Chapter
2
Real
love is a pilgrimage. It happens when there is no strategy, but it is very rare
because most people are strategists.
Anita
Brookner
Edward’s Pov
I am a planner.
I plan for any type of situation thrown my way and
have plan A-Z when the going gets tough.
I find every
nook and cranny to get what I needed; finding every loophole I could find.
To make money doing something you love was rare, but
I enjoyed it.
You see, working in corporate America let alone in
NYC was tough business.
Working as CEO of one of the top advertising firms
in the country and fifth in the world was an accomplishment that I was happy to
gloat about but very difficult at the same time.
I was serious about my work. There was no time for
fun and games to be honest.
I made millions just by putting my ideas to use. It
was easy. First coming up with an idea, then getting all the details down onto
paper, budgeting, getting the right
connections, and from there turning it into an actual manifestation, and then
bingo; dollar signs. Two weeks tops, maybe a month, not even a year for one of
my ads to make millions of not billions.
Again, I am a strategist.
I played no games.
When I want something I would do anything to get it.
No if, ands, or buts.
It was all a serious matter.
Things just fell into place and right into the palm
of my hand.
Deals. Money. Women. The whole she-bang.
But I lacked one thing.
The man who had everything wanted more.
The one thing I wanted most.
The one thing I had no plan for.
I wanted to find love.
As corny as it sounds, being the 32 year old millionaire
perpetual bachelor had some perks, but lacked in some areas. I was less than eight
years from being forty, which was only halfway to eighty and here I was, alone.
The women I usually dated were just bland to me.
They lacked sustenance; life, and personality.
I knew my appeal to women. Fiery bronze hair that
was redder than it was brown, grass green eyes, structured cheekbones with a
defined square jawline, and round the clock stubble. I knew I wasn’t ugly, but
I wanted someone who was attracted to me for my intellect, my thoughts and
regards of the world and not just the fact that I was “fuckable” and worth
millions.
Growing up in a huge Irish family, I knew what it
was like to be surrounded by an all-consuming love. As the youngest of four kids, nephew to twelve
aunts and uncles, and having over 30 cousins, being amorous was definitely
something I was used to.
I was the only singling of the whole clan and they
all never let me forget it.
“Edward why can’t you settle down and give me grandkids?”
My mother Elizabeth would yap, or “Baby bro, why can’t you find a nice lady
already or are you gay?” My man-child of a brother Benjamin would cackle.
It was kind of sickening though. All of my brothers
and sisters had a respective someone and here I was as the lone duckling. It
was nothing I wasn’t used to, but I admit it did get lonely sometimes.
There wasn’t to say I didn’t do my fair share of
dating, because I did. I had only had two serious relationships. Of course both
of those relationships eventually ended up in a break up, but at least they
were on amicable terms and we were all still friends.
My first girlfriend was Victoria Daniels, a fiery
red head, full of spunk and full of life.
She had the biggest blue eyes and a cat like fierceness to her. She
loved going out on the weekends and I admit that every moment I spent with her
was nothing short of adventurous. I spent two years with her, before we
mutually decided that we were better off as friends. I was even her “man of
honor” at her wedding when she married one of my good friends James.
My second and last relationship was with the lovely
Angela Webber. She was a couple of years older than me, but that didn’t stop me
from pursuing her. With her jet black hair, olive complexion, and grey eyes,
she was definitely a sight for sore eyes.
She was so sweet. When I approached her, she was too
cute stumbling over her words and spilling things when I asked her on date.
Angela was very different from Victoria; she was quieter but a very amazing
intellectual. It was nice to talk to someone who didn’t just nod at the things
I said, or blurted out things that were either redundant or just idiotic.
I dated her for four years and even admit to say
that I might have loved her, but when I
brought her over to my parents for the first time and she saw my older brother
Benjamin aka Benji for short, it was history. They fell head over heels for one
another and I couldn’t even be mad when she ended our relationship.
