Yeah I know. I haven't updated in forever and I'm awful for making you guys wait. Blame my teachers. It's not my fault that I have to do work to graduate. But alas this chapter is finally written. So enjoy it.
11. Older Men
Jasper was irritated. Ruth was forcing him to mingle with everybody who she deemed important. It wouldn't have been that bad if she didn't tell everyone that he was considering taking over the business in a few years. He had never told her that he was even toying with the idea. He didn't want to work in some big corporation, that kind of work just didn't suit him. And now every time Ruth would mention it Alice would stare at him with a confused look. Before now she had no idea that he was basically the sole heir to a multi-million dollar corporation.
Ruth led them over to another couple and greeted them.
"This is my grandson, Jasper, and his date." Ruth said. Alice didn't miss the fact that she wasn't named, but she knew that to all these people her name didn't matter like Jasper's did.
"Nice to meet you." The man said in a thick southern accent.
"You too sir." Jasper replied and gave him a firm handshake.
"Now Ruth," The man started. Jasper was relieved that he didn't seem to be interested in talking to him. "I've heard talk about Jasper taking over the company once he gets out high school, but I didn't think that could be right. You can't have a kid with just a high school education running a company like this."
Ruth scoffed though she had always made it seem like she wanted Jasper to take over as soon as possible. "Of course he won't come in right after he graduates. I intend to show him the ropes of this business while he's in college so that when he earns his degree he'll be ready for the job. Somebody must have misinterpreted me."
Jasper wanted to scream to the entire ballroom that he was not going to be taking over. Not soon, not ever. Instead he politely excused himself and Alice.
"You okay, babe?" Alice asked as they walked through the crowd towards the bar.
Jasper exhaled deeply to calm himself. "Yeah, just annoyed with her." He turned to the bartender and ordered a scotch; at least he was able to drink at awful events like this.
"Come on, let's just go sit with everybody." Alice took his hand and led him over to their table where Emmett, Bella, Rosalie, and Edward were sitting. Bella was still seated on Emmett's lap and Rosalie was snuggled up close in Edward's side. It looked as though everyone was ready to leave by now.
"You alright bro?" Bella asked when she noticed Jasper's stressed expression.
He nodded. "Yeah, but I can't handle anymore Ruth for tonight."
"Me neither." Bella agreed.
"Is anybody else ready to bolt?" Edward asked.
They all nodded. Jasper glanced at his watch. "This thing should be winding down soon, I don't think it would matter if we left a little early."
"Sounds good to me." Rosalie said.
"Seriously, I just wanna get outta here." Edward grumbled and loosened his bowtie.
"You wanna bail, babe?" Emmett asked Bella.
She nodded. "Yeah, let's go."
The group got up from their seats and started heading towards the door.
"Where are you kids going?" Renee and Charlie were standing off to the side staring at them.
"We've had our fill for the night. We're taking off." Jasper said. The kids all walked briskly from the ballroom before Renee could say anything. They sent the valet to get their cars and soon they were headed in their own directions.
"Where do you wanna go Bells?" Emmett asked as he pulled onto the street.
She shrugged. "I don't know. Surprise me."
He smirked. "That I can do."
Emmett drove around the busy streets of downtown Phoenix for awhile before pulling up in front of a large stone building and parking on the curb. Emmett opened up Bella's door and helped her out again.
"What are we doing here?" She asked, looking up at the building. There was a neon sign that read "Envy". Emmett had taken her to a nightclub.
He laughed. "You'll see soon enough. Come on." He took her hand and walked inside the club. Bella was expecting to see a bouncer and be asked for an ID, but instead she saw Rosalie standing there smiling.
"Okay, what the hell is going on? And where did you get that dress?" Bella asked. Rosalie was now wearing a skin tight, short, black and red dress.
"I rented out the club for the night so we can have our own party after that snooze fest of a gala. I have a dress for you to change into too."
"You rented out a club." Bella said incredulously. She knew her best friend had a hard time grasping the value of a dollar, but this was just a tad overboard.
Rose nodded. "All the teens from the gala were invited, along with a bunch of kids from school. Now shut up and come with me so you can change." Rosalie grabbed Bella's arm and tried to drag her with her, but she didn't budge.
"Wait, Emmett did you know about this?" Bella asked.
"Of course he did Bella. Everyone knew except for you." Rosalie explained.
"How come I couldn't know?"
"It was a surprise for you, babe. After all Ruth's had you doing you deserved some fun. Now stop asking questions and just go with Rose already."
"Yeah, listen to your boyfriend and get your ass moving."
Bella rolled her eyes. "I'm coming, calm down."
