A/N: So, it seems like we're not big Jacob fans over here this time around. Don't worry, he's off in Peterborough being inconsequential. And now that we've seen how Edward does in Bella's world, it's time to bring her into his! Thank you to everyone who has read, favourited, and commented so far! This story took awhile to complete (this was actually the chapter that stuck me up for months), so it's amazing to see all the support on this labour of love! If you haven't already joined, we'll be doing a future WIP preview on my FB group, hmerdan's fiction spot, to learn aboit what stories are to come. Come and join us if you want a luttle teaser and more! As always, thanks to my beta, Kneon, for her input, encouragement, and time!
BPOV
I slowly made my way downstairs, exhausted from no sleep the night before. Tonight was the night of the Volterra event, and I spent the night tossing and turning. On top of going public at a major media event, I still hadn't met his closest friends. Jasper and Alice had back-to-back weeks in Dallas and Biloxi visiting family, while Emmett said Rosalie had been under the weather since getting back from Tennessee. We made plans to meet for dinner before the event tonight, but the stress didn't make for a restful sleep.
"Good morning, Sunshine," Jessica greeted with a smile from the kitchen island where she was dressed in her work scrubs with Lauren Mallory.
"You look exhausted," Lauren stated obviously, taking a sip from her cup. There was a time I would have been hurt by her statement, back when she was one of the biggest bullies at Kenner Collegiate. But four years of the real world have humbled her, and I've learned in the last few weeks since she and Jessica have rekindled their friendship that her blunt attitude wasn't meant to be hurtful. She's actually proven to be helpful, giving me some insights into Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, or MLSE for short, as a member of the Raptors' Northside Crew Dancers.
"That's what happens when you don't sleep," I muttered, grabbing an empty mug and Keurig pod to make myself a cup of lifeblood - I mean, coffee. "Why are you here so early? No one should be awake right now if they have a choice."
"I'm giving Jess a ride to work, and she's gonna do my nails." She held up her hand and wiggled her bare fingers. "I've got back-to-back gigs - a Bar Mitzvah this afternoon and Volterra tonight."
"Sounds like a busy day," I chuckled as I finally took a sip of the caffeinated ambrosia.
Lauren scoffed. "Who do you think will be worse - preteen boys or drunk execs?"
"Are you talking about behaviour or smell?" I laughed, still remembering the long ride with Seth and his boys. "Besides, I'm sure you'll have drunk execs WITH the preteen boys, too."
"Ugh, true," Lauren rolled her eyes with a laugh. "Thank God they pay well!"
"You should try to get some sleep," Jessica suggested. "At least a nap or something."
"Yeah, you're right," I sighed. "Maybe I'll head back to bed soon." Before Jess and Lauren could reply, there was a sharp knock at the door. "Are you expecting someone?" I asked but was given a headshake in return. I shrugged and put down my coffee, heading to the door to check the peephole. Outside was a slightly distorted image of a short woman with large sunglasses and a black baseball cap perched on her head, holding a Krispy Kreme box and a frothy pink drink. Behind her was a lemon-yellow sports car. She looked non-threatening, but having been raised by a cop, I opened the door slowly. "Can I help you?" I asked, cautiously.
"Oh my God, you're even prettier than your pictures!" She squealed. "I couldn't wait to meet you, and I thought we could go shopping this morning. Sorry it's so early, but I had to take Jazzy to the gym. I brought donuts! I would have grabbed you a drink, but I didn't know what you'd like."
As this perky stranger smiled at me, my head spun. I looked back at Jessica and Lauren, but they were just as slack-jawed as I felt. Just how much caffeine was in that pink concoction? "I'm sorry, and you are?"
"I can't believe I forgot that part!" She giggled and shoved her drink in the crook of her arm to offer me her hand. "I'm Alice, Jasper's fiancee."
"Um, Bella… but you already knew that…" I stammered accepting her handshake. "I'm just waking up, so my mind isn't all there yet. How did you get my address?"
"Edward gave it to me when I dropped off Jazzy," She smiled brightly, entering the room and placing the donuts on the kitchen island. "I thought I could help you with your dress for tonight. Can I come in?"
"Right…" I muttered as I watched Jessica and Lauren each grab one of the sweet confections, wondering why Edward didn't give me a heads-up. "Well, I already have a dress for tonight, the one I wore to my graduation."
Alice's face dropped slightly as she placed the box on the kitchen island. "Edward showed me some of those photos. It's a really pretty dress, but…"
"It's too simple," Lauren interrupted, swallowing a bite of donut. "Bella, that dress is cute and I'm totally going to borrow it for my cousin's bridal shower but I've seen what some women wear to these things. Cute won't cut it."
