Author's Note : Thank you for your reviews. I hate the idea of posting author's notes at the beginning of a chapter because it distracts the reader from the story. But since a reviewer luvroffanfic has asked me about the change of Edward's last name from Cullen to Cuilinn, I intend to address it. Yes, it is a deliberate move intending to adopt Meyer's Edward Cullen to my story. Since Edward is a European royal, I cannot carry on with the American original. The word Cullen actually is a modern adaptation of Cuilinn, which is an old Irish surname. It is pronounced as Kil-inn. I felt it fit perfectly with my tale. Kindly read on…

3. The Party

"Bella, we're here."

It took a moment for her voice to register with me. I turned and saw Rosalie smiling at me sympathetically. "Come on, Bella, don't you want to be with all the people who have taken time out of their lives and turned up for your birthday? The least you owe them is an appearance."

I laughed humourlessly. "Do you expect me to believe that they have all turned up for me and not you and Charlotte? I'm not stupid."

Rosalie sighed and pursed her lips. "Fine, believe whatever you want. You know you don't have to go in, but I don't think that sitting at home and brooding over that dog is going to make anything any better."

I flinched and said, "I will come in if you promise not to use that word anymore."

"Alright! I won't … tonight," she muttered under her breath.

I shook my head and got out of the car. We had arrived at the Mercer building, which housed Venom on its topmost floor. Touted as the place to be (until of course the next best thing arrived) it was Rosalie's boyfriend, Royce King's latest venture. He had a chain of clubs in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. Needless to say, he was the typical Casanova - anti-commitment, serial dater, and a complete and utter jerk. What was surprising was that Rosalie fell for him hook, line and sinker. It was hard to imagine Rosalie in that position since she was fiercely independent and capable of burning a man's balls if he even looked at her crossly. And many a times, even that almost happened.

Like Charlotte, Rosalie was very well known among the New York elite, but, Rosalie did not have the same luxurious childhood as her. She was an orphan and was raised by her aunt. After high school, she came to New York on a whim to become a model. After encountering many sleazy agents and photographers, she decided to give up her hope and landed a job at a high profile PR firm through her modelling contacts. Gradually, she moved up the ladder and set up her own business. Due to her tenacious and no-nonsense nature, she succeeded magnificently, quickly becoming the go-to girl for organising launch parties and acquiring many a celebrity clientele.

It was while handling the launch of Royce's club in Los Angeles that she met him. At first, I assumed she was just keeping him on the edges to further her business, but it turned out that she actually liked him. Even more of a shock was that her feelings were reciprocated and they began their semi-relationship.

There was a group of paparazzi to one side of the entrance, waiting to get their shot of the rich and famous drunks. We made our way up with Rosalie smiling at me encouragingly and me rolling my eyes. The bouncer greeted Rosalie respectfully and breezed her in. I took a deep breath, shook away lingering thoughts of Jacob, and followed her.

I had never been to this club before and saw that the entire place was done in hues of purple with a tints of red. It was a large room with couches and a long bar. It was already quite packed with many of Manhattan's party circuit. A pair of staircases led to the exclusive-for-celebrities upper deck, which was hidden with sheer curtains, blowing ethereally.

We made our way up the floating staircase, and I was concentrating hard not to fall down them. I thought it was a really dumb idea to place them at a place where drunken people swayed, almost like willing them to fall and break their heads open. The upper deck was strewn with love seats and a few couches here and there. Large wisps of sheer curtains were sprinkled sporadically giving a soft, romantic look to the place. I was sure that the seats hidden by them would see a lot of action and made a mental note to avoid them. There was another smaller bar to the far left.

"Careful, 3 o'clock," whispered Rosalie.

Before I could ask her what she meant, I heard and saw for myself. "Bella! Happy Birthday!" said Mike, coming towards me with open arms. He hugged me tightly and whispered in my ear, "You look gorgeous, as always."

"Umm… thanks Mike," I said awkwardly, trying to extract myself from his grip.

"Come, everyone's waiting for you," he said pushing at the small of my back. Charlotte, Claire, Angela, Ben and Jessica(!) were already seated at a corner along with a bunch of Charlotte's Page 6 circle.

I pulled at Rosalie's elbow and asked, "What on earth did you invite Mike and Jessica for? Are you crazy?"

"Mike sort of invited himself and I invited Jessica."

"It isn't enough that you torture me with a party, now I have to bear those clowns, too? Great. Now are you going to tell me that Leah's hiding in there as well?"

"Yeah, right! I planned to give you the best birthday present ever in the form of Leah. Don't worry, I have lined up another surprise for you tonight. Jessica Stanley," said Rosalie, winking.

"Uh-oh, what are you planning Rosie?"

