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Stephenie Meyer owns any Twilight characters that may appear in this story. The remainder is my original work. No copying or reproduction of this work is permitted without my express written authorization.
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Edward
I leaned my forehead against the cool tiles of the shower in my hotel bathroom and let the scalding hot water sluice down my back over my tense muscles. Blindly, I reached a hand out for the faucet, and when I found it, I cranked the hot up a little further, sighing at the sensation.
I slept horribly last night. Well, first I stayed up too late, shooting the shit with Emmett and drinking too many beers in the hotel bar. But we never got to just hang like that anymore, so any morning-after pain from that was worth it. No, it was the restless sleep after that which had me groaning in the shower this morning; the endless, erotic dreams starring a certain dark-eyed, dark-haired Maid of Honor.
Damn, of all the craziest luck. I heard her laughing as soon as I entered the room. And even though I didn't know it was her, the sound caught my attention. Then when I rounded the corner of the table behind Jazz and looked up to see her beautiful dark eyes locked on me, I felt practically euphoric. Just a few minutes before, the whole weekend of wedding festivities stretched before me as an endless, tedious marathon that I would stoically put up with for the sake of my best friend's connubial bliss. But in the moment that I saw Bella at that table and heard Jasper introduce her as the Maid of Honor, the weekend before me transformed into a landscape ripe with possibilities.
And the way she looked...if I felt punched in the gut when I first saw her at the airport, then seeing her at the dinner table stole my breath away completely. Her dark blue dress showed off a lot more skin than was on display at the airport, and all of it was flawless. Her hair was all loose and curly, and her legs, when I finally got a good look at them, were going to be taking up permanent residence in my fantasy life for some time to come.
Her face told me that she remembered every bit of our wordless encounter at the airport, even if she seemed a little embarrassed by it now. I guess that was understandable. I was probably the last person she expected to see in this setting. I know she was the last one I expected to encounter, although I was beyond excited that I had. The excitement was just magnified when I shook her hand. I felt a thrill all over my skin the minute I touched hers. And that was just our fingers. I could hardly stand wondering about the rest.
I tried to pay attention to the conversation with Alice and Jasper throughout dinner, but really, I was planning and plotting. How soon could I talk to her alone? Should I bring up the airport? Would that be coming on too strong? And most of all, I was wondering exactly how long it would take before I could get that gorgeous girl into bed with me.
I still hadn't made up my mind about the airport thing when I approached her while she was with who I now realized were Alice's parents, but that seemed like a good neutral opportunity to talk to her. I hadn't met them yet, so coming over there seemed reasonable. The conversation was relaxed and fun, even when she tripped me up with that Colonel bit. I loved watching her talk to them, how easy and familiar she was with them. I didn't know a thing about her yet, but seeing her interact with them made me feel that she was genuine and down-to-earth, which was a completely novel and refreshing prospect.
As soon as they left us alone, the airport thing just came flying out of my mouth. At first I thought it was genius, because I could tell from her face that she'd been thinking about it just as much as I had. The way she blushed and stammered, I thought for sure that she was about to start flirting back and then….
First Angela interrupted, then Alice stole her away. The two of them were having some intense little pow-wow over at the bar, so I didn't dare get in the way of that. Then finally, when Alice's mother hauled her off and Bella was alone again, the second I started towards her, she bolted.
So maybe bringing up the airport thing was a little too forward. I must have come on too strong. It was the only thing that explained her running out of there like the place was on fire. I distracted myself with a little male bonding and beer with Emmett, but it wasn't enough to keep Bella from showing up to play the starring role in my dreams last night. Best not to linger too long on those thoughts or this shower would get a whole lot longer. I sighed and straightened up to rinse off.
I toweled off and dressed quickly, since I was now running late to meet Jasper and Emmett. The only deal Jasper had made for himself during this whole weekend was to get Alice to cut the three of us out of any morning events, so we could have breakfast together. Since Jasper had settled in Chicago for his teaching position, I'd moved to New York for med school and Emmett had taken on his job with Cahill Consulting, spending almost all of his time on the road despite being technically based in New York, we never saw each other anymore. We hadn't all been in one place together like this since Dartmouth, so breakfast was going to be our time.
When I got to Jasper's suite, the door was slightly ajar, but I knocked lightly anyway, in case Alice was wandering around in there naked or something.
"Come on in!" Jasper called.
He and Emmett were already sitting at the table, with an enormous spread of food in front of them. The room service cart was parked next to the table with more food on it.
"Emmett couldn't wait," Jasper said when he saw my face, "so we took the liberty of ordering for you. There's pretty much one of everything on the menu here, so I think you're covered. Coffee?"
