Chapter 10
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any other Stephanie Meyer work. Only the plot of this story is my own.
Ch.10-MINE!
EPOV (You guys love him!)
Guess what? I'm dating Bella Swan. Bella Swan is my girlfriend.
Fuck yes!
After I got home from my date with Bella, I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face. I loved how cool and honest we were with each other. The way she smiled at me when I asked her to be my girlfriend. Priceless. I'll never forget it.
Ever!
Did I ever really stop loving her? I wondered. I mean, most people wouldn't be this far gone after one date. I decided to let it go and just see what happened. After I got home, I went straight to bed where Bella headlined my fantasies like she has for the past decade.
I woke up the next day with a new sense of self. I couldn't explain it. It felt good to know she liked me too for as long as I liked her and our whole ideal wasn't one
sided. I also felt like the biggest dumbass on the planet. If I'd just sucked it up-like I should have- it wouldn't have taken us this long to get here.
Well… it's no use to dwell on the past
After I got out of the shower and got dressed, I received an expected phone call from Emmett.
"What asshole?" I laugh. That was our greeting
"Duuuuude. So how'd it go?" he asks. It's like I can hear his eyebrows wiggling as he asks.
"It was nice. She's really cool. She agreed to be my girlfriend." I inform with a grin.
"Nice," he says. "So how was the sex? It had to be good if she's your girlfriend already."
"What! We didn't have sex. It was the first date."
I wanted to
"That never stopped you before. I just figured that after 12 years.." he added.
"Exactly." I cut him off. "I've waited 12 years. I can wait longer. For Christ's sakes,Emmett. She's not a fucking conquest." I add curtly.
I'll be the first to admit that I haven't had the finest track record when it came to actually courting a woman. I never really had to. I could just smile and panties would drop.
I'm not conceited. It's the truth. Don't judge me.
This whole 'trying to get to know someone before you sleep with them' thing was new to me. I've never really had to work for sex. I wanted to deserve Bella the first time we made love. To be honest, it wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination to say that Bella was my first actual girlfriend.
You know, the kind you actually like.
"Damn" Emmett conceded. "I didn't know I hit a nerve. Sorry." He says. "I'm glad things are working out so far."
"Thanks man. She's pretty awesome." I smile into the phone.
"Awww. You looooove her," he teases.
"Shut up," was my genius rebuttal.
"Wow. Edward Cullen falls in love. Let me get my snow boots ready. There must be a blizzard in Hell," he laughs. "Good for you man. She rocks. She's way too cool
for you man. Don't fuck that up."
"Yeah, yeah. I know." I tell him. "What am I doing today?"
"You've got a meeting with the producers from Second Chances to discuss reshoots. Then, we have a meeting to discuss some offers. Next, you have a GQ shoot and interview."
"No sleep I guess?" I ask. "Unfortunately."
"Shit. Well, it's what I signed up for. Bye. See ya later." "Okay. The producer meeting is at 12. Don't be late."
"I won't" I say as we hang up the phone.
Once I found out that I was going to be busy for practically the whole day, I felt the need to call Bella. It sucked that I wasn't going to be able to see her, seeing as she's only been my girlfriend for 12 hours and I'm already too busy to hang out with her. I expected her to be upset, maybe even yell a little. But to my surprise, she was for the most part accepting about it. I could tell she was a little disappointed so I made it a point to make it up to her.
When I arrived at the studio to address things about the movie, I was only dreading one issue. Lauren. I couldn't stand that bitch. I know bitches are plentiful in Hollywood, but Lauren takes the cake. It doesn't help that she is mildly obsessed with me. The fact that we slept together doesn't help my situation either. I was drunk. She was there. It happened. It was definitely not my finest hour. Afterwards, Lauren decided to go all fatal attraction on my ass. Mysteriously appearing at places I frequent, occasionally being in the neighborhood and stopping by my house, I was afraid I'd find a boiled bunny on my stove. Apparently my telling her I'm not interested was not clear enough. I hope she's cooled it with her stalker tendencies.
It was starting to scare me.
Emmett is waiting for me outside, where he gives me the usual instructions.
"Sit down. Shut up. Look pretty and let me do the talking," he tells me as we enter the boardroom. All of the main cast are present as well as the director Aro Volturi. I had much respect for this man. He's just scary as Hell. He's about two days older than dirt, senile, and has insane boundary issues.
"Edward!" Aro comes over to me and hugs me. Not the manly kind. The girly kind. Then he kisses my forehead. What the fuck?
Boundary issues
"Hi Aro" I say once I recover from my initial shock. "How's the editing going." I ask. I know they were trying to have the film released before Christmas. I wanted to know about the progress they were making.
"Fabulous! I must let you know, you did an outstanding job. You may have a shot at award season."
This meant a lot. I worked hard on that movie. To have an esteemed director like Aro compliment my performance, it meant the world to me. Now, I was one step closer to Lions and Lambs.
"Wow." I say. "It's an honor hearing that from you. I really wanted to give it my all and do my best. I hope I didn't let you down."
