CHAPTER TWO
GIRL WITH THE RED BALLOON
-BELLA-
I couldn't help the exceptional smile that was plastered all over my face as I made my way towards Pioneer's Square the next morning. After talking for hours then playing that amazing song together and Victoria's job offer, Edward, who was by far the most gorgeous man I'd ever laid eyes on, had walked me home as we discussed the idea of starting a band together. I was quite pleased that we were both as eager to join musical forces.
We'd exchanged phone numbers, and with a promise to meet up the following afternoon, had parted ways. I hadn't stopped smiling since.
I spotted the small café that was my destination and practically skipped over to it. It was a beautiful sunny day out and I couldn't help feeling amazing.
Alice was sitting on the patio; her black designer glasses perched on her nose as she spoke with Emmett. I grinned at both of them as I approached, stopping to kiss them both on the cheeks before I settled into my chair.
"Oh my God." Alice exclaimed whipping off her glasses and staring at me with wide eyes. "You had sex!" She screamed. Heads snapped in our direction and I blushed deep scarlet. Emmett's booming laughter only added to our audience.
"Jesus guys! Volume!" I whispered frantically, shrinking in my chair. "And no I didn't have sex." I said blushing. My best friends eyed me suspiciously.
"Are you sure?" Alice asked eying me. "You're glowing." She accused. I shook my head.
"Trust me, no sex." I mumbled, slightly mortified. Alice stared at me a long moment then nodded.
"Oh, I see it now. Sexual frustration still there. So what did happen?" She pressed.
"Why did anything need to happen?" I asked shifting in my seat. Alice gave me a pointed glare.
"Maybe she just had a really good sex dream." Emmett offered. Alice seemed to consider this for a moment to my absolute horror.
"Enough sex talk you two." I snapped. "There was no sex, of any kind." I growled. They both grinned and I knew they wouldn't stop until I told them. "I met someone last night at the Pink Door." I admitted. Alice gasped.
"Dammit Em! I knew we should have gone!" She cried hitting his massive arm. He scowled at her.
"Don't blame me Ali. You're the one who insisted I take you with me to the hockey game." He grumbled. I rolled my eyes. Alice and I had been channel surfing two weeks ago when we had come across a hockey game. I hadn't thought anything of it, but Alice had insisted on watching it. She had explained there was a guy at her work who she was totally crushing on, but his interests were limited. Alice didn't usually go out of her way to learn something new for a guy, so it had surprised me when she had insisted on learning about hockey. After she had asked me several questions, to which I had no answers since I knew nothing about hockey, Alice had given up on me and called Emmett and demanded he take her to a game and teach her everything there was to know about the sport.
Emmett, who had tried to explain that there was no national hockey team in Seattle, had eventually caved and taken her to junior league game after almost two hours of constant badgering from Alice.
They had asked me to come along, but it was on a Thursday night, and there was no way I was going to miss my time at the Pink Door.
I had wanted to be a musician for as long as I could remember. Music had always had such a strong influence on my life and I had grown up with it as a sort of security blanket.
I wasn't incredibly outgoing like Alice or Emmett, but I was working on it and when I sang, the world sort of fell away and it was so easy to just be me. I loved it and wanted to share that with the world. I had never met someone who I had meshed perfectly with in music until last night.
At the thought of Edward, my smile came back, full force. Of course Alice noticed it.
"You're smiling again. Tell me everything there is to know about this man." Alice snapped. I shrugged.
"His name is Edward. He's 23 and he's the most gorgeous man I've ever seen." I gushed. Alice grinned and Emmett scowled.
"Sounds suspicious." He decided. I laughed.
"He's also a musician and we played last night and," I sighed. "Guys it was magic. Absolute magic." I breathed. Alice and Emmett exchanged glances.
"Hear that Ali? They played last night." Emmett's tone was full of double meanings.
"And apparently it was magic." Alice said smirking back at him. Her tone was even worse than his and I scowled at them.
"Okay okay make fun." I grumbled. "But Victoria heard us playing and offered us a job. I'm going to start a band with Edward." I said unable to hide how absolutely thrilled I was about it. Both Alice and Emmett's faces changed from suggestive smirks to actual genuine smiles.
"Bella that's great!" Alice cried reaching over to hug me. I smiled.
"Thanks, I think so too." I said giggling.
