A/N Happy Saturday! Enjoy!
Chapter 66 - Perfection
Bella was a little overwhelmed as the six of them walked into the jewelry store. The thought of Edward buying her a ring had honestly never even crossed her mind; the only thing that really mattered to her was marrying him. Edward was so sweet when he explained it though. He told her that he wanted her to have something on her finger so that the whole world could see that they belonged to each other.
She had never been inside an actual jewelry store before, so she had no idea what she was supposed to do or even what she should be looking for. There was a sales woman who smiled as they entered the store, but the moment she saw them, her smile faded.
"Can I help you?" she ask in a clearly dismissive tone. It was obvious to Bella that she didn't think this was a serious shopping trip.
Edward took his right hand and covered hers, which was still looped through his left arm. Arm in arm, they walked up to the counter where the saleswoman was standing.
"Yes, actually you can," Edward began. "My beautiful fiance and I are going to be married tomorrow and I still need to get her a ring." He smiled down at Bella, who immediately returned his smile before mouthing 'I love you' to him.
The lady, whose name tag read Carmen, looked at Edward with a condescending smirk on her face before she answered. "I'm sorry, Sir. Perhaps you would be better suited to look at one of the local pawn shops or even Walmart to find a ring. I'm sure you'd be more likely to find something in your price range there. Now, if you'll excuse me," she said before turning to walk away from them.
Bella felt tears prick her eyes at the sharpness of Carmen's tone. Even though the woman hadn't insulted her directly, she still felt extremely hurt by the whole situation. She looked up at Edward and he looked pissed. The blush was rising in his face, and Bella could tell part of it was from embarrassment and part was from anger. He looked like he was about to speak up but was interrupted by Rosalie. "Let me handle this," she whispered from beside them. She must have heard how rudely the woman had spoken to them and came to stand next to her brother.
Bella watched as Rosalie walked over to where Carmen was shuffling through some paperwork. It shocked her as she watched Rosalie's hand sweep the papers aside. The woman looked up with a confused but pissed off look on her face, but Rosalie didn't give her a chance to say anything.
She and Edward were too far away to hear the whispered conversation between the two women, but somehow, Rosalie changed Carmen's attitude. A minute later, the woman walked up to them again, looking rather contrite. "I must apologize for the way I acted a moment ago. We've had a lot of kids in the past come in and shop for rings. They spend hours sometimes picking something out and when it comes time to pay, they make some excuse about forgetting their wallet or some other nonsense. I can't even begin to tell you how much time and money we have wasted on teenagers playing pranks." She paused for a moment, shaking her head. "Anyway, that's neither here nor there. Mr. Cullen, your sister assures me that you are completely serious about getting a ring today?"
Edward looked at Bella and smiled sadly when he saw the tear that had escaped her eye. She felt his hand move from hers before he brought it up to her cheek. Once he wiped away her tears, he asked, "Love, would you like to look somewhere else, where we might be treated with more respect? We could leave early in the morning and take a trip to Seattle. It would be cutting it close, but I'm sure we could make it if we tried hard."
Bella found herself sighing. On the one hand, she wanted nothing more than to walk out of that store and never come back. She didn't think that any of them deserved to be treated the way the callous woman had treated them. On the other hand though, she didn't want to waste any more time. Edward really wanted to buy her a wedding set and she knew that they wouldn't really have time to go to Seattle in the morning; there was just too much else they had to do.
She glared at Carmen before turning to smile at Edward. "Babe, I love you so much. As much as I'd like to say lets go somewhere else, we simply won't have the time. I will say, however that I don't need a ring to marry you. If you want to wait until we can go to Seattle, then we can wait. Otherwise, we might as well look around since we're already here."
"Bella, you are truly amazing," he told her before kissing her lips chastely. He then turned to the sales woman. "We'd like to see what you have, thank you."
...
To say he was taken aback by the way the stupid woman in the jewelry store treated them would be an understatement. Never in the last eighteen years had anyone ever been so rude to him and he wanted, more than anything, to rip her a new one. When Rosalie stepped in and asked him to let her handle it, he was somewhat shocked.
As he stood beside Bella with their arms linked, he watched as Rosalie walked right up to the lady and shoved the paperwork in front of her to the side. He couldn't hear what the exchange, but his sister obviously said something the clerk didn't like very much. It only took a few seconds after that for her to come and apologize to them. He would have to remember to ask Rosalie later what she said to the crab of a woman.
