Mystyic: I understand what you mean, the chapters feeling choppy, but that is actually how I intended it. You're reading the story through the character's POVs and they're lives are choppy and frustrating right now. Not to mention that most of them don't know each other yet and I have been purposefully been leaving out details in each chapter to add a little mystery to who is who in the story. Yes, each chapter only focuses on one couple because that's all that that character knows about. None of the girls/boys know much about each other's 'love interest' and vice versa. I hope that has cleared things up for you a little :)
Sophie's back! Yay, yay, yay, yay! That means this chapter is virtually error-free! I love my Soph :)
Chapter 7 – Elevators & Cookies
Emmett McCarty
Think, Emmett, think! What do you know about the hot blonde?
One: She has blonde hair. Two: She isn't very observant. Three: She likes make-up. Four: She smells like sugar cookies. Five: She works at Volterra Magazine…
Bingo!
I had finally had the time to sit down and figure all this out. When Jazz gave me that pep talk about how I didn't back down from anything, he was right. Especially when it involved a certain girl who's been running through my mind since Thursday morning.
She must be getting tired…
Okay, enough with the lame pick up lines. Save it for when you see her again.
I hadn't had time to try and start finding her because I was pleasantly distracted by Jasper's radio show yesterday. I mean, what kind of an idiot tells a city full of women their crazy on live air?
A moron like Jasper, that's who.
But today, I was on a mission. I remembered that girl that came and interviewed about Ma and Pop's new restaurant worked at the same magazine, so all I had to do was get her number and then bam! I'm back in the game with Blondie.
And if that didn't work, I knew Jasper's boss' wife was the editor in chief there, so I could just hit Esme up on finding her. There was no way I could lose.
I called my Ma's house and was greeted by one of my lovely sisters. "Hey, Emmett!"
"Hi Emmorie, Ma or Pop home?"
"Um, I'm not sure. Let me go ask Emma…" I could hear shuffling in the background as my youngest sister moved through the house. "EMMA! PHONEE!" she yelled through the house.
"Yeah?"
"Emma? Ma or Pop home?"
"I think so, hold on a second. I'll ask Elizabeth…" more shuffling… "LIZZIE! PICK UP THE PHONE!"
"Hello?" I could hear Liz's kids chattering in the background as she got onto them. "No! Johnny, put that down! Alexis, don't make me put you in time out! Shh! Mommy's on the phone."
"Hey, Liz. Do you know where Ma or Pop is?" I was getting tired of this game of pass the phone. This is why I never call home. It takes too long.
"Uhh… I think Pop's in the kitchen with Ella and Elise. Hold on…"
"ELLA! ELISE! EMMETT NEEDS TO TALK TO ONE OF YOU!"
"No! I need to talk to Pop!" I tried to correct her quickly before getting passed to yet another sibling.
"Oh… NEVERMIND! POP! PHONE'S FOR YOU!"
"Hello?"
"Pop! Hey… I have a question."
"Hit me with it." My dad said happily into the receiver. He's such a pleasant old man…
"You remember the magazine lady?"
"Isabella!" He boomed in recognition.
"Yeah, that one! I need her number; do you still have that business card she gave you?"
"Ahhh, you have an interest in her, huh? I thought I saw something there…" He said in a sing-songy voice.
"No! I have an interest in one of her co-workers, now the number?" I said in a rush. It wasn't like I had any time to waste here.
"Uhh.. Your Ma put it in a safe place. She really liked her you know. You sure you're not interested in that one?"
"Yes, I just need the number. Please." I had resorted to begging now.
"Give me a minute… MAMI! YOUR SON IS ON THE PHONE!" more shuffling…
"Emmie! What can I do for my baby? Hm?" It was then that I started wondering why my family acts so surprised when I called. It's not like I never see them; we work together for frick's sake…
"I need Isabella's phone number. Remember, the girl from Volterra Magazine?"
"Ooh, yes! The very beautiful girl."
"Ma, don't get any ideas, kay? I just need to speak with her about… um… business."
"Mmhmm… okay then…" she said in that 'I-hear-you-but-I-don't-believe-you' voice.
I was finally given the number, but it took another thirty minutes to get off the phone with Ma. She kept very un-subtly slipping me hints that I should act on Isabella in the form of telling me what all was new with my sisters and their kids, marriages, and engagements.
