A/N: I knew some Bella/Edward purists were going to throw things but I beg you to remember I'm a HEA gal. Every story has to have some conflict otherwise there is no fun.

Disclaimer: Twilight and its characters are owned by Stephenie Meyer. I do not own Mr. Astley or any of his songs. Lastly, I do not own or take credit for any mention of any or all of the pop culture. No copyright infringement is intended with the posting of this story.

Chapter 10 "Dial My Number"

BPoV

Shuffling my menus back and forth as I head in the direction of my new table, I've yet to see the faces of my new customers. I see one woman with her head down apparently texting on her cell phone while the other is looking out at the night sky. The moment I welcome the women, they turn to in my direction astonished. With what can only be described as an ear piercing high pitched scream, I hear my pseudonym name Penny being yelled. Several things happen simultaneously. In a split second, I have gone from a confident waitress to a bumbling mess of nerves. Immediately recognizing Alice and Mrs. Cullen, my heart beats erratically. Like one of those old nineteen fifty's cartoon character, my eyes shoot in and out of their sockets as my mouth hangs open like a freshly caught wide-mouthed bass - My dad's a fisherman so believe me I know what a wide mouth bass looks like and, at this very moment, I know that's exactly what I look like. In a complete state of shock and disbelief, I freeze as my eyes quickly began to wander. They search the restaurant not looking for anything or anyone in particular. Who am I kidding? Of course, I am looking for someone in particular. The two women leap off their seats and I am entangled in the mother of all bear hugs by momma bear and her cub. Not sure how to respond to this reconnection, I wrap one of my arms around Mrs. Cullen and the other arm around Alice. At my greeting, they hug me even tighter. I am surprised they haven't started jumping up and down . . . and then they do.

Sensing I'm not being released from this bear hug anytime soon, I take the initiative of peeling myself off of momma bear and her cub otherwise known as Esme and Alice Cullen.

"Bella, it's so good to see! How have you been sweetie . . . How long have you been working here . . . . When did you get here . . . What are you doing here . . . Does Edward know you're here in Seattle?" Esme shoots question after question at me not allowing me any time to get a word in but momma bear's last question catches me off guard. My face flushes just hearing his name. Alice spies my dark pink flush that won't fade away and smiles coyly. Long ago I filed away that Sheldon slash Edward episode of my life in my internal happy memory box. Only when I need a 'pick me up' do I indulge a brief peek into those sparkling deep emerald green eyes and then I am reminded how hard it is to forget that man and his eyes and his electric touch and silk hair and soft kiss . . . and my blush darkens.

"Mom, we're causing a scene. Let's sit down." Noticing that many of the dinner customers are watching our little three ring circus of a reunion, Alice advises us to take a seat.

"Yes, sorry let's sit. Alice honey can you grab that chair from the other table for Bella. Come Bella," she pats the chair next to hers, ". . . sit next to me. We have so much to catch up on. I'm so happy to see you again. You . . ." There is a twinkle in her emerald green eyes just like his.

"Umm Mrs. Cullen, haven't you forgotten something," I snort.

Looking confused, Esme counters, "What have I forgotten dear? Is your name not Penny slash Bella," she questions, "or are you going by another name these days?"

"No . . . no new name, my name is Penn . . . I mean . . . yes my name is Bella . . . yes Bella, but I can't sit and catch up on old times. Umm, momma bear have you forgotten that I'm your waitress? I'm assuming you and baby cub over here," I tilt my head in Alice's direction "came for dinner. You're sitting in my section."

"Oh honey, nobody cares about that. Now sit down and let's catch up," Esme persists.

I laugh at her persistence. "As much as I would love to catch up on old times the whole one time we met, I do most emphatically believe my boss would mind if I sat down to catch up on old times at a customer's table."

As our reunion calms, I desperately try to calm my still erratically beating heart thwarted that Esme and Alice are in fact alone. Despite my disappointment, I return to waitress mode, "Now if you ladies are ready to order I would be glad to take your order or do you need a few more minutes to look over the menu."