Edward knew that Bella was hurt by the whole situation, so he gave her the option of leaving. He knew his suggestion of going to Seattle in the morning to find a ring was ridiculous, but he'd do it in a heartbeat if it made Bella happy. If he were being honest with himself, though, he was relieved when she said they wouldn't have time and might as well look around there.
For the next twenty minutes, Carmen (according to her name tag) showed Bella the different styles of rings that they had. When asked what kind of cut she preferred to help narrow down the selection, her nose sort of scrunched up as she thought about it. She was just so cute all the damn time and Edward couldn't wait to get her alone. When Bella told her she preferred a round cut, Carmen smiled.
Edward watched as the clerk pulled out a tray of rings, all with a round cut center stone, for Bella to look at. When he heard Bella gasp, he knew she had seen a set she liked. Standing behind her with his arms around her waist, he whispered in her ear. "Which one do you like, Love?"
The ring she pointed to was breathtaking, just like her. Carmen explained that it was a two-piece, fourteen karat white gold setting. Around each of the rings was a row of round diamonds weighing a total of one and a half carats. The center diamond, also round, was a full carat by itself and had beautiful clarity.
"Would you like to try it on, dear?" Carmen asked Bella.
Seeming a little unsure, she looked at him. He knew exactly what she was thinking. The ring was two and a half carats in total weight, set in a white gold setting. It would probably cost a small fortune, but if it was the one Bella wanted, it would be worth it. He nodded his head and offered Bella a wide smile, which she returned before facing Carmen again.
"Yes, please," she replied, holding out her left hand. Once the ring was on her finger, her eyes lit up brighter than the night sky on the Fourth of July. "It's beautiful," she whispered in awe.
"It doesn't hold a candle to you, Love." He looked at the ring on her finger and then met her eyes over her shoulder. "Do you like it?" She immediately started nodding her head which made him smile.
Ten minutes later, the girls were gone and he and Emmett were alone in the jewelry store with Carmen. "I must apologize again, Mr. Cullen for acting so callously earlier. I'm glad you were willing to give me a second chance. Let me just clean the ring and box it up and then I'll ring it up. How will you be paying for it today?" she asked.
He pulled out Carlisle's American Express. He had agreed to let Edward put the cost of the wedding on it because it didn't have a limit. Edward would then transfer the money from his account into Carlisle's once they knew how much everything cost. Carlisle had offered to pay for it all, but Edward wouldn't hear of it. He wanted to take care of Bella in every way, and if he were to allow Carlisle to help with the cost of the wedding, he would feel like he had already failed.
The ring came to just over eight thousand dollars, which was well within the range Edward had set for himself. He knew Bella would freak out though, if she knew just how much it had cost, which was why he sent her ahead with the other girls. She didn't need to worry about finances or anything else. Edward had enough of a nest egg to support Bella, buy a house, finish school, and live comfortably while doing so. He felt a twinge of regret as he thought about where that money came from but knew that his mother and father would want him to be happy.
Before Edward left the store with Emmett, his purchase securely in hand, he turned back to face Carmen. "Can I ask you a question?"
Carmen smiled at him while answering. "Of course, Mr. Cullen. That's what I'm here for."
He chuckled to himself, knowing it wasn't the kind of question she was expecting, but he decided to ask anyway. "What did my sister say to you to change your mind about my fiance and me?"
Shock took over her face as she stammered, trying to answer his question. "Oh. Um... well..." She finally took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eye. "She told me who your mother and father are and how influential they are in this community. She also said that if I didn't change my attitude and help you guys, she would have my job faster than I could say, 'cash or charge.' Very tenacious, that one."
Emmett smacked him on the back and laughed loudly. "Yep! That's my Rosie," he said smiling widely. "She'll do anything she can to protect her family."
He couldn't help shake his head at her antics. "Remind me to thank her later, will you bro?" he asked Emmett.
"You got it, Eddie."
Carmen spoke up one last time before he and his brother left the store. "Will there be anything else, Mr. Cullen?"
He looked down to the bag he had in his right hand and smiled widely. "No thank you, Carmen, and thank you for your help today."
"Then may I wish you and your beautiful bride the best of luck tomorrow and many years of happiness to come." Edward was glad now that they hadn't left and gone to Seattle. Yes, Carmen definitely had a piss poor attitude when they had first come in, but she'd turned into a very kind woman after that.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when Emmett drooped an arm around his shoulder. "You getting excited, bro?" he asked as they walked toward the Volvo.
