Chapter 11.Atmospherics (Listen to the Radio) - Tom Robbinson
Needless to say, but have to say it anyway, Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. I own probably half the bathroom in my mortgaged house.
~~OtA~~
EPOV
He had come to work early that day so that he could get into DJ EC mode. It took him a full hour and a half to access his inner jerk. He couldn't have her seeing him as anything but a jackass if their plan was to work.
He had thought of the worst, yet legal, stunt for the Vegas show. Actually, he hadn't really come up with it himself. In a bid to not think about Bella at bedtime, he had put on some cable and 'Forty Year Old Virgin' was the movie that was playing. One thing lead to another, and eventually his evil mind had plotted the vulgar stunt for Vegas. Just what Aro would want.
Yet he regretted it almost instantly when he saw the genuine look of hurt upon Bella's face. He had reached out to her and Rose had instantly stepped in, while Bella retreated into the corner of the room. He had watched how she had made herself smaller, like she was trying to blend in with the wall. He wanted to pull a Swayze and tell everyone that "nobody puts Baby in a corner," but he soon realized that the reason she was hiding was because of his evil inner twin and his asshole ideas.
He had walked to his office after the show, running his fingers through his hair in an almost OCD fashion. He closed his office door and put his head on the desk.
He really was a jackass.
When he had first walked in on Tanya and her girlfriend he had been beyond mortified. Tanya had been his first. His first girlfriend and his first time. He was scared of getting back on the horse and putting himself out there again. After all, he had turned one girl gay, who was to say that he wouldn't do that to his second girlfriend? And now it would appear he had an even bigger hurdle to jump over when he got back on the horse. (Where are all these horse ideas coming from? Maybe because he was hung like one?) Bella was a virgin. She couldn't be more than 25 and he guessed that was acceptable. He had been 22 when he had fucked Tanya for the first time. He would never call it making love. They had had sex and Tanya had made it fairly clear that Edward was not the first love of her life. She really was in love with the woman she had chosen to cheat on Edward with.
What had Tanya said? Oh that's right- "She makes me feel like a real woman." Now not only did he have to deal with the PTSD of walking in on Tanya, but he also had to deal with Bella being a virgin. He wondered if he would ever be able to get it up again.
He quickly started an email to her trying to explain why he had chosen that particular idea, but he thought better of it. How do you say to someone you have just started to have a connection with that you think it's okay that they're a virgin? Did that mean that everyone in the room had the same idea that this lovely intelligent woman was also virtuous? Oh dear God, did that mean that they all thought that she was probably frigid and maybe gay as well? And why were his thoughts rambling in such a way?
So he decided against the idea of emailing her, because most likely, no good would actually come of it.
BPOV
She waited for his email. Just something, anything, to justify this genuinely asshole idea that he had come up with for Vegas.
She had absolutely cringed during the show when he had announced the location for the show the following day and also made requests for Vegas' finest male virgins to make their way to the outdoor location at 5 am to see who would be the lucky prize winner of a date with the V-card police. Her finger had hovered over the little yellow button. Rosalie had shaken her head and her hand had slowly retreated. Shit, if Rosalie didn't think it was a yellow button moment, then it most definitely wasn't.
She had packed the remaining items for her weekend away and took her precious cat to her neighbors Siobhan and Liam. They had cooed over her furry little boy and she knew he would be in good hands for the next few days. They had jokingly told her that "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, unless it's on HD video, then it goes straight to Facebook!" She had laughed at her well meaning friends. Nothing was likely to happen in Vegas. Her V-card had unfortunately been shown for everyone to see and she now had to suffer the consequences.
She walked back to her house, locked the last few windows and made sure that the electrical items were turned off. She checked her iPhone and emails while she waited for Rosalie and Alice to pick her up for the trip to the airport.
Alice arrived first.
"Holler if you're going to Vegas," was her cheerful cry as she let herself in the front door.
Bella managed the expected response "Woo Woo! There's a holler here!" She walked to greet her friend.
"How was court today?"
Alice was busy arranging several multicolored but matching suitcases.
"Bells love, don't ask me about court. We won though, so 'yay', but Rose tells me Captain Dickhead pants was being very dickheadpantsy today. I'm so sorry honey." Alice put her arm around Bella in a consoling hug.
"I don't think Rose would say Dickhead, and I don't think dickheadpantsy is a word, but I'm embracing the sentiment behind it."
"Rose totally meant to say Dickhead. I could see it in those cold, steely blue eyes of hers. The girl only has to look at you and she drops enough swear words in one glare to warrant her mouth being washed out with soap. She has a filthy mind, she just has this amazing filter to prevent the bad words from coming out. I, on the other hand, have no such filter. So fuck the dickhead honey, we're going to Vegas on someone else's dime. Let's just enjoy it." Somehow Alice had made her feel a little better, even if she had managed to say the last soliloquy like it was one short sentence.
Rose walked in the door just as Alice had finished.
"Well, speak of the bitch herself," Alice chirped as Rose wrestled with her one small bag.
"Alice honestly, I will spank those swear words out of you one day. I love you honeychild, but that mouth belongs on a sailor, not a manic little pixie such as yourself. You look so sweet, but God just picked your mind up straight out of the gutter and took your mouth straight out of the potty. How you manage to not call the judge, jury or opposing counsel names absolutely blows my mind."
"Oh shut the fuck up, I so keep it together in court. My brain filter seems to work wherever there is enough mahogany and grown-ups to keep it in check. You would piss yourself if you were opposing counsel."
"And that my friend, is why I chose to side with you and not against you. What you lack in size pixie child, you make up for in mouth."
Bella shook her head at her friend's usual little exchange. It was cute how much Rose was offended by swearing, yet she loved Alice like a sister. It had been the same way since they started out in law school together. They were each other's peanut butter to jelly, separated they were okay, but together they made much more sense.
"Let's get to the airport and get this train-wreck on the road." Bella shoved her friends out the door, guiding them to the very nice Town Car the station had graciously provided.
After juggling much luggage into the trunk of the car, they took off down the road. Alice hung her head out the window and shouted "Off to Vegas bitches!"
~~OtA~~
Phew that was a fun chapter to write. I am now on Twitter as MissIzbels and on eblogger as On the Air. I will be putting pictures up on eBlogger as well (once I grasp the technology-see twitter for updates). Thanks to those of you who review, you make my day and my hubby can't believe so many people think I anything coming out of my mind is worth reading. Reviewers for this chapter will get a sneak preview of the next chapter. FicObsessed is my wonder-beta and elaine67 pre-reads and keeps me in check.
I think dickheadpantsy is one of my finest new words. My daughter invented the word "Ninjury". It's when you hurt yourself when you are doing something adventurous, such as when you are playing Ninja's in the backyard with your bigger brother. Peace out.