"You didn't. I see big things for your future, Mr. Cullen. Actually, there is this project that I've heard—"
"EDWARD!" I hear the sound of an escaped banshee call.
Shit
"Hi Lauren" I say in a deadpan tone. I hope that she doesn't still think there is something between us.
"I've missed you so much baby." She rushes over and hugs me and kisses the top of my head. Emmett coughed…loudly. I replied with a nervous laugh.
I must quit drinking
"Well…" Jane Volturi says as she clears her throat and enters the room. The entire room is engulfed with silence. Jane isn't the most attractive person on the planet, but she means business. I've seen her make A-list celebrities (male and female) run crying from the set. Lauren had a hard time crying in a scene. Jane flicked hot sauce in her eyes. To be honest, I was afraid to look at her. You may not want to fuck her, but you definitely don't want to fuck with her. This bitch is hard core. "Let's get to the subject at hand."
"Okay," everyone in the room agreed. It was funny when I realized that no one, not even Aro, her own father, was looking at her.
"We have good material. I know that. You know that. But, every movie has a few rough spots that need to be sand out. Daddy and I talked about it and we decided that 3 scenes in particular need to be reshot. The scene when Sam goes to Frankie's school, Patricia talking to her mother about her parent's marriage, and…" she looks around hesitantly, "the chair scene."
Fuck!
There's a scene in the movie where Sam and Patricia (me and Lauren), have sex in a chair. Lauren kept 'messing up.' Personally, I think she was doing that shit on purpose. No person wants to spend the entire day ¾ naked in front of a cast and crew. It was difficult the first time around-not to mention graphic. Now, they wanted to do it again? This shit is unreal.
"Wait a minute." Emmett interrupts.
Go Emmett! Lawyer this shit up!
"You mean to tell me that you spent an entire day shooting this scene and you didn't get one good take? I'm not buying what you're selling." Emmett continues. I fist pump him under the table.
"Emmett…" Aro interrupts gently. "Yes, we got a good take. We need a great take. This is the climax-pun not intended- to the movie. The spark is not there" he says as he throws his hands in the air as though he's cursing the heavens in futility. "We must…. IGNITE THAT SPARK!" he screams.
Are you serious?
"I don't have any problems with it. Eddie, we'd get to spend more time together. You're acting like you don't even like me," Lauren says with a pout.
"It's Edward." I say calmly
Whose acting?
"Aro. Seriously?" Emmett raises his eyebrows. "Cut your shit."
"No. Emmett. Cut your shit" he points as he retaliates to Emmett. He turns to me.
"Edward, you must—"
"Stop being a bitch!" Jane interrupts. "The scene is being redone. There is nothing you can do about it. We didn't come here to discuss that. We came to discuss when to reshoot them. I'm thinking…" she says as she scrolls through her phone, "two weeks. That gives us enough time to have it edited in enough time. What do you think daddy?"
"Perfect pumpkin," she smiles as he kisses her on the cheek.
Ewww!
"Yeah. That way, Eddie and I would get to spend more time in New York. Wouldn't we Eddie?"
"It's EDWARD" I say indignantly. "I guess it's okay. If you say we need it then…" I shrug my shoulders. I didn't want to rock the boat. I trusted Aro-even if the thought of being within 10 feet of Lauren made me sick.
"Yes!" Aro shouts as he kisses my forehead…again. I'm starting to feel uncomfortable. "I know what I'm doing. It will be fine." He assures me as he walks out of the boardroom.
"This was relatively painless." Jane smirks. "We'll send you a message about what day in particular you should be there," she finishes as she walks out of the room.
Emmett and I make our way to the elevator doors.
"Sorry, bro" Emmett says as he pats me on the back. "I know how much you hate that bitch. A whole day. Seriously?" he asks himself more so than me.
"It's okay. You can't win em' all"
"I hope you aren't offended when I say this. You need to fix that shit you started with Lauren. You have a girlfriend- an awesome, hot girlfriend with a hot ass—"
"EMMETT" I interrupt with a warning.
"Sorry. What I'm saying is that you don't want Lauren's crazy ass starting anything."
As the doors open, I hear the unmistakable sound of heels running to the door. I already knew who it was.
"Eddie, wait for me!"
"It's Edward" I whisper to myself as I walk into the door.
"Fix it" Emmett says as he makes his way to the bathroom. "Now is your chance."
Don't leave me alone with her!
Lauren runs through the doors just as they're about to close. She stands in the corner of the elevator looking forward at the doors.
Please be quiet
I hoped for too much. As soon as the elevator starts to move, Lauren pushes the STOP button and tries to jump me.
"Oh, baby!" she says as she throws herself at me. "It was so hard to be in that room and pretend that I didn't like you" she continues as she starts to kiss all over me. "It was complete torture."
Noooooo
"Lauren—" I try to stop her
"EDWARD!"
"L-Lauren" I say as I try to gently push her away
"HONEY!" she moans as she starts to unbutton my shirt.
