A little later than promised, but here it is anyway. The outtake of Aisle 8! It will be most part of the story, but from Edward's point of view :) Only two chapters though :) I hope you'll like it :)
Momma2fan is still my lovely beta! She's the best!
Disclaimer I still don't own Twilight or the characters. I do own this plot, but that's all!
Edward
I slammed the cabinet door tightly shut again, groaning along the way as the sound reverberated through my entire apartment. Of course I would have run out of lasagna leaves when I needed them the most. Stupid karma! Why did I invite my parents to dinner tomorrow evening? Why oh why?
But because I knew that inner monologues usually didn't result into anything productive, I quickly picked up my jacket and wallet and left my apartment, hoping that I would return unharmed.
If there is one thing you should know about me, it's the fact that I hated the supermarket. No, wait, I absolutely loathed that place!
People walking slowly in front of you, blocking the entire aisle while looking over every single article on the shelves to find out if they needed it or not, crying children tugging on their mother's arm, whining for candy or cookies and lunatics that steal the last box of whatever product right before you were going to reach out for it. Yeah, sound like paradise, right?
Much to my relief, it was only two in the afternoon, so I knew from experience that the place I referred to as hell would be pretty desolate.
You might think it's curious that someone like me - a chef owning his own restaurant - would hate the supermarket, but yes I did. I preferred the fresh markets early in the morning; fisherman showing off their loot of fish they caught the night before, farmers displaying their crops and other fresh goods at the break of dawn. Yes, that was paradise.
But even then I was one of those people who, in the end, would ask their employees to buy the stuff. I would do my check-up of the goods and once I trusted someone, I would let my sous-chef handle the rest.
Well, at least now I could ask my sous-chef, because in the last week, I had finally got my own restaurant up and running. Italian, of course, because even I couldn't resist the smell and taste of a well-prepared pasta.
But even though I absolutely loved the art of cooking, I hated doing it in my free time. Fortunately I could always have some leftovers after the shifts, so I wasn't forced to cook a lot at home. Yes, the joy of having an own restaurant!
However, I couldn't really serve my parents leftovers after not seeing them for well over a month, so a trip to the supermarket couldn't be avoided. I needed some goddamned lasagna leaves if I wanted to prepare their favorite dish – Edward's lasagna. Usually I had the ingredients stocked to survive an entire winter if necessary, but apparently, winter had ended and I didn't have a single one left. Usually that would result in me making my own leaves, from fresh dough and with the perfect herbs and spices, but honestly, I wasn't really in the mood to do a lot of work. Having opened a restaurant a few days prior was enough to make me mentally and physically exhausted.
And the thought of going back tonight to do the evening shift wasn't really helping. Yup, the life of a chef ain't an easy one after all.
I quickly made my way though the different aisles, picking up random items along the way while trying to avoid the earlier mentioned craziness that came with a local supermarket. The thought alone made my body shiver.
I was just about to make my way to my favorite aisle – the pasta aisle – when I was stopped dead in my tracks by what I saw there.
My breathing became labored just that instance and my heart started thumping widely in my chest. What the fuck?
If I wasn't completely frozen, I would have probably run away because whatever this reaction was, it seemed pretty damn weird and it was something I had never, ever, experienced before.
My eyes had fallen upon the most beautiful woman I had even had the pleasure of laying eyes on. No kidding! Her body was simply magnificent and her long chest-nut hair hung in soft waves over her back. I desperately felt the need to reach out and run my fingers through the dark tresses just to feel if they were as soft as they looked.
But what really caught my attention was how cute she looked trying to decide over which brand of pasta leaves to use. She seemed so lost, but yet there was something about her, something I couldn't quite put a finger on.
One thing I knew for sure though, she was exquisite.
More so, she was like a siren, calling me in. And God, if I wasn't willing to surrender.
I watched in light amusement as she obviously was thinking of pro's and con's of each box in order to make a final decision. I knew that if she would go for the blue one, that she wouldn't regret it, because that was my personal favorite. Unfortunately she took the green brand, but I guess she hadn't really made up her mind yet, considering the huff she let out while putting the box into her basket.
I couldn't help myself any longer. I had to talk to her or something, anything to get a deeper insight in this woman who had made me forget about the madness of the supermarket.
"I prefer the other one," I said as I approached her slowly. Her entire body turned violently towards me and it was only then that I realized I had taken her totally off guard. Way to go, Cullen.
I guess I should consider myself lucky not to have received a slap in the face for scaring this truly beautiful lady. Instead she just answered with a simple 'oh' and went back to staring at the box of lasagna she had just put in her basket. Feeling a little awkward at the silence that had fallen upon us, and mostly because I wanted to get more than an 'oh' out of her, I continued to tell her exactly why she should chose the other brand as I took one of the blue boxes myself. I sincerely hoped she didn't think I was crazy for giving her advice but I simply couldn't resist. I don't even know why it bothered me that much that she was buying the wrong brand, but it did.
