BPOV I thought it would be fun for you to see how the boys are.
I talked the boys into going home a little early. It was a first. Usually I was the one who wanted to stay and work until it was really time to go.
"Bella," Kris said. "What is it? You look like you want to scream."
I snorted. "You have no idea." I hadn't stopped pacing since Dr. Masen, or I guess his name is Edward to me now, had left.
"If she wants to leave, I guess we can," Jason said. He was already cleaning up the equipment. Not that there was that much to do yet. "One question, though, Bella. What's your rush?"
"I…I have a…I sort of have a date," I said, struggling with every word.
"You-you do?" Jason asked. He mulled this over for a moment. "Wow. I didn't think I had convinced you."
"Well, not so much…you, per say. More like not getting done with instructions," I told him.
"Ah, so it's with the doctor," he said, wagering his eyebrows.
"Shut-up," I said.
"Fine," he said, getting up. "Okay, let's go."
And so we headed out the door and down to our van. We were at our house faster than I really wanted to be.
"Should we help you with your outfit?" Jason asked with a single eyebrow raised up inquisitively.
"Uh…"
"I'll take that as a yes," he said. "If we ever get married, our wives are going to question whether we're actually straight or not."
I snorted. "If they were in your heads, they might not."
Jason grinned and they both escorted me up the stairs.
"Black," Kris said. "We should put her in black."
"No, no. You know how well blues compliment her skin," Jason reminded him.
It was like I wasn't even there. Well, sort of.
"Good point," Kris said. "And silver?"
"Yes, silver," Jason agreed. "Heels, too."
"Heels?!" I said squeakily.
"He'll protect you from yourself," Kris said teasingly. "He's a gentleman."
"Shut. Up," I said. I sat down on my bed since we had entered the room already. "It is now…" I checked my watch, "five forty-four. You have an hour and sixteen minutes to make me look the way you want me to look."
Jason shrugged at Kris. "She makes a good point. Let's get started."
They went straight for my closet and rummaged through all of the dresses they had insisted I have. They were all presents of some sort.
The one they brought out was midnight blue with thin, silver embroidery on the waist. It was full length and the heels they chose matched the silver of the embroidery. Evidentially, the sister of Dr. Masen had called towards the middle of their bickering over what to put me in and told them that the attire was semi-formal, which narrowed it down. The dress had an extremely low neck that exposed the very tops of my small breasts. I had commented that it was semi-formal, not formal to them. I wasn't sure if I liked the thought of being so exposed in front of a stranger.
But if the boy's thought it was okay…I guess I would just have to deal with it.
I did my own make-up, because although the boys were wonderful with clothes, they refused to even attempt putting make-up on me. They let me wear my hair down because the doctor had never seen me with my hair down. Or with hair at all, really. I was always wearing a cap, so it looked like I had my hair cut like a boy's.
There was a knock on the door at exactly seven-oh-clock, which the boys insisted on answering while I stood just behind them.
He stared straight at me when the door opened. I didn't say anything, though. I was busy looking at his choice of clothing. He had on all black. Black slacks, black button up shirt, black leather jacket. It all contrasted with his light skin and green eyes.
The boys looked like Christmas had come early when they saw my reaction was somewhat positive. And the doctor's reaction must have helped a little, too.
"A word?" Jason asked him.
"Of course," the doctor said and Jason took him aside for a moment.
I saw Dr. Masen smile twice during the time that Jason was speaking and knew it had to do with my ability to trip over nothing and finding danger in any place.
"Just make sure you have her back by at least one," Jason said as they walked back. "She gets irritable when she stays up too much later than that."
I let him have his fun. This was probably just going to be a one-time thing.
Jason and Kris watched as I stepped carefully onto the first step. I tried to do the same with the second one, but it didn't work out and I ended up against Dr. Masen's chest instead of just landing on the ground, which would have been better, to me. He helped me gain my balance again and I kept hold of his arm. I was desperate not to let that happen again. The falling, I mean.
"We'd better go," Dr. Masen said.
"Um, bye, boys, see you later," I said and allowed him to lead me away.
He opened my door and helped me in, adjusting my dress so that it wouldn't get caught in the door when he closed it. Then he walked around to the driver's side and got in himself.
"I don't mean to be rude, but…where are we going?" I asked, waving goodbye to the devilishly grinning boys before turning back to him.
"I have reservations at a place just a few blocks from here," he said.
I had a feeling I knew where he was talking about and I knew it was over my budget. But something told me he would insist on paying for it. That would be the only reason for getting a reservation.
