Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or the characters, but I do own a questionable amount of handbags.
Author's Note:
Hi, sorry for the wait but this chapter stumped me a bit, wasn't sure how to write it.
But, here it is...the next instalment I hope you like it! First we have Rosalie in a wee bit of a panic over her restaurant and I have decided that we will get to see Alice and Jasper's wedding in the next chapter.
In response to a review, I am English so sometimes I slip in some words American's wouldn't use. I do try and edit it, but sometimes I'm not so great at it. So apologies for that and I hope it isn't too much of an issue, especially for my American readers!
Chapter XVII - Kinda Outta Luck
Rosalie POV
"No, I ordered the tiles 2 weeks ago!" I paced in the make shift office, the sheet of plastic separating me from the wreckage and noise that was taking place in my soon to be restaurant. "They were meant to be here three days ago!"
"We had a late shipment"
"That's not my fault!" Alice parted the sheet, holding a file under one arm and a coffee tray in her other hand. Smiling briefly she noted the stressed way I paced and put the file down on a nearby chair and perched the tray on top, handing me my coffee. "Thanks" I whispered gratefully, as the woman on the other end of the line nattered away.
"Your order should be with you in two to three days"
"I have a deadline to meet here, thanks to the unreliabilty of your company that pushes me back another week as I can't do anything till those tiles are put down!"
"I'm sorry ma'am but I can't do anything about that" I made a very unladylike snort and Alice nonplussed, sipped her own coffee and started flicking through the file she had brought with her.
"You could reimburse me for the time wasted by your cock up!" my friend let out an amused sound, I guess I spent too much time with Robert as I had picked up a few of his sayings.
"Let me pass you to my manager"
"You do that" I said in the most condescending way I could, looking to Alice and rolling my eyes who laughed in response and flicked to the next page.
"Hello Ms Hale, first of all I would like to apolo-"
"Let me stop you there before we waste another hour going over this, due to a shipping miscalculation on your side, I get the short end of the stick and have to wait another three days for products I paid for two weeks ago. It is unacceptable and I expect some kind of reimbursement, I know quite a few contacts who will not be pleased to hear how this situation was so poorly handled" I paused to breath and Alice shook her head, trying not to laugh. "So, how will you handle this?"
Five minutes later, I had secured a ten percent refund as reimbursement and Alice looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
"What?"
"You can be scary sometimes you know that?" I smiled and took a sip of my almost tepid coffee. "That guy didn't stand a chance" she continued, sounding a little sorry for the manager I had all but shouted down the phone at.
"I'm good at my job"
"That you are" we smiled, until the lights switched off all at once and the noise outside all stopped at once.
"Shit" putting down the cup and parting the sheet, all of the lights had gone out, the tools and anything electrical having stopped working. "What. The. Hell. Happened?"
"One of the new lights blew and seems to have tripped the fuse box" I closed my eyes for a moment as Alice joined me.
"Can someone take a look then!" the workmen looked a little lost as the guy that had spoken up scurried off. Then as he did we all heard a clang of metal from the kitchen, running round the bar nearly slipping as I fumbled with the light on my phone to guide my way to the kitchen.
However when I opened the kitchen door the floor was wet and I slipped, falling backwards and landing flat on my ass. Alice who followed me almost fell over too, but clung onto a nearby counter avoiding ruining her designer skirt, she helped me up and we saw where the water was coming from.
"Oh, what now?" where I wanted the sink installed there was a pipe sticking out of the wall, it was bent and water was gushing out of the side.
"We were fitting the new sink in when the lights went out" I held out a hand to stop them, then at that moment the lights flickered back on. I sighed heavily and put my hand to my temple, closing my eyes again.
"Can you fix it?"
"We need more parts and it may take a while longer than planned" I shook my head.
"Can you do it in time?" both men nodded and with another sigh, I went back to the door more cautious of the water on the floor this time. "Just do it and work out how much extra it'll cost me" going back out the first workman came up to me.
"There's a problem"
"Of course there is" I muttered under my breath bit I knew Alice heard.
"The lights are going to keep going, we need to update the electrical system"
"That doesn't sound cheap"
"It's not" he replied not getting my sarcasm.
"Well, how much more do think it will cost?" when he quoted a figure I swore loud enough to get the attention of more of the workers. "Are you fucking serious?"
"Yes" he kept looking at me for an answer, I stared blankly at him in shock.
"Rose?" said Alice, shaking me lightly by the shoulder. "Rose!" I shook my head and blinked a few times, then I looking around I took a few steps to the middle of the wreckage.
