So here is chapter 3. It fought with me a bit, but finally Edward is here. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of its characters.
Three days later I was on my way back to Sofie's for my first day. Sofie herself had called me the morning after my lunch with Alice, and practically begged me to come on board as a hostess. I was ecstatic, to say the least, about getting a job so quickly. But, here I was on my way there, not sure what was waiting for me.
I pulled up to Sofie's about half an hour before my shift was starting. Angela and Sofie were going to go over the basics with me and then ease me into hostessing with a Tuesday lunch. Sofie had said on the phone that that was one of their quietest times during the week, so that would be the best time for me to train without it being too overwhelming.
When I walked in, Angela smiled brightly at me.
"Hey, Bella! See, I knew you would get the job." I laughed and shook my head at her.
"Ok, let me get you all set up over here and I will go get Sofie." We walked together to a table near the kitchen and I sat down. She disappeared and I started to look at the papers in front of me. After a few minutes, I heard a throat clear and someone sat down across from me. Looking up, I recognized our waiter from Saturday, Jasper.
"Well, hello there." His smile was wide the moment our eyes met.
"Hi", I said shyly.
"You were here the other day for lunch, right?"
I was surprised that he would even remember me, but I smiled at him. "Yeah, I came for lunch with my friend, Alice." I hoped that Alice knew she owed me one for mentioning her to him. He smiled wider at the mention of her name, but made no comment.
"Ah, so now you are working here. Are you nervous?" Jasper seemed very friendly and easy to talk to.
"A little bit," I admitted.
"Don't worry, it won't be too bad. We are all very nice around here. How about this, I'll give you the real run down on this place before Sofie gets here and tells you what she wants you to hear." He raised his eyebrows at me.
I leaned forward eagerly to hear what he had to say. He grinned wickedly.
"That," he pointed to a tall slightly muscular man, about 22, that was currently carrying out drinks, "is Emmett. He is everyone's big brother. If you ever have a problem, go to him and it will get solved. No questions asked. He has a younger brother, Edward. He works here too; you will probably meet him later today. That over there," he pointed to a leggy blonde who was sitting at the counter texting on her cell phone, "is Rosalie. She's the best waitress we have here. She tends to be a bit stand-offish, so don't be too terribly upset if she doesn't like you. She is also Emmett's long-time girlfriend. Emmett is friendly, but don't get too friendly with him. It won't end well." He flashed me a look to let me know he was kidding, but not really. "Mary," he continued, "has been here for a while; she's kind of shy though. She's really very sweet. I think you will like her. You've already met Angela; she's a very good hostess, so you will be learning from the best. Sofie, well, she's just Sofie. You will see exactly what I mean when you meet her. There are more people that work here…"
"And what exactly does that mean, Jasper? 'Well, she's just Sofie'" Jasper's rant was interrupted by a petite middle-aged woman with short jet black hair. Jasper's smile froze on his face and he looked towards Sofie with a look of embarrassment and a trace of fear. He recovered quickly though.
"All I meant is that you are the loveliest boss I have ever had." He smiled at her and the hard look on her face slipped away, and she shook her head.
"Don't you have work to do, Jasper Whitlock? Lunch starts in 20 minutes, is your section ready?" She raised her eyebrows at him.
He just laughed. "I'm going, I'm going." He turned and smiled at me. "Good luck, Bella. I'll see you in a bit." And he walked off where he was intercepted by Emmett, who struck up a conversation with him.
Sofie, who was now sitting across from me, smiled.
"Watch out for him, he's quite the charmer."
I laughed. Jasper was good looking, but not my type. "Oh, no worries. When we were here the other day, I think my best friend called dibs."
Sofie smiled at me and we started to go over the table charts, with the breakdown of sections and table numbers. After we had gone over it a few times, I was feeling confident that I had retained enough information to be somewhat helpful today during lunch. Jasper wasn't kidding about Sofie though. She was serious and meant business. But she seemed fun and lighthearted at the same time. I liked her already.
When we finished up, it was a little after 12 and Angela and I headed toward the hostess stand. Emmett was making his way over to us before Sofie interrupted him.
"Emmett, where is your brother? He was scheduled at 12. Do you know what time it is now?" Emmett looked a bit afraid and shook his head. "It's after 12. He's late, and he is in trouble when he gets here."
As if on cue, the front door opened and in walked, who I presumed was Edward because of the death glare Sofie leveled at him. Everyone was now staring at Edward.
"Well look who decided to show that pretty little face of his."
His eyes scanned all of the faces that were looking at him, lingering a moment on me, probably because I was the only unfamiliar face in the bunch.
"What are you so riled up about Sofie?" He glanced at his cell phone. "Oh, I am twelve minutes late. TWELVE. Excuse me that there was an accident on route one-oh-one. I'll anticipate that next time and leave twelve minutes earlier. I'm so very sorry, Madam Sofie, please forgive me." He smiled very sweetly at her and then pouted slightly.
