Disclaimer: Look out Stephanie – I might just try and kidnap your glorious vampires! Who am I kidding – I can't move living marble statues!
EPOV (Emmett)
I smiled gleefully at the sign that read 'The Lodge', as I heard Edward's silver Volvo pull away behind me. It was the only real restaurant in town, though it was overpriced and a little shabby. Of course, I'd never eaten here before – hell I hadn't eaten in decades, really – but that's what a lot of people seemed to say. However, being the only one of it's kind, it obviously did pretty well because all major functions were held here.
I ascended the steps to the front of the restaurant, and pulled on the door. It creaked, but refused to open. I pulled again, this time a little harder, though not applying my vampiric strength. Nothing. What the hell? I know at first I hadn't been enthralled at coming here, but now I actually wanted to do this whole cooking thing. I'd done some research – turned out there was a lot of things that could go wrong in a kitchen. Knifes, ovens, hot plates, pans, dicers, grinders, whisks – I wasn't too sure what they were exactly, but they sounded kinky. So why wasn't the door opening?
I shook the handle a little, and pulled, still stronger. No building gets the better of me! But the door refused to budge. This was really frustrating – why was the building intent upon keeping me out in the cold? I peered through the glass doors, and saw several people dressed entirely in white, busying themselves with the breakfast crowd. I tapped lightly on the glass, trying to catch someone's attention. I wanted to know why I'd been locked out.
A tall girl with olive skin and brown hair falling down to her waist, glanced up at me from behind a small welcoming desk, no doubt where customers went to be seated. She raised a delicate eyebrow in question. I pointed frantically down to the door handle, and gave it a jiggle, illustrating the fact that the door refused to be opened. She gave me a sceptical look, and turned back to her work.
How rude, what was her problem? I squinted through the glass to read her nametag – Caitlin; I could see it from here. How very rude of Caitlin. Did they leave all their guests outside in the rain? I tugged once more on the door and growled in annoyance when my efforts proved useless. I slammed a fist against the door, trying desperately to get someone's attention. Caitlin glanced up at me again. I beckoned to her, but she rolled her eyes, and walked away. Women!
A waiter walked past, carrying a pile of plates in one hand. I leapt up and down, trying to get his attention. He paused, staring at me with confusion. His face was pale, and covered with acne, and his hair was gelled into spikes. He reminded me of Mike Newton, that little tweeb from school who kept flirting with my brother's girlfriend. I pointed down at the door, and shrugged my shoulders, mouthing the words, 'it won't open!'
He too, raised an eyebrow. But unlike Caitlin, he approached the door cautiously. He didn't have a key with him, so I wasn't sure how he planned on opening the door, but at least he was willing to help me out. And Rose complained that guys were selfish – pah!
I pointed once more at the door, and pulled it towards me. A tiny grin lit up his face, and he reached out with his free hand to grip the door handle. He pulled it towards himself, and the glass door swung open, silently and smoothly. I stood, blinking incredulous. How'd he do that? He looked once at my dumbfounded expression, and pointed wordlessly at the door. On the front of the glass hung a sigh reading, 'push'. Oh, so that's why it wouldn't open.
"Oh, wow," I said. Maybe I should have swapped with Jasper, and they could have taught me how to read again. "Yeah, that ought to do it. Thanks for your help – " I glanced at his nametag "– Connor. Would have been stuck out there all day if it weren't for you!" He seemed amused, and nodded once before leaving to dispose of the pile of dishes still balancing in his left hand.
Right-o! I was inside! I looked around me. People wearing long-sleeved white tops, white pants and long white aprons walked around everywhere, serving meals and collecting plates. At booths and tables, people were eating their breakfast, and pouring over the morning paper. The smell of their blood barely reached my nostrils. It was overpowered by something far stronger, and far more disgusting that wafted through the air.