"LAUREN!" I shout as I push her off of me. "Stop! I'm sorry, but I'm not interested. I feel really bad about what happened between us. I'm sorry if I led you on. I didn't mean to. I thought we were on the same page."
She steps back as she rearranges her clothes. I wipe the lipstick off of my face and re button my shirt.
"Is there… someone else?" she asks as she puts her lips in a straight line and crosses her arms.
"I guess. I'm seeing her." I tell her as I push the start button on the elevator.
"What's her name?" she asks.
"How is that important?"
"I think I have the right to know the name of the slut you cheated on me with!" she shouts as she begins to pace around the elevator.
"We were never dating, Lauren." I tell her…again. "Plus, she is not a slut." I don't get why she was upset. We only had sex one time. Plus, I'm pretty sure she was having sex with other men after it happened.
"Ugh! Whatever! I can't believe you!" she yells as she slaps me. We stand for the rest of the ride down in complete silence. She storms out of the elevator once the doors open where I am met with a curious Emmett.
"Sooo…" he asks.
"I told her I was seeing someone… after she tried to jump me in the elevator." I tell him as I rub my cheek. "There was no escape" I add in a ghostly tone.
"It's over now. At least I hope so" he laughs.
The rest of the day was pretty normal. As normal as it is for my line of work, anyway. I finished the day with a call from my mother.
"Hey mom!" I say into the phone.
"Hi, Honey," she says into the phone. "I miss my baby so much. You never come home anymore," she says solemnly.
"I've been busy, Mom. I'm coming for Thanksgiving. I promise." I always make sure to spend Thanksgiving at home with my family. It's the biggest holiday for us.
"I know you won't let us down. You know what would really make my holiday?" she asks
"What?"
"If you brought a girl home."
"Mom!" I shout.
"In all of your 29 years, you've never brought a girl home to meet us. Not even for a play date. I want some grandbabies, Edward!" she tells me. "You're not getting any younger."
Ever since I turned 25, my mom has found a way to bring up my lack of a serious relationship into as many conversations as she can.
"I know, Mom. I know. I'm working on it." I was actually thinking of inviting Bella to meet my parents on Thanksgiving-officially. It was a long time away. If she was comfortable with it, I was going to ask her to come. I don't think she's been back to Forks since she went away to college.
"Oooh! Do you have a girlfriend?" she asks eagerly.
She is such a gossip
"Yes" I tell her. I couldn't help but smile when I thought about Bella.
"Really? A real one? Now one of those, what do you call it… friends with benefits?" she asks. I picture her hugging the phone with both hands and hunching her shoulders with glee. She acts like a little kid.
"Yes, mother. I have a real girlfriend. I am officially in a monogamous relationship." I say with a slight laugh.
I just made her day.
"Oh, wait until I tell your father. He'll be so pleased. CARLISLE… come downstairs. Edward's on the phone and he has a girlfriend." I hear my mom shout for my father. I wait on the phone as I hear my parents mumbling to each other. "You're on speaker phone" my mom tells me.
"You better not be lying to your mother." My father warns.
"Is it so far out of the imagination that I'd have a girlfriend?" I ask.
"Kind of" my dad says with a laugh.
"Carlisle" my mother says, shocked.
"What?" He asked. "The only girl he ever talked about for more than a day was Bella Swan. Hey Edward, do you remember her? You had it so bad." He laughs.
"Aww. He did." My mother joins him. "You were all, 'Dad, how is Bella's leg? Is she okay?' she laughs with him. "Isn't she on that show Halfsies? I love that show! I can't wait for the last episode."
"Yeah." I confirm.
"Wouldn't it be funny if Bella was Edward's girlfriend? I mean… 12 years and he finally got the courage." My dad asks my mom.
Why am I still on the phone?
"Well…" I say as I shrug my shoulders
"No way" my dad says. "Finally?"
My only response was to laugh. "Yeah. She's really cool. She's not like other girls. She's different." I confide in my parents.
"That is so cute" my mother gushes. "We're finally going to get grandchildren, Carlisle." She adds.
"Mom!" I shout. Honestly, the thought of having children with Bella didn't freak me out.
"Come on. The first girl that really catches your eye in all this time must be special. You must bring her for Thanksgiving." She commands.
"I will do my best." I tell them. "I gotta go. Bye." "Bye" they say in unison.
"Don't be a stranger," my mother tells me before she hangs up the phone.
I was feeling guilty about not being able to hang out with Bella today, so I called her and invited her over for dinner the next day and she accepted. I knew that we were both busy and I was glad that we would have some time to be together with just the two of us. I agonized over every detail, cleaning the house- at least downstairs- and stressing over what we'd do. After debating over what to do, I just decided to cook spaghetti. It's foolproof.
Finally, she was pulling up in my driveway. The first thing I noticed was her car.
Damn, it's sexy
The sight of a 1967 Ford GT Mustang in such perfect condition, and knowing that my Bambi owned such a bad ass piece of machinery made me a little horny. Then, I saw her foot she step out of the car.
