Author's Note: This story will go back and forth between present day and the past.
"For she had eyes and chose me." - Othello
His smile. His intelligence. His charm. Those are the three things that Bella Swan was immediately attracted to when she met Edward Cullen one afternoon at a co-worker's barbecue. She never expected to meet anyone. Heck, she almost decided not to come because she didn't know anybody and wasn't exactly socially adept, but Angela had begged her and so she did. Angela had been so welcoming and helpful to her as she got used to the new job that she felt it was rude not to come.
In the end, she had made the right choice.
While Angela and Bella had made small talk at work, she never knew that Ben, Angela's husband, was a firefighter. So she was shocked to show up on that humid afternoon to several men hanging out, drinking beers, grilling various meats, and with very few women in attendance. When Angela spotted her, she ran up and hugged Bella.
"I'm so glad you came," Angela said while hugging Bella.
"Well thanks for inviting me. I brought some mac and cheese." Bella said while holding up a small pan of the food.
"That wont be enough for this crowd, but it will be gone in seconds." Angela laughed. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you. Ben is a firefighter and so he invited over a couple of his buddies who are off duty. They are like teenage boys: they have endless stomachs and will eat anything. Food around here doesn't last long and they always like trying something new, so we better hide this before the boys discover it and us ladies don't get any."
Angela smiled and guided Bella into the little kitchen where they stuck the mac and cheese in the oven to stay warm.
"Let me introduce you to some of our friends," Angela said grabbing her hand and pulling her back outside. She proceeded to introduce her to a couple of people including a guy named Mike and his girlfriend Jessica, another couple Tyler and Lauren, and some more guys from the crew before introducing her to Lieutenant Edward Cullen.
Edward quickly smiled when being introduced to Bella. His smile reminded Bella of a quote from one her favorite novels: "It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced-or seemed to face-the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor." And just as Nick Calloway was instantly drawn to Jay Gatsby at that circus of a party on the Long Island Sound, Bella was drawn to Edward at a less formal and calmer gathering.
It was a smile that made her want to know more.
Her eyes, her spirit, her intelligence. Those are the three things that Edward Cullen was immediately attracted to when he met Bella Swan at Angela and Ben's barbecue. He never thought he would understand what Peter Gabriel sang about, but then he met her and he knew.
"Hello Bella, nice to meet you," Edward said, as he held out his hand to Bella.
Gracefully, Bella returned the shake, but then stumbled over her words of introduction. She was completely in awe of the man that stood in front of her.
"How do you know Angela?" Edward asked, as Bella stood dumbfounded. Thankfully the question broke her from her stupor and she was able to carry on with the conversation as a normal human being.
"Sorry. I'm not very good at social interactions outside of work. I um work with Angela at the library. I guess she took pity on me and invited me here today."
"Well knowing Angela, she probably invited you because she likes you and wants to take you under her wing. Angela is like the mother hen to all of us guys. She is the one wife that always brings over food or makes sure our clothes are clean and that we aren't living like a bunch of bachelors at the station. But I have also found she only does this for people she finds worthy of her care. So I'd say you're probably a pretty good person. So what do you do at the library?" He asked.
"I'm a librarian with a focus on Arts and Humanities. So I work the reference desk and teach classes on pretty much how to use the library with a maximum benefit."
"Sounds fun." Edward said with that smile.
"I doubt it, but I enjoy it. I mean compared to saving people, my job is downright dull." She said joking.
"Yeah I can't say I would enjoy researching and reading all day, but then again the best part of my job is always moving. I enjoy staying active. I get restless when I have to sit down and do too much paperwork."
"So what's your job at the station?" Bella asked curious.
"Well I'm Lieutenant. So I manage the scenes we're called to, create the shift schedules, keep up with work logs, and essentially supervise all the guys and make sure they do what they're supposed to do. Most of my job is adult babysitter and telling guys to clean up after themselves. It's pretty interesting and never dull."
"How long have you been a firefighter?"
"Well I started with a junior cadet program when I was 16 and then went into EMT training when I graduated high school, then after years of training and testing, I became a firefighter and have been working as a firefighter for about 10 years, but I've only been lieutenant for two years. What about you?"
"Well I've been a librarian for about 3 years. I graduated with my Master's from University of Washington and then I decided to take a job at a community college near my hometown and then a position at North Seattle opened up and I decided to move back here."
The conversation continued to flow easily and with each minute that passed, Bella became more and more entranced by Edward and he by her. As the sun was setting, Bella decided it was time to leave.
"Can I have your number?" Edward asked her. There was no way he was going to let this beautiful, intelligent woman walk away without another chance of seeing her.
So with the sun setting, Bella and Edward exchanged numbers with promises for future plans.
The following week, they met for their first date. It was simple, like the two people on the date; Dinner, desert, coffee to go, and a walk along the waterfront.
With each date, they learned something new about each other like that Edward joined the department because his dad was a station captain and him and his brother Emmett always enjoyed spending time with their dad at the station, helping out, and hanging with the guys. He said he was always proud of what his father did and knew that he wanted to join.
Bella shared stories of her mom bringing her to the police station before school everyday to say good morning to her dad. She told Edward about the fear that overtook her some nights when he would have overnight shifts and she shared with him the fear that one day her dad wouldn't come home. Despite her fear, she was proud of her dad and couldn't imagine him doing anything else, but it never motivated her to follow in his footsteps. She liked to live in the fictional drama of books, not reality.
Four months after their first date, they started to talk about a future together.
Three months after that Edward asked Bella to move in with him.
And ten months to the day after they met, Edward asked Bella to be his bride and say I do.