Ch:2
The music was so loud I could feel it vibrating up through my legs and in my chest. I couldn't help the smile that took over my face, the atmosphere of the club was intoxicating, and because it was a Friday night, it was packed full already. I saw that the dance floor was in full swing and began to pull Nat in its direction just as she began to pull me towards the bar.
"Nat can we not go dance first?" I had to lean right in next her ear so she could hear me over the music.
"Bella, now you know full well I can't get my 'groove on' without a drink or two first"
"Fair enough, but just promise never to say 'groove' again" I teased
She shook her head laughing and pulled me towards the bar, which was an oval shape in the center of the club with the barmen in the centre of the oval, and had people crowded all the way around it. Nat wiggled her way to the front of the crowd and propped herself up against the bar. The bar man immediately noticed her and took her drinks order, much to the dismay of the people around her, who had probably been waiting a while to get his attention, some waving money frantically in the air.
As the barman was getting the drink, I was looking absent mindedly across at the other people trying to get orders in at the other side of the oval bar. That's when I noticed him, leaning against the bar on his elbows, looking down playing with the money in his hands. He could only be described as godly. His bronze colored hair looked slightly wild, and appeared to be glowing from the overhead lights of the bar. He then stood when the guy next to him began to talk to him. I nearly gasped when I seen his face properly, he was beautiful, I know it's not common to describe a man that way, but it was the only word that came to mind. His face looked like it was chiseled in marble and his eyes were the most brilliant shade of green I'd ever seen. Then he smiled, and began laughing at something his friend had said. That smile caused me to lose all coherencies in my brain.
"BELLA…. BEL-LA….earth to Bells!!!"
I blinked and shook my head to snap out of the trance I was put in by the Adonis at the other side of the bar. "oh..uh…hmmm?" was all I could manage to choke out of my mouth.
Natalie laughed, "see something you like Bella?", she said nodding in the direction of the bronze haired god.
"Is that my drink?", I said grabbing the glass with the dark liquid from her hand and chugging it before she could say 'no'.
"Uck, the Coke is a little flat in this place", I said while scraping my tongue off my teeth.
"Eh, Bells, that was because it had vodka in it, this drink is…..or was, I should say, yours." She said the last part holding up a bottle of Coke.
"Oh…" was all I could manage to say. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me; I'll go and get you another one"
"No its okay we'll just wait for the crowd around the bar to die down", she said grabbing my hand, "come on lets go dance!"
"Do you mind if we just sit down a sec? I drank that pretty quickly."
"Sure, it's probably best I sit in one place till Jared gets here anyways so he can find me easily."
I was beginning to feel the effects of the vodka as we sat and waited for Jared to arrive. My head was slightly buzzing, and I was becoming more aware of the loud music pulsing in my chest, the feeling not altogether unpleasant, but I didn't feel like myself and that was the unpleasant part.
"How do you know when you're drunk?" I asked Nat as she sat and watched the people on the dance floor.
"Well, I doubt your drunk after one drink Bella, but then again, you could have a low tolerance because you've never drank alcohol before."
"Oh, you could be right, it's just I'm feeling a bit jittery, is that normal?" I asked starting to worry a bit.
"Yeah Bella it is, you're not drunk Bells, just tipsy, enjoy it, the buzz after the first drink is my favorite part." She patted my shoulder and turned back to scanning the crowd for any sign of Jared.
It wasn't long before Jared finally showed. I liked Jared, he was decent guy, it was obvious that he genuinely cared for my friend by the way he acted around her, and I just hope she doesn't end up hurting him. Natalie was my best friend, but she took some enjoyment out of playing guys and found it hard to be content with one guy for a long period of time.
"Hey 'Bella the Besty'" he greeted me with a chuckle.
"Hey Jared, glad you could make it."
"Me too, I missed Nat here too much not to come", he said before turning and planting a kiss on her lips, which she readily accepted and began to deepen after a few seconds.
'Great third wheel awkwardness yet again', I thought to myself as I got up and headed for the Restrooms, I needed to give that pair a sometime to get what they were doing out of their system. The floor of the club felt like jelly beneath my feet as I headed to the bathroom. I went into a free cubicle and put the seat on the toilet down, I didn't need to go, but sometime alone to sober up a bit was what was needed. 'That drink was more vodka than it was Coke; I can't be that much of a light weight'. After a few moments to centre myself I emerged from the cubicle feeling a lot better but still slightly jittery. I washed my hands and decided to head back to Natalie and Jared.
I walked slowly back to where Natalie and Jared were sitting, or where I thought they were sitting I should say. I quickly scanned round the cluster of tables but I couldn't see them anywhere. 'Must have been the other side of the club 'I thought to myself. After about three laps of the club, I still hadn't found them. I shook my head and decided I should go outside to the quiet and try and call Nat's cell phone. I turned abruptly, and my body crashed into something hard. I staggered back a few steps before I could feel myself begin to fall. My eyes closed reflexively as I waited for the ground to make contact with my backside. After a moment or two I noticed I hadn't met the floor. 'I couldn't still be falling' I thought to myself before I heard a low chuckle in my ear.
"Are you alright?" a smooth masculine voice asked right next to my ear.
It wasn't until then that I realized my eyes were still closed, and my body was becoming increasingly warm. I opened my eyes only to look up and see the face of the bronze haired guy from the bar merely inches from my own. His breath fanned out across my face, he smelled delicious. I was quickly becoming incoherent again at the sight of him.