"And what if I prefer this one?" she suddenly asked, sounding forceful. Shit, had I pissed her off? I hadn't, right? I mean, this must be her way of defending herself from annoying men who suddenly started talking to her in the supermarket…
I wanted to laugh at my own thoughts, because I was well aware that I could just walk away and let her buy whatever she wanted but something about her made me brave and made me want to keep her talking.
"I was just trying to help out," I laughed, "Because it seemed as if you don't really know which one you prefer, seeing you've eyed the boxes for at least five minutes."
When she slightly blushed at my statement, I couldn't help the mischievous grin that spread across my face. And damn, she looked absolutely gorgeous with the pink coloring her cheeks, even more gorgeous than before.
And of course, my damn idiotic chef-like self had to throw in a remark about making your leaves yourself then. Yeah, great way to make her like you, wise-ass.
Like me? Was that what I was trying to do here? I didn't know, but right now, I really wanted her to.
"Yeah, well, I can hardly make pasta using these things, so I think making my own pasta would turn out to be a total disaster," she admitted, looking so damn adorable while doing so.
"Not much of a cook huh?" I asked, unable to stop smiling at her. And then she had to giggle. Fuck, she really was the cutest. I almost wanted to shake her and ask her who the hell she was 'cause she was making me lose my mind.
"That would be an understatement," she said sheepishly.
"Then I suggest you go for the blue box. You won't regret it," I said, hoping that she would listen to my advice.
She started looking back and forth between the box on the shelf and the one in her basket, obviously trying to make her decision.
"But if you really must know, the best pasta is still served at my restaurant," I said, offering her one of my lopsided smiles. I knew the effect it had on the ladies and the minute I saw her reaction to it, I knew it had worked.
But only a second later, I felt truly bad about it. She wasn't one of those ladies I wanted to charm, she was different…exquisite. I wanted more than just to charm her!
I felt totally and utterly bad about the way I was treating her, even though to her nothing seemed out of order. I even felt bad about bragging about my lasagna making skills.
So before I offered her a chance to come up with any type of answer, I fled the aisle and rushed to the cash register, desperate to get out of here before she caught up with me. Much to my relief no one was there so I was quickly scanned out and was back in the parking lot and back in the safety of my car.
I had no idea what the hell happened to me. I felt so many emotions at the same time that I needed time to breathe and try to make up my mind without having her near.
Who the hell was she even? I didn't know the woman for Christ's sake and yet she seemed to control my every movement, my every thought and unfortunately what had come out of my mouth as well.
And add to it that I had practically run away from her as well and you can probably understand why I feel like a total fool. Yeah, she must really like you now.
For the first time a woman had made me feel something – not that I was gay, mind you – and I had simply bolted, afraid of what might have happened if perhaps I would have asked for her number, or a date. I didn't even know her name, and for some unknown reason I desperately wanted to know it now. I bet it would be as beautiful as she was.
I don't remember how long I sat in my car, struggling with the thoughts running through my head when I suddenly felt the overwhelming need to go back inside and do something instead of just sitting here and feeling bad about what had happened. I could apologize, tell her that she could choose whatever brand she wanted and maybe, if she hadn't kicked my ass by then, I could still have an opportunity to ask her out.
Now, that sounds like a plan, Cullen!
Without giving it a second thought, I rushed out of my car again, back into the supermarket, my personal hell. Not much of a hell now that you've met an angel in there!
I tried to shush my own damn mind as I raced to Aisle 8, hoping that she would still be there, struggling with the lasagna boxes. Unfortunately she wasn't, so I kept running through the supermarket like a madman, hoping to see a wave of her long brown hair somewhere, but luck wasn't on my side.
Completely out of breath, I bent over and rested my hands on my knees.
"Are you okay, sir?" Someone called out from next to me.
I gave the old lady a short wave, indicating that I was okay even though my lungs, and some weird pain in my chest, told me I wasn't.
I mean, how could I be? I had just been such a complete dumb-fuck by letting this one girl go, the one girl who had been able to turn my world upside down in less than five minutes. Yes, apparently I was turning into one of those guys from typical romance movies who turn into complete pussy's after meeting a beautiful woman.
'But the movie guys are usually not so dumb that they let her go!" My mind screamed at me. I tried my best to ignore the damn voice as I made my way out of the store.
Stupid, damn supermarkets.
I should have known that this was bound to go wrong, all because of the place where I had met her. Stupid damn supermarkets.
A/N: Now now, poor Edward!
But we already know how things are gonna end ;)
Next chapter should be up soon as well :) This week somewhere :)
Please leave me your thoughts!
Love, Ellen
