991Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and all character names. This plot belongs to the author, IReen H.
No copyright infringement is intended or expected. Respect.
A/N: Hey again! Happy Saturday. Or Sunday for some of you. I'd like to confess that to some extent I have no idea what I'm doing. I thought the vignettes would end right around this point in the timeline, and I still have, like 9 more prompts this month. So I'm just going to do whatever, and where ever we end is where the actual story will begin. And, for those that have asked... Sam is ten. Bella is 27, Jake is 28. And Edward is 30. I know how I started the vignettes made it seem like he was younger. He's not.
Unbeta'd and all that radness.
Word Prompt: Pipe
A single word meant to inspire immediate thought. Write what your imagination dictates.
The doorbell chimes and Victoria stuffs the pipe in her underwear drawer, blowing smoke out the window and waving her hand to clear the room. Bella raises an eyebrow at her.
"Gotta be professional. This is an interview, after all."
She puts in some Visine, pops a mint in her mouth, crunching it as she heads to answer the door. It's just James.
"Why did you ring, you dork?"
He gestures to his hands which hold up the cooler. "My hands were full, jerk-face."
"Well don't just stand there. Come in so I can have a beer. Jeez."
James sets the cooler in the kitchen, pulling the lid open and Victoria reaches in to grab a Newcastle. Bella goes for Stella, pulling out two and popping the tops. Lauren chooses Corona, as does Jess. They thumb their limes in and clink bottles. James pours his Guinness into a pint glass, leaving it on the counter to breathe. He likes it cool rather than cold.
Bella finds Jake on the balcony messing with his phone. She offers him the Stella and he shakes his head.
"What's up?"
"Paul's having problems with the carburetor on the Porsche. I might have to leave early."
"Stay for one game."
He doesn't look at her. "Maybe."
She goes back inside, sliding the door closed behind her, watching Jake through the glass. Worrying.
The cut on his back is almost healed. He said a guy in the fight had a blade and Bella had accepted that, but she hadn't believed it.
The next day he said he had talked to Dimitri and that Dimitri totally understood about his beautiful wife, his young family, and their needing him to work less. One car per quarter was fine. Just fine. The next day a sky blue Porsche had rolled into Forrester.
Jake didn't seem pleased to relay this news. He doesn't seem pleased about anything these days. His attitude has cooled back down since their passionate interlude, he's constantly distracted. Stressed. Which Bella thought would be alleviated with his workload.
She asked him about it. He said the barfight was really messing with his head.
Four big guys, Bella. One with a knife. I've never had to fight before. I've never had to hurt anyone before.
Bella wondered. Maybe there had been a fight after all. There had been something, that's for sure.
"I got it," Bella calls, in response to a quick knock at the front door. She transfers Jake's beer, gripping the neck together with her own, flipping on the porch light and turning the handle.
"Hi. You must be Edward. Come in."
He just nods, stepping over the threshold. "Here, let me get your coat." She turns, setting the bottles on the bookshelf near the door, holding her hands out expectantly. He slides himself from his gray peacoat, laying it in her arms and saying thank you.
Bella's first impression is that Edward Cullen is not a bartender.
Edward's first impression is that Bella Black is beautiful.
Her hair is long and dark, pulled into a casual ponytail. Her eye's aren't exactly brown, as he thought they were. They're a deep rich hazel framed by lashes that never need mascara, though she's wearing it. She has a freckle under her right eye. An upside-down heart.
She has a graceful slope to her neck. He wants to touch it, see if it's as soft as it looks.
"You want a beer?"
"I thought I was here for an interview."
"You are. But keep in mind, we're pretty unconventional. We use the word interview in the loosest possible sense."
"Who is we?"
"Me and Victoria. I'm Bella. I think you spoke with Vic already, yeah?"
"Yes."
"Cool. So here tonight is Vic, her fiancé James, all the gals who work at the bar, and my husband, Jake."
His eyebrows go up and quickly settle back down.
"And we're drinking. So just relax. Pressure's off."
He smiles with half his mouth. A tentative smile. "Okay."
She smiles back, handing him the Stella she got for Jake. "You'll want this. I think. If you don't like Stella there are other choices in the kitchen."
"No, this is fine."
Vic pokes her head around the corner. Her body follows, her hand extended. "Hey. Nice to see you again, Edward. Shall we get started?"
"Please."
Victoria invites him to follow her into the kitchen. Bella trails behind Edward, leaning back against a wall as Victoria sticks her fingers in her mouth. An ear piercing whistle shuts everyone up and Victoria points around the table, by way of introductions. "Everyone this is Edward. Edward this is everyone. Laurie and Jess are bartenders, Angie is our cook, James harasses us on a regular basis with things like Serv-Safe Training and E-Coli crap, and Jake plays with cars. You already met Bella," she throws a thumb at where Bella stands. "And some more people might show up later."
Bella gives her a questioning look.
"Creature said they might stop by."
Edward tries to look self-conscious, placing his palm against the back of his neck. "Excuse me, Creature?"
"Local band. They play Port Vic every other month or so."
He nods.
"Okay Edward. Take a seat and pick a color. Except red. I'm always red. Bella is always black. The other colors are up for grabs."
He sits, picking the white token and placing it on the board.
Lauren goes with pink, Angie is blue, Jake is orange, James is yellow, Jess says she's not playing and pulls out her phone.
"You're taking her job, by the way. You can see why I'm firing her."
"You aren't firing me, Vic. She isn't firing me, Edward. I'm moving away."
Edward smiles.
Good.
Jess, having met him three minutes ago, already has body language he knows.
"What's the object of the game?"
Bella's the one who answers him. "So, this game is called Loaded Questions. On your turn you pick a card and read the question. Everyone answers privately on their pad. The answers are shuffled and read aloud to you, and you have to guess who said what. I'm telling you now, you'll probably lose, because we all know each other."
He laughs. "Okay. Can I go last, at least?"
"You may. Nice strategy by the way."
"Thanks."
"I'll go first." Vic says, rolling the die. She picks a card. "Purple question. Okay. Write down the most beautiful word you can think of."
Bella nibbles the end of her pencil before scratching out her answer, her hand cupped to block her writing from view. Everyone passes to her and she reads.
"Okay Vic. Your choices are: Victory, Fellatio, Bella, Cellar Door, Nocturne, and finally, Winning-Duh."
Victoria steeples her fingers, looking around the table with a smirk. "Okay. Fellatio is James being hopeful. Bella is Jake, obviously."
Jake grins.
"Victory is Lauren kissing my ass. Winning, duh is Bella because of her smart-ass kid. Like mother, like son. Angie is cellar door. Very outré, Angie. Not. So that leaves… what was the last one, Bella?"
"Nocturne."
Victoria points at Edward. "That's Edward."
Bella hands everyone back their papers. "You got 'em all, except you mixed up James and Laurie."
"I was kissing your ass," James says.
"And I was the hopeful one," Lauren reclaims her paper, giving Edward bedroom eyes. He feigns embarrassment, looking away.
"Four, bitches. Suck it." Victoria moves her piece four spaces, then hands the die to James. "Your turn, kiss-ass."
Bella rolls her eyes, smiling, bringing the bottle to her mouth. Edward drinks as well. Their eyes meet. Bella lowers her beer and mouths at him, unconventional. He notices that she smiles with her whole face, her eyes glowing.
Bella Black is a beauty.