"Bella, Rose'll be here in twenty minutes to help you with your makeup," Alice yelled from the bathroom down the hall. I was lying in Edward's bed reading a stray Cosmo when I heard.
"For what?" I yelled back, rolling my eyes. They had a freaking intercom system and yet she insisted on screaming.
"The boys are taking us out to dinner tonight! All of us and Esme!"
"Esme's coming?" I responded, bounding off the bed. The four of us- Esme, Edward, Alice and I had gone to the museum every morning for the past two weeks to work on the setting for the debut of Alice's work, including the menu, color scheme, guest list, and lighting options.
"Yeah, so grab that cocktail dress I found in your closet and put it on! It's on my bed!" I rolled off Edward's and entered the hallway, sticking my tongue at the bathroom door before Alice's door. Her room was a dusky lavender color with white accents, the only things that weren't either color were her laptop and the lamp beside her bed- both of which were bright green. She still hadn't told me why. There on her bed was the dress I had found in a consignment shop. Slipping out of my clothes I pulled it on over my head and adjusted the skirts.
"Alice! Come do my buttons!" I yelled. The dress was chocolate brown lace over the same colored silk with a fitted strapless bodice and ruffled lace at the bust. The waist was boned and flared into a full skirt the dropped just above my knees. Teal blue velvet lace crisscrossed under the bust and down the bodice to my hips. The 1950's dress had two rows of buttons doing up the back and were impossible to fasten without a second person.
"Holy shit, Bella, the 50's do you justice," Alice said, entering her room with a towel wrapped around her head. I blushed and twirled.
"Thanks, Alice." She did up my buttons, then turned to her closet and eyed it cryptically.
"I don't know what to wear." My jaw dropped.
"You don't know what to wear?" I asked, agape. She shook her head and I marched into her closet, looking for the dress I knew she had in there. Ten minutes later I found what I was looking for in the farthest reaches of Hell, the dress I bought for her two years ago. I pulled it out and she gasped.
"You are a genius, Bells. I totally forgot that I had that in there. Thank you so much!" She hugged me, then proceed to strip to her skivvies and don the dress. It was a vintage party dress- like mine, in sapphire blue fabric. There was chiffon over the cotton lining of the skirt with a fitted sleeveless bodice, though the upper section- from bust to neck- was chiffon. The shoulders were covered by blue lace and the dress had an empire waist complete with ribbon and gathers. The skirt was comprised of two layers of chiffon, the top layer forming a point in the front and back. I did up her invisible zipper in the back and turned her around.
"You look absolutely fabulous, Miss Alice," I stated, winking. "Whatever will Jasper think?"
"Probably the same thing that Edward will," she replied with a smirk and a blush. The doorbell rang downstairs and Alice perked up. "That'll be Rose now. Let's go get her." We raced down the stairs in our bare feet and skidded to a stop in front of the door. We opened it and saw, not Rosalie, but Carlisle. He blinked at us. We blinked back.
"Hi, Carlisle," I said sheepishly.
"Hello, Bella, Alice. The boys told me we were going out to dinner," he said with a small smile. "I didn't realize that it was themed."
"Oh, it's not, daddy. We just happened to have…vintage…clothes…." Alice replied, trailing off as she watched Rose get out of her car behind him. "Okay, I guess it's turning out themed for us. The boys are all at Jasper's, dad. Do you know where that is?"
"Of course I do. I'll just be off then. Have fun getting ready, girls." He turned and bowed slightly to Rose as she came up the walk before continuing down the marble steps to his car.
"Who was that, Alice? He was hot!" exclaimed Rose as she entered the foyer.
"That's my dad," Alice laughed as she shut the door. "Now you know where my brother's get their looks. And I love your dress by the way." The dress was a pure white, heavy cotton fabric with a fitted bodice and princess seams. The top of the bodice and hem were trimmed in bright red brasstone studs. The dress, like both Alice's and mine, fell just above her knees, but also had a wide sweep- meaning it was tooled inside the skirt to make it flare. We were all totally fifties.
"Maybe we should give Esme a call…" I said. "We should tell her what to wear."
"If that's her car, too late," Rose said, looking out the window beside the massive French doors. A few moments later there was a knock on the door and Alice opened it eagerly, only to give a little giggle before breaking into laughter.
"Oh, Esme, thank goodness! You look wonderful!" Esme's dress was a classic 'little black dress.' It was curve hugging, with an asymmetrical neckline and plungling back neckline with a draped swag. The waist seam was empire style, with ruching on both side seams. The dress fell, like all the others, just above her knees, and had a rhinestone clasp at the left shoulder. She had an amazing figure for a woman of her age, probably mid forties.
"Thank you. You girls all look marvelous. I guess I was lucky to have this, wasn't I?" she asked with a smile. "When are we leaving?"
"Oh, the boys are picking us up," Alice said. "But I have a feeling they're going to be a little late. That's okay, though. We still have hair and make-up to do." We made our way upstairs to Alice's bathroom, which was a massive marble affair, complete with vanity, chairs, and one of the drying chairs typically seen in salons. "Rose, would you mind getting started on Bella's make-up while I heat up the curler and flat iron?"
