Chapter 2: Giraffes shouldn’t crash peacock parades

Disclaimer: I don’t own Twilight; I just play in S. Meyer’s sandbox when she’s distracted.

Chapter 2: Giraffes shouldn’t crash peacock parades

4:37 am

The angry digits in my alarm clock were changing, dawn grew near and I was lying on my bed wide-awake.

I kept on examining the previous night in my head, analyzing each movement, dissecting each conversation, trying to understand. I didn’t make sense at all.

He had wanted me. I felt him hard when he held me tight to his body, but he never made a move.

He had kissed me. Hell! It was the most passionate kiss of my life!

Still, he hadn’t groped me…no hands going to improper places, no hips thrusting against my body, no tries to put a hand in my panties. Nothing!

You could say I was frustrated, but not for the reasons many would think. Well, maybe a little. But that wasn’t my main conflict. You don’t flirt with a girl like me unless you want in her panties. I was used to losers making a pass at me once the party was wearing down and all the pretty girls had turned them down.

This situation, however, wasn’t in my book. First, Edward wasn’t a loser; he could have had any girl in the room. Second, he did all the hard job and didn’t attempt to get anything in exchange. Then, what was I missing?

No matter how many times I turned it around in my head, my conclusion was always the same. Pity. The best kiss of my life had been a pity kiss.

No shit, Sherlock! Now try to catch some sleep!

Not even my inner self was pleased, but at least she was a bitter bitch, she knew how to deal with stuff like that. I hopelessly wanted to find nonexistent reasons when she had figured out the whole incident hours ago.

6: 24 am

I sank my head deeper on my pillow and tried to sleep.

~ * ~

“Bella!”

I sat up in a flash, startled by Alice’s scream. I hated when she woke me up like that!

“Aliiiiiiii!! Geez! Where’s the fire?”

“Nu-uh. No fire, Bells, sorry! I just wanted you to wake up and have brunch with me. You’ve been sleeping forever!”

I checked my alarm clock, and sure enough, it was noon. I couldn’t even bitch at her.

“Okay, Ali. I’ll be down in a minute”

She followed me to the bathroom to make sure I was really getting up and left when I started splashing cold water on my face.

“Hurry up! You’ve got some explaining to do, Missy” she yelled from the stairs.

Explaining? If she was expecting me to retell a boring party to amuse her, she was crazier than I thought.

Only this party hadn’t been boring at all…

But there was no way her radar could have detected that and I couldn’t picture Mike calling in the morning to tell her. My Golden Retriever was many things, but gossip wasn’t his thing and, most important of all, he was oblivious of Edward being a scrumptious feature on yesterday night’s menu.

I dismissed the idea that Edward was the reason for her Pink Inquisition Meeting immediately. Besides, it wasn’t like I could tell her about him. She would have gone postal and called the “Georgian Belles” to punish me with whips and powder puffs. Perhaps even sign me up as lab rat to test the permanent pink nail polish.

I shuddered at that idea. No, I definitely couldn’t tell her.

Alice was a loyal friend, almost a sister, but she never had completely understood me. In her head, I’ve had everything she wanted for her life and I had given it up.

She came from a middle class family in North Carolina; her dreams were full of society balls and girls with pretty dresses, yet she only watched some of her schoolmates live that dream, she was never part of it.

I, on the other hand, was the only girl in the family. The old-money Higginbotham’s from Georgia. I had my big Debutante Ball, with white dress, escort, ushers and all the fanfare. The thought of it still makes me cringe.

And then, of course, the rest of the “Season” followed. Full of empty ridiculous charities, that left the society’s heart satisfied and gave them opportunity to order new dresses. I had nothing against charities, but let’s face it: none of the girls in expensive dresses gave a rat’s butt about the events; they just wanted their “Peacock Parade” to try and lure some wealthy guy into marriage. Mommas happy, daughters happy, Southern Belle’s dream accomplished, the world was allowed to spin as usual.

