Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing Twilight...once again...probably won't change.
In case no one's figured it out yet, not only is this story extremely OOC, it's also AU and AH. Was originally intended to be more of a RP based fanfic but I was advised by a very wise voo-doo woman from the Quarter that to get people to read it, I needed it to be Twilight. Hence, the characters. Oh, 'Quarter' is New Orleanian for "French Quarter." If you ever come here, go there.
Once again, my lovely, sexy mistress of all things Beta is Danell.
And yet again, please please please drop me some lines. Feedback is like water on the parched fields...somewhere I've never been...like a farm...in Oklahoma.
Chapter Four
I didn't look. I kept my eyes on Alice, who had unceremoniously dropped open her mouth and was gaping at me.
"You brought Edward Cullen with you?" she asked incredulously in a muttered tone.
"I didn't bring him." I spit out under my breath bitterly, "He must've followed me."
"Oh my God, he is sex on a stick," Rosalie oozed, adjusting her boobs through her top and fluffing her hair, oblivious to mine and Alice's dialogue. She didn't even notice hot-what's-his-name's barely veiled hostility as he watched her watch the uber-man-of-the-moment still standing at the front hostess stand.
"Who is he here with?" she gushed dramatically, her eyes darting around to see if one of the actresses he was always linked with accompanied him. I perked up at the thought, hoping it was a coincidence, and some starlet would appear at his side, despite the fact that he had just been sucking my face. I hoped he turned out to be a complete lout. Sure you do.
I kept my eyes on my lap. Something of utmost importance was suddenly there, and I studied my hands as though the secrets to the universe would appear. I should have driven around for a while. I still hadn't wrapped my brain around my momentary lapse in judgment from the lounge. Momentary loss of sanity. My heart was still racing, although if it was from the intense physical encounter or the bombshell he dropped on me, I couldn't decide.
Rosalie was craning her head around, the other people at our table were all chattering as well about the hot young commodity, and Alice was burning holes into the side of my head as I avoided her face.
"What have you done?" she grinned, eyeing me wickedly; as usual, somehow able to see what other people would not notice. Her eyes panned over my face and she withdrew a pink lipslicks from her purse and handed it to me. I rolled my eyes but took the gloss and smeared it on my lips petulantly. Rose could not let this exchange go unnoticed for long.
"What does she mean, Bella?" my other friend chimed in, checking out one of her perfectly sculptured nails, obvious that she didn't believe it could possibly be too exciting. "What is going on?" She lowered her voice conspiratoriously, as if she sensed a state secret about to be disclosed. I sensed a teensy bit of shit in her tone.
"Nothing," I muttered, giving Alice a shut-up-now look and turning to glance around Jasper, who was amazingly ignoring this whole ordeal in favor of something fascinating on his blackberry.
Edward was standing at the door of the restaurant, head craning around, obviously looking for someone. I shuddered and slouched down in my chair. He was having a discussion with the hostess, if he was looking for me, not knowing whose name to give since the table was certainly not in mine. I was not even sure whose name the table was in. I had walked in and spotted Alice and Jasper, not to mention it was at the same table they usually claimed when going out with their work crowd.
Edward had changed out of his costume from earlier, simply opting for the black leather bomber jacket over his hoodie. I think he'd removed a few layers of shirts or something because he looked less bulky. His black straight-leg jeans pooled slightly at the top of the black Adidas samba trainers he wore. His hair was a perfect disarray since he'd removed the cap. He did look like sex personified.
As I stared for what seemed like hours, trying to keep my face and expression hidden, I felt my pulse speed up and my face color deepen. It was as though I were entranced, bewitched somehow, and I felt slightly stalkerish as my eyes raked over his lean frame once more. Suddenly, recognition flooded Edward's face, and he pointed discreetly. I had leaned too far around Jasper in my gawking. The hostess led him in our direction. I was going to die in ten seconds.
"Oh sweet Jesus, he's headed this way," Rosalie gushed. "Do you think he's seen us on TV, Ali?"
