Hello, people!
Happy Saturday!
Usual housekeeping:
- I still don't own any of it.
- Team Momo wouldn't exist without Midnight Cougar and Alice's White Rabbit with their red pens, or without AGoodWitch, Maplestyle, Mel, and Eternally Addicted who pre-read and tell me if I'm off my rocker or not.
- thank you for all the reviews and alerts! I treasure each of them.
The nominations for the Golden Onion Awards are still underway and will be open until July 31. All the pertinent info and the link to the nomination and awards website is in their FB group, The Golden Onion Awards (type in the search bar to find it). Don't forget to go and show your favorites some love with the nominations :)
We finally got an explanation from Charlie about why he was so intent on questioning Bella's choices. Now, onward with Graduation Day at Emory.
See you on the flip side!
Chapter 34 – BPOV
On Monday, after a whole lot of hurry up and wait in the Quadrangle amassed with my MBA classmates, we finally threw our graduation caps in the air and jumped for joy.
Done. I was done with school. Most of the day—the ceremony, the keynote speech, the special awards—rushed over me in a blur.
After multiple rounds of congratulations, fist bumps, high fives, and liberatory laughs, I ran off toward the spot on the quad where I'd left a gaggle of friends and family hours ago. I found them chitchatting, but two heads kept scanning the crowd until their gazes landed on me—Edward and Charlie.
When I approached with a satisfied smile firmly plastered on my face, an otherwise barely perceptible movement caught my eye. Both Charlie and Edward took a step toward me, but my dad stepped back when Edward ran to gather me in his arms. A small but momentous acknowledgment of Edward's place in my life.
"Congratulations, love! American Marketing Association Award, no less!" he exclaimed, cradling my face in his hands. "I am so fucking proud of you," he added in a whisper, planting a brief kiss on my lips—soft and intimate, but fit for public consumption at the same time.
In quick succession, a small crowd swarmed me. First, my parents, who hugged me at the same time, one on each side. "Bells! Congrats!"
Then the office gang—Emmett, Jasper, Alice, and Rose. With Emmett's booming voice out-yelling everyone else, I couldn't even figure out what their celebratory scream said and opted to just revel in that happy, roaring mess.
"Jeez, y'all, let the poor girl breathe!" Alistair. Because who else would insist on the practicalities of breathing at such a time. "Let me see if she looks any different," he insisted, elbowing his way past Emmett.
"And this, Mom and Dad, is Alistair—my boss," I announced when he got closer to me.
Alistair laughed and waved me off. "Don't listen to her. On most days, the opposite is true."
"Old ginger, you love being bossed around by your girls," Emmett quipped. "Alistair's Angels—look at them." He pointed to Rose and me.
"No respect from this lot, I swear," Alistair groused. "Is that all of us? We have a reservation to keep."
"Sounds like the people with their names on the door are chopped liver now," Jamie deadpanned. With him, Carlisle and Esme also sidled up to me.
"Esme! I didn't expect you here today."
"Nonsense, sweet girl. I wouldn't have missed your triumph for the world. Congratulations, Bella. You should be proud of your achievements today. Determination like yours doesn't come along very often," she said, hugging me.
At her words, tears pricked my eyelids. "Thank you."
She passed me around to Jamie and Carlisle, who were more sedate in congratulating me, even though I caught a wink from Carlisle after he shook my hand.
In this melee, I'd lost sight of Edward, but his voice stood out just as Jamie tried to rope me into talking shop—right after I introduced him to my parents.
"Will you people quit monopolizing my girlfriend?"
"You might have more luck making an appointment. She's a bigwig now," Alistair piped up, smirking.
Edward laughed—not a polite chuckle either, but an unrestrained, carefree belly laugh. I'd never seen him laugh like that in public, let alone in vaguely office-related settings. This was the loud, hold-my-sides chortle he reserved for the stunts Emmett pulled or the zingers we saw in the shows he loved—the ones we watched on his couch whenever we had lazy days together.
In two assured strides, he was by my side, looping his arm around my shoulder, and leaned down to whisper in my ear with the cheeky smile I'd grown to love. "I want priority appointments."
"I'll see what I can do." I flashed him my own impish grin in return.
"Let's go, love. Ecco's awaits."
&&&StN&&&
It took a while, but eventually, we corralled our merry brigade and took ourselves back downtown to the restaurant.
We'd organized a few corporate events here over the years, and when Alistair walked up to the maître d', Seth welcomed us with open arms.
