A/N
So, confusion with the first chapter? Yes, understandable. I hope this chapter will be better for you since the first one was just to get the understanding of who is whom. So don't forget to review, they always get sneak peeks! There will be some French in here, it will be translated into ( ) and the phone call Bella receives will be translated at the end. Enjoy!
"Get your hands off me!" I said as I turned around.
"Oh sugar, don't be that way." The man grasped my breasts and as I pulled my hand back, ready to punch him harder than he had ever been hit before, he was shoved against the wall, a tall figure looming over him.
"Don't you ever lay your hands on a woman like that. I don't care how intoxicated you are, that is more than disrespectful. Don't even think about showing back up here, we've had enough trouble out of you." He let go of the drunk and he scampered off. I watched as the man turned to face me."I'm so sorry mam. We kicked him out for doing that to some other girl. Will you please come inside? Allow me to get you a drink or something?" The man asked me. I was speechless. He was beautiful, beyond that even. His eyes were a gorgeous silky green, his hair a soft mess of bronze, and his build tall, lean, and muscled. "Mam?" He asked again.
"Oh, uh, I'm fine." I responded lamely.
"I'm Edward by the way." Edward stuck out his hand, I placed mine in his and I gasped at the shock that ran through my arm. He seemed to feel it too since his eyes widened. He placed a soft kiss to my hand and let it go gently.
"Bella." I said softly. I was immediately entranced by him. He had me captivated.
"Are you sure I can't get you anything?"
"No, it's alright. I don't drink." I told him honestly. He just didn't have to know that I don't drink anything. Or eat.
"Can I at least walk you back to your car? There is another bouncer inside, he can take care of things for a few minutes."
"I don't want you to have to do that."
"You just got groped by a drunken man, and you aren't the least bit rattled?" Edward asked me, one of his eyebrows rose.
"Not really."
"How intriguing. Most women would be in hysterics and crying by now." He told me.
"I'm not most women." That was more than honest.
"I can see that, very clearly." He smiled at me, a smile that made my body feel like everything shut down for a moment. It was a half smile, it was sideways. "Could you at least come inside a few minutes? I would feel better if you were here, rather than on the street, if you had a breakdown. Just in case?" He didn't seem to realize he was giving me a slight pout. I heard myself say yes, but I didn't think I could actually have said no. He gave me that smile again and placed his hand on the middle of my back. "You don't have to drink anything. Just sit here for a moment. It will make me feel better." He looked down at me and added, "We had to call an ambulance for the other girl earlier tonight. She hyperventilated and couldn't breathe correctly. Of course he got a bit further with her." His jaw clenched tightly as his eyes narrowed. "I just want to make sure that doesn't happen with you too." He led me to a booth close to the bar where a pretty blond was serving shots. "He's really the only man we've ever had trouble with, apart from people that aren't from around here." Edward told me as he sat across from me.
"So you are a bouncer here?" I asked him.
"And part owner. My brother opened it up last year and I provided the funds he needed." He told me, not sounding bitter like I would have expected.
"It's classier than most bars." I noted. Most bars were filthy and filled with smoke, but this one wasn't bad. No smoking was allowed and people were limited with their drinks too. I saw the sign over the blonds head when I glanced back at her.
"I had a list of requirements for Emmett when I gave him the money. One was that smoking should be outside the bar. The other is that the bartender is allowed to stop serving you alcohol if they think you can't handle more. I didn't want people leaving this place only to die because they had one too many."
"I'm sure a lot of people weren't happy with that."
"No. But it doesn't matter, they don't have to come if they don't like the way we run things. And there are always two bouncers on shift at all times. Emmett and I work the weekend late shift since that is when we are busiest. That will be when the most trouble is and if we are going to have trouble, we want to be the ones to handle it."
"So I'm guessing that is Emmett?" I asked, pointing to the tall and extremely bulky man at the entrance.
