dresses and hand me the other bags from earlier today."
Evelyn rang up the dresses while Rose and I complained, and were still complaining as Alice thanked Evelyn and told her she wouldn't come in for the rest of the day and that she was in charge as she started for the door.
"Alice why did you pay? You know how I feel about those kinds of gifts!"
"Yeah Alice, you already did enough with design it for us!"
"Ladies, ladies, I let didn't make these dresses to gain profit from you. The other ones, yes, but not yours. What kind of friend would I be, and what kind of gift would that be too?"
Rose and I looked at each other, speechless. She had a point.
"See? There you go. Now let's go!"
When we got to the parking lot, Rose said she would go to Alice's parents' house on her own since she brought her car.
Alice said that it would be better to get ready there also, that way when the time of the party came we couldn't have to deal with traffic.
We all agreed and I went to with Alice to her canary yellow Porche, and Rose went to find her cherry red BMW.
Like I said before, both girls were loaded. I on the other hand had a small little charcoal gray Jetta and was very happy with it.
"Alice, what are in the other bags you asked Evelyn to give you? I saw a few boxes that looked a lot like shoeboxes with her insignia.
"Shoes from my line."
"What for?"
"Hmm?" She was acting like she didn't know what I was trying to get at.
"Alice…"
"It's stuff I need." I didn't believe her, as I was about ask her to tell me the truth Beyonce's "Diva" started to ring from somewhere in her purse. Leave it to Alice to call herself a diva. I started to giggle.
"Bella could you answer that, please? I don't want to answer the phone since I'm driving and I misplaced my Bluetooth.
"Sure." I looked inside her Marc Jacobs bag and found her iPhone. An unknown number was calling from out of town.
"Answer it, it could be important."
"Ok." I held the phone to my ear, "hello?"
"Uh yeah hi," a velvety, smooth, husky voice answered, "am I speaking to Alice Cullen?"
"No, she's not available at the moment, but I could take a message."
"Oh, I see. Well tell her Edward called and to return the call to the number that popped up in the caller I.D. tell her it's urgent."
My eyebrows went up, as I threw Alice a knowingly smirk, she looked back at me wondering what that was about.
"Sure, I'll let her know right away." I reassured him.
"Thanks… uh…"
"Bella."
"Thanks Bella." Said Edward, the interesting voice at the other side of the phone. I waited to hear the click and hung up.
"You whore!" I said putting the iPhone back where it belonged, amoung Alice's random stuff in her bag.
"What?"
"I didn't know you were seeing someone on the side!"
"Huh?" We stopped at a red light and Alice turned her complete attention to me, confusion all over her face.
"The Edward dude, why didn't you tell us about him?!"
We heard a honk beside us and realized that Rose was right next to us, also waiting for the light to turn. I took the window down and Rose did the same, looking curious.
"Rose! Alice has been hiding a man from us!" I said, laughing.
"What the fuck?!" Rose said, looking at Alice with amusement.
"What the fuck are you talking about Bella?" Alice said, looking at the light every now and then.
"This Edward guy, needs to talk to you urgently. Damn Alice he sounded really hot!" I said, Rose gasping.
"Edward called?" Total shock and confusion washed over Alice's face.
"The light's about to turn, you have to give us details!" Rose said, as she prepared to keep driving, Alice followed suit as I smiled at Alice.
The rest of the journey, Alice looked troubled and nervous, I wondered why.
"So when did you sleep with him, or haven't you?" I asked, still curious.
"Don't be ridiculous Bella. I would never sleep with Edward." She looked disgusted.
"What do you mean?"
"I'll tell you when we get home and I check in with my mom, ok?"
"Sure…" I dropped the subject and stayed quiet the rest of the trip.
We finally got to the Cullen mansion, also known as the biggest mansion in the Olympic Peninsula. The house was Victorian, three stories tall, it had twenty bedrooms, ten bathrooms, a living area as big as a school building, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, grotto, two full-stocked bars as well as a huge wine cellar, state-of-the-art kitchen that any five-star chef would die to even walk into, eight-car garage, thirty-person staff, ten acres surrounding the mansion itself of lushlessness and an underground spa complete with man-made hot springs not to mention Dr. Cullen's art collection. He owned original masterpieces that together were worth the state of Washington's deficient and a little bit of California's.
It was the American and modern version of Pemberley estate in Pride and Prejudice in my opinion. When I voiced this to Alice, she laughed and said, "strangely, Mom thought of that mansion as an inspiration for this one."
Alice and I carried out her things and ran up to the home, the service was running around preparing for tonight's events, looking stressed.
