Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I own the plot.
Thank you to Dazzled eyes22 for your help on this OUTTAKE.
AN:
This was actually written to figure out how the hell Alice got to Edward Cullen. Those of you reading Starting Over will know what this is about, to those of you just liking Four Weeks, this was how Alice handled her L.A. trip. Nuff said.
Tell me what you think in the comments.
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OUTTAKE of Alice's visit to L.A.
APOV
Stepping into the less than decadent, downright shabby downtown hotel room, I was already totally homesick. I checked the time, only one hour until my first appointment and hopefully a fitting. Getting the opportunity to dress actresses to their shindigs was a mammoth chance for me. Everyone would see my designs, but nothing was set in stone yet. I was battling some intense competition and huge brands. I was still no one in this world of fashion. So I could only hope that they would pick a dress of mine over the obvious choices. However that was just a side dish to this week of business in L.A. I was really hoping for individual shops to carry my line. I had a bunch of appointments set up. If I succeeded it would put food on the table here and now. Jasper and I were running seriously low on cash. Money was tight at the moment. The spare cash from Jasper's dad was almost spent.
I passed through the decadent hotel lobby on my way to my appointment. This was a place that I hoped to afford one day, not the tattered room that I could hardly pay for as it was.
A blond goddess opened the door and she smiled haughtily and hardly polite. "About time," she stated. She stepped aside and let me enter.
"I brought four options for you." I said, not bothering with any chitchat when it obviously wouldn't smooth her hostile mood. I also tried to control my trepidation. I had seen her picture, googled her and studied her figure to pick out what would look the most flattering on her. But looking at the flawless creature before me, pictures really didn't do her justice. I would guess that they hardly had to retouch her photos.
"Let me see them," she said evenly. I unpacked the dresses and she watched attentively. "Hmm, I'm liking this," she mused and played her fingers over the red silk. It was the most revealing of the options and my least favorite for her, but she had personally requested it.
"How about this?" I tried to move her focus to the black lacy one. I regretted bringing the red, because Rosalie Hale was sexy as hell and so was that dress. Sexy added sexy really wasn't my style. It often made the concept ho rattle around in my head. I didn't want my design to throw off that delicate sentiment.
She hardly looked at the black, but just gave it a dismissive shrug. "I'll try this," she draped it over the back of a chair. She wiggled out of her short skirt and top. The silk slipped over curvy frame. It was as I feared. The dress just screamed HO! Rosalie smiled content and checked every angle in the mirror. "Perfect."
My tongue ran furiously over my teeth. I didn't want to offend her, but this wasn't going like I planned at all. "Uh… I really think you should try this black one on. It will be more suitable."
She turned and glared at me. "Who the fuck asked for your opinion?" Her perfectly manicured brow shot up in anger.
I had to hold back the urge to roll my eyes at her. Beauty and personality obviously didn't connect here. "Look, the dress is nice and sexy on you, though more for a nightclub. But this is much more elegant and classy, and not a run down hookers lane." I bit my tongue, waiting for her retaliation and her throwing me out of her hotel room on my ass. I glanced at her and she smirked at me.
"Fine, I'll try the black," she accepted without further ado. I gaped at her. "I hate when people let me run them over." She winked and her expression softened when turned to the mirror again. She changed dresses, and slipped into the black one like I requested. I felt a little snide on the inside, but kept it safely locked up.
"See, this is much more sophisticated and lovely. It just needs to be taken in a bit." I didn't give her a chance to complain or shoot down the dress when I had finally gotten her into it. I found my pins and started adjusting the waist and bust to her shape.
"You look lovely, Rose," a warm voice mused. I turned, slightly startled because I hadn't heard the door open or close. The box of pins slipped from my fingers and scattered, digging into the plush carpet. I gaped, staring frozen at the man. The tone of his reddish brown hair was the same as Elizabeth's and she had even inherited the color of his eyes. How much little Elizabeth resembled her father. Edward Cullen just had no idea that he had a daughter and that Bella was still heartbroken over him. Holy fucking shit! I was suddenly in the middle of chaos and wading through their shit.
