EPOV
This Forty Under Forty thing was the worst thing ever. I though stupid dress up parties were supposed to end in high school, but apparently not. I was proud of Alice for being barely twenty-four and making the list for her business, but I was less than thrilled when she announced at Sunday night dinner with the family she was sending me two tickets so I could bring a date. A date. Me. I had to find a date to a formal event within a week. This was going to be worse than any embarrassing formal occasion I had ever been to.
I had managed to fake sick or busy for just about every school dance from middle school onwards since no girl wanted to go out with Nerdward in high school. When prom rolled around senior year, my parents started badgering me about renting a tux and a limo and all that sort of stuff. Two days before the big event, I broke the news to them that I wasn't going. After confessing that none of the girls I asked had wanted to go with me, my mother suggested I take Alice, who was a freshman and dying to go to a big glitzy event. After much pressure, I ended up taking my sister to the prom only to find at least three of the girls I had asked had lied about having dates. Then there were the sorority parties Tanya was always going to that made me feel incredibly awkward and out of place. I looked like a high schooler next to all the fraternity brothers, and Tanya always accused me of being wet blanket, stick in the mud or just ruining everyone's good time. Other than Myrna, the ancient housekeeper for my building, I only new of one single woman in the whole of Seattle who might possibly take pity on me for a last minute date. There were good odds Bella was still pissed at me, too.
"What do you mean you don't feel like going?" Mom grumbled. "This is your sister's big night and you have to be there to support her!"
"I do want to support Alice and I'm proud of her… I really am…" I began.
"But?" Mom prompted.
"It's stupid," I grimaced.
"Edward, I am your mother. Tell me what's wrong," Mom ordered.
"She gave me two tickets," I said.
"And?" Mom asked.
"I don't have anyone to take with me," I replied. Mom was quiet for a beat.
"Well, you could always ask Aunt Jane to come. She'll be in town, back from whatever excursion she's been on as of late, and I'm sure she'd like to spend time with her favorite nephew," Mom said.
"Her only nephew," I pointed out.
"Well, she is my only sister," Mom sighed.
"You do realize how pathetic that will look, Mom?" I said. "I mean, I couldn't find a date so I had to ask my aunt to come with me?"
"You aren't going together. Just as Alice's guests and family," Mom said.
"Alice gave me a second ticket and I'm pretty sure she had in mind for me to bring a date, not Aunt Jane," I said.
"Well, then why don't you ask that nice girl Bella Swan?" Mom suggested. I sighed.
"Mom…" I began.
"Sorry. Sorry. I didn't mean to intrude," Mom replied.
"I'll handle it, Mom," I sighed. "I promise, okay?"
The truth was, I really had thought long and hard about asking Bella, but I wasn't so sure if she would be up for a night of fancy dress with my family. I especially doubted she wanted to be around me after what had transpired between us the previous week. When I finally got a new phone, I found several messages from Bella on it. I hadn't been able to call her because the other phone was smashed to bits, and since I hadn't called her back or given her any inclination I was alive, let alone still interested in her, I seriously doubted she wanted to see me. Hanging up with my mother, I sighed and looked at the clock, realizing I needed to be getting to my rescheduled meeting with Femme. I decided just leaving Bella a quick voice mail or text explaining my weekend whereabouts wasn't good enough, so I decided to talk to her after the meeting.
I had tried to cover up my black eye as best I could before I went in. Believe it or not Jasper, not Alice, was the whiz with covering shiners with makeup. Apparently, getting accidentally hit in the face with guns or blanks happened a lot during Civil War reenactments and Jasper had learned to cover his face so his students didn't know their professor was out killing Yankees on the weekends. I took Jasper's advice but there was no way I could cover up the entire thing. I sighed, grabbed my stuff and headed in to the meeting.
I went through the presentation as quickly as I possibly could, trying to avoid showing the side of my face where my eye was discolored. I had a feeling I would have to change out of my contacts and back into my glasses after the meeting because having my contact in my eye was becoming almost too painful to manage. I did try to get in a glance at Bella every now in then in an attempt to get any hint whether or not she was pissed at me. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice I wasn't exactly on my A-game that day and Irina seemed especially pleased with the presentation. I tried to get my stuff together as quickly as possible and then realized Bella was heading out the door and away from me. I grimaced, not wanting her to think I was ignoring her or anything. Finally, I mustered up the courage, hoping to ask her out for Friday night. No harm no foul, after all, right?
"Bella… wait!" I yelled after her. I sighed when she turned around to face me again.
"Yeah?" Bella asked. She didn't seem particularly happy with me, so I knew I had to work through that.
"Hey, I'm sorry about not calling you," I told her, really hoping she would accept my apology. "I mean… I broke my phone. It was a kind of bizarre thing…"
"Same bizarre thing that got you that shiner?" Bella asked with a slight smirk.