Food. No matter how many times I tried to snuff it out of my nose, it seemed to linger there. Terrible, diabolical, and just down right icky! How could these humans digest such horrible things? Hell, how had I digested this sort of meal when I had been human? I stared around me in sickly horror at the people shovelling eggs, bacon and toast down their throats, and pulled a face. Gross!
Ahead of me, was a counter, and I began my approach. That lovely young lady whom had refused to allow me to enter the building stopped me, however. Caitlin stood in front of me, glowering. "So, finally figure it out, huh?"
I nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, I did! Turns out I needed to push the door. Connor helped me out – nice bloke actually. Maybe you should go annoy him instead?" I tried to duck around her, but she moved to block me again. What was this girl's problem?
She eyed me fiercely. "Just where do you think you're going?"
I peered over her shoulder, deciding on my destination. "The bar," I smirked.
She scoffed at me. "No you aren't – only customers can use the bar. And it's not open yet, it's only eight thirty!" She eyed me with disdain. Apparently somebody had a grudge against alcohol. That was a shame; I seemed to remember it was awful fun when I'd been alive.
Her glare was far too pronounced though, and I knew that she was secretly ogling my gorgeous physique. Why did girls seem to always do that? Pretend they hate you, even though they like you? Was it supposed to be alluring? Were they trying to present themselves as a challenge maybe? You know, play hard to get? Rosalie did it a lot – I'd have to ask her next time what was the point in doing so.
I turned my face down towards her, letting the full force of my gaze hit her, inching my face closer to hers. It was amazing how quickly her expression of loathing changed to fear and admiration all at once. I could hear her heartbeat gallop in her chest, and I grinned cheekily at her, causing it to further accelerate. She blinked – apparently lost for words. Thank god. "I'm just here for work experience, honey. Don't need to get all high and mighty with me." I paused to give her a subtle wink, "And sorry, but I prefer blondes."
She scowled in my face, and I laughed aloud. This girl was too much. "Come here," she ordered, and stalked off behind me, back towards the door. I refused to go with her, and simply turned on the spot to watch. She moved to her little station near the doorway, and grabbed a clipboard and pen. She came back, still irritable. "Here," she shoved the things into my hands forcefully. "Sign that."
I scrawled my signature, as I heard her feet begin to tap impatiently. Man, was she sweet on me or what! The angrier they were, the more they liked you. At least, that's what previous experiences had taught me. I remembered the day that Jessica Stanley had asked me out, after weeks and weeks of telling everyone she knew how much she hated me. She had even graffitied my locker. The answer had been no, of course, and I'd had to stop Rosalie from hunting her down. Not to say that I wouldn't have enjoyed watching the pair of them fighting it out over me, but I was worried Carlisle might turn out to be the vengeful type.
I handed her back the clipboard and pen, and she snatched them from my hands. I snickered as she went to replace them on the little desk she worked at. She then turned back around, and came back. Why had she had to come back? "Follow me," She said, and walked around me, headed for the bar.
"I thought it was shut?" I asked teasingly as I followed. I could hear her muttering about my idiocy, and chuckled some more. And to think, I'd originally not wanted to come here! That seemed like a crime now!
To my dismay, we did not go for the bar, which was in fact shut, like she'd told me. Instead, we headed for a set of red double doors, where the dreadful smell seemed to be coming from. I crinkled my nose in disgust when she pushed them open, and the aroma of food hit me fully. I stopped breathing – it was worse than werewolf blood mixed with garbage water. I was glad that, unlike Bella, I was incapable of fainting.
I trailed in after Caitlin, and found myself in the kitchen. All the walls were white, and all the surfaces were silver. Benches ran around every wall, and in the centre of the room, there was yet another working area. Stoves seemed to dominate on the right hand side, along with ovens and appliances. Where as sinks and refrigerators lined the left side. The centre table supported a pair of sinks, a hot plate, and bench space for doing whatever exactly it is chefs did with food. Then, of course, there were the chefs themselves. There were six of them, all busy preparing breakfasts for the morning crowd. They wore white jackets with black and white chequered pants. I let loose a giggle – they looked like idiots.
