A/N
Disclaimer: Twilight and the characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer.
I just own the plot.
The links to the locations and restaurants mentioned in this chapter are on my profile. I hope they'll help you get a feel of the environment the characters are in.
Thank you for all the reviews. It really helps me keep going knowing there are many of you enjoying my work. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it. I hope to hear from more of you so that I can view your profile and see who's reading my story. Here's Chapter 11. Enjoy!
Chapter 11 Ace of Wands
Characters: Alice, Jasper, Edward, Bella, and Kitty
Alice POV
"Hurry up Alice we're going to miss our flight. We need extra time since we have Kitty with us," Jasper yelled at me. "Why did I agree to do a photo shoot in New York when we took plenty of pictures in Forks over Thanksgiving anyway," Jasper muttered.
"Oh shush Jasper. It's not the same. We needed a reason to convince Bella to go to New York while Edward was there. People feel more relaxed and tend to be less shy when they are on vacation so this was the perfect time for Edward and Bella to go on a date. Plus now the streets are decorated with Christmas decorations and lots of lights it's going to be so romantic. I even have the perfect place reserved for dinner for them," I said to Jasper so that he would understand the importance of this trip.
"Well I'm going down to the car so that Kitty and Bella wouldn't have to stand and wait by the car. I've secured all the windows already so just make sure to lock up Alice," he said and left the apartment.
"Are you excited to go and see the big Christmas tree Kitty?" I asked when I got into the passenger seat of Jasper's car.
Kitty raised both of her arms and yelled, "Yes!!!" and immediately I saw Bella cover Kitty's mouth while Kitty struggled and yelled "yes" under Bella's hand.
"Don't get her too excited Alice, she's going to be too hyper and won't sleep at all on the plane. I'm going to make you responsible to take care of her on the plane if you keep it up," Bella said and glared at me.
"Oh don't worry Bella I'm going to be too busy ironing out our plans in New York on the plane so I can stay up and take care of Kitty for you."I assured her. I was so excited I couldn't wait to get to New York. There were so many places to go, so many fabulous restaurants, so many great places Kitty would love, and most of all I had big plans for Edward and Bella that they didn't know yet.
"Where are we staying in New York? You kept it as a surprise. We're going to be there today so tell me already," Bella demanded.
"Oh well since we're arriving there today I'll tell you. You're just no fun. We're staying at The Carlyle," I replied.
"We're not staying at the Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons?" Jasper asked surprised.
"Well it was a tough choice to make. The Carlyle ranked No. 6 in the 2009 Top 50 large city hotel in US/Canada in Travel+Leisure magazine beating Ritz-Carlton, Trump International Hotel and Tower, and Four Seasons in New York so I chose The Carlyle over Four Seasons, but Four Season's ranked highest in the 2009 recipient of Condé Nast Traveler's Gold List Hotel & Hot List Spa. I wanted to stay in a luxurious boutique hotel. Also there is a surprise for Bella. The Bemelmans bar in The Carlyle has the only remaining artwork on display to public by Bemelmans which is the mural 'Central Park', you know who Ludwig Bemelmans is right Jasper? He's the creator of the Madeline books." I told him.
"I didn't know he was the creator of the Madeline books. I have no complaints anyway. The Carlyle is a gorgeous boutique hotel overlooking Central Park and I love the Bemelmans bar," Jasper said and smiled.
"Well I'm excited. I think we're all going to have a great time there," Bella said and she really looked thrilled.
"Well the hotel is just a start. I have a whole lot of surprises coming your way. You'll never want to leave New York," I said and winked at Bella.
"I hope you have some things planned that Kitty will enjoy. She's going to be bored real quickly if we just do things adults like," Bella said with a concerned look.
"Don't be silly Bella. Of course I have lots planned for Kitty and not just shopping. Although there will be plenty of shopping involved," I said and stuck my tongue out.
We laughed and soon arrived at LAX. We made it to the airport without much traffic so we had plenty of time left to just hang out in the restaurants till we boarded. We let Jasper take off to the Home Turf Sports Bar and Bella, Kitty, and I decided to just relax at Jody Maroni's so that Kitty could satiate her addiction to hotdogs before we boarded the plane.
Time passed quickly and we boarded the plane first with the first class passengers as we had business class seats and we had a child with us. Bella brought some juice boxes and munchies for Kitty. She even thought ahead and brought a sippy cup to avoid Kitty spilling drinks on her clothes on the plane. Kitty was unhappy that Bella made her wear Training pants just in case the toilet line got too long during the flight.