"Are you okay?" he asked again, "can you stand on your own? I'm sorry; I didn't realize how hard I bumped into you."
I quickly snapped out of my trance at his words, and realized I was so warm because he had his arms around me, with his fingers fanned out across the exposed skin on my back, and the front of my body pressed snugly against his. It felt heavenly.
"You caught me!" was all I could manage to say as his green eyes began to sparkle in amusement.
"Yes I did, you could have really hurt yourself if you kept falling" he chuckled again.
"Well I wasn't voted the 'Class Klutz' for my obvious gracefulness; I've had more falls than you've had hot dinners." I could feel my face and neck redden as I realized I had just said that out loud. 'Could I really have embarrassed myself anymore in front of the most gorgeous guy I've ever laid my eyes on?' I asked myself as I felt his hands leave the skin on my back, and the warmth depart my body as he put some distance between us. But I couldn't understand the angst that was begging to overwhelm me at the loss of contact with him.
"I'm Edward, by the way" he said as he held out his hand.
I looked down at his hand that was now extended towards me 'Even his hands are perfect', I thought to myself as he wrapped his long fingers around my hand and shook it.
"Bella" I replied while blushing, "thanks for catching me, I really should be more careful where I walk."
"It was my pleasure", he said with a crooked smile, that knocked the air from my lungs, "would you like to have a drink with me, Bella?"
'HELL YEAH!! Say Yes Bella!!' my mind screamed at me before I remembered I was looking for Natalie and Jared. "I'm sorry I can't, I'm looking from my friend actually, we were sitting just over there, but I came back from the Restrooms and she was gone."
"Oh, the blonde in the pink dress?"
"That's the one; I was just on my way outside to call her cell before I bumped into you." I said, with a bitter edge to my voice, feeling an ache in my chest with the fact that he had noticed Natalie. Not that it was his fault, Natalie usually stood out in a crowd, and she was the type of girl that got noticed wherever she was, no matter how crowded the place. But I had never felt disappointment like this when guys noticed her before. What was this beautiful man doing to me? I decided suddenly that I needed to get out of there before I could embarrass myself further in front of him. "Well I better go look for her, thanks for the help. Bye", I said as I maneuvered around his tall frame towards the exit.
I stepped outside the club and into the dim light that was created from the neon light above the door. It was a clear night, and had I not been in the city I'm sure the stars would have been shining brightly against the black sky. I pulled my purse form my shoulder and began to riffle through it looking for my cell phone. When I found it I quickly pressed Natalie's number on speed dial and put the phone to my ear. I moved backwards so that I could lean against the wall. The phone rang only twice and then went to voicemail. Frustrated I hung up, not bothering to leave a message for her. I let out an angered sigh as I kicked my shoes off and let my feet rest against the cool surface of the pavement outside the club.
"So I take it from that sigh that you didn't find your friend." said a quiet voice beside me.
I turned around to the direction of the voice and looked up stunned to see Edward leaning against the wall in a similar stance to mine "oh…uh…no I didn't, she's not answering her phone."
"Hmmm" was all he said, looking like he was contemplating something. Then it occurred to me, why was he even out here? Did he follow me?
"So what are you doing out here, should you not be inside enjoying yourself with your friends?" something about this guy gave me sudden surge of confidence that I never felt before. I felt comfortable in his presence for some reason, like I could be myself and not have to worry about getting embarrassed.
"Oh…Well…it's just…well I saw you come outside alone….and I don't mean to be weird or anything, but I just felt this sudden urge to make sure you were okay out here on your own."
"Thanks, I guess…" but I was cut off by my phone ringing in my hand. It was Natalie. I let out a small sigh of relief that she had seen my missed call on her phone, I hit the answer button. "Nat, were the hell are you? I've been looking everywhere." I was slightly surprised by the layer of anger that my voice held.
"Bella, yeah I was gonna call it's just, I got a slightly 'distracted'" she giggled into the phone and I heard her mutter something to whoever was with her, most likely Jared. "I left early with Jared, we took his car back to my place so you could drive yourself home when you're ready." That was it, I was really angry now. " Natalie, you left me on my own in a club in the middle of the city without telling me you were leaving, and didn't you notice I just downed a double vodka not so long ago. I'm in no state to drive myself home!!"
"Okay chill Bella, you can just grab a cab back to mine, no big deal.", she completely just blew off my complaints. I had to gather myself before I answered her." You are coming back to mine aren't you?" she asked after a few moments of my silence.
"Chill?... Chill? Ugh Natalie you are unbelievable sometimes! And yes I am coming back to yours, I can't exactly go home to Renee smelling of alcohol, and no excuse as to why our 'movie night' ended early now, can I?" I snapped and hung up the phone immediately. I pushed away from the wall to retrieve my shoes, I turned around to see Edward still standing there looking at me. I met his gaze and felt all the anger drain from my bones and my sudden confidence to return.
I slipped my shoes on and started to walk back towards the entrance of the club. I gave Edward and slight smile, "so you going to come inside and buy me that drink or what?"
He raised his eyebrow, and smiled a dazzling smile that rose slightly higher on one side of his mouth. "What drink would that be?" he asked slightly cheekily. "The one you were asked me to join you for before I went on my little manhunt for my so called best friend." I winked and continued to walk towards the door. 'Did I seriously just wink? What the hell has gotten into me? I should be beet red by now talking to a guy like this.' I thought to myself just as I made it to the entrance. I looked around to see Edward directly behind me; my eyes only met his chest. 'He's way taller up close' I thought and then blushed at his close proximity.