"Sure thing. Bella, sit here," she ordered, pointing to the stool in front of the vanity. I picked up another stray Cosmo and proceeded to quiz Rosalie, Alice, and Esme on what kind of mother they'd make. When Rose was done, Alice came over with an array of pins and clips, the curler, and some hair scrunchies. When I was finally allowed to look, I had a cute milkmaid braid with the rest of my hair piled in a loose bun at the back of my head and a teal ribbon tied in a bow holding it up. My make-up was a dark blue that lightened the farther it got from my eyes. I turned to the others.
Alice was busy straightening her hair, making it fall softly over her forehead as she combed it, resulting in a shaggy black bob. Her eye make-up was blue and yellow. Rose had her long blonde hair up in a French twist, a pair of red feathers emerging from the top of it. Her eye shadow was red while her liner was a bold red. Esme had a head of gorgeous brown gold ringlets and her eyes were done in varying tones of silver. We were vintage goddesses.
"Did you hear that?" Rose asked suddenly, cocking her head.
"No. What'd you hear?" Alice's voice was worried.
"Sounded like the door closing downstairs."
"Anyone home?" came a voice from down the grand staircase. We sighed as we recognized it.
"Upstairs!" I yelled back. Victoria emerged at the end of the hallway with a grin on her face.
"I knew you were having a party," she said. "And you know how much I love vintage."
"How'd you know?" I asked, giving her a hug.
"Alice told me. Like the outfit?" she asked, twirling. It was a navy blue sailor style retro dress that clung to her every curve. It was fitted with a short sleeved bodice and sailor collar with satin trim with a double-breasted button down front and pencil skirt. A white belt and matching handbag finished the ensemble.
"It's adorable!" Alice squealed. "I can't wait to see the guy's faces! Did James see you before you left?"
"Nope. I kicked him out of the house," she grinned. "Oh, I haven't been introduced. I'm Victoria," the red head said, stretching out her hand to Esme. "Pleasure to me you."
"And you as well. I'm Esme. I love how you did your hair, by the way." Victoria's hair was slicked into a curling swoop over the right side of her forehead while the rest of her spectacular curls were pinned up in black netting.
"Thanks. It took almost an hour to get this part to behave," she replied, prodding her bangs with a frown.
"Well, it's fantastic. I love it, Aunt Vicky," I said, "Especially the buttons." We all froze as we heard the doorbell, then we all squealed, hugging each other.
"Oh my God, they're here! They're here!" Alice exclaimed, grabbing her purse. "Come on, let's go!" Esme grabbed her arm gently.
"Settle down, Alice. You don't want to be flushed and sweaty when they see you, do you? They can wait another minute while we descend like civilized ladies of fashion." Alice stared up at Esme with adoring eyes, a bright smile on her face. We all slowly proceeded to the door, but stopped on the stairs, each of us on a different step. Alice was first, followed by Rose, myself, Vicky, and then Esme. Our pixie friend pulled her phone out of her clutch and sent a quick text to her boyfriend before stowing it again. She winked up the stairs to the rest of us, then faced forward again as the door opened.
Jasper stepped in, wearing gray slacks and a white dress shirt, a newsboy cap on his blonde waves. Emmett was next, wearing pair of white dress pants, a white dress shirt, and a fitted red vest. Edward was wearing gray dress pants, an ice blue dress shirt, and a gray fedora. James wore a pair of navy blue slacks, a white dress shirt, and navy blue tie- tied loosely. Carlisle was wearing black pants and an embroidered black suit coat and black silk scarf. We smiled at each other…what a party.
"Will you ladies accompany us to dinner tonight?" asked Edward, stepping forward with a slight bow. Alice stepped forward and nodded regally. Jasper took her hand and led her outside, where we heard a gasp, then silence. The men took us one by one, and I gasped when I saw our transportation for the night. It was a carriage, a surrey, to be exact, fit for twelve passengers and drawn by a dozen black Clydesdales.
"Oh, Edward," I breathed to the man on my arm. "It's…it's wonderful."
"It's a gift," he replied. "To thank you and Alice for all of your hard work in the past six months." He leaned down and kissed me gently on the cheek. "And since I'm driving, you get to sit in the box with me." We stopped and he handed me up. I settled my skirts and waited for him to climb up the other side before leaning over and kissing him gently.
"Thank you, Edward. I-"
"Come on, let's get this show on the road!" Edward and I turned to look.
"Emmett, be patient. Carlisle and Esme are still inside," I sighed.
"Wait, you mean Esme's that gorgeous lady at the top of the stairs?" he asked, wide eyed. "When you told me she was the museum's curator I was thinking some wrinkled old lady!"
"I hope I don't have wrinkles," came a tart voice. "I do try to keep myself looking good. And forty four isn't old," she said, climbing daintily into the seat behind the box.
"No it isn't," I heard Carlisle murmur. No, it wasn't at all.