Bella's POV
I did not know why Peter insisted on getting dressed up and going to dinner. They weren't going to eat… where they? I slightly laughed at the mental image of them force-feeding themselves a fancy dinner. I leafed through my box for some decent clothing to wear to something like this. Peter told me to dress anyway I wanted, but Charlotte said 'dress like you know what you're doing' so I was taking both their advice at the same time. In truth, it all came down to this... I wanted to make an impression I knew that but I did not know what to wear!
However, when I was shopping for clothes the thought of going out to dinner never came up. I mostly just had room service back at the other hotel. Now I was going out to eat with Jasper and three other incredibly hot vampires. I sighed and decided to go with the old fashion close your eyes and pick at random trick. I closed my eyes tightly and reached in. I pulled out a pink dress; it had a bubble hem skirt with a lace overlay, an empire waistline, and ruched detail on the bust. Thank you Tyra Banks, Nigel Barker, Twiggy, and Miss J Alexander for your fashion sense! I would not have been able to see all that if it was not for you all!
As I striped out of the robe I was wearing, I chuckled at my thoughts. Thank you! Thank you! No applause, no applause... just throw money! I picked up one of my Victoria's Secrets purchases and put it one before putting on my dress. It was purple and exposed a lot of skin! It also had adjustable flutter straps, a tie-front and matching silk panties... not that I pay that much attention to what I wear, that's Jasper's job. I know that my choice of undergarments would cause him to get hard. Thinking about his erection made me wet. I could not believe all the naughty things I was thinking after being with him once, and what a breathtaking, amazing, fantastic, wonderful time it was! I would never forget it!
Back to getting dressed... the shoes. That was all it took to ruin my good mood... what shoes would I wear? The best thing to wear would be high-heels ... could I even walk in high-heels?
Well Jasper touching me all night would be good... no Bella! You have to keep it together woman! Now think… will high-heels really be all that bad?
I sighed and got back down on my knees in front of the box. All I had on was my baby doll. I looked around and found three options. Number one, some Alexander McQueen Satin panel pumps. Número dos, some Halston Peep toe ankle boots. And almighty number three, some Bally Ermana leather boots. I loved the tall leather boots but they did not seem like 'wear to dinner' type shoes so that left me with one and two.
Oh I know how to make this decision… which one has a shorter (a.k.a in Bella language 'less deadly') heel? Considering this, I decided on the Halston Peep toe ankle boots. Technically, they were .5 inches higher then the other shoes but they looked sturdier. I pulled on my dress gently and zipped up the back of my ankle boots. I looked at my hair and combed through it and tamed it as well as I could.
When I was done, I stepped out of the bathroom. Charlotte and Sabrina were waiting for me. Charlotte had on light purple halter-neck dress that was somehow shorter then mine! Sabrina had on a stunning sequin embellished bubble dress with a round scoop neckline and a pleated bubble bodice. I think they both looked even better then me... but wearing this short of a dress and lingerie underneath had me feeling a certain level of confidence I could not place.
It did not take that long to get to the restaurant. Once we got there, we were brought to a table where a beautiful waitress came over to take our orders.
"Hello my name is Jasmine and I'll be your server tonight is there anything I can get you?" her eyes never leaving… me? Jasper seemed tense and I decided to play along… I wanted to see what happened when Jasper became jealous. I leaned forward in that seductive way you sometimes see women do and smiled.
"I think we'll all have some water right now," I said. As I pulled back I added, "There might be something you can give me later." Jasper's nostrils flared and Peter bit his lip. After she was gone, I felt Jasper's hand curl around my thigh.
"What were you thinking? You just implied you wanted to have sex with that waitress," Jasper hissed. I thought up something quickly to see just how much I could push it.
"I'm not quite sure about the correct pronunciation but I believe it is called a ménage à trois," I said smirking at how his hand tightened considerably around my leg and the slight widening of everyone's eyes. I smiled a reassuring smile once I had seen enough. I decided to change the subject.
"Jasper, I have heard about the way you met Peter and Charlotte but I never heard how you met the Cullen's. Can you tell us?"
I really wanted to hear about his life with the Cullen's even if it meant I had to hear about his life with Alice. When a wave of my own jealousy hit me, I realized that I loved him and did not like the idea of him being with Alice.
"I was in Philadelphia. There was a storm, and I was out during the day - something I was not completely comfortable with yet. I knew standing in the rain would attract attention, so I ducked into a little half-empty diner. My eyes were dark enough that no one would notice them, though this meant I was thirsty, and that worried me a little.
"She, Alice, was there - expecting me, naturally." He chuckled once. "She hopped down from the high stool at the counter as soon as I walked in and came directly towards me.
"It shocked me. I was not sure if she meant to attack. That is the only interpretation of her behavior my past had to offer, but she was smiling. The emotions that were emanating from her were like nothing I would ever felt before.