Yep. I definitely have a shoe fetish. Maybe only when Bella wears shoes.
They were brown heels with some jewelry on them. You know the kind I'm talking about. My eyes travelled up to her toned, long legs which were uncovered due to the tiny khaki shorts she was wearing. She also had on a white shirt with one of those brown shrug things. I saw her reach into her car for something. Fuck yes! She baked something!
Did the Earth just move in slow motion?
I met her at the door and placed whatever she brought in the fridge.
"Hey boyfriend," she says as she arches her feet up and gives me a long kiss. "I missed you," she adds with a pout.
"I missed you too, girlfriend." I tell her. How did we start that? "I'm sorry about yesterday."
"For the 80th time, it's okay," she laughs. "It's going to happen. Geez!" she exaggerates.
"Well, let's go have dinner." I say as I lead her to the dining room. She smiles as she takes in the scene.
"Awww. This is so nice." She gushes. "You're turning me into a girl," she laughs. "I try" I laugh.
After we got settled and fixed our plates, we talked about our days.
"You look really beautiful," I tell her. "as always."
"Thanks. We kinda match." She giggles as she points out my white polo shirt and khaki pants.
"Wow. We do." I laugh with her.
"I agonized forever about what I was going to wear. It was either this or this sundress Alice tried to literally force on me. That chick is strong. I had enough of that shit when I was little."
"Well, you look wonderful." I tell her. "What do you mean you had enough when you were little?" I ask. I was curious. As soon as I mention it, Bella's face had a mild sense of terror. She quickly masked it as confusion.
"Just…ya know. Moms dressing their girls up all the time in dresses. I'm burnt out. How are Rose and Emmett doing? Rose really likes him," she asks trying to throw
me off of her scent.
"They're doing great. Emmett is going over Rose's for dinner tonight." I tell her.
"That's good. He should start eating her food now anyways," she chuckles.
"Why?"
"So he can start building antibodies," she laughs. "Cooking isn't her strong suit."
"Well, I don't think it will bother Emmett. He'd eat fried poison oak if you told him Kraft made it." I laugh and she joining in with me. "Bella?"
"Yeah?"
"Answer the question" I tell her as I stop laughing.
"Damn" she says defeated. "I thought I had you. Promise you won't laugh," she asks with a serious face.
"I can't promise you that" I tell her honestly.
"Fine" she huffs. "I mean, it's not that bad. It's just hard to picture me..now..doing it. To be honestly, I'm surprised it hasn't shown up on Youtube yet." She says as she continues her rant.
"Damn, Bella." I laugh. "Did you do porn or something?" I ask her. That would suck.
Silence
Bella puts her head in her hands and shakes her head profusely.
"Bella, it's okay" I say as I rub my arm on her shoulder. "I won't judge you. I still lo—"
"Of course I didn't do porn! What made you think that? You have a wild imagination Cullen." She laughs.
"Okay…Well…" I urge her to continue. "I'm really interested now"
"Promise you'll at least try not to laugh." She asks.
"Okay."
"Iwasinpageantswheniwasakid" she rushes. "What?"
"I was in beauty pageants when I was a little kid" she tells me with a solemn look on her face.
Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together
"Shut up!" she shouts as she pouts and crosses her arms.
"OH MY GOD!" I loudly whisper. After that I can't contain my laughter.
"I'm serious, Cullen. Keep this shit in the vault. Rose and Alice don't even know. Congratulations. You know my secret shame."
"It couldn't have been that bad." I say.
"Yeah. It was. Fake teeth, vasoline in your mouth, hideous dresses, tans, and the talent. Oh God…the talent," she says with a far off look.
"What was it?" I ask.
"Nope. I'm not telling you."
"I'll get it out of you sooner or later." I tell her as I twirl my imaginary mustache.
"I'll enjoy watching you try," she slouches in her chair and raises her eyes in challenge.
"Enough about me. What about you? What is your family like, apart from what you've already told me?"
"I was born and raised in Forks. I'm an only child. I would have killed for a little brother or sister when I was little." I say as I think of other facts about myself. Honestly, I lived a normal, somewhat boring, life. "My dad is my hero. I wanted to be a doctor when I grew up. It didn't really work out that way." I add with a laugh as I start to gather up the plates and take them to the kitchen.
"Well, don't be envious of being an only child. Siblings are overrated. Trust me. The only thing my brothers love to do is torture me, even in their thirties. I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up" she laughed. "Can you imagine? I was this close to defending someone from the death penalty."
"It doesn't seem out of the ordinary. You're smart."
She smiles as I say this. "I almost beat you for valedictorian"
"What!" I ask shocked. "How?"
"I had a 4.0 gpa. I also got a 1480 on the SAT out of 1600" she says as she begins to help me wash the dishes. "Don't argue with me." She warns. " I'm helping you wash the dishes. I hear your brain thinking."
