Chapter 5: Winter song - SB
Note: First off all, if you're here. Thanks a million! I know I've missed my promised deadline by SO much. As my previous announcement said I had a pretty hectic couple of weeks.
I raised my left hand a bit higher indicating to Jake in which direction the mirror should be put in. I looked around me and I had that familiar feeling I always have when I'm near the end. Bringing an empty space to life brings a smile to my face. Jake jumped out from the chair he was on and titled his head double checking my indications, which I rolled my eyes to.
Jared walked in the room and raised both his hands when he saw me
"Darling, it looks wonderful!" He hugged me
"You found a beautiful space, I just did what it was destined to be" I smiled
"Listen, we want you at the opening night, a way for us to repay for what you did"
"Jared, you signing a check for me is your way of repaying me" I laughed.
"Don't be silly, this is beyond of what Embry and I had in mind. I wanted to give him his dream and you helped made that happen, and we won't take no for an answer."
I smiled at him, and his wrinkled eyes nearly disappeared smiling back at me. We haven't spent so much together, I was more around Embry his newly husband who now was ready to open his restaurant. He was the one who pitched me the idea until I figured out what he wanted.
"Bring a date" He said before turning his heels.
I gathered my bag after finalising some small touches, I gave my last indications to the cleaning crew before heading to my car.
I sat behind the wheel, put my bags in the back seat after taking my pack of cigarettes. I lighted up and rolled down the window of my Jeep. I inhaled and sighed heavily I was excited for my project to be over, the weight on my shoulders slowly disappearing.
My eyes caught the file that was the seat next to me, Edward's contract, that I signed couple of days ago and procrastinated to bring back to my lawyer. I threw my half smoked cigarette out of the window and picked up the file, I took the paper from inside and glanced over his signature next to mine. I put it back on the seat and grabbed my phone scrolling the name on my contacts until I saw his, I hesitated to click on it.
The past days have been the most busiest I had in weeks. Eric had called me the past week to let me know that I can re move back in when I could, it took one afternoon to back up from Tanya and head home. It was unfurnished and smelled new, but it felt good to be home, a couch cannot beat the comfort of a double bed.
Needless to say that between, moving back home and finishing up the restaurant kept me entirely busy. I haven't talked to Tanya since the day I moved back, she wasn't around and thanked all the gods for it hoping she would never ask me how the rest of my night went. Edward and I on the other hand shared some flirty texts a every now and then. We tried to bring back the conversation every time sounding nonchalant.
We haven't seen each other since last week after sharing that kiss and saying our goodbyes in the taxi. Bringing him to Tanya's place was a ridiculous suicide mission and not appearing at Tanya's place would have put me in a place where I had to give explanations.
I put my phone next to the file on the seat and started my car knowing exactly my next destination.
—
The same guy as last time did not even looked at me twice and opened the door to the building, I decided this time to act like I belonged and avoid going to the information desk. With a determined look and walk I made my way to the elevators. I sighed from relief when the door closed behind me without the girls at the information reception looking at me.
At the wanted floor, I kept my confidence high and walked determinably to his office. I cursed under my breath when I saw Alice at her desk typing on her computer.
She looked up and and held her breath, then she put on the most fake smile and looked down at her screen, then her fake smile turned into a real one before she spoke
"You don't have an appointment" She stated
"No, but can you just let him know I have something for him" I shook the file in front of her eyes.
She didn't even bother looked at it, keeping her eyes locked into mine
"You cannot be here, without a confirmed appointment"
I raised my eyebrows "I won't be a bother if he's busy, I won't take long"
"Miss" I huffed "Don't make me call security, I cannot let you in without an appointment"
"Alright Alice, I know for some reason i'm not your favourite person, but don't you think this is a bit extreme?" I leaned into her desk
In response she picked up the phone, her eyes still on mine "I have plenty of reasons. Now i'm gonna ask you to leave" She spoke a bit louder than she did before.
I couldn't believe my eyes, her hand was still on the phone. I decided that it was pointless to make a scene, and as I took one step back the door behind her opened and Edward appeared with a frowned look, he then looked up and met my eyes and his eyes grew.