"Of course we are going to have to meet this boy to make sure he is up to par." Emmett said sucking in a breath and making himself look even bigger. I giggled.
"Of course Em." I said reaching over and taking his hand in mine. He let out his breath and we all cracked up.
"Seriously though Bells, that's great news." He said giving me a dimpled smile. I grinned back at him.
We ordered breakfast and talked easily. I loved both Alice and Emmett as if they were my own siblings. I'd known Emmett since we were in diapers, and when I had decided to move to Seattle, he had too. At first I was worried he was making the move to protect me, which I refused to let him do, but as soon as we got here, I realized he was just as desperate for city as I was. I'd met Alice my first year of college and we'd hit it off right away. She was fun and energetic and fiercely loyal. She and Emmett, much to my relief, had hit it off as well. The three of us had been inseparable ever since.
After breakfast, we all headed to my apartment to hang out. They were both determined to meet Edward today when he came over to practice.
They lounged around my living room as I ran around them, trying to clean up the place. It wasn't that messy, because I was usually pretty good at keeping it clean, but I still stressed about it.
"Bella calm down. It's just a guy." Emmett said from the sofa, his feet propped up on my coffee table as he sipped a can of coke. I didn't even bother responding to him as I ran back and forth between the living room and kitchen, carrying dishes.
I finished cleaning and with a sigh, plopped down on my sofa between Alice and Em.
"He must be really hot." Alice observed. "I've never seen you clean that fast."
They both burst into laughter, and despite my nervousness, I joined them.
A knock on the front door though snapped me out of my giggles and I sat up, wide eyed.
There was another knock and Alice giggled.
"Go answer it, or I will." She whispered. That was all the motivation I needed and I jumped up, running to the door. Emmett and Alice giggled behind me.
I pulled open the door and all the breath left my body. He was even more gorgeous than I remembered.
"Hi." He said with a small crooked smile. My heart melted.
"Hey, come on in." I said moving over so he could enter my apartment. He nodded and I noticed he was carrying a guitar case. Curious, I followed him inside, barely remembering to shut the door.
"Edward, these are my two best friends. Alice Brandon and Emmett McCarty. Guys, this is Edward." I said introducing them. Alice grinned and jumped up, coming over the shake his hand. He gave her his amazing smile and even she looked dazzled.
"Jesus Bella, you weren't kidding! He is the most gorgeous man I've ever seen too!" Alice exclaimed, much to my absolute horror. Edward smiled awkwardly and Emmett rolled his eyes standing up.
"Women." He muttered reaching out to shake Edward's hand. "How are you Edward? I hear you are going to play music with our Bella." Emmett said, looking as intimidating as possible, which, for Emmett, was pretty damn intimidating.
"If I'm lucky she'll let me try to latch on to her talent. She's absolutely amazing." Edward said with a warm smile. Emmett cracked a little and smiled back.
"That she is." He agreed. I was still beat red from Alice's comment when they all looked at me and I turned even redder.
"Uh yeah, so Ali I'll see you later okay?" I said fumbling to get her and Em out of the apartment. She rolled her eyes at me and pulled me into a hug.
"Yeah yeah I get it." She whispered with a small smile. "Have fun." She hissed by my ear, making me blush even more.
"Alright Bells. You're still coming tonight right?" Emmett asked pulling me into a hug. I smiled and glanced at Edward. Emmett turned and smiled at him. "You're welcome to come too." Em offered. "Every Friday we meet down at this bar called Carmen's. It's pretty cool, not too many people know about it." Emmett explained. Edward looked at me and I blushed under the gaze of his green eyes.
"Yeah I'll be there." He said looking back at Emmett.
"Great! Alright I'll see you kids tonight." He said reaching down to kiss my cheek. I nodded.
"See you guys later." He called walking out of the apartment with Alice.
I turned to Edward as soon as the door shut and he smiled.
"Hi." I said again, blushing. He smirked.
"Hey."
I bit my lip, suddenly nervous. "Can I get you something to drink?" I asked finally. He laughed.
"Sure."
I scurried to the kitchen. "Coke okay?" I asked.
"Coke is fine." He called from the living room. I grabbed two cans and headed back in. He was sitting on the sofa; pulling out a beautiful guitar from it's case. I admired it as I set the drink in front of him.
"Sorry I don't have a piano." I mumbled.
"No don't worry about it. When I finally get around to moving into my apartment, we can practice there." He offered. I smiled and nodded.
