EPOV

Work, weird scheduling and my sink deciding that two a.m. on a Wednesday morning was the perfect time for a pipe to burst kept Bella and I apart for the better part of the week. We were both so exhausted from getting things back on track Monday that we ended up falling asleep on the phone together at nine that night. Tuesday I had a dinner meeting with a pair of prospective clients. It was a father-son duo who ran a restaurant. The dad thought things were fine as they were but the son felt their decrease in business due to the economy could be remedied by better online marketing, something they hadn't ever really ventured into. Then the pipe burst kept me home most of the day Wednesday cleaning up water and waiting for the plumber to arrive "sometime between ten a.m. and 3 p.m." He showed up at three-thirty.

However, I was determined that I was going to see my girlfriend come hell or high water that week. After all, I didn't go through all the stress of meeting her father and put aside all my nerves about being a sucky boyfriend to go weeks on end without seeing her. And I wasn't going to let the first time I saw her that week be a trip over to my parents' house. I finally managed to get ahold of Bella late Wednesday after dispatching the plumber back home and finally mopping up my apartment.

She was a little tired by obviously glad to hear my voice. I was glad to hear from her how well things were going at work and that she was getting along with her new co-workers. Still, Bella was still nervous about Victoria returning to work and I was pretty nervous as well. That woman gave me the creeps. I had to share an elevator with her a few times. The woman did not know the meaning of the phrase "personal space." For now, though Bella was happy with her job and that was what was important.

"So, I need to see you," I told her. "Talking on the phone is great, but I haven't actually seen you since Sunday night. And we haven't been alone since Friday. Car rides don't count."

"I know what you mean," Bella sighed. "I was about ready to show up and fix your sink yesterday except I would have had no idea what I was doing and made it worse."

"You can fix my plumbing anytime you want," I teased her.

"I thought you were the expert on laying pipe," Bella replied. I groaned.

"So, what do you wanna do tomorrow?" I asked.

"Something fun," Bella told me. "Just something to take my mind off work and my laundry and the fact that Rose is being a little bit bitchier than normal."

"Things okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," Bella nodded. "I've only had to deal with the crying jags but she flipped her shit yesterday because Emmett left his dirty dishes in our sink instead of moving them into the dishwasher. It's completely unlike her. I think she might be PMSing."

"We can end the discussion there," I frowned.

"Sorry," Bella said. "So, plans for tomorrow?"

"I think I've got something fun in mind," I told Bella. "Just bring a change of something comfortable to work."

"Like jeans?" Bella said.

"Yeah. And maybe that shiny red top I saw in your closet," I told her.

"Ugh. That is leftover from when Rose dragged me to the Rocky Horror Picture Show in college," Bella grimaced. "I should have thrown it out. I should get rid of the boots too."

"Fishnets to go with that?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not leaving work looking like a hooker," Bella said with a snort.

"I wouldn't ask you to," I replied. "But maybe you could surprise me at my apartment later on with that outfit under a coat or something."

"Perv," Bella teased. "But seriously, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise," I said.

"Maybe I don't want to be surprised," Bella said in her best sultry voice. I groaned again. If only she knew what her voice was doing to my nether regions.

"Trust me. It'll be fun this way," I told her.

"Fine," Bella sighed. "But you better deliver, Mr. Cullen."

At five p.m. on the dot my car was parked in the pickup zone outside Bella's office, waiting for her to come out so we could go on our date. It took fifteen minutes for her to appear out of the office building and I kept checking my rearview mirror for cops, not wanting to get a ticket for staying in the pickup zone more the ten-minute limit. However, the wait would have been worth the ticket when I saw Bella emerge from the building, carrying a big tote bag and wearing the most form fitting jeans and t-shirt I had ever seen. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she looked ready for an evening of relaxation and fun.

I got up to help her into the car, but Bella rushed forward, tossed her bag in the backseat and then slipped into the passenger seat before I could do anything. I entered back into the driver's seat only for Bella grab hold of me and kiss me until I was pressed up against the car door with the windows fogging up. Of course, I wasn't going to complain about Bella making out with me in my car, even if I did get a ticket for blocking up the pickup lane. With Bella's tongue in my mouth, hands through my hair and almost sitting in my lap, I honestly wouldn't have cared if a tow truck had come along and hitched the front of my car up to pull away. Just as the monster in my pants had roared to life, Bella pulled away with a giggle and a grin.

"So…I uh… missed you to?" I said, struggling to catch my breath.

"Maybe a bit," Bella grinned before putting on her seatbelt. "So, what do you have planned for our super fun evening?"

"You hang out in the International District much?" I asked her.

"Chinatown in Seattle?" Bella asked curiously.

"Well, there's a good deal of Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese places there too, but yeah. It was originally Chinatown," I nodded.

"A fun times," Bella shrugged. "Rose and I have hit up a couple of the restaurants."

"Cool," I nodded. "There's some fun stuff there, so I thought we could hang out there. It's a quick drive."

The first place on my agenda was the Seattle Pinball Museum. It was definitely one of my favorite places to go and blow about ten quarters or so. Being a video game aficionado, I could appreciate the flashing lights and sound effects of the games that helped lead to the more high-tech ones I play now. I was hoping Bella would find it was fun too. The place would be open until pretty late that night too, so I hoped we could have some fun there before going out to eat and then, hopefully, making our way back to either of our apartments for some horizontal fun. I had to find a parking space a couple of blocks or way, but Bella said she was up for the walk. It was already starting to cool down and the light breeze combined with Bella's hand in mine made for a nice walk.