"Ms. Cullen, Ms. Swan nice to see you again." Oh did I forget to mention they had their own butler?
"Philip is Mom home?"
"Yes, Mrs. Cullen is in the North patio." He said in his normal, detached voice.
"Ok thanks, oh yeah. James, could you please take our things to my room?" Alice said dismissively. Since the phone call she seemed preoccupied, "when Rosalie gets here, tell her to go there please."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Bella, could you go up first? I need to go see my mom, to tell her I'm here."
"Sure Alice… uh don't forget that that one guy, Edward called, he said it was urgent."
"Oh right… got it."
With that she ran off in the direction of the North patio.
I went up the grand staircase to the second floor, and then a smaller staircase to the third story where Alice's room was.
The living quarters were divided into five sections. The third story had seven bedrooms, the second story had another seven, and the first story had six to complete the twenty bedrooms. What seemed odd was that Alice's room was the only room occupied all year round on the third floor, while in one of my many visits Alice showed me another bedroom, a guy's, in the opposite wing of her floor that seemed like it had an occupant but didn't live there anymore, as well as other one on the second floor.
I had asked about that, but she had just laughed and said it was a long story, I could tell she didn't want to go into detail so I dropped the subject.
I got to Alice's bedroom, which was the size of two penthouse suites at the Plaza, her room had been decorated by her with the help of her interior decorator of a mother, Esme Cullen. Like the house, the bedroom was Victorian, with light pink and ivory furniture and bedding, giving it a very girly yet chic feel, just like Alice.
Her room had a little portico over-looking the back gardens of the home. At that moment in time, all you could see were people in light blush and white uniforms, and black tuxes with blush ties running around, carrying chairs, tables, flower arrangements, among other miscellaneous things for the party.
"Alice?" Rose walked in, when she saw I was in she let herself in, "where's Alice?"
"She went to check in with her mom, to see if Esme needed something." As I said this a maid walked in with all of the bags Alice had told Philips to put in her room.
After setting the bags down on Alice's bed, the maid excused herself.
"What is all this?" Rose asked as she walked to the bed.
"Alice said they were things she needed for tonight." I said, walking behind her.
"Should we take a look?" Rose asked, wanting me to back her up.
"Sure, I don't think Alice would mind."
"Hey guys!" Just then Alice walked in, looking rather happy.
"Oh hey Alice," Rose and I said in unison.
"Ali, what are these shoes for?" Rose asked taking them out.
"They're for tonight." Alice said as she took out our dresses and set them down in her bed.
"You're going to change into three different types of shoes?" I asked incredulously.
She let out a light, silvery laugh, "no of course not! One pair's for me, the other for Rose and the third for you!"
"Again with the gifting." I said, dryly.
"I know you hate for people to spend their money on you, but Bella what's mine is yours. You know that."
"Alice I feel the same way like Bella, but you have to let us know."
"I know, and I'm sorry. It won't happen again, I promise!"
"Yeah right," I started to laugh against my own wishes.
"So who's the mysterious guy?" Rose said as we prepared for tonight.
"Who?"
"That Edward guy!" I said, shocked that she had forgotten already, that or she was faking it.
"Oh, no one in particular, he was the second bartender that's going to be at the bar tonight for my party." She said nonchalantly.
Rose threw me a look, and I sent her one again, not believing a word but we said nothing.
"Ok you know the procedure, biotches. The bathrooms are open for service and I told Mitzy to come and do our hair and make up." Alice said going for one of her million bathrooms with her initials. Rose and I had our own courtesy of Alice Cullen of course. "Be back here in twenty minutes, ready for war."
Rose and I laughed, but Alice was totally serious. To her, getting ready for a party was war.
The hallway bathrooms that were in the third story were being inspected by Philip so I couldn't take a shower there, Rose had opted for the second floor but I didn't want to be seen in my bathrobe by anyone other than Rosalie, Alice or Mrs. Cullen, and the closest bathroom was the one in the "forgotten" room as I called it.
I decided to go in there.
Even though the room looked like it had been occupied once, it felt like I was walking into enemy territory. Like I wasn't supposed to be there.
For a moment I decided to go down to the second floor, but then I went against that and stayed in the room. The house was not haunted and I didn't believe in blood-thirsty ghosts.
Did I?
Like every bedroom in the mansion, this one was color coded. Who ever had lived here loved the color green, but instead of having the Victorian theme like in most of the house, this one had a more Edwardian feel (No pun intended. I laughed when I realized this). Strangely didn't feel out of place, it felt right.