"Oh okay, if you insist on getting all waitressy on us," pouts Esme, "I guess we have no other alternative but to order. Soooooo, I will have a Blue Moon beer with an orange slice. My baby cub is driving so this momma bear here is gonna have some fun."

I take Alice's drink order and give the women a few minutes to look over the menus. I promise I'm not going anyway and will be right back with their drink order. In all honesty, I felt the need to assure Esme I'm not going to disappear. Walking away from the table, I turn back to see their two heads join like one of those magnetic bobble heads. They are quickly immersed in an animated yet hushed conversation. Every once and a while, Esme's head shoots in my direction before quickly returning to her conversation. Then it's Alice's turn to spy on me. In my entire life, I have never seen two people talk so fast.

At the bar, my boss mentions the reunion hoopla and I explain that the two women have just escaped from an insane asylum. We laugh at my humor but, looking back at the two women, I don't think I'm way off in my assumption. I then tell the real story for the uproar and, secretly, wish I can sat at their table and catch up on old times . . . catch up on news of Edward. My break can't come soon enough tonight.

I grab their drinks returning to their table. Using my best waitress voice, I place their beverages on the table, "Here you go a Blue Moon for momma bear and an iced tea for baby cub. Are you going to be ordering a honey jar or would you some salmon?" I joke.

With my reappearance, Esme and Alice quickly disjoin heads, straighten in their chairs, quickly browse their respective menus and suspiciously grin at me. Suddenly, the world feels off-kilter with these two lunatics. A few moments ago they were talking up a storm but now they are eerily quiet and calm, strange, definitely strange. I shrug off their weird behavior. After all, I don't really know these two women. For all I know, this is their normal behavior. I take their orders returning to the kitchen sensing two set of death ray glares bore into my back. Not being able to shake off the sudden change in their behavior, I peek back at their table. Esme returns to frantically texting but, this time, Alice appears to be included in the texting conversation.

Hey baby boy r u almost off your shift yet? – mom

Yes just leaving. why? U never text me when I'm at the hospital. – bb

"Mom, tell him to get his ass here now if he knows what's good for him," demands Alice.

"Hush you. I know how to handle my baby boy." Esme wags her brow as the mischievous twinkle in her eyes returns. Alice smiles and sits back quite satisfied.

Alice & I r near the hospital. Come join us for a late dinner ok. my treat. I miss u – mom

What restaurant? – bb

Pike Place/Kell's pretty plz if ur not too tired – mom

"Don't give him an out if you're not too tired. Just tell him you need to see him now."

Sounds good but it has to be a quick dinner I have to be back at the hospital early tomorrow morning okay. I am really tired too – bb

YAY! I'll have food & drink on the table by the time u get here. Love to hear how everything at the hospital is going. Oh & I have a little surprise for u too : ) Text me when u arrive. I'll come out to meet u. l8tr 3 u - mom

Mom plz no going overboard w/xmas presents plz – bb

Oh hush, who said anything about xmas gifts! stop texting & get over here NOW young man ):

Sorry mom see u soon - bb

"Where did you learn to text like that mom," laughed Alice.

While tending a nearby table, I wink and smile at Esme. Hoping for a pleasant smile in return, I'm greeted with what can only be described as a rather smug self-satisfied expression. She turns and continues her conversation with Alice while she sips her Blue Moon. Hum, that's odd. I raise my eyebrows in confusion before bringing my attention back to my current table. Yes, odd happenings are most unequivocally afoot.

I pick up Esme and Alice's plates from the kitchen and head back to their table. As I approach, Esme retrieves her cell phone from her purse and places it on the table. She must have some very important business the way she is attached to the phone. I serve the plates asking if there's anything else they needed. I'm really playing off this waitress thing because inside I'm desperately trying to figure out a way of subtly bringing up Sheldon slash Edward without appearing too obvious or eager. I hope they're slow eaters. That should give me plenty of opportunities to revisit their tables like any good waitress, yeah right.

