Some of you asked me what kind of car I bought. It's a dark Grey Kia Soul! It is so freaking adorable & awesome. Enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen

I was severely underdressed for this restaurant. I felt embarrassed, especially when everyone's eyes looked over at me in a judgmental way. I thought I was going to be kicked out when the host told one girl in a business suit that she had to have fancier clothes on to dine here. I was just in a pair of jeans and a band-shirt.

"Mrs. Cullen!" The host gushed. "I am so glad to see you. I was worried."

Mrs. Cullen smiled. "Yes I am here. Nice to see you as well, David."

"Where is Mr. Cullen at today?"

"Oh he had an emergency meeting he had to run to. So I am dining with my friend Bella."

The host looked me over and I thought he was about to tell me to beat it but instead he smiled at me for a brief moment before looking back over at her.

"We have your favorite table all ready for you." He said as he led us to a decorated table in the back of the restaurant in front of a large window that overlooked the city. I bet at night this place was awesome.

The host pulled Esme's chair out for her and before a member of the wait staff could pull mine out for me, I was noisily pulling the chair out, scrapping the floor. A waiter quickly grabbed the chair from me.

"Allow me, ma'am," He said as he noiselessly pulled it out for me.

"Thanks," I said as I sat.

Esme was unfolding her napkin and letting the host go over the specials from today. It seemed as though Esme was getting irritated with their fawning, so she shooed them away with a flick of her hands.

"Have you ever had French food Bella?" Esme asked as she opened the thick booklet that was meant to be a menu.

"Um, do French Fries count?" I asked sheepishly as I looked at all the stuff on the menu. I couldn't read anything. It was all in French.

Esme let out a loud laugh that actually made me jump. I didn't think my joke was funny enough for her to be dabbing at tears in the corner of her eyes.

"Oh thank you, I haven't laughed like that in so long," Esme said, her laughter dying down to chuckles.

"Glad I can be of service."

Esme made a face as she looked over the menu. "It has been so long since I've had French fries. The last time I did, Carlisle and I were about twenty and we were on the boardwalk in California. They were the best fries I had ever had. They were loaded with cheese, sour cream, meat, bacon… Oh, what I wouldn't give to be twenty again."

"You haven't had fries in that long?" I said. "That's sad. Why?"

A somber smile crossed her face. "Ladies don't eat like pigs."

I made a face now. "What a stupid saying. No offense. You should eat what you want, who the hell cares what you eat."

"My mother-in-law," She sighed. "Carlisle's mother is a… well, she is a very big bitch." She whispered the word bitch.

"That's sad. I don't think I could've resisted the urge to punch her. I like food. I eat what I want."

She chuckled. "You are young and skinny. Soak it in now. If I so much as smell donuts I gain five pounds."

I looked her up and down. "Esme, you are a very attractive, skinny woman. I feel like you can afford to eat what you want."

"You are to kind," She said as she placed her menu aside. "But like I said, I was raised a certain way and when I married Carlisle, that way amplified by one hundred percent. His mother is vicious. And very critical of me. She does not like me one bit."

"That sucks," I said.

"It certainly does. Have you decided on what you want?"

"To be honest Esme, I can't read French."

"Oh," She said. "Well, what kind of food do you like?"

"As long as it's not snails or something as gross, I'm good."

"Hmm, well how about we order a little sampling of everything?"

My eyebrows shot up. "Esme you don't have to—,"

"Excusez-moi," Esme said, hailing the waiter. "Nous aimerions un échantillon de tout s'il vous plait."

The waiter's eyes shot up and he looked over at me for a moment. Esme asked him something else in French that made him shake his head quickly and run off to the kitchen.

"So, Bella," Esme said as she picked up her glass of wine. "Tell me about yourself."

"Oh I'm nothing special—,"

"Oh shoosh with that. Tell me about yourself." She smiled. "Give me some insight into why my son is so head over heels for you."

