BPOV
Esme Cullen was everything my mother wasn't.
She was warm.
Charismatic.
Loved being in love, a real champion for it really.
Where my mother was cold.
Condescending.
And was on her fifth marriage.
One might think she loved being in love, but that wasn't Renée Dwyer's case. She got bored with love and then went on the search for someone better.
I was raised by my father, her first husband, who would encourage my summers spent with her. I'd recap my summer with him every year until I turned eighteen. I then decided my visits with her ran their course.
That was also the summer Charlie was killed in the line of duty.
A robbery gone wrong at Waylon's Convenience store.
His deputy, Sam, told me it was quick and Charlie hadn't seen it coming. He stopped to get gas. He was facing the pumps and had his back to the door of the store. The guy came bursting out the door and panicked when he saw Charlie firing three shots into his back.
Once Charlie was buried, not even in the ground for a day, Renée thought I'd move to Los Angeles with her and husband number three, Garrett.
I knew Charlie still loved Renée or maybe loved who she was at nineteen, a supposed free spirit who lightened his world. That's the girl he told me stories about, but now all I see is a selfish woman who has clawed her way to the top.
When I was younger I assumed it was the money that changed her.
Greed.
Then I met Rose.
Rose had never flaunted her wealth, she only appreciated nice things. Edward, I thought, flaunted what he had until I really got to know him and saw how he too was like his sister.
His art.
His penchant for high-end home décor.
His palate for finer foods.
He looked at the art and décor as investments and the food as something really fucking good going down.
The last bit might have been a direct quote when I eyed him while he ate a baked potato topped with caviar once.
It was when I met his mother that I realized not all people with money were like my mother.
Esme grew up with money but used her privilege to do things to give back. She joined the Peace Corps right after she graduated college.
It was how she met Carlisle.
He was fresh out of his fellowship working with Doctors Without Borders.
Love at first sight, they both have told me.
Thirty-five years together.
I wanted that with Edward.
I take a sip of my sangria while Edward has his arm slung over my shoulder as he speaks with Emmett.
They're in a rather animated conversation about the Cubs game last night but the way his finger absently brushes along my shoulder lets me know he's aware of my presence.
His touch distracts me as I stare at the corner of the room.
My mother is trying to schmooze with his.
Like her son, Esme is enthusiastic when she speaks. Edward was his mother not only in looks but in personality as well.
Rose perhaps was like her father but he was way too kind and generous for the comparison to be valid.
"You're being quiet," Edward whispers in my ear.
"Sorry," I apologize.
"No need to be sorry, I'm just worried this might be a little too much for you," he says softly.
He knows I hate being the center of attention.
The past two days have been too much for me.
I place my hand on his thigh. "I'm good," I promise.
Just have to suck it up.
"Let me know if you need a break," he says softly.
"I will," I tell him with a kiss.
I think back to Emmett's speech last night about our first meeting but that story had nothing on our next meeting.
~PR~
"It's freezing out here," Ang says as we pass several storefronts on the way to Magoos.
"You could have worn something more weather appropriate," I tell her as I eye her black mini dress and cropped puffer.
"Bitch, if you hadn't come from work your attire wouldn't be much different," she teases.
I shake my head.
My pencil skirt is wool and even though my blouse is a little thin my camel wool coat keeps me warm.
But she was right, I work as a paralegal while I'm in school so I can familiarize myself with the law profession and earn some work experience. It's a small firm, but I've already learned so much from working there. The only downside is it takes up a majority of my time along with school.
I hide my face in my scarf.
"Bella?" I hear from behind us.
I look over my shoulder to see Rose's brother, Edward.
It's been about a month since I saw him last. Rose says he has asked about me non-stop and is still very suspicious as to why I left his party.
She also made sure to tell me all about his girlfriend, Tanya, who I now know is 'Powder Nose'.
They've been together for five years.
She practically lives with him.
She travels everywhere with him as a principal cellist.
Since Rose disclosed all of that I had lost my interest in her brother. Who would flirt like that or at least I thought it was flirting, if they were in a serious relationship?
His follow request had gone ignored by me.
I keep my face hidden by my scarf but turn to face him.
He looks good in a wrinkled white button-down and black khaki pants that are slightly cuffed at the bottom. His Doc Martin's are scuffed and untied.
I notice his hands stuffed in the pockets of his black pea coat.
His wild hair is going in all directions and scruff is covering his jaw.
I play dumb giving him a look like I'm trying to place him.
"Hi…"
"Edward," he supplies with a smirk like he knows I know who he is.
