a/n Please note that all WitFit entries are unedited. No beta. I don't own Twilight.

***This takes place the same night as Chapter 2, Subway. It's also the most present point in the whole story. Bella is in her late twenties.

Word Prompt: Agonize

Audio-Visual Challenge—Musical Mastery: "Mr. Heatmiser" by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. (Video link on my profile)

Listen to the sample, then write whatever comes to you first.

"I'm here. I made it. What's the status."

Alice stripped off her layers and adding them to our pile next to Angela who sat in the booth.

"She's 2 drinks in and hasn't returned the text," reported Ang.

"Good. We need a new round then," Alice said, holding the menu up by the candle light. "Bella, what are we drinking?"

"Peppermint martini." I tossed back the last drop.

"Are those even good," she asked while frowning at the menu.

"Delicious," Ang said, sipping from her cognac.

"Why is nobody drinking champagne at the champagne bar? That's what I'm having." She closed the menu and looked over at me with her hand out. "Let me see the text."

I slid my cell over to her. She turned it on and started to read it out loud with Angela and I joining in.

"I can even say it in four other languages," Ang said with another sip.

"Which ones," Alice asked.

They weren't helping. "Guys, not the time for jokes! What do I do?"

"I'm thinking you know what you want to do," Alice said while looking around the bar.

"But is that what I do?"

"You should do what you want to do," Ang replied between her sips.

"Even if what I want to do isn't what I should do."

"Who says you shouldn't do it," Alice asked, looking back at me.

"Oh I don't know. Rational thought." I wasn't expecting this from them.

"Overrated," Alice said with a flick of her wrist.

Angela finished her drink. "Honey, ain't nothing rational about love."

I needed to make things clearer for them. "This isn't love and love can be rational."

"Not good love," Alice countered.

"Irrational love is hot," Angela added. "Usually comes with good sex." She put up her hand which Alice hive-fived.

I grabbed their non-slapping hands and tried to squeeze some sense into them. "This isn't helping! You guys are supposed to be voices of reason."

"Why," Ang asked. "I want to meet the infamous Edward. I'm a voice of selfishness."

"And I'm a voice of happiness." Alice held both of my hands in hers. "I think you want to see him and I think it might make you feel good to see him. If for nothing else but closure."

Closure. That word mixed with my martini made me want to vomit. I hadn't seen Edward for three years but the idea of him closed from my life officially was nauseating.

"I haven't seen him in ages," I mumbled mainly to myself.

"I'll tell you who we haven't seen in ages," Ang replied and started looking around the bar. "How hard is it for the fucking waitress to pass by our table again so we can get more drinks? That band's played 3 songs since we last saw her."

"Maybe she doesn't know you guzzle your drinks," Alice teased.

"Baby, I sip my Remy but she saw Bella hit that first drink like it was holy water. Bitch should be checking on us so much, she gets a vote on what B should do.

"Focus," I shouted, tapping my palm on the table. "No one is focusing!"

Alice threw up her hands. "I thought we reached a decision?"

"Did we?"

"Yes, B. Text the boy back." Ang snatched up my cell from the table and held it towards me.

"Text him back?" I looked at it like it was poisonous.

"Yes. Text him." Alice demanded.

"Text him now?" I still wasn't touching my cell. The nerves had amplified.

"Text him after you tell me what else I can get for you ladies." The three of us looked up to see our server looking unamused. I caught that she did actually add a vote on the dilemma.

"Miss Merry Waitress returns," Ang cheered sarcastically. I nudged her foot. I didn't want anyone spitting in my drink but Alice charmed her.

"We'd like three Bubble Truffles, please," she said, smiling kindly.

"Hey, that's not what I wanted, Al," Ang interrupted before our server dashed away.

"Yeah, I was on martinis," I added.

"And we're in a champagne bar to celebrate love and friendship. We're drinking champagne cocktails for the rest of the night," Alice sassed back.

"What's even in a Bubble Truffle," Ang asked our server.

"It's liquid sex," she said dryly.

Ang snapped her fingers and pointed to her. "I like you Miss Merry. Three liquid sex cocktails it is."

She left us to get our drinks and I attempted to refocus the girls again. "Ok the text. What do I say?"

Alice rubbed her hands together, thinking. "Hmmm...say..."

"For God's sake," Ang shouted and started tapping away on my cell. "You're agonizing over this too much!"

"What are you doing," I said hysterically, trying to reach for my cell but Angela turned her back to me.

"Angela! What are you doing," I shouted loudly. My voice carried over the music a bit and got us a few stares.

"There," she said and turned back to the table, and placed my cell on the table, face down.

"What did you text," I hissed.

"I told him you were at the Bubble Lounge and he should stop by," she shrugged.

All the air in my lungs escaped my body and I felt faint.

"Oh man," Alice said, flipping my phone over. "Oh! Oh! He texted back! He texted back!" She was waving the cell in my face too fast. I snatched it out of her hands and read the message:

Love to. Where is it?

This was too soon and the fact that I was nearly hyperventilating let me know I couldn't handle this tonight.

"What are you typing," Alice asked.

"I'm telling him we're leaving in a half hour and tonight's not good. I can't handle this," I looked up at them after typing. "Minus the not being able to handle it part."

"Pussy," Angela muttered.

I glared at her but was distracted by his quick text back:

What about tomorrow? U want to grab breakfast?

"Jesus," I said under my breath and replied.

"What did he say now," Alice asked impatiently.

