EIGHT
The floor creaks in the entry way of our apartment. My bear feet are no match for the chilly wooden floors. At 7 o'clock in the morning it sounds even louder against the silence of the apartment.
"Here she is," Rosalie calls out laughing.
She steps out into the hallway, coffee mug in hand, grinning wickedly.
"You broke curfew young lady," She mocks, "what will the neighbours think about you coming home so early this morning wearing the same thing you left home in?"
"Shut up," I mutter throwing my handbag down.
"Did you have fun?" she smiles.
"Yes," I nod, "we fell asleep. We woke up at like 6am and he had to rush home to get ready for the wedding rehearsal."
"Right," she nods, "are you seeing him again?"
"He mentioned a date tonight," I walk toward her, take the mug from her hands and take a sip, "ugh. You drink your coffee way too weak."
"Maybe if you didn't stay out all night screwing in my office you wouldn't be so tired," she nudges me playfully, "In all seriousness I am happy for you."
"Thanks," I smile, "How about you? How did Emmett go?"
"Oh, he's the hottest man I have ever laid eyes on," she gasps out, "We went and got a drink. It was mainly small talk, but he asked for my number. We didn't get as adventurous as you."
"Did he mention Cooper?" I ask.
"His son? He did," she nods, "I'm fine with it. At first, I was a little thrown by it. But it was a drink, I'm no one's step momma."
"Yet," I tease.
"The way he spoke about him. It really warmed my heart," Rosalie covers her chest.
She'd always adored children. Motherhood has always been an inevitable path for Rose to take.
"So you think you'll see him again?" I ask.
"Before he goes back to LA? Who knows," she shrugs, "I definitely can't help but hope so."
"His ex sounds like an asshole," I say strolling into our lounge area, flopping down onto the couch, "she stole the house but couldn't be bothered to fight for her kid."
"He's a lovely guy," she nods, "I just hope he can find happiness again."
"Me too," I agree, "so what are you planning to do today?"
She looks at her phone and sighs.
"I guess I'm waiting for him to text me. Have you got something cute to wear on your date?" she asks.
"I was just going to wear something of yours," I smile.
"Great. Get out of yesterdays clothes, get your stuff and let's go shopping," she stands up.
When we arrive at the mall I allow my best friend to drag me in and out of stores. I allow her to throw different garments and fabrics at me. Eventually we find something we agree on. As we find a café for lunch her phone buzzes and she gasps in excitement answering.
"Hey," she says, smiling at me excitedly, "I'm amazing. How are you?"
I try to lean toward her, to try and listen to the person on the other end of the phone.
"Who is it?" I mouth.
"Oh tonight? I think I could make that work for you," she says flirtatiously.
"Is that Emmett?" I whisper.
She grins at me, nodding.
"Okay. I'll text you my address and you can swing by at six," she says, "Edward is meant to be taking Bella out too. I'm not sure about their plans or what time but."
She waits expectantly before turning to look at me.
"Edward will pick you up at six too," she says, "We'll both be ready to go. See you then."
"Did he just ask you out on a date?" I smile at her.
"Yep. Edward's coming over anyway, so he figured he'd carpool," Rose grins.
"Do we need to go back and find something for you to wear?" I ask, scared she'll forced me into more retail pain.
"God no. I have the perfect dress in mind," she waves her hand dismissively, "I have something red."
"We all know that's your colour," I smile, "I reckon this is exactly what you both need. To get lost in someone amazing."
"Thanks," Rosalie grins.
We kill time until both men arrive at 6 o'clock, perfectly on time. Emmett's eyes physically struggle to leave Rose from the second they land on her. The red dress she spoke of earlier was a dream. It fit every curve and dip like a second skin. It's incredibly sweet to watch him as taken back by her as I find myself on a regular basis.
"You look great," Edward kisses my cheek, "are you ready to go?"
The outfit Rose and I had agreed on made me feel special. Tight and hugging at my bust, flowing around my hips. The deep blue complimented my skin, brown hair and eyes. I enjoyed the confidence it gave me. To be certain that to him I may be desirable.
"Absolutely," I nod turning to Rose, "I'll text you when I get home. You do the same."
"I'll take great care of her," Emmett wraps an arm around her waist.
"I don't doubt it," I smile, "both of you have the fun you deserve."
Rose cuddles me before we go our separate ways. Them in an uber, us in Edward's hire car.
"When I hire a car it's usually a Prius," I buckle myself into the luxury Jaguar, "how much is a space job these days? Because I'm clearly in the wrong industry."
"It's lucrative," he grins at me.
"It's also the fact you are driving in New York," I smile, "that's bold."
"Let me surprise you, Bella dear," he laughs, "just trust me."
"When do you need to be back? The wedding is tomorrow night right?" I ask.
"It is. It's actually something I wanted to ask you about? The ceremony is super low key. Just our families. But the reception is a little more of a celebration. I was hoping you might join me?" he looks at me as we pull out onto my street.
"You want me to come to your sister's wedding?" I ask shocked.