Once the seatbelt sign went off Kitty sat beside Jasper and I chatted with Bella. "Well the first thing we are going to do is go buy a pretty coat for Kitty. She doesn't have a winter coat and I don't design heavy winter coat since we don't need them in LA. I have a couple coats in mind. We'll go to Bergdorf Goodman and look at Phillip Lim's Cocoon coat. The coat is made of heather gray merino wool with a shawl collar. It's really cute. Kitty is going to look so charming in it. There's also Bow Tights from the Little Marc Jacobs collection, and the Party Poof dress, and Bubble dress from Alice + Olivia collection that I have my eyes on," I mentioned to Bella but Bella frowned.
"The coat and tights I understand we need since it is cold in New York, but the dresses? You brought plenty for Kitty to wear. You've designed some awesome dresses," Bella said.
"Bella, thank you for the compliment but these dresses are really gorgeous and would be a great addition to Kitty's wardrobe. The ones I brought are store samples and are not Kitty's to keep," I explained to Bella.
"If you insist on buying them I will pay for them," Bella said and huffed.
"Bella these will go on expense so I won't let you pay for them. Rosalie's Dad is also funding a portion of this trip. He wants me to review the places we eat and the chefs and report back to him. Mr. Hale runs hotels so he always wants to know about great restaurants, menus, and the chefs so it's a win-win situation for both of us," I explained to her.
"All right Alice. I'm too tired to argue with you and I understand the business deal with Rosalie's Dad," Bella said.
The flight was long and we encountered some trouble from Kitty but we managed. Kitty's ears bothered her but as soon as I mentioned Edward's name and that he will make her ears all better once we were in New York she was happy again.
A limo waited for us and it quickly drove us into the city from La Guardia. The limo dropped Jasper off with our luggage and he checked us in. Jasper stayed behind at the hotel while we went shopping to Bergdorf Goodman. I told Jasper that as soon as we were done shopping I'd call him to pick him up. I had reserved a table for 4 at Capsouto Freres. I wanted Kitty to taste their spectacular soufflés. They don't have special children's menu but made special dishes when requested.
Bella POV
Shopping at Bergdorf Goodman wasn't as painful as I expected since Alice already knew what she wanted for Kitty. Kitty enjoyed modeling the coat and the dresses and we found all of them in her size. We had extra time so we decided to have some tea at the BG Restaurant on the 7th floor. The view of the Central Park was spectacular from the restaurant. What I enjoyed the most was that the tea they served were Mariage Freres. I had always been a fan of the Marco Polo tea. I was now giddy and Alice curiously stared at me.
After an hour of afternoon tea we picked Jasper up and headed to Capsouto Freres. This french bistro in Tribeca was situated in a beautiful flemish style brick building and the ambience was casually elegant. I was glad I had spent quite a bit of time teaching table manners to Kitty prior to Thanksgiving and she now ate quite elegantly for her age. Kitty actually enjoyed the lessons I gave her as she said she felt like a princess being served on fine china and silverware and having several glasses in front of her.
We sat down and ordered our food and then I received a text from Edward. "Please call me before you leave the restaurant so that I can meet you at the hotel to check on Kitty's ears," it said.
"Did you get a text from Edward?" Alice asked me smirking.
"Yeah he wanted me to call him when we leave the restaurant so that he can come over to our hotel to check Kitty's ears," I replied.
"Great excuse," Jasper chuckled and Alice giggled.
"I'm going to text him that she's fine. He doesn't need to come. I have some children's ear drops that work like a charm anyway," I said and texted Edward.
I got a reply back immediately and sighed when I read it. "I'm a doctor. Kitty doesn't need to suffer from an earache when I am perfectly capable of treating her. See you soon," it said.
"I take that sigh of yours as a sign that he insisted on seeing Kitty," Alice laughed.
After our meal came Jasper took some pictures of Kitty. Then we had our meal and ordered the soufflés. We ordered all three of the sweet soufflés. The Chocolate with Chocolate Sauce, Raspberry with Raspberry Coulis, and Praline with Hazelnut Crème Anglaise. Kitty and I both thought the Chocolate with Chocolate Sauce was the best of the three.
"We have the limo until midnight so after the limo drops us off I'll have the driver pick Edward up from Trump International Hotel and Tower and drop him off at ours. Then if Edward leaves before midnight the limo can take him back to his hotel," Alice said and she texted Edward to let him know her plan.
After I got back into my hotel room I quickly filled the tub, bathed Kitty, and changed her into her pajamas. I heard the knock on our door minutes after I sat Kitty on the bed.
"Hi Bella. So good to see you and Kitty here in New York. I missed you both," Edward said and hugged me and kissed Kitty on her forehead.
"She's really much better now you know. Her ears don't bother her anymore," I explained to Edward.
"Don't kill my excuse for seeing you two," Edward said and grinned.
"Aren't you tired from being in a conference all day? You should be relaxing at your hotel or having drinks with adults than coming over to see a 3 yr old and her mommy," I said and chuckled.