I tried her office phone first out of courtesy, but wasn't surprised when she didn't answer on a Saturday. Then I tried her cell phone and got an answer on the third ring.
"Hello?" she yawned and sounded like she just woke up.
"Sorry! Were you asleep?"
She chuckled, which I didn't understand and just shrugged off. "No, I was definitely not asleep. Who is this?"
"Oh! This is Emmett McCarty, from Santoreggia…"
"Right, right! Is everything okay? Did you want me to change something about the interview?"
"No, this actually isn't about the restaurant at all."
"Okay… shoot."
"This is going to sound totally crazy, but is there any way you can get me a list of all the blonde women that work in your office?"
"A list… of all blonde- Are you serious?" She asked with a laugh.
"Yes, I promise I'm not a serial killer that targets blondes or anything like that… I just- I need to find someone."
"Alright, well I barely know anyone who works there… but I can try and talk to Human Resources for you? Maybe see if they can put together a list. But I'm not making any promises. This is pretty bizarre, and I doubt they have employees categorized by hair color in the computer system…"
"Oh! Another thing, if it helps I know that the girl likes make-up." I offered.
"No, that really doesn't help." She chuckled, "You do realize this is a magazine company? More than likely all of the women that work there like make-up."
"Oh, right. Thanks for your help, though! Any idea when I'll hear from you by?"
"I'll call you by the end of the week to let you know if I have anything for you."
"Sounds good. Thanks Isabella."
"Just Bella, please."
"Thank you, Bella. And my parents were wondering if you were able to make it to our grand opening in two weeks?"
"Yes, I will definitely be there. And I'm bringing along two friends… Hey! One of them is blonde, maybe that's who you're looking for." She joked.
"Yeah, what are the odds of that happening." I scoffed and said good-bye before hanging up.
...zzZZzZ...
I spent the weekend doing everything I could to keep busy. It didn't help that whenever I asked one of my so-called "friends" if they wanted to go do something they blew me off. Jasper was being all thoughtful, going on and on about how all women were crazy and repeatedly asked me throughout Saturday and Sunday if I was aware of that.
Edward was off on a whole different planet. When I knocked on his door, he greeted me and said hi to me and stuff, but I could tell he wasn't all there. His face was scrunched up in this weird over-analyzing kind of way and when we were watching some T.V. show where two of the main characters flopped over a chair and on top of one another on the floor, he let out some weird snort-cough-laugh.
But, I guess I wasn't any better. My phone was attached to my palm, just waiting for that call from Bella letting me know she found my woman. I even started to answer the phone as if it were a call when a text came in.
When my alarm went off Monday morning, I eagerly jumped out of bed and got ready for the day. I had made arrangements with Esme, through Jasper, for me to stop by and see her today. It was disguised as a check-up just to see how the article was going, but my ulterior motive was to scope out the office for any leggy blondes that resembled the girl from last Thursday.
I hopped in my car and went twenty miles over the speed limit the whole way there because I was so excited.
The elevator up to Esme's floor seemed to take a whole day. When the doors finally pinged open, I walked as slow as possible towards her office. I proabably looked like a total creep peering into all the cubicles and hallways as I made my way to the back.
Esme greeted me with a warm smile and unsurprisingly Bella was there to meet with me as well.
We went through all the business things we needed to go through, having me read over the article, check the pictures taken of the restaurant, yada, yada, yada… What I was really waiting for was the moment Esme dismissed Bella and I. We walked out together and when the office door closed behind us, I asked the question that had been nagging at me the entire meeting.
"Did you find anything?"
"No, I checked with personnel when I heard you were coming in today and they laughed in my face when I asked for all blonde women working at the magazine. I'm sorry Mr. McCarty…" she seemed to actually feel bad for not being able to help me out.
I didn't say anything, just nodded my head. I wasn't going to hide the fact that I was devastated beyond belief that I had basically failed in finding her.
"If it makes you feel any better, I know exactly what you're going through…" she offered timidly.
"It doesn't, but thanks for trying." I chuckled and stepped inside the elevator. "The article is great by the way. I know my folks are going to be really impressed." That seemed to make her day and it was least I could offer after what she'd done for me. Besides, it was true.