But I wasn’t your regular Southern Belle…

I was a giraffe crashing the peacock parade.

“Big nose” plus “too tall” equals Belle gone wrong. There’s no way around that equation.

They always put me at the back for the pictures and asked me bend my knees. Can anybody imagine the embarrassment? All the girls had been taught to stand erect.

“Spine straight, shoulders back, face relaxed, head up!” I could almost hear the mothers’ commands.

“Not you, Isabella! I can see your head from where I’m standing!” Knees bent, shoulders slouched forward, eyes desperately trying to find a hole to crawl in and die. Yeah, those were my personal directives.

Could you blame me for running away from that nightmare?

It was mandatory for me to attend to all the balls and charities, but boys always ignored me, not that I blamed them. I was tired and embarrassed of sitting all dolled-up in the corners, never dancing, never having a date.

Granma Marie used to say that if you ignored something long enough, it’d be as it had never existed. She was referring to my physical defects…but I wondered if the boys had heard her and were trying to make me vanish with their indifference.

It only took one season. I knew I could never live up to my family expectations by the end of it. Grandma Higginbotham gave me the last push without even knowing.

A boy called D.J. Garret had invited me to Annual Autism Awareness Charity Ball and I was ecstatic. It was the first time I was going to one of those events with a real date, and it was one of the important charities I was really interested in. I had spoken more than once with the people hosting it and I knew they’re doing a great job. The organization knew that the guests usually donated to their cause only to feel their hearts lighter, but they didn’t care as long as they could get the money to help. I was in agreement too. Dancing a little while doing it wouldn’t hurt.

As usual Grandma Marie made sure that I had a gorgeous dress and appointments with the stylist and the essential circus.

I wore a pink dress and D.J. gave me a small corsage made of pale pink roses and baby’s breath. I felt beautiful for a moment.

My happiness was short-lived, though. At the end of the first dance, D.J. escorted me to the gardens with the excuse that it was too hot inside. I followed him ‘cos indeed it’s hot in the ball room, but mostly ‘cos I was stupid and romantic. I thought he liked me. He had invited me, right? I was expecting a walk in the gardens, some flirting and a tender kiss perhaps.

D.J. had other ideas. Ideas that apparently included my virginity a few minutes after a sloppy kiss and some rough manhandling in a dark corner behind the gazebo.

He shoved his hand in my panties and I was so shocked that I didn’t even react. He took it as encouragement and proceeded to kiss me and hump me till I bit him.

He got really pissed then and it didn’t help that I was starting to sob. He screamed at me and told me he shouldn’t have accepted the deal, that I wasn’t worth it. He said that if my grandma wanted him to put up with me, she’d have to pay him a hell lot of more money.

And that’s the story of how I lost my virginity to a high society jerk, against a lattice, in a puerile attempt to please my grandmother and show her I could make her proud even when she had to pay for me to get a boyfriend. 

A boyfriend. D.J. was never counted in that category either. He took what he wanted and left me sitting in the middle of the bellflowers, crying. He never talked to me again.

That night I made up my mind. I could never be what Granma Marie wanted. She’d just keep on paying everybody and buying me a place. I couldn’t accept that, so I left.

I turned down the Ivy League colleges in favour of the University of New Orleans. No Higginbotham had ever attended there, but I convinced Granma that they had a great French Department and she finally relented. I guessed she thought that a Major in French couldn’t be so bad for my reputation.

What I didn’t tell her is that my master was never French. I graduated as a Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Administration Major and moved to Atlantic City.

She was angry and disappointed when I first told her, but in the end, she caved in.

She still refused to come and visit me in AC, and demanded that I visited her instead, but all in all, I considered it a good deal. I could survive a couple of weeks per year in my childhood house to make her happy. She wasn’t a bad person; she just grew up in a very different environment. She lived her dream, married the right man, had a family…it wasn’t her fault life dealt her a bad hand in the winter of her days.

