The Wedding Party by spanglemaker9, T - Z
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The Wedding Party by spanglemaker9
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Bella- November, 2005
Bella's mind was full of lists and plans and beautiful words.
But one word overrode all the other more poetic ones: Latte. She knew she'd
make no headway on any of the lists and plans unless she addressed that one
more prosaic word first, so she changed course as she made her way across the
University of Washington campus, heading towards her favorite coffee cart to get
her fix.
There were a couple of students on line ahead of her when she got there, so she
bounced on the balls of her feet while she waited, both to stave off the damp cold
of late fall in Seattle and to focus her mind as she tried to order her thoughts.
There were papers due and short stories to write for the competitive creative
writing program she belonged to, but the thoughts that predominated in her mind
were all about New Moon, the little upstart literary magazine she'd founded the
year before.
Bella had many friends in the creative writing program frustrated with the lack of
opportunities to get their work published. So she did some research, wrote a
grant proposal, and started a magazine in an unused utility closet in the English
department. She had recruited help. Alice, of course, was her other half at the
magazine, just as she'd been since they were kids. And Angela, another friend
from high school, also pitched in when her class schedule in the Public Policy
department allowed it. But New Moon was Bella's baby, she personally read every
submission, actively sought out new authors far beyond the confines of UW, and
pushed hard to get the magazine distributed all over the Pacific Northwest. New
Moon and the writing it showcased were her passions and the center of her life.
A lanky frat boy in a backwards baseball cap was surreptitiously watching Bella as
she bounced and fidgeted in line. She was bundled up in her navy pea coat in the
damp late November Seattle chill, but her long brown hair was loose and curling
down her back, and her cheeks were flushed with the cold and her enthusiasm.
Although her expression was distant and her eyes unfocused, they were bright
and the frat boy couldn't help but notice and appreciate the view. But Bella was
oblivious to the attention, as always, too distracted by all she had to do and all
she wanted to accomplish.
When it was finally her turn she leapt forward, slamming both hands on the edge
of the cart in her enthusiasm and caffeine-fueled desperation.
The middle-aged man working the cart smiled at her, "The usual, Bella?"
"Yes!" she moaned dramatically. "I need a latte in the worst way, Fred. A huge
one!"
Fred chuckled as he scooped an extra dollop of milk foam onto Bella's latte, just
the way she liked it. "You eat this morning?"
Bella scrunched up her nose and shook her head as she tossed her bills on the
cart and stowed her wallet. "No time, I'll grab something later."
Fred shook his head and slid a bagel across the counter next to the latte. Bella
opened her mouth to protest, since she hadn't paid for it, but Fred held up a hand
to silence her. "I don't wanna hear it. You can pay me by eating it."
She smiled and took a bite. Her whole body tingled in response to the taste and
she figured she was much hungrier than she'd realized. "Thanks, Fred. I needed
that," she muttered around the mouthful of bagel. "See you tomorrow!"
She waved at Fred over her shoulder as she strode briskly away. The frat boy
behind her paused for a minute, swiveling his head to watch her go, until Fred
cleared his throat loudly and fixed him with a disapproving glare.
Bella walked as fast as she could towards the English department, trying to make
up for the time lost stopping for the latte. By the time she bounded into the
"offices" of New Moon, her cheeks were flushed and her dark eyes were sparkling
as she chewed down the last of her bagel. Alice looked up and thought, not for
the first time, that her best friend was remarkably pretty in cold weather, even
when she was chewing with her mouth open. She blushed easily and the cold
brought it out, but it contrasted perfectly with her pale smooth skin and dark
eyes. Her clothes were always a little too LL Bean for Alice's tastes, but when
Alice could get control of that, nobody could hold a candle to Bella. The best part
was that she was completely unaware of it. She blew through her life completely
distracted by her writing and her little magazine with no clue about the
impression she gave off, all enthusiasm and boundless energy and unaffected
beauty.
Alice turned her eyes back to her computer screen and her attention back to the
phone conversation she was still engaged in.