"Alright! Everyone just stop!...Just stop!"
"Rose?"
"Stop and...go home!" with those words I left to go back to the temporary office, Alice on my heels.
"Hey, what was that about?" I grabbed the file she had put down and flicked through it getting to the financial page. I dragged a finger down the page as I scanned the figures detailing where the money from the loan was going, I got out a calculator ignoring my friend as I punched in the numbers. "Rosalie"
I tried a second and third time but it didn't add up at all, if I kept going like this I would be massively in debt by the time the opening came around.
"I can't do this, Al"
"Sure you can, you've done this before"
"No!" I threw my hands up. "No, because with the plumbing and the electricity and late deliveries, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong...and what's next? This I can't deal with, I can't"
"So, you're going to give up then?" that voice didn't belong to Alice, turning around I saw Robert.
"I can't do this"
"I may not know you as well as Alice, but Rosalie Hale since when do you give up on what you want?"
"When everything goes wrong" I said with defeat.
"Not everything has gone wrong, you are still here this place is too" shaking my head he walked closer and smiled at me and Alice.
"You can do it Rose" I sighed and went back to the sheet with the numbers on it, shaking my head as I didn't share my friends' optimism.
"Well, unless I get more money I'm screwed, so any advice there?" I raised an eyebrow and looked from Alice to Robert, who stood there calm and the total opposite to me.
"I'll get you the money"
"Yeah, how? Have a little chat with the bank?" I looked down and closed the file with a scoff.
"I'll invest in your restaurant" my head shot up.
"What?" my voice went high pitched and even Alice looked a little taken aback, but Robert remained unfazed by it all.
"I have money, I'll invest in you"
"You don't even know if it'll be any good, Rob" I replied lowering my voice so I sounded less hysterical.
"I know you that's enough for me" he shrugged and crossed his arms but I walked around the table to stand in front of him.
"I can't do that" he rolled his eyes and sighed.
"I am getting very sick of the word 'can't' Rose" I pressed my lips together and he continued. "If it makes you feel better, we could draw up a contract or something and you could give me...oh 2 maybe 3 percent of the business" he smiled and I stared at him.
"You would have no control over the business if I gave you such a small share" he grinned wider and it clicked.
"I used work a few shifts at my cousin's pub back in Bromley, but in London they don't many of those cocktails more of you American's are so keen on"
"I can't just take your money"
"Well, think about it Rose. I reckon I'd look pretty good behind the bar" he winked at Alice who giggled and I cleared my throat, she pressed her lips together in an attempt to stop smiling.
"It makes sense Rose" I glared at her and she immediately stopped talking but Robert continued to smile at us.
"Thank you, but going into business with a friend is never a good idea"
"Think of it as an investment, you take the investment and do what you want. I will have no input unless you want a little bit of help here and there, so there won't be any conflict whatsoever" he raised his eyebrows and raised his hands with his palm facing upwards in a placating gesture.
"I'll think about it"
"Right, well as you have some time. How about lunch on me ladies?"
"I'm sorry Rob, I only came to drop off Rose's file and coffee. Jasper and I have a reception to find for our wedding"
"Good luck" they smiled and Alice waved at me, I waved back and she turned and left. "So...lunch?"
"I am kinda hungry" I said giving in.
"So let's go!" he said happily.
"Where?"
"Anywhere; sushi, Indian, Italian...whatever" nodding with a smile, I grabbed my jacket and I took the arm he held out and we walked out, but the minute we set foot out of the front door there was a babble of photographers.
Flashed went off and questions were fired off at us, I was stunned and froze for a minute but Robert put a hand over mine and shielded me with his body as he pulled us away from them, flashed kept going off along with the questions.
"...Rob, how long have you been dating?"
"...are you a natural blonde?"
"...who are you?"
"...any plans to pop the question?"
"...are you pregnant?"
He flagged down a cab and got me in first and shut the door, the questions muffled but the flashes still visible. Robert reeled off the address of a low key Italian pizza place and as the taxi drove off the flashes and questions stopped.
"That was mad"
"Yeah" he smiled bashfully and I remembered how he hated the publicity gained as he got more popular here. "Are you alright?"
"I don't look pregnant do I?" I smiled and he got the joke, we burst into laughter.
"No, you don't" he smiled and I got that feeling like he was holding something back, the night of my party came to mind but then I pushed that to the back of my mind and smiled back at him.
Emmett POV
"You wanted to see me Mr Lewis?" I stepped into the office of my boss, closing the door and stepping forward when he motioned.