"Yes, please. I'm dead," I groaned, dropping into the chair next to him.
"Hey, man, I kept you up a little late last night, but it wasn't that bad. You're losing your edge," Emmett laughed.
"No, it wasn't that. I just…My head just wouldn't shut down. I didn't sleep well," I mumbled.
Jasper and Emmett looked at each other briefly before looking back at their food. Shit. They'd been talking about me, I could tell. Well, I wasn't all that subtle last night with Bella, I pretty much stared at her all night long like some creep. I was sure Jasper noticed it. Fine, so they know. If that was the case, then I didn't have to feel awkward about pumping him for information. Okay, it was still a little awkward, but fuck it. The opportunity presented itself, I was taking it.
"So, Jazz…" I began. He pushed a cup of coffee at me as he looked up, one eyebrow cocked questioningly.
I busied my hands buttering a piece of toast to avoid looking at him as I spoke.
"Bella…"
"Has a boyfriend," he said tersely.
Goddammit. That explains it, why she ran away like that.
"Is it serious?" I heard myself asking. I did not honestly just say that out loud, did I? Emmett ducked his head and snorted in laughter, so I guess I did.
"Four years," Jasper responded, "She lives with him. I think…there might be some trouble there, but I don't know anything for sure."
I didn't say anything; I just nodded, eyes on my coffee.
"Just…be really careful, man," Jasper went on, "Her situation is tricky, and I know Alice is worried about her."
I put a hand up, "Look, if she's involved with somebody, that's that. I won't cause any trouble."
"Where's the fun in that?" Emmett whined.
I scowled at him, "Em, I'm not going to pull some scandalous crap and seduce the very taken Maid of Honor at Jazz's wedding. I'm sure Alice would never forgive me."
Jasper chuckled, "Actually, she'd probably buy you a drink or twelve. She hates him."
"Who? The boyfriend?"
"Yeah, Jay. I met him once last September when we were out there. Kind of a loser, if you ask me. Bella's a great girl. She could do a lot better."
That was the last thing I needed to hear. Not only was she taken, but taken by a loser who didn't deserve her.
"How is it that the assholes get all the good girls?" Emmett asked, shaking his head.
"Well, they don't always," Jasper said, "or else you'd have landed my sister years ago."
Emmett's hand shot out to smack the back of Jasper's head, and he ducked away, laughing. "Seriously, Em," he said, "how much longer are you going to chase Rose around?"
"Until I catch her," Emmett said with a shrug.
"I'm sure it doesn't help that you're never in one city more than a couple of days," I said.
"I can't help that, it's my job."
"I'm just saying," I continued, "I think Rose is looking for somebody a little more stable and secure."
"Really?"
I laughed a little and rolled my eyes. "Yeah, Em. Really. I know she looks like a…" I was about to say porn star, but then I remembered who I was talking about and shot a quick glance at Jasper. He knew what I was about to say, so I backpedaled furiously. "She looks like she's all tough and independent. But I think Rose craves security more than anything else."
"You think?"
"Em, she relocated to Chicago from New York, left that kickass position she had, just to be closer to Jazz when he moved here."
"I never thought about it like that before," he murmured, "But why do you think she never gave me a shot when we were in college?"
For such a smart guy, Emmett could be so clueless.
"Em," I said, "you only ever saw her for the occasional weekend when she came to visit Jazz. What kind of a relationship were you going to have with her like that? Plus, you may have forgotten this, but the rest of us haven't. You were a total player in college. Everybody knew that. There was no way Rose was going to sign on to be another notch in your bedpost."
Emmett had the good sense to look slightly embarrassed by his whorish past. I could tell by how quiet he got after my little speech that he was seriously thinking about it. We all knew he'd carried a torch for Rose since the minute he met her, but she'd always shut him down, even though I suspected that a part of her really wanted to say yes. I'd like to see the two of them figure it out and get it together, and I wondered if this wedding weekend wasn't exactly what they needed to make that happen.
"Alright," Jasper said loudly, "are we going to paint each other's toenails next, ladies? Can we talk about sports or something? Please? Between all the wedding shit and the two of you going all emo over girls, I seriously think my balls are about to shrivel up and fall off!"
"I am absolutely not emo over a girl, Jazz. Forget I said anything. It's ancient history," I said, making a big show of helping myself to breakfast. But I didn't miss the significant look exchanged between Jasper and Emmett. They were never going to let me live this one down.