She glared for another moment before rolling her eyes at him. "Why am I incapable of staying mad at any of you? You do have a cell phone, Edward so you could have at least called to let me know that you were running late. I am training a new hostess today and I don't need you pulling this shit. So be on time this week, and if that means leaving twelve minutes earlier, then by all means." He grinned at her and nodded. She just shook her head at him.
"Now, Edward, please meet Bella, she is the new hostess." He smiled at me and waved and I had the sudden urge to fan myself. He was very good looking if I said so myself. Tall and lean, at least foot, maybe taller, with a full mess of brownish red hair. I wondered if he hadn't brushed it before leaving for work, or if that's just the way it was.
I smiled shyly and waved back. His smile became a little crooked.
"Now, Prince Charming, go get ready to work. The next table that comes in is yours, so you better be ready for it." Sofie gave him a pointed look.
He smiled cockily at her and kissed her cheek before sliding into the back to get ready for his shift.
"What a charming bastard he is. If I had a nickel for everytime he was late and I let him get away with it, I would be a very rich woman. He is just lucky I've known him for a long time. And I know his mother." She just shook her head again. "Ok, Bella. Are you ready for all the fun?"
***
Four hours later, with a busier lunch than Sofie had anticipated, I was exhausted. It had finally died down before the dinner rush, but my shift was pretty much over. I had done pretty well for myself, only really screwing up once. I double sat Emmett instead of seating Edward. I felt like such an idiot but Edward had calmed me down. I was standing at the hostess stand glaring at the seating chart when he had come up to me.
"Hey, don't worry about it. I know that you are probably kicking yourself right now, but it's not a big deal. It's your first day." I looked up at him when he finished and I was met with very sincere green eyes. He was much closer than he had been before, and he was much more attractive up close.
"I know," I responded, not really meeting his eyes. "I just wanted to be good at this."
"You will be, don't worry. Like I said, it's your first day." He smiled at me and patted my arm before disappearing.
Now, I was walking towards the back, to the table I had sat in when I had talked to Sofie. This was the "employee table". Everyone sat here when they weren't supposed to. I collapsed down into the bench and put my head in my hands.
"You okay there?" I looked up to see Jasper looking down at me.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little tired. I'll be all right." He smiled and headed into the kitchen. I followed him with my eyes and saw him start a conversation with the cook, and Sofie's husband, Sid. He was a bit younger than her, but she adored him.
"Well kid, you did a good job for your first day." Sofie had plopped down across from me at the table. "Much better than the last hostess we had. She lasted about a week." She had angry look on her face before she smiled at me. "Are you hungry? I'll have Sid make you something before you go, my treat. How about a grilled cheese and tomato soup? Sid's is the best in the world."
That sounded pretty good actually.
I nodded. "Sure Sofie that would be really nice." She beamed, and headed into the kitchen.
Her seat was quickly occupied by Edward. He was grinning at me. He always seemed to be grinning.
"You did well today, Bella. Much better than that other girl we had a few weeks ago."
I smiled back at him. "So I've heard. What happened?"
His smile became a bit bitter and he took a fake exasperated breath.
"She really didn't work. She stood there and made everyone else work. Angela is a nice girl, and even she hated her. She was mean to everyone too. Especially poor Mary. Mary is really shy and quiet, and this girl was a complete hag to her. Rosalie contemplated taking her out back and inflicting bodily harm." He looked amused for the moment at the prospect. "The only person she didn't hate was me. She wouldn't leave me alone actually." He shot me a glance. "Sofie fired her when she caught her attempting to corner me in the kitchen. Thank God Sid was there because this girl almost tried to make it like I was taking advantage of her. What a trip that was."
I stared at him for a long moment. I felt bad for him. But he just smiled at me.
"I'm glad you are here though. You seem like a keeper. Even if you did shaft me a table today." His eyes held mischief but my face flushed and I averted my eyes.
He leaned in. "Hey, I was kidding. Don't worry about it." He smiled again, this time his eye wrinkled at the corners. It was a very good look on him.
"All right, Edward, get back to work. Now."
Sofie was back and she was glaring at Edward again. He smiled brightly at me before sliding out and heading into the kitchen. Sofie placed a generous portion of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich in front of me.
"Eat up, sweetheart. When you are finished, you can head on home, and I will see you at the same time tomorrow. Okay? You did good today." She squeezed my arm and then disappeared.
I ate and got my things together to leave. Just as I was heading towards the front, I heard Sofie yelling and turned to see her chasing Edward out of the kitchen. He had a handful of French fries and a smile on his face. Sofie was standing at the kitchen door fuming with a sheepish looking Sid behind her.
Edward saw me leaving and waved.
"See you tomorrow, Bella!" That smirk on his face was starting to make me swoon. I waved back and headed out to my truck.
I was really going to like working here.