Chapter 5 – Two Sides
Is it a date?
I have no idea, but he offered so I'm going to make his pockets hurt. Since I don't want to be a total ass to him, I double checked with Rose. She says he's more than well off from his regular day job and also because of an inheritance from the Cullen grandparents.
I haven't picked the most expensive place ever, but it's definitely more expensive than I'd pick if my boyfriend gave me free reign. Not that it's actually a date.
Right?
The place I've chosen is an Italian joint that is more upscale so I have to look pretty and can't just throw on sweats. Which is where Alice has come in.
"Nope, nope, nope, what is this? What is that? Nope. Nah." She's been riffling through my closet ever since we came back from class.
"What is wrong with the grey dress and cardigan I picked out?"
"No!" she wails like I just pierced her heart. "Where's that little red dress I got you last year?"
"You're kidding, right? I'll freeze my ass off!"
She doesn't listen to my objections, but finally finds it in the depths of my closet. She takes the grey dress I picked out, but leaves me the black cardigan I originally chose.
"Now this is acceptable. Little red dress, black cardigan, and your black flats or black strappy heels will be acceptable." She places her hands on the shoulders. "Perfect ensemble for the she-devil. Cute yet fitting with Halloween."
Later that night as I am slipping into my outfit, I have to admit Alice is right. All I need is the devil horns and a tail. Maybe a pitch fork.
Edward told me he is going to pick me up and at that moment tell him where we're going to eat dinner. I was under strict instructions to not tell him where we're eating dinner until we were face to face. I don't even have his number, but I guess he didn't want to hear from the grapevine. Boys are weird.
Our doorbell rings, and Alice prances off to get it. I make no effort to go to the door or to greet him properly. Instead, I stay put in the kitchen with my glass of merlot.
Low and behold beyond the door is him. He and Alice greet each other, but it falls upon my deaf ears. He moves closer to the kitchen smoothly in his grey button down and black pants looking me up and down with a raised eyebrow. The counter is blocking most of my lower half so he can't see how short my dress is.
He juts his chin towards my almost empty glass. "Didn't see you as a red wine kind of lady?"
Always with a judgey statement. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Edward."
"Good thing I'm taking you to dinner then, eh?" He takes one step closer to the vacant side of the counter that I'm at. "You look very cute."
"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself." And he honestly doesn't. If I met him in a bar and had no knowledge about what a douche he could be, I wouldn't downright reject him.
I step around the counter and slip my arms through the cardigan I had placed on the couch. It's oddly silent so I turn around to find Edward rooted in his spot with downcast eyes.
I snap my fingers. "Yo, bud! Eyes up about four and a half feet." Immediately, his eyes snap up to my face. I have to hold in my laugh and his expression of being caught of ogling my legs. "Hope you like Italian. I've chosen Dafno's for dinner."
As Alice shuts the door behind us, Edward has to have the last word with her. "Don't worry, Alice. I'll have her back before midnight. She won't be turning into a pumpkin on my watch." And there's that word again.
The drive over isn't bad. Edward's been to Dafno's before so he knows the way. Too bad, I wanted to see him sweat a little.
Ever since we met, it's never been just the two of us for an extended period of time. I don't even know what his ploy is with this free meal. He extended what appears to be an olive branch, but I'm sure there's an underlying reason for it.
The hostess seats us promptly towards the back of the restaurant. Imagine my surprise when Edward pulls out my chair. I quietly thank him while I try to will the butterflies away in my stomach. I'm really a sucker if I get butterflies just from my chair being pulled out.
We quietly mull over the menu until our waiter takes our drink order of water and coffee and returns. We both order, but Edward asks for a glass of wine for both of us that will pair well with what we ordered.
The waiter returns after a few minutes with our wine, telling us some of the basic information about it and how it will pair with our food. And then we are alone. There will be no chance of buffers for at least twenty minutes.
"You really do look beautiful tonight." There's a twinkle in his eye. I don't doubt his sincerity, but I feel he's buttering me up.