"Alistair, Bella—my favorite customers! Come on over; I've set aside the patio and smaller dining room for your party."
Alistair mumbled under his breath that we were his favorites because of his commission on private events, but Rose elbowed him in the side to shush him.
"Jeez. I can't take you anywhere."
He narrowed his eyes at her, but otherwise, didn't reply.
Uncoordinated chatter bubbled up all around me, but I still rode the high of my summa cum laude. Today, I felt invincible.
Normally, I didn't love being at the center of attention—another reason I'd chosen a profession that put me behind the scenes, pushing other people and their achievements in the spotlight. But I couldn't have shot down Alistair's idea if I wanted, and as I watched my family and friends mingle and get to know each other, I found I quite liked this party thing.
Of course, it didn't hurt that Edward was glued to my side, holding my hand and chatting with his parents and mine while we waited for restaurant staff to bring out hot food to the chafing dishes lined up on the buffet table.
"Is anyone restraining Emmett before we all get our plates?" Carlisle asked Esme with a raised eyebrow.
"I stopped trying to restrain your son somewhere around second grade, my dear." Esme's answer came as she sipped a mimosa, regal and nonchalant, yet delivering a deadly zinger. About her offspring, no less.
"I think Rose is on the case." I chuckled and threw a glance at them to check. "Yep. She's giving him the stink eye right about now."
"Oh, man. He looks like somebody just took away all his toys," Edward commented.
"You know she's blackmailing him, don't you?"
Watching Emmett cower in front of his girlfriend's ice-blue gaze and legendary scowl made for quite a comical scene. He towered over her; nevertheless, he looked about as tall as a Smurf, with a sheepish expression to boot.
"I don't care what she's blackmailing him with, as long as the boy behaves in public and lets other people eat."
Esme's exasperation was probably warranted since food ranked in the top two priorities in Emmett's life—Rose being the other one. Nothing else would really help restrain his food-hoarding tendencies.
"I'll go grab you a plate, love," Edward offered.
"I'll come with you. I can get my own food."
He shook his head, still smiling. A mischievous glint sparkled in his green eyes, too. My man was planning something. "And deprive me of the chance to piss off Em? Nope. I got this," he reassured me, caressing my cheek.
Like clockwork, my brain stopped responding just as it did every time Edward bathed me in his special brand of tenderness. Did he use his powers to his advantage? Hell, yes—but I loved him so much that giving him his way every now and then didn't bother me.
After Edward walked away, his mom turned to me with a dreamy smile. "It's endearing to see him with you, Bella. We're so very happy for the two of you."
"Thank you, Esme. We're pretty jazzed, too."
"And in love. It shows. Your faces when you're together, your expressions, light up the room." She fanned herself and added a salacious wink for good measure. Esme didn't pull any punches; by now, I was used to her frankness. I never thought I'd see the day she'd use it to make remarks tinged with sexual innuendo about her eldest son, but then again, Esme hadn't gotten that far in life being a shrinking violet.
"You're embarrassing her, Esme. Keep your one-liners for the courtroom," Jamie said.
I hadn't seen him approach our small group.
"She's fine, Jamie. No harm, no foul."
Jamie nodded, then went wide-eyed. "The lady of the hour isn't drinking? What is that man of yours doing, sleeping on the job?"
His comment made me chuckle. "He's getting food for both of us. Hardly a slacker."
"Still, let me get you something. What's your poison?"
I decided to toy with him a little. Over the last few months, he'd warmed up to me considerably; I'd learned that he could be quite playful with people he knew better.
"As a drink, white wine. As a deterrent for wayward lawyers, arsenic."
"I'll see what I can do about that arsenic." Jamie erupted into laughter, but it died on his lips a second later. With his gaze cast into the distance, far behind us toward the entrance of the private dining room, his face blanched, now contorted into a disgusted expression. "What the fuck is that shrew doing here?" he wondered aloud.
"Oh, fuck." Carlisle didn't curse in public. Ever. "Damage control?"
Jamie nodded, and they both scurried away. Esme and I were left to fend for ourselves, wondering what the hell was afoot.
I stopped wondering when my gaze landed on a new arrival. A gatecrasher.
Oh, fuck—indeed.
Uh-oh. Who could that gatecrasher be?
We'll find out on Wednesday, from LawyerWard himself..
Happy 4th to my US readers, and Happy Canada Day to our neighbors to the north!