I pressed the button to bring me down to the lobby and right as the doors began to close I saw her.
Like, in the flesh, looking even more amazing than I remembered as she laughed at something the person she was talking to said. The doors shut, blocking my view and more importantly taking me farther away from the girl I'd been freaking out about all weekend.
"Shit, no! Up! I want back up!" I yelled at the circular buttons on the wall. They didn't listen.
I reached the lobby and started furiously punching the 'Close Doors' button. I might have even broken it, but it eventually did what I wanted it to do and I was climbing my way back up to the floor I was just on.
The ping signaled my arrival and I burst through the crack in the doors just as it was large enough for me to slip past. My head whipped into the direction I had seen Blondie last, but she wasn't there anymore.
Damn it!
I started to wander around the little hallways, just looking for anything that looked like her. I ran into Esme after about five minutes.
"Oh! Emmett, was there something else you wanted to go over about the article?"
"No…" I peeked over her head, no Blondie in sight. "No, I just thought I left my… uh…" I stealthily tossed a folded up piece of paper that was in my pocket onto the ground, "…this! I knew it was here somewhere…"
"Uh huh…" She eyed me curiously. "Well, then since you found your piece of paper, I guess the next time we'll be seeing each other will be at the grand opening, right?"
"Yes, we're all very excited. See you then!" I called over my shoulder as I rushed my butt away from her accusing eyes. She knew I was up to something and it didn't seem like a good idea to stay any longer.
Blondie, I'll be back for you.
...zzZZzZ...
"Stupid, moving, slow elevator!" I was still frustrated with my horrible luck, as I got ready for bed that night. I was so close to finding her again and then 'poof', the elevator doors closed and it's like she vanished into thin air.
I tore the covers back and climbed in my bed, trying to come up with a new plan to get into the Volterra offices again.
By time I had come up with an elaborate strategy of repelling down ropes from the panels in the ceiling, it was 1 A.M. and the plan clearly sucked, so I rolled over onto my side and tried falling asleep.
'Tried' being the key word.
I tossed and turned and wiggled around on the mattress to the point where my sheets were slowly getting torn off the corners and my comforter was halfway to the floor. I just couldn't get comfortable.
After another several minutes of thrashing around I'm sure Jasper was getting a little freaked out by the squeaking coming from the springs…
I huffed and sat up in bed, grabbing my phone off the nightstand, and called the one person I knew would have an answer to my problems.
"Who is this? People are trying to sleep in this house!" Pop croaked angrily.
"It's just me, calm down. I need to speak to Ma." I knew she'd be awake. My Ma was always a night owl instead of an early bird. When I still lived at home I'd usually end up falling asleep to hearing her watch COPS or one of those 'Who's my Baby Daddy?' shows.
"Mami… phone." I heard my pop grunt and pass me over to her.
"Yes?"
"Mommy, I can't sleep." I said in a very pathetic tone; being the baby has its effects.
"Aw, honey…" she silently chuckled, "What can I do about that?"
"Tell me how to fall asleep."
"Tell me how to fall asleep, what?"
"Please, Ma. Tell me how to fall asleep, please."
"That's better. Now, I want you to go warm yourself up a nice cup of milk, eat a cookie, then lay down and close your eyes. Try not to think about anything; just clear your mind and before you know it you'll be sound asleep."
"That'll really work?"
"Yes, honey. Now I gotta go, we're keeping your father awake."
I said goodnight and hung up, then made my way to the kitchen to follow her directions. As I heated up my milk in the microwave, I started searching for some oatmeal cookies or Oreos and didn't find a single box.
Am I in the wrong apartment?
I figured Edward would have some so I went across the hall and let myself in with the key he had given Jasper and I for emergencies. I figured this was okay because for one, I was being courteous for not banging on his door and waking him up at 1:00 in the morning and two, lack of any type of food is an emergency in my book.
I was rummaging through his cabinets and pantry and made a mental note to tell Jazz we would start eating here more often; he had some good shit stocked up in here.
I grabbed a box of Nilla wafers, as well as an apple, gummy bears, and a few pudding cups. He probably wouldn't miss this stuff…
Just as I was about to slip away unnoticed, Edward jumped out from the darkened hallway that led to his bedroom wielding some thick paperback book or manual.