"How come you haven't moved in yet?" I asked softly. He sighed.
"I hate unpacking." He admitted. I laughed.
"Well if you need help, just ask." I offered. He looked surprised.
"Really?"
I nodded. "Sure, unpacking is easy for me. I actually quite enjoy it." I said blushing. He grinned.
"I may just take you up on that." He said softly. I smiled and reached for my own guitar. We sat there a moment, making sure our instruments were tuned before looking at each other.
"I am horrible with lyrics." Edward admitted surprising me. I laughed.
"Well all my lyrics are pretty straight foreword, nothing poetic about them." I told him smiling. He grinned.
"Works for me." He said nodding. I smiled. "Shall we?" He asked strumming a few chords. I nodded.
"Let's."
We played together for hours, melodies colliding into one another in a perfect symphony. I felt like I was floating, I was so entranced with the music.
We finally stopped some time later when we were both starving. Edward looked at me and grinned. We hadn't spoken any lyrics, just had gotten used to playing together. Already I could tell that we were going to make amazing music.
"I'm starving." I said setting my guitar down. Edward nodded in agreement and I glanced at the clock. "Jeez it's already seven?" I said shocked. We'd been playing for six hours, easily.
"Wow." Edward said surprised. "No wonder my fingers feel like they are ready to bleed." He joked. I felt the tips of my own fingers and nodded. They were really tender.
"Well we usually meet up at Carmen's at eight, but it takes me about twenty minutes to get there, should we just head over early? They've got some pretty amazing food there." I said stretching. Edward nodded.
"Yeah that sounds great." He said smiling. I stood.
"Okay great, I'm just going to get changed." I said fingering my t-shirt. He nodded and I slipped away to my bedroom. My cell phone rang and I looked down at it.
"Hey Alice." I said answering the call.
"Bella. Wear that black silk blouse I bought you last week." She demanded. I frowned.
"How did you know I was changing?" I asked surprised. She sighed.
"I assumed you would. Just wear it with dark jeans and those amazing boots I bought you and that leather jacket." She directed. I smirked.
"Anything else boss?" I asked sarcastically.
"Yeah, put on some make up." She insisted. I sighed.
"Ugh, I hate doing that." I complained.
"Just do it Swan. I'll see you tonight and if you haven't followed orders, I'll drag you back to your place and make you change." She threatened. I laughed.
"Alright alright, keep your pants on Brandon. I'm on it. See you in a few." I said grinning.
"See ya!" She sang before we hung up. I turned to my closet and couldn't help my small laugh. I didn't think Alice was particularly crazy about fashion, no more than most girls anyway, but it wasn't my priority at all and so I usually didn't consider it. It drove Alice mad.
I dressed as she instructed, even adding a little eyeliner and mascara. I had to admit, this outfit made me look pretty awesome. Smiling at my reflection once, I headed out to the living room. Edward was there, looking at a photo book that I had left out on the coffee table. I blushed and he looked up at me.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry into your life, but I couldn't resist." He said smiling at me. I shrugged.
"It's not prying, look away." I said sitting next to him. He turned the pages carefully and observed each and every photo like it was painting in the Louvre.
"You were a really adorable kid." He said looking up at me. I blushed.
"Yeah I don't know what happened." I joked. He looked at me and his green eyes pierced me, making me shiver.
"I do. You turned into a very beautiful woman." He said softly. There wasn't even a hint of sarcasm in his voice and the way his eyes were staring at me made me blush harder. I ducked my head down, letting my hair become a barrier between us and smiled softly. Edward looked back at the album and continued looking through the photos.
"Is this your brother?" Edward asked pointing to a photo. It was a picture of seven year old me, missing two front teeth and a seven-year-old Emmett who was missing three. We were both holding popsicles and grinning, arms slung around each other.
I laughed. "No, that's Emmett." I said grinning. Edward looked surprised. "I've known him since we were in diapers. We grew up like siblings." I explained.
"And now you're dating?" Edward asked softly. I laughed and shook my head.
"Oh God no. Emmett is for all intents and purposes, my brother. Bleh I could never date him." I said giggling at the very idea of it. Edward seemed relieved. "How about you? Have a girlfriend?" I asked nudging him with my shoulder. He laughed.
"No, most women can't stand the fact that I spend most of my time composing." He said flipping the page and glancing at me. I felt my breath catch. He was going to be the death of me.
