A/N: Hey guys, Thanks for reviewing!!! it means so much to me that you do and you all make my day! THANK YOU SO MUCH! This was originally one chapter but i decided to split it into two cause it was really long... so the next chapter will be up sometime tomorrow, IF you review. okay hope you enjoy it!!
Disclaimer: Guys...I don't own twilight. please dont sue me, Thanks.
It had been a month and a half since we started working on this ship. I had to say, it wasn't incredibly exiting or anything, but it was quite fascinating. I loved watching them. Rich people were so…Interesting. They'd come in, drink a beer, meet a friend, have some food and then they'd be off again.
Before I knew it the days had turned to weeks and the weeks into months. But I always hoped that there'd be someone there who I'd recognise. Bronze hair, Green eyes, yep that's the guy. Unfortunately, I hadn't seen him at all. That's what I called him now- him. It was either that or cream soda man.
Alice and Rosalie seemed down as well. There was something odd about them. The way the looked over to the door every time it opened, how they always looked disappointed, it was like they were missing their own cream soda man.
It was Alice, who finally broke me out of my, lets say slightly boring, routine.
"Please Bella!" she whimpered. We were walking down the hall on the way back from work. Tyler had let us out early today because he didn't expect that it'd be too busy.
"Hmm?" I Asked. I had been paying absolutely no attention to her whatsoever. My mind was taken up with thoughts about him again.
"The Ball Bella" she sighed, like she'd explained it a thousand times before.
"What Ball?" I asked looking down, I didn't see any ball.
"Bella!" Alice exclaimed. I could see she was starting to get annoyed. "The Christmas Ball? You know like a dance? At Christmas?" she said slowly. My brain worked through the words painstakingly slowly, but it finally clicked.
"Alice! You want me to dance?! In front of people?!" I shouted.
"Shh" she said, "That's kind of the whole point!" she sighed back, angrily.
"But Alice! I can't dance" I cried.
"Sure you can" she said happily, pulling me into the room. I collapsed on the bed and sighed.
"Alice, I can barely walk around behind the bar without knocking everything over and killing everyone in sight"
"Bella. You are going. That's final" she said darkly.
"But Alice! I don't even know when it is… and I don't have anything to wear and…and…" I trailed off, trying to find another excuse. Alice threw me a glare and sat down on the sofa.
"Bella" she said calmly, "It's all taken care of. I've got a dress for you, Rosalie's gone to get her make-up stuff and we'll have you ready by seven thirty, the latest"
"Wait… its today!" I shrieked. If Alice thought I was reluctant before, there was no way she was even going to get me off the bed by now.
"Of course it's today Bella! It's the 15th how late do you expect them to do it?" she asked like I was the stupidest person alive. Right on cue Rosalie popped her head through the door.
"Hey guys" she said smiling. She was up to something- I could see it in her eyes. She looked over to Alice and nodded, But Alice smiled back and shook her head subtly. "So Bella I guess Alice has already told you about the ball huh?" she gesturing to my hands that were now gripping the duvet for dear life.
"Yep" I nodded, glaring at them. They both smiled again as Rosalie made her way over to me.
"Well what did you say?" she asked innocently. Like she didn't already know!
"I said no" I stated simply.
"So you said that you didn't want to not go?" she asked. What was she trying to do here?
"Nope, I said that I didn't want to go" I said, smiling at their feeble attempt to confuse me.
"So what you're saying is that you are more or less certain that you definitely do not want to maybe consider thinking about the possibility that you don't want to go?" she asked me again. It took me a bit longer this time, but I still managed to get there in the end.
"No, I don't want to go!" I said again. Rose looked like she was about to explode from the amount of thinking she was doing now.
"So you are not definitely rejecting the idea that you are not going to that Ball, furthermore you are incredibly uncertain that you may or may not be considering the possibility that you may surely not be going to the Ball" she finished smugly. I stood there gaping at her. There was no way I was going to be able to untangle that! I decided to guess.
"Ummm… yes?" I said.
"Perfect" rose celebrated, "Now sit down on that chair so that we can get you ready". There was no point in arguing with them this time. Two against one and my, unknowing, agreement. I sighed and made my way over to the chair. This was going to be a long night.
Edward's POV
I fell down on my bed and huffed. I really didn't want to go to this stupid Ball, but my parents were making me. I was already 21 and my parents were still bossing me around.
How sad was that?