"More beautiful than when I was Voldemort?" I counter.
He laughs, leaning his elbows on the table. "You as yourself and you as Voldemort are two different kinds of beautiful."
I playfully roll my eyes at him. "So, how'd you get wrangled into Field of Screams?"
At the mention of that, his eyes light up like a little kid in a candy shop. He tells me all about how Masen and Carlisle thought up the idea with a few others a little over two decades ago. After some hard work and marketing, it is what it is today.
Growing up, he always liked scary movies, and once Field of Screams was born, it only solidified that passion of his. Luckily, he's able to use his every day job and skills with Field of Screams for marketing and promotion, but also scare the shit out of people and share his passion for the scary side of Halloween. It began as just the Sinister Hayride, but expanded to four attractions.
The people went nuts for it. The people demanded and the Cullens delivered.
First, it was the hayride. Then the Asylum for deranged patients and those lost in the world. Then came the story about the Moores and the Den. And finally, the Farmer's Wasteland where those brave enough walk through a maze in the dark, vulnerable to any being that preys on them.
He talks so animatedly about every single detail about Field of Screams, and how as he got a little older, he was able to bond with his family more. He has pictures of him, Emmett, and Liz running around the area when they were little. With how much he's gesturing with his hands, a passerby may think he's Italian.
I've been actively listening and asking questions in the appropriate places. During that time, everything else just seems to disappear around us. It's just him and me, talking about Field of Screams.
He's in the middle of telling me more about the back story of the Asylum when the waiter interrupts and places our meals in front of us.
I don't think either of us realize how much time has passed. He gives me a small smile that I can't help, but return. We both taste our food and comment how good it is until we resume our previous topic.
"I think I've spent my fair share of talk time so it's your turn now, Bella. Explain to me why you hate scary stuff and everything my heart bleeds for two months?"
"Mike Newton," I spit out. He's not only horrible for what he did when we were kids, but growing up, an annoying ass. "We were six. The neighborhood sidewalk was awful, and there's a point where part of the sidewalk is noticeably sunk while the rest is at the regular level. Halloween night, my dad and I just passed that part of the sidewalk when Mike jumped out from a tree and scared me in a grim reaper costume. I lost my footing and fell backwards. I cried the rest of the night."
"And?" He moves his free hand in the universal "keep going" motion.
"My dad may have showed me a few too many horror movies when I was too young and made me watch cop shows about homicides." Please tell me I'm not the only one whose father only put on the historic channel discussing depressing topics and the ID channel?
The rest of dinner is mostly me talking and him making the occasional comment. There's no animosity between us. It really is two people just getting to know each other. I'm not sure if I'll ever even see him again after the season is over. I do know that whatever it is between us will be in my memory forever.
Both of us indulge in dessert. I get the tiramisu, and he gets cannoli. He's staring at me as I tasted the first few bites of my dessert, leaving his cannoli untouched.
"What?"
"Can you please stop making those noises?"
"Noises?"
"Moaning every time you take a bite of your dessert."
My face must flush a deep red. I frantically look around the restaurant to see if anyone else has noticed my apparent moans, but everyone else is in their own world. Edward continues staring at me and gulps. He sighs and begins to eat his cannoli.
The waiter returns and clears our table of our plates, leaving the check for us. Edward seizes it and doesn't even allow me to see the total before slipping his credit card in the booklet and placing it directly into our waiter's hands. Usually I'd try to fight to contribute something, but Edward's pushed my buttons too much for me to put in much of a fight.
The car ride back to my apartment centers around topics not about Field of Screams or Halloween which is fine by me. When we arrive, he just sits there letting his car idle. To save us both trouble, I decide to officially end this.
"Well, this has been great, Edward. Thanks for the meal. I guess I'll be seeing you Friday?"
He doesn't respond. He opens the center console and pulls out a manila folder, giving me top secret spy mission vibes.