~ * ~

Alice was pacing back and forth at the foot of the stairs. She sighed when she saw me and moved to the kitchen, motioning for me to follow her. She pointed a large vase of flowers with her little pink-nailed finger. I stared at the flowers in awe. They’re breath-taking, but I still didn’t have any idea what they had to do with anything.

“Bells, I have known you for years. And I know your boyfriend: There’s no way in hell Mike sent you those, so dish out, Missy! You have a secret I haven’t been told. Who sent you the flowers?”

“Sent me?” I stressed the last word as if I was talking to a two-year old.

“Well, I can’t really be described as the ‘Stunning Lady with the wild hair’, I think it’s safe assuming they’re for you” She raised her eyebrow when I went closer to the table to look at the flowers. I tried to hide my emotions, but I was sure she had seen my eyes widen when she mentioned the last part.

The bouquet was a strange combination of yellow iris, purple and red roses with a few birds of the paradise. I’ve never seen something so exotic in my life. Well, considering the handful of times Mike had given me flowers his choice had been pink roses, the contrast was abysmal. There was a small note attached, the elegant handwriting all too known by me. It read “Dare to shine”

Edward.

“You’re right, Ali. Mike didn’t send the flowers”

“And you tell me why I have this feeling that you wouldn’t appreciate if I told him about them?”

I sighed.

“Look, Alice, this is not so easy…” I paused to arrange my thoughts. I haven’t planned to tell her any of these, but there was no other alternative.

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. Her stomach growled.

“Can we have brunch while I tell you the story?” Everything’s better after a tasty treat, I reasoned. Besides it could give me something to occupy my hands and I could always shove some food in my mouth to avoid answering and stall till I found a sensible reply. Yeah, eating sounded like a good plan.

She reluctantly agreed and we busied ourselves setting up the table.

Once we both were sitting, I gave her the censored version of the previous night. She listened to me in silence, never interrupting, never prying. I had to give her that, she was a good listener and it made my task easier.

“You weren’t going to tell me anything, right?” Her lip quivered, I couldn’t tell if it was from anger or sadness.

She stood and picked up the plates from the table, bringing a bowl of fruit salad. I remained in my chair, not knowing what to do or say. She spooned some salad in two smaller bowls and put one in front of me.

“Are you going to answer, Bella? Were you planning to keep this secret from me?”

“Yes. No, maybe…I don’t know, Ali. I understand you’re angry, but please try to understand me too. Are you mad at me?”

“I’m fine. We’re fine” Her tone sounded dead. That wasn’t Alice at all.

“You sure you’re fine, Ali?”

“I'm so fucking peachy you could throw me in the fruit salad right now!” She growled and banged her bowl against the table. That sounded more like her.

“Why?” She whispered, her lip trembling again, trying to keep her emotions in check but not being entirely successful.

“Because you’d get like this, Alice. I knew you were going to yell and tell me I was an idiot, and seriously, Ali, I already told myself that, I don’t need a second opinion. I recognize Mike is good for me and that guys like Edward will never look at me twice, but I wanted to feel it at least once in my life. I wanted to feel beautiful…I deserved to know how the other girls feel…” I told to my folded hands, I couldn’t help the sob that interrupted my speech.

“And you think I’m mad cos you flirted with a guy?”

I looked at her and even through my blurry eyes I could see the astonishment in her face.

“I’m pissed cos you had a juicy piece of information you were planning to keep from me, you moron! I’m supposed to be your freaking best friend and you weren’t going to tell me”

I winced at her shrieks.

“But I thought you were going to kill me cos I kissed Edward!”

She huffed and then, pouted. She looked like a small girl. I attempted to defend myself again.

“But…but I thought…Alice, try to walk in my shoes for a moment…”

“Are you crazy?” She interrupted me. “Fuhgeddaboudit!! Do I look like a hobbit? I won’t be caught dead in your sasquatch ballet flats!”

We both started laughing like hyenas, and just like that, I knew Alice was back to being…well, Alice.