I had about half an hour until the stupid thing started and I was all set to spend it hiding out in here, safe from Emmett and jasper. They got to decide if they wanted to go. Which they did. And what were they going to do while they were there? Annoy the crap out of me.
I pinched the bridge of my nose with my fingers. This was the last one, the last one ever, and then I'd be free to go and do whatever I wanted, as far away as I wanted. I smiled slightly at the thought of getting away from here. When I was, I'd be free to do whatever I wanted, I'd finally be able to….
My thoughts were cut off due to the loud banging noise that was coming from my door.
"Hey Eddie let us in!" Emmett shouted from the other side.
"Not by the hairs on your chinny-chin-chin" I shouted back. If they were going to annoy me tonight, I was going to have my fun as well.
"Then we'll huff, and we'll puff, and we'll get your dad to knock the door down!" he threatened.
"Yeah right you will, you don't even know what room their staying in" I scoffed.
"Uhh… we could find out?" he suggested. I was getting bored of this. I got up and opened the door
"Save yourself the trouble and just come in" I sighed. They ran over to bed bad and sprawled all over it so I couldn't sit down. I sighed again and sat down on the floor in the corner.
"What's up Eddie? Missing the restaurant?" he asked with a smile. He knew I was, and I knew he was as well, so why was he smiling?
"No…" I lied, "But I know who is" I said glancing at him and jasper. They both formed sheepish smiles and Emmett laughed nervously. "Have you been cheating?!" I asked. It had been hard, avoiding her, but I had managed to do it. At least I knew it was all worth it now. "Does this mean I win?! Yes! Hand over the money guys" I said, jumping up excitedly.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa calm down there little man, we haven't lost" he said nervously.
"Yet" Jasper added. Come to think of it, he looked kinda nervous too.
"What? Why are you guys so nervous?" I asked. They had both started playing with their buttons and their ties.
"Well, you see, funny thing is-" Emmett started.
"They're going to be there. Tonight" Jasper said, looking down. They were going to be there. The waitresses? Oh crap.
"B-B-But they can't go" I stammered, "I-Its guests only!"
"I know but they're going to be there" Emmett confirmed. I slid back down to the floor again. How was I supposed to not talk to her if she was going?
"Wait, how do you know?" I asked, looking up at Emmett. He smiled sheepishly again and looked down.
"I might have gone down to the restaurant to get a beer, and I might have accidentally asked Tyler where the girls were and he might have told me that they were getting ready for the Ball" He admitted. I sat there awestruck. This was not happening.
"He means he went down to the restaurant to find his waitress and when she wasn't there, demanded Tyler to tell him where they were and he told him everything" Jasper corrected. I nodded weakly. Tonight was going to be very, very difficult.
Bella's POV
After about 3 hours of obsessive hair-styling and make-up-ing, I was finally ready. Alice and rose insisted that they spent most of their time on me, and that only left them with an hour to get ready but they said it was all worth it. When they had finished I got up and was dragged by Alice to see myself in the mirror.
I was amazed. There was no other word for it. Simply amazed.
They had put me in a long, navy blue Ball gown. It had a big, poofy skirt that floated around me, it was a bit tight around the upper part of my body, and it also made me look like I had curves as well. The person in the mirror had long brown hair that came up to her shoulder. It was curled and bouncy and she had the most stunning look upon her face when she smiled.
"Alice. Rosalie" I breathed. This couldn't be me, that smiling beauty in there wasn't me. "I-I-I" I didn't know what to say. This was astounding. I ran over to them and hugged them as tightly as I could.
"Don't worry Bella, we know you love it. The look on your face says it all" Rose smiled at me.
"Now don't do anything to ruin your make-up. Rose and I'll be in our rooms getting ready if you need anything. We'll be back in an hour" Alice announced. And with that they were gone and I was left alone. An hour until the Ball. Suddenly I had butterflies.
What if He was there?!
I couldn't do this. I started hyperventilating and I had to try to find a way to calm myself down. I started pacing, but after a while I got tired and I had to sit down again. What if he didn't go? Would I be happy or sad? Would I try to go look for him if he didn't turn up? Why would he even go? All these questions rebounded in my head, making it nearly impossible for me to think about anything else.
So I just sat there on my bed, uselessly, dreading what was about to come.