"Oh, this looks so good. I'm hungrier than I thought. Doesn't this look scrumptious Alice?"

"Yes, it looks delicious. After all our office hunting and shopping, I guess I'm hungrier than I thought. If it isn't too much bother, could you bring me another Blue Moon with an orange slice, a Dublin Coddle and a Hibernian salad," requests Esme in a overly sugar sweet voice.

I'm stunned by Esme's order. "Boy, you really are hungry as a bear!" I chuckle at my own play on words.

"I guess I am. Perhaps now is a good time to place my order for Carlisle too." Esme explains, "I told him he was on his own for dinner tonight but you know how most men are when it comes to food and cooking. It's fast food or starvation."

Bingo! There's my opportunity to bring up Edward without drawing any suspicion.

"How is Mr. Cullen doing? Good I hope." To be honest, at the moment I can care less how Mr. C is doing but I don't want to seem too obvious.

"Oh my husband is fine. He's still at the hospital . . . he's a doctor . . . did we tell you that the first time we met . . . I can't recall . . . anyway, when Alice and I decided to run some errands like I said I called and told him he was on his own for dinner but after seeing all this food what kind of wife would I be if I didn't bring him something appetizing to eat," Esme rattles on.

"I'm sure he would appreciate the kind gesture . . . and speaking of kind gestures . . . how's your son Edward doing these days?" Just speaking his name makes my heart races. "I haven't thought of him in ages." Okay, yeah I'm lying through my teeth but they don't know that. I hope my blush doesn't give me away.

"Soooo . . . you've thought of my baby boy have you. Hum, interesting."

And the smug looks return.

"Edward . . . hmmm . . . let me see." Esme looks pensively to Alice before answering. "Well my baby boy is finally back home in Seattle where he belongs . . . he's doing his residency at UWMC." Yeah, there's that self-satisfied look again. I look to Alice and she shares the same self-satisfied smug smile. Now I'm more than a bit curious as to why these two Cheshire cats are so smug. And, just as my heart rate has return to a regular beat, it's tearing at my chest when I hear that Edward is living in Seattle. Internally, I'm having a heart attack but, externally, I'm attempting to look cool, calm and collected praying to all that is holy that my face isn't betraying me. My face is always so easy to read.

"Oh, I'm sure you're just so happy to have your son home . . ." great, my voice trembles as I speak. If my blush doesn't give me away, my voice sure does. I cringe.

"Bella, I don't mean to interrupt you but I really am hungry. I hate to be a bother but would you mind terribly placing my order now." She bats her eyes at me.

Shit and double shit. She interrupts me right in the middle of getting information on Edward. Damn it all to Hades!

"Oh, I am so sorry." I'm flustered by her interruption. I thought that she had wanted to catch up! "Yes, I'll place your order right now. Would you like to place Mr. Cullen's order now or would you like to wait until later? I could place his order and have it ready by the time you're done. That way the food will be nice and warm." Since she doesn't want to catch up on old time, I'm back in waitress mode; I glower a bit.

"That's a perfect idea. You're the best waitress in the world Bella," declares Alice.

"Thanks Alice. I aim to please." I saluted in between my disappointment. "So Mrs. C, are you sure you want that extra plate and salad?"

"Oh most definitely and the sooner the better," she winks. "I'm just so hungry."

My mind is reeling as I return to the kitchen. That woman can go from zero to sixty in a split second. First, she wants to catch up and, as soon as I start talking, she interrupts me. Fuck this fuckery. My thoughts are going in a hundred different directions. I take a deep soothing breathe to keep my mind off the entire Cullen clan before attending one of my other tables.