"Yeah," I blushed. "Uh… I found out…my ex…"
"The super bitch?" Bella interjected, making me chuckle slightly.
"Yeah, that one? She's pregnant and asked Alice to do her baby shower," I explained. "I needed to wrap my head around things and… instead I got drunk with Jasper and then we wound up in a bar fight. The guy destroyed my phone and I was so embarrassed I canceled the meeting Friday and… I'm really sorry I didn't call you or anything… I just…"
"I get it," Bella smiled. I breathed a sigh of relief, glad to see it was a genuine smile.
"I know that sounds really immature and stupid and… well, it was," I rambled on. "I guess I just kind of lost it there. I mean, it's hard when you really want something and it seems to come easy to people who don't even care, you know?"
"Yeah, I get the feeling," Bella agreed.
"I just… it wasn't you, okay? And I want you to know that… I had a good time last week," I said, hoping she would believe me. "In fact, it was the very best part of my week. Probably would have still been the best part of my week if the week didn't end with me passed out on a sticky barroom floor or getting lectured about alcohol poisoning from my parents like I'm a teenager again."
"I'm glad you had fun," Bella grinned at me warmly.
"So… are you doing anything Friday night?" I asked, trying to resist the urge to cross my fingers behind my back. If I was going to Alice's gala thing, having Bella by my side would definitely make things easier and more fun.
"I'm hanging out with a friend Friday night," Bella shook her head. I frowned, but I didn't want to interrupt her plans with friends.
"Okay," I said, trying not to sound to disappointed. Naturally, Bella Swan had something else to do that night. I should figure she would be doing something fun and exciting and single like hanging out with her gal pals. It wasn't like Bella spent her nights waiting around for some guy to call her up and ask her out anyhow. It was stupid of me to think she wouldn't already have plans.
"Why did you ask?" Bella asked.
"No reason," I said, not wanting to embarrass myself further. The last thing I wanted to admit to Bella was that I couldn't get a date other than my aunt. "Guess I'll catch you later? Maybe call you?"
"Alright," Bella grinned.
I felt much better that she wasn't completely pissed at me and decided that even if Bella couldn't hang out with me Friday evening we could still do something fun together that evening or during the rest of the week. I headed back home to get a jump on some much needed work, especially on the Femme sight. I had around two months until the launch now and that meant I had to kick things into high gear. After two hours or so of furiously writing code, my phone started to buzz. It was an incoming call from my mother and, honestly, at that point I would have preferred a picture of the possessed Papillion. I already felt dumb enough after being shot down but Bella, but I knew it would just be plain stupid to try and weasel my way out of the event with my mom.
"So? How did it go? What did Bella say?" Mom asked chipperly.
"She has plans that night," I sighed.
"She's not going on a date is she?" Mom asked worriedly.
"With a friend. Rose, I guess," I shrugged. "Anyway, I didn't want her to change her schedule around or anything…"
"It's too bad," Mom sighed. "Alice said she found a dress for Bella online that would have been just perfect for the event…"
"Sorry, Mom, but she can't come," I said, rubbing my temple.
"Well, are you at least seeing her again?" Mom asked curiously.
"Mom!" I sighed. "I think the bigger issue is that I have a spare ticket to Alice's thing and no one to take. Are you sure I just can't skip it?"
"Edward, you will be there and you will be supporting your sister," Mom said. "Now, your Aunt Jane is free and clear to come in town, and I'm sure she would like to catch up with you…"
"Fine," I sighed.
"So, do you want me to call Aunt Jane or do you want to call her?" Mom asked curiously. "I'll make sure she doesn't wear anything risqué or with too much animal print. Lord knows your aunt would love to land her some young blood. Not to marry, mind you. She was telling me yesterday how she's sworn off marriage after three husbands. Too bad she never found anyone as sweet as your father. You know, he did the sweetest thing yesterday. He brought me home this personal massager and wouldn't you know the speeds on that thing…"
"Go ahead and call her," I interrupted hurriedly, not liking where a story about my parents using a 'personal massager' might end up. "I can meet Aunt Jane beforehand or something."
"She was hoping to have lunch with Alice that day as well," Mom said. "Do you think you could come? Your father has a surgery, but I'll be there."
"Sure," I sighed. "And don't get the wrong idea, Mom. I am proud of Alice."
"I know you are, sweetie," Mom replied. "It's not fair you didn't make it on that list. Of course, there's always next year, isn't there? And I'm sure you'll meet tons of people you can work with that night."
"Thanks, Mom," I smiled.
"Well, I have to go," Mom said. "I have to wake Miss Priss up from her nap and then it's off to play group at the doggy park. She's been having issues making friends with other dogs and our veterinarian suggested that playing with other puppies might help her get socialized. Poor thing. I think she just gets aggressive with other animals because she's shy and scared…"
"Uh… you have fun, Mom," I said.