"'You've kept me waiting a long time.' she said."
"I bet you ducked your head like a good southern gentleman, and said, 'I'm sorry, ma'am.'" Peter added with a laugh letting go of Charlotte's hand.
"She held out her hand, and I took it without stopping to make sense of what I was doing. For the first time in almost a century, I felt hope."
"Alice told me that we were to be mates and that there was a family who would take us in and change our lives forever. Like I said I felt hope for the first time and she was so sure of herself, that I followed her lead. We traveled around the country, always just missing the Cullen's. During this time, I started my vegetarian diet and worked on my control. Eventually we caught up with them. Alice went right up to the front door and knocked. When Esme answered, the little pixie simply stated, "Hello, I'm your new daughter, Alice, and this is Jasper. We will take the room on the left. Don't worry eventually Edward will forgive me." Alice then walked right in. I was left standing there with Esme, just staring at me. Esme eventually recovered and invited me in. After meeting the entire family, Alice convinced them that we were not crazy vampires and they invited us to move in."
But that was then and now I have someone who means so much more to me then Alice ever did," Jasper finished grasping my hand and kissing it. I smiled and heard some one clear their throat. I looked up to see the waitress and she asked, "Are you ready to order?"
Once we all had some food we all began to talk. Sabrina told me stories of her human life. She talked about her fiancé and how they had wanted to be together forever; little did she know she was going to get to live forever! She told me of how when she stopped a woman from dying the town accused her of being a witch and burned her at stake. She said it was one of the most horrible things she had ever experienced. That was on top of that came the burn of the transformation. She told me of a kind vampire named Jedidiah who told her after all his years of being lonely he wanted a friend, not a mate, a friend. Later they became mates when they met up with old foes of his. The battle did not last that long, Jedidiah and she were victorious. However, they had missed one, and before she knew it, Jedidiah had been burned and she had thrown the vampire into the fire. She never loved anyone as if she loved Jedidiah and swore that she would never love again, and so far to this day has not.
"I'm sure Jedidiah would want you to be happy if you found someone right for you," I said resting my hand on top of hers. She nodded and looked up at me.
"You're right Bella, you're right… I see why Jasper loves you," she said placing her other hand on top of the hand I had on top of hers. I felt sorry for poor Sabrina. She had found someone she loved, and all it took to loose them was not noticing. She said she was a big believer in all that fate and destiny stuff she had been telling herself for the past few years, but never really got over losing him.
After dinner, we all decided to take a walk. As I held on to Jasper's arm I realized that I needed to call back home. I did not want to really but I did owe it to the family to let them know that I was okay.
"Hello?" I heard as soon as Edward picked up the phone. I sighed at the sound of his voice. It had been too long. Too bad, I had moved on.
"Edward," I said, "it's Bella."
"Bella!" Edward exclaimed when he heard it was I.
"Calm down Edward I don't have that long to talk. I am really tired and I have to go to sleep," I lied shamelessly. I did not really want to talk to him but I felt I should.
"Oh Bella I've missed you so much!" Edward all but sobbed.
"I know Edward; I know… how is everyone?" I asked hoping to change the subject.
"Fine, fine… why is Jasper letting you call?" he asked. Great. I was hoping that he would not ask. I thought about telling him the truth that Jasper did not let me call because I was not Jasper's property like how Edward treated me but he deserved to find out in person.
Instead of saying, "Jasper and I are in love and he just wants me to be happy so when I wan to use the phone I can." I said, "I don't know Edward," I lied easily and smoothly, "But I wanted to take this chance just incase I didn't get another one for awhile."
"I see," he said with a sigh, "I understand." I could not really take much more of this so I faked a yawn. I guess it sounded real because Sabrina even looked over at me and mouthed 'are you really tired' I shook my head.
"Edward I think I need to go to bed," I said, still lying. I didn't like having to lie, I guess I didn't have to but I didn't know what we could talk about… so just letting him know I was alright was enough for now.
"Oh okay… I love you," he said sadly.
"I love you too," I lied sending Jasper an 'I don't mean it baby' look.
He nodded but still looked sad. I tried not to break down crying from the look in his eyes. I ended the call and realized it was a good thing this had been a call placed by the operator. I do not think he would think to trace it. I looked at Jasper and handed him back the phone. I was hoping he was not mad at me but he did not seem mad, just sad. I sighed Bella, Bella, Bella, always doing this to yourself.
A/N: Sorry about the delay... life's hard ya' know. But I tried. Oh and thank my lovely beta for beta-ing this for me! *Claps* I realized that I had already addressed Jasper's history so my beta had to take that out for me. Thank her again. Thank you everyone for your reviews, and once again: I'm sorry you had to wait so long. Life... that's all I really should have to say.
Tell me what you think! I will apologize ahead for the next chapter. I was briefly considering abandoning this story, but decided to stick it out for as long as I could. At least until life prevents me from continuing.