Rosalie is met with a very cheerful greeting from Alice, and a more subdued one from Jasper, when she joins them at the airport. Alice had been the one she'd spotted first — the woman was wearing a neon-yellow trench coat and matching beret. Jasper stood next to her in all black, and a Stetson.
"This will be so fun," Alice declares, taking her hands and prompting Rosalie to bend quite a bit down to kiss the air next to her ear.
Jasper whips off his dark aviators. Rosalie is mildly surprised that he seemed so alert; from what she'd gathered on the job — he is not a morning person.
"Nice hat," she says to him.
"Thanks!" Alice chirps, twitching her beret and not seeming to care the words weren't directed at her.
"If anyone asks, I said manager's retreat," he says sternly.
At that, Rosalie snorts and shrugs her shoulders. "Who'd ask?" Her tone is incredibly haughty. "My underlings are scared of me," she adds, unable to keep the pride from her voice.
Alice glances between the two of them, pleasantly bemused. "Underlings?"
Jasper inclines his head towards Rosalie as he looks at his wife; "Head of R&D. I told you; she said surely I didn't need a secretary, just to use an automated phone bank while Esme was on leave."
Rosalie feels an annoyed blush spread over her cheeks as Jasper explains the particulars of their bet. "So I've dared her to play my secretary, and still get her own work done." Jasper grins wolfishly at her, and Rosalie flicks her hair over her shoulder, huffing slightly.
It's embarrassing; Esme had been understandably insulted, though at the time Rosalie didn't see her own folly. Now she has to book appointments and have her own team running from their department to Esme's desk with their proposals and queries. After this week, Rosalie is ready to acknowledge just how hard the woman works.
"I've already sent her an edible arrangement, so you can cut that out," she snaps, and even Alice giggles at her.
"Esme's so great," Alice says with a sigh. "I hope she has a really nice vacation." She elbows her husband with a toothy grin. "You're going to."
Jasper has his glasses back on, but they don't hide with raised eyebrows. "Am I?" he muses, but points out their boarding gate and starts off towards it before his wife could answer.
Alice nods, skipping along light, as it seems hubby doubled as a pack mule. Aside from a small laptop bag, Jasper hauled three pink cases of varying sizes that were most likely hers, since she only carried a small handbag in the same colour.
Alice has no qualms calling out to him, "Yeah you will — all my underwear matches!"
Jasper gasps, and Rosalie has to completely stop walking for a moment, to ensure that she could concentrate on her laughter and not get distracted by rolling her suitcase.
Alice beams, delighted as her husband stumbles with one of the handles of the cases, and Rosalie reaches over to grab the woman's hand. "Same," she chokes out through her own laughter, and both women cackle at the way Jasper's entire face goes lobster-red.
"You two are getting along too well," he informs them, hiking up the suitcases and starting off again without them.
Rosalie shakes her head, and Alice alongside her. "Why do men never pack?" she asks, nodding to the pink cases Jasper had.
Alice frowns for a moment, looking confused. "Oh no, he loves packing, he likes trying to fold all the clothes really small. I wanted a matching set; his clothes are in the littler one."
That strikes Rosalie as a little odd. "You don't mind sharing that much?"
Alice shrugs her scrawny shoulders. "We don't own any other suitcases. It's a set of seven, all different sizes," she seems earnestly pleased to explain.
Rosalie snickers a little. "So he just goes on business trips with pink suitcases?"
Alice nods cheerfully. "Yeah, we do!" Rosalie frowns, baffled, and Alice continues; "We've never gone on a trip separately."
Rosalie stares at her. "Never?"
Alice shakes her head thoughtfully. "Not since our first year of dating. I went back home for the holidays freshman year. We didn't like it," at her last words, her smile becomes strained.
Rosalie nods and doesn't pry, but she herself couldn't imagine willingly spending that much goddamn time with someone else, marriage or not. It sounded genuinely exhausting.
They get to the first-class line, and Rosalie's palms are starting to sweat a little. She knows who'd arranged the trip, after all, and a small pit of dread is starting to form in her belly.
Jasper led them to the reserved lounge; something arranged with his father since that's how Jasper introduced himself at the gate.
"Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to ski in the mountains we go!" The booming voice mentally sent Rosalie straight to her gap-year.
Nineteen, out of highschool to get 'work experience' at the resort her father was a shareholder. She was teaching brats how to ski three days a week and going clubbing every weekend. Emmett was a townie nearby, Emmett, who was waving them over with his big, warm grin.
God, eight years hadn't changed him. Not by much; his neck a little thicker, his cheeks a little slimmer. His hair was gelled back, too short to probably hold those adorable cork-screw curls he had had. But from what she remembered of his father, he was going to age like fine wine.
Alice squeals as she throws her arms around his belly, squeezing tight as his hand takes up nearly her whole back as he pets it. Their size difference is comical; they could have been parent and child until you looked closer.
"Emmett! How you doin', sugar?" Alice grabs Rosalie's hand and ushers her forward. "This is Rosalie Hale, she is the boss of R&D, and she's gonna do all the fun spa-things with me!" Alice chirps, and turns to Rosalie as all the colour drains out of Emmett's face and pools in his neck, making it red and blotchy. "Emmett McCarty, Jasper's known him since just after he graduated."
Emmett looks a little shell-shocked, his hand reaching out absently. "... Hey, Rosalie," he murmurs, staring at her face blankly.
Rosalie takes his hand and shakes vigorously. Mildly hoping to snap him out of it. "Emmett, how are you?" she asks loudly, and steps a little closer, glancing around to see Alice chatting with her husband, picking at a fruit platter. Emmett's large hand didn't let her go, and she grimaces at his dazed expression.
"I'm sorry, I agreed before Jasper mentioned your name. I didn't know how to back out without ..." Rosalie slips her hand out of his to gesture between them awkwardly. "It's just, I have to work with him, and I didn't really want him thinking the worst of me."
She's a coward, after all. Emmett knows enough to ruin her; all he has to do is tell the right asshole and her reputation is done-for.
Emmett shakes his head roughly and puts on a polite smile. "It's fine, really! I'm just surprised …" He rubs the back of his neck, and for a moment he looks genuinely shy. "Um, it's water under the bridge."
His words don't necessarily reassure her, though she knows he's honest. He's always so goddamn honest. His eyes flick down, looking at her body, and she's deeply glad she's worn her skinny jeans. "You look great, just, I'll sort out the tickets," he mumbles, but there's a resentful type of look in his eye as he shuffles off. Rosalie feels a bit colder with him gone.
She has to remind herself that he's not possessive, because he doesn't own her. He never wanted to; even though, even now, all he'd have to do is crook his fingers. Rosalie wants to hate the desire she feels, like a pull in her gut; but if it was easy to hate she'd already be livid.
She can feel how much he affects her still; how plump she felt in her jeans. She's startled when Jasper touches her elbow, looking concerned. "Everythin' alright?"
Rosalie looks at him like a deer in headlights. How much do you know? She wants to ask him; if Emmett had known him after what they'd done together … Jasper could very well know everything. She feels the curl of desire twist to shame in her belly. That she wouldn't mind if he did; she wanted someone to know she meant something to Emmett, once.
But he only looks a little bemused, his brows drawn together as he waits for her to answer.
"Yeah, just … saying hello," she mutters, her voice feeling disconnected from her mouth, as he leads her to sit next to his wife and eats the strawberry she's given.
I think I put Rosalie through her paces in this, but I'm not mean to her! You might think I'm being mean but she's my fave! She's such a babe!