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Bella
Jasper's mother had reserved a private dining room in the hotel for a group breakfast buffet every morning, for anyone in our party who wanted to come. When Alice told me about it, I thought it was a bit over the top and extravagant, but now that we were all settled in, laughing and talking, I was glad she'd done it. It was mostly women; Jasper had arranged to get out of breakfast every morning, something about bonding time with his old Dartmouth roommates. That meant Edward wasn't here either, and I was doing a pretty good job of convincing myself that I barely noticed.
Alice was holding court at the head of the table, in close consult with her mother and Mrs. Hale…Mims… about which relatives and friends were arriving in Chicago today and which were arriving tomorrow. I was spending the leisurely breakfast catching up with Angela. She was telling me all about her job and life in Chicago and Ben, and I found myself just listening and smiling in delight at how perfect her life seemed to be now. Both she and Alice seemed to have it all laid out just right. Once again, I felt the gap opening between us, as their lives, both professionally and personally, were falling into place just as mine was falling to pieces. Angela asked all kinds of polite questions about Jay, Seattle, and my job, but I had nothing I wanted to say about any of it, so I just kept steering the conversation back to her.
Angela excused herself to go get some fruit from the buffet table by the windows, and I refilled my coffee.
"Hey, Alice," Angela called to her, peering out the window, "Have you checked any weather reports today?"
"No, why?"
"Well, it's looking really miserable outside. It's already starting to snow, and look at the sky. I think we're going to get buried."
"Really?"
"Yeah," Angela said, coming back to the table, "don't you have a lot of people flying in today?"
Alice's face fell. "Crap. If flights get cancelled, it will be a disaster."
"Well, maybe we should make some phone calls, check in with the people traveling today, and see what their plans are," Angela suggested.
"Oh, good idea! I have contact numbers for everyone on the master guest list."
"Of course you do," I drawled. "Angela's got a good idea, Alice. We all have cell phones, let's get together in your room and we can split up the list."
"Are you sure, guys?" Alice asked, "My guest list isn't really your problem."
"Ally, don't you remember? Maiden slave? Now let's go."
Alice led the way; Angela, Rosalie, Jessica and I followed. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Brandon left for their rooms, to round up alternate numbers for some family members. When we got back to Alice's suite, we found Jasper, Emmett and Edward just finishing their breakfast. When Alice explained about the weather to Jasper, he quickly turned on the weather channel.
The news was not good. Eight inches were predicted to fall in the next six hours in Chicago. It was supposed to stop entirely by mid-afternoon, but it would undoubtedly snarl flights for the day. Alice explained Angela's suggestion about calling the travelling guests, and Jasper, Emmett and Edward quickly volunteered to pitch in.
Angela took over the guest list, and in minutes had generated a list of the ones flying into Chicago today, and a secondary list of tomorrow's travelers. She split it up and we each took our designated guests, cell phones at the ready. It was a little awkward, calling up random members of the Hale family and introducing myself as Alice's Maid of Honor and asking if they had checked with their air carrier yet. But as soon as I explained what was happening with the weather in Chicago, they were all happy for the tip-off and scrambled for computers and phones. I left them all with my cell number and told them to call me back if they encountered problems.
I closed my phone as I finished with the last name on my list and sat back. The others were mostly still on their phones, making instant friends with strangers on a guest list. Well, if nothing else, it would a lovely icebreaker for the reception.
Edward was across the room from me, his head bent over his phone, his eyes half obscured by his unkempt russet hair falling forward. Absently, he ran one hand over the back of it while he spoke, making a fist around it. I found my fingers clenching reflexively at the sight. I pulled my eyes away from him; staring would certainly not help me manage this situation. At that moment, my phone buzzed in my hand.
It was Jasper's Aunt Charlotte. Sure enough, her flight had been cancelled. She was on hold on her landline with the airline about re-booking, but they weren't being particularly helpful in finding her alternate flights. I told her I would call her right back and hung up.
"Hey Alice, Jasper's Aunt Charlotte's flight's been cancelled. I'm going to grab my laptop and see if I can't help her out finding another flight."
Everybody else thought that might be useful, so anyone with a computer left to retrieve them. I was half way to the elevator before I realized that Edward had left the room when I did, and he was right behind me. I smiled at him politely before cutting my eyes back to the elevator button and waiting. He said nothing. The elevator was slow. The silence began to stretch out and get uncomfortable. I heard him sigh deeply next to me, but I didn't look at him.
"Look, about what I said last night…"
"I have a boyfriend," I said quickly, interrupting him. My face immediately flushed, and I looked anywhere but at him.
He was silent for a second, then he said softly, "Yeah, I know. Sorry about that."
