DESIDERATA
A/N: I don't own anything Twilight, but I do own a mean case of OCD. And a box of Twilight conversation hearts, Forbidden Fruit flavor. SM owns the rest.
CHAPTER TWO: WORDS
"Words, so innocent and powerless and they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good or evil they become, in the hands of one who knows how to combine them!"
--Nathaniel Hawthorne
"Hello there, welcome to Alice's Wonderland Café. Would you like one of my buns?"
"Well, actually, we just came in for a cup of coffee…"
EPOV
I'm looking into the brownest set of eyes I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty. Deep pools of chocolate brown that go on forever. Here I am, in a stupid coffee shop in the middle of buttfuck, USA, just trying to get rid of my caffeine headache, gazing into the most spellbinding eyes in the world.
Fuck. me.
Jesus, all I want is a fricking cup of coffee, when all of a sudden I can't even think straight. And since when do a sprout wood over someone's eyes, no matter how beautiful they are? Get a grip, Edward. I've never experienced this kind of visceral reaction to a woman before…I pride myself on my ability to control my feelings; I think it is the only thing that has kept me sane in the world of film production. In an industry full of sycophants, being detached keeps me from becoming ensnared in any Hollywood scandals, thank god for that.
Then she says it, the words tumble out of her mouth, one after the other, and I'm not entirely sure I hear them correctly….
"Hello there, welcome to Alice's Wonderland Café. Would you like one of my buns?" her sweet voice purrs at us.
Momentarily taken aback, all I can muster is a smirk; once I realize my reaction, I quickly wipe it from my face. In the intervening moments, I gratefully hear Jasper answer her query: "Well, actually, we just came in for a cup of coffee…" Brilliant, Edward. Jasper has to once again save the day because of your social awkwardness.
The beautiful face with the beautiful brown eyes flushes a lovely shade of red…It is such an amazing, innocent response, and I've never seen anything like it.
"Umm, sorry about that, I didn't mean that like it sounded. It's just that I bake everything here, so everyone calls them 'my' buns. Just ignore my verbal diarrhea, ok?"
"Well, your buns happen to be hidden behind that apron, so I have no idea if I'd like one of them or not…but can you just get me three cups of coffee, to go, please?" Jasper teases her. While I am envious of his ability to talk to anyone, anywhere, I would prefer he not be as charming as he is. It invites unwanted attention. He doesn't mean to draw people in, but he simply cannot help himself. I worry that it will get him into yet another hurtful relationship; he doesn't seem to understand that most, if not all, women are disingenuous, and all they are interested in is dating Jasper, the movie star, not Jasper, the man. I scowl a little bit at the thought.
"Yeah, sure, what size?" She asks, as the blush starts to fade from her cheeks.
"Largest you have, we need a caffeine infusion in the most serious way…," he answers.
"Do you need any room?" I hear her say, motioning to the cup.
"That kind of defeats the purpose of getting the optimal amount of caffeine possible," he grins at her.
"Spoken like a true fanatic. Cheers to you," she laughs in reply.
"So, was today worth it?" he asks, breaking her focus.
"Umm, what?" She says, raising her right eyebrow at him.
"Chewing through the restraints?" he nods towards her t-shirt.
She starts snickering out loud, and may have even snorted a time or two, and the sound is simply magical. Once again, I surprise myself with my reaction to her—she fucking laughed, so what? In the midst of that thought, I hear a high, childlike voice preceding the arrival of a tiny woman with spiky black hair, who suddenly appears behind the counter.
"Bella, I can't leave you in front for one minute while I clean up, I swear…" she suddenly looks up to see Bella handing Jasper the cups of coffee. The moment her eyes meet Jasper's, she stops short, freezes for a second, and then continues. "Well, hello, I didn't see you there!" Her eyes lock onto Jasper's and focus on him intently. In that instant, I get a very bad feeling about this.
"And, Alice, he was just commenting on my t-shirt, can you imagine that?" the brown-eyed creature says, breaking her colleague's reverie.
The elfin woman rolls her eyes and reaches over the counter to shake Jasper's hand as she says, "Sorry, I should introduce myself. I'm the proprietor here, Alice Brandon. This basket case next to me is my best friend, Bella Swan. It's a pleasure to meet you, …" she babbles. Her intense gaze into Jasper's eyes continues unabated.
"My name is Jasper Whitlock, and this is my sister Rosalie, and my best friend Edward Cullen," Jasper nods towards the two of us. It does not appear that Alice is even aware of anyone else in the room at that point.
"Oh. So you are in town for your new film," Alice states, not too subtly.
At that point, I have to interject. Jesus, the gossip train moves so fast in these damn small towns! "I wasn't aware that our filming here was general knowledge, especially since none of the paperwork has been finalized," I growl. I can't help it; it just pisses me off that you can't do anything with a modicum of privacy anymore. I just want to be left alone to complete my project, and people make it so fucking difficult to do so. Behind me, I hear Rosalie's toe tapping away at the floor, recognizing that her ire is probably even greater than mine. As my personal assistant, she likes to stay ahead of the gossip chain via pre-emptive strikes, and she missed the loop on this one. Nothing pisses her off more than being outdone.
All of a sudden, I overhear Bella mumble, "Speculation in our society has a way of becoming fact."
Taken aback, all I can say is, "What?"
Bella flushes red once again. "Nothing. It's just a line from the movie Quiz Show. It seemed to really apply to this situation, especially when people have been in and out of here all day speculating that the movie is going to be filmed here," she says softly. Her comment surprises me—she obviously knows her films, and can quote them verbatim. I'm shocked to find myself somewhat impressed by that fact.
Bella's musing is interrupted by a hiss from Rosalie. "Jasper, just get the fucking coffee and let's get out of here. I can't wait to get back to LA and away from this crappy rain…"
"Geez, Rose, chill. I'm only being polite!" Jasper says, shaking his head.
"Well, grab it and let's go. I'll meet you back in the car," she says as she huffs off through the door, out to the car, and disappears inside with a slam.
Her quick escape opens the door for my own, so I grab my coffee from Jasper and abruptly turn to leave, taking one more deep gaze at Bella's eyes. I really have to get that out of my system before we come back for shooting, or the project will never be finished. I could barely even think straight in her presence, and any thoughts that popped into my head were all ruled by lust. I tell Jasper on my way out, not even bothering to turn around and look at him, "Jazz, please just take care of the bill and get your ass out to the car. We have a plane to catch." I hear the stupid bell tinkling as I make my exit through the door and tramp outside.