"I think he's got a different object in mind," Alice answered cryptically and winked at me. I rolled my eyes.
"This gentleman," the hostess said in complete shock, about to hyperventilate and trying to remain professional all at once, "Says that he is with you."
"Us?" Rosalie cooed. "Well, isn't that lovely?"
"No," the hostess intoned. "You," she actually pointed at me. I guess pretending I had never laid eyes on him was out. Is it too late to crawl under the table undetected?
"What the—" Rosalie began.
"Thank you," Edward smoothly told the hostess, slipping her a bill of some kind and nodding. Take that all you damn tabloids talking about how cheap he is. Wait, why are you defending him? It could've been a one dollar bill for all you know.
"I need to talk you," he turned to me, his soft as velvet English accent permeating the air like liquid sex.
The entire area was silent. I say area because it wasn't just our table. The entire wing of the restaurant was completely devoid of noise. There was nothing... except for the horrifically loud hammering of my about to arrest heart. This was outrageous. I needed time to think. That wouldn't happen until I got home tonight. How was I supposed to know what to say right now? I couldn't even look up.
"Is he talking to YOU?" Rosalie was dumfounded. I knew she loved me, to some degree; but the idea of this infamously seductive star actually knowing me, much less following me to a restaurant and causing a scene, was beyond her.
"Not right now," I spit out, in fact, to both of them. I received equally surprised looks as I glanced between Rose and Edward.
"Okay, then I'll just say this here," he began, not even glancing around for a chair. He was willing to stand and have people stare while he went into a story I wanted no one to know about. He looked serious, but the twinkle in his eye told me he thought I was silly and he was calling my bluff. I thought I smelled whiskey on him as well. Liquid courage. Sounds good right about now. To his credit, he lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. "I wanted to tell you, I started to tell you—"
"Holy God," I stood up, meeting his gaze directly for the first time, looking around to see everyone salivating over the exchange. A few people were on cell phones, some even using their camera to take a picture of him. I jumped slightly at the flashbulbs. Alice, ever my friend, stood up calmly and positioned herself slightly between us. Rosalie stood then, too.
"Please, Edward?" Ali looked at him questioning. "This is not the place, right?" She motioned around at all the people gaping. Rosalie nodded as if she knew what was going on. I sighed.
"So I tried to talk to you before we got here," he explained to me.
"We weren't invited here," I accused in a whisper. "These are my friends," I motioned. Well, some of them could care less if I lived or died, but that's beside the point. The table, almost simultaneously, nodded in agreement despite the fact that surely there were some who didn't even know my name.
"Well, you were in my car before you found out," he countered.
"Good grief, found out what?" Rosalie was about to faint from excitement.
"Nothing," I looked at him purposefully. "That is a discussion for later, Rosalie. Alice," I said with heavy meaning.
"Okay then, let's all just relax and have a good time," Ali smiled and motioned for us all to sit down again.
I sat, as did Rosalie and Alice, and Edward pulled a chair from another table and squished his up next to mine. I was dreadfully aware of all the eyes watching, the tongues wagging, despite the fact that the people at my table at least tried to act normal. I tried introducing Edward to everyone, not like they didn't know who he was, but I felt it was only polite to rattle off a slew of names he'd never likely remember later.
The waitress returned to the table, Thank God Almighty!, and I seriously considered throwing a fork at her head as she slowly made her way around the table getting drink refill orders and scribbling them on a notepad. I could feel Edward's eyes on me, even though he was politely turning to and fro to answer questions and make replies to the light conversation now floating around the table. The slow-as-molasses-in-January waitress was very nearly to us and I resisted the urge to shout out my order.
"You still prefer vodka and cranberry?" Edward shocked me by asking. I turned to him and bit the sides of my cheeks to keep my mouth from dropping open. I nodded, my eyes wide. Not for the first time I was relieved that it was fairly dark in this room.
"She'll have a Stoli and cranberry with lime..with lime?" he glanced at my nodding head and turned back to the waitress who looked like she might fall out in the floor.
"A double," I finally found my voice.