Rosalie led Bella towards the back of the club and down a hallway to a room that was usually open for VIP parties.
Rose grabbed a black lace dress that was laying over the back of a chair and flung it at Bella.
"Hurry up and change then meet us back out there. We'll probably be dancing."
"Thanks Rose." Bella said.
"No problem. It's the least I could do after being a complete bitch to you for the past two weeks." Rose smiled and then glided out of the room, closing the door behind her so Bella could change.
She carefully took off her gown and hung it over a couch, then slipped on the short black dress. She looked over her appearance in a large mirror on one of the walls before heading out to party. She was stopped in the hall by Mike Newton, who was coming out of the bathroom.
"Oh, hey Bella. Damn you look good tonight." He greeted, his eyes raked up and down her body, successfully creeping her out.
"Hi Mike." She answered uninterestedly.
"So how have you been?"
"Perfect. You?"
"Alright, I'd be better if you were still in my life." Mike stepped closer and reached out as to put his hand on her hip, but she dodged his grip.
"As cute as that is, I have a real man now, who actually respects me. And if you don't mind I'd like to get back to him." She turned to leave but his hand on her arm stopped her.
"Who's this new guy?"
Bella shoved his hand off of her. "Not that it's any of your business, but I'm dating Emmett." Once again she proceeded down the hallway, Mike calling out after her. She ignored him and entered the main part of the building where the party was going on.
Bella stood there glancing around for Emmett until Alice popped up at her side, wearing yet another dress covered in sequins. She really needed to have a conversation with her about her apparent love for sequined dresses.
"If you're looking for my brother, he's over there sitting at a booth being bombarded by a group of nasty sluts."
Bella looked to where Alice had pointed and saw Emmett sitting there with an uncomfortable look on his face, and three girls vying for his attention.
"Thank you, Alice." Bella said before striding over to her boyfriend. As she got closer she recognized the three girls as Lauren Mallory, Jessica Stanley, and Angela Weber. Bella remembered how back in middle school Angela used to be the sweetest and shyest girl she had ever known, and then the poor thing got sucked into Mallory's orbit. She never stood a chance after that. Now she was just another clone, just like Jessica was.
"Hey baby." Bella said as get stopped at the table. Lauren was sitting right next to Emmett with her hand on his arm, Jessica and Angela were sitting across from them, but leaning over the table to give Emmett the perfect view down their tops. Bella slid in on his other side while the rest of the girls glared at her.
"Hey-" Emmett started, but Bella cut him off with a long, dramatic kiss, showing Mallory and her sidekicks who he really belonged to. Emmett pulled on her hips and moved her closer to his body. Bella grinned into the kiss, knowing how much she was pissing off Lauren now.
"Bella." Lauren said tensely when the two of them finally disengaged from each other.
Bella smiled, extremely proud of the outcome. "Lauren. You're looking extra trashy tonight." She said sweetly, her smile still in place.
The three girls glared harder at Bella.
"You can leave now." Bella said.
Jessica and Angela waited for Lauren to make the first move. Lauren smirked at Bella before running her hand down Emmett's muscular arm and saying "Bye Emmett," in her supposedly seductive voice, and then slid out of the booth with the other girls following her to the dance floor.
Emmett grinned at Bella once they were gone and pulled her over to his lap. "And what exactly was all that about?"
"Just showing them who you belong to." Bella answered.
Emmett smiled. "I'm yours, Bella Swan."
Bella's face turned into a goofy grin and she kissed him once again. "Good." She said against his lips.
"Get a room you two." Peter said as he and Charlotte approached the table.
Bella smirked at him. "Jealous Peter?"
Pete laughed and sat down across from them, Charlotte slid over close to him. "Not at all." He said and wrapped his arm around Char.
"So why are you guys just sitting here instead of joining everybody over there." Char asked, gesturing to the mass of teenagers gyrating on each other.
"We would be, but I had to save Emmett from being eaten alive by a group of whores." Bella replied.
"Would that be Mallory's group or the Denali sisters?" Charlotte questioned.
"Mallory. Are the Denali's here?" Bella asked. She hoped not. The Denali girls were much more annoying, and far more determined when they found a new target to go after.
"Yeah, just saw them walk in a few minutes ago."
"Great. I feel like there should be a limit as to how many of those girls can be here."
Charlotte laughed. "I agree."
"So who wants to go dance for awhile?" Emmett suggested.
"Let's go." Bella said.
The four of them maneuvered their way through the bodies to where Jasper, Alice, Rosalie, and Edward were all dancing in the center of the crowd. Bella was thankful for the fast music and loud beats. She'd had enough slow dancing at the gala, now she was ready to let go and have fun dancing with her closest friends, and of course she would have some fun grinding with Emmett.