"Oh Jesus!" I jumped and yelled out. "Dude! What were you planning on doing? Paper-cutting your intruder to death?" I asked with a snort and ate a chunk out of my apple.
"Why are you here? In my apartment. At one in the freaking morning." He had lowered his 'weapon' and threw on the coffee table in front of him.
"I couldn't sleep, so my Ma said I needed a glass of milk and a cookie. Jazz and I don't have any cookies and I thought you would. And hey, I was right!" I smiled and shoved few wafers in my mouth.
He opened his mouth and closed it back several times like he wanted to say something, but it just wouldn't come out. Eventually he just shook his head and waved me off, "Goodnight Emmett." And walked back into his room.
I took that as an invitation to come back anytime I liked in the middle of the night when I needed a snack, and went back to my apartment. I took the milk, cookies, gummy bears, and the two pudding cups I had left back to my room.
I settled into my bed and switched between eating the bears and pudding until I realized I could put the gummy bears into the pudding and be able to get back to sleep faster. After polishing of those, I moved to the milk and cookies. It definitely hit the spot after all that sweet stuff, Ma knew what she was talking about.
I set aside all the dishes and trash to take back to the kitchen tomorrow and attempted sleep once again.
It wasn't happening for me. Apparently there was a reason Ma didn't mention it was okay to add gummy bears and pudding to the mix. I was feeling a little jittery and hyped up from all the sugar running through my veins and couldn't lie still any longer.
I moved to sit on the side of my bed and started tapping a beat on the floor with my feet. It seemed that I wasn't going to calm down enough to sleep anytime soon, so I just decided to pull an all-nighter. I did it all the time in college, so no biggie.
The only problem was that in college I stayed up all night to finish papers… it was a little different when I had absolutely nothing to occupy my time with.
I grabbed my laptop and Googled, 'things to do when you're bored.' It was all crap. All anybody ever suggested was reading or watching a movie or cleaning… lame.
Suddenly a thought entered my head; why was I searching for useless ways to entertain myself when I could be using the World Wide Web to locate Blondie?
Of course! Why hadn't I thought of this earlier? This is just like that investigative show where that dad found his long lost daughter on a social networking site. Only Blondie isn't my daughter… which is a good thing.
I quickly typed 'hot blondes in Seattle' into the search bar. I didn't really get the results I was hoping for, but if I needed someone to keep me company anytime soon… let's just say I knew where to go for that.
Next I typed in 'Volterra Magazine' and found a direct link to the magazine's personal website.
Score! Insert fist pump here.
Although when I was looking over the front page, I realized this might take some time. All the website talked about was articles in their magazine, makeup, hair, clothes…
Hey! There's something about the restaurant… No! Forget about that, you're getting off topic Emmett. Focus on the girl, you need to find out who the girl is.
Right.
I searched over the website, top to bottom, page by page, and all the little things in between. There were no hints or clues whatsoever to cracking the mystery that is Blondie.
I did, however, learn that a bikini with ruffles would accentuate my flatter-chested figure and a hunter green eye shadow would illuminate my irises… so really nothing that could potentially help me at all.
As I was skimming over the website once more just to make sure I hadn't missed anything, I came across a small article about their new employees hired in the spring. I recognized Bella's name, but there were three other girls mentioned in the writing; Alice Brandon, Tanya Denali, and Rosalie Hale.
I snorted at the last one. Who names their child Rosalie? Did they think they were giving birth to an eighty-five year old woman? And Tanya Denali sounded like some showgirl name; you know, like the girls who cake a bucket full of make-up on their face and then go dance in a kick-line.
Alice, though, struck me as a name that might fit Blondie. Alice from Wonderland was blonde, right? And plus, it said that Alice Brandon wrote for the fashion section of the magazine; I'm pretty sure anyone who likes fashion likes make-up.
I'll have to remember to ask Bella about her when I see her again. But… maybe I don't even have to wait.
I quickly brought up the website for Facespace and logged onto my account, then typed in 'Alice Brandon' into the search bar. A few results showed up, so then I narrowed things down and added 'Seattle'.
One result(s) found.