I chanced a look at him now. He knew? Who had he been talking to about me? Jasper, obviously. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. A little embarrassed for sure, but slightly…flattered, too. Edward had his hands thrust into his pockets, his chin tucked into his chest, as he rocked slightly on his heels.
"It's okay. You didn't know." This was awkward, painfully so. Where the hell was the elevator? Did they have hamsters on wheels running it?
"Yeah…so…can we just forget that happened?"
Now I looked at him, smiling a little as I said, "Yeah, I think that's a good idea."
He looked back at me, something about his face telling me that he wasn't so sure it was a good idea. The elevator finally dinged open and we got in. It was a silent ride to the seventh floor, and the atmosphere in the elevator was tense, Edward pressed into one corner and me into the other. When I got out on seven, Edward did too, and I looked at him questioningly.
"Seven oh seven," he said, holding up his keycard.
"Seven oh five," I replied. We were next-door neighbors. Of course. Edward beamed at me, clearly delighted with this piece of news. His smile did all sorts of crazy things to my insides. I thought we were supposed to be forgetting this thing that was happening between us, but he didn't seem to want to. He just kept letting it happen.
I retrieved my laptop as quickly as I could, telling myself it was so that I could rescue poor Aunt Charlotte, but really, I was hoping to avoid another tense elevator ride with Edward. No such luck. He joined me just as I stepped in, leaning against the wall, smiling slightly to himself. We didn't speak for the trip back to Alice's room, but I can honestly say I've never been more aware of another person's presence in my life as I was of his while we were trapped in that tiny, enclosed space.
Back in Alice's suite, I set up on the now-empty sofa and plugged my laptop in. The sofa shifted, and I looked up to see Edward getting comfortable next to me.
He held up his power cord. "There's an outlet. Do you mind?"
I suppressed a smile and waved him towards the outlet as I opened my laptop and got to work trying to help Aunt Charlotte find a flight.
Others returned with cell phone chargers and laptops. Jessica already had her phone glued to her ear with an airline, her voice cheerful but surprisingly commanding as she issued her demands. I was pretty sure that whoever was on the other end of that call was going to cry when they got off the phone. Jessica, for all the chipper cheer, was clearly not a woman to be messed with.
The morning passed quickly, each of us trying to rescue our assigned wedding guests, with the Weather Channel on in the background. I had Alice's cousin Stephanie on the phone now. Her flight into O'Hare was cancelled and the few flights still scheduled into O'Hare were full. She was too far to make it by train; I had to get her on a flight, and was running out of ideas.
"Hang on, Stephanie. I'm googling a map of Chicago. Maybe there's another airport nearby that I can check…"
"Gary."
I looked up to see Edward watching me, his cell phone clamped to his ear.
"I'm on hold," he explained. "Try Gary, Indiana. It's not that far. She can rent a car from there."
I turned back to my laptop and typed away for a few moments.
"Stephanie, see if they can get you on flight 387 into Gary, Indiana…Yeah, I'll hold on."
I moved the phone away from my mouth while Stephanie cajoled her airline. Edward was still on hold, still looking at me.
"So," Edward said abruptly. "If we're going to be friends…"
I cocked an eyebrow at him and smiled slightly, "We are?"
He grinned back, slow and devastating, and when he spoke, his voice had dropped so low that it sent a tremor down my spine, "Well, I'm assuming 'friends' is all that's on the table?"
Damn. He was deadly. I wanted to play it cool and flirt back; I wanted to be breezy, confident and commanding, but all I could do was nod dumbly.
"So," he continued in his earlier, cheerful tone of voice, "If we're going to be friends, we should know something about each other."
"Okay. What do you want to know?" Stephanie really needed to get back on the phone and save me from him.
"Well, since I saw you at the airport," his eyes flashed to mine, "And you grew up with Alice, I'm guessing you're still in…was it Forks?"
I cleared my throat and hoped I didn't sound as flustered as I felt. "Um, yes, Forks. But actually I'm in Seattle now. And since I saw you at the same airport, then I can assume you're not from Chicago?"
"Actually, I am from Chicago. My parents are still here," he said. "But I live in New York now."
New York. Geographically, about as far away from Seattle as you could get and still be in the same country. Why the hell am I thinking about that?? It doesn't matter at all where he lives.
"What do you do in Seattle?" he asked politely.
"Um…nothing exciting," I mumbled. "I edit technical manuals."
"Oh…really. Hmm," Edward was fumbling, trying to find some interesting comment to make about what I did for a living. I could assure him, without a doubt, there was absolutely nothing of interest to say about my job. "How'd you get into that?"
