Author's Note: Just thought I should clarify something. The reason Rosalie's boyfriend's name is 'Phillip' and not 'Royce' is because of three things: (1) I wanted a name that sounded more like a model, (2) Phillip isn't a bad guy, he just isn't the one that Rose is meant to be with (whereas Royce was a monster, in my opinion), and (3) frankly, I just don't like the name Royce. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that, as I said earlier, the 'Royce' in the books was a monster. Oh, and having Royce be Rose's boyfriend/ex-boyfriend in the story would be a bit predictable as well, I think. So yeah. Phillip it is. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rosalie or Emmett. :(

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Stars All Shine

Chapter Four: Coffee

The following morning began the same as the previous had. The doorbell rang at exactly eight o'clock, signaling Emmett's arrival. Though this time, instead of pulling my covers over my head and trying to block out the sound, I found myself oddly anxious to let my new acquaintance in. In fact, I had gotten up a few minutes early, just so I could be ready and not be caught off guard as I had been the day before.

With my hand on the doorknob, I paused for a moment before opening the door as nonchalantly as I could.

As soon as he saw me, that familiar grin appeared, bringing his dimples to my attention as it had the previous evening. They were so perfectly adorable, and seemed to add a strange innocence to his otherwise masculine face. I sincerely doubted the guy was anywhere close to being innocent, given the way his eyes had traveled along my curves the day before.

"You gonna let me in?" Emmett asked, one eyebrow raising slightly as he continued standing in my doorway.

"Sorry," I said quickly, finally tearing my eyes away from his cheeks, "come on in."

I opened the door wide enough for him to walk through, and then closed and locked it behind him. As I did so, I could feel his eyes on me. And when I turned around to face him, I was proven correct. Though, surprisingly, his eyes weren't focused on the parts of my body that I had figured they would have been. Instead, it was as if he had been watching my actions rather than my body.

"Why do you do that?" he asked, giving me a genuinely curious look.

"Lock my door?" I asked, my curiosity matching his.

"Well, yes and no," Emmett answered, "you lock it and then unlock it and lock it back a second time, as though you don't trust it to lock the first time. I noticed you did the same thing yesterday."

I looked at him, not knowing what to say. The fact that he had paid that much attention to me was both intriguing and unnerving.

It was intriguing because, in some strange way, it was as if him noticing such an insignificant action meant he paid more attention to the things that mattered. No one else in my world ever noticed the little things, the tell-tale signs that were silent indications of sadness, worry, anger, fear... His observation was also rather unnerving, however, since other than the fact that he had been hired to inspect my apartment, I had no idea who he was. We were complete strangers, yet he had already picked up on something that even the people who supposedly knew me best had always missed.

The way I saw it, that meant that he was either a very caring guy...or a very dangerous one.

The word 'stalker' came to mind.

"I like to make sure that it's secure," I replied honestly, even though I had been tempted to lie and say that the lock was faulty. Unfortunately, I knew the lie would do no good. He'd probably just 'repair' the lock.

"Any particular reason?"

We stood there for a moment, just staring at each other as if waiting to see who was going to look away first. I did.

"Oh, um, I got your note last night," I said suddenly, glancing over toward where the small piece of paper was still lying on the dining room table, "you really have to knock the entire wall down?"

"Yep," he answered, his eyes never once leaving mine, "I really think it's for the best."

My subject change hadn't been as effective as I had hoped, as I once again found myself locked in a staring contest with him.

Usually, if some random guy came up to me and attempted to stare me down like this, I would politely excuse myself and then leave the area as quickly as possible. But, for some reason, I didn't want to get away from this guy. Regardless of how strange he seemed to be at times, his gaze was oddly comforting.

"Would you like some coffee? You know, before you go to work on the wall?" I asked, surprising even myself. Since when do I offer coffee to random strangers hired to work in the building? With that realization, I immediately tried to backtrack, "nevermind. Sorry. Forget I asked."

"You're going to offer me coffee and then change your mind?" Emmett asked with an amused grin, "now that's a first."

I sighed.

"Fine. Would you like some coffee?," I asked, walking into the kitchen to grab two mugs, since I was pretty certain he was going to accept the offer.

"Are you going to take it back after you pour it?," he asked, clearly enjoying himself.

"Funny," I replied, giving him an unamused look before filling the two mugs and walking over to where I kept the creamer and sugar, "how do you take yours?"

"Black," he answered, "I like the kick."

I added a bit of creamer and a couple of sugar cubes to my own coffee, stirred it for a moment, and then walked over to hand him his mug before sitting down at the dining room table. I enjoyed my morning coffee. It woke me up, energized me. It also gave me time to think about the upcoming day; where I would be going, who I would be seeing. Not that any of that applied to today. Today, I would simply be lounging around the apartment, perhaps doing a little reading, laundry, or whatever else came to mind. Unless, of course, the work on the wall was so noisy that I would have to leave.

"May I?"

I looked up to see Emmett standing across the table from me, his hand on the back of the chair as though he were going to pull it out.

"Aren't you supposed to be working on the wall?," I asked.

"Well, you did just give me a mug of black coffee and knocking a wall down can be messy work. So unless you want a nice, big coffee stain on your lovely white carpet...," he started, giving a little grin and a shrug of his shoulder.

"No, that's okay. Sit," I replied, gesturing to the chair that he was already in the process of pulling out.

Emmett sat down and seemed to just watch me for a moment before speaking again, "you know, you still have yet to properly introduce yourself."

"Do you always involve yourself so thoroughly with the tenants or am I just special?" I asked somewhat sarcastically as I took a welcome sip of my coffee.

"You're special," he answered without missing a beat.

I quickly looked up at him from my coffee, "why?"

Emmett silently took a swig of his coffee, his eyes focused downward to the empty expanse of table in front of him. For the first time since meeting him, there appeared to be something other than interest and amusement in his eyes. His lighthearted playfulness seemed to have been replaced with traces of uncertainty. As if he were unsure of the answer to my question. We had that in common.

"Rosalie," I said quietly, taking another sip of my coffee, "my name is Rosalie."

--

A while later, after finishing our mugs of coffee in silence, Emmett went to work on the wall and I grabbed my book and picked up where I had left off reading the night before. Or tried to, anyway. Though, my mind was lost in thoughts of our brief conversation over coffee. Emmett seemed to be in the same shape I was. He hadn't so much as looked my way since beginning his work.

I sighed.

How could one question have changed the mood between us so quickly? It was a simple three-letter word: why. Though it was a word that seemed to be following me around lately. Why was I allowing my career to slip away? Why did I find myself so uninterested in Phillip? Why had I been feeling so discontented? Why did I seem to feel as though there were something I was missing out on when I practically had the world at my fingertips?

Perhaps it wasn't quite as simple as I would have liked to believe after all.

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By the way, the book that Rosalie keeps reading is the first book in the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" series. I really love those books. If you haven't read them, you should give them a try. :)