"The Pinball Museum?" Bella said in surprise as we reached our destination.

"You said you needed something fun, and, I mean it's a pretty fun place…" I began.

"You have no idea do you?" Bella laughed.

"Uh…what?" I asked nervously.

"When I was little and my dad would take me to the movies in Port Angeles," Bella said, "we would always go into the video arcade there to waste time before our movie started. I'm pretty decent at pinball. Of course, my dad's the expert."

"Should have brought this up to him last weekend, huh?" I laughed.

"How did you find this place?" Bella asked.

"I do their web site. I consulted on the redesign for the International District's tourism web site last year and now I helping with design for several of the businesses in the area," Edward said. "And I've been known to come in and play for a few hours at a time."

"This is so neat!" Bella laughed before dragging me inside.

I had to admit, I was glad that Bella hadn't made a face or called me out for being a complete and total geek for taking her to a place full of pinball museum. Instead, Bella was giggling like a little girl at all of the restored and classic machines with their various themes. She instantly wanted to play with the Sing-A-Long machine, which I found a little annoying but dished out quarters for anyway. Far be it from me to ruin Bella's fun, especially when I had stumbled across an activity we both enjoyed and could do together. I had a feeling we might be making our way back to the museum sometime in the future.

In a matter of hours, we had hit up most of the good machines the place had to offer. We made fun of the Rolling Stones and Harlem Globetrotters themed machines. Bella said she liked the Atilla the Hun and Fireball machines the best while my favorite was still the Flash Gordon one with all the blinking lights. We also agreed the Circus-themed one with all of the clowns was creepy as hell. I had to admit, Bella was almost as good as I was. Of course she choked up not being able to beat my scores to the fact that she was out of practice, not having played since high school. We chatted up the guy behind the counter, who I had made sort of friends with during my visits to the place as well as my web design work, before heading out for a late supper.

"That was so much fun!" Bella laughed. "Where are we headed to next?"

"Jade Garden. It's a few blocks away and I think it has the best dim sum in the city," I told her.

"Never been there," Bella admitted.

"It's great," I replied. "Besides, we can't go to the International District without getting some good international food."

"Great," Bella grinned.

I knew the folks at Jade Dragon pretty well, not just from doing their web site but from the fact that they had killer food and stayed open until two in the morning, prime hours of a web geek such as myself. The place was bustling with people coming in, placing orders and leaving while the kitchen and wait staff shouted at each other in various dialects and accents across the room. I'd called ahead for a reservation and after being recognized by one of the waiters, he directed us to our seats. I thanked him as he offered to send over some menus in a bit. I turned back to find Bella slackjawed.

"What was that you said?" Bella gaped.

"Uh… Chinese," I blushed.

"You speak Chinese?" Bella said.

"No…just a few phrases here and there," I said. "I hung out here a lot in college… and I took a six-week conversation course in college when I thought I might have scored an internship with a Chinese company. But I'm not fluent. Just enough to say please, thank you, order food and ask where the bathroom is."

"Any other languages you speak?" Bella asked with a smirk.

"Uh… English… and Klingon… wait, forget I told you that," I said flustered. "If code and Java were accepted languages those…. And Japanese. I'm actually pretty fluent in that."

"Another business prospect?" Bella asked.

"Not really. I mean, a lot of computer people learn it because the Japanese are so advanced when it comes to computer science," I shrugged, "but I actually learned it so I could understand not-yet-translated anime. That way, you can order them in Japanese and don't have to wait for the English version to come out. So… now that I've divulged that I'm a complete and total geek, do you want to order?"

"Hey," Bella grinned, "that's better than Emmett's 'I learned French to hit on chicks' story. Rose eats it up, though."

"No languages for Bella?" I asked.

"I barely passed Spanish in high school," Bella shook her head. "So, Klingon… does that come in handy often?"

"I can't believe I let that slip," I said, burying my head in my hands.

"We'll keep it our secret, okay?" Bella laughed, taking my hand in hers.

The waiter stopped by and Bella asked me to order for her since I was the regular and knew what was best. I ordered some Mongolian beef as well as a wide variety of the dim sum they had to offer so Bella could try a little bit of everything and find out what it was she liked. Bella ended up liking most of the varieties they had there, though I found myself eating a few that she just didn't want to finish. We both chatted away about our weeks at work and the different foods we had before us.

It was almost ten thirty when we realized how late we had stayed, ordering dessert and just chatting. I kept my arm around Bella protectively as we walked back the few blocks to where my car was parked. The International District was a tourist stop and usually pretty crowded, but I still didn't want to take any chances with Bella around. She was a little sleepy and leaned into me as we walked, telling me about how she had fun.

"You know, I've never been to that restaurant and never to the pinball museum," Bella spoke up. "As per our 'things I've never done in Seattle deal,' I think it's your turn now."

"I'll keep that in mind," I grinned as I held the car door open for her.

"Let's go back to your place," Bella hummed sleepily after I slid into the driver's seat. She didn't have to tell me twice.