I just nodded and looked out the window again.
He looked like he wanted to say something at times, but never did. I wondered what it could have been. Probably some detail he needed to remember about one of the rooms.
We got to the restaurant and I reached for the car door. Dr. Masen looked at me with an eyebrow raised.
"What?" I asked, confused by his reaction.
"You should let me get that for you," he murmured.
"Oh," I said, unable to come up with another word.
I waited for him to walk around the Volvo to my side patiently. He opened the door and helped me out carefully, then led me to the entrance of the restaurant.
He held that door open for me and then offered his arm to help with my stability. From the way he kept glancing at me with his lips twitching slightly, I knew Jason had told him all about that little bit of information.
The receptionist looked up and smiled at Dr. Masen prettily.
"I have a reservation for two under Edward Masen," Dr. Masen said to her.
She scanned through the reservation book and nodded. "Right this way, please."
We followed her to a candle lit corner table. She gave us each a menu and smiled at Dr. Masen again. "Your waiter will be here shortly."
"Thank you," Dr. Masen said.
She walked off, glancing back only once.
He scanned through his menu and set it down after a moment.
"So…" he said, not sure what to say. "Where are you from?"
"Phoenix, Arizona," I said. "I guess mostly Forks, Washington, though."
"Forks?" he asked.
"It's a really small town," I said. "It rains too much and it's always cloudy."
"Sounds like the weather here," he observed.
"Pretty much," I agreed. "Where are you from?"
"Alaska," he answered.
"Oh," I said. "Did you like it there?"
"I used to," he said.
"What changed your mind?" I asked.
"It…reminded me of an event in my life that I didn't want to think about," he said, carefully choosing his words.
He smiled sadly and stared at the candle's flame. He laughed once without humor.
"Of course, that didn't stop my memories."
"I can understand that," I said, playing with the tip of the flame.
He watched for a moment, frowning. Finally he looked me in the eye. "Could you please not do that? I would really rather you didn't burn yourself."
"I don't burn so easily anymore," I replied sardonically, but removing my hand anyway. "I've had worse burns than the physical type."
He looked down at the table. "I'm sorry about that."
"It wasn't your fault," I said. "You weren't even involved. Don't apologize."
"I wish there were something I could do," he said. "I can understand that sort of pain better than you might think."
His voice was so sincere that I couldn't help but feel bad. I didn't seem to be the only one with emotional issues here.
I reached across the table and he drew away from me, still looking away.
It was probably better if I didn't try to comfort him. He didn't look like he wanted or needed it. But then that had been how I used to be before I spoke to Jason. And Dr. Masen himself.
Dr.-" I stopped. It just felt wrong calling him Dr. Masen right now. That's not to say it wasn't still hard not to. "…Edward."
He sighed and looked up at me. "Yes?"
"I…" I took a breath, organizing my wording. "It feels a little better after you've talked about it. In my case, not much, but I think you get my point."
He shook his head. "No. I…can't talk about it."
"Talk to your sister about it," I insisted. "Don't you think she'd let you?"
"Listen…," he ran his hand through his hair. "Bella, I…" He looked up at the ceiling for a moment before looking back down at me. "I don't think I should. She won't want to hear it. She won't like it."
"Why's that?" I asked before I could stop myself.
He looked me in the eyes. "I'd rather not say."
"Oh."
The waiter came soon after that. He smiled at me. "Hello, my name is Sam and I will be your waiter tonight. Would you like something to drink?"
I glanced over the menu at the drinks. Nothing interested me.
"Um, I think I'll just have water, thank you," I said, looking back up at him.
He jotted it down and looked at Dr. Masen expectantly, but unhappily. "And you?"
"The same," he answered.
The waiter left to get the drinks and Dr. Masen sighed.
"Would you excuse me a moment?" he asked.
"Oh, sure," I said.
He stood and made his way to the restrooms.
When the waiter came back, he was still gone.
"Well, ma'am," Sam said. "I know that this might sound rude, but…you're extremely pretty and you seem like a nice person. Is there any chance that you would be interested in ditching your date?"
Holy crap.
"No," I said.
"He's your boyfriend, isn't he?" Sam asked.
Stupid, idiotic pretty boy.
"No," I replied.
"Then-."
"It's a business date," I said. "And the answer is still no."
He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"I'm engaged," I said, looking him in the eye.
"Where's your ring?" he asked.
"It's being sized," I said.
"Where is your fiancée?"
"At home." I was getting fed up.
"Call him."
I pulled my cell phone from my purse and hit number three for Jason.