For a moment, I walk behind the bar to fill an order and chat it up with Seth the bartender. He's a library full of colorful 'drunk' stories that always guarantees a good laugh. I enjoy talking to him and record some of his more colorful stories in my Seattle journal. His latest has me laughing louder than I should but I can't help it. The story also takes my mind of this whole crazy Cullen reunion. I wipe laughing tears away from my eyes and give Seth a quick one arm hug thanking him for his latest anecdote. He returns the friendly one-arm hug.

Picking up my drink order, I spy two very pissed off Cullen women glaring at me. The expression 'if looks could kill' quickly crosses my mind. My eyes meet Alice's narrowed eyes as her death stare track me around the restaurant. To be quite honest, I'm kinda scared to look into the eyes of Esme Cullen. At the current moment, that sweet woman appears none too happy with me.

To avoid the death glares of momma bear and her cub, I return to the kitchen and check on the orders. I notice Esme picking up her glowing cell phone and walking toward the restaurant entrance. From the look on her face, that must have been an important call. I gather up her additional order making my way back to her table.

For some unexplainable reason, my skin suddenly begins to prickle and my heart pounds out of my chest. My senses are overwhelmed with an unforgettable indescribable scent . . . his scent. The plates in my hands begin to tremble and the room spins as the blood drains my face. I stop and see Alice with the widest of all Cheshire cat grins. I'm frozen as her eyes guide me in the direction of Esme returning to her table . . . and following close behind . . . copper bronze unruly hair . . . emerald green eyes . . . . my beautiful memory . . . my Edward.

For a second time tonight, several things happen simultaneously. As I remain frozen in place with an erratically beating heart and trembling hands, Esme looks to Alice who looks to me. Alice's gaze then guides Esme's eyes to mine; our eyes lock. All my senses tell me he is here but I am unable to tear my eyes away from Esme in fear that he will fade away. As our eyes remain locked, she breaks our connection and turns to Edward. Her mischievous twinkling eyes look sweetly, lovingly into his as she tilts her head in my direction. She guides his eyes to meet mine. Everything is a blur but us. For an infinitesimal moment, he stops dead in his tracks our eyes locked before he takes three large strides in my direction.

Standing face to face eyes locked, his strong warm hands capture my face before crashing his lips to mine. I'm frozen but as he sucks my lower lip I melt return his hello kiss. Our tongues slowly sensuously danced together. I reach up weaving my fingers through his heavenly unruly hair. The longer the kiss lasts the harder I pull and tug. The more I attempt to be as humanly possible to him the louder he moans.

Plates loudly crashing to the floor finally burst our bubble. I faintly hear someone calling my name. Then I hear the muffled sounds become clearer as voices of customer catcalls, whistles and claps. Reluctantly, I open my eyes and sadly ended the most romantic spiritual kiss I have ever experienced. Edward opens his eyes, wraps his arms around my waist and simply smirks. I am officially a plate of wet noodles, a body absent of bones, a bona fide goner.

My boss appears from nowhere asking to see me privately. Reluctantly, Edward unwraps his arms and watches me follow my boss to the kitchen. I follow my boss but my eyes are planted on Edward. Oh God, please don't disappear.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen out there. It's just that . . ." I tearfully tried to explain.

"Listen Bella, obviously you didn't know your friends were going to be here. It's even more obvious," he snorts "that you want to visit with them. So just this once" he raises a stern finger, no not that finger, in my face, "I'm going to let you clock out now so you can catch up with your friends. But just this once got it. I'll have Lauren take over your table. Now go clock out and change."

"Thank you so much." My voice quivers. "I promise nothing like this will ever happen again. I'm sorry about the plates. I'll pay . . ."

"Just get out now before I change my mind."

I clock out and run to the staff room. I grab my purse and slip on my hoodie . . . our hoodie. His scent all but gone but I hope to remedy that very soon. I yank the elastic band off my hair and run my fingers through it. I take a few cleansing breaths before I making my way back into the restaurant. He's still here. He didn't fade away like a puff of smoke. A smug smile crosses my face when I find Edward pacing in the exact same spot I left him.

