BPOV
I scroll through the notes I saved on my phone.
Top-selling wine list and pairings.
Cocktail lists and recipes.
Restaurant terms.
Bar opening and closing procedures.
I go over every nook and cranny on my train ride in, part of me knows I have this down. That I will pass with flying colors but a very small seed of doubt has been planted.
Rose will be working tonight and anytime she has been working her customers seem to have complaints about the drinks I make. One, I was pretty certain was a plant due to the way Edward bristled and seemingly knew him.
I wasn't exactly sure how Rose knew him. He came in wearing a very expensive suit. His dark hair was slicked back and his appearance was very different from her edgy one. He was rude, snapping at me multiple times.
Jazz was swamped at his end of the bar and it was Edward who intervened. He had me run food instead of waiting on the jerk.
I knew he had talked to Esme about it, but I didn't want him making a big deal of it. I heard her tell him that she knew I knew my stuff.
When I woke up this morning I told myself I wasn't going to let Rose throw me tonight.
I hear my stop, quickly standing and making my way off the train.
I start reciting what I've memorized under my breath on my short walk to the restaurant.
My phone buzzes from where I just placed it in my bag, I stop in front of the service entrance to fish it out.
Good luck, lady! – Ali
You're gonna crush this, B – Em
I smile at the support my friends are showing.
Emmett is Emmett and things at the apartment were business as usual, but the only difference was that we'd be hanging out more.
I hadn't taken Mike up on his offer to show me the sites, instead, Emmett had shown me his New York and Alice showed me hers.
To say that their New York's were vastly different would be an understatement. Emmett had taken me to a few baseball games, museums, and historical landmarks. Alice was all about thrift shopping, underground clubs, concerts, and art galleries.
I tended to drift more to Alice's New York.
Lost in thought I hadn't heard anyone approach me, but I now felt the hand resting on my lower back.
I didn't need to look to know that it was Edward.
He was all sweet touches and smiles the past few weeks, a total one-eighty from when we met. We'd hung out with our small work crew a handful of times and each time we'd get drunk and were handsy with one another.
Not one kiss was shared between us, but the sexual tension emanated from us both.
Something held him back which made me hold back too.
It was a bummer, but maybe it was for the best.
If I pass my trails today, then I'll be here permanently and these will be my coworkers for the unforeseeable future.
I turn my head and see it is Edward behind me.
He grins down.
"Ready for today?" he asks in his usual soft tone.
I nod.
"I'm a little nervous," I confess.
"Don't be, you'll do great," he tells me.
I sigh still not convinced.
We walk through the back and to our lockers to change.
As always, I feel his eyes linger on me but of course, we're at work and won't act on it.
Mike takes the opportunity to ambush me once I finish pulling my hair up in a high ponytail.
"How excited are you?" he practically coos.
I shrug my answer.
At this point, I'm hungry and ready for dinner but I'm not sure I can eat the staff meal.
"Will you let up, Newton?" Edward says as he passes us.
His touch to the pinky at my side doesn't go unnoticed.
"You don't mind do you?" Mike asks me.
I answer with a tight smile which he takes as encouragement.
Esme is leaving Carlisle's office when we pass, she stops us pulling me to the side.
"Before we eat I wanted to go over how the evaluation will go," she explains with a warm smile. "Jasper will be shadowing you for the first half of the night then I will shadow the second half. Mostly, you can pretend as though we aren't there."
"Okay," I nod in understanding.
I eat a light salad for dinner, not sure I can stomach much else with my nerves. If all else fails, I'll get something after work. I can feel eyes on me, but I don't look up and only focus on my meal.
I recite everything I know in my head.
Top-selling wine list and pairings.
Cocktail lists and recipes.
Restaurant terms.
Bar opening and closing procedures.
Once our staff meal is done, we all wander to our assigned sections for the evening. I start with opening the POS systems and pulling the numbers from the night before.
I try my best to ignore Jazz, but he pokes my side a few times.
"Lighten up," he orders playfully. "No one wants to see you fail, Bella."
I instantly think of Rose.
She wants to see me fail.
I finished up the opening procedures without any assistance.
With it being a Friday night the patrons flow non-stop through the door.
I work alongside the guys fulfilling drink orders for the next hour or so, it's when I hear the kitchen doors swoosh is when my obstacle for the night begins.
"Bella, you work with my dad?" I hear from the end of the bar.
I turn my head seeing Hadley.
Her hair is down in a mess of wild curls, but as always, she's in her favorite blue Converses and her matching blue glasses. Her tulle skirt is even blue, paired with a white vintage Rolling Stones t-shirt.
I frown but watch Edward move quickly to her where he scoops her into his arms.
My brain races trying to figure out how I missed this.
Oh my god, he's her father.
In my distraction I drop the wine glass I was cleaning and it shatters all over the floor.