"Emmett, right" he shifted some paperwork around on his desk and stood up. "Take a seat" I didn't know what this was about and he didn't give anything away as he gave me a polite smile.
"If you don't mind me asking, why am I here?"
"Well, you've hit all of your sales targets in fact you've gone over quite a few of them. I won't beat around the bush Emmett, we are promoting you"
"That's...thank you!" he shook his head.
"It's not me, you've surpassed your colleagues. Keep it up and you'll go far"
~X~X~X~
I had a new office, instead of the small cubical it had a window and the privacy of four walls. So although I had no social life to speak of, I was climbing the career ladder faster than ever before.
The phone on my desk rang and picking it up, I put down the stapler in my other hand.
"Hello?"
"Mr McCarthy the meeting is starting in half an hour"
"Thanks" I was in charge of a team, one of those team members being Mike and this was my first day in my new role and so if there wasn't enough animosity between me and my colleagues I got to add new boss to that.
Grabbing the file with the notes in it, I opened the door about to head for the lifts and grab a coffee before the meeting. But when I got to the lifts, my ex fiancé walked out of the lift and walked straight into me, knocking my file out of my hands and onto the floor the papers inside tumbling out.
"Tanya" I said stupidly looking like a fish with my mouth hanging open as I stared at her. Way to go idiot, you work at the same company. Sure you were going to meet again one day that is how you met in the first place.
"Emmett, I was just coming to see you" she kept her expression carefully blank as we bent down and she helped me collect the papers I had dropped.
"Y-you were?" I stuttered, making even more of an ass out of myself in front of her.
"Yes. Can we talk somewhere..." she trailed off as we both came to the realisation that many of our co-workers were staring quite openly at us. But, when we turned to look they all turned away and continued working, although I suspected that quite a few of the people nearby where still subtly eavesdropping on our conversation."...private"
"Sure thing" I led to my new office, she raised an eyebrow when she saw the room and the box with my things in it still on top of the shinny wood desk.
"Nice office"
"I got promoted" I said, not trying to show off but just filling her in and trying not to make such a fool out of myself in front of her.
"I wanted to ask you something..." I turned to face her properly, awaiting shouting and name calling. "Do you..." she stopped and took a quick breath before continuing "did you love me?"
"Yes, I did"
"You did" shit. I didn't realise what I had said, but of course she had.
"You love Rosalie" I didn't say anything, but she nodded. "I'm kind of surprised that you aren't with her now, after all she is the one you want to be with"
"She is New York and we broke it off"
"Because you were going to marry me"
"Well...yes"
"Was she there on the day" in the car across the road.
"She was" she closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened her eyes she look down and half turned away from me.
"You should know that I'm leaving"
"What?" she lifted her head to glance at me.
"It's too hard to stay here and be reminded of you" she glanced away but not before I saw how her eyes started to water. "I got a transfer across seas and I'm leaving as soon as I can, so you can have the apartment and sell it or move back in or whatever" her words came out in a rush and I almost reached out to hold her but stopped myself before she looked back at me, dropping my hands to my sides.
"I'm sorry, it doesn't change anything I know that. But I honestly never wanted to hurt you"
"It's doesn't and I do know that"
"Good luck"
"You too" she said quietly before turning and leaving, when the door closed I sank into my chair covering my face and letting out an aggravated groan. I felt about two inches tall.
Then my phone rang.
"Hello" I growled out into the phone.
"Mr McCarthy, the meeting is starting is ten minutes" grabbing the file and dropping the phone, I yanked the door open and virtually ran down the hallway.
Rosalie POV
"So...?" I rolled my eyes and continued chopping onions as Alice sat nearby flicking through a wedding magazine, a stack of magazine and catalogues next to her on the table.
"So what...Alice?"
"Are you going to take up Rob on his offer, you know there are a few benefits to have a famous boxer invest in your business" I quirked an eyebrow and popped the onions in the pan, looking at her briefly.
"Really? Is getting mobbed every time you leave one of them?"
"Mobbed?" she was shocked and almost spat out her wine. "What the hell?" with a sigh, I stirred and glanced back at the pan.
"When we left the mess that is my restaurant, there were photographers outside"
"Fuck, I didn't know they were there, I didn't see them when I left" I shrugged. "Jesus, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. We jumped into a cab and got out of there pretty quickly"
"Sorry, you had to go through that. Haven't you seen the pictures though?" confused I turned around after adding the tomatoes and turning down the heat on the cooker.
