The Twilight Twenty-Five

thetwilight25[dot]com

Prompt: Cafe

Pen Name: maxandmo

Pairing/Main Character(s):ExB

Rating: M

Multi-chapter

Photo prompts can be viewed here: thetwilight25[dot]com/round-six/prompts

I don't own Twilight. Extra special thanks to Twilly for encouraging me to write and Sarah for beta'ing! Luv ya's! (maxandmo on Twitter and Maxandmo Fanfiction on FB)

11. Cafe

When Bella walked into the seaside cafe with Carlisle, she was overtaken with the aroma of delicious breakfast foods. Her stomach growled as if on cue, and Carlisle chuckled.

"Help yourself, Bella. Will Mike be joining us this morning?"

"I'm not really sure," Bella said with a grimace. "He had a few things to take care of."

Carlisle was curious as to what type of things those were, but he didn't press her on the subject. In fact, he liked the more care-free attitude she seemed to have when he wasn't around.

He pulled a chair out for Bella at a table that was already occupied by one couple. Bella was taken aback when she saw the look that Carlisle gave to the woman. Also interesting was how she looked at him the exact same way and that the man sitting next to her saw it and smiled as well.

"Esme, my darling, this is Bella," he said as he took her hand to his lips and kissed it. "Bella, this is my lovely Esme and her friend, Paul."

"Hi," Bella said, relieved that she wasn't sitting in the middle of some sort of love triangle. She sat down and felt very comfortable.

"Hello, Bella. Glad you could join us. Esme, here, needs someone to girl talk with. I do the best that I can but sometimes she needs a real girl." Paul was smiling when he looked as Esme. You could tell how close they were and how much he cared about her.

Carlisle excused himself, but promised to be back in a bit to check on them. Bella was wondering how long they had felt like that about each other and decided that if Esme wanted to tell her, she would. Bella wasn't one to pry.

The cafe was set up buffet style so the three of them went to check it out. Mrs. Cope was standing at attention making sure everything was just perfect, and it was.

Bella had never seen so much food before. There was an omelet station, a Belgian waffle station, a fruit bar, and an entire section full of seafood. Esme grabbed a few things and headed back to her seat, while Paul piled up his plate with food until it was heaping.

Bella was thankful that she didn't feel sick after vomiting. She ordered an omelet and grabbed an apple and a banana. When her cheesy, veggie omelet was handed to her, she turned to head back to her table and was stunned when her banana rolled off of her plate and onto the ground. Her first instinct was to lean toward it, but when she did that, her apple flew off of the plate and was also headed toward the ground.

Before she knew what had happened, a shadow appeared in front of her and caught the apple handing it back to her. She looked up and locked eyes with Edward. Her breath hitched, and she felt herself blush.

"Thank you, Edward Masen."

"You're welcome, Bella."

She felt desire flow throughout her body when he handed the apple back and his fingers grazed hers. Go figure, Edward touches her hand and she wants to jump his bones, she sees Mike naked and instantly wants to flee. Fuck her life, she thought.

"Edward, where is my freshly squeezed orange juice?"

Bella and Edward both turned their heads toward the source of the annoying voice. Jessica was sitting at a table in the corner with nothing but fruit on her plate. He looked at Bella and rolled his eyes. It was amusing that he found Jessica's demands ridiculous.

"They're making it for you," he said sternly.

Bella smiled and walked back to her table, albeit, this time a little more carefully.

Esme was trying to be discreet, but couldn't stop looking at the two of them and smiling a knowing smile. For they looked at each other exactly the way she and Carlisle looked at one another.

Bella was devouring her omelet and only looked up when she heard a shriek. Jessica was on the ground in the middle of the cafe and everyone couldn't help but stare. Once she checked her breasts to make sure they were still inflated, she grasped her ankle.

"My ankle!" she exclaimed.

Jake was by her side in an instant. He and Edward lifted her up and carried her over to her table. An ice pack was quickly sent over to the table by the wait staff. When Bella looked over, the three of them were staring at her, and Jessica was pointing in her direction.

Bella was confused until she looked over to where Jessica slid and noticed the banana she had dropped was smashed on the floor.

"Shit," she breathed.

Esme placed a comforting hand on her arm. "Of course the one time she gets up, she slips."

"This is going to be a nightmare. I'm already pretty sure she can't stand me."

"Keep your eyes open, my dear. Keep your eyes open."

Bella got up and walked over to their table. She didn't care how mad Jessica was, or how dirty the looks she was shooting Bella were, she needed to at least apologize.

"I'm sorry, Jessica. Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay? My ankle is swollen and throbbing. Edward, can you get me more ice?"

Edward hesitantly walked away in search of a fresh bag of ice leaving Bella with Jessica.

"Okay, well I was just checking to make sure you were alright."

"Next time you drop something, pick it up! Oh wait, I'm sure you were waiting for my boyfriend to save the day. Well, guess what? Get a life. You can't even carry a plate without fucking it up. Go back to your little table with your…" she looked over at Bella's table and laughed. "See, Mike can't even stand to be with you, you're the third wheel."

Bella shook her head, and as much as she didn't want to let them, Jessica's words stung. She was right.

She turned and headed back to her table extremely embarrassed. She heard Jessica thanking Edward for the ice and felt worse when she told him she knew a few ways he could make her feel better. It didn't take a genius to know that she was speaking loudly for Bella's benefit.

When Bella reached her table, Esme pointedly asked if she would accompany her outside. They headed out of the cafe together.

Bella chanced a departing look at Jessica and was shocked to see her smirking.

This story is written based on twenty-five prompts meaning it will be twenty-five chapters and possibly an epilogue. They must be posted by May 31st to complete the challenge.

Please review, we're nearly halfway there!