The way she looked at him, was nothing compared to
the way she would look at me. Her eyes would light up every time she saw him
and the smile that would spread over her face every time he entered the room
was enough to make me realize that I truly wasn’t the one for her. I know it
sounds cliché like some sappy rom-com, but I wanted that.
They’re courtship lasted only three weeks, before
the two of them were engaged and eventually married. In fact, my nephew Jude
Edward Cullen was born about eight and a half weeks ago.
As for my other siblings, the eldest was my older
sister Jane and her husband Marcus They have been married for 17 years and have
my eight year old nieces Chelsea and Renata. There was of course my brother
Benjamin, Angela, and their son Jude, and then my youngest sister Jessica who
was three years older than me and engaged to her boyfriend of six years Mike.
So of course this left me, as the singling of the
group. My siblings gave me crap about it every time I came over for dinner.
“Edward do this, or “Edward get a girl like that.” It was becoming increasingly
irritating and resulted in me missing a couple of Thursdays for dinner.
This was what led me to Ferguson’s restaurant in
Upper East Side of the city. The day before I had received a lot of crap from
my family about settling down, and I knew that I couldn’t deal with them again
without losing my mind so I opted to just stay home. My cooking skills were
nonexistent and I would basically starve if it wasn’t for takeout and TV
dinners.
It was about eight o clock that night and I wandered
around aimlessly looking for something to eat when I came across a huge restaurant
situated at the end of the street. I could hear a cacophony of noises and music
flowing through the air and before I knew it I was inside taking on the scene
around me. People were everywhere. There was a live band on stage next to a
dance floor, while the small white clothed tables were situated in cascading
designs against each section of the floor on varying platforms.
The smell of food wafted up into the air and my
stomach growled ravenously. I didn’t want to look like a loser sitting alone at
one of the tables, so I decided to just head up to one the long bars where I
saw other patrons eating.
I took a seat and it wasn’t long before a waitress, a
tall blonde named Kate asked me what I wanted to drink while handing me a menu.
I settled on a gin and tonic and a plate of risotto
and lamb before handing her the menu back. It didn’t escapee my notice that she was
eyeing me like a piece of meat, but she quietly left me alone for which I was
grateful.
I took a sip of my drink and looked around. People
were still coming in by the hordes. I was lucky that I had even managed to grab
a seat at the bar. I sat there for about ten minutes before Kate came back and
gave me my food. I sat there for a while
and ate my food quietly, ignoring Kate and her flirting along with a few other
desperate women. I was actually considering giving in to woman number 6 (since
I had had any in a while) when I saw her standing across the room.
She was hunched over at other table taking a large
group’s order. I couldn’t see her face, but from what I could see, I knew that
she had an amazing body.
She was wearing a similar outfit to Kate’s
consisting of a white blouse and black pencil squirt, but somehow the way she
was wearing it seemed to make her stand out. Her clothes seemed to fit every
curve of her body. She was very petite, about 5’6 or 5’7, much shorter than my
6’2 frame. Her legs looked incredibly long in her heels and her breasts seemed
to be the perfect size; not too big or too smile, but enough to fit perfectly
in my hands… uh I mean her shirt. Her hair was the color of chestnuts; lying
casually in a braid down her back, the ends sweeping casually as she moved. Her
skin was incredibly pale, almost porcelain like. My body yearned for her to
turn around and when she did it was like everything had stopped.
Yes stopped.
I knew I was being ridiculous, but my lust filled
mind paid no attention.
She was extraordinary.
A beautiful heart shaped face adorned with big brown
eyes and dark eyelashes. A small but slightly upturned nose with plumped peach
colored lips. Even from this distance I could tell she had a smattering of
freckles across her face which made her seem even more beautiful to me.
I was just entranced by her. I finished my food all
whilst staring her. I knew I probably looked like a lunatic the way I stared at
her, but I couldn’t help it. Something about her just caught my attention and I
wished for nothing more to find out her name.
