I don't own anything!
Chapter 1
BPOV
"Bella, are you staying for drinks?" Stacy asks.
"Unfortunately, no, I have a few friends in town for the weekend."
"Well, perhaps next time." she sighs. Stacy has always tried to get me to join her social circle. She is a social butterfly, while I would prefer to sit at home and play games and drink wine with my close friends.
"I'll get the report to you by Wednesday morning." Standing up as I speak, trying to avoid another invitation that I will just shoot down again. I promptly grab my satchel and turn and wave goodbye as I head out.
Tonight's business meeting was the usual Friday dinner. It's not really a business meeting; we just blow off steam from our stressful week. Every Friday my boss Stacy tries to get me to stay for drinks, and every Friday night I turn her down. She always has something to say about my single status.
"You need a man in your life, someone to take care of you."
"I can take care of myself, I don't have time for a relationship with a guy, and I'm too busy working for you." I tease.
"I only work you so hard because you don't need the time for anything else!" she teases back.
I chuckle "Right, keep telling yourself that."
We have kind of a love/hate relationship. Mostly that I love to hate her, and she hates to love me. But she does love me, I work hard for her. Because she is right, I don't need time for anything else. I don't necessarily want time for anything else. I love my job and my simplistic life.
But tonight I have something to do. I would rather be wearing sweats watching reruns of the golden girls with a glass of my favorite Chardonnay. My high school friend Angela is in town. I haven't seen her in a little over a year and I do miss her. But she has moved back to Forks after college and the closest I can stand to be to that little town is Seattle.
I truly love Seattle, and it is close enough for my Fathers comfort, but still far enough away that I don't have to visit often. I love walking these streets and hearing the occasional sound of a ferry boat whistle. I love the rich air and the lack of sun. Don't get me wrong; when I lived in Phoenix as a child I loved the hot sun on my face. But it never suited me, and when I moved to Forks as a teenager it made more sense to me.
I walk a few blocks from the restaurant me and Stacy dine in every Friday. Tonight, Angela has asked me to meet her at a piano bar on 6th avenue. I have never been to this particular one before. But I rarely go out to actually do anything other than to walk or run the streets of Seattle. I spot her sitting at a small table through the window. I pick up my pace in anticipation of seeing my old friend again.
I make my way into the bar and sneak up behind her and wrap my arms around her neck in an emotional embrace. She squeals and grabs my arms and hugs them to her chest. I let go, she stands up and turns around to give me a hug.
"Oh my Bella, I've missed you so much." She huffs out.
"The feeling is mutual Angela." I sigh trying not to let go, but the length of our holding starts to get awkward. So we both let go. I take a step back but still hold on to her shoulders. "You're looking good! What a minute, what is that?" I asked pointing towards her obviously protruding belly on her small frame.
"I was hoping you wouldn't notice before I got to tell you." She sounds almost disappointed that she didn't get to tell me.
"Oh my god, when is your due date? Oh you're so gorgeous. Is Ben excited? Why didn't you tell me? Can I touch it?" I spit questions out faster than she can even begin to think about answering them.
"Slow down woman!" Angela slaps my arm. My eyes are starting to well up with the joy that I have for my friend. Even in high school she adamantly talked about having children. And her boyfriend, now husband, shared those feelings. But they had tried all through college to get pregnant, without success.
I may have not shared her want for a family as strongly as she had, but I was so excited for her.
"Bella, don't start crying. If you start crying," sniff, "I'm going to start crying," sniff, "I'm so emotional these days." Buy now the tears are running down our cheeks, the wide smiles and adoration in our embrace shows they are purely tears of joy.
"I am so happy for you, and of course you're emotional" I lean down to talk straight with her small bump probably only noticeable to those of us who know her. "Because you already love your Mommy, don't you? I'm your aunt Bella, and I can't wait to meet you"
She laughs and tries to wipe the stream of tears running from her sockets. "Bella, stand up, people are staring." I look around and stand to face her again.
"Does it count as staring if they are moved by this just much as we are?" People looking at our reunion are smiling, one little old lady is looking like she wants to tear up herself.
"I don't know." She chuckles and grabs me for another quick hug.
We quickly sit down at the table. I grab a tissue from my bag and try to clean up the mess that I'm sure my makeup has made on my face. I look at Angela she is doing the same thing, looking down with the biggest grin that I have ever seen. "I'm so happy for you." I say again, because I don't think I could actually say it enough for it to actually relate to how much I really mean that.
"Thanks, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but we were scared."
"Don't apologize, I completely understand. So can I ask questions now?" I say giggling; I'm so excited that I have to hold back the urge to bounce up and down in my seat.