Edward smiled up at his brother. "More than you know, Em. More than you know."
...
When Edward sent Bella and the other girls to the department store ahead of Emmett and him, she was a little apprehensive. She knew that he didn't want her to know how much the ring cost and that definitely had her a little worried. She could only hope that he wouldn't be spending a small fortune on a piece of jewelry, no matter how perfect it was.
She didn't have too much time to worry about it though. The moment they were in the department store, Alice was dragging her by the arm over to the wedding dresses. "Bella, Bella, Bella! Are you excited? I'm so excited!"
She couldn't help but laugh. "Alice, calm down. Of course I'm excited, but I'm also a little sore from the accident this morning. Give me a break, okay?" She watched as Alice's face fell and then instantly felt bad. "Come on, Tink. I didn't mean anything by it. Let's look at wedding dresses, okay? Just remember that I can't bounce around like you can."
Alice smiled and started bouncing on the balls of her feet again. "Bella's fragile, be careful with her. Got it. I'll be over at the dresses, meet me there as soon as you can gimp over, okay?"
Again, Bella couldn't keep the smile off her face as Alice bounded off. She looked at Angela and Rosalie who were laughing at the whole exchange. Rosalie smiled at Bella when she saw caught her gaze and said one word that summed everything up. "Alice." With a shrug of her shoulders, she followed her sister over to the dress department leaving Angela and Bella alone.
"Bella, I know it's not my place to say anything, but are you going to let Edward see your dress before the wedding?" her friend asked tentatively.
Bella wasn't sure what exactly to make of Angela's question. "Why do you ask, Ang? I don't hide anything from Edward."
"Well, it's just..." Her voice trailed off for a moment. "Never mind. I shouldn't have said anything."
"Ang?" Bella was really curious now as to what her friend was going to say. "Please tell me?"
Angela studied Bella as if she were trying to decide how to continue. Finally, she took a deep breath and just said what she was thinking. "I just thought the day would be more memorable for both of you if he saw you in the dress for the first time when you were walking to meet him at the altar. I know it's tradition and all, but I really think Edward would appreciate it more if he didn't see it until then, you know?"
Bella thought about what Angela said as they walked to join Alice and Rosalie. Angela was right; Edward might appreciate it more if he didn't see the dress until tomorrow night. Once she came to that realization, she smiled at her friend and pulled her into a hug. "You're right, Ang. The dress will have more of an impact on him if he doesn't see it until tomorrow."
By this time, they were right next to where Alice was rifling through the dresses, handing ones she liked to Rosalie. Bella asked Rose if she would mind texting Em and having them meet her at the tux shop next door while, Alice, Angela and herself all looked for dresses. She told her it would be a huge help to her and she'd owe her big time for it. Rosalie agreed, handed the dresses back to Alice, and walked out of the store with her phone in her hand.
"All right, I figure we've got an hour tops to find a dress before the men are done at the tuxedo shop. Alice, what have you found so far?" Bella asked. "I've got a twenty-five hundred dollar daily spending limit on my card, so whatever we find has to cost less than that, okay? Otherwise we'll have to call Edward to have him come pay for it, and that sort of defeats the purpose."
"I'm sure we can make due with that, Bells," Alice told her while handing her a few of the dresses. "Try these on first and we'll go from there. Angela, can you help her while I continue to look?" Angela nodded and followed Bella into the dressing room with a smile on her face. She seemed almost as excited as Alice was.
Once they were in the dressing room, Bella took a minute to look through the dresses to see what Alice had picked out. The third dress she looked at would be perfect as long as it fit; it was exactly what she had imagined in her head. "This one," she told Angela as she held it up to show her. Her friend nodded and reached for it to remove it from the hanger as Bella began unbuttoning her shirt.
When she was standing in only her ace bandage and panties, Angela helped her step into the dress before sipping it up in the back. It definitely fit, but Bella had yet to see what it looked like in the mirror; she was so nervous she had her eyes squeezed tightly shut. "It's beautiful," Angela said with awe. The tone of her voice caused Bella's eyes to open and in the mirror in front of her, she saw her reflection. She didn't even bother trying on any of the other dresses; she knew that this was the dress she would be wearing when she married Edward tomorrow. It was perfection.
A/N Okay, before any of you ask or say anything, I purposely left out the description of Bella's dress. I want it to be a surprise to all of you like it will be a surprise to Edward. Don't be too mad! Please leave me your thoughts and thank you for reading!