"It has been great, hasn't it? I truly did want to treat you since you followed through last week. However, I'll admit to having ulterior motives." He places the folder in my lap. The look I give it might as well make it a bomb he wants me to defuse. "This Friday night, I'm giving you the task of doing my makeup for the night. The folder has some ideas for you to keep in tune with theming of my area and the Asylum." I go to open the folder, but he grabs my wrist. "Not uh, not until you get back inside. Shall we?"
He walks me to my door, and we both pause again. I say goodbye. He takes a step closer to me, making my heart beat rapidly about what this usually implies. He begins to lean down, but instead just kisses my cheek and says his own quiet goodbye.
"Do your worst, Pumpkin." That's his closing line.
I open the door to find Alice on the couch with a bowl of popcorn. She has a smile on her face, but it's obviously a façade to cover up the fact that she was watching us through the peephole. For as small as she is, she makes an awful lot of noise even through a door.
"So, how was it?" Cue the innocent eye blinking and increase the smile.
*Field of Screams*
The manila folder contains photos of other actors in Edward's area for inspiration. However, he wasn't nice enough to give me pictures of himself. I have the image of him looking like Wolverine attacked him in my mind, but I can't copy that or I'll never hear the end of it.
Alice and I are leaving soon to head to Field of Screams, but I still haven't chosen a definite route to go with his makeup. I have several ideas swirling around in my head.
"Hey, I need to show you something before we go." Alice comes into the room and shows me her phone.
"Seriously, Alice?" I shriek. She took a photo of Edward and I looking at each other at the diner. If I had complete amnesia and was shown this picture, I wouldn't be able to tell you that Voldemort is me.
"What? It's cute!"
"Cute?" I gasp, looking between the picture and her. I see nothing cute about it.
"Oh, lighten up. It'll be a fun story someday in the future."
On the ride over, I'm still sulking a bit about that photo. I look like a crazy person eating in a diner while everyone else is not covered in makeup and costume. I just couldn't let Edward win. Two sides to every story they say.
That's when I realize what I am going to do to Edward for his makeup.
*Field of Screams*
Like I expected, Edward is here early. He smirks as I come over and takes seat.
"Do your worst, Bella, and I mean your absolute worse."
Neither of us talk while I do his makeup. I'm entrapped in my work, ensuring that it is absolutely perfect for Field of Screams and Edward. There is so much inspiration from so many sources that he looks like a mutated hybrid beyond saving.
"Done," I declare, placing all my materials on the table and handing him a hand mirror.
He appraises my work from all angles. He doesn't look disgusted. Imagine my surprise when a smile overcomes his ugly mug.
"Didn't think you had it in you, Bella. Absolutely breathtaking."
The bare base of his makeup is inspired from Two Face except instead of symbolizing good and bad, it's all bad. The left side of his face looks like he escaped from a hospital. All his skin looks like it's been pulled back, revealing tendons, veins, and blood. The right side of his face is a mixture between Joker, It, and Wolverine wounds. Faded white makeup with fake blood trickling from the right corner of his lips instead of red lipstick outlining his lips. And the ending blow, a deep vertical gash through his eye down to the right corner.
"Still think I'm a pussy who doesn't deserve to be here?"
He rises from his seat. "You've got the skills, but the real question is if you make all the actors you work on this terrifying." He winks and smirks at me. "See you later."
By the time all my actors have come through and gotten their makeup done, there's not a lot of actors left. I do see Rose lingering about though, talking to some guy with a camera by a grey backdrop. Edward comes over and the two talk for a moment before they both go in front of the grey backdrop and the camera guy begins taking pictures. Individual and couple pictures.
It takes a second for it to click that they're doing marketing for social media and probably a portfolio for future reference. I've seen random camera crews at random times and days and nights, but didn't think much of it. Edward didn't say anything about using my work for social media and marketing, but I think I prefer it this way. If it's good enough for him to want it featured, he definitely approves it.
That night I go home with Alice with a goofy smile on my face.
Posted: October 2, 2020
Happy October! Hoodie season has returned! Hope everyone's hanging in there for the last quarter of 2020.