"I don't care what he's got ahead of us, we have a deadline. So he'd better get
the artwork done and over here by four today or we'll all be screwed!" Alice
paused to listen to the assistant in the graphic design department stammer some
more excuses before she cut in as if she hadn't heard. "Yes, yes, that's all
freaking fantastic, but I need my graphics, so here's how it's going to work.
You're going to bump us up in queue and when I check my email at four, they'll
be there, won't they?" As always, Alice's persistence and tone of voice worked its
magic, and within minutes, the poor beleaguered assistant was promising on time
delivery when half an hour ago he'd declared it impossible.
"What was that about? Why the rush on the artwork? Deadline is tomorrow."
Bella asked as she squeezed past the filing cabinet that hemmed her desk in on
one side and shucked off her coat before falling into her chair. Alice and Bella's
desks faced each other and were so small that they could reach across them
sitting down and shake hands.
Alice dropped the receiver back on the hook and sighed, her air one of
unconcerned detachment, waving her hand dismissively. "Yeah, well, the printing
office called and told us we were bumped by some rush job for the president's
office."
"What?" Bella snapped, her hand already reaching for the phone in a panic.
"Cool your jets! I'm on it!"
"What are we going to do?" Bella was already making new lists in her head, re-
prioritizing the day as she spoke.
"I called my buddy, Phil, at the printing plant, and I begged," Alice said brightly.
"He found us a window. He can squeeze our job in, but it's got to be then."
"You're amazing, Ally," Bella said on an exhale. "When is it?"
"He'll run us from four a.m. to five."
"Four this morning? Christ!"
"I know, I know, we lose twelve hours on deadline, but it was the best I could
do."
Bella closed her eyes and pictured her happy place as she did her best to stay
calm. "It's okay. We can do this."
"Sure we can," Alice sang. "We can do anything. Because we are brilliant, and
beautiful, and we rule the world!" Bella was chanting along in unison before Alice
got as far as "beautiful". Alice had been saying it since they were girls.
Alice laughed, and reached up to straighten the broad bright floral scarf she had
around her head holding back the front of her hair before reaching back to
artfully muss the messy black layers in back. Bella eyed her outfit for the day.
She was wearing a bright, psychedelic-print A-line mini-dress and enormous
yellow hoop earrings, and her eyes were dramatically outlined in black, like
Cleopatra. Bella thought she looked like a gothed-out version of Goldie Hawn on
Laugh-In.
"What's with the dress?" Bella asked.
"Isn't it amazing? It's Pucci! I found it at the Salvation Army over on Water Street
for fifteen dollars! They always get the best stuff in there, and they haven't got a
clue how great it is." Alice fingered the dress that looked more like a Halloween
costume fondly, and Bella smiled indulgently.
"Oh! Before I forget, Charlie called looking for you," Alice said quickly.
Bella scowled into the interior of her backpack. "Why didn't he call my cell?"
Alice waved a dismissive hand, "You know what a Luddite he is. Anyway, I like it
when he calls here because then I get the chance to flirt with him!"
"Eeeww, Alice, stop! That's my dad!"
"I can't help it! He gets all cute and flustered just like you are right now! I bet he
blushes just like you, too. Oh, come on! You know I'm just kidding. Charlie is like
my dad!"
Bella said nothing; she just smiled at the mental image of Alice getting her dad
all flustered, and for a second she was sorry she wasn't here to see it.
"Did he say what he wanted?" she asked, still digging in her bag.
"Nope, just asked you to call him later. Send him a kiss from me!"
"Shut up, Ally!"
Alice collapsed into laughter at her own joke as Bella started pulling files out of
her bag and adding them to the piles on her desk. "Oh, Ally, did you get that
short story I emailed you last night?"
"I got it, but I didn't get a chance to read it yet. Anything good?"
Bella clamped a hand over her heart and closed her eyes, the way she always did
when she read good writing. Alice loved watching the reaction, how she seemed
absolutely transported by the words. "God, Ally, it was amazing. So, so good. We
have to find room for it."
"But this issue is full. We did the layout already!"