I blushed. "He talks about me?"

"Almost constantly," She giggled. "He is going to kill me, but I can't help myself. I know when he is falling hard for someone. It's only ever happened one other time, but I remember how he was."

I was shocked at myself when I felt a surge of jealousy run through me. Get it together Bella! Stop thinking about Edward!

"When was the other time he fell for someone?" I asked, ignoring my own thoughts to not think of Edward.

"When he was in the first grade, there was a little girl in his class that he was absolutely enthralled with. He bought her all sorts of little toys and flowers. He made her cards. And he talked about her constantly. He even kept a little picture of her in a decorative picture frame that he made. I remember it had pink and purple hearts on it along with her name. Her name was Farrah.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Wow he was really in love."

"That he was, until she broke his poor little heart," Esme sighed. "I don't know all the dynamics of their little relationship, but she had lunch with another boy and that sort of ended it."

"Wow, I can't believe that ended the greatest love story ever told."

Esme chortled. "He was so sad! This happened during Valentine's day. My poor baby locked himself in his room and refused to get out of bed. He told his father that he was heartbroken, and he had to drink his pain away."

"Drink his pain away?" I giggled.

"He spent too much time around his father and his father's associates at that point." Esme giggled. "I was blessed he didn't know what alcohol was at the time. He thought they meant apple juice, so he had three bottles in one day to drink his pain away."

I threw my head back in laughter. "Oh my god that is hilarious."

"It gets even better," Esme snorted. "Well, Acorn had drunk so much he wet his bed that night. My poor baby really went through it that day."

"Acorn?" I said.

Esme snorted again, placing a hand on her cheek, "Oh god he will kill me now."

"Is that his nickname?"

"Yes it is," She started giggling, her face turning red.

"Why do you call him Acorn?"

"I haven't called him that in so long. He forbid me from calling him it years ago, but it just slipped out." She took a sip of her drink. "Well, when Edward was a baby, he had the tiniest penis. It looked like a little acorn."

I nearly spit my drink out. I was laughing so hard I had to cross my legs and cover my face with my cloth napkin to hide my loud laughter.

"Shh," Esme laughed just as loudly. "Shh, don't say anything."

I looked up at her, wiping the tears from my eyes. "I am definitely calling him acorn now."

"He's going to kill me," She shook her head. "Oh lord. I haven't thought about that in years. And this is the first time in months I've thought about Edward, and I haven't cried."

I smiled at her. "Well, I'm glad I can help."

"You really have." Esme said as she took another sip of her water. "Now please, tell me about yourself."

I took a deep breath to settle my giggles. "Well, I'm a nurse, as you already know. I've finished nursing school, but I'm in school right now to became a practitioner. I'll be in school for a while, it takes about eight years to become one. I'm originally from a small town in Washington. That's where my dad still lives. My mom has always moved around. She doesn't like to stay in one place for long."

"Ah," Esme nodded. "Very goal oriented. That's very refreshing. Most of the girls Edward used to be interested in were airheads and really only went with him for his money. But I was never allowed to say that."

"Oh," I said. "Well, I'm not interested in his money."

"Good. I am very nice, but I'm protective of my kids. I will use my nails if I have to."

I smiled. "Yeah I got that feeling when I met you the other night."

"I haven't been the same since Edward been in that hellhole," She said, shaking her head sharply. "I am just honestly blessed that you're helping him survive it. You've really made him so happy."

"Oh." I said, shifting awkwardly.

"So, how did you and Edward meet?"

"We met a little less than a year ago at a banquet dinner from my school in Seattle—,"

"You are that girl," She said. "Oh he has been talking about you ever since then. I was wondering what happened with that. Are you settled now?"

"Settled?"

"Edward told me that you were moving here and trying to get settled and it was taking a while. I told him several times to bring you to dinner and let us meet you."

"Ah," I nodded. "Well, actually it's kind of awkward. Edward and I hadn't seen each other since Seattle."

