Stephenie Meyer owns the characters…but I own this fantasy cruise!
(Forgot to mention in the last chapter-Pictures of the girls dresses are on my profile page-go sneak a peek!)
Cut of your jib—'One's general appearance and demeanour.'
Edward POV.
"Tanya said that they'd be here by now…where the hell are they?" Emmett asked in frustration as we completed our full walk around the casino.
"You know…we've probably passed them or something….we should just wait at the door…" Jasper suggested as he continued to crane his neck, looking over the crowd.
I pulled at my shirt collar in apprehension at finding them as I suggested, "We could wait at the bar…I mean…look at it, it revolves." I finished by pointing to the bright, eye catching bar which was heavily laden with strobe lights.
"It's like a carousel…without the horses and such...so cool." Emmett chuckled as he began to lead the way towards the bar. As we stepped onto the slowly revolving bar area, I wondered how lethal this could be if we got really drunk tonight. I chuckled as I remembered some parts of the film, 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'.
"You genius Edward!" Jasper praised me with a smack on my shoulder. I was about to ask him what he was talking about, when I saw them.
The three of them were sat at the opposite side of the circular bar, each with a thin, tall glass with blue liquid in them and a colourful umbrella perched on top. Alice instantly jumped up in her bar stool and waved at us. Bella and Rosalie quickly realised that we were there and gave us warm smiles.
They jumped off of their chairs as we advanced, and met us half way, drinks in hand. I lost all knowledge of how to speak as my eyes took in Bella. She was dressed in an alluring blue dress with black lace that came to her knees, showing off her legs. I vaguely realised that Emmett and Jasper were complementing Rosalie and Alice.
I attempted some sort of complement, "Wow…you look…" I let out a huge sigh and grinned stupidly as she smiled at me.
"I could say the same about you." She said raising her eyebrows before she took a sip of her drink. I noticed that her eyes roamed freely over me as she drank.
"Come on!" Emmett called out in a cheery voice as he plonked himself down at the bar. The rest of us followed suit and ordered some more drinks.
I caught Alice as she whispered to Rosalie, "Sleaze at 3 o'clock…" I quickly glanced around and saw Mike, flirting with some woman.
"What?" Bella asked Alice as she twirled her umbrella in her drink.
"I said…I'm going to sneeze at three o'clock" she improvised quickly. I cowered in my seat, ready for Bella to start questioning Alice's weak adaptation of what she'd really said.
"Huhh weird…Sure you don't want me to come with you to the Roulette table?" Bella surprisingly asked with humour in her voice.
"Nice try." Alice responded with a cute smile. I had no idea what had happened there, but Alice had miraculously prevented Bella from seeing Mike.
We all carried on as normal for a few minutes after that little stunt. "I'm going to hit the Blackjack." Emmett declared once he'd drained his glass dry. Rosalie soon leapt from her chair, ready to go with him.
"We're headed to the Roulette" Alice stated with a confident smile as she took hold of Jasper's hand.
"Slot machines" I stated simply as I jumped off the bar stool. I held my hand out to Bella. I felt anxious that she'd fall of the bar stool or something after Emmett's stunt this morning with the picture taking.
"Thank you" She smiled self consciously to me as she took my hand to get down.
I didn't let go of her hand as we headed over to get our money sorted and move to the slot machines. I weaved us through the rows of machines until I found a spot where Mike would be effectively out of our line of vision.
"Do you know the rules…what do I need to match up to win some money?" Bella asked me as she popped her money holder beside her.
"I thought you told me yesterday that you could hold your own at the slot machines." I asked with a confused tone.
"Well…I know you just put in the money and pull that thingy…" she told me as she pointed to a lever.
"My god…" I laughed at her lack of knowledge. After a smack in the arm, I sobered up from my laughing and explained to her what she would win depending on which combinations came up on the screen and then I quickly went over the rules of other games like Blackjack and Roulette.
I noticed after some time that I surprisingly, wasn't bored at the slot machines. Usually I would have itched to go to the other tables to try out a variety of games, but tonight I was happy enough beside Bella, chatting between slotting.
"Yes…I won some!" Bella cheered beside me as a few measly pounds were ejected from her machine.
As she scooped them up, I teased, "You've just won back a few pounds, but how much have you spent?"
She cut me a funny look as she brushed off my comment humerously, "Ohhh hush!!" she laughed as she turned back to the machine once again.
A few minutes later, I felt a warm hand running softly up and down my forearm. I looked to Bella who was pouting at me with a sad look on her face. "Edward…I'm out of moneys" she mumbled out childishly.
"Sorry…that's your problem." I teased her as I continued to play on the slot machine. "Bella…what are you doing?" I asked perplexed as I watched her get out of her seat and stand in front of me, facing my machine.