"I don't care, we'll shuffle stuff, we'll find room. It just has to go in, it's…it's just
brilliant! So beautiful and moving and…." Bella's face lit up, and her voice pitched
up the way it did when she got really excited about a submission, which
happened quite a lot.
"Alright, alright, I'm sold. Let's get to it and figure out where it's going to go."
Bella reached to the front of her desk and her hand ran into a bouquet of yellow
chrysanthemums wrapped in paper. "What are these?"
"They call them 'flowers'," Alice said slowly, widening her big grey eyes and
smirking at her own joke.
Bella gave her a bored look and threw a paperclip at her. Alice laughed before
smiling slyly.
"Jay brought them by for you," Alice said with feigned disinterest.
"Jay? That guy from the student newspaper? He came by again?"
"Yup," she said, turning to her laptop. "You really did a number on that guy, B."
"Don't be ridiculous. He interviewed me about New Moon, that's all."
Alice shook her head at her friend's complete obliviousness when it came to the
opposite sex. Alice could tell the instant that Jay had laid eyes on Bella that he
was interested in her, and now he'd brought her flowers twice in one week and
Bella still thought it was nothing.
"Yeah, well, I don't think he intends for that to be all," Alice said. "What are you
going to tell him?"
"I don't know, I hadn't really thought about it."
"Do you want to go out with him?" Alice asked, making Bella pause and look up.
"I don't have time," she said dismissively.
"You can find the time if you want to. So, do you want to?"
"I don't know. He seems…nice?"
"Nice?" Alice cocked an eyebrow at her.
"He's cute," Bella said, her tone growing slightly defensive, which made her
wonder why she was defending a guy she wasn't sure she was remotely
interested in.
"He's cute," Alice nodded in agreement, but not very enthusiastically. "But..."
"I know. But," Bella agreed. "I'm not sure he does it for me."
Alice sighed, "I'll point out, B, that since you launched New Moon, nobody has
done it for you. Or to you."
"I've been busy. So, you think I should go out with him, then?"
Alice shrugged, "He's cute enough. And the flowers are nice. You don't need to
marry the guy, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to let him buy you dinner. You could
use a little…um, recreation." Alice secretly thought that he was nowhere near
good enough for Bella, whom she believed to be a nearly flawless human being.
But Jay seemed harmless, and if the guy could convince her to leave the office for
just one night and relax, then he'd serve his purpose.
"I'll think about it," Bella muttered before she turned back to her laptop.
"Think about what?" Angela asked from the doorway, eyeing the room and trying
to figure out where she could squeeze in.
"That guy Jay from the newspaper is wooing her," Alice smirked at Angela.
"Ooh, there's wooing going on!" Angela said, her eyes widening as she flapped
her hands around her face in excitement.
"There's no wooing happening!" Bella protested half-heartedly. "He brought me
flowers. That's all."
"Flowers?" Angela said earnestly, dropping into a chair to the side of Alice's desk
and leaning forward on her elbows. "That's the second time this week!"
"I know! That's what I said!" Alice chirped, scooting her chair closer to Angela's.
Angela adjusted her glasses as she settled in to dish with Alice.
"Guys, just drop it," Bella said, opening up the brilliant short-story submission
from last night. The opening line caught her attention again, and she almost
forgot to finish her thought. "He's brought me flowers a couple of times, which I'll
admit is nice, but I'm really busy. I have no idea if I even want to go out with
him. I don't know what I think about him."
"Well, you better decide fast, because here he comes," Alice hissed. Alice had less
space for her chair, being pinned up against the wall like she was, but unlike
Bella, who was blocked in by a filing cabinet, she could see the office door, which
sometimes came in handy.
Jay poked his head in, looking at Alice expectantly, since she'd been there earlier
when he'd dropped the flowers off. Alice looked back at him appraisingly. He had
sandy blonde chin-length hair that he kept tucked messily behind his ears. It was
rather unfortunate hair, but Alice was giving him a pass on it since it was college
and everybody had questionable hair. He was short, which was an ironic criticism