Her brows furrowed. "Why is that? I assumed you and Edward had been seeing each other regularly."

I shook my head. "We haven't, but not because I was stringing him along or anything, I swear."

"Well what happened?" She asked.

I bit my lip. "Um, well, that night after Edward and I hung out, my mother and I had a huge fight. It was really, really bad. I didn't mean to, but the fight kind of overshadowed my night with Edward and I honestly forgot about him."

"Oh, I'm sorry you fought with your mother," She frowned. "Are you two better now?"

"No, we're still not speaking." I sighed. "I don't really want to talk about her, if that's okay."

"Of course," Esme nodded. "Our food is coming now; I would love to hear your opinion on the food."

Two Hours Later

I walked out of the French restaurant with several bags full of food and probably ten pounds heavier than I was walking in. Most of the food was great and I couldn't stop eating.

"Thank you so much Bella," Esme said as we walked out together.

"No thank you, lunch was great." I smiled. "And now I have dinner for the next few nights. Are you sure I can't give you some money for this?"

She chuckled. "I won't take your money. It was my pleasure. Well, actually, I put it on my husband's card, so it was on him."

"He won't be mad, will he?" I asked.

"Oh no, he'll be glad I stayed out of the house for more than an hour."

"Esme!" A blond man yelled. He was running down the street to catch up with us.

Esme brows furrowed. "What are you doing here Carlisle?" She asked as he caught up to us, grabbed her by the waist, and enthusiastically kissed her cheek.

"I went home to see you after my meeting, but you weren't there. I was worried."

"Well, I decided to go ahead and have lunch." She said, crossing her arms.

He smiled bashfully. "Sorry, I didn't want to cancel on you. I tried so hard to prevent it."

"Mm hm," She said. "I should have turned the tracking on my phone off to really give you a scare."

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. I could now see where Edward got both his height and width from. And on a separate note, his handsomeness. Edward's father was… well, he was really hot. It was like looking at an older, blond version of Edward.

"Who is this?" Carlisle asked as he looked over at me.

"This is Bella. That girl Edward's been talking about," Esme said.

Carlisle gave Esme a look. "Esme…"

"I didn't say anything that would embarrass him. We just had lunch together. That's it."

Carlisle sighed and extended his hand. "It is nice to meet you Bella."

"Likewise," I said as I shook his hand.

"Do you have to run?" Esme asked Carlisle. "Don't you have to check on that place?"

"Not tonight," He said, kissing her cheek again and lowering her voice. "I've taken the next two days off. I want to spend them with you."

"But Edward's businesses—,"

"Will be fine," He said, "I want to spend time with you."

Esme sighed, but her face lit up happily at this. "That will be very nice."

Carlisle chuckled at her before looking over at me. "Was I interrupting? Do you two have plans?"

"No, no," I said, shaking my head. "I was just about to catch a bus."

"Nonsense," Carlisle said as he looked around. "I will get you a ride."

"You don't have too—,"

"It's my pleasure," Carlisle said looked behind him and waved at a black SUV. "You joined my wife for lunch and kept her entertained. It's the least I can do."

"Well, thanks." I smiled.

The black SUV pulled up and a bald man in sunglasses stepped out.

"Will you please give Miss Bella a ride home?"

"Of course Mr. Cullen." The man said as he opened the back door. He then walked over to me and plucked the bags out of my hands.

"Oh, thank you." I said to him.

"Bella, I hope you don't find me rude. I would ask you to stay and spend time with us, but I haven't had this much time with my husband in a while."

"No need to explain," I smiled at Esme. "You two enjoy your time. I'll see you later."

"It was nice meeting you Bella." Carlisle said.

"Nice to meet you too." I smiled before getting into the car.

Once I was in the SUV, I looked out of the dark tinted window to see Carlisle, scooping Esme up in his arms. She was giggling as she threw her arms around him. Her wide smile was nice to see. She looked so happy.