~ * ~

When I arrived to Mela’s a few hours later, I went directly to the kitchen to see how they had managed the previous night in my absence. I usually didn’t take days off during holidays, working at a restaurant in a touristic city doesn’t allow you that kind of luxury. New Years’ Eve, on the other hand, was special cos Mike needed me to go with him to the office party like every year. He had talked to Renata, the restaurant’s owner, and considering that L. Pascal &Associates was the accounting group that kept our finances in order, and that Mike personally took care of that account in special, she gave me the day off.

I checked on the menus and the deliveries first. I corrected a few things and then I started with the stock. I had to place the orders for the next day before 5 pm if I wanted everything to be delivered in time, so I practically ignored Jess and Sam that were chatting like always in the storage room.

“So…Who do you think has more fun, Bella? Blondes or brunettes?” Samantha asked me conversationally as soon as I sent out the orders.

“Uhm. I wouldn’t know, Sam. Which blonde and which brunette are we talking about?”

“Well, not you, obviously!” Jess snorted. “Seriously, Bella, when was the last time you had fun?”

“Last night”

I don’t know what's got into me, but I replied before I could stop myself.

“Oh, come on! You don’t even remember what fun is anymore! An office party is what you call fun?” They both left the room giggling and I somehow felt smug in spite of it.

You can bet your ass I had more fun than you

~ * ~

The evening at Mela’s ran smooth that day. We didn’t have many mishaps and I was grateful. I was about to make my round through the main room when Gianna, our maîtresse d'hôtel, came bargaining into the waiter’s station.

“You won’t believe who is sitting out there!” she half yelled, half squealed.

We weren’t really big on celebrities, but they came from time to time. I wondered who the person might be to have her all hot and bothered. Jess showed up a second later, fanning her face with her hand.

“I can’t believe he sat at one of my tables! He’s so hot I think the smoke alarms will go off any minute now!” She said with dreamy eyes.

Well, that got my attention.

“May I ask who are we talking about, ladies?”

“Edward Cullen!” they answered in chorus.

“Come again. Who?”

“Oh, Bella! Do you live inside a bag? How could you not know who he is? Hottest piece of ass in Atlantic City, Baby! He owns a few hotels and god knows what else. And on top of that, he’s in Cosmo’s list of the most eligible bachelors!”

She was almost drooling. That made it. I left the station and headed to the dinning room. I didn’t have time for their celebrity crushes. I mentally made a note to check on our ‘smoking guest’ to verify that none of the girls was being improper. It’d be my butt, not theirs, the one that would get kicked if he complained.

I shook my head and looked at the tables assigned to Jess to see if I could identify him. I was looking for a middle aged man with playboy tendencies, according to Jessica’s description, so as soon as I spotted one that matched the profile, I approached his table with the intention to introduce myself and subtly asking him if he was satisfied with the service so far.  I was walking in the table’s direction when I heard his voice.

“Fancy seeing you here, Isabella”

“Edward?”

I turned around shocked. I could recognize that voice anywhere.

He flashed me one of his crooked smiles and I swear those must have to be illegal in at least four states. It wasn’t fair they let the man walk around free among innocent ladies and packing that kind of ammo.

“Do you have a minute? Can you have a glass of wine with me?”

“Sure” Yeah, that was my verbose reply. Edward’s ability to freeze my brain and render me speechless was something any vaccines required in the gastronomic business’ health card prevented.

Jessica came with his order glaring daggers at me as soon as she saw me sitting at his table. I waited till she finished her job to confirm she was behaving and then I excused myself and stood to leave Edward have his meal in peace.

“Please don’t go, love. I don’t like eating alone” He took my hand between his and I couldn’t deny him anything. I sat down again. Jess resumed her glaring from the table behind Edward and I had the feeling Gianna was doing the same from her podium. I couldn’t care less. I’d deal with them later.

A/N: What’s your fav flower in a bouquet?