I scrolled down and frowned at what I saw. There were three girls in the photo, all crammed into the shot. One with black hair cropped super short was smiling cheekily into the lens and looked like she was sitting on top of the other two girls, sinking into the couch they were on, who looked like they were laughing with beet red faces and huge grins. I got a little bit excited when I noticed one of them seemed to have light colored hair, so I clicked the link to check out Alice's profile.
User has a private profile.
Add Alice Brandon as a friend to view more!
Damnit! I was getting so close too!
I found myself back at square one, moping because Blondie was out there somewhere. So, I did the only thing that would make me feel better. I cooked.
Well, I did more than cook. I cooked, baked, broiled, boiled, sautéed, even microwaving a whole butt-load of food.
Well, not a butt-load… that's doesn't make the food sound very appetizing… but it looked like enough to feed a family of eight.
…Or Edward, Jasper, and I for a couple of days.
There were a dozen cream-filled cupcakes, hand frosted and dipped in sprinkles, some spaghetti with Papa McCarty's secret sauce, a four-cheese lasagna, and some chili-cheese fries, the chili I made from scratch and the fries were the frozen kind you just pop in the oven.
It's amazing that Jazz and I had all the ingredients for this stuff when we didn't even have a simple box of cookies…
I had been slaving in the kitchen for over three and a half hours, just finishing up the fries when I heard Jasper's alarm go off. That meant it was five in the morning and I still had three more hours to kill before the time I usually start my day.
He came stumbling out of his room, crashing into the doorframe as he tried to enter the kitchen; Jasper is not the most graceful person in the mornings.
"Dudeeee…?" His voice was deep and stuffed up, having just woken and his eyes squinted against the brighter lights.
"Cupcake?" I offered as I sat down and started digging into my freshly made feast.
"For breakfast?" He rubbed his head and slumped over to the coffee pot.
"What? You're mommy's not here, Jasper. It's okay to have dessert for breakfast, I won't tell on you." I teased and he was obviously not awake enough to appreciate the humor, because he turned and chucked the cooking oil at me.
"Wha-? Wher-? How? Why is there so much food?" I watched as his eyes got wide when he realized all the things I got accomplished during the night.
"I couldn't sleep, so I ate the night away." I grinned.
Jazz gulped down his coffee as he eyed the countertop covered with my evidence of my cooking frenzy. "So… you think you could box up a few of those cupcakes for me to take to work?"
I smirked. I knew he couldn't say no to sugar for breakfast. "Sure thing."
I put six of the cupcakes some Tupperware bowl-thing for him and Edward and he eyed them hungrily as he exited the apartment to head over to the station.
Once again, I had nothing to do with the two hours and forty-five minutes before meeting Ma and Pop over at the restaurant.
I wandered back over to the computer and popped up Alice Brandon's Facespace page again, studying the picture of the three girls. Yeah, I felt like some dirty lurker scrutinizing over some random girl's profile, but something about it made me wonder…
Could that really be her? It might be her… I mean, it's possible; this Brandon chick is employed at the same magazine and they could have become friends from working together, explaining the reason why Blondie is in this picture with her.
Then, I saw it.
My mind flashed back to that afternoon with Blondie. I remembered how close she was when I yanked her back onto the sidewalk. I remembered her face being inches from mine, how I could see every little detail of her pretty face. She had these dark, denim colored eyes, a nose that sloped straight down between them, her top lip slightly thinner than her bottom lip, and that freckle.
That freckle that rested down and a little to the right of her nose; it had actually made me think of Marilyn Monroe for moment before I realized how much more gorgeous Blondie was.
To anyone else, that freckle would mean slim to none. Why should it? It's just a freckle. But to me, it meant everything, because the light-haired girl in that picture, completely laughing her ass off, had the exact same mark in the exact same place and I knew it was her.
I had done it. I found her.
I hastily requested to be Alice's friend and sat back. Now, all I had to do was wait for Miss Brandon to accept my request and it would be smooth sailing from there.
Blondie, you're gonna be mine.
Reviews are better than Facespace!
(especially when reviewers get a tease)
My favorite part? Passing the phone to each member of the family before Emmett actually got to talk to his dad. It happens in my house all the time!
Love,
Emeleigh