Of course I would never know or ever ask seeing as a
tall olive skinned man with curly hair came up beside her and put his arm
around her shoulders.
Figures. She would be taken.
I sighed. As much as I wanted to sit there and stare
at her and mentally bash over the head the dude with his arms around her, it
was getting late and I had a long morning ahead of me. It was for the best. I
was just lusting after her anyway. I’d be lucky to even come back this way. I
gave one final glimpse and watched as she and the guy walk towards the back.
I quietly
paid my bill, ignoring one final advance from Kate before leaving, quietly
wondering to myself why I felt as if I was leaving something.
4
weeks later………
“Blauh!” Jude gurgled as I raised him over my head.
It was another Thursday night and here I was at another family dinner trying to
avoid the inquisition from my family. Dinner was nice as always, but once my
mom started blabbing about wanting more grandkids and me settling down, I
quietly crept out the room to go eat with my nieces Chelsea and Renata. They
enjoyed my company, but after realizing I wasn’t going to let them cover me in
their princess makeup, they left me alone.
It was now just me and Jude, who I now had cradled
in my arms. He looked just like Benjamin, with fine brown hair and a mischievous
grin and for a second I pictured him as my own with my own wife waiting beside
me.
It was actually nice to around someone who didn’t
push about my love life or lack of one for that matter. In fact he probably
didn’t know what was even going on around him.
“Yeah, you don’t care about Uncle Edward’s love
life, do you buddy?” I cooed, pressing a kiss to his chubby cheek before
raising him above my head.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I just fed him
not too long ago and if you don’t want to meet some non-digested breast milk, I
suggest you cease all movement.” Angela grinned sitting down beside me. Jude
instantly recognizing his mother’s scent began squirming in my arms. I quickly
passed him over and settled back against the couch closing my eyes.
“It’s a lot to handle isn’t it?” she asked. I raised
one of my eyebrows in question but didn’t open my eyes.
“I mean them antagonizing you like that every time
we have a family dinner. It must get irritating.” I sighed and scrubbed my
hands against my face.
“Yeah it does. I wish they would just fucking leave
me alone. When I’m ready to date and fall in love, it’ll be on my terms not
theirs. I know I’m the baby of the family and they are all protective over me,
but sometimes they can just be so overbearing.” I huffed. I felt Angela’s hand
on my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see her looking at me concernedly.
“You know they just worry about you. Yes they can be
a bit overbearing including that husband of mine, but they all have good
intentions, even if you don’t realize it yet.”
“I know they have good intentions, but I’m a grown
man for god sakes! I’m thirty two years old. They have to let me do things on
my own time. I go out with plenty of girls and they never gave me this much
crap.”
“Yeah, but considering your past dating history…”
she started, but I cut her off.
“Oh well we see how that all turned out.” I growled
with implication. Angela visibly flinched and I instantly regretted my words.
“I’m sorry about that. You know I mean nothing by it.
You and Benji are perfect for one another. I guess I’m just a little frustrated
because I want what you have, what Jane and Marcus have; Jessica and Mike, even
my parents, I just want it all.
“And you will get it. Have you been dating around
recently?”
“Sort of.” I answered vaguely. I couldn’t exactly
explain to her, that all I did was fuck with a few women. I wasn’t a manwhore,
but damn I had needs that my lefty and righty couldn’t sustain.
“You either are or you aren’t which one is it” She
pushed. I sighed.
“Angela, I really don’t feel like talking about it
right now, can we just leave it at that?”
She didn’t reply. She quietly got up and left out
the room.
Fucking Perfect.
…………..
“Dude come on, there’s this nice restaurant I’ve
been hearing rave reviews about. Vanessa wants us all to go down there and try
it out. You in?” My best friend Jacob hollered from across the room where he was
doing his crunches on the floor.
“Man, I’m right here, no needed to scream.” I
panted.
“Sorry, but do you want to come? Vanessa’s friend Tanya
is coming down from Alaska and she wants us all to meet her.” He grunted.