"Rose's brother, right?" Angela asks from beside me.
He nods with a frown.
Maybe you are just that forgettable.
"Yeah?" he says a little awkwardly.
"That's right," I say politely. "How are you?"
"Uh good, just coming from rehearsals," he says. "Where are you headed?"
"Magoos, Bella's boy toy is waiting for us," Ang chimes in.
I want to kick her. Yes, Pete is meeting us there but he wasn't my boy toy and she knows it. I haven't slept with him in a few months. Honestly, I've been too focused on work and school, so I didn't need that drama distracting me.
Pete is persistent and even Rose has tried to push us together again, but I have been successful in dodging his advances.
The meetup tonight is in a group setting and unfortunately, he is Tyler's best friend and Tyler has been boning Rose, so these were the breaks.
"Cool," is all Edward says.
Really, cool?
I fight not to roll my eyes.
"It was nice seeing you again but it really is freezing out here so we must go," Ang tells him sweetly, saving me from whatever this is.
He nods giving us a polite smile but his stare remains intently on me.
"Maybe I'll see you around," he says, only looking at me.
"Maybe," I say absently.
I give a small wave before turning back around.
Angela says something I can't quite make out but is quick to follow me in my escape.
"You have some willpower," she tells me once we're a safe distance away.
"I mean he has a girlfriend and I'm not the kind of girl that pursues taken men," I say bluntly.
I'm very much attracted to Rose's brother, but he's a fuckboy. I can't have that type of distraction while I'm trying to get through law school.
Once we enter the bar Rose flags us down from a back corner booth. Her stare is just as intense on me as her brother's was fifteen minutes ago.
I wonder if he texted her.
Doubtful but you never know.
"What took so long?" she asks while we both slide into the circular booth.
"We ran into your brother," Ang tells her as she shrugs out of her coat.
I unwrap my scarf as Rose waits for more of an explanation, which I don't give her. Pete and Tyler join us with two pitchers of beer.
Their distraction keeps Rose's inquisition off me for the time being.
We're into the first pitcher when Edward and his friend from the party enter the bar. I can feel Rose's glare at me.
She doesn't verbalize her accusation but her look says it all.
I invited him here.
It doesn't take Edward long to find us and he holds his glass up to me with a smirk.
~PR~
That night I knew he wasn't going to take my rejection that easily and he didn't. We wouldn't be where we are right now if he did.
I take a sip of my sangria and spot, Rose, in the entrance doorway.
She looks gorgeous in a white sun dress that looks much like my own except mine was an eyelet white dress.
"Did you know she was coming?" I hear Edward ask Emmett and before he can answer I chime in.
"She was invited," I say. "She's welcomed."
"She's in white, Bell," Edward snaps.
"I wasn't aware you were such a traditionalist," I tease while trying to diffuse his annoyance.
"This is your day," he argues.
"Edward, this is a continuation of our engagement celebration if she wants the attention she can have it," I tell him honestly.
She'll have to get exhausted at some point if she keeps this up.
"B, I can take her home," Emmett offers.
I wave him off.
"And cause a scene? No, I don't think so. She's already talking to my mother and Esme, so I'm sure everyone knows she's here," I point out as I watch her chat with our mothers.
Esme doesn't look happy even with the smile on her face. I can see her smile is tight and shows her displeasure with her daughter at the moment.
We are the only two wearing white in the whole room.
I wasn't going to give her the reaction she wanted.
Our friends and family, even our coworkers were in the room. Rose wants me to lose my cool, which if she really knew me, she'd know I wouldn't take the bait.
I watch Ang move away from her boyfriend, Ben over at the bar. She has a smile plastered on her face as she makes her way over to Rose.
They fake air kisses.
I know Ang and as my maid of honor, a role she takes seriously, I know she's going to keep Rose in check.
Edward even relaxes beside me while Ang takes care of his sister. I see her offer her a plate of food at the table beside them and then a glass of red sangria.
I watch her move to hand it to Rose and then a slip of her hand.
Her glass falls but covers Rose in the sangria.
"Uh oh," Emmett says before he stands to hurry over to Rose.
Angela plays up looking so apologetic.
I can't hold back the laughter and neither can Edward. He wraps his arms around me while we both laugh into each other's necks.
A/N: Fan Fic still doesn't show me if anyone is actually reading this and though I can see reviews it's not breaking out the chapters. I'm might take updates back to only once a week but we'll see. Huge thanks to CoppertopJ for reading and editing these when I wrote them!