I want to welcome all my new fans and new readers from Bella's Diary who have been so kind and welcoming! Thank you for reading Evening Star and enjoying this little foray into the world of Twilight.
I own nothing--this world and its beloved characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I am only a sojourner in her world (and am enjoying every minute!).
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Thanks again, to all my fans!! Love you all!!!!
Chapter Sixteen: In the Suite
The valet was at my elbow as soon as I exited the Vanquish. He was too professional to comment on the car, but the muted glow in his eyes relayed his admiration for my rare British sports car, gaining me the respect that my teenage appearance seldom earned among human men.
I tossed him the keys and while he moved to open the trunk, I whisked around the front of the car to open Bella's door, offering her my hand as she attempted to raise herself from the low-slung vehicle. She smiled as she took my hand and clambered to her feet awkwardly after so long a time in the sports car. Her eyes met mine again, her trusting expression warming my silent chest almost as if I still possessed a beating heart. What this lovely girl could do to me thrilled me to no end.
The valet was waiting at the rear of the car for us, and I indicated which of the trunk's contents we would require. Bella gasped when she noticed the overnight bags, glancing at me in shock but refraining from saying anything in front of the valet. Her eyes widened further when she saw the long garment bags and the shoe boxes with designer names.
"What are these?" she asked fearfully.
I ignored Bella's apparent terror and nodded to the valet who gathered our things and escorted us into the Fairmont Olympic Hotel.
We entered the spacious lobby, and I heard Bella's gasp of utter shock at the luxurious Italian Renaissance décor of the hotel. Even I was impressed, I had to admit. I felt her fingers close reflexively around my arm as I escorted her to the magnificent desk area, quietly giving my name and handing them my credit card, the shiny black one that instantly gained me deference wherever and whenever I used it. We definitely didn't seem like wayward teens to the hotel staff once they saw that card.
Bella gripped my arm much more tightly than necessary, saying nothing and, as I sneaked a sidelong glance at her, she somehow managed to keep her mouth from hanging agape at the hotel's luxurious décor. I smiled warmly at her, and she caught my eye before looking down quickly, blushing slightly.
Then Bella seemed to notice for the first time what she was wearing: shorts and a tank top over a bikini, and her embarrassment deepened at wearing such casual apparel into this place, the most elegant hotel in Seattle. Blushing pinker, Bella refused to look the clerk in the eye while I made quiet arrangements to check into our reserved suite. I knew that she was ashamed of the clothing she was wearing...but that's why Alice had packed other clothing for us.
Leaning toward her, I whispered warmly in Bella's ear, "I thought we'd like to change before dinner."
Bella refused to look up; her face and upper chest turned a deep rose color with yet another blush, but she nodded quickly in agreement.
I sighed in relief. I wasn't sure how she would handle checking into a room with me, even if it was only to ready ourselves for the evening. Well, at least for that reason, anyway...anything more was up to Bella herself.
The clerk quietly affirmed our reservation for the Cascade Suite, the premier suite in the hotel. Bella kept gazing at her sandals, cheeks still pink, while I took one card key, leaving the second card key at the desk with directions for its use by another. As I finished making the arrangements, I was grateful that Bella had missed his comment about our suite and my instructions regarding the second key. I couldn't help rolling my eyes when I considered her probable reaction to a penthouse suite with a dining room that seated twelve...and to our expected guest.
In a few moments we were following our valet to the elegant elevators which carried us swiftly and silently to the top floor of the beautiful and historic hotel. As the elevator smoothly took us to the penthouse suite, I slipped the valet our card key. As the elevator doors slid noiselessly open, we followed the valet to a suite with double doors. Bella glanced at me in surprise when we stopped behind the valet as he slid our card key through the lock, then opened the door, holding it for us to enter. Still clinging to my arm, Bella walked beside me into the well-lit living room.
The sun had set while we drove, and the sparkling lights of downtown Seattle shone through the sheer curtains of the living room. Comfortable sofas and armchairs were gathered around a lovely stone fireplace with decorative pillar candles lit for our arrival, per my instructions. American antiques dotted the table tops and mantelpiece of the formal yet cozy room, and an oak armoire disguised a wide-screen television.
"Would you like your bags in the master suite, sir?" inquired the valet, and seeing my nod, he proceeded to place our belongings on the cream upholstered bench at the end of a rose-and-cream-striped king bed with a canopied cover. Bella let my arm loose and wandered, open-mouthed, through the suite, exploring the formal dining room, the baby grand piano in the corner of the living room near the fireplace, and, finally, the master bedroom. As the valet left the bedroom, I passed him a generous tip, and he quietly thanked me, wishing us a pleasant evening.
Bella wandered back into the living room to where I stood watching her. "Are we staying here tonight?" she whispered.
"Only if you would like to," I whispered back.
She frowned, her eyebrows coming together. "What about Charlie? Won't he be expecting me home tonight?"
I stepped closer to Bella, placing my hands on her waist. "Esme called him and asked if you could stay over with Alice and Rosalie tonight, for a sleepover. Alice texted me that he's fine with it; there's a Mariners' game on tonight that he doesn't want to miss; he doesn't mind a bit." I felt Bella's body relax, her tension releasing.
"Your clothes are in the other room," I said, taking her hand and leading her to the garment bags laid across the end of the canopied bed. Reaching down, I grasped the hanger of one and handed it to her. Bella looked at me in complete bemusement, as if the garment bag held a snake...perhaps even a venomous one.
A quiet knock on the door of the suite was followed by a card key being swiped and the door opening. In a flash of movement, Alice appeared in the doorway of the master bedroom, looking askance at Bella.