“Ah, not you too fucker! This is another set up
isn’t it? I already got my family on my back and now you too? I just can’t
win.” I huffed.
“I know man. You know Vanessa worries; she is a
Cullen after all.” Jacob grinned. I rolled my eyes at him. I still wasn’t used
to him dating my cousin, but as long as he treated her right, I was fine with
their relationship. Once he messed up, he was going to be in some deep shit and
he knew it.
“Don’t remind me. What’s the name of the restraint
anyway?” I asked, grabbing a towel off the rack beside me. Jacob got up from
his crouch on the floor and walked over beside me.
“Ferguson’s. Ever heard of it?” he asked. Of course
I did. That’s where that lovely little waitress worked. The one with the big
brown eyes and long brown hair. I hadn’t really gave her much thought in the
last month or so since I’d been there, but thinking of her seemed to reignite
the lust I felt that night.
“Actually no,” I lied dumbly. “Maybe I should come
to see what it’s like and that way Tanya won’t be the third wheel.” I continued.
I didn’t even know if she would be working tonight, but hey you never know
until you try. Jake grins at me.
“Yes. Hopefully all goes well with you and Tanya.
That way, Vanessa can stop worrying about you and I can finally get some!” He
grunted. I punched him in the arm.
“Dude that’s my cousin.” I screech, praying the
images that no one should ever have of their family members out of my head.
“That makes it all much better.” He cackled.
That fucker.
………………….
“Are you listening to anything I have to say?” Tanya
huffed for the umpteenth time tonight.
“Actually no.” I answered honestly, earning a swift
kick to the knee from Vanessa. I glared at her. I was just ready to go home.
When she said she had a nice friend coming down from Alaska, I didn’t know she
would mean this stuck up, bleached bimbo. Those were harsh words to use for a
woman but they were definitely true. God knows Tanya was a beautiful woman with
her long strawberry locks, green eyes, and statuesque body, but after hearing
for the fifth time how she was about to get signed to a modeling agency and
that Tyra Banks was like her best friend while also looking down on everyone
and everything else, I tuned her out, much to her chagrin.
I still hadn’t seen the beauty from the month ago
and I wished for nothing more than a distraction to get away from this travesty
of a dinner. My cousin and Jake were in
their own little world and once the band began playing and the two of them left
the table and headed towards the dance floor leaving me with Tanya. I sighed.
“Aren’t you going to ask me dance?” She huffed
crossing her hands over her chest in irritation.
“No I’m not.”
She looked at me in disbelief. Once she realized I was serious, she
bounded up out of the chair nearly knocking it over in the process.
“Well fine then, I’m going to find someone who
will.” Tanya growled at me before storming away from the table.
“What a relief. I finally had some peace. I decided
to head towards the bar for a little early night cap. I ordered myself a gin
and tonic and took in my surroundings. The place was packed up once more and
people were just everywhere. Everyone seemed to be coupled up with someone else
in some type of love romp. I glanced over all the dancing couples when I
spotted a curly mop of dark hair embracing a raven haired female. I instantly
recognized him as the guy who was with the beautiful waitress. From the close
proximity of the two, I could definitely tell that there was something going on
between the two of them that definitely wasn’t platonic. So maybe he wasn’t
with the waitress after all.
This made me wonder where the waitress was and
that’s when I spotted her. Huddled in one of the far tables was the waitress.
She was sipping a glass of red wine and looking out longingly at the dance
floor. Her eyes weren’t focused on the dancing couple but rather everyone else
in the room. She looked so alone and there was nothing more than I wanted to do
but wrap her in my arms and let my hands mold to the beautiful curves of her
body.
That’s when it struck me,
I was going to just that.
Managing all the courage I had, since I was the one
usually approached instead, I timidly got up and crept over to her table until
I was eventually standing over her.
My senses were immediately overwhelmed by the scent
of strawberries and freesia when she looked up at me. Big brown eyes full of
curiosity and want.
And that’s when I knew I had to have her in my arms.
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