"What's going on here?" He spoke roughly
"She just showed up, and refuses to leave even though I stated clearly that you were busy and without an appointment I cannot help her"
I opened my mouth to call on her bullshit but was cut off by Edward
"It's okay. I can make time" He looked at me "Come on in"
A proud smile appeared on my face, I looked at Alice, who was red and near explosion, and entered the office. I heard the door closes behind him.
"I'm sorry about that" He started "Although Alice isn't wrong, but I can imagine she wasn't the nicest to you"
"Don't worry about it, I'm sorry I just showed up like this" I smiled
"it's nice to see you"
I smiled. He was so close, and he smelled so good. I shivered remembering the last time I saw him, how much closer we were.
"So is this reason you came all the way to Manhattan" He said pointing at the file in my hand.
I looked down at my hands and smiled before handing it to him "Among other things" I winked
He raised one eyebrow before taking it "Do tell"
"The restaurant i've worked on is opening this Friday, I have a plus one invitation, I was hoping you would you like to come with me?"
He smirked at me putting his hands in his pants pockets then nodded.
His office phone rang and interrupted the starting contest we were having. I sighed and turned to face the window.
"Yes Alice?" He said picking up the phone
"Thank you, I will be there" He glanced at me, I met his eyes and smiled letting him know that I understood he wasn't available anymore
I left his office, after giving him a kiss on the cheek, his hands squeezed my lower back and made me smile. After I close his office door, I was face to face with Alice. She rolled her eyes at me and turned her chair. I fought the urge to flip her and walked away without a word.
—
The next days passed on smoothly, without the restaurant, I found myself enjoying my quiet apartment. I've stayed into my PJs for two straight days, ordering out and binging on Netflix.
On Friday I've decide to let my stomach feel anything put greasy cheesy food, and decided to cook whatever comes near my hand. In the middle of chopping my onions my phone buzzed. I cleaned my hands and smiled thinking it must have been Edward.
My smile faded and then appeared again when I saw Jasper's name on my phone
Taking a break because it's a necessity. I hope your Patty this year will survive. See ya like always?
Confused I looked at my calendar and then fully understood his message. I saw that the day was the 17th and I smiled, St Patrick's day was mine and Jasper's favourite day. Ever since our freshman year of college we've built up our own traditions with Jasper and our college friends. Not that I needed an excuse for partying and getting drunk but today I did with no judgment from the rest of the world.
I couldn't wish for a better day!
I continued with my lunch and let my mind went over planning the rest of my day. Edward was going to meet me at Embry and Jared's restaurant and 7:30pm and my night with Jasper always starts later, so I could fit in both plans.
I moved my entire closet to my bed, until I found what I was looking for, a green dress. I smirked thinking this was the first time I'm mixing a dress up night with a messy one like St patrick's day. If I needed more convincing, putting it on would have served as such, I looked dam good. I bought this dress a couple of years ago, and the curves I gained growing up made the dress look nicer.
A couple of blocks later I saw him leaning against the wall, typing on his cellphone. When my heels made enough noise he looked up and it was exactly what I hoped for. His eyes widened and his mouth opened and closed like a fish.
"Wow.." He stood up straight "Bella, you look … Gorgeous"
I put my hair behind my right ear and blushed, I leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek and he pressed himself giving me half a hug.
I took a step back "Ready?"
He looked down at my dress and let out a "Jesus" before nodding. I smiled at him and it grew when I faced away from him.
When we went inside Jared welcomed us and openly congratulated me for finding a fine date. Edward blushed which caused Jared to tease him a bit more until Embry stepped in. They thanked me again for the work, and I looked around with pride.
"Bella, this place looks amazing" Edward said once we entered the main room.
"You sound surprised for a guy who hired me"
He chuckled "Not surprised, just impressed"
We mingled and sipped champagne. The ladies looked at Edward with a lustful look and then looked me up and down, men lost theirs in my cleavage and I noticed Edward shifting on my side every single time it happened.
We spend the first hour stealing glances from each other, and slowly became more comfortable. His hands lasted longer on my lower back, and sometimes his fingers will scratch and give me some squeezes. I felt confident more and more and pushed my body against his, slightly on his right side, I would let my hand on his chest while speaking closely to him.
The tension between was palpable, and I loved it.
"They seem nice" Edward smiled looking at Embry and Jared holding hands and greeted more people.