*
At exactly one hour since they had left there was a knock at my door. I groaned and got up. It was time already? I reached over to grab my purse and my wrap. I opened the door and was greeted by an exited Alice and Rosalie. I groaned again internally. It was going to be a long night.
They pulled me along, giggling, to the elevator.
"Come on Bella, be happy, your going to a Ball!" she exclaimed happily. I sighed and they both giggled at me. Great. I had a couple of hyper friends and we were going to a Ball. Could things get any worse?
"Bella, you know" Rosalie said giggling slightly, "There might be guys there"
"Rich ones, you know- that like cream soda?" Alice giggled innocently.
Me and my big mouth. Things could definitely get worse.
"I-I don't know what your talking about" I lied. Of course I knew. She was talking about him.
"Oh you know, that guy who came to the restaurant, so very long ago, and as I recall helped you with your little problem" she said sneakily gesturing towards my cheek, which unfortunately, had not healed fully yet.
"Yeah…So? What if he is there? Doesn't make a difference to me" I lied again.
"Yeah, suuure it doesn't" Rosalie scoffed. I crossed my arms and pouted as I got in the lift. We had barely started the evening and they were ganging up on me.
"Awwww come on Bella, we didn't mean for you to get upset or anything" Alice apologized. I didn't say anything as I scowled at the floor. When we were finally let out of the lift and I looked up I was amazed yet again. They had completely transformed the corridors we had travelled down earlier.
There were boughs of holly that went on for as far as the eye could see, shimmering bells hung to every ceiling lamp and tinsel, and miles and miles of tinsel everywhere. It looked like Christmas had exploded right where we were standing.
"Wow" I managed to get out. But by the looks of joy on Alice and Rosalie's faces, this was the least to expect.
"Come on Bella, hurry up" Alice said, tugging in my arm like a little 4-year old. I was quickly dragged down the corridors and out into the entrance lobby. We were very close to the Ballroom now, only 2 more corridors to go. Rosalie and Alice ran down them while I trudged behind, trying not to break my ankles in the death-trap shoes they had made me wear. By the time I got there, there was a ginormus line of people, all wearing fancy ball gowns and tux's. I couldn't see Alice or Rose anywhere.
"Alice?! Rose?!" I called. That's when I saw them. They were at the front pf the line, talking to the guard. I wondered why they'd need to have guard at a ball. "Alice, Rose" I called again. This time they looked up and smiled at me.
"Bella, come on" Alice said excitedly. I was just about to enter when the guard put his arm out.
"Umm, Alice!" I yelled.
"She's with us" she looked at the guard, flashing him a fake smile. He grudgingly lowered his arm and allowed me to pass.
"Why wouldn't he let me in?" I asked her.
"It doesn't matter right now" she snapped. She pulled me along to the back of the room.
"Alice where are we-" I trailed off. The Ballroom we went to that first day was actually the entrance hall to the ballroom. It was completely massive. The whole room must've taken up one whole side if the boat! I stood there with my mouth hanging open and Alice tugged on my hand again, laughing.
"Come on Bella, you haven't even seen the best bit yet!" she screamed. Everyone turned to look at us as she dragged me down the staircase. She ran across the dance floor to the buffet table. "A chocolate fountain!" she squealed. I grinned at her and she laughed. It wasn't like I'd never seen one before and she'd probably seen her share too.
"Where's Rosalie?" I asked. She shrugged her shoulders and continued laughing. I manoeuvred myself through the crowd to try and find Rosalie, but there was no sign of her at all. "Alice, I can't find her!" I said panicking.
"Bella, its okay Rose can take care of herself" she sighed calmly. Suddenly she went ridged and I looked around to see what was causing it. It was Elizabeth Cullen. She was walking up to the stage. She walked to the center and tapped the microphone.
"Hello everybody" she smiled. It was like preschool, everyone joined in a chorus of 'Hello Mrs. Cullen'. I giggled quietly. "We'd like to thank you for coming on the maiden voyage of our biggest ever ship the Rica. It has been our project for over three years and we are finally glad to have it over with" she said. This was accompanied by various laughs. "So we hope you have a restful stay, merry Christmas and a happy new year!" she shouted into the microphone. The whole room erupted into clapping and laughter. As she slowly stepped down from the stage, things began to add up in my head.
This was a guest's party. We were only employees.
"Ummm Alice?" I said quietly. We would get in huge trouble if they caught us here.
"Yep?" she said happily.
"We're not supposed to be here" I told her.