"I'd rather be here and nowhere else. Let's check your ears Kitty," Edward said and leaned over to Kitty and checked her ears, throat, neck and asked her if anywhere he touched hurt or felt uncomfortable. Kitty shook her head. "Well it seems you are all better now," Edward smiled at Kitty and Kitty kissed him on his cheek. "How about I tuck you in bed and read you a story?" Edward asked and Kitty bounced on the bed and clapped her hands.
"Edward you sure you aren't too tired? You still have a day left of the conference," I said to him.
"I'll be fine. Tomorrow's going to be an easy day. We'll be done by noon. There's a reason why I wanted to see you tonight I wanted to run something by you. Eleazar made reservations for two at Philip Marie for himself and his wife for dinner tomorrow night but he's needed back in LA so he gave me the reservation. It's almost impossible to get the wine room and he didn't want it to go to waste after all the strings he pulled to get the reservation so he gave it to me. I wanted to ask you if you would join me for dinner tomorrow night. If you are worried about Kitty I can ask Alice to look after her or if you prefer The Carlyle has babysitting services. Would you please join me for dinner tomorrow night?" Edward asked me and saw his face blush slightly.
"I would love to join you for dinner but I'll need to clear it with Alice first. I would rather she stay with Alice than with a stranger even though I'm sure The Carlyle hotel provides reliable babysitters." I said and smiled at Edward. Edward smiled back at me and I thought I saw relief in his eyes when I answered him that I would join him for dinner.
Edward read Kitty her bedtime story and the whole time Edward wore a ridiculous smile on his face. I chuckled seeing how happy he was that I said yes to him.
Kitty fell asleep so I signaled Edward to come join me on the couch. "I brought some herbal tea from home would you like some?" I asked Edward.
"Thanks Bella, I'd love a cup," he answered.
"How was your day today?" he asked.
"Well we didn't do much. We went to Bergdorf Goodman and Alice bought a winter coat, dresses, and tights for Kitty. Then we went to the BG Restaurant and had afternoon tea. I was thrilled they had my favorite Marco Polo tea. Then we went to Capsouto Freres for dinner and had their legendary soufflé for dessert," I said and smiled at Edward.
"Well your day was a lot more productive and interesting than mine. I was stuck at the hotel all day at the conference and dined with a whole bunch of doctors who were here in New York just so that they could get away from their wives. The only perk was that we ate at Jean-Georges. I had always wanted to eat there since New York Times awarded the restaurant 4 stars and 3 stars from Michelin guide. Jean-Georges Vongerichten is probably one of the most celebrated chefs in the world." Edward said.
"Well the restaurant sounds wonderful. How was it? Did it live up to its reputation?" I asked. I genuinely wanted to know.
"It was impeccable. The service was magnificent. The dishes were timed precisely to arrive, the menu creative and original, and the atmosphere and the décor were lovely. It definitely lived up to the reputation and more." Edward answered looking wholly satisfied with the dining part of his experience at Jean-Georges.
"Aww I'm sorry the company you had at Jean-Georges had put a dent in your fabulous experience at Jean-Georges," I said to Edward.
"I should call Alice about tomorrow night," Edward said and picked up his phone.
"Hey Alice um I was…yeah I'm in her room right now but that's not what I want to talk about, I wanted to ask you if…Yes, Kitty is asleep…Alice stop interrupting me. I wanted to ask if you could watch Kitty tomorrow evening…Alice stop squealing into the phone and let me finish what I'm saying…Yes, I want to take Bella out to dinner…Yes, I have the reservation…No, I didn't make the reservation myself Eleazar did…the reservation is at Philip Marie…stop squealing my eardrums are going to burst…Yes, it's a miracle he got the reservation at the wine room…okay, thanks Alice, I owe you one," he said and put his phone back in his pocket and I laughed. "You probably heard all she said huh?" Edward asked.
"Yeah she was pretty loud. I heard every word she said to you," I laughed harder when I saw Edward rub his ears as it seemed to bother him still.
We joked around a while and I saw Edward yawn. "Are you sleepy baby? You should go while the limo is still available," I said and then realised I called him "baby" out of habit from saying that to Kitty all the time. My hand flew to cover my mouth and I felt my face turn crimson.
Edward chuckled and pulled me closer to him. He winked at me and said "Good night baby," and stood up. He walked towards the door and I followed behind him. He hugged me again at the door and this time the hug lasted much longer and felt much more intimate than all the hugs we ever shared. He held me so close to him that even a thin piece of paper wouldn't have fit between us. I felt my heart beat faster but I also heard his breathing accelerate. He kissed my head and said, "Good night. I can't wait to have you all to myself tomorrow," and let go of me and left my hotel room.