"Oh, hell, Edward!" Alice exclaimed. "I told you not to let her stay in the sun too long this afternoon! She's sunburned!" She shook her head in horror before glaring at me, one eyebrow raised disdainfully. "And don't give me that innocent look-I saw what you two were doing in the sun all afternoon, too."
Bella, who had paled with Alice's sudden appearance, now turned bright pink with a blush of embarrassment.
Alice bounded forward, grabbing Bella's hand and scooping up the bags she had carried with her. "I certainly have my work cut out for me tonight," she grumbled dramatically, dragging Bella toward the master bathroom. Pushing Bella inside, she spun to glare at me. "YOU get to shower in the guest bathroom. And don't forget your new clothes!" She waved a tiny hand carelessly toward the remaining garment bag before turning back to Bella, relieving her of the garment bag she still held in her shock. I smiled; Alice was rather like a tornado at times.
Just before she slammed the bathroom door in my face, Alice poked her head out. "Go!" she ordered, pointing a small finger toward the guest rooms on the opposite side of the suite.
Somehow, within the twenty minutes that I took to shower and dress in the navy blue Armani suit Alice had purchased just for this occasion, Alice had made excellent progress with Bella. She had to be working at vampire speed after Bella's quick shower. Not wishing to intrude on Bella's privacy, I politely shut out Alice's thoughts as she did Bella's hair, makeup, and helped her to dress. As I fastened the diamond cufflinks that used to be my father's to my wrists, I heard Alice heartlessly ordering Bella about. "Now we can do this my way or we can do this MY way, Bella. But, either way, I'm doing your makeup for you and curling your hair. No arguing! I haven't been helping Edward plan this night for weeks and then not have you looking absolutely gorgeous for him!"
I chuckled to myself. Poor Bella had no choice in the matter. I only hoped that she would be in a decent mood tonight after Alice's frantic ministrations.
I paced back and forth across the living room, worrying about Bella's mood for another fifteen minutes before Alice emerged from the master bedroom. She seemed to be both ecstatic and chagrined by her night's work.
"Well, I did what I could with her without making you late for your dinner reservation," Alice grumbled, but her satisfaction couldn't be contained as she unapologetically shut me out of her mind by declaiming a speech by Marcus Aurelius in the original Latin.
I could hear Bella's groan from the bathroom. "You've GOT to be kidding, Alice! How the hell am I going to walk in these things? I just got OUT of a full leg cast this morning, you know."
Alice grinned at me. "You owe me, brother dear," she trilled sweetly before calling over her shoulder, "Okay, Bella! Showtime!"
Bella stalked out of the master bathroom, through the bedroom and into the living room in delicate silver stilettos that caused her to wobble slightly. Her form was wrapped in a beautiful midnight-blue silk chiffon dress that flowed beautifully to just below her knees, showing off her shapely calves. The dress had a slightly asymmetrical v-neck and was sleeveless with a banded waist. Her hair was curled gently toward her face in a style reminiscent of the 1940s, pinned back from her heart-shaped forehead with silvery, diamond-tipped clips (Alice must have convinced her that they were rhinestones or else Bella would never have worn them), and her face was made up just enough to emphasize her incredible natural beauty.
It was my turn for an agape jaw. Bella was so beautiful-in fact, "beautiful" wasn't a strong enough word to describe the vision that Bella was tonight. I was rendered absolutely and completely speechless-a true rarity.
Alice laughed merrily as she danced toward me, and with her outstretched index finger, she pushed my slack jaw upward, closing my mouth for me. "You're welcome," she teased, very pleased with my response.
But Alice was on the periphery of my vision. I could only see the stunningly lovely human who stood shyly before me, blushing madly with a mixture of embarrassment and pleasure at my stunned expression. I stepped forward, gently placing my forearms under hers and hungrily absorbing every detail of my Bella.
Still speechless, I knew that my eyes burned with the depth of my regard, for when Bella shyly met my gaze, she inhaled sharply and grasped my arms tightly, swaying slightly in my loose embrace.
"Bella," I whispered, still totally stunned by the lovely young woman before me. I swallowed convulsively, and then continued to whisper, "Bella, you are so beautiful. There aren't words." I swallowed again. "No, there simply are not words."
Bella looked into my eyes again, and this time her eyes were stunned...by ME. I knew that the suit Alice had chosen to match Bella's dress became me well, but I also knew that I was nothing, absolutely nothing, compared with this shy and awkward human who glowed with beauty and a strange, otherworldly grace in the way she held her head, the way she moved her arms. Bella could be awkward at times, but at other times she seemed as if she were already immortal-her unconscious grace shone through the human stumbling.
I vaguely heard Alice babbling something about pulling strings with Oscar de la Renta's people to do Bella's dress in midnight blue rather than the standard black, but I paid her little attention. My usually distractable vampire mind was honed on one thing and one thing only: Bella.
Finally able to move but refusing to tear my gaze from hers, I offered Bella my arm in a gesture from my human boyhood. As Bella took my elbow in her warm grasp, Alice quickly slipped a small silver evening bag under Bella's other arm. Slowly I turned Bella toward the door of the suite and guided her down the short hallway toward the elevators.
"You're welcome!" Alice called again as the elevator doors closed behind us.
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And for those of you who need to see it, here is Bella's dress: only Alice twisted some arms to have it made in midnight blue instead of black, of course:
http://www.oscardelarenta.com/?folderId=/shoponline/readytowear/dresses#styleNumber=2n616&
Please let me know what you think!! Comments make my day!!! :)