I worked as hard as I could the rest of the week. The one highlight to my days was after supper when I would have phone or text conversations with Bella. One of us would call the other around six in the evening and most of the time we would stay up until ten or later just talking about various things. I had never really had anyone I could do that with. We spent an entire evening just talking about our favorite Atari and Super Nintendo games from our childhoods. She made me laugh and more than a few times I was able to get a good giggle out of her. However, after the phone calls ended and especially toward the end of the week I felt a little let down that it wouldn't be Bella I would be spending my Friday night with.
When the day finally rolled around, I cut out of my work early and headed over to the little bistro Alice had wanted to have her special lunch at. When I arrived, I didn't need to look very hard to find where everyone was sitting Aunt Jane's boisterous laugh could be heard all the way across the restaurant. I walked to the table to find Aunt Jane shamelessly flirting with Jasper, who had his arm wrapped around Alice. Mom and Alice were giggling and sharing smirks and eye rolls at Aunt Jane's shameless antics. Aunt Jane herself had dyed her hair bright pink. It was now done to her ears, having grown back slowly after her cancer treatment ends. She was also wearing a zebra print dress. I sighed and slipped into the vacant chair between my aunt and my mother.
Aunt Jane is probably the one person Alice has looked up to her entire life and pretty much the exact opposite of our mother. While Mom is a dedicated housewife who got into work later in life, Aunt Jane is a photographer and a globetrotter. She has been married and divorced three times, getting a measure of financial success from her last two divorces. She married an older man at seventeen and was divorced within the year before she set off on a tour with a famous band. After that, she married a music producer and got divorced followed by a lawyer who she kicked out after discovering he couldn't attend her chemotherapy sessions because he was hooking up with his secretary. Aunt Jane liked to joke the main reason she beat breast cancer is because she didn't want to let her ex off easy on alimony payments. Mom had long given up trying to rein in her carefree baby sister, and the two had long buried the hatchet in the tumultuous relationship they had when Alice and I were little. Mom was the one who sat by Aunt Jane during her cancer treatments and, as a result, the two of them had become the best of friends.
"There you are Red!" Aunt Jane grinned, using her childhood nickname for me. "What's this about you hooking up with a magazine writer? Anyone I know?"
"I don't know what you've been told," I said glaring at Alice. "Bella and I are just friends." Alice stuck her tongue out at me.
"Too bad, sweetie," Aunt Jane shook her head. "You're much too old for Jergen's and tissues." Jasper almost choked on his water and Alice laughed. Mom frowned disapprovingly, but she no longer tried to be Aunt Jane's verbal filter.
"How long are you in for?" I asked her.
"Just the weekend," Aunt Jane said airily, "but I might stay longer if your dad can bring me home one of his hot colleagues. Too bad they don't make 'em like Grey's Anatomy in real life, huh? But listen to me gabbing away! Today is all about our Alicat, now isn't it?"
"We are so proud of you, sweetie," Mom smiled. "You've done amazing."
"Oh, Mom," Alice blushed.
"Hey, you deserve it," Jasper shook his head. "You get up early, go to bed late and work your tail off in between."
"I'd go to bed late at night if I had a cowboy like you, too," Aunt Jane smirked, wiggling her eyebrows. Jasper took the compliment with a smile, but Alice rolled her eyes.
"Come on, Aunt Jane," Alice snorted. "He's mine and I got the rock to prove it."
"Alright, honey, alright," Aunt Jane laughed. She turned back to Jasper. "So stud, is your daddy single?"
"Married thirty-five years, I'm afraid," Jasper said.
"You got any single uncles?" she asked curiously.
"Only Uncle Randy, but he's not single by choice," Jasper said. "Most girls don't like dating a guy who's in prison."
"When's he getting out?" Aunt Jane asked.
"I think 2034… for good behavior," Jasper replied. "He'll be seventy-four by then."
"Never mind, then," Aunt Jane huffed. "I'm not waiting that long. What about cousins?"
"Jane," Mom cautioned her.
"You're right. I'm unfair picking on Jasper here," Aunt Jane nodded. "So, Red, you got any single friends?"
"None that could handle you, Aunt Jane," I smirked.
"That's why I love you kid," Aunt Jane grinned. "Now, you tell that not-girlfriend of yours that you're spending the evening with a hot piece like me and I bet she'll realize what she's missing."
I smiled at my aunt as waitress arrived to take our orders. It was all I could hope that I could get through this evening for Alice and then I would be free over the weekend, hopefully to some time with Bella like my aunt had suggested.
A/N: I want to be a crazy don't give a fuck old lady with bright dyed hair and loud clothes who manhandles hot waiters someday. Just sayin'.
