14
"Bella, we just want to meet him! Why not invite him over?" Rosalie suggested.
I sighed, "Fine, but you two have to behave, all right? Don't ask him any inappropriate questions," I told Alice and Rosalie.
"We would never do that," Alice said innocently. I rolled my eyes and laughed.
"Of course not, Alice," I said, sarcastically. She smiled widely.
"Please, could you call him? We have been waiting so patiently!" Alice said, pouting.
"All right, all right! Please don't give me the puppy-dog eyes." I picked up the phone and gave them a pointed look.
After a few moments, he picked up the phone, "Hello?"
"Hi, Edward, it's me," I said, cheering up immediately.
"Hey," he said with a smile in his voice.
"What do you think of coming to my apartment tomorrow, so you can't meet my friends?" I suggested.
"I would love to, I'll be there around three," he told me.
"Great, thank you."
"No problem, I really want to meet them."
"They really want to meet you too, they've been asking to meet you for weeks," I said, laughing. Alice and Rosalie were throwing me angry looks.
He laughed, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye!" I said and hung up. I put down the phone and sat down next to Alice and Rosalie again, who were still frowning teasingly.
"Bella! Did you have to say that? Now he thinks we are pathetic," Alice said, chuckling.
"Aren't you?" I asked, feigning innocence. Rosalie jokingly shoved me.
The next afternoon, Alice and Rosalie arrived at two o'clock, not wanting to arrive after Edward.
"Remember what I asked you? No teasing and no weird questions," I told them, half an hour later.
"Yes, yes, we remember. You really need to calm down, we're not going to scare him away," Rosalie said, chuckling.
"I know, I'm sorry. I suppose I'm just a bit nervous. Oh! There he is," I said, standing up and hurrying towards the door, after I had seen him entering the parking lot through the window.
After a few moments, I heard his knock on the door and opened it.
"Hi," I said, inviting him in. He smiled and walked towards Alice and Rosalie.
"Hi, I'm Edward," he said, shaking their hands.
"We know," they said, chuckling. I blushed and rolled my eyes. Edward gave me an amused look and sat down on the couch, next to Alice.
"So, Edward, how's the business going?" Rosalie asked, who, with a look, mockingly questioned me if that question was appropriate.
"Oh, it's all going pretty well, actually. I'm hanging on to the assistant I've hired last week, Bella, as you told me," he said, chuckling.
"Glad to hear it," I said truthfully.
"So Edward, you really like Bella, right?" Rosalie asked.
"Rose…" I said warningly. She rolled her eyes and ignored me.
"Eh, yeah," Edward said, giving Rosalie a weary look. He looked at me and smiled, "I really do."
"Glad we cleared that up," Rosalie said, laughing as she saw me blushing.
"Edward, would you mind it if we would invite you and Bella to meet our boyfriends, Emmett and Jasper? I could understand it if that would be a bit much for you," Alice said friendly. I felt slightly relieved, glad that at least Alice respected what I had asked earlier.
"No, not at all, I would love to meet them," he said.
"Fantastic! I was thinking it would be fun to do something like visit the zoo or go to a mini golf course!" she said, contemplating more ideas in her head.
"Aren't that things that little children do?" Rosalie asked incredulously.
"Well, mostly yes, but just think of how much fun it could be! With Emmett trying to work a mini golf club," Alice said, laughing.
"I suppose so," Rosalie said, not completely convinced.
"Please, Rose. It would so boring to just have dinner together."
"Yes, that's true," Rosalie said slowly.
"Edward, what do you think?" Alice said, sighing as she looked at Rosalie. Rosalie frowned and looked away.
"Mini golf would be fine," he said. Alice gave him a look and we were all silent for a few moments. "Eh, mini golf would be great?" he said with a questioning tone as he looked at Alice with an uncertain look. Alice lost her stern look and smiled widely.
"That's settled then, right?" she said, looking at us in a way that we didn't dare go against her.
"Do you think Jasper and Emmett would like it?" I asked Alice.
"Well, Emmett is up for anything and if Jasper doesn't like it, I'll just find a way to persuade him," she said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Rosalie and I shuddered and shared a disgusted look.
"This is going to be so much fun! I'll just go and make sure there is room for a group of six people. Oh! When are we going to do it?" Alice asked.
"The day after the tomorrow is fine for me," Rosalie said. Edward and I agreed. Alice picked up the phone and started dialing the number. Once she was on the phone, Edward gave us a slightly overwhelmed look.
"Yes, she's always like that," Rosalie said, asking the question that was no doubt on his mind.
I laughed, "I'm sorry she forced you into the mini golf."
"No, that's fine. I was just wondering, why would it be especially funny to see Emmett with a mini golf club?" he asked, slightly confused.
"Emmett is quite a… big guy. Not fat, just a lot of muscle and very tall," I tried to explain. Alice put the phone down and turned towards us.
"They were a bit surprised that six grown-ups were coming, but they said it was fine," she said, excited. She walked to the couch, where she had dropped her coat when she had arrived here. "I think I'm going home to persuade Jasper," she said, smiling. This time, we all shuddered. "It was very nice meeting you, Edward."
"You too," he said, politely.
"I so do not want to know how she's going to persuade him," Rosalie said, after Alice had left.
"Me neither."
I shivered as I closed the car door behind me. I tightly wrapped the shawl around my neck and leaned against my car, waiting for the others to arrive.
The car park belonging to the mini golf club was completely deserted, which wasn't that strange, considering how early it was. I looked at my watch and sighed as I saw it was a quarter past seven AM. We would meet here at half past seven, but I had left quite early, in case there was a traffic jam.
I raised the shawl, so it also covered my nose and mouth. Great idea, Alice, I thought sourly, to go to a mini golf course early in the morning.
