Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer. I just have fun with her characters.
Highline
Chapter 2
The Grizzly house was interesting to say the least.
The exterior looked like a rustic chalet with a neat wooden peak entrance. The interior was small and intimate – it wasn't terribly crowded, but I could see that a reservation was necessary given the limited seating. The walls were covered in animal heads and the entire place was filled with funky 1960's décor.
We browsed the exotic menu - which featured beef, alligator, buffalo, rattlesnake and more. While we were always up for something new, after travelling all day neither of us wanted anything too risky. We opted for a cheese fondue with a veggie side and a chocolate dessert fondue, as recommended by the waitress.
"Do you think this works?" Rose asked, picking up the phone receiver that was attached to the wall at the rear of our booth.
"It must – look." I said, pointing out a seating chart that had numbers on it tucked behind the drink menu.
"What the hell did we get ourselves into here?" She laughed, taking a sip from her beer.
Almost immediately after she hung the phone up, it started ringing.
"Answer it!" Rose said, startling with a giggle.
"Hello?" I said cautiously into the receiver, holding it out a little from my face so Rose could listen with me.
"I'm looking for a Seymour Butz" a deep, loud male voice said over the line.
"Who?"
"Seymour Butz. Is there a Seymour Butz at your table?"
"Um, no." I said, hanging the phone back up.
"What the hell?" Rose chuckled. "Where did that come from?"
We both peeked out around our booth. There was an elderly couple, two younger looking parents with a chocolate-faced toddler in a booster seat, and a single older gentleman within view. The prank call definitely didn't come from any of them.
We laughed it off as a random prank, and dug into the gooey swiss cheese fondue that arrived within minutes.
Not even half way through our meal, the phone rang again.
"Should we get it?" I asked, not sure if I was in the mood for more of this silly game.
"Can't hurt, right?" Rose said, picking up the receiver this time.
The same deep male voice came over the line. "I'm looking for a guy…" he faltered slightly, clearing his throat to stifle a laugh, "Last name Jass. First name Hugh."
"Hugh Jass? What are you? Twelve?!" Rose snickered into the receiver, hanging it back up on the wall.
It instantly rang, yet again.
"Is your refrigerator running?" he said, this time cracking himself up before he could get the last word out.
"That's the best you can do?" Rose scoffed. "Who is this?"
"Turn around." He said, hanging up on his end.
We both climbed up on our knees and peered over the back of our tall booth. We must have missed their table on first glance, because sure enough, tucked in the corner was a big, burly, smiling guy with a beer in one hand. He was waving the phone receiver at us with his other.
Sitting across from him was a handsome guy with wild reddish hair, deeply immersed in his cell phone. He looked bothered – definitely not as amused as his partner was by the phone calls.
"So you're the smart ass." Rose called out to him.
"Oh, come on. I'm just trying to be friendly – that's what these things are for right? Can I buy you both a beer for your troubles?"
Rose looked over at me first for approval, and I gave her a small nod in return.
The giant guy came over a few moments later with two Molson Canadians and a tray carrying our chocolate fondue.
"You work here or something?" Rose asked, as he slid the tray on the table and scooted in the booth beside her.
"Nah, your waitress is an old friend – I was coming over here anyway, just helping her out. I'm Emmett, by the way. Sorry if I was a pain in the ass, but my brother over there is being a real bitch tonight. Rough day. I just wanted to have some fun, and you girls looked like good company."
"It's ok, but I think you need some new material." I replied with a grin. We made introductions and offered him some of our dessert, which he declined.
"So what brings you ladies to Banff?" Emmett asked.
"We're here for a hike, some shopping – you know. Tourist stuff." Rose answered.
"Oh yeah? Hiking, eh? Which outfit are you going out with?"
"I don't remember." Rose replied, giving me a gentle kick under the table.
"Ok then. Good luck with it, I guess." He shrugged, taking a swig from his beer bottle. I got the impression that he knew she was lying. "Where are you staying?"
"The Fox Inn." Rose continued, eager to answer before I had the chance. We weren't staying at the Fox Inn.
"Really? Huh. It's a pretty good spot. If you girls are free tomorrow night, you should head to the hot springs. There's a band and a BBQ, rain or shine. I'm on my days off, so you may even get the pleasure of seeing me again there."
"Sounds like a good time" I said. "We had the hot springs and gondola on our to-do list anyway, but have some shopping and stuff to do too."
"I might drag cranky ass over there out. Wave hi, Eddie!" he called over the booth. I sat up a little taller in my seat to get another peek at him. He really was handsome – a sharp jaw, thin but muscular build, and light green eyes.
His scowl threw me off though. He dismissed us with a flippant wave. Unlike his friendly brother, he gave off a vibe of arrogance.
"Don't mind him. Rough day." Emmett repeated. "Anyway, if you girls do make it, come find me. We'll be giving out attraction passes and that kind of stuff, so, you know…" he trailed off. "I'll let you girls finish up here, anyway."
"Thanks for the beer – we'll think about tomorrow." Rose said, dunking a strawberry in the warm Toblerone. I watched Emmett watch her eat it. He wasn't being creepy or anything, but I could tell that he found Rose enticing – most men with a pulse did.
"No problem." He said, rising from his spot. "Thanks for being good sports. Hope to catch you around again."
Emmett went back to his table, and we finished up our fondue. Rose insisted on paying for the meal, while I offered to pay for the taxi back to our room. It was still pouring rain and we were both exhausted.
"He was cute" she said once we climbed inside the cab.
"Why did you lie to him then?" I asked.
"Self-preservation, Bella. I'm not just gonna give some strange guy – friendly or not – all of our information after knowing him for ten seconds."
"I guess that's smart." I wasn't going to argue with her on this one. If she wanted to tell a white lie or two, fine – no harm done. "We can figure out tomorrow. Right now, I just want to relax. I think the Jacuzzi tub is calling my name."
A/N The Grizzly House is real. It used to be a disco back in the 60's and catered to a swinging crowd. The phones on the tables still exist too! No prompt this time. I normally will be taking Sundays off from updating, but since we're just getting started I didn't want to skip just yet. Thank you so much for reading – I love to hear from you! xo