"Why didn't you get it then?" I asked. I decided not to argue about the dishes. "Disciplinary problems" she laughs. "I didn't care though. My parents did, of
course" she adds. "What college did you go to?"
"Dartmouth. It was rough. I had no life whatsoever for the first year." I laugh.
"Damn. I perfected my kegstand during my first year." She adds with a laugh.
"That had to be heavy."
"Yeah." I say as I finish the dishes and throw her over my shoulder. She wasn't expecting it.
"What the Hell? EDWARD!" she yells as she kicks her feet and starts to laugh. "Put me down." She asks as she smacks my ass.
"No." I reply as I smack her back as retaliation and make my way to the couch.
"Ooh" she says as she stops kicking her feet. "Who told you I was into that?" she laughs as I smack her ass…again. "YES!" she laughs as I sit her down on the couch
and sit down next to her.
"You're weird." I laugh.
"And you love it. It makes me interesting" she wiggles her ass and reaches for the remote. I grab her hand.
"Hey Bella?"
"Yeah?"
"Happy Birthday" I tell her as I pull a gift out from under my couch.
"Edward, you really shouldn't have."
Bella didn't celebrate her birthday. She even told me that she has forbidden anyone to mention it. I didn't care. She was getting a gift.
"Yes. I did. Now open it." I tell her as I place the gift in her hands.
"You knew it was my birthday?" she asks.
"Bella," I laugh. "it was on Entertainment Tonight. I think the whole country knows today is your birthday."
"Smartass" she mumbles under her breath as she unwraps her gift. I think I detect a hint of a smile as she realizes what it is.
"A Kindle!" she screams as she looks at the box. "I've been meaning to get one of these."
"I know you like to read so.." I shrug my shoulders. "I put Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, and Wuthering Heights on there. I know they're your favorites. If it makes you feel any better. I didn't spend too much on it"
"It's wonderful. Thank you" she smiles as she straddles me on the couch and begins to kiss along my neck.
"You're welcome" I tell her as tilt her head upwards to start ravaging her mouth in kisses. She welcomes the assault eagerly. We stay this way, exploring each others mouths until we find ourselves lying down on the couch, me hovering over Bella. She shifts to get in another position, making her hips momentarily grind into me causing a growl followed by a mumbled, "Fuck" to escape my throat.
"Ooh," she giggles against my lips as she runs her hands up my shirt, ghosting her soft hands against my chest, before pulling it off of me completely. Instinct takes over as I reciprocate her advance which leads to her shirt on the floor, me trailing kisses along her neck as our hips move in sync with each other. Quickly,
I sit up to look at her and am stunned speechless at the sight before me. A halo of beautiful brown locks are spread out around her, making her look like the angel she is. My eyes travel down to her chest and to her stomach as I notice her flesh tone turn pink under my gaze. "Beautiful," I whisper to her as I continue my journey along her body. She tangles one of her hands in my hair while the other trails down my stomach to palm my erection. I'm pulled back down to Earth.
This is too soon
I wanted Bella to know how much I loved her the first time we made love. It definitely wasn't going to be on my sofa. The route we were going, if I didn't stop soon, I wouldn't be able to.
"Bella, stop." I tell her as I grab her hand.
"What? Did I do something wrong?" she asks as a pout forms on her face.
"No, baby. You didn't. We need to stop. I don't want our first time to be like this. I'm surprised I was able to stop."
"Oh. Ok" she says awkwardly, crossing her arms over her shoulders as she looks for her shirt. I grab her arms.
"Don't hide from me. You're beautiful. You didn't do anything wrong. I just don't trust myself around you yet. It's a respect issue. I respect you too much to do this." I tell her forcefully, looking her in the eye to make sure she believed me.
"I know" she says as she blushes. "I don't want to move too fast either. I'm just kinda embarrassed at how I attacked you" she laughs as she puts her arms downs and shakes her head.
With that comment, all the awkwardness disappears.
"No need to be embarrassed" I tell her as I wiggle my eyebrows "It's not an attack if you welcome it. Attack me anytime." I finish with a laugh and knock her over so we're both lying on the couch facing the t.v.
"And you say I'm weird" she says as she grabs the remote. She turns on the television and turns on Hey Arnold and starts to sing the intro.
I love that fuckin show. Another reason why we belong together
We watch the marathon in silence stealing kisses and the occasional boob squeeze until Bella turns to face me.
"I enjoy this. Just us. No cameras or annoying questions about our personal life" she says as her brow orbs gaze into my eyes as she plants a soft kiss on my lips.
"I know. It feels good just to hold you like this and not have to answer to anyone about it."
This got me thinking. How long would our bubble of privacy last? I just got Bella and I don't like to share. I didn't like the idea of our relationship being spread over every gossip magazine and website with false speculations about how we are. "To be honest, I don't want to share you just yet. I'm having fun being selfish" I say as I kiss her the top of her head. I feel her smile through my lips as she backs away to look at me.
