Dinner
Fall leaves swirl past me along with a cool breeze that has me shivering in my coat as I tug it closer for warmth.
A quick glance to my right shows lots of tourists trapped on the boardwalk, wandering around like the lost mice they are.
I chuckle as I head towards the front doors of La Bella Italia, Bella waiting inside for me. People stream past, towards the boardwalk, not even paying me a second glance. It may offend others, but it felt nice to sort of blend in for once.
I can see why Bella comes here.
I push the door open with my shoulder, holding it for a small family of four that's leaving at the same time.
"Thank you!" Two little boys chirp as their mother swishes past me, breathing a quiet thanks as she rocks a baby in her arms.
I smile as they head for a small car in the lot, wondering if I'll have a wife like that a few years from now, kids just the same.
Not now, obviously, my life is up in arms due to the acting career, but I've been considering laying that all down, leaving show business quietly if I find my significant other.
Probably not if I keep this heavy strain of work coming.
When I walk in, a woman with blonde hair greets me with a coy smile, asking if I needed a table for a party of one.
"No," I tell her politely as a man strides over to us. "I'm actually here to meet someone."
"Are you Ms.Swan's guest?" The man asks, I nod, and he waves the blonde woman away who leaves with a dissatisfied huff. "Right this way," The man tells me, I suspect he's the manager, towards a small booth in the back where a small brunette woman sits, I suspect she's Bella, a woman with the name-tag that says Amber talking with her.
When Amber leaves, I'm almost at the table, when the Bella's head disappears.
I cautiously lean over the table to see where she went, to find her curled up in a ball, her eyes closed peacefully.
She was trying to fall asleep.
A quiet laugh slips through my lips as I sit next to her, gently nudging her shoulder.
"Hmmmm?" She mumbles, her eyes opening halfway.
"Good evening, sleepyhead." I smile.
"Edward...?" She questions, trying to sit up.
"The one and only," I tell her, my hands sneaking around her back to help prop her up. She sighs before thanking me, laying her head back against the back of the seat.
Dark circles are etched around her eyes, not as bad as the pictures I saw yesterday, but they're definitely there. Her hair is more of a dark chocolate rather than brown, full of thick and curly waves that brush past her shoulders. Her skin is deadly pale, almost translucent, but the faint flush in her cheeks gives her a slight rosy aura.
She smells like strawberries, too.
When she opens her eyes to look at me, I'm suddenly drowning in her dark brown orbs that are swirling with murky thoughts, framed by long, thick eyelashes that I saw yesterday (once again, in pictures), but it didn't even compare.
Her pink lips turn up into a smile as she sticks her hand out, mine are safely tucked in my pockets now, for me to shake.
"I'm Bella," She says "Sorry for almost falling asleep on you, I didn't get a lot last night."
"Did the Pledge get to you?" I tease, shaking her hand before getting up to sit across from her "I'm Edward, by the way."
She lets out a carefree laugh that has my insides warming "More or less," She giggles.
"Ah, well that's a reasonable excuse, I guess," I wrinkle my nose playfully, and she giggles again, staining her cheeks pink once again as she blushes.
Before she can say anything else though, the woman I saw earlier - Amber - appears, wearing a flirtatious smile.
"Hello," She says, I notice she's now only talking to me "I'm Amber, I'll be your server tonight. Shall we start with drinks?"
I motion for Bella to go first, and Amber unwillingly turns to face her.
"I'll have a Coke," Bella says, sticking her nose into a menu, ignoring Amber.
"Two Cokes." I tell Amber, turning my gaze away from her to stare at Bella, effectively showing her that she should leave.
She does, and the tension I didn't realize was in there air dissipates.
Bella heaves a sigh before slamming her menu down, sending a gust of her strawberry scent towards me as I reach to retrieve my own menu.
"What?" I ask, confused.
She's bent over a bag on her seat, scrounging through it before she answers me.
"I need my glasses."
Bella's head reappears, and on the bridge of her nose perches a small pair of reading glasses, the frames a soft brown, the shade a close match to her hair and eye color.
She picks up her menu again, glancing down at it with a smile.
"That's better," She murmurs "Now I can read."
I burst out laughing, and she looks up, her expression puzzled.
"What's so funny?" She inquires
"D-Don't old p-people wear reading g-glasses?" I tease, trying to withhold my laughter as Bella's face contorts from an expression of confusion, to curiosity, then anger.
Boy, if looks could kill, I'd be six feet under for sure.