"Hey, babe," Jason said.
"Hi, Jason," I said flirtatiously. "I need you to talk to someone really quick. Is that okay?"
"Is someone hitting on you?" Jason asked, laughing a little.
"Maybe," I said teasingly. "But really, could you?"
"Sure, babe."
I handed the phone to Sam and he smirked.
"Hello, Jason," he said. "So, what are you doing for the honeymoon?" He thought he was being clever asking something like that.
His face registered shock and then his eyes widened as Jason gave him details. "Oh."
He handed the phone back to me. "Sorry about what I said," he said.
"Jason, what did you tell him?" I asked.
"Oh, the works," he said, he laughed. "I was a bit more creative this time."
"Mmm," I murmured.
Dr. Masen was approaching behind the still stunned Sam.
"I need to go now," I said softly. "Love you."
"See you soon," Jason said.
I closed the phone as Dr. Masen sat down and looked up at the waiter with cold eyes. I couldn't think of any reason why he did this.
Sam walked away quickly and I relaxed.
Another waiter came over after a long silence.
"I'm afraid Sam had to leave," the new man said. "I'm Cary and I'll be taking over for him." He noted the fact that we already had drinks and smiled. "Are you ready to order?"
"Yes," I said. "Edward?"
Dr. Masen smiled. "Ladies first."
"The basil chicken on angel hair," I said.
"And you?" Cary asked Dr. Masen.
"Sirloin steak," he said.
"Will that be all?" Cary asked. We nodded. "Your food will arrive soon." He walked away, leaving us alone again.
I studied a plant behind Dr. Masen distractedly.
"So…what was that about with our last waiter?" he asked after a moment of silence.
"He…was a little mistaken. He thought no meant yes," I said. I didn't like talking about this stuff with strangers.
"And you called someone?" he persisted.
"I called Jason. When I feel…threatened, he pretends to be my fiancée or boyfriend."
"Ah," he said. He seemed relieved and disturbed by something.
"That sounds strange to you, doesn't it?" I asked, blushing.
"I can see how you might want a security blanket," Dr. Masen said.
"I'm just…not interested. It's hard to even try to be interested in anyone," I murmured.
"Even now?" he asked, looking off to the side.
I was surprised by the question.
I thought about it.
"I…" I was confused. I wasn't struggling to find things to talk about and even my touchy subject was open with him. It was very new to feel even the tiniest bit interested. Even in him. I decided to lie. The truth scared me. "Yes. Even now."
"Mmm." He stared at the table. He looked thoroughly upset by that.
I tried to take back what I had said. "Not that you aren't…I'm not saying…Look, it isn't you. I…I just can't," I said, trying not to alienate him as much as I knew I already had. "Edward," I said softly.
He looked up at me, eyes boring into mine. Were his eyes greener?
"I still love him. More than anything in the world. I would give anything to have what I had back. I would give up my life to have him back if I thought it would work."
"But you haven't," he noted.
"I promised him I wouldn't do anything stupid," I said. "Or anything that would draw him back to me, in essential. I just want him to be happy. And if it takes me being in pain every day for the rest of my sorry life, I'll do it. Sometimes it doesn't hurt. Like when I'm with the boys. They keep me sane." I sighed and swallowed hard. "I'm done talking about this now. I'm sorry I brought it up again. I don't know what's wrong with me."
But I did.
I felt something for this man in front of me. I wasn't sure what it was just yet, but it was there. It scared me.
We both sat in silence for a moment before the food came and I was in a better mood. I gave up fighting then. I was in love with Edward, but that didn't mean that I couldn't be friends with Dr. Masen.
I noticed something as we talked and exchanged jokes. He wasn't eating. He just sort of rearranged his food while he listened and spoke to me.
We managed to get the details for the painting job hammered out eventually.
When we were done, he paid and I stood, taking his arm again.
"Did you enjoy yourself?" he asked as he helped me into the car.
I knew he meant whether I had enjoyed everything besides my small outburst.
"Yes," I said truthfully.
He smiled. I realized that his smile so rarely reached his eyes, but it did now, and I liked that he was happy.
"We won't do anything so formal next time," he said. "I find this sort of thing nice every once in a while, but I'd rather not make it a habit."
He got in on his side and drove me home. When we reached the house, he helped me to the door and then just inside.
"Goodnight," he said.
"Night," I said in return.
He walked out and I closed the door behind him.
And that's when I realized what he had said.
Next time.
I felt a smile tug at the corners of my lips. I liked this a little more than I wanted to admit.
So, their going to be friends...nice.