"They're alright" I smiled at him
"So was this what you've always wanted to do?" showing the place with his hands
"Close. Well I picked a major wanting to pursue Architecture school, life tested me, this was the closest thing to it but I can't say I'm complaining" I forced a smile and I took another sip of my flute "And you? The big corporate firm was always in your agenda?"
He frowned a bit but asked no further questions "I don't know about the corporate firms and all, but I always wanted to be in business. I've had a fortunate run, so I'm grateful for that"
A cough brought our attenuation to the center of the restaurant, where Embry was speaking in the mic thanking everyone for coming. People applauded louder when he wished we liked the food. He blushed and smiled, and then thanked his husband who was tearing up around the corner.
Shortly after that some of the people started leaving. I looked at Edward and he smiled shyly at me "Can I buy you a drink somewhere else?" He asked me
I looked down at my phone to check the hour, and cursed quietly. It was already late and soon I had to meet Jasper.
"I understand if you can't…" He said looking at me, his eyes looking for an answer still.
"I had this thing planned, I'm not sure you will enjoy it" I thought about Emmett's bar and all the previous St patrick's we celebrated, and looked back at Edward in his expensive suit and watch trying to find a single link. Jasper and I liked to keep things simple, and it was no secret that Edward liked more the fancy scenes
"That's fine. Don't feel bad, this was fun, I liked being here with you" He caressed my cheek with his thumb.
I couldn't help but smile.
"I had fun too" He returned my smile "How about you come over tomorrow I can cook dinner and make it up for you"
Without a hesitation Edward agreed.
—
The bar was like every year, packed and green decoration everywhere. I glanced over the bar and saw Emmett with a ridiculous big St Patrick's hat and green sun glasses.
Emmett took his glasses off when he saw me and walked out of the bar, his arms were open to give me a hug all the way to us, in the meantime I took my coat off and he dropped his arms
"Damn Bee, you looking good!" He grinned
I elbowed him and gave him a hug.
"First round on me, what's on your mind?"
"The patty special of course" said a voice that made turn right away
I was facing Jasper, he adjusted his green hat and grinned at me. He took another step and I jumped on him making him stumble a bit, he hugged me back. And kissed my cheek "I missed you"
He put me down, I adjusted my dress "I missed you too"
Emmett in the meantime was putting the whiskey shots in front of us. I rubbed my hands together looking at Jasper
putting them in order.
Soon after we had our traditional Irish beer, Rose walked in the bar. I waved at her to direct her to us and she smiled, s tall blonde guy following her. She gave me a kiss on the cheek, nodded at Jasper and ignored Emmett. She introduced Michael to us, we shook his hands except for Emmett who went on to the other of the bar.
I looked at Jasper who raised his eyebrows at me. Drama.
I turned to Michael trying to make him feel comfortable, since Rose seemed to be ignoring him, and took advantage to explain to him the game we played.
"We usually take a major milestone and drink as much. For example we will each drink one shot because it's our first St Patrick's day together. The milestone are by order and to whomever you choose to drink with, you get it?"
He nodded.
"To the 7th St Patty together" I heard Jasper's voice and turned to see my 7 seven shots in front of me.
I smiled at him, winked and raised the first shot glass challenging him. Jasper wiggled his eyebrows, and his glass met mine.
After we dropped the seventh shot glass on the counter, Jasper gave me a kiss on the forehead.
Rose rolled her eyes at the gesture and I narrowed my eyes at her.
"So you're trying to make Emmett jealous" pointing at Michael who was too focused reading his beer bottle label.
She shrugged "You think he is?"
We looked at Emmett, and we notice his eyes quickly looking away. Rose tried to hid a proud smile and I shook my head.
"Anyways, what's up with your fancy slutty outfit"
I gasped and dramatically put a hand on my heart followed by a smirk "Thank you, if you must know I came from a date"
"Your geeky high school mate?" She frowned
"Quit the judgment" I pointed my finger at her
"Quit the stupidity! You're really craving for a guy this much?"
This time I gasped for real "What's your problem? We like each other. There's nothing wrong about it"
"Does your BFF Tanya feel the same?"
"Tanya doesn't care" I lied. Or assumed…
Rose eyed me for some seconds and then took two shot glasses from the pile and handed me one "To friendship"
Without an answer I downed it.