"Fuck," I yelp, trying to pick up the pieces.
I feel a hand on my shoulder stopping me.
I look up and see it's Jazz with a broom and dustpan.
"Well, I guess this answers why Rose was late?" he says quietly. "Shit, you're bleeding, darlin'."
I groan.
"I'll get this cleaned up, Carlisle has a First Aid kit in the lounge," he explains while he wraps my hand up with a clean napkin.
I nod.
I clutch my hand to me, seeing that Edward and Hadley aren't at the end of the bar now and I walk in through the kitchen.
I call out 'behind' as I pass behind the cooking station.
Mike is heading in my direction which earns another groan from me.
"Are you okay?" he asks, rushing to me while grabbing my hand.
"I need a band-aid," I tell him, weakly moving around him.
There is shouting coming from behind the closed door of Carlisle's office, but I keep walking.
When I enter the lounge with Mike hovering behind me I see Hadley sitting on the couch looking sad.
Her head whips up when she hears us.
I sit at the table while Mike grabs the first aid.
Hadley moves to sit in the chair next to me.
"What happened?" she asks.
Edward must have brought her back here while I was lost in thought before I dropped the glass.
"I made a mess and cut myself while I was trying to clean up," I explain to her.
"Bella, you know my dad!" she exclaims excitedly.
I've only seen Hadley two more times at the bookstore since the first time. She had already finished Emma by my next visit to the shop, in which the book has now become another favorite of hers.
I try to remember everything Alice told me about her parents. Jazz's comment about this being the reason Rose was late creeps in.
"Sweetie, Mike needs to help me clean this up, can you sit over on the couch for me?" I ask her flatly.
My tone must surprise her since I'm usually amused by her, but she listens as she watches timidly from the couch.
Mike takes the seat on my other side with the first aid kit in hand.
When I remove the napkin I notice the bleeding has slowed.
Mike's brows furrow.
"It looks like you might need stitches, Bella," he says looking a little green.
"My dad can help," Hadley says softly from the couch.
"Maybe I should get Edward," he mumbles.
"You did this on purpose, Rosalie," we all hear being yelled from the hall.
"I couldn't find a sitter, Edward," Rose replies with a bored tone. "We've brought Hadley in countless times before and it's never been a problem. Carlisle said she was fine to stay in the office with him tonight."
"You knew what you were doing," Edward repeats.
They both walk in while their child looks wearily at them both.
Rose's smirk is in place while she walks over to Hadley.
"Uncle C has a coloring book in his office with your name on it, baby," she says sweetly.
Hadley rolls her eyes behind her frames.
I realize she has Rose's eyes.
"Aren't I a little old for a coloring book," she mumbles but stands.
Edward and I both laugh earning a glare from Rose.
Hadley moves to Edward who keeps glancing at me at the table.
"Bella's hand is hurt, Dad," she says, taking him by the hand to stand closer to the table.
"The cut looks pretty deep, Ed," Mike says with a sigh.
Edward places a hand on top of Hadley's head, she looks up at him. I didn't even piece together how much she looks like him.
"Go with your mom and I'll take a look at Bella's hand," he tells her.
She looks like she wants to argue but when Edward raises a brow she sighs walking to the door without Rose.
Rose stands hurrying out after her.
"Newton, you're needed out on the floor," he tells Mike.
Mike's ego deflates in front of me, but he leaves us alone.
Edward takes a seat and I can't look at him.
He lifts my hand gently in his, letting out a low whistle. "Did you clutch the sharpest piece you could find?"
I don't answer.
"You need stitches," he says.
"I have my trails tonight," I reply defiantly.
"Carlisle will reschedule it," he snaps.
I take my stinging hand from him.
"I need this job," I argue.
"You need the use of your hand so you can do said job," he responds.
I reach for a band-aid.
"Bella, you need to go to the hospital," he says tersely.
Esme rushes in looking worried.
"Jasper told me what happened," she said, taking a breath like she just ran back here.
"She needs stitches," Edward says for the second time.
"I'll take her," she offers.
"No, I'll do it," he says. "Garrett is working in the ER tonight I might be able to get her in and out."
Esme eyes us carefully while I plead with my eyes for her to take me.
"Edward has friends that work over at Beth Israel," she tells me before she leans over taking a peek at my hand. "You'll be in excellent hands."
Will I though?
I cover my hand while Edward moves to his locker to grab his jacket and bag. He must know my lock code because he opens my locker for me grabbing my moto jacket, blanket scarf, and crossbody bag.
"Had's in the office with Carlisle," he tells his sister.
Her eyes widen but she nods.
He helps me get my coat on and wraps my scarf around me. I hate him more for being so nice.