"That's him." Edward said with a laugh. Emmett looked to be about as tall as Edward, maybe even a little less, but he had larger muscles than Edward, definitely intimidating.
Emmett seemed to have sensed us talking about us and looked over his shoulder. He caught me gazing at him and winked at me. I let out a laugh and Edward shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder if we really are brothers. We can be so unlike each other that we could be from completely different worlds. But then there are times like that…" He said, pointing back to Emmett. "And I know that we are related without a doubt." I looked back to the door but Emmett wasn't there, he was at the bar with the blond. He was holding her dancing with her to their own music, whispering in her ear. She had a smile on her face and her eyes were closed. He pressed his lips to her forehead and stepped back, walking back to the door. "When I see the way he is with her, it reminds me so much of how my mother and father were that, I couldn't doubt us being related even if I wanted to."
"How your mother and father were? Are they divorced?" I asked curiously. A shadow crossed Edward's face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry."
"No, it's alright, it's just…they died. A few weeks ago." The heart in my chest that would never pound again, just felt like it dropped into my stomach.
"I am so sorry. I didn't mean… I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry." I rambled. Edward gave me a small smile and shook his head.
"You didn't know. It's okay, really."
"Both of my parents died too." I stated, hoping to make him feel a little better.
"Really? When was that?" He paused and added, "If you don't mind me asking."
"I don't mind. It's been so long that I don't even remember when. I don't really know who they were, I was a child when they died." No need to tell him that it had been before he was even born that they died, before his parents were born even.
Edward placed his hand over mine. His eyes trained on mine but I couldn't meet them. "I can't even begin to pretend I know how that would feel, missing someone who would have meant so much to you later in life."
"Well you can't really miss someone you never knew, right?" I asked with a small laugh. It was time for a subject change, Edward seemed to agree.
"So where are you from?"
"Would you like to know my birth place, where I grew up as a child, where I ran off to to get away from my childhood, the places in between, or where I just recently came from?" Honesty was supposed to be the best policy, let's find out if it really is.
"Wow. Uh, all of them?" He asked, giving me a chance to back out if I needed it.
"Well, I was born in France. In a little town not too far from Paris. Then, when my parents died, my brother took me to the city so he could get a job of some sort and try to raise me himself. We lived in Paris for a few years, we went off to Brussels when money became more scarce. That's what we did when we ran low on money, we moved." Although I was telling Edward the truth, I just wasn't telling him that this was all before the Revolution in France. "Eventually we went to Naples and later back to France. Then to Spain and now here. My brother and I lived in Texas for a year, moved to another state or two, then we moved here to New York a few months ago."
Edward was staring at me, his eyes glued onto me. Fascination was clearly written on his face.
"That is so amazing. Going to all these places and experiencing things people might never have." His brows furrowed a moment, then he said, "But you don't have an accent."
"La plupart du temps, non. My anglais est très bon. Mais mon accent est épaisse quand je parle français." I added, "Ou si je n'ai aucune émotion." As a last thought.
"Huh?" I let out a laugh at Edward's expression.
"I said, most of the time, no. My English is very good. But my accent is thick when I speak French. Or if I have any heightened emotion."
"Oh." Edward said shyly and dropped his gaze to the table. "Can you tell me how to say, Emmett is an ass?" I laughed again at his question. I believe this is the most I've smiled or laughed in a very long time.
"Emmett est un âne."
"Thanks. I'll be sure to remember that." Before I could say more, the small phone in my pocket began to vibrate.
"Hello?" I said into the speaker. Jasper's voice rang through the earpiece, his own thick French accent agitated. He only speaks French when he is annoyed or upset about something. "Je suis désolé, oui je vais bien." I replied back to his question. He asked me the same question again and instead of telling him where I was I just said, "Je serai juste là, Je suis à Masens." I let out a snort at his expression and rolled my eyes. "J'ai dit que je suis désolé de Jasper." He told me he was on his way and I hung up the phone before he could say anymore. I looked at Edward and he had a puzzled expression but with a smile. "What?" I asked, slightly self-conscious.