Alice turned to Lauren and tilted her head to the side. "You look familiar."
"Northside Crew," Lauren explained and took another bite.
"Right! Raps City Social! You guys were great!" She grinned and turned back to me. "Bella, listen to us. I'm more than happy to give you the lowdown on the WAGs, but we can do that and shop at the same time. You need a stunning outfit for your first social event with Edward."
"Wags?" I asked, confused. I grabbed my mug and a donut, hoping the caffeine and sugar would wake me up quickly.
"Wives and girlfriends," Alice explained. "It's the shortform for the significant others of athletes. Frankly, I hate the term. Too exclusionary. What about when there's an athlete that's involved with a man? Are we supposed to call them HABs, because there is no way a Toronto fan would ever use that slur!"
"Mmm," I hummed noncommittally. Alice was a lot to take in with no sleep. "I appreciate the offer, and I get what you're saying, but I'm a grad student. Extra cash for a knockout dress isn't in the budget."
"Don't worry about the cost!" She giggled. "I already talked to my contact at Reformation. As long as I post a few photos at the store on my feed, the dress is covered."
"I don't know…" I breathed out. I had never even met this woman, and suddenly she was trying to dress me. What's her angle?
"Please, Bella," Alice begged with a pout. "I just want you to be flawless and confident tonight."
I narrowed my eyes at her. "Does that pout always work?" Still pouting, she nodded at me. "Ugh! Fine! Just let me finish my coffee and get ready."
"Yay!" Alice clapped and trilled. "Maybe we can look at a dress for you to wear to my wedding, too!"
"Edward hasn't asked me to go to your wedding," I scoffed, placing my now empty cup in the sink and heading back upstairs.
"He will…" She replied in a sing-song voice, following me up the stairs.
Once I was showered, changed, and feeling human, I begrudgingly jumped into Alice's little yellow Porsche and let her kidnap me for the day. I pulled out my cell to shoot Edward a text as soon as we were on the road.
Just for reference - how many other wags have my address?
"Don't blame Edward," Alice piped up as soon as I put away my phone. "I only told him I wanted to drop something off for you. He was focused on his workout when we got there."
"Still doesn't mean he should give out my address to people I don't know." I sighed, and quickly added, "No offense."
"None taken," she assured me. "I wouldn't want my address being given out either. But Edward trusts me, and I know he'd appreciate me giving you a head's up on what to expect."
"Yeah, you mentioned a lowdown on the wags?"
"Right, so there are fourteen WAGs with the team, including us," she nodded in my direction. "Of course, everyone's their own person but from my experience, they break down into three groups. How into celebs are you?" I shrugged, not really into celebrity gossip. "Okay, so there are the ones who've been with their guy since long before he was famous, like Kara Iginla. The ones who met them after they started building their career but have their own shit going on, and sometimes are more successful than their partners, like Carrie Underwood." Seriously? I'm in the same conversation as an American Idol? Ignoring my groan, Alice continued, "And the last are the ones who latched on to a famous athlete to get fame and wealth for themselves." I nodded and urged her to continue. "Rose and I are both in the second group. Rose was actually more successful than Emmett when they met."
"Seriously?" I asked, trying not to chuckle.
Alice nodded emphatically. "Em was a first-year Marlie when they met, so his salary was way lower, and he didn't have the signing bonus he gets with the Leafs. Rose is a luxury car broker. She's worked with a ton of high-profile people, and her commission isn't cheap. Anyway, she arranged for a BMW M3 as a silent auction prize for the annual Night of Blue and White, and as a thank you, she was invited to the gala as one of their guests. That's where she met Emmett."
"Okay, makes sense. And you and Jasper?"
"A different charity event in Dallas," she giggled. "The Stars were attending the Patient Prom at Children's Health in Dallas, and I donated my time to do hair and makeup for the girls. The minute I saw Jasper, I knew he was the one for me." She had a goofy grin on her face as she told the story. "When he told me he was being traded from Dallas to Toronto, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going with him. I talked to my agent, and she worked with my contacts so I could keep up my socials here."
"So far, it makes sense. Seems pretty straightforward." Definitely didn't seem like a conversation that needed to drag me out in the morning, but I didn't say that to her.