"How about I just tell you everything? I don't think that I will be able to stop you if you start asking again." We laugh together at her true statement.
"So..." I start. She is clearly not spilling as fast as my inner need wants her to.
"Well, my period was late and I took a pregnancy test, but it was negative. I of course got upset, but Ben was there for me. What a saint he has been over the years. I know it upsets him to, but he is so strong for me. So we started discussing possibly adopting a child. We met with a couple adoption agencies, and we even applied to become foster parents. We agreed that just because we can't have our own children doesn't mean we can't help others."
She pauses and looks at me, but I gesture to keep going. "We got approved to be foster parents after several classes, meetings, and walkthroughs of our homes. And I do have to say that they are pickier about you having someone else's child than they are your own. I don't see anyone going through a regular parents' home with a white glove. I think they should, but anyway. We got a call about our first foster child. A little boy, Aden, he is 6 years old" She smiles when she says his name and takes a deep breath. "He is so sweet. But I still hadn't got my period and that was over 2 months that I had been late. So I went to the doctor to see what was going on. I really hadn't expected her to tell me that I was 6 weeks pregnant, because I hadn't had a period before then, basically meaning I shouldn't have ovulated. And that was 3 days after we got Aden. And here I am 3 months later and still pregnant. I am finally not scared to tell anyone, because obviously this little one" she caresses her belly "is wanting to show everyone that he/she exists."
I can't hold back the sobs. Thank god that the piano bar hasn't filled up with the Friday evening crowd. "I am so," sniff, "happy for you. So when is your due date?" I ask, hoping that my question doesn't turn into six. I'm successfully am able to fight back the need to ramble more.
"I'm 18 weeks. So I am almost half way done." Angela is still holding her belly and looking down, showing the love she already shares with her child. "We still have Aden, and he is doing so well. And if the situation ever allows us to, we want to adopt him. He has touched us so deeply; I really don't ever want him to leave our home." She lets out a puff of air. "Okay, now that's done..." she waits for me. She never asks me about myself, she just stares at me until I talk.
I grab her hands and hold them in mine on top of the table, sending a silent message of love through our touch. I don't have to look up to feel her eyes on me, impatiently waiting for me to talk about my least favorite subject. Myself.
"Alright, alright, let's see, what's going on in my life?" I pause for the tiniest moment. "Nothing, nothing is new. I work at the same place, live in the same apartment, and drive the same car. I'm rather boring actually."
She seems almost sad when I tell her this. But just then someone starts talking on the stage, so we adjust our chairs.
"What can I get you two?" A tiny girl in a black apron asks us.
"I'll take a Chardonnay" I don't need another second to think about how much I need a glass of wine. I look at Angela with an apology in my eyes.
"Bella, don't feel guilty that I can't drink." She rolls her eyes at me and then turns to the petite girl. "Orange juice please." She quickly turns around to retrieve our drinks.
Someone has taken up position at the piano and starts playing a slow jazzy song. It's soothing to my achy muscles. I can't think of a better way to start off the weekend.
"So where is Ben?" I ask. She called last week to tell me that she and her husband were coming to Seattle for the weekend.
"I'll meet him back at the hotel later; he had a dinner to attend." Angela said turning her attention to the piano. There sat a taller man, with bronze colored hair, looking down at his hands intently playing.
The music was beautiful, as was the bar he was playing in. The color scheme was black, white, and silver. And the lines were smooth, no corners, everything flowed. It was full of small silver tables, surrounded by plush low back chairs in black and white. And the whole place was set up for the stage to be the focal point, on the stage stood a beautiful black grand piano.
The lights were angled to beam across the ceiling in a grid type pattern. It reflected a soft glow across the entire establishment. The player at the piano was sitting under a soft spotlight, just him and the piano, stealing all the attention in the room.
He continues to play looking down at his hands. I'm not able to see his face very well. He is wearing a simple white short sleeved button up shirt and black slacks. So simple, like me, it's sexy. I hear him wrapping the song up and people begin to applaud his amazing talent.
I couldn't have been more relaxed. I had my very happy friend, a glass of wine, and good entertainment. But that relaxation didn't last long. The stranger on the piano bench looked up and our eyes locked. His beautiful green eyes with thick lashes are deep and never-ending. He has a prominent jaw and defined cheek bones. He is gloriously handsome, and if it's like her hears my thoughts he smirks and lowers his head for only a minute.
Our eyes lock again. The moment seemed to last forever, but I'm sure for only a few seconds.
"I'm..." he started into the microphone. It's as if his eyes couldn't resist too look into mine. I know that's exactly what was happening to me. I felt a tingle in the deepest part of my stomach. It's like the world suddenly made sense. "Uh, I'm going to change things up for this next song, please excuse me."