I bent to pick up the needles with trembling fingers and unsteady knees. I completely avoided looking at him. I more than hated that Bella never confronted him. I loathed she couldn't see how wrong she was and that he had a right to know Elizabeth existed. She was his daughter for crying out loud.
"I'll be in the gym." He kissed Rose's cheek. "That one is a keeper. Stunning." Quickly, he moved to the bedroom, changed his clothes and was out of the hotel room within minutes.
"Gorgeous, I know." Rosalie Hale smirked pleased. "He's so perfect and mine," she drawled. I was too stunned to even speak. "Do you have a boyfriend?" she asked, suddenly making conversation. Though, I would rather be run over by her inner bitch right now. I started pinning the dress again. I shook my head, trying to recover my equilibrium.
"I er… I have a girlfriend." I said quietly, still feeling totally shell-shocked. Rosalie gaped at me.
"You're into girls?"
I shrugged, while working furiously to push the Edward incident back and get my mind back in order. "Not exactly," I answered belated. "I fell in love with a person, not her gender." I focused on the dress again, making the fitting perfect. "We're actually getting married in about a month."
"Congrats," she hummed focused on her own reflection, evaluating. "I think I will take this and the red," Rosalie said, staring confident at her own image. I was glad her attention wasn't on me. I smiled shaken.
"I'll make the adjustments and have it for you by tomorrow before noon."
I left the hotel room feeling rattled to the bone. How could I not know that they were dating? The fact that I could possible have a dress shown on one of L.A. multitude of runways faded in comparison to seeing Elizabeth's father. Edward 'fucking' Cullen. At my tattered hotel, I sat down on the floor at the foot of the bed and found my tools. I turned the TV on and started working. Morbidly, I was glad that I basically needed to take the entire dress apart to make the fitting. It kept my mind off Bella and what I knew needed to be done. I would be such a bitch for meddling, but how could I not?
My fingers were practically bleeding from hand stitching the dress back together. I turned the light off and nested into the moldy smelling chair with a blanket over me. The dress was done, my mind was exhausted and I missed Jasper so much that I could cry. That was the reason I chose to sleep in the chair and not the bed. I didn't want to lie down and rest without her at my side. To relax and sleep I needed to feel her body and warmth against me. When I couldn't have that I just wouldn't bother to lie down, it was fruitless even to try. God, I was so codependent.
Walking back to the hotel the next day to deliver the dress, I passed a small photo shop and inspiration hit me like a ton of bricks. At the reception, I asked for a slip of paper and a hotel envelope with their embossed logo. I wrote a short message.
Isabella Marie Swan
New York.
I stuffed the note into the envelope along with a recent photo of Bella printed from my phone. I sealed the envelope and wrote Edward's name on it and left it in Rosalie Hale's inbox. Fate would just have to do its damn job now.
Rosalie was thrilled with the dress. I could see why. It was sexy, but yet understated and hugged her luscious curves nicely. Normally, I would be to the moon and back, bouncing up and down with glee, but I was eager to get out of there. I didn't want to risk running into Edward again. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep my big mouth shut.
Next I was on to the line of business meetings, gatherings and other clients with requests for dresses. I didn't sell any. I was lucky to have two small stores pick up my line and place actual orders. It wasn't much, but it was a start, nonetheless.
On the last day I was left with nothing to do but make time pass. I was so ready to go home in the morning and that just couldn't happen fast enough. I was seriously exhausted and my back was killing me from pretending to sleep in that foul smelling chair. I did a little window-shopping for the most part. Money wasn't hanging on the trees these days, so that would have to do. Except, I lost a little bit of my control when I passed a lingerie store - my obsession.
I spent the last night of my L.A. trip in the same awful chair and missing Jasper's arms around me or her head resting on my chest when she slept. The burn and ache around my heart from not seeing her hadn't let up during the week. I let a few tears slip, when I flipped through some of the images I had stored on my phone of us. No one ever saw me cry, except for Jasper, because that just wasn't something that I did. Right now I just wanted to be utterly pathetic and miss my girlfriend. I couldn't wait to go home and see her beautiful smile in real life.
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I hope you liked the treat and I will be back next week with the Epilogue of Four Weeks… well I hope so.
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