"Well those women are idiots. You're an amazing musician. People should know that when the muses call, there is no choice, you have to drop everything and answer." I said passionately. It was the same problem that had interrupted my last relationship. He just, hadn't understood.
Edward stared at me evenly.
"Exactly." He whispered. The combination of his piercing eyes and his softly murmured words made something deep in me clench deliciously. Startled, I looked away from him. I'd never had that reaction to a word, ever.
"We should probably get going." I whispered glancing at the clock. Edward nodded, setting the photo book carefully on the table. We stood up and he grabbed his guitar and jacket before following me out of the apartment.
By the time we got to Carmen's, Emmett and Alice were already there, sitting at our usual booth.
Alice spotted us first and grinned, jumping up to wrap me in a hug. "You look gorgeous, just like I knew you would." She said examining my outfit.
"Thanks Ali." I said laughing. She smiled and slid into to booth again. I sat across from her and Emmett and Edward slid in next to me.
"So how did practice go?" Alice asked with gleaming eyes. I felt a smile overwhelm me.
"Amazing." I said looking at Edward. He smiled at me and I felt my face flush.
"Absolutely amazing." He agreed. Alice watched us with a grin.
"That is so exciting!" She said exclaimed. I smiled at her. "Okay, we need more alcohol. Did you guys eat?" She asked looking at Edward and me. We shook our heads. "Okay and menus. I'll be right back." She said dashing out of the booth and heading to the bar. Emmett watched her in amusement.
"She's been hyper all afternoon." He told us as soon as she was out of earshot. I laughed. "So did you write any new songs?" Emmett asked settling back in his seat and eying us. I shrugged.
"Melodies. Nothing with lyrics." I said looking at Edward.
"Yeah but the melodies were some of the best I've ever heard." He said giving me a crooked smile. My heart stopped then started up again at double pace. Woah.
Alice came back with menus and beers and after Edward and I decided on food and placed our order, we sat around talking. Emmett, who was still slightly unsure about Edward, seemed to approve of him as soon as they started talking sports and Alice couldn't stop grinning.
Edward and Alice were in the middle of a conversation about cars and Emmett was at the bar, chatting up a blond. All I could think of was the melody we'd played earlier. It rang in my head, over and over until I started humming it out loud. I didn't realize I was staring at a woman at the bar until she got up to go to the bathroom. She had to be in her mid forties and looked so down, so defeated. When she came back to the bar, inspiration hit and I turned to Edward.
"Get the guitar." I whispered. Needing no further prompting, he pulled it out of its case sitting next to us and pulled it on to his lap. He started playing the song we'd been playing earlier and I started singing the lyrics as they came to me.
"There's a pub on the south side of town
Time stands still while there's still wine around
She's the one in the calico
The one who's always and never alone
Did she let him go?
Or did the four winds blow him away?
Does she even know?
She's the girl with the red balloon
Keep her glass full of cheap champagne
She will tell of a man with no name
Smoke and mirrors have done her in
She's in love and she won't be again
Did she let him go?
Or did the four winds blow him away?
Does she even know?
She's the girl with the red balloon
So lovely
So lonely
Floating away
Did she let him go?
Or did the four winds blow him away?
Does she even know?
Did she let him go?
Or did the four winds blow him away?
Does she even know?
She's the girl
She's the girl with the red balloon."
As I sang, Edward picked up the lyrics and harmonized with me. His voice was like silk and when our voices came together, it brought tears to my eyes. We finished the song and looked at each other, eyes wide.
"That was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard." Alice whispered. I tore my eyes away from Edward to look at her. "I thought you guys said that you didn't have any lyrics yet." She said still awed. I shook my head.
"We didn't." I said honestly. Writing a song had never been that easy. Sure some of them came to me pretty quickly, but nothing like that. It was Edward, it had to be him. He was magic, my muse.
"You mean you just made that up?" She gasped. I looked back at her.
"Yeah I guess." I whispered. Edward smiled at me, pulling my attention back to him.
"That was amazing Bella." He said quietly. I smiled.
"I think we're a good fit." I said shyly. His smile just about killed me. It was crooked and perfect and lit up his green eyes. He could have asked me to do anything for him and with that smile, I would have.
"A perfect fit." He whispered back to me.
Song is The Girl With The Red Balloon by The Civil Wars. Link on my profile.