Caitlin called out, "Keira! That kid is here for work experience!" Kid? I was older than her! Not to mention the fact I was far bigger, stronger and handsomer! She turned around to look at me, eyes still full of scorn. "His all yours," she yelled again, before exiting quickly through the double doors. Nice girl.
"What was that?" Came the replying voice. It was musical almost, soft. From around the corner came who must have been Keira, and I stopped, awed, unblinking.
Before me stood the most gorgeous creature I had ever seen. And if she wasn't, she at least came second to Rosalie. She had yellow-blonde hair, pulled back into a high ponytail, though a few wisps of fringe fell into her pale face. Her eyes were a sparkling blue, and they glowed out at me from behind the longest lashes I had ever seen. She wore an outfit similar to the rest of the chefs, only hers had just black pants without the stupid pattern, and her white jacket hugged her glorious figure. Tall, blonde, and beautiful. As if that weren't enough, upon seeing me standing there, her face lit up with a dazzling smile, her flawless lips curving into a perfect beam, exposing perfectly straight and glittering white teeth. Like I said – never had I seen anyone – vampire or not – that was so drop-dead gorgeous. Aww man I thought. I am SO screwed…
"Hey there!" came her melodic voice, and she walked gracefully towards me, still smiling. "You must be Emmett," she said, raising a hand in greeting.
I couldn't move. I just stood, looking at her. I could have watched her all day I think. She wasn't the same type of beautiful as Rosalie. Rose was more of a fierce, sexy temptress. This girl was innocent, delicate, and just elegantly beautiful in her own way. I was vaguely aware that my mouth was open, and her face fell a little when I didn't respond. Pull yourself together, Emmett! She thinks your handicapped!
I quickly took her hand to shake it, but for some reason, I found myself bending down to kiss it instead. It wasn't until my lips were pressed against the back of her hand, that I realised what I was doing. Up close, the smell of her blood tore up my nose, overpowering the dreadful scent of food that ebbed around us. It was fruity, and it made my nose tingle with delight. I'd smelt better blood, of course. But hers was still mouth-watering. I was glad she didn't smell too good though. If she had, then I wasn't sure how long I could have lasted before my eyes were red.
I whipped back up almost immediately, to find her smiling once more at me. I felt the need to explain, but instead, ended up introducing myself. "Yeah, I'm Emmett," It was a mumble, and I knew that if I still had blood pulsing through my veins, I'd probably be blushing right about now.
"Charmed," she said. Apparently I hadn't freaked her out with my chivalrous and out-of-character behaviour. Infact, she seemed quite impressed really. "My name's Keira, and I'm Head Chef here. Guess that makes me your boss now, doesn't it?" She winked at me and I nearly fell to the ground, drooling. No fair – she wasn't allowed to flirt with me and make me all giddy and love struck! I was supposed to be the one doing this to her!
I gave her a nervous grin, and nodded. I wasn't too sure if I was capable of saying anything that wouldn't have something to do with how I thought she looked, so I kept my mouth shut. She continued to beam at me – my god, she was gorgeous!
"So, I'm a little busy right now, what with breakfast and everything. But It should calm down a little later, just before lunch," She looked over my shoulder, and I turned to follow her gaze. A large clock ticked away on the wall. It was quarter to nine. "So, in about an hour and a half, two hours maybe…we can teach you some stuff. For now, I'd really appreciate some help over by the sinks."
I nodded enthusiastically. "Great, sure, whatever you want me to do, I'm there!" Had I actually just said that? I groaned inwardly – could you be a little more conspicuous, Emmett? "Just show me what to do."
"Awesome, thanks Emmett," She winked at me again, and once more my knees buckled beneath me. She turned and led me towards the sinks on the left hand side, and I followed like a love struck puppy dog. As I did, I leant in a little closer so that her tangy scent could over power the food. I swooned in ecstasy and an older chef gave me a weird look.