Before I could get an answer, I was greeted with shouts of 'Happy Birthday!' and people's hugs and cheers. Soon, I was lost in a whirl of conversation, drinks and food.

Later, Peter arrived with a bunch of his team mates and the whole area became crowded.

"Peter! I asked you to bring eligible friends for Bella, not these giant monkeys!" Charlotte admonished Peter, looking at three jocks dancing almost on top of her friends. Peter grinned at her and gave her a big sloppy kiss.

"Uggh! You drunk jerk!" she said and shoved him. Peter laughed heartily and doubled over. Charlotte shook her head and said "I should never let him get drunk in public. I'm sorry about this fix up. I should have known better than to ask Peter. Next time I shall strike gold I promise."

"Charlotte, has it ever crossed your mind that I might not want to be fixed up?"

Charlotte was my other best friend and also my oldest. We studied together at NYU, and although she came from an entirely different world, we became the strongest of friends. After graduation, I moved onto my job, and she moved on to become a full time socialite. As she did in college, she still tried to fix me up with eligible suitors and I still hated all those self-declared-royalty guys. We were miles apart in personalities and taste, yet we found a common ground in our friendship.

"No." she replied singularly. "Anyway, what's the scoop? Heard you were going to have dinner with Jacob tonight?"

I took a long sip of my drink and said, "Gossiping is bad PR, you should tell Rose that."

"I saw you were looking a little glum when you came in earlier and asked. Did you two get into another fight or something?"

"Something like that. Look, Char, I really don't want to talk about it now. I am actually having fun and don't want to kill my buzz. I think most of it is gone already. Can you order another margarita for me?"

"I'm sure we can do better than a margarita for the birthday gal," a deep voice said behind me.

I turned and saw Royce King handing me a bottle of Jean Marc XO vodka. "Have a little fun. Happy Birthday."

"Thank you, Royce. For this as well as the party," I said gratefully, taking the bottle from his hands.

Royce waved me off. "Please, anything for Rose's friends-". He was interrupted by the manager who whispered excitedly in his ear. Royce listened and said eagerly, "Take them to the Roof Room. Or wait, I'll take care of them." He turned to us and said, "I'm sorry I have to leave now, I have some important guests to attend to. You guys have fun."

Charlotte and I faked big smiles and watched him disappear in the crowd.

"I guess we aren't important enough."

"Gosh! He comes off as such a nice guy but there is something… something.."

"Creepy about him?" I offered, while helping myself to a glass of the divine liquid in my hands.

"Exactly! I feel like a bitch thinking like that when he hasn't done anything to warrant such an opinion, but you know… I don't know. Anyway, I gotta go and get those stupid jock jerks out of here before they ruin my reputation. God knows who and what they have ruined so far. Meanwhile, by the time I come back, why don't you get some real buzz and be completely sloshed like one is supposed to be on their birthdays," Charlotte said smiling.

I swallowed grinning and raised my glass to her in acquiescence. I made my way to where my party was sitting.

Claire noticed me and said, "Wow Bella, finally decided to loosen up huh, and with a full bottle no less."

"This baby is all mine. Not sharing, sorry."

Claire laughed and gave me two thumbs up.

One of Charlotte's minions near us laughed and said, "Bella finishing that bottle of vodka? There's a joke. You have the capacity of a squirrel. Be careful or you might get vomit on Rosalie's dress." She snickered and the rest followed suit.

See, this was why I hated this crowd. Bitchy remarks were passed off as jokes, and the one who did not belong was singled out, tortured till the last shred of dignity was torn from them and then thrown out like a used condom. To be worshipped by them, you had to have any of the three big guns – money, power, or fame. Clearly, I had none and had to endure many years of their bullshit. But I had had enough for this day. First Jessica, then Leah, then Jacob, Rosalie, Mike, and now these bitches. It's payback time.

I threw the glass down, picked up the bottle, and started pouring the raw vodka down my throat. The liquid was like fire passing down my throat which spread to my entire body in less than two seconds. I could hear cheers and shouts from the crowd.

"Bella! Stop it. Enough." Ben Cheney, Angela's boyfriend, snatched the bottle away from me. I opened my eyes and saw a blurred image similar to that of when adjusting a zoom image. I faltered and felt someone steadying me.

"Whooo! Take that!" I pumped my hands in the air and pointed to where I thought the bitches were sitting. I went up to the centre table and got onto it.

And then, I started dancing to the music. As I picked up a rhythm, I became vigorous and rough. One song, two songs, three….I lost count. I was in a daze and nothing could stop me. All around me, I could hear people hooting and saw Mike looking at me awestruck. Rosalie was laughing and giving me the thumbs up while Charlotte was taking a video of my moves. Some of the jock guys and other new guys whom I didn't recognise started dancing around me like I was some tribal offering.