"That's amazing. I've always wanted to learn French but they only offered Spanish in high school."
"I could teach it to you if you would like." I said before I could stop myself. Something inside me wanted desperately to see him again, even though I really shouldn't.
"Really?" Edward asked excitedly.
"Sure. It might take a little while to learn though."
"I don't mind." He said quickly, he dropped his gaze to the table again. He suddenly seemed so much more different than the bouncer I saw outside the door. This was a shy man by nature it seemed, but his job required him not to be, so he wasn't. I imagined if he was alone, he would be more reserved.
"If you wanted, I could come by here and teach you. Maybe before you come into work or during a break or something?"
"Either, both, uh, it doesn't matter." He stuttered. I smiled reassuringly at him and he gave me a small grin. "I'm working again tomorrow night." He stated. I was about to respond when Jasper's voice penetrated the air.
"Vous y êtes! J'étais tellement inquiète." (There you are! I was so worried.)He was still upset apparently. Jasper's hands wrapped around my upper arms, his eyes roaming over me to make sure I wasn't hurt. It was ridiculous, and he knew it, but he still checked none the less. Old habits really did seem to die hard.
"Jasper, je vous ai dit que j'étais bien." I looked behind him but didn't see a petite black headed girl there. "Où est Alice?" (Jasper, I told you I was fine. Where is Alice?)
"Elle est dans la voiture, j'ai eu mon trousseau de clés supplémentaire dans mon portefeuille." (She is in the car, I had my extra set of keys in my wallet.) Jasper looked at Edward and back to me. "Qui est ce?" (Who is this?)
"Son nom est Edward, il m'a aidé avec quelque chose ce soir que je vais expliquer une fois que nous sommes hors de la barre." (His name is Edward, he helped me with something tonight that I'll explain once we are out of the bar.)
I noticed Edward's head turning and looking at the person who was talking each time. His ears perked up when he heard his name, French or not, he would know we were talking about him.
Jasper eyed Edward for a moment, and I could have sworn I saw Edward's smile falter for a moment as he looked between Jasper and I speculatively. "Eh bien nous allons sortir d'ici. Alice est en attente sur nous." (Well let's get out of here. Alice is waiting on us.)
"I can't thank you enough for your help Edward." I said softly as I turned back to look at him instead of Jasper.
"I was just doing my job." He said with a sad smile. I couldn't understand exactly why his mood had dampened, but I didn't have time to ask why.
"It was nice meeting you." I told him and flashed a wide smile. He let out a small laugh and nodded.
"The pleasure was all mine." He took my hand in his, kissed it once more and let it fall again to my side. "Au revoir." Edward looked at Jasper and back to me. "That's about all the French I know." I let out a small laugh and smiled.
"Bien, au revoir, Edward." (Well, goodbye, Edward)I told him hesitantly. I didn't want to say goodbye, not in the least. Jasper placed his hand on the middle of my back and led me out of the bar, immediately jumping into conversation.
Bella's phone conversation with Jasper translated:
Jasper: Bella, où diable êtes-vous? Sont tu alright?/ Bella, where the hell are you? Are you alright?
Bella: Je suis désolé, oui je vais bien./ I'm sorry, yes I'm fine.
Jasper: Où êtes-vous?/ Where are you?
Bella: Je serai juste là, Je suis à Masens / I'll be right over there, I'm at Masens.
Jasper: Alice et moi avons tous deux essayé de vous appeler, vous m'aviez inquiet de la mort./ Alice and I both tried calling you, you had me worried to death.
Bella: J'ai dit que je suis désolé de Jasper.
/ I said I'm sorry Jasper.
Jasper: Restez où vous êtes. Je viendrai te chercher./Just stay where you are. I'll come get you.
A/N
So there you have it, Edward and Bella's big meet. Don't forget to review! I appreciate them dearly and they help me update sooner!