"A double," he repeated to the girl, " And I'll have a double...you have Glenfiddich? Alright, let me have that."
"Um, yes sir," the girls stammered and scribbled, " A double Glenfiddich...and what?"
"Nothing," he smiled. "Rocks. No mixer, thanks."
The girl walked away with a befuddled expression after flashing him her best smile. He smiled kindly at her and then promptly turned away, scooting his chair into the table further causing his right knee to touch mine. My knee reflexively jumped as a zap of electricity shocked me, and I looked at him in surprise. He was answering some question about what projects he was working on now, but his right hand underneath the table reached over and steadied my knee as it began to bounce up and down. Oh, yes, touch me underneath the table. That's helpful.
I looked around, wondering why nobody seemed to hear my heart pounding out of my chest. Everyone was chatting calmly and doing a pretty good job of not staring at Edward, which I definitely sympathized with the effort that must take. For the men and women alike. I slouched forward, resting my elbows on my legs to where my hands jutted forward and brushed his. That had been a mistake. I just didn't know what to do with them. On top of the table I had been inclined to pat out some sort of weird beat. Just like my knee had the urge to bounce repeatedly in nervousness until he grasped it. Now it felt like jelly.
His hand raked upward off my knee and easily enveloped my fist-clasped hands, his thumb immediately rubbing small circles over my knuckles. I stared down at the table top, my face a mere few inches from it anyway. Aside from the fact I thought I might die in a second, I had a strong desire to lower it the rest of the distance and take a nap. I couldn't remember being this tired since nursing school.
Our drinks arrived ten thousand rapid heartbeats later and I struggled to not growl at the girl when she delivered mine. I grasped it quickly, after pulling my left hand from Edwards clutch, and gulped down half of the pint glass, smiling when I realized it was a very strong drink. Good. Maybe I'll pass out and consciously avoid the rest of this night. Edward chuckled, telling the waitress we'd take one more round while handing her his credit card and practically downing his double whiskey.
"Bloody annoying not to have a fag," he muttered to me, his right hand still under the table, holding onto my right hand. We must've looked like we had the worst posture in history, slouched down to the table the way we were.
"The patio," I mumbled, sipping back more of my drink and already hearing a slurping sound as the liquid became outnumbered by ice.
"Mmm?" Edward's eyes were hazy, I couldn't tell if it was result of alcohol or if he was as tired as I.
"You can smoke on the patio," I explained, pulling my hand out of his and reaching up the flip my hair. It was a nervous habit. That and tapping my foot, bouncing my knee, picking my cuticles, biting my thumb and tapping on things. Yeah. You're most definitely normal.
"Come on, then," he stood and nodded for me to as well. I looked at him confused; not wanting to say I'd meant he could go smoke and I could think, or escape out the front door. He looked down at me and wiggled his eyebrows.
I turned to my right intending to tap Alice on the shoulder. She and Rose had become so absolutely engrossed in conversations with other people, and yet I had the distinct impression that they both were trying to pay attention to what was going on with me. Alice turned to me before I'd even actually touched her. Spooky Smurf.
A flash went off again and I stood up.
"I'm sorry, Alice. I can't do this right now." It was too much. Right on the heels of my 'last scandal'. I feel like Lindsey Lohan.
"It's okay, Bella," Alice stood and hugged me, whispering something about calling later. I nodded, and took the opportunity to whisper one word in her ear. I knew she'd understand immediately. "McMurphy." She looked shocked, but recovered and hid her surprise before releasing me. I hugged Rosalie and said my goodbyes to the rest of the people I didn't really know.
"Patio?" I asked Edward languidly and led the way when he nodded. I could feel everyone's eyes on us, but his were boring a hole into the back of my head and felt distinctly different. I knew we needed to talk, but a public place did not seem like a proper venue.
Edward told the waitress as we passed by that we needed our drinks on the patio and signed the receipt she held out. She gushed something about loving him and that our drinks were ready and all she had to do was grab them off the bar and she'd be right out. He smiled and told her we'd collect them ourselves and to have a lovely evening. I continued to the patio and let him get the drinks.