His pacing comes to a halt, "Nice hoodie Penny," he observes with his sparkling emerald green eyes. He reaches his hand out to me, I place my hand in his and we hold on tightly to each other as he leads me to Esme and Alice's table.

With self-satisfied smiles, Esme and Alice maneuver their chairs to make room for Edward and me. Edward grabs two extra chairs from an empty table placing them extremely close together. Once settled, we reconnect hands much to the apparent delight of his mom and sister.

Before one word is spoken, Lauren appears with Esme's order. "I believed you dropped this," she chuckles as she places the plates on the table.

"That looks scrumptious but I simply couldn't eat another bite," she remarks in her best Scarlet O'Hara impression.

"But Mrs. Cullen, didn't you say you were starving?" I'm shocked by her statement.

Laughing, she turns to Edward placing the meal in front of him. "Baby boy are you hungry?"

Light bulb on! With the palm of my hand, I smack my forehead as realization hits me just as hard. Sometimes I can be so dense. The strange behavior doesn't seem so strange anymore. I shake my head and narrow my eyes to both women.

In unison, I hear a high pitched innocent, "Whatttt?"

Still not having uttering a single word to Edward, I lean in his direction and ask accusingly, "Did you know about this Sheldon or are you as clueless as me?"

"Know about what?" Edward's tone and his confused look confirms he is most definitely out of the loop about this loopy setup too.

"We've been set up by momma bear and her baby cub over there." As I speak, I notice Alice has taken my cell phone from my backpack and frantically typing away.

"Alicccce! What are you doing with my phone," I screame trying to grab the phone away.

"I'm simply saving my brother from another six months of misery. I've enter his contact information in your phone and I sent him a text with all of your phone number and e-mail," she gloats. Just as she finishes her sentence, Edward's phone vibrates.

He grins as he reads the text before quickly texting a response and now my phone vibrates. I snort as Alice picks up the phone and reads my text aloud. "Thanks. I should have done this six months ago – E." Alice appears to be responding to the text. I hear one phone chime and, this time, Esme answers her phone. Another phone rings and Alice reaches in her pocket to answer her phone.

"There. Now we all have Bella's contact information and she has ours. There's no escaping us now."

Between Lauren bringing the meals and the cell phone business, I still had not had an opportunity to catch up with Edward. I turn my chair to face his as Lauren again returns with Carlisle's take out. Reaching for the take out, Esme and Alice fake a wide yawn and exaggerate an arm stretch.

"Oh, I'm sooo sleepy. It must have been the beer. You know what a light weight I am," she snorts. "Alice, would you mind if we went home honey?" She bats her eyes. "Edward, I'm so happy we had this time to catch up," she laughs at her own joke before turning to Bella. "Bella, now that I have your number we are going to spend lots of time together but I hope you'll excuse me dear."

"Mom! You invited me to dinner and now you're leaving?" Edward fake outrage.

"Oh baby boy. Don't worry my treat. You stay, enjoy your dinner and," looking at me, "your company." Esme wiggles her eyebrows.

I feel a faint blush spread across my face at Esme's wicked gleam.

We all stand to say our goodbyes. I tightly hug Alice whispering a sincere quiet thank you. I then hug Esme even tighter and thank her. She whispers, "go get him slugger."

Edward and Alice punch each other in the arm. Edward hugs Esme. I can tell they are having a short private conversation and I try not to intrude.

"Have fun kids," Esme calls out as she and Alice head toward the exit door.

Suddenly, alone with Edward, my heart beats erratically again and, before, I can think of something to say, Edwards lips crash to mine. Yeah, talk is so overrated.

A/N: This was such a hard chapter for me. I really wanted to make Edward and Bella's reunion romantic but funny. Once I got started, I wrote a couple of different versions of the Cullen/Bella reunion but wasn't quite satisfied with any version until I completed this version. Let me know what you think. I've had over 2,000 views/visits but only 43 reviews. Sad face – please make it happy.