"Really? I was thinking the same thing. I just got you after 12 years. I want you all to myself" she tells me while threading her hand through my hair. " I must admit. It won't be fun watching sluts throw themselves at you though" she smirks.
"And I won't enjoy every guy in the room staring at you."
"Yeah right"
"You really don't see yourself clearly do you?"
"So they tell me" she shrugs. "I guess we'll both have to endure it" she says as she gives me another kiss and turns back to the t.v. to continue watching cartoons.
That's how the rest of our evening went. Over the next week, we'd call each other on the phone and sneak over to each other's houses. In an odd way, we kinda felt like a couple of teenagers. Isn't that how people in love feel? During one of our conversations, Bella joked about me making an appearance during Halfsies finale and I jumped at it. I'd get to see my Bambi in action and surprise my mom. I knew she'd be watching it.
Bella was every bit fascinating and beautiful as I thought she would be as she worked the stage doing what she does best—making people laugh. I couldn't resist the temptation of playing grabass during the taping. She looked too good to pass up that golden opportunity. I'd be lying if I said I didn't take it to mark her as mine in front of the entire country, even if no one knew we were dating. Nothing could ruin my high. Not even that whore Jessica who couldn't manage to take a hint if you threw it at her. I finally decided to leave, even though I wanted to spend more time with Bella and promised her to meet her at the party. The way Bella was looking at her, I was afraid she'd punch Jessica in the face.
Although it would be kind of hot
After a very excited phone call from my mother, I got ready for the night. I decided to wear a green button down shirt with some jeans and some vans. It seemed to look okay.
I pull up to the back entrance of the club where I meet Emmett and Jasper. They complement me on the show.
"Dude," Jasper starts. "What was with the ass grab?" he asks, laughing.
"Yeah," Emmett adds. "That was not in the script…you animal" he shakes his finger at me.
When I step out of the car, I am ambushed by paparazzi. All I see are flashing light bulbs followed by "Edward!" "Edward, over here!" "How's it goin' Edward?" I'm temporarily blinded by the lights as I make a quick dash to the door.
As I step inside, I take notice of the atmosphere. Vortex was the hot new club the past month or two, but I'd never had the opportunity or time to go. The place is set up like an old warehouse with panels of exposed brick all over the building with dark hard wood floors. The balcony, which I assumed was the V.I.P. section, was separated by individual staircases that ascend to the special section. The club is lit up by chandeliers and strobe lights with aerial acrobatics fall from the ceiling. It was cool.
I'm spotted downstairs and once again I'm bombarded with requests for pictures and autographs. I oblige the fans for a while before we're ushered upstairs to what Emmett likes to call the 'pretty people section.' After the waiter comes and takes our drink orders, we talk amongst ourselves as we wait for our ladies to come.
"Jazz, how's things with Alice going?" Emmett starts. "Is her energizer bunny-ness too much for you?"
"Nope, man" he says with a wide grin. "She's awesome. She might be… it" he says as his grin grows wider.
"Wow. I can see every last one of your teeth" I joke with him.
"That's good man"
"Now that we're on the subject, Rose is it for me man. I'm a fucking goner. She can't cook for shit, but she's my Rosie. She's the hardcore bitch I've dreamt of since I was a little boy" he says as he laughs and looks away into the distance. Emmett may be a big motherfucker, but he's a good guy. He wears his heart on his sleeve, but he's an overgrown preschooler. Hopefully, Rose can keep his ass in line. He turns to me. "So, how are things with you know who?" he asks.
"Great. Everyday there's something different. She's just… I can't explain it." I tell them. I don't try to hide the smile on my face.
"Wow. We. Are. So. Fucked" Emmet laughs.
"Don't I know it" Jazz adds. " Edward, heads up. Alice is already planning you and Bella's wedding in her head…something about peacock feathers. I stopped paying attention half way through." He laughs.
I laughed a little. Honestly, the thought didn't seem that far fetched. It freaked me out that I wasn't freaked out. I mean, how do you tell someone that you want to marry them and have children and you've barely been dating a month? If a woman told me that, I'd get a restraining order. My inner monologue is cut short by the howling of a voice I'd come to hate within the past 6 hours.
"Eddie!" Jessica shrieks. "You came. I knew you would" she tells me as she wraps her arms around me and hugs me about 5 seconds longer than is socially acceptable.
Did she just sniff me?
I notice that she has brought her entire entourage with her. It consisted of at least 5 women, each sluttier than the last. How obnoxious can a person get? After Jessica's minions all get an autograph and a picture, she and her friends pull a table and chairs up to our booth, without asking, and proceed to engage us in conversation. This consisted of conversations with obvious sexual undertones and inappropriate touches. None of them could understand that none of us were interested. Maybe a year ago we would be. But tonight—No.
No mean no, BITCH!
Then, to make tonight even more awkward, Mike Newton decided that he wanted to crash over at my table with his henchmen as well. So he pulled up yet, another table. This guy was a douche. To make things worse, he was an arrogant douche at that. We were always competing for roles.
Guess who won?