I went into the bathroom, and noticed it was almost identical to the one in Alice's bedroom, just like everything in the house, the bathrooms themselves were considered priceless. I went to check if all of the faucets where working, thankfully they were.
I quickly undressed and jumped in to the warm jet stream shower. Immediately I felt like I was getting a massage. I sighed and started with my shower regiment, when I realized that unlike the other bathrooms in the home, this one wasn't stocked with toiletries. I cursed under my breath not knowing what to do.
I wrapped myself in my bathrobe and walked into the bedroom, hoping to see one of the maids that were scurrying around the mansion.
Just as I was about to peek out of the door, a guy walked in, backpack in hand, dark sunglasses and wearing shabby looking clothes.
A burglar!
He looked up at me and had the same deer-caught-in-the-headlights look that, most likely I was currently sporting.
Everything from this point forward seemed and felt like it was going in slow motion. As I was about to take in air to let out a screeching yell, he threw himself on me and sent me flying on to the four poster bed.
He had his hand on my mouth, looked at me, scared while I looked at him totally shell shocked.
I do have to admit that even though I was peeing my pants, sacred shitless, I still noticed that he had an amazing set of viridian eyes, a unique mop of copper hair, and an amazing chiseled face.
After what felt like years, I decided that I would fight, even if I ended up in the hospital or six feet under. I shook him off, and pushed him away, throwing him off balance.
"Whoa!" He exclaimed.
"Who the fuck are you, and what are you doing here?!" I screamed, all of a sudden angry. How dare he try to rob such wonderful people as the Cullens, who had worked so hard to achieve the wealth they currently had.
"I say the same thing!"
I scoffed, shocked at his audacity, "how dare you! I'm going to call the cops!" I looked around for the phone and when I saw one by the budior I went to it, but the burglar went after me.
"No!"
"Let me go!" I screamed trying fight him off, since he grabbed my wrist.
"You don't understand!" I said, pulling me to him, throwing me on the bed and using his body as a cage. "I'm Edward Cullen!"
I was still fighting him when it sunk in what he said. I stopped, doubting him.
"Making up family members to make me believe you, is not going to work!" Once again, I fought him. "You really think I'm stupid enough to not know that my best friend doesn't have a family member named Edward!"
"Too bad, because you are stupid! Now listen to me!" he yelled.
"How dare you call me stupid!" I started punching him on his chest (which felt really well-defined).
"That's because you are! Now stop punching me, and give me a chance to show you!"
"Show me what?!"
"My I.D.!" He let me go, and took out his wallet, throwing me looks every now and then. "Here!" He practically shoved that piece of plastic down my throat.
I looked at it, and there it was, his picture and in huge letters, "Edward Anthony Cullen". I made sure it was a legitimate I.D. and not a fake one.
It looks real…
"See? You are stupid." He said triumphantly.
"This means nothing. Alice or the Cullens never told me there was an Edward in in their family tree!"
"That's because I walked out on them." He said simply as if that explained everything.
"Huh?" I asked dumbly.
"Nothing. Nevermind. Trust me, I'm a Cullen. Alice's twin brother, by the way." He said, putting him weathered backpack on the bed and taking things out. More shoddy looking clothes.
"Why do you have such crappy looking clothes if you're part of the wealthiest family in the Pacific Northwest?"
"Boy, you're nosy. I told you, I walked out on all of the luxuries and dollar signs of my family's fortune."
I started to blush, still angry, "if you're nosy, you're rude!"
He looked up at me smirking, than stopping for a moment and noticing my blush, he chuckled, "you're nosy, but cute."
I started to blush even more.
Did Philip crank up the central heater or do I have a fever?
I looked away and tried to control my raging hormones, "listen here-"
"'Listen here?' Did you just move from the stereotypical South?" Damn, was he cocky.
"You're a real jerk, who ever you are!"
"You certainly love to make things hard for yourself," he walked up to me, confident, "you're Bella right?"
"You know my name?"
"You told me your name."
"When did I do that?!" I racked my brain but nothing came up.
"Could you tell Alice 'Edward called and to return the call to the number that popped up in the caller I.D. tell her it's urgent.' 'Sure, I'll let her know.' 'Thanks, uh…' 'Bella.' 'Thanks Bella'. Unlike you, I have brilliant memory."
Oh no…
"Edward…?" I asked dumbly.
"Uh yeah." He said, as if I had half a brain.
Holy shit!
A/N: I know it's somewhat of a slow start, but I swear the story will pick up starting in chapter two! Leave your comments, suggestions or questions, it would really help me get a sense of what you think of the story! Have a great day!!!