She stopped in front of a sink and several piles of plates, bowls, pots, pans, spoons, knifes and forks. Ahh, so this is the sort of help I had volunteered for. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. Just who did she think I was? Cleaning dishes?
She turned to face me, eyes still bright and that heavenly smile curving her lips upon that radiant face. I blinked. Who was I? I was dishwashing vampire extraordinaire! Of course I could clean dishes – for this face. "So, we just need some help clearing up. I really appreciate this. I know you came here to learn how to cook, but this really needs to be done. Think of it as discipline training?" She shrugged a little at me, and I smiled at her.
"So, just fill the sink with hot water, and scrub. We didn't cook anything too messy this morning, so it shouldn't be too much work," She beamed up at me once more, making me stop breathing. "Thanks again for doing this Emmett," She placed a hand on my arm, and I shivered with pleasure. "I'll make it up to you, I promise." And with that she turned away, back to whoever's meal she had been cooking before I had rudely interrupted. "And how about we turn up the heat in here? That poor boy's freezing…"
I watched her walk away, her hips rolling as she did, alluring. I very nearly followed her. I shook my head, and turned to my task. Hastily, I turned the knob for the hot water, and poured in some detergent that had been sitting on the edge of the sink. I picked up a pile of the dishes next to me, and dumped them in the sink. After a moments searching, I found a sponge, and started scrubbing.
I was thorough – wanting to impress Keira with how good I was at this. Of course, that was ridiculous. What woman cares if you are good at washing dishes? I was showing off a little actually. I was far quicker and more efficient than any human could possibly be, and I was past halfway done within minutes. I continued to glance over my shoulder at the tall, blonde figure that was Keira. I watched her as she cooked. At one stage, she threw something into a pan, and it caught alight. I nearly dropped the bowl I was washing to run over and rescue her from the flames, but she didn't seem shocked or scared. She swivelled the pan around a little, and eventually the flames died down. Apparently that was what was supposed to happen. I picked up my bowl again, and returned to scrubbing.
This was wrong – oh so very wrong. I was with Rosalie. Rosalie – the most beautiful thing in the world to me, and also the sexiest thing on two legs to ever grace the planet. I had to shake my head a few times to get the image of her long, glorious legs out of my mind. I then groaned when the image was replaced with Keira, and what I imagined hers would look like. I slammed a wet fist to my forehead, trying to knock the image from my head.
This was going to ruin my whole experience. I'd been looking forward to causing mayhem in the kitchen. But now, with Keira around, I doubted I would be getting into any sort of mischief. It was very upsetting. Why on earth did this human girl have such a great affect on me? Not only would Rosalie kill me if she had seen the way I'd been looking at the human, but also she would have been heartbroken. It would have torn the family to pieces. How could I even look upon this girl with lust, with such knowledge in my head?
Light footsteps behind me caught my attention, and I turned to see that most of the kitchen was quieter now, and the chefs were lazily clearing away various appliances. Before me stood Keira, in all her glory. I couldn't help but return the dazzling smile she gave me, and internally kicked myself. What had I just been telling myself? "Ready to learn some skills?" Again, with the winking! She didn't fight very fairly. I nodded, still too dazed to speak. My washing was done, and her cooking was all wrapped up. Time for some one on one with the head chef. I winced at how bad that sounded. One on one cooking lessons, that is. Cooking lessons. I looked down at her lolling hips, and couldn't stop the images that came into my mind. Oh god, I thought. Rosalie is going to kill me…
Author's Note: Surprise! Yes, for the first time, a vampire has fallen for a human. And I mean apart from Edward. Ok, so this isn't the first time, but you didn't see it coming! Thanks to Keira and Caitlin for letting me use their names. Hehe…sorry Keira…It's all in good fun, I promise! But it was rather awkward writing that chapter – because I actually know Keira. Yes, very weird indeed, but I needed to use SOMEONE's name! Read and review – please and thank you!