Bodies bumped and grinded, hips rolled, and the bass shook the building for hours on into the night and well into the morning.
Around three the club owner's shut down the building and the mass of teenagers flooded out the door and into their cars.
Peter and Charlotte left the group since Char had to be to work early in the morning and the remaining three couples decided to go back to Rosalie's house to watch movies and hang out.
The six of them tip-toed throughout the Hale house to avoid waking up her father and grandmother. The third floor of the house was taken up by the loft, which had a large TV and sectional sofa. Rosalie walked to the closet and pulled out pillows and blankets while everyone changed into comfortable clothes.
"Make yourselves comfortable." She said and plopped down on the couch where Edward joined her.
Jasper sat down in the oversized arm chair with Alice on his lap, and Bella and Emmett made a bed out of the blankets on the floor to lay down on.
"So what movies should we watch?" Bella asked as she snuggled into Emmett's side.
"I don't know what do you guys feel like? We have pretty much everything." Rose answered and pointed to the entertainment center where rows upon rows of DVDs sat.
Edward glanced at the coffee table and picked up a movie that was left over from the last time Bella spent the night with Rose.
"What's this about?" He held up the movie and the title read "Sucker Punch".
"That one's pretty good. It's like about this girl in an insane asylum or something, I don't know, honestly it confused me a bit. But there's a good bit of action if that's what you want." Rose said.
"Works for me, the girl's pretty hot." Edward said as he examined the cover.
Emmett and Jasper both glanced at the movie and were quick to agree with him.
The girls rolled their eyes. "Well if you're going to watch that just to ogle her then we get to watch She's The Man to see Channing Tatum shirtless." Bella stated.
"Sounds like a fair trade, doesn't it boys?" Alice asked.
They shrugged.
"Good, put it in Edward." Rose ordered.
Edward chuckled. "That's what she said."
Rosalie smacked his arm. "Put the movie in." She rephrased.
Once the movie started they all settled in and any conversations became barely audible.
Halfway through Emmett leaned into Bella. "I really don't understand what's happening." He whispered as Emily Browning slayed a dragon on the screen.
"It'll make sense in the end, just watch." Bella said.
"Dude, does it matter if it makes sense? These girls are hot and you get to watch them dance in almost nothing." Jasper whispered. "Ouch!" Jasper jumped. "Alice what did you pinch me for?"
"Really Jas?"
He just stared at her with innocent eyes.
"Can you guys just shut up?" Rosalie hated it when people talked during movies, unless, of course, she was the one doing the talking.
Once the movie was over they sat there for a moment before Emmett opened up his mouth. "Wait, so the whole thing was like a dream?"
Bella nodded.
"That's dumb." He stated.
"Anyway, time for our movie." Rose grinned as she put in the next film.
"I love this movie so much." Bella smiled.
"It looks dumb." Jasper said.
"You look dumb." Bella replied.
"Wow, good comeback sis." He laughed.
"Shh! It's playing." She commanded.
Bella and Rosalie had their eyes fixed to the TV, they had probably seen it at least thirty times and could quote it word for word, which they did throughout the movie until Jasper told them they were being obnoxious.
"Oh my god, he's so gorgeous." Bella cooed as Channing Tatum ran around the soccer field shirtless.
"Ugh, I know." Alice sighed.
"What makes him so great? My abs are just as good as his." Emmett pouted.
Bella fought to keep a laugh down. "Of course they are baby." She patronized him and kissed him before turning to the screen.
It was at the scene where Amanda Bynes, dressed as her brother, was trying to teach Channing how to talk to girls.
"You're kidding me right? If a guy walked up to you and said "Do you like cheese?" you'd call him a freak and walk away. But because it's him it's suddenly adorable." Jasper said.
"Anything he says is adorable." Alice replied.
"But really it-" Jasper began.
Alice slapped her hand over his mouth to shut him up, but squealed and let go when he licked it.
"Seriously, this movie's retarded. She doesn't look anything like her brother, anybody with eyes would be able to notice the difference." Edward grumbled later on.
"Shut up, it's a cute movie." Bella glared.
"Really Edward, don't be such a critic." Rose added.
The movie finished and Rosalie tried to watch the deleted scenes but Edward stole the remote out of her hand before she could.
"I think we've had enough of that pathetic excuse of a movie." He said.
The girls glared at him.
"Wow you all get really defensive when it comes to your movies." Emmett laughed.
"Damn straight, we do." Bella grinned.
"Hey guys look, Jas must have fallen asleep at the end of the movie." Alice announced.