"I'm going to play with you on your slot machine." She stated confidently as she looked over her shoulder, with a sly look in her eyes. "Please?" she added, looking adorable as she bit her bottom lip.
"Fine" I grinned, seconds before I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her on to my lap.
"Edward!" Bella gasped as she held onto my forearms for support.
"Bella!" I mimicked her voice as I pulled her back, closer to me.
"I didn't mean for you to do that!" she laughed as she snatched some of my coins.
"I couldn't resist." I admitted as I tightened both or my arms around her waist while she played on.
"I feel bad now…don't you want to play some more?" she asked me over her shoulder as she waved a coin in my face.
"No, you go ahead, I'm fine here." I told her as I rested my head against her back. She turned around and carried on playing as I revelled at having her so close to me. After a few seconds, she shoved the money holder into one of my hands to hold before she laced her fingers in with mine. With her free hand, she slotted the money into the machine.
"I've only got five coins left." She told me as she leant back against me. I moved my head out of the way, and rested it on her shoulder, watching as she slotted the fifth from last coin.
She glanced the other way as the machine swallowed her money. I felt her tense up in my arms as she froze. I moved, and turned to look in the direction that she was looking. I could faintly hear the sound of money spilling from our slot machine in front of me as I whispered in Bella's ear. "Are you alright? Bella…we've just won a lot of money…" I gave her waist a squeeze and the hand that she still had in mine.
"Yeah…great" she muttered in a monotone as she pulled her hand out of mine and slipped out of my lap. She stood silently, with a closed expression on her face as I scooped up the money from the machine.
"Guy's! We just cleared out the Blackjack table!" Emmett called out cheerfully as he and Rosalie came up to us.
I quickly thrust our winnings into Emmett's hand and murmured a quick, "Sort that out for me." I then grabbed hold of Bella's hand and pulled her behind me, out of the casino. Neither of us uttered a word until we reached our final destination. I had no idea where we were headed as I led her, but we ended up at the library.
I pulled her down to sit beside me in front of a large burning fire once I'd found a quiet spot. "Bella…say something." I pleaded as she continued to sit there, silently. The blank look in her eyes scared me; I knew that she was in turmoil within.
"What do you want me to say?" she responded in a whisper as she hugged her arms around herself tighter.
"What are you thinking?" I asked, matching her whisper.
"I'm wondering why I'm even bothered at seeing Mike with that other girl…he was all over her!" her voice rang in disgust.
"Bella…forget him, he's a jerk… I'd never…" I froze, and turned to stare into the fire as I realised what I was about to admit aloud to her.
"What? What were you going to say Edward?" she asked me eagerly. I looked at her from the corner of my eye. I noticed that she'd shuffled over, closer to me.
"I'd never hurt you like that." I admitted, giving her a small smile.
She closed the distance between us and hugged me as she whispered in my ear, "I know, you're a great guy Edward."
She sat back after a long hug, and then explained how she was cheated on before. I said nothing about the fact that Jasper had already heard it from Alice and told me as much. She continued and explained in more detail that she'd been going out with her boyfriend, Jacob for over a year when she caught him cheating on her with some other girl who lived near him.
I hugged her against my chest as I read the pain reflected in her face. "Sorry Edward…do you want to get back to the casino?" she asked me as she looked up to my face.
"Are you kidding me?" I asked her in a cheery voice, "You just won us a ton of money…if Emmett hasn't spent it all…" I told her before I kissed her forehead lightly.
She snuggled back against my chest as we sat in silence for a long while. Once I realised that the fire was dying out, I unwillingly pulled away from Bella and stood up. I held out my hand to her as I said, "It's gone midnight. We should get some sleep for the flower arranging tomorrow morning."
My apprehensiveness slipped away as she stood up with a smile and held onto my hand tightly. "Have you done flower arranging before on the ship?" she asked me as we made our way back to our room.
"Only once or twice, it's a laugh." I told her.
"Did Emmett and Jasper ever go with you?" She asked as we advanced our doors.
"They practically dragged me there the first time" I laughed at the memory. I had wanted to go to the library, but they insisted that a class full of posies, shrubbery and foliage would be more fun.
"Tomorrow should be fun then." She declared as we reached our doors. I nodded in affirmative as we heard a loud shout from the end of the corridor. I turned to see Emmett, followed by the others, all carrying bags of money.
"Come on, everyone into our room for a nightcap!" he declared once he reached Bella and me. "Open the door bro, I can't reach my key." He ordered as he shuffled with the money in his arms.
I followed his order and lead everyone into the living room. I quickly rang room service and ordered an array of drinks while the girls explained that they were going to change from their dresses and pop back in a few minutes.
"How is she?" Jasper asked with sincere worry in his voice once the three of us were alone.
"Pretty bummed…" I explained about her ex-boyfriend having cheated on her after they'd been going out for over a year.