I securely hold my napkin-wrapped hand to me as we walk out the door into the alleyway. Edward is typing with his phone and I'm surprised when he stops a little ways in front of the restaurant where patrons normally get their car services.
"I ordered an Uber," he says.
"I'm fine walking," I tell him quickly.
Ubers are expensive when you're not sharing with four to five people.
He ignores me when a black Subaru Forester pulls up.
He checks the plates and talks to the driver before he opens the door for me. I carefully slide in before Edward follows me.
"This is expensive and unnecessary," I tell him.
"Then it's a good thing I have the money to pay for it," he retorts.
"You're a bartender."
"Actually that's not my job, bartending at the restaurant is a favor to Carlisle. I'm a research lab manager at Sloan Kettering," he says matter-of-factly.
I exhale through my nose.
He notices my annoyance.
"I wasn't hiding that or Hadley," he says.
"You clearly knew that I had met her and bought the book."
"When Hadley and Alice said Bella from Seattle bought her that book," he says dryly. "I kind of pieced it together. That and the bookstore is in our shared neighborhood," he explains but at least seems to show some guilt on his face.
"You didn't say anything," I accuse.
"And spook you away?" he laughs in disbelief. "Alice wanted to tell you, but I know how skittish you are around me and Rose. My kid finally met someone with the same shared interests. I didn't want to take that away from her— or you for that matter."
I knew what he meant.
I only had Ali and Em, well outside of the restaurant. Was I really that transparent? Was I really that sad to relate to a nine-year-old?
Then it dawns on me that she's nine but how much older is Edward than me?
"She's nine, Edward," I blurt.
"I'm thirty-three if that's what you're getting at," he says.
Ten years older than me.
"So you're not just a bartender."
He sighs.
"The extra money doesn't hurt but I do have an MD. If I didn't use it, that would have been a waste of throwing away eight years of higher education. Also, I have a kid I need to provide for," he explains rationally. "I wasn't trying to mislead you, I'm just so used to not talking about myself that I don't feel the need to explain the shit show I deal with."
"Rose is Hadley's mother."
"Unfortunately."
"But she lives with you."
"Because I'm responsible and stable," he acknowledges with a rueful smile.
"You and Rose dated?"
He shakes his head.
"I was stressed about finals, we were drunk and the condom broke," he says bluntly.
"That's very private."
"It's the truth."
"You had to have at least been attr—"
"Not to her. She is a beautiful woman who prides herself on that beauty, but she isn't a good person. She's manipulative and vindictive. She plots and uses her own daughter as a pawn in her game," he says flatly. "I was something that she couldn't have and she slithered in when my defenses were down."
I'm thrown by how cold he sounds talking about the mother of his child.
"We're here," the driver announces.
I open my door sliding out, Edward is quick to follow. We enter through the sliding doors and pass through the security checkpoint easily.
"Will you hold on," Edward says while he moves quickly in front of me.
"I need to get registered," I snap.
He gets his phone out of his pocket, holding it up. "My friend can get us in and out of here."
"The ER is packed," I gesture wildly around us.
"It will take him half an hour max. I can get you home—"
"I want to go back to work," I argue.
His face looks pissed.
He has a lot of nerve to be annoyed with me. If he would have let Esme be the one to escort me to the hospital he wouldn't even have to deal with me.
He starts tapping on his phone, I make the decision not to yell at him in front of all these people and ten minutes later a tall guy with wavy brown hair and scrubs walks out to the waiting room as if he's looking for someone.
He smirks when his eyes land on Edward.
Edward gently places his hand on my bicep and directs me to the guy.
"What do we have here?" he asks playfully.
"Garrett, this is my coworker, Bella, Bella my friend, Garrett," Edward says in a clipped tone.
Edward takes my hand in his gently lifting the napkin to show his friend.
Garrett inspects it for a minute.
"We'll get you taken care of," he says with a smile.
"Wait, I don't have insurance," I mumble.
"The restaurant will pay," Edward assures me.
"We'll have the nurse get your information," Garrett explains.
Garrett starts to lead me back but I stop when I notice Edward following.
"I want to go back alone, is there like HIPAA rules or something," I say, trying to find any excuse not to let Edward back.
Garrett cocks his head, his blue eyes amused.
"Yeah, we don't want to violate HIPAA," he says to Edward who looks like he wants to punch a wall.
We leave him behind while I follow Garrett into one of the trauma bays.
A nurse comes in with some forms and Garrett explains this is what I would have filled out in the waiting room. The nurse asks me questions filling out the forms for me since I can't. Once we're alone Garrett looks like he has a lot of questions for me.
"So, you work with Ed at the restaurant," he says while cleaning and numbing my cut.
"I do," I say with a stiff nod. "Were you in med school with Edward?"
"I was," he says with a grin.
"Are you really a doctor?" I ask.
He laughs loudly before pointing to his badge.