Jasper was fast asleep in the chair and softly snoring, Alice still cuddled on his lap. Rosalie tossed a blanket at her.
"I think Jasper has the right idea." She said as she yawned. "It's already five."
"Damn." Emmett said.
Bella yawned then. "Go to sleep babe." Emmett whispered.
She smiled at him and snuggled closer to his side, placing her head on his chest. "Night Em."
He rubbed her back gently. "Night Bells."
Rosalie closed the curtains on the window tightly, the sun would be rising soon, and made herself comfortable with Edward on the couch.
Soon everyone was sleeping hard.
Edward felt something pressing against his upper lip and sleepily pushed it away, faintly he heard what sounded like laughing and he slowly opened his eyes. Rosalie was standing directly in front of him, holding a black sharpie in her hand, everyone else was crowded around her, fighting back laughs.
"What did you do?" Edward asked tiredly.
Rose shrugged. "Nothing."
Edward stood up and walked into the bathroom. "What the hell guys?" He shouted. He came back into the room, nostrils flaring in anger. "This isn't funny, this shit doesn't come off." He growled.
Rosalie bite back a smile and twirled the marker in her fingers.
"I think it makes you look very distinguished." She smiled.
Rosalie had drawn a mustache, beard, monocle on his face.
"That's what you get for being the last person up." Bella stated. "It's simple sleepover etiquette."
Edward started to say something but bite his tongue and went back into the bathroom, fuming all the way.
"Chill out bro, it's just a joke." Jasper laughed. "Rosalie you should have tried to find one that knows how to laugh at himself."
Rose smirked. "Come on guys, let's go get breakfast."
"It's two in the afternoon." Alice said.
"Yeah, but I want waffles." Rose shrugged. "Come one Eddie boy." She teased as they walked past the bathroom going to the kitchen.
Edward let out a slew of cuss words and reluctantly went down the kitchen.
Rosalie and Bella got out all the ingredients for breakfast and began cooking while everyone else sat at the kitchen table talking.
"There's my favorite daughter!" Rosalie's father exclaimed as he entered the kitchen and walked over to Bella and gave her a big hug.
"Very funny, daddy." Rose said.
He smiled indulgently at her.
"Honestly Bella I thought you had died with the way you disappeared for the past few weeks."
Bella laughed. "My bad."
"Just don't let it happen again." He said jokingly.
"Morning kids, and, uh, Edward." He paused at Edward's face and choked back a laugh, which was easily still heard once he made it out of the kitchen. Edward went into another grumbling fit, but they ignored him.
"So Bella, does her dad like it when you call him daddy?" Jasper questioned and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Rose laughed loudly. Bella tried to ignore them.
"What?" Emmett asked.
"Bella has a thing for older men, including my father." Rosalie explained.
Emmett raised his eyebrows at her. "I can't help it." Bella tried to defend herself.
"I don't blame you, really, he is quite attractive." Alice piped in.
"So I'm assuming there's more than one since you said men." Emmett questioned.
"Well there's that one coach at school, what's his name Bella?" Rose grinned as the two of them sat plates of waffles in front of everybody and began to eat.
Bella glared. "Coach Hanson."
"My football coach? Really?" Emmett laughed.
"You should hear the dirty things she's said about him." Rose added.
"A school coach? I bet he's old and fat." Edward said.
"He's only like thirty and he could easily pass as like twenty-two, he's completely ripped, plus he was in the marines and he has a tattoo." Bella stated.
"Whatever you say." Edward smirked.
"No, he really is hot." Rose admitted.
"Now every time I go to practice I'm going to be reminded that my girlfriend wants to hook up with my coach."
"Hey you're the one that wanted to know!" Bella laughed.
"If it makes you feel any better, she wouldn't do it while dating you." Rose inserted.
"Good to know."
The rest of breakfast they spent chatting and laughing, and in the boys' case, stuffing their faces. Rosalie didn't know how to cook much, but she could make a mean Belgium waffle.
After breakfast they sat around in the living room for a bit before they decided it was time to go back to their own homes. Jasper and Bella got into Jasper's car and took off, Emmett and Alice followed in suit. Edward left after Rosalie helped him scrub the ink off his face.
Bella smiled to herself while looking out the car window. Everything in her life had been restored perfectly, despite the fact that Rosalie was still with Edward. But she didn't worry about it, it didn't look like they were going to last long anyway.
"Did you have a good time Jas?"
"Yeah, it was fun. You?"
"It was better than I'd hoped."
Chapter is done! I don't even know what to say down hereā¦. um next chapter I have no idea what I'm writing so who knows when it will be up, stay with me please :)
So yeah.
Peace. ERIN