WHOAAA what was that? I asked myself. legs shook so badly I slid down against the wall and sat down holding my knees towards my chest. Had I dreamt what just happened? Had Edward really say to me that he couldn't wait to have me all to himself tomorrow?
Edward POV
As I walked away from Bella's room suddenly a door opened and 2 pairs of arms pulled me inside. Before I could fight the arms off I heard a familiar squeal. It was the pip squeak again. She dragged me to the couch and sat herself down and Jasper quickly followed suit.
I sighed really loud in hopes that she would sense that I didn't want to be here. "Edward, stop staring at me like I busted your bubble. I know you are excited and I want to feel the excitement too, so spill! It's not fair to be the only one excited," she said bouncing up and down.
"Let's make this quick. What do you want to know?" I asked Alice without beating around the bush so that I could just get it over with and head back to the hotel so that I could reminisce over what just happened with Bella and me.
"Oh come on Edward, stop being so selfish. Bella wouldn't be here in New York if it weren't for Jazzy and I," Alice said and both Alice and Jasper grinned at me. "So how did she react when you asked her out on a date? Alice asked eagerly.
"Well I was nervous to hear how she would respond but she just simply said she'd love to join me for dinner. I don't know maybe she thinks it's just dinner and nothing more," I replied.
"Hmmm but you're taking her to Philip Marie for dinner for 2 at the wine room right? As soon as she sees that it's the wine cellar and how intimate the dining is with no one else around but you two I'm sure she'll feel that it's a date. Come on it was voted New York's most romantic restaurant in the New York Times. Anyone would kill to be in the place of you two. I'm green with envy of you two," Alice said and she looked serious and it scared me.
"Well I'm going to give you some tips so that you won't mess up. I'll tell you the Do's and Don'ts. After dinner say you wanted to go see the view do not go to the Empire State building. Instead take her to The View Lounge at Marriott Marquis on the 48th floor. It's the only 360 degree rotating restaurant in New York. They have a cheese and dessert buffet, and a chocolate fountain. Or you could take her to the Top of the rock observation deck on the 70th floor of the Rockefeller Plaza. I'd choose The View Lounge so that you two can sit comfortably. Oh don't forget that the Rainbow room is closed just in case you ignore my suggestions. They're looking for someone to run that place so it probably won't be a while till it reopens. Keep in mind she's pregnant. You don't want her on her feet too long. Let's see another Don't is, don't take her on the horse-drawn carriage through Central Park. It's neither romantic nor private because you end up trailing behind some other carriage and in the evening it smells like horse poop and the locals will glare at you like you're an idiot. Instead take her for a walk in the early morning through Central Park with Kitty. There will be less people there and the air won't smell like poop. Take a little gift with you to the dinner. Something small but something she would have to remember the first date." Alice said with a huge smile on her face. She really looked happy for me.
"What should I get her? What's a small gift that won't overwhelm her?" I asked Alice honestly.
Alice sighed. "All right. How about going to Tiffany's and buy her the blue box enamel charm. They're really cute and who doesn't remember the scene in front of Tiffany's in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. It's very New York."
"It sounds a little cliché if you ask me but a little blue box charm sounds kinda cute so I guess it'll work," I said and agreed with Alice's idea otherwise I would be running around town not finding anything and end up buying what Alice suggested anyway.
"Oh before I forget to tell you Saturday is the last full day in New York for all of us so on Saturday I want some alone time with Jasper. During the day you, Bella, and Kitty go do something together until the evening. Then in the evening go take Bella out to dinner. I've reserved a table for 2 at One if by Land Two if by Sea. Bella is going to love this place. It's located in Aaron Burr's landmark carriage house. It is a two story restaurant, with baby grand and a fireplace. Candle lit and flowers on the table. It's the epitome of romance. Bella is a sucker for the classics. You're not gonna go wrong there. It's you guys' last night together in New York. Make it memorable. We'll take care of Kitty and return her in the morning. Tell Bella about this at the end of the date so that she'll feel secure that you're asking her out again," Alice said and winked at me.
"Thank you so much Alice. I don't deserve such a great sister. I don't know how to thank you. Think about what I can do in return." I said thankful I had such great family who cared about me so much when I had neglected them for so long.
"It's all right Edward. I owe it to Bella and Kitty for bringing you back into our lives again. Mom and Dad have never been this happy for years. I never got to spend so much time with you until now either. I'm sure Emmett is thrilled too, but I could do with a new pair of boots so I'll give you the receipt after I buy them," Alice said and hugged me.
"All right I'm gonna go now. Once I'm done with the conference around noon I'll check-in to this hotel. I'll give you guys a ring after I purchase Bella's gift at Tiffany's and return to the hotel," I said and left their hotel room.
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A/N
Sorry I didn't work the kiss in this chapter. I wanted to build up to it. Please leave me a comment and let me know if you enjoyed this chapter.