After a few minutes, Alice and Jasper arrived.
"Good morning!" Alice shouted as she came out of the car. I nodded in return and waved, not saying anything, because the shawl was still covering my mouth.
Once they were standing next to me, I saw how Jasper was rubbing his hands together against the cold. Alice didn't seem to notice it as she was looking out onto the parking lot, waiting for the others to arrive.
Edward arrived next, also wrapping a shawl around his neck as he came out of the car. He walked towards us and stuffed his hands in his pockets.
"It's quite cold, isn't it?" he asked, chuckling.
"Understatement," I muttered. Alice rolled her eyes.
"It's not that bad," she said. We all three gave her an incredulous look. "All right, fine! It's very cold."
Edward got his hands out of his pockets and wrapped them around mine. I sighed contently as I felt how his warm hands heated up mine.
Alice gave Jasper a puppy-dog look and, laughing, he wrapped his hands around hers.
Five minutes after the appointed time, Emmett and Rosalie arrived.
"Oh my god, it's cold!" Rosalie shrieked. Their car was always parked in the parking lot beneath their building, so she hadn't been outside yet. We all laughed and followed Alice, who had started walking towards the entrance.
A young man was sitting behind the desk, with a smile plastered on his face. He didn't seem surprised when we entered and he already had six golf club ready for us.
"Good morning," he said in a squeaky voice. "Here are the forms which you can use to keep score and there are you clubs. Any questions?"
"How long can we stay on the course?" Rosalie asked.
"As long as you wish, though we close at eight PM and you have to keep the other people in mind." We all looked onto the course, where no one was, and gave the boy a weary look. He blushed and stammered, "have fun."
We all grabbed a club and a golf ball, and decided Alice should be the one to keep score, who gladly accepted the task.
Alice hadn't exaggerated how funny it would be to see Emmett trying to handle a mini golf club. He folded his large hands around the club and tried to hit the small ball. After a few times, he did it and the ball flew across the course, landing far away. He chuckled sheepishly and said someone else should try.
Edward said he would try and after a few tries, putted the ball. He stepped aside and Rosalie gently pushed me forward. I sighed and put my golf ball on the ground and tried to find the right position to stand next to it. I gave a start as Edward moved me a bit so I had the right position, and I could hear Alice and Rosalie chuckle.
"Thank you," I said, softly, and I hit the ball with my club. I was surprised when I saw how close it got to the putt hole. I gave the ball another hit and it fell into the hole.
Alice was hastily writing on the form, trying to get everyone's score.
Emmett gave it another try, this time more gently, and managed to get the ball into the putt hole. Edward, Emmett and I moved onto the next course, and Jasper, Alice and Rosalie quickly followed.
We were all slowly starting to warm up from the exercise and everybody stopped muttering about the cold.
"You know what, Alice, this is actually quite fun," Rosalie said.
"Yes, I know!" Alice said, mockingly exasperated.
We continued playing mini golf for most of the morning and a bit of the afternoon. By then, none of us had the energy left to hit the ball properly and we decided it would be best to go to the café that adjoined the golf course and have some coffee.
We entered the large building and saw there were only three people present. One was the lady behind the counter and the other two were a couple who were sitting at a table next to the window, which was facing the golf course. They were giggling and I had the suspicious they had been watching us goof around.
We went to the large table in the middle of the room and placed our score forms on the table. Emmett and Edward brought the golf clubs and golf balls away and Rosalie and I went to order some coffee and food.
"Ooh… that looks good," I said, eyeing the sandwiches and cupcakes behind the counter. We ordered some coffee and, seeing Edward and Emmett had returned, I quickly walked towards them and asked if any of them wanted to eat something.
"A sandwich, please."
"Do they have soup?"
"I would love a chocolate muffin."
"Just a salad." I heard them say at the same time. Rosalie laughed, "and a blueberry muffin. Can you remember that?" I rolled my eyes and repeated everything in my head, after which I ordered it.
Rosalie placed the coffee on a tray and brought it to the table. She returned and together we brought the food to the table.
I sat down and let out a large breath, "If it's up to me, I say we will stay here for a few hours and do nothing." Everyone agreed and started eating and drinking.
"So, Alice, who has won?" I asked her, looking at the forms lying in front of her on the table. She grabbed them and smiled.
"The winner is Edward, congratulations. I couldn't have come up with a better way to enter this group," she said.
"Thanks, Alice," he told her, smiling gratefully.
"Next is Rosalie, then Jasper, Bella, Emmett, and I am last," she said, pouting. We laughed and Jasper grabbed her hand.
An hour later, we had all finished our coffee and food, and decided to return home.
"We really have to do something like this again," Rosalie said.
"Yes, but please, not mini golf," Emmett pleaded.
"Don't start that again! You all enjoyed it, I know you did," Alice said.
"It was a wonderful idea," Jasper said soothingly.
We all walked towards the parking lot, waving a goodbye to the boy behind the desk. Everyone get into their car, except for Edward, who stayed behind with me. We saw the rest drive away and waved.
"I really enjoyed it. I'm glad I met your friends," he told me.
"Me too, they really seemed to like you. But I still need to meet your friends."
"Yes, you do. I'll invite you some time when they are in London."
"They live somewhere else?"
"Yes, they live in New York. I grew up there," he explained.
"Ah, I see," I said, surprised I hadn't remembered that. "We don't really know each other that well, do we?"
"No, not really. Why don't we go on a date, something simple, where we can talk all evening and get to know each other?"
"That would be great," I said, smiling.
"What about next week. Friday?"
"Perfect."
"All right, I'll pick you up at seven," he said, winking. I blushed and watched him as he walked away, towards his car.