"What pictures?" she held up a hand and went to her bag, pulling out a gossip magazine, quickly flicking through and walking to me with it open at a picture of me and Robert.
"The hell...?" in the picture, we were just walking along the street outside of my restaurant and we were laughing. I remembered that was three days ago judging by the clothes I was wearing, it was taken from some distance but it was clearly us.
The caption on the top of the page read 'New lovers?' my mouth fell open and I looked up at Alice.
"I thought you knew, these images have been everywhere. Unfortunately there isn't much I can do about the paparazzi unless they get too close"
"I didn't know, they think we're dating?"
"Yeah, nothing we say makes a difference. A picture says a thousand words and this seems to saying plenty. There is a good point though"
"Really, what is that? Other than the invasion of my privacy?"
"If you take his offer then not only do you get the capital that you need to cover your growing expenses then you also get plenty of publicity for the place"
"Why does that feel like I'd be using Rob?" she closed the magazine and dropped it on the table and came to lean against the countertop next to me.
"It's not using him, he's getting used to the attention and we could spin this in a positive way for the restaurant, surely this is a good thing"
"I guess"
"Yes, imagine how many customers you would get with Rob at the bar"
"Yeah, if he isn't mobbed on the way" I added seasoning and turned off the heat, sighing and dishing out the food. "I guess I don't have another option"
"You could still probably get a top up on the loan, but you know partnering up with Rob makes sense from a business point of view"
"I guess you are right"
"Aren't I always?" was her cocky response and I rolled my eyes at her.
~X~X~X~
"Name here" he took the pen I offered after reading the contract where he got 15% of the business for his investment, which included a share in the profits, he signed without hesitating where my lawyer told him too, smiling at me.
"Sign here" he did so.
"Initial here" he handed back the pen as my lawyer took the contract back and we left the office.
"Rosalie, we are officially in business together"
"We are"
"How about drinks to celebrate?"
"Sure" I thought I spied a man with a camera by a nearby parked car, but I dismissed it as paranoia as we crossed the road.
~X~X~X~
"Thank you" I signed off on the order of tiles needed for the restrooms and kitchen, leading the delivery man in, when Robert came to the door.
"Hey Rose"
"Hey Rob, thanks for coming"
"Well, I said I'd be here if you needed me. So..." he rubbed his hands as the door swung shut behind him. "Put me to work!" I smiled and led him through to the office that now had a fully functioning door.
"I need you to sort out some paperwork for me, while I go downtown and pick up some sample menus"
"Alrighty then, what goes where?" giving him a brief crash course, I walked out and was hailing a cab when my phone started to ring. Getting it out and assuming it was the printer, I hit the accept button and put my cell phone to my ear.
"Hi"
"Rosalie, it's Tanya" the smile fell from my face.
"T-Tanya, h-hi" that guilty feeling floated to the surface as I heard her voice.
"I'm in New York, can we talk?"
"S-sure, where do you want to meet?"
"How about One Madison?"
"No!" I almost shouted down the phone but I checked myself. "Um...sorry, no. I don't work there anymore...how about the cafe down the road?"
"Okay, I'll see you at three?"
"Alright" she hung up and the cab that stopped in front of me, honked it horn at me.
"Hey, lady you going somewhere?"
"Er...yeah" I got in and gave the address of the printers, deciding to pick up the menus then go and meet Tanya.
I wasn't long at the printers and I was twiddling my thumbs the entire way to the cafe, a knot in my stomach caused largely by my guilt and nervousness. I wondered why she was here and why she wanted to see me, was it to shout at me and call me a home wrecker or a slut? Or worse would she forgive me and make me feel ten times worse?
She was already sat at a table with a cup of coffee in front of her when I got there, she didn't see me when I entered even though a little bell went off. She was so obviously deep in her own thoughts that I almost walked out again, but that would be so cowardly.
Taking a few deep breaths, I went up to her and sat opposite her. She looked up and I noted that she looked quite well, still impeccably well dressed and groomed; he only outward indication of what she had been through was the lack of a ring on her left hand and the slightly puffy eyes, covered up with expensive make up.
"Hello Rosalie" she was the first to speak.
"Hello Tanya" I was about to ask how she was but stopped myself.
"I know you came to Seattle on the day of the wedding" she spoke bluntly and I twitched a bit at the mention of her and his almost wedding.
"I'm sorry" I blurted out and she remained composed but her expressionless mask cracked a bit, her hand twitching.
"Why did you come to Seattle, where you going to gate crash my wedding cause you needn't have bothered" she continued like I hadn't spoken at all and her expression hardened.