"That scum-bag…and that Jacob too…" Emmett growled as he crossed his arms over his chest.
We heard a light knock on the door a few minutes later. Jasper eagerly went to admit the girls back into our suite, and came back with them, plus a trolley of alcohol that he'd intercepted at the door.
"Let's celebrate!" Rosalie cheered as she popped open a cork from a cheap champagne bottle.
I saw the apprehensive look in Bella's eyes. She was obviously thinking that they wanted to celebrate getting Mike out of the picture. "Celebrate what?" she asked in a curious tone.
"Winning all this cash of course!" Rosalie laughed as she pointed to the money stacked at the other end of the table from the alcohol.
Bella and I both stared, shocked at the amount of money on the table. As I drew closer, nearer to Bella, I realised that there were three piles of money adjacent to each other.
Jasper and Alice stepped over as Emmett and Rosalie took charge of the alcohol pouring and explained, "That one's yours…" Alice declared as she pointed to a generous pile in the middle. "This one's ours…" she told us as she pointed to a slightly larger pile.
"And that beast is Emmett and Rosalie's" Jasper laughed as Rosalie and Emmett high-5'd each other at the mention of their haul.
"How did you guys win all that money?" I asked as I picked up a glass of cheap champagne before sat down on one of the sofas. Bella sat beside me with her own glass of champagne as Alice explained their story.
"Well I kept seeing which colour and number was coming up next, so I just told Jasper, or I bet them myself…obviously we had get a few wrong every now and again." She shrugged in a casual manner after telling us that she 'saw' what was coming up next.
"What do you mean? You saw which numbers and colours to go for?" I asked in confusion.
"I have visions some times, no big deal." She stated simply as she and Jasper joined Bella and me on the sofa. I gladly pulled Bella closer to me in order to me to make room for both of them.
"I can guess how you guys won the money…" Bella stated as she rolled her eyes at Rosalie.
"Bingo!" Emmett laughed as he sat down on another chair and Rosalie simply smiled wickedly back at us all.
"That dealer was putty in her hands! You should have seen him!" Emmett paused to give Rosalie an appreciative smile. "All she had to do was flirt with the guy a little, he'd forget what he was doing, and Rose here," he paused once again to pull Rosalie down into his lap before he continued, "All she had to do then was sneak a peek at the cards and walk past me and whisper which card was up next."
"Easy as pie" Rosalie stated as she wiped some spilt champagne off her sleeve from when Emmett pulled her onto his lap.
"You crooks" Bella smiled back at both couples as she got up to fetch some more champagne.
"Just bring a few bottles over!" Emmett called out lazily as he wrapped and arm around Rosalie's waist.
Bella followed the orders and set a few bottles on the floor around us before she went back to sit down. Both she and I realised at the same time that there was less room on the sofa by now. I cut a quick look at Jasper who had was half laid across the sofa, with Alice hugged closely to him. He gave me a sly wink before he turned back to whisper something in Alice's ear.
I opened my arms out for Bella after she gave me an apologetic smile and shrug to her shoulders. She sat sideways on my lap and rested her head on my shoulder. Emmett soon switched on the TV and unsurprisingly turned it to the cartoon channel.
Once the bottles were drained dry, and the clock on the TV declared that it had gone 3am, the girls declared that it was time for them to leave. On shaky legs, we, gentlemen, walked the girls to their door. Thankfully, Jasper remembered to wedge our front door open with an empty wine bottle so we could get back in.
"Goodnight" Bella yawned against my chest as she hugged me. I glanced at Rosalie and Emmett, then hugged Bella tighter to me as I realised that it could take the two of them some time to get the key in the lock. I smiled to myself as I felt her snuggle closer to me.
"Give it here…you're trying to put it in the door handle!" Rosalie chastised Emmett's attempt at opening the door. I rubbed Bella's back as I watched the both of them fumble about on the floor, having dropped the key.
I looked to Jasper and smiled at him as I watched him and Alice talking on the floor. They had their backs against the wall and were holding hands. Once I saw Jasper kiss Alice's hand, I looked back to Emmett and Rosalie.
I exhaled in misery as I realised that with their combined efforts, they had regrettably managed to open to door. I stood shocked for a few seconds as I watched Emmett give Rosalie a chaste kiss on the cheek.
"Goodnight Bella." I whispered before I kissed the top of her head and she pulled away from me, stumbling into her suite with Rosalie and Alice.
"She seems alright now" Emmett stated once we were back in our suite. I nodded weakly in agreement as I wondered if she'd want to put herself out there again and give me a chance. I headed to bed with that thought swimming in my mind.
Drunkenness!!! Review for me people! Flower arrangment class up next!!
For anyone who hasn't seen Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas….-GO SEE IT!! Barrel of laughs!