I lean over to Angela, never taking my sight off of him, "he is gorgeous." It barely comes out as a whisper. She just nods her head and continues to listen as he begins to play again.
The song starts out simple and airy. And then he starts to sing, never taking his eyes off of me, not even to look down at his hands. My mouth turns up into a shy smile.
No one ever saw me like you do
All the things that I could add up to
I never knew just how much a smile was worth
But your eyes say everything without a single word
Cause there's something in the way you look at me
It's as if me heart knows you're the missing piece
You make me believe there's nothing in the world I couldn't be
I never know what you see
But there's something in the way you look at me
I can't even pay attention to the words anymore. Angela taps my shoulder and I lean back over the table to listen to her. "He is singing to you." I open my mouth to respond but my voice refuses. I just nod and acknowledge and continue to watch the handsome man with the magical fingers.
His voice is strong, wispy, and incredible. It's melting me to the core. As romantic as this situation is, I find myself incredibly aroused. I immediately feel the wetness touch my black lace panties and I shift in my seat just enough to give my throbbing clit a rub with my legs.
His face shifts from a look of amazement and surprise, to a sultry look of desire. And that doesn't help my situation at all. My panties are quickly becoming saturated with my sweet silkiness. I can't resist the thought of his luscious soft lips on mine, and my tongue slips out and moistens my lower lip.
He notices me licking my lip and his song went from sweet and calm, to one ablaze with passion. "Whoa" escapes from my mouth as a euphoric sensation rips through my body at his change in demeanor. The song ends strong, eager. The spectators stand and applaud, more than half just looking at me. No one seems oblivious to the connection that we share.
I'm not one for attention, so I bow my head shyly. I look over at Angela, and she has a look on her face that reads 'go get him, girl'.
Panicking I squeak out, "I need to use the restroom," and run to the back of the building and hide in a stall in the women's bathroom. I'm not really embarrassed, but I might have been if I stayed sitting in that chair much longer. I can't stop my hand from pulling up my skirt and sliding a few fingers between my soaked panties and my smooth lips. I knew I was soaking wet, but it was so warm, almost too hot for my hand. My fingers run up and give my clit just one flick, and it almost sends me into a convulsion, making me slide down the stall wall I'm leaning against.
I pull my hand back out and stare at my glistening fingers and immediately pull them to my mouth to lick the sweet juices. I suck them clean and let out a sigh. I desperately need to get back to my apartment so that I can enjoy this high that I'm on.
I quickly adjust my skirt and run out before I can't resist the urge to bring myself to an orgasm right there in the bathroom stall. The thought of how dirty that sounds sends a shudder through my body as I walk back out to our table.
I clear all emotion from my face and try to act like nothing special happened. And I'm fairly successful until I look at Angela with the biggest grin on her face. We stare at each other for a moment before I blurt out "What?"
"Nothing, you just rushed off. Just wondering if everything is alright?" She says in a higher pitch than she normally speaks.
"Yeah... I'm fine. I had 3 glasses of wine at dinner and haven't peed yet." I comment smoothly trying to keep up the facade. I pick up a sheet of paper sitting on our table and read it, trying not to be bothered by her continued grinning at me.
Playing for us tonight is the marvelous Mr. Masen. If you enjoy him, please come back next Friday night, where he will grace us with his talent yet once again.
"So it looks like this guy plays here on Friday nights. Guess I'll have to come back." I try to say nonchalantly.
"I bet you will" Angela says smirking at me. The piano starts up again and I hear him say that this one is a crowd pleaser, and I immediately pick the tune as 'The piano man.'
"Would you stop looking at me like that?" I say in a raised tone.
"No." She says coolly. "You need some manly excitement in your life.
"I happen to be in a committed relationship with a guy that doesn't judge me, or bitch about what I wear, or cares where I go on Friday nights."
"Would you stop calling your vibrator a guy? Really it doesn't count"
"He doesso!" And we both start laughing.
Our conversation is light. She fills me in on all the Forks Washington gossip. And I tell her that I promise to go back to Forks and meet her little Aden. I purposely stop myself from looking back up to the handsome man on the piano bench, but still enjoy listening his music. His image is already burnt into my mind, I don't need to look at him anymore, and I'll just bring him back up when I get home. My life is so sad, but it's my life and it suites me just perfect.
"Okay, I got to get back to the hotel, Ben will be back soon and I am exhausted." Angela says through a yawn.
"Yes, go take care of that baby. And I want ultrasound pictures." We hug and she makes her way out of the bar. I grab my satchel and stop at the door and turn to steal one more look at the beautiful man. And he steals a look at me at the same time. I smirk, shake my head and turn and walk out the door.