He immediately chose a table on the inside, remote back edge of the patio and placed the drinks while letting me choose where to sit. I felt like we were too alone all ready and could feel what little clarity I had etching away. Edward sat and offered me a smoke before lighting one up himself when I declined. I didn't smoke anymore, although the idea was definitely tempting right now.
We sat pretty much in silence, finishing our drinks, letting him smoke and making occasional small talk. It felt as though an elephant were sitting in the middle of the patio table though. His eyes grew more hooded and his hand continually reached across the small gap between us to grasp my leg from his slouched position. I tried to avoid direct eye contact with those gray-blue eyes; I didn't understand the way my stomach flipped when he looked at me so intently. I didn't like the way it made me feel. Out of control and vulnerable.
"Fuck me, someone must've phoned the bastards," Edward suddenly muttered, putting his cigarette out in the ashtray, and inching his chair away from me.
"Who?" I looked in the direction he nodded and saw a small group of denim and baseball cap clad men who were inching around the side of the patio railing. That was when the flashbulbs began going off and they began calling out to the star whose former spirits suddenly seemed to dissipate.
"Oh, Christ," I stood and began backing away to the back corner, knowing there were steps there leading down to the street. "I can't..."
I actually looked over purposefully in Edward's direction. He had stood, of course, when I retreated, which only excited the photographers more.
"Edward!" one of them called out again, "Is this your new girlfriend?"
"Hey, sweetheart, what's your name?" another called as they made their way around the patio and met up with us on the street.
"That's Isabella Swan," another one called and I heard him explain to the group that he'd snapped pictures of me after the incident with the mayor. In a mere fifteen seconds who I was and my role in the filthy story were laid out for the other men's amusement.
"What are you two doing together?" they wanted to know, as if it were their business.
Impertinent bastards.
We headed around the corner, walking briskly, the cool air whipping around us. I zipped up my hoodie and noticed that Edward had raised his, blocking much of the view of his face. He looked at me, taking hold of my arms from behind me and moving my body to the inside of the sidewalk as we trudged on, ignoring their insistent questions. This put me somewhat out of their range of vision, unless they wanted pictures of my butt walking away from them. Lovely.
"Put up your hood," he whispered, "Then they can't get as clear a shot." I immediately obeyed, despite the fact that they'd now rushed around in front of us and were walking backwards so they could get pictures of our onward trek.
"Look down," Edward muttered, "They can't see your face as clear, plus you're less likely to trip and fall on camera," he laughed as though this had happened to him before.
The flashes were relentless. Even without them it would be an annoying and irksome way to try and walk down a sidewalk, but the constant bright lights bouncing off of the dark sky made it impossible for my eyes to adjust and I knew any moment I was going to start staggering into anything that might be in my path. A few drinks in my system didn't help.
We finally reached the parking garage, ducking to the left inside Edward asked me to stand still and turned around to meet the oncoming paparazzi. He briefly explained we were old friends, just having a bite to eat and for them to take his picture but please leave Miss Swan alone. I cringed. They seemed to take what he said pretty well, especially since they already had plenty shots of me and I blinked from the onslaught of flashes that barraged him while he stood there trying to be pleasant. They thanked him several times and he returned.
"Okay," he smiled, joining me where I had planted myself against the garage concrete wall, trying to keep out of range of the paparazzi. He leaned in and traced his finger along my clavicle bone through my sweater. I shuddered, making him grin.
"Now what?" he asked meaningfully.
"Your hotel," I answered, trying not to look guilty when I said it. I didn't believe they'd quit following us and I did not want them outside my place again.
"Brilliant," he cooed. I doubt he understood my reasoning though.
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Okay, not super long, but I have the next chapter written so am doing a few final after editing tweeking...hopefully nothing so horrid that it gets sent back to Danell. You see the problem here? Agh...being a perfectionist bites. You're lucky I can ever bring myself to post at all....or I'm lucky, not you...someone's lucky...which I'd love to hear about too.
Gimme some luvin? xx