I see trauma surgeon listed under his name on his badge.
"If you're a surgeon, surely you have more pressing things than to stitch me up," I tell him.
"When your best friend blows up your phone asking for a favor as simple as this, one has to be a little intrigued," he explains.
"I found out about Hadley, well I already knew Hadley, just not that she was Edward's," I explain to him. "Rose brought her in tonight."
"Ah, so the Wicked Witch of the East was involved," he says while weaving the thread expertly through my skin.
"Did they date?"
"There should be HIPAA in place for questions like that," he teases with a grin. "They never dated, Rosalie was very persistent in getting Ed's attention. He's very close with Esme and at the time Rose was living with her and Carlisle. She wouldn't let up, we used to chalk it up to her age, she was young, it was a crush."
He frowns, shaking his head.
"Uh, how old is Rose?"
"Twenty-nine?" he says like it's a question and he's trying to do the math in his head.
My eyes widen.
Does Edward have a thing for younger girls?
"Jesus, he's not a predator," he tells me, shaking his head. "It's the other way around, she preyed on him. We were roommates in Med School, Ed was always super focused. After everything that happened, his focus switched to Hadley."
I nod thinking about Charlie and how much he had sacrificed for me. I understood why Edward did what he did in some ways.
"Did he want to be a trauma surgeon too?" I ask.
"Nope, Ed was going into Pediatrics."
I was surprised again.
Garrett wraps up on the last stitch looking up at me with a smile. "Two weeks from now you should be good as new. Do you live near Le Cygne?"
"No, Brooklyn near Edward."
"He knows where you live?"
I nod slowly confused.
"Tell you what, I can make plans with Ed to stop by and remove your stitches this way you don't need to come back in," he tells me. "Do you serve?"
"No, I work at the bar."
He sighs.
"You seem like you can be stubborn," he begins carefully.
"Why?"
"I don't see your bartending being feasible the next two weeks, Bella," he says honestly.
I feel like the air has been knocked out of me.
"I need to work," I tell him.
"I'm sure Carlisle will give you leave—"
I stop listening.
He talks and hands me aftercare instructions while he guides me back out to the waiting room where Edward is slouched in his seat.
Garrett walks me over to him and tells him I can't work for the next few weeks as my scowl grows.
I clutch my discharge papers in my good hand, he explains what to do once I get the bill. Workers' Comp floats around.
I stay quiet until I decide I'm leaving.
I don't think of Edward, I just move.
"Bella," he sighs following after me.
"Leave me alone," I yell at him in the ambulance bay in front of the entrance. "I cut my hand because I was so shocked to see Hadley at the restaurant and calling you 'dad'. Rose brought her there to shock me with the fact you have a child. She doesn't know that I know her and like her. I've been bullied by Rose for weeks— weeks, Edward. I am tired and I am not putting up with it. Because of her, I have to be off work for two weeks. I get that I can get Workers' Comp but that is only a percentage of what I make or whatever. I don't have insurance," I break off as I surrender to my current circumstances, "Leave me alone. I will make my way back to the restaurant alone so I can sort this mess out."
I turn on my heel leaving the irate man behind me alone.
My plan isn't thought out but I find myself walking down the steps of the subway station. For being almost eight on a Friday, it's not as crazy as I thought it would be. While I look around, I spot him standing a safe distance away.
Edward doesn't listen since he followed me, but he gives me my space once we're on the train.
I'm tired and my hand hurts like a motherfucker.
I read over my aftercare instructions seeing I should take Ibuprofen for the pain.
Five stops later I stand to get off the train.
The walk is short and I feel like I've calmed down enough to be rational. The restaurant is busy with a line out the door, I notice Angela behind the bar assisting Jazz so it's obvious she was called in since Edward left.
Esme hurries through the kitchen doors, looking relieved when she sees me.
"Edward told me," she says once she's in front of me.
He hasn't entered the restaurant through the front entrance but I know he probably texted her at some point.
"Carlisle needs you to fill out a few forms and this won't interfere with your pay. Also, we can cover the hospital bill."
I'm annoyed but nod.
I had to wait before I could enroll in a plan, I was hoping I'd be employed permanently before I could do that. My dad's coverage didn't work out here either.
"Edward is in the lounge with Hadley, so Carlisle is free in his office," she explains.
He went in through the service entrance.
I don't argue, I only follow.
Due to my hand, I dictate just as many forms as I did at the hospital. Carlisle helps me out by writing for me. He even tries to apologize for Rose's behavior. I wave my hand for him to stop and as we wrap up he tells me I can take my trails once I'm back in a few weeks.
With that, I leave through the front of the restaurant without saying bye to anyone.
I suddenly dread the next two weeks.
A/N: All your thoughts are fascinating! Please remember to review and thank you to those of you taking the time to leave your thoughts.