"Actually, I mentioned how I was dating someone, and I really liked her. She asked me to invite you," he grins, "so please know that it won't be imposing. I'd love to spend the evening with you. I want to get as much time with you as I possibly can before I have to fly back home on Monday."
"I'd really like that. If you're certain it's not a problem," I smile.
"Positive," he nods.
"Wait. I'll have to meet your parents?" I feel myself slightly flush.
"They'll love you. You honestly don't need to worry about that in the slightest," he takes my hand, bringing it to his lips, to press a soft kiss against my skin.
My eyes flick to the front window, noticing we're driving away from the city.
"Where are we going?" I look back at him.
"Shh," he covers his mouth with a single finger, "just trust me."
We chat about our days, he tells me about his sister's wedding plans. I burst into laughter when he tells me Cooper threw a tantrum during the rehearsal because he wanted to tie his own shoe laces.
"He doesn't even know how," Edward laughs, "he just wanted to annoy Alice."
The car ride is easy. Exactly how it should be, and when we arrive at the destination he helps me out of the car. A gentleman, perfect and polite.
His hand in mine we walks me to a large building on a hill. It's dark and quiet.
"Are you murdering me?" I ask nervously.
"It's not on the agenda," he smirks as he approaches a door, placing a key in the lock, "but you are killing me with your beauty."
"Smooth," I laugh anxiously.
He leads me into a dark building, up a set of stairs before walking out onto a rooftop with a mild chill. My eyes adjust and I realise where I am.
It's all I see at first.
"A telescope?" I gasp looking at him in shock.
Then I notice a picnic blanket set up beside it, wine and a basket. I'm fighting getting down on one knee for his man.
"This place is my father's. It's his getaway," he smiles at me,"Us kids always used it as a party place. Downstairs is a whole house. Up here on the roof is our own personal telescope. But I remember Emmett bringing three women up here in college. So it's had multiple purposes."
"Let's not mention that to Rose," I laugh.
The roof is exposed, stars bright above us. There's scrubby, benches and even a pool.
"Come on. I'll show you," he smiles at me.
He places his eye on the telescope, and I watch him amazed. He turns and fiddles with the expensive looking tool before stepping back, his grin to me filled with joy. He's as excited to share this as I am to learn about it. His passion becoming mine.
"If you look through, you'll see Venus really clearly," he instructs.
I lean in, smiling to myself as his hand rests on my back.
"Wow," I gasp, "it's stunning."
Surely enough my view of the planet was second to none. Bright before me, it was as if I could touch it. This wasn't your normal telescope. It was NASA endorsed I'm sure of it.
"Venus is usually visible to the naked eye. Even sometimes in the day," he says, "temperatures there could melt lead."
"So almost as hot as you," I tease.
"What was it you said about smooth?" He laughs.
I look back at him smiling, leaning in quickly for a soft and quick kiss.
"If you tilt it slightly this way," he moves the lens slight, "you can see Mars."
Leaning back in I gaze up at the big red planet, completely enthralled by this man's knowledge.
"It's amazing. It's orbital period is 687 days and it also has the tallest mountain in the solar system," he says, "It's very cold there. An unprotected astronaut would die quickly."
"Jesus," I mutter, "this is so fricken cool. Your commentary is making it so much better."
"I'll be your space David Attenborough any day," he chuckles, "I have one more surprise."
He tilts the telescope slightly.
"See that star?" He asks.
"There's a heap of them," I giggle.
"The one slightly to the right, it's burning really bright," he directs, leaning in to my ear, "let me know when you see it."
"I see it," I focus on the one he means, "it's the bigger one?"
"It's yours," he whispers.
Quickly I snap up straight looking at him shocked. He holds up a paper chuckling.
"You got me a star?" I shake my head.
"Technically you can't buy a star. The IAU doesn't recognise the commercial practice of selling stars. But we can," he hands me a paper, "it's just a small distance of 20 light years. It was nearest to Mars that the site had."
I read over the paper, trying to contain tears.
"I named it Bells," he smirks at me, "so when I'm up there I can still see you. When you're down here you can look through this and see me when the ISS is on the other side of the planet."
"Holy shit," I cover my mouth shaking my head, "this is the sweetest thing I've ever had done for me."
"It's the sweetest thing I've ever done for someone else," he admits, "but I have been trained to know when I find something groundbreaking. Chemistry is here and I want you to never think I'm not committed to this. Considering I'm going away I didn't want to lose my edge."
"You don't need to worry about that," I turn back to the telescope for another glance.
It's bright, beautiful. Like him.
"I love it," I whisper, "I love this so much. Thank you."
"We're going to write long distance dating in the sky," he laughs, tugging on me gentle so I look to him.
I move into his body, his arms wrapping around me.
"Come sit down and have this picnic under our star," he kisses my temple, "then I'm going to do dirty things to you under it."
Prism doesn't deserve a single sentence of him.
He's all mine.
I'm so sorry for such a delay! I have been busy!!!
Here's a chapter. The next one is coming soon!
Thank you so much for your patience.
I hope you enjoyed xx