Whenever we were in the same venue or at the same party, he made it his mission to be seen with me, like it would make him look cooler. He reminded me of the friends I had in high school. Hollywood wasn't much different.
Where is Bella?
"So, Cullen" Mike whispers, "you've been hogging all the trim…again. Selfish" he laughs.
"They came over here" I tell him. "Have at it" I say with a shrug of my shoulders. I felt a little guilty, just passing off these women. But, they were annoying me and my friends. At least they wouldn't be my problem anymore.
"Dude, where is Bella?" Emmett asks.
"Probably at home eating ice cream and reading a book" Jessica laughs. "She is so anti-social" she says with her 'I'm not a gossip' face.
"Not to mention crazy" one of her puppets say. "Tell them what she did, Jessica" she prompts.
"Well" she starts as she begins to make her lip quiver. She is a horrible actress. "We were in a meeting one day and out of nowhere she jumps over the table and puts me in a headlock." When I hear this, I try my best not to laugh. It's funny to imagine my Bambi doing that. But, I don't think she'd do it for no reason. Jessica continues her monologue. "Theresa had to pull her off of me. I'm not even supposed to talk about it. You know. I hate to think about what could have happened" she tells me as she puts her head in her hands. She can't even cry. Where did they find this chick?
"Besides, she's probably a lesbian" Mike adds. "I worked on Chart Toppers with her. I tried to tap that for three straight months. Nothing. She has to be batting for the other team."
Maybe it's because you're a Grade A douche bag
"Right," I interrupt. "You're abrasiveness and lack of charm had nothing to do with it" I laugh, causing others to join.
"Whatever, dude" she says in a serious tone, "she is definitely a…" he couldn't finish his sentence as a result of his staring. His eyes look as big as quarters.
Is he drooling?
I look over in the direction he is staring at and I am stunned speechless and motionless by the sight.
"Oh" "My" "God"
DAAAAAAAYYYYYUUUUMMM!
Here comes Bella, Alice, and Rose in all of their glory. Alice has on a short pink dress. Jasper gets a shit eating grin on his face as he takes her in. She walks over to sit on Jasper's lap as she gives all of the surrounding girls the evil eye as she places herself in his lap and gives him a kiss.
Rose has on a red dress that looks more like a shirt. Emmett runs over to greet her and picks her up and twirls her.
"Rosie!" Emmett yells as he carries her Superman style to the table. "Back off asshole!" he shouts to a man who is staring a little too hard at Rose's ass. That earns him a smack on the back of the head, followed by a wet, sloppy kiss. They confuse me.
Then there was Bella. Oh Bella. If she was beautiful before, I don't know what she is now. She has on a light blue dress that comes down in the top middle of her thigh which hugs every single one of her delicious curves. My curves. She has on a gold necklace that drops right in the center of her so-sexy-it-should-be-illegal cleavage- right where I want to be. She pairs a pair of strappy glittery shoes that are fucking sexy as Hell.
The kind with the red bottoms? Fuck yes!
As she begins to walk over to the table, a mysterious gust of wind blows over the entire club. It's odd, seeing as how all the doors are closed. It's like the 4 elements are reacting to her sexiness. She's stop halfway to her table and turns around. It seems as though the back of her dress goes into an elaborate design in the back.
Was her ass always that perfect?
"Look at that ass! There is no way she's wearing a bra with that dress" Mike whispers in my ear as he openly ogles my girlfriend. I fight the urge to break my beer bottle over his head.
Mine!
Bella walks over to the same table I'd signed autographs previously, and begins to sign autographs and take pictures with fans. She looks beautiful talking and smiling with fans and she takes pictures using bunny ears and even kisses a kid, on the cheek. He beams as though she just made his year.
It would have made mine
"Bitch"
"Slut"
"Attention whore"
These are some of the jealousy-fueled insults I hear Jessica throw out as Bella finally makes her way over to the table.
"Hey guys" she says cheerfully as the guys mumble an awkward "Hi" and Jessica and the rest of the slut brigade huff and roll their eyes. "It's that guy over there's
21st birthday. Isn't that cool?"
"There aren't any chairs left so…" Jessica says with a shit eating grin. Before she could finish her sentence, Mike and his friends shoot up from their chairs and offer her theirs. This leads to several of Jessica's friends who were sitting on their laps to be thrown to the floor.
BAHAHAHAH!
"Oh. Please, don't give up your chair" she blushes and looks down. "I'll just find my own" she says as she goes to find a chair of her own.
"Wait." Rose shouts. "Take mine" she offers her seat in the booth next to Emmett and sits in his lap.
"You sure?" she asks. "I can walk five whole feet, even in these shoes" she laughs.
"Yes. Sit your ass down, Bitch!" Rose encourages. Bella finally gives in as Bella shimmies into Rose's space… next to me.
"Ney Ney N-Ney Ney. She's my-y girlfriend" my inner kindergartner taunts Mike and his posse.
After Bella sits down, the waiter who took our order previously comes over to our booth-and tables.