"He asked if I'd like to have breakfast tomorrow but I'm telling him I have meetings," I said while typing.

"Pussy and a liar. My, how the mighty have fallen."

"Shut up, Angela," I snapped back. "I wouldn't be a pussy or a liar if you hadn't texted him. Besides I do have meetings."

"Oh yeah? What meetings?"

"I have to meet my bathroom and my kitchen. Take care of some business," I said, smiling at my excuse. Ang couldn't roll her eyes any harder at me. I looked back down at my cell to see he replied:

That's cool.

"What? Why are you frowning," Alice asked and grabbed my cell.

"What does 'that's cool' mean," I asked.

Alice handed me back my cell with a matching frown. "I don't know."

"It means you should have stuck with my initial text instead of acting like a spazz," Angela said matter-of-factly.

"Should I say 'cool' back," I asked her. "I feel like this is high school."

Ang snorted. "Maybe because you're acting like a teenager with no sense?"

"I should say something back," I said, ignoring her retort. "I'll set the tone. Tell him when I'm free."

I typed another reply. "There. I said I can meet for lunch the next day."

"Lunch is good," Alice said positively. "Breakfast is too couple-y. Like you should be reading the Times with your dog curled by your feet."

"Exactly," I nodded. "He's crazy to suggest breakfast."

"And dinner is too intense," Ang chimed in. "You'd totally want to fuck him after."

We all paused for a beat then nodded. Dinner would be dangerous.

Our server returned with three bubbly drinks tinted pink with a chocolate drop at the bottom. Alice clapped excitedly. "We need a toast." She raised her glass and Ang and I followed, smiling broadly. "Cheers to a happy holiday with liquid sex cocktails and gorgeous friends."

We clinked our glasses together and took a sip.

Ang groaned. "Oh my God."

"Mmmhmm," was all Alice could say.

The drink was delicious but I was too anxious to enjoy it.

"Guys, he's not texting back."

"Maybe he went to the bathroom," Alice offered.

"You'd think he'd take his cell with him. He was answering so quickly before."

"Do you take your cell to the bathroom," Ang asked.

"Yeah, who doesn't," I said

"Edward," she quipped.

I took a long sip from my drink. "This is too stressful. He didn't like my brush off. I should have just ignored the text."

"But he said he knows where we live. You know you couldn't ignore him forever," Alice pointed out.

"Relax and drink," Ang told us. "Listen to the music."

I looked up at the big band playing. They were really into the current song. It was catchy and other people around us were singing along. "I really do love the music and place, Ang. It's perfect for tonight."

"I know," she grinned.

"And so festive! Who knew," Alice said, holding her glass up for another cheers.

Ang clinked her glass again. "I know my girls," she said smugly. We were just stroking her ego at this point.

"Oh oh! A text," Alice shouted, pointing down at my lit cell on the table. I grabbed it and read the text out loud:

Sounds great. Where should we go?

"Where should we go," I asked them immediately.

"He sure does want to lock you down, girl," Angela replied.

"Not helping. Where should we go," I repeated.

Alice snapped her fingers. "Take him to Sarabeth's."

"I love that place," Ang moaned while I typed. "The lemon ricotta pancakes."

"Yes," Alice said wide-eyed.

I put my cell down. "Guys, no breakfast, remember?"

"I think you can still get them for lunch," Alice mused as I noticed he was back to replying quickly. I read his message out loud:

Why not the place you're at now?

"Isn't this just bar? Ang, are they open for lunch," I asked.

"I don't know. We can ask Miss Merry when she comes back for another round because we are so having more of these," she said pointing to her near empty drink.

Alice was almost done too and looked around to find our server. "Oh man," she gasped.

I turned to see what she was staring at and jerked back around. "Oh my God," I said before downing the rest of my drink. Liquid sex would need to be liquid courage.

"What is it," Ang asked, blissfully unaware of who the man was approaching our table.

"Hi," he said breathlessly to my back.

I was a statue, frozen in time. "Hey, Alice," he said. I shifted my eyes to see him leaning down to hug her.

"Hey, Edward," Alice squeaked. If she sounded that way, I couldn't begin to trust my own voice.

Angela started laughing hysterically. "Good on you, man. The first text was definitely the one to follow," she said, pulling out the chair that was opposite me. "I'm Angela. Give us your coat and take a seat."

"Nice to meet you," he said, shaking her hand.

He was directly in front of my now and I drank him in as he shrugged out of his coat. He was taller than I remember but it had to be because it had been so long. His smile was wide as he looked down at me. He was sporting stubble and his cheeks were flushed from the weather. Or maybe they were flushed for the same reason mine were. His eyes looked dark in the bar but they crinkled around the edges like they always have when he was really happy. Angela had taken his coat and I could see what he was wearing. He had on a dark, button up shirt under a light gray sweater that looked soft. If my hands weren't clenched together, they would have automatically reached out to caress the chest that was clearly begging to be fondled. He sat down before I could check out the rest of him. He yanked off his beanie, handing it to Angela, and his wild hair flopped around. It was darker than the usual reddish, brownish, blondish madness that happened in the summer but it was still another sexy feature to add to his long list. He pushed it away from his face and rolled up his sleeves a little.

"So," he said to me with those playful eyes and that flirty grin. "Is this place open for lunch or you still want Sarabeth's? Or maybe I can just hang with you guys for the next..." He glanced at his watch. "Fifteen minutes until you said you were leaving and I can walk you and Alice home."

He sealed my fate with a wink.