"I didn't want to do that"
"Then why were you there!" after her outburst she leaned back and closed her eyes putting a hand to her temple and taking a few deep breaths, before looking at me again.
"Closure?" that sounded false even to me. "Look, I didn't know you were engaged when I saw...Emmett. I know that doesn't excuse what I did and if you need someone to blame then you can put the blame on me, I deserve it" her jaw clenched and she pushed her mug aside and put her hands together, her elbows on the table.
"You aren't the only one to blame" she said between clenched teeth.
"Yes, but I can only speak for myself when I say that I am truly sorry. There is nothing, nothing I regret more than what I did to you, regardless of whether I knew about you or not" she was silent for a long while and the waitress came over to us.
"Can I get you anything?"
"No thank you" I said and waved her off.
"Do you love him?" the question took me by surprise and for a few seconds I just blinked at her.
"I...I did"
"I asked if you love him...now" I pressed my lips together and covered my mouth with one hand, but she nodded and seemed to take a guess at my answer. "Well..." she stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder. "Thank for this Rosalie, it was informative...Goodbye"
She left without another word and I dropped my shoulders putting my hands to my temples and sighing.
Two months later...
"Glasses over there Rob!" he took the glasses to where I gestured, with a smile at me that calmed my nerves a bit.
"Where shall I put these?" asked a delivery man.
"In the kitchen, through that door. Jacqueline!" my head chef poked her head out of the kitchen door and raised her eyebrows. "Can you show this man where our delivery goes?" she nodded and held the door open as I went to the office and picked up the phone.
"Hello Rose Garden?"
"Rose!" recognising Alice's voice, I smiled nervously butterflies in my stomach.
"Hey Alice, are you on your way?"
"Yes and the press are all atwitter about it! We got the word out on facebook, twitter, four square...everywhere. Trust me, this will be the most talked about opening night!"
"You have the final menus?"
"Yes, I do. I'll drop them off and we can go get changed for tonight"
"Okay"
"Rose?" I stopped.
"Yes?"
"Try to relax hun, this is everything you wanted" I smiled at her words.
"Thanks Al, don't know what I'd do without you"
"Oh, I don't know lead a very dull life?"
"No that's exactly what I want. A predictable, normal life"
"Be careful what you wish for!" with a laugh we hung up and I went downstairs.
"No! No, no, no. The flowers are meant to be in smaller bunches!" I ran over to the first table nearest to the door. "Otherwise you can barely see who you are dining with!" I pulled a few flowers out with a little flourish. "See?" Robert laughed as he stacked the glasses behind the bar and the waitress nodded and started to amend the flower centrepieces for the other tables.
"Rosalie?" spinning round the maître de motioned to the delivery man laden down with a crate of wine, he put the crate on the floor with a wheeze and held up a clipboard.
"Who can sign for this?"
"That's the white and red wine we ordered?"
"Yes" he said slowly as if it was obvious.
"Mind if I open it and double check?" he shook his head and opened it for me, I checked the bottles twice and was about to check a third time when Robert came round the bar and put his hand on top of mine with a smile.
"Rose, I think it's all there"
"Are you sure? Because, if it's not we might serve the wrong wine or the wrong food, or we might run out and the DJ isn't even her yet" he shook his head and held my hand to calm me down.
"It's going to be great, you have the right wine and there is enough you ordered enough for over a month"
"Look, can some sign for this order I have a dozen more left to deliver over town"
"Yeah" Robert took the clipboard and quickly signed and he left, turning to me with the smile on his face still he turned to Blake and asked him to start putting the wines away. Then Alice came through the door.
"Hey guys, I have the menus!" she greeted in a sing song voice, putting the box down on one end of the bar and walking up to us.
"That's great Alice...Rose, we've got this here why don't you go home and get changed?"
"Are you sure?" he nodded and took a step back.
"Absolutely, I'll call you if anything happens" he saw the look on his face and hurriedly continued. "Not that it will, go on. Get all dressed up and we will see you later"
"Alright, see you later" he nodded again and we left the restaurant, Alice flagged down a taxi as I anxiously kept looking over my shoulder at the completely refurbished restaurant of my dreams.
"C'mon Rose"
"Do you think it'll be alright?"
"Of course it will" we got in the cab and she shut the door, as she gave our address to the taxi driver."You've spent so long on this it will be an incredible opening night"
"Okay then" I was a mess of nerves and excitement as we headed to the flat.
Author's Note:
So I virtually wrote the final draft of this chapter in a day, guess I love you all or something.
Thanks for reading everyone!