"All have you know," She snaps "I'm not the only one who wears reading glasses. My mother did when she was 12, as did my father--"
I grin stupidly at her when she realizes I wanted her to be angry with me.
"Oh whatever," She huffs, but I can see she's trying to hide her smile. She looks back down at her menu, her dark hair falling in front of her face, hiding her scarlet colored cheeks. "I'd like to order, I'm starving." Bella announces after a few moments of comfortable silence.
As if on cue, Amber reappears.
"Are we ready to order?" She purrs, again just to me, and I tell Bella to go first.
"I'd like the mushroom ravioli," Bella says politely, though when she looks up to see Amber ignoring her, she scowls.
"Sure," Amber says simply, scribbling something down in her notebook. "And for you?"
"Same." I keep my reply short and to the point, handing her my menu "Thanks."
"Of course," She smiles a little too warmly at me before snatching up Bella's menu and walking off.
Bella growls quietly. "I don't think I like her much," She snaps and I chuckle.
"She freaks me out," I admit with a small smile.
After taking a sip of her Coke and gently pushing it back, Bella folds her arms in front of her, resting them on the tabletop, her small hands gently gripping the ends of her sleeves of her dark green sweater she's wearing - it looks to be a few sizes to big - before speaking. "What do we do now?" She asks, biting her bottom lip.
Good question.
"I don't know," I say with a shrug. "We'll be spending the next... six, seven months together? How do you break ice like that? Oh hey, I'm going to be spending a crap load of time with you, but I have no idea who you are, so why don't you spill your guts?"
"How about something along the lines of 20 questions?" Bella suggests, holding back a smile, and I laugh.
"Why not," I smirk "You go first."
"Alright..." She ponders this for a second. "Do you have any siblings?"
"Yes, two. My twin, Alice, and my big brother Emmett. You?"
Bella's eyes glimmer sadly, she smiles weakly. "No, I'm all alone."
"That must suck," I say sympathetically, I know they drive me insane but I loved my siblings more than anything else in the world.
And they knew it, which drove me crazy when they rubbed it in.
"Sort of, I did get all my parent's attention... Most of the time." Bella muses before snapping back to reality. "Next question..."
Amber reappears before Bella can ask, setting our plates down and leaving without a word.
"Anyways, before I was so rudely interrupted, what's your favorite car?"
"Odd question," I tell her with a smile "But it'd probably be my Volvo, she's parked right outside, too."
Bella laughs as she stabs a ravioli with her fork and tossing it into her mouth.
I copy the action, the mushrooms were good, and swallow before asking my question.
"Favorite color?"
"Whoa man, that's really personal," Bella says, talking around her next bite of food "But normally it changes day to day, today it's probably brown."
I nod in approval, brown was a nice color.
"What about you? Any preference in the rainbow?"
"Either brown or blue, I haven't really decided." I tell her with a shrug. "Probably leaning towards blue though, brown seems to be taken."
She giggles as she takes a sip of her now almost empty glass of Coke.
I take another bite of my dinner, contemplating my next question.
"Where are your parents right now?"
I wanted to see if she'd lie to me, or open up somewhat and tell me the truth.
A test, if you will.
Bella's eyes immediately snapped up to mine, her guard up instantly. "Do you want the truth, or a lie?" She finally asks after a few seconds of tense silence.
"Truth," I tell her.
"My mother is in the hospital with cancer, she's been under chemotherapy treatment for about three months now." Bella mumbles, staring at the tabletop in shame. "But, I'm guessing you read the email before I asked you to delete it, so you knew some of that."
"That I did," I murmur, and her eyes slowly crawl up to meet my gaze "And I'm sorry, I know it must be a sensitive topic."
"It's fine," She says, waving my sympathy away. "While her moods and mental health are plummeting, the cancer may be on it's way out, but I'm having my doubts."
"That's natural," I comment, taking a sip of Coke. "And what about your father?"
Bella was looking down at the tabletop as soon as the words tumbled from my lips. "That," She whispers "Is the sensitive topic."
"Please excuse me," I apologize "I didn't mean to pry--"
"No, no," Bella waves her hand dismissively, though I can see water leaking from her eyes "You'll piece it together soon enough, better get it over with, I guess."
She pauses, wiping her eyes before looking at me again.
"You can trust me," I murmur, reaching forward to take her small hand in my large one. "I promise."