My shoes were slipping on the smooth table, and after a few slip ups I kicked each shoes in random directions. I heard a shriek from one of the bitches and hoped it hit her hard in the head. Stupid whore. Just then, the DJ shifted to a slower, sexier song. I closed my eyes and swayed to the beat. I could feel the sexuality rising in me and working itself into a slow frenzy. I kept moving until the song ended and then opened my eyes. Everyone hooted and clapped for me.

"Time for the cake, people, Claire shouted, pointing to the waiters bringing an enormous chocolate wonder.

I tried to get down and fell with a thud.

"Bella! Sweetie, here get up." Angela offered me a hand and brought me to a standing position. "Maybe now is not the time for cake."

Rosalie took one look at my purple face and agreed. "I'll take her to the ladies room. Where are her shoes?"

"Here", said someone and handed them to her. She struggled to put my shoes on for me. "Could you stand still? God Bella, it will take just a few more seconds." I was trying to do some pelvis moves. "Hold on. There, all done. " She got up straight, clasped my elbow tightly, and led me through the crowd.

I was laughing hysterically and falling all the way. "Oh my God! Did you see the way I fell? Bam! And again. Bam! And again. Bam!" I said clutching at my sides, "And I hit her with my shoe … serves that bitch right!"

"Yeah yeah, you showed her. Uggh, it is jam packed. Bella! Quit it!" she said as I began dancing with a red-headed guy. "Just hang on till we get to the bathroom."

Just then I spotted my magnificent cake floating over a blonde head. A hand appeared underneath and seemed to be navigating it around people. I was suddenly ravenous. I pulled myself away from Rosalie and went after it. The waiter was carrying it away inside a door behind the bar. I jostled people and went after him.

"Wait! My cake!" I could hear Rosalie shouting after me distantly, but all my stomach could think of was having a big lick of the amazing icing. The door revealed a well lit narrow corridor which ended in two ways. I looked side to side from left to right a couple of times in confusion. I tried to smell the chocolate and took a left turn. I continued my way into the maze of the building, getting further and further in a labyrinth of doors and staircases. I reached a dead end and sniffed hard.

"Well, Mr Icing, there is only one way for you to go now." I pushed opened the lone door hard and felt a breath of fresh air hit me. I was on the roof. Well, technically I was on the roof of the roof. It occupied a quarter of the building's size and had antennas and other crap strewn about.

It was really quiet up here, with the sounds of the club becoming a distant background. Everywhere I looked, I was greeted by the jet black night sky, but no Mr Icing.

"Mr Icing … Mr Icing … Where are you?" I called out, walking around. "Come on out." I swayed over to the side overlooking the floor below. "Show yourself to me." I grasped the edge and said, "Let me have a lick of your gorgeous- oh! Oh-"

Even in my haze I could tell I was about to fall. My damn heel caught on one of the antennas and in my struggle to free it, it was freeing me. I teetered on the edge, trying to hold on and balance myself. Perhaps your senses, though clouded by alcohol, can detect potential danger and jump into action. Well, perhaps not. I felt myself fall in slow motion and braced myself for the impact. Instead, I heard loud swearing and felt something hard and warm clutching me. Perhaps I was being abducted by an alien, and the fall was a trap. I wouldn't mind as long as I could lie here and keep my eyes closed. It was so relaxing -

"Holy mother fuck!"

Hmm … the alien sounded surprised, or angry. I couldn't make out its weird tone. Should probably check. I opened my eyes and found a pair of green eyes staring at me in shock.

A green alien. How predictable. Not original at all. I got bored and closed my eyes again.

"Hey! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Okay, at least it had a beautiful voice. I deigned to open my eyes again and said, "Are you going to abduct me and keep me as your slave to do experiments with?"

"What the …" It set me down on the floor against the wall and grasped both my hands. "Miss, I think you need to find your friend."

"Okie." As soon as it let go of my hands I fell to my side and lay on the floor blissfully. It was quiet now, the alien was gone, and I could close my eyes-

"Hey! Miss. You need to get up and go to your friend. There is a chilly wind blowing and it might rain soon. Do you want me to take you back to the club? Perhaps he has left for there."

"Who? And I'm not Miss, I'm … umm … umm … Bella. And I would like to close my eyes and lay here, thank you very much. You can kidnap me after some time. There's no hurry."

"Look Umbella, I don't know what-"

"Bella." I lifted my head off the floor and looked at it. "It's Bella. B-E-L-L-A. I think you come from a dumb planet. Wait a minute." I looked at him closely with my muddled eyes and observed, "You are not an alien. You are a man."