"Hello, Ms. Swan" the asshole says as he stares at her tits. "Would you and your friends like something to drink?" he asks, only talking to her. What the fuck?
I might want a refill, fucker
"Yeah" Alice laughs and Bella cringes. "I'll have an Apple martini."
"And I'll have a Pomegranate martini" Rose adds with a giggle.
"Bella?"
"I'll have a Coke" she says as she rolls her eyes.
"Okay" he says. "I'll be right back with you ladies' order."
"You aren't drinking tonight?" I ask her.
"Nope. After last time, I promised myself I'd try to curb it. Besides, I lost a Rock, Paper, Scissors off against the WonderBitches over here" she says while pointing to Rose and Alice who are giggling their asses off. "I have to pay for drinks and be the designated driver. Even though, I volunteered for the last part anyway."
"That must kill you" I laugh. "You're so cheap."
"Yeah, laugh at my misery." She says as she rolls her eyes.
"You look nice" I tell her. I wish I could hug and kiss her to let all these staring motherfuckers that she's mine, but I know that it would only blow our cover.
"Yeah" Jessica interrupts. "You actually have a shape. Who knew with those lovely sweat pants you wear all the time?" she asks while smirking at her own humor.
"Thank you, Jessica" Bella says, smiling. "Your dress looks gorgeous on you. Did it come with knee pads?" she asks as she tilts her head to the side. Jessica huffs loudly as Rose and Alice start to laugh uncontrollably.
I don't get it
Bella sits satisfied with her comeback as the waiter comes back with the girl's drink order.
"How much?" Bella asks as she reaches in her purse for her credit card. "I got it" Mike and I say at the same time as I reach for my wallet.
"It's okay, sir. The bill has been taken care of" he says as he points over to another portion of the V.I.P section. Oh Hell no!
Leonardo Dicaprio did not just buy Bella a drink
"Oh" we say as I notice Bella turn her head to hide her blush.
"Well," Mike says as he wiggles his eyebrows. "When are you going to get some free time and let me take you out?" he asks, ogling her causing her to squirm around in her chair. Fucker.
"There isn't enough free time in the world Newton" Bella says as she crosses her arms over her chest. "My face is up here" she adds as she snaps her fingers in front of his face. "Besides, I'm seeing someone" she tells him while sneaking a glance at me.
I fought the grin that threatened to show on my face at the thought of her rejecting him and claiming our relationship. She looks so cute when she's annoyed.
"Damn" he says as he looks around the table at everyone's awkward faces.
"So Bella," Jessica starts. "Have you gotten any movie offers yet? I've gotten tons and…" She gloats.
Jessica is cut off by the sound of an alarm. "Okay" the dj screams as the crowd goes wild. "It's time for The Sexiest Lady of the Night Award. And it goes to…" he waits as a spotlight scans over the crowd causing the cheers to increase. "BELLA SWAN!" he shouts as the bright light lands on Bella. She blushes and smiles. "Stand up!" the dj screams and Bella obliges his request and waves awkwardly at the crowd. "Damn. That must be jelly, cause jam don't shake like that!" he says making all the men in the crowd yell like animals.
I'm kicking everybody's ass. Tonight.
After a few seconds in the lights, Bella sits down and the music resumes. "I've gotten a few. But, let's not talk about it tonight. No work!" she says playfully as she sits down and sips her drink.
After that, Bella kept getting free drinks from random people and celebrities. I stopped getting mad after the 2nd round came. By the time the night was over, Rose and Emmett were basically fucking on the dance floor, while a drunk Jasper was trying to keep an even drunker Alice from attempting to swing on one of the chandeliers.
"You see why they need a designated driver?" she asks as she laughs, pointing to the chaos surrounding our friends.
"Yeah. Those chicks can party" I laugh.
During the rest of the night, Bella and I kept looking for ways to touch each other. It killed us not to be able to be affectionate with each other. Jessica and Mike eventually gave up and went off somewhere together, while their individual groups left to do whatever it is they do.
Who knows? Who cares?
The club was due to close in 30 minutes, so the 6 of us decided it would be best for us to start leaving. Emmett helped to load Alice in the backseat of Bella's car as Bella guided a surprisingly still balanced Rose to the passenger seat. Jasper wasn't fit to drive, so Emmett decided he'd take him home. After everyone was ready to go, Bella came over and gave Em, Jazz, and I a hug.
When she came to hug me, she squeezed me tightly as I grabbed her by the waist and whispered, "Tonight sucked not being able to talk to you. I'll see you later." She added a quick kiss below my ear as she pulled away.
As she drove away, I noticed the ache in my chest I'd felt previously. I wasn't ready to say goodbye. I'd seen her twice today and hadn't even been able to kiss her. When I reached home, I took out my phone and sent a text.
Edward: I'm not ready to say goodnight.
When I didn't receive a message, I'd thought she'd gone to bed. 30 minutes later, I got a reply.
Bella: Me neither. Spend the night with me?
Edward: I'm on my way.