The rest of the night went on a bit similar to our similar St Patrick's day, Jasper and I kept on milestones challenging each other, his cheek gained colour and his eyes got smaller, so I knew he was at the same level as mine but kept a cocky grin on his face every time he put a shot glass in front of me. Rose tried to pay attention to her so call date, while Emmett kept glancing every once in a while at them.
I was glad to see that things with Jasper were as I joked with no awkwardness. We even got to laugh when we drank to one kiss shared.
At a certain moment of the night, Michael finally gave up and told Rose that he was heading out. Surprised and frustrated Rose said she will go as well, dedicated to make Emmett believe she was really going with that guy.
The second their bodies weren't in our sight anymore, Emmett came to mine and Jasper's side to ask about him, to which both me and Jasper shrugged to.
"You think I should ask her out again?" Emmett said still eying the door like she was magically coming back.
"Don't do that to her again just because you think you're jealous now" Jasper said
Say what now?
My head snapped and i looked to both of them with a shocked face.
"Don't do what? What does that mean?" Still moving my head trying to look at them in the eyes at the same time.
"You don't know that this douche finally slept with her and ignored her?" Jasper arched an eyebrow
Emmet grimaced when he saw how big my eyes grew at the brand new info.
I was getting mad and Emmett for doing that to Rose, but felt hurt that she didn't trust me enough for this. I always knew that Emmett hit on her but she never gave in.
"When was this?" I asked directly to Emmett
"A night you guys were all hanging out here, a couple of days after New Years"
Two freaking months?
Someone called for Emmett's attention, and he turned after giving me a apologetic look. Jasper put his hand on shoulder squeezing it
"Hey! It's probably hard on her, don't blame her"
I narrowed my eyes at him, furious that he was actually right. I can't be mad at Rose for not wanting to share, did it hurt? Yes. But it was mostly because I felt like she didn't consider me as much of a friend as I did with her, in my own definition anyways.
Come to think of it, Rose never overshared when it came to her past relationships, but we did talk about sex. A lot. Which made it even weirder that her Emmett night didn't come up.
Jasper might have seen how confused I looked, and I probably zoned out for a while that he proposed to take me home. I threw a couple of bills on the counter to cover the drinks, and took my coat back. I saw Jasper waving at Emmett from the corner of my eyes, but I was still pretty confused so I decided to just walk away.
I felt bad ruined the night, nothing major has happened but with the level of alcohol we consumed this fit in the dramatic moment of the night. Which I reacted to triple more dramatically that I would do if sober, Jasper understood so he let me drunkenly complain all the way to my apartment.
"I feel so much like a fool!" I threw my arms in the air
"I wouldn't judge her, she judges me all the time with this whole Edward thing" I continued while Jasper kept on trying to get to the sidewalk
"You would trust me with something like this wouldn't you?" I suddenly stopped in the middle of the road and then shook my head looking away "You didn't trust me with that bomb of last week! What is it with me? Am I putting some kind of weird vibe?"
Angry tears started to show. Angry at Rose. Angry at Emmett. Angry at Jasper. And now angry at myself for being so drunk that I couldn't hold my emotions
"Woah …woah" Jasper jumped in front of me took my arms, and forced me to look at him "This has nothing to do with you B. Rose probably had her reasons, that may be one day you guys can talk about it. And I would never hide anything big from you, if I need help, support or any kind of presence you're my girl. You're just upset, we're good!"
His eyes were still searching for mine hoping to convince me "And as for Edward, don't listen to Rose. Don't listen to anyone, you know what you're doing, right?"
I shrugged.
"All I know is that I am acting out of impulse attraction" I whispered
"Who says there is need for more? And since Bella Swan needs a freaking romance?" He smiled
When I didn't respond he brought me closer and gave me a hug. I put my arms around his body and closed my eyes.
At that moment I made a small promise to myself to never touch whisky again. An instant fake promise.
And then my brain send me a reminder about my dinner tomorrow and that immediately brought a smile to my face. Jasper was right.
About this chapter, the focus is away from E/B for a reason... I wanted to focus on her entourage to give you more info!
I also wanted to point that all relationships are inspired from mine of my entourages. Wanted to keep it real.