I shrugged dismissively and looked away, "I needed a job when I finally got out of college, to pay the bills. It did."
Edward said nothing, clearly sensing my unwillingness to talk about this.
"What about you?" I asked, more than ready to deflect attention away from myself. "What do you do in New York?"
"I'm a doctor."
"Oh." Great, he's a doctor, too. "What made you relocate to New York?"
"Med school, and then my residency at Lenox Hill. I'm almost done."
I groaned internally. Even I'd heard of Lenox Hill. One of the premier hospitals in the country. Of course, he's also successful and brilliant. And probably wealthy, too. My life felt like it just shrank into insignificance compared to his. It seemed ridiculous that we were even having this conversation.
"What are your plans when you finish?" I'd meant to just be polite but it somehow sounded to my ears like I was fishing for information on him, and I looked away in embarrassment, trying to seem disinterested.
He shrugged, "They want me to stay on, and it's certainly a great hospital. So I'll stay. I mean, I'd be a fool not to, right?"
"Well, you like New York, right?"
"It's great. I've really liked living there while I was doing my residency."
"But?"
He raised his eyebrows in question. "What do you mean?"
I shrugged, "It just sounds like there was a 'but' in that statement."
Edward smiled. "I guess. Oh, hell, I don't know. I never really imagined myself living in New York my whole life. And my parents are here. I wouldn't mind being closer to them. My dad's a doctor too, and I always thought..." he trailed off and glanced at me sheepishly.
"What?" I prodded.
He waved a dismissive hand, "More than you'd care to hear about, I'm sure."
"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know. Keep going."
He sighed and looked out of the window behind the couch, "Growing up, when I thought about being a doctor someday, I pictured it being like my father. He runs a small family practice. Nothing fancy, just general medicine."
"And you can't do that?"
He smiled ruefully and shook his head, "If Lenox Hill offers you a position, you say 'yes' to Lenox Hill."
"Ah, I get it. But still, you must be really talented if they want you. And at a place like that, think of how much you could accomplish."
Edward nodded slowly. "That's true. I'm very lucky. Opportunities don't come along like this every day."
He was still looking out the window, his expression far away.
"You should do what makes you happy," I said, which was an ironic piece of advice for me to give, all things considered.
He looked back and smiled. God, his smile made my insides melt. "It's all working out the way it's meant to, I'm sure. What about you? Do you like Seattle?"
I blanched slightly. Discussions of Seattle, and whether or not I was happy there, would inevitably lead to Jay and whether or not I was happy with him. And I really didn't want to talk to Edward about any of that. I was saved, however, by Stephanie's breathless return to the line to tell me that she was re-booked on a flight that was, at least in theory, flying into Gary tonight. I congratulated her as she thanked me for my help, and we made plans to meet in person at the reception. Yes, Alice had unwittingly struck on the most unique party icebreaker ever.
Hanging up, I returned to my list to see who I needed to check back in with. Edward was back on the line with his assigned guest by then, and I was saved from any further conversation with him. Talking to him…and how he made me feel while we talked, was nothing but bad news. I moved onto my next stranded guest in a rush, to keep myself completely occupied and safe.
By the time we'd finished up the late lunch from room service that Alice ordered for us, there were only a few guests who remained stubbornly stranded. For all the guests stranded by the weather, we'd managed to get almost all of them shifted to alternate flights or onto trains. Most of the wedding party had filtered away as the list dwindled. I volunteered to stay and work on the hold-outs, but Alice refused.
"Oh, no, Miss Maid of Honor. Have you checked your itinerary?"
"Yes," I rolled my eyes, "tonight's the Bachelorette party. I'm all over it. I promise."
"You need to go get ready. And I expect you to bring the hotness."
"Why, Alice? Who am I trying to impress?"
"How about yourself? Seriously, B, you've been living under a rock for four years. It's time to come out of the cocoon, little butterfly."
"But what about Uncle Richard?" I said, pointing to my list, "He still doesn't have a flight."
Alice snatched the paper out of my hands, "Mims is taking over. She'll get it sorted out. Now go! Remember…hotness."
I sighed and headed for the door, having absolutely no idea how I was supposed to pull off hotness. Well, I had hours to figure it out, and I was sure I would need every one of them.
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A/N: Okay, I was totally fail about replying to reviews for the last chapter. In my defense, I posted the final chapter of my other fic, Girl with a Red Umbrella, this week and I replied to every one of those reviews. It seemed important for the last chapter. Anyway, I will try to be better this time! I do read (and often re-read) every single one and you're all amazing. Thank you so much for your reviews and your continued enthusiasm.