I'm not so much in the owning Twilight department. I am in the staying up way too late reading Twilight fanfiction department.
Chapter 27
Bella and Esme were inseparable that evening. In fact, they were inseparable for the remaining week up to the gala. Edward was too afraid to ask Bella to talk with him in front of his mother. He decided to bide his time and try to catch her alone over the next few days. He thought about sneaking in to her room at night but those plans were thwarted when his father put Bella's bags in Alice's room. He moped, grumbled and fussed coming very close to having a flouncing hissy fit. It was only after he received a strange look from Jasper that Edward calmed down.
Bella was not going out of her way to avoid Edward. There were just too many other things on her mind. The menu for the gala was intricate. She and Esme had written a schedule for the next few days that allowed for some breaks as well as the preparation of food for the family as well. Alice had volunteered Jasper as their shopping boy when they needed last minute items. He would be rewarded handsomely after the gala and was told, by Alice, to make sure to buy chocolate sauce and whipped cream for his reward. Jasper's healthy teenage mind ran through image after image until a goofy look was permanently etched on his face.
Alice had found what she said was the perfect dress for Bella to wear to the gala. Something fitting a New Year's Eve party with wealthy revellers. Bella was a bit nervous about her first fancy dress party but surmised that if she felt awkward she could always camp out in the kitchen and hide.
So, she chopped, stirred, sautéed, macerated, and poached while Esme diced, carved, julienned, and baked. They sang songs that were popular when Esme was young although she cringed when Bella called them oldies. They argued politics and current events. They discussed movies and rated hot actors. That discussion when overheard by Carlisle resulted in his storming off for the afternoon to sulk.
Bella was riding the high that the estrogen filled days gave her. She hadn't had a lot of feminine influences in her life and she was soaking it up. Alice pouted and begged until Bella and Esme were able to clear a few hours to go shopping for the right underwear for their dresses. Bella thought that she had never blushed so much in her life when surrounded by scanty panties and barely there bras. What made it worse was that Esme was the one who found the skimpiest items for them to try.
As it drew closer and closer to gala night Bella started to feel uneasy. She knew she had been busy but she didn't think that she had been unapproachable. She had thought that Edward would have come to talk to her about the whole secret admirer thing. She thought that she had made it clear that the ball was in his court. It was time for him to shit or get off the pot. Maybe he had just been playing with her. Sending her pretty notes to bolster her confidence. Make her feel wanted and admired. Plant that little, tiny seed of hopeful confusion that says maybe he's changed. But he hadn't even asked her to go to the gala with him. They were both going anyway, it could have been so easy to say 'let's go together'.
Her feelings were being pulled in different directions. He had started being nice to her, friendlier and affectionate. She still remembered that kiss of desperation of his. The hugs. And then there were the notes. Some of them extolling her virtues. The lush colour of her hair, the depth of her eyes, and the way her smile lit up his day.
Once she had put together the clues he had inadvertently given on the drive up, her thinking of him skewed slightly. Half of her felt that it would be cowardly to allow herself to fall for him again. The other half thought why not give him a chance if that's what he wants. But now, by not saying anything, he was pissing that chance away. When she asked if they could talk about it later, she meant hours later not days or weeks. She thought once she called him on the notes he beat a path to her door to explain. He said in the car that he hadn't seen the girl, just the crush. Almost all the notes started with 'I see you', well, now he was only seeing her at the dinner table and he could barely look her in the eye then. The music from his ipod played some of the songs on that list he left for her to listen to, in the same order, too. Had he used the flowery words of others to trick her into feeling something for him again? And if he had, to what end? She couldn't see how he could get any enjoyment out of playing this cat and mouse game with her. She felt stupid. She felt young and inexperienced. She felt sad. She felt angry. She felt like a fool. The more she thought of it, the more foolish she felt. But she also felt a little bit of hope.
Finally, New Year's Eve arrived. By noon all the food had been taken to the banquet hall. There was nothing left to do but get ready for the gala. Plucked, primped and cinched, Bella slid on the gorgeous taffeta dress Alice had found for her. At first glance it was black but as she moved there were hints of emerald and amethyst. The cut of the dress was straight out of the late fifties, falling just below her knees. The collar draped at the back and off her shoulders with a deeply plunging neckline. The corset Alice and Esme talked her into gave her a figure that made her own eyes pop out. When she looked down all she could see was boobs. She thought she looked like an extra from a Mad Men dinner party scene. Alice had called the dress 'witchy and bitchy', and Bella could see why. She felt great in it.
Carlisle and Jasper were waiting patiently at the bottom of the stairs. They both whistled as the three ladies walked down to join them. As Jasper helped Alice with her coat Carlisle helped both Bella and Esme.
"Where is Edward?" She asked Esme quietly as Carlisle opened the door to lead them all out.
"Oh, he is meeting us there. He just had to go pick up his date."
AN: I'm allergic to rotten tomatoes, so if you feel the need to fling something at me, marshmallows are very aerodynamic.