BAM, BAM, BAM!
I jumped and my heart started to thud. I looked up to see a dark figure at the door.
Chapter 2
"Bella? Everything okay?"
"Yeah, just a second. There's someone at the door. I'll…I'll call you back," I said, and quickly hung up.
"Hey, open up!" the figure, obviously a man, yelled through the door.
"We're closed!" I shouted back at him.
"Come on! I want to talk to you!"
"I said I'm closed!"
"Just give me five minutes!"
I grabbed my purse and keys and yelled towards the door, "I'm leaving now!" I turned off the light and headed to the back room to wait for the coast to clear.
After about 15 seconds I didn't hear any more banging, so I let out a deep breath and started to relax. Just then, the phone started to ring. I poked my head out of the back room and skulked over to answer it, staying close to the wall and out of the line of sight from the front door.
I slowly picked up the receiver. "Hello?" I whispered.
"Bella?" It was Alice again.
"Yeah."
"You okay? You hung up so fast before. And why are you whispering?"
BAM, BAM! He was back, pounding at the door again.
"Hey, I thought you were closed!"
"What's that noise?" Alice asked.
"It's some guy who wants to come into the store."
"Is he cute?"
I glanced over without even thinking, "I can't tell, the decoration on the door is blocking most of his face…Alice, that is beside the point! He could be an angry robber or something."
"Robbers don't usually make scenes outside, Bella. It could just as easily be a millionaire wanting to place a huge flower order. Why don't you let him in? You might make a sale."
"I'm closed."
"That's no way to run a business, Bella. The customer is always right, you know. Plus it's not quite eight yet."
"I know, I know."
"HEY!" The man at the door shouted again.
"Just wait a minute!" I yelled back at him.
I took another deep breath. "Alright Alice, I'm going to go let him in."
"Go ahead Bella, I'll wait on the line."
"Okay, but stay by the phone, alright? If he starts to get scary, I'll use a code word and then you can hang up and call the police."
"Code word? Like what?"
"Uh…marshmallow."
"How in the world are you going to work 'marshmallow' into a conversation with a customer?"
"Alright fine, not 'marshmallow'. How about 'rosebud,' then? This is a flower shop, rosebud could work."
"Fine, I'll be right here. Go get that sale, tiger!"
I laid the phone down on the counter, face up so that Alice could hear the conversation, and then leisurely strolled over to the door. I was not about to rush for this irate man or would-be thief. I unlocked the deadbolt, cracked it open, and put on the best customer-friendly smile I could.
"How can I help you?"
The man at the door stood several inches taller than me, his hair all askew as though he had been running his fingers through it repeatedly. His eyes were wide, and his jaw muscle was working overtime. Boy, does he look pissed.
"You can help me by telling me what sort of moron fills the flower orders around here."
"Um, that would be Emmett." Sorry to throw you under the bus, buddy.
He gave his jaw a break briefly and exhaled sharply. "May I please come in? I would like to discuss an order I made."
This guy suddenly seemed to have remembered his manners, so I figured it would be fine to let him in. And anyway if he did turn out to be nutty, I had Alice waiting on the other end of the line to call the cops.
"Please do," I said as I opened the door further and gestured inside the shop. He walked in, leaving a trace of something musky as he passed by me. Sure smells nice for an angry robber type.
I walked over to the counter, flipped the lights on, and turned back around to face him. He was now at the counter, about a foot away from me. I hadn't got nearly as good a view in the dark, and I found myself almost gaping at him. He had auburn hair that looked crazy, though not in an escaped convict way. He was wearing a very nice, very expensive looking dark grey suit that was obviously tailor-made for him. He wasn't wearing a tie, and the top couple of buttons on his white shirt were undone. I looked at the small bit of his chest that was exposed for a second, marveling at how smooth it appeared. My gaze went up to his face finally, and his eyes came up and met mine at the exact same time.
God, was he just checking me out, too?
I dismissed that thought and concentrated on looking into his eyes. They were a piercing shade of green, which I'm sure was due in no small part to his current state of mind. I realized that I was a little intimidated by those eyes, and slightly…turned on? His stare was so focused, and I immediately pictured him looking down on me that same way…
I blushed at the thought, and he noticed before I could turn away. The corners of his mouth started to turn up slightly, and his eyes softened a little. He eventually uncurled his fists and laid his hands flat on the counter in between us, maybe to put me at ease.
"So, uh, about your order?" I finally said.
"Yes. I would like a credit, a new order placed, and an apology from this Emmett person."
"Excuse me?"
"Yesterday, I had an order called in for one dozen yellow roses to be delivered to Miss Rosanna Hamilton. Miss Hamilton never received her flowers, but Miss Rosalie Hale did. The mix-up has caused me a great deal of distress."
Oh my god, so this is Edward Cullen. The Edward Cullen, American Gigolo himself. I replayed back what he said in my head, and was highly amused at the image I saw.
"What kind of distress?" I asked as innocently as I could.
"I don't think that's any of your business," he said, tensing again. His lips went back into the straight line they were previously, and his eyes got a hard edge to them once more. I felt a little guilty at egging him on like this, but couldn't seem to stop myself.
"You requested an apology. I should at least know what it is I'm...um, Emmett is apologizing for."
"For screwing up my day, if you must know."
I smiled at this. "Ah, so you were forced to make restitution then?"
"What?"
"You had to take this woman out, probably dinner and dancing, spend some money on her, am I right?"
His jaw clenched and I couldn't help but find this amusing for some reason, so I laughed.
"My god, you had to spend all day with her, didn't you? Did you just come from dropping her off?"
"That is none of your business."
"That is what happened, isn't it?"
That had to be it. I sniffed the air to see if I could make out any traces of perfume on him, but could only smell the flowers in the shop and that musky scent of his. I was in awe of this Rosalie Hale. She managed to get the super stud to give up his entire day just because he sent her flowers that she was never supposed to receive. A Friday, no less, which I'm sure he should have spent working instead of doing…whatever it is he did with her. I wondered if I could get this woman to give me lessons.
"It's none of your fucking business what happened!" His face darkened, and even his eyes seemed to get a shade darker. I noticed that a vein started to bulge in his forehead, making it look as though an alien implant was trying to get out or something. I had obviously hit a nerve, and he started to get visibly more upset. I, in turn, started to get anxious.
Okay Bella, that might have been a little over the line. I was initially amused that I had him squirming a bit, but now he just looked fuming. I couldn't help but be a little…I don't know…sad that Nice Polite Edward was now being replaced with Irate Customer Edward. I was also slightly annoyed with myself for making him that way so quickly, even though I had done it on purpose. Regardless, he was being very intimidating at the moment.
His right hand came up suddenly, reaching into his pocket, and I completely panicked.
He's got a gun! I pushed him too far and he's going to exact revenge!
"Rosebud!" I yelled. "ROSEBUD!"
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The reviews are favorable so far, which tickles me greatly! Thanks for reading, and please keep on letting me know what you think. Chapter 3 will be up soon.
Thanks again to Cat for being a great beta!