She meets my gaze once again, her smile thankful instead of sad. She gives my hand a light squeeze, sending electricity down my arm in almost painful sparks. "My father has been in a coma since I was 17," Bella says quietly, using her other hand to twirl a stray lock of her hair. "he was a police officer back in Forks, and one day he got too close to this one gang down in La Push, my friends Seth, Jared, Paul and Leah found him extremely beat up and bruised. I've kept him on the life support when needed, but most of the time he can make do on his own, and the doctors say it's slow, but steady. He's slowly coming back to me."
"That's good," I give her an encouraging smile. "But I have another question."
"I thought it was my turn!" Bella whines, trying to hide her sneaky smile. The mood lifted after that, which was nice.
Nothing could come out of a gloom and doom atmosphere.
"Who's Jane?"
"My step-sister," Bella admits with a sheepish smile. "I know I told you I didn't have any siblings, the reason being is that I hardly even see Jane, and when I do I have to look after her like she's my child rather than my step-sister. She's 12."
I wrinkle my nose "You liar," I tease, playfully poking her stomach. She lets out an adorable squeal before scowling at me.
"Don't do that," She scolds, but I can tell she's trying - very hard - to suppress her giggling.
"You're ticklish?" I gasp as Bella takes another bite of her dinner which is now almost gone.
The blood slowly drains from her face as she swallows with an audible gulp, a look of horror mixed with alarm on her face. "No," She mumbles, not meeting my gaze.
"You are!" I cry triumphantly.
She shakes her head quickly "No I'm not!" She squeaks.
I laugh as Amber returns, Bella asking for the check as I try and calm myself down. Amber hands it to her silently, already having it in the large pocket of her black apron that's tied around her waist. Bella slips a bill inside it before I can protest, grabbing her coat as she hands the check back to Amber.
"No change," Bella says, sliding her arms into the dark colored coat. I stand as Amber leaves, shooting Bella a look. "What?"
"I was supposed to pay," I tell her "It's the gentlemanly thing to do."
"But I beat you to the punch. So? I've got more money than I'll ever need in three lifetimes right now." Bella states as we head for the door, I slip on my coat as we walk outside, pursing my lips in silence.
I didn't want to fight with her.
The breeze has picked up, the sky has gotten darker, and I feel slightly uneasy about going towards the boardwalk. People don't make the smartest choices at this time of night, I glance at my watch and it shows it's 8:49, and I don't want Bella getting caught in something she shouldn't.
"Hey," Bella lightly tugs on my arm, picking up her pace to walk in stride with me "Mind if we bag the boardwalk?" She yawns "I'm dead tired."
"Of course," I tell her, holding back my relieved sigh "How did you come here? I can walk you to your car, if you wish."
"I took a taxi," Bella mumbles, pulling out her phone and beginning to dial someone before I stop her.
"I'll drive you, then." I say.
"But--"
"C'mon, I'm not letting some freak in a yellow car take you home."
Bella huffs angrily as I take her arm and tow her towards my car, making absolutely no effort to help me get her there.
I open the passenger door for her, waiting as she scowls at the asphalt.
"Bella, it's cold, please get inside," I murmur. Her gaze meets mine and she heaves a sigh before climbing into the car.
I shut the door quietly behind her, walking around the car to climb into the driver's seat.
I climb inside, slipping the keys into the ignition, the engine quietly purring to life. I have the heaters turned on almost instantly as I back out of the parking lot and head towards the highway.
All throughout the ride, 20 questions turn to 40, then 50, and finally it begins to feel like some psych analysis you see on T.V. where the first word you think of is the answer you give.
I learned that Bella's favorite gemstone is garnet, though she's recently been taking a liking to topaz and onyx, she doesn't have any pets because she killed three fish in a row and deemed the entire ordeal a waste of time. Her father is her biggest role model, she holds him in the highest regard.
Even some of the puzzle pieces I saw yesterday turned themselves over. I learned that Bella was an exceptionally kind person, though she had a bit of a temper when it came down to it. She was also selfless, her needs were farther down on her list than the one's of her mother and father, as well as her step-father Phil and step-sister Jane.
But when I pulled in front of her father's house, Bella resided in it to give it life - her words not mine - Bella surprised me by giving me a kiss on the cheek before exiting the car, waving at the front porch after she flipped on the light as I pulled away and disappeared from her sight.
That night when I checked my email before I headed off to bed, I fond a message from her.
Edward,
Thank you for tonight. I had a great time, and I can't wait to begin working with you.
We should hang out again sometime, I loved laughing with you.
Bella