"Right, so there are a few more like us." She went on to explain how the different significant others fit into her three types, as well as which women were friendly - like Kate Brownrig, wife of the team captain Garrett and de facto head WAG, and Victoria Schuster, James Hunter's girlfriend - and which ones to watch out for - like Irina Ruslanova, Laurent St. Louis's Russian model girlfriend, and Jane Dawson, Alec's fiancee. She explained that while Jane and Kate both fit into type one, Kate liked to make newer WAGs feel welcome, while Jane assumed all new girlfriends were puck bunnies and gold diggers and preferred to look down on them.
"Right, so Jane will look down on me, and Irina will act like she's better than everyone else. Anyone else I should be prepared for?" I asked, making a mental note of all the names Alice was throwing at me.
She let out a sigh, looking nervous. "Yeah, and this is the number one reason I wanted to meet you before tonight. Rosalie is really protective of Edward, especially after she found out what Tanya was doing." Edward had mentioned Tanya to me in passing and said that they had a rough breakup. I was about to ask questions, but Alice changed the topic. "Oh! We're here! And it looks like Bianca saved a parking space. What a doll," she sighed, and pulled her little sports car easily into the space.
As we climbed out of the car, a bubbly woman in a coordinated linen outfit who I assumed was Bianca greeted us. She and Alice quickly got over the pleasantries before she was giving directions for today's promotion - one pre-shopping story, something about touch screens and iPads, three potential outfits, and a final choice posted tonight at the event, as well as all photos in a regular post. As lost as I felt during the conversation, I at least understood why Alice insisted I needed at least a light dusting of makeup.
"Bella, are you okay with your face being visible?" Alice asked. "I can work with shadows if you'd rather stay anonymous."
"Um, it's fine," I mumbled. "I'll probably be caught on camera tonight, anyway."
"Brilliant!" Bianca trilled. "I've already set aside a dressing room for you. Is Logan joining us?"
I was wondering who Logan was while Alice replied, "No, I gave him the day off. I'll just use my tripod." Noticing my confusion, she quickly added, "Logan's my assistant. Usually, he'll help take photos on posts like this, but I've done this tons of times without a photographer. I just need to run and grab it while Bianca gives you a tutorial on the shop." I didn't know why I would need a tutorial to shop, but I followed Bianca into the store diligently.l
Shopping with Alice had been one of the most overwhelming days of my life. After Bianca's walkthrough of the touch screen, I'd added a few dresses on my own but found out Alice had added what had to be most of the shop while I was in the dressing room. On top of that were Alice's rules - no black, white, red, or blue (too boring, won't photograph well, and I didn't want to look like a Leafs or Raptors' fangirl, she explained); nothing too slutty, but nothing too conservative; and it needed matching shoes, my neutral pumps at home wouldn't do.
After two hours and who knows how many dresses, we settled on a dark green spaghetti strap dress that stopped about mid-calf and had a slit up my thigh. Normally, I would have baulked at the price tag, but at that point, I was ready to leave. Alice also tried to talk me into getting a light green, floor-length halter neck dress for her wedding, but I refused to pick out something when Edward hadn't asked me to attend with him yet. Alice pouted but conceded and instead found a pair of black strappy heels to go with the dress. I also had to put my foot down at lunch when she tried to insist on me getting ready with her and her stylist. I appreciated the offer, but after an overwhelming morning, I needed to decompress on my own before getting ready, but I confirmed we would be seeing her and Jasper, as well as the McCartys, at dinner before heading to the launch event. I took a quick Power Nap until Jessica got home and helped me get ready for the night.
By six, I was playing Tetris with my wallet, phone, and tiny clutch when I heard a knock at the door. I took one last look in the hallway mirror before opening the door to find a contrite-looking Edward with a bouquet of white lilies. In truth, I'd forgiven him for giving my address to Alice without telling me because she ended up being a helpful ally. However, he didn't need to know that, so I cocked an eyebrow at him, waiting to explain himself.
"Bella, you look stunning," he breathed out and held the flowers towards me. "These are for you."
"Are they you look lovely flowers or I'm sorry flowers?" I asked as I took the flowers, but the smile that cracked my face gave me away.
"There aren't flowers beautiful enough to share how lovely you truly are," he sighed, and pulled me into a tight hug. "I'm sorry I gave Alice your address."
"I know, I forgive you," I chuckled softly and leaned back to look him in the eyes with my hands still on his chest. "Next time, can you tell me before you hand out my address?"
"No more giving it out. Scout's honour," he smirked and leaned down to kiss me. "Ready to go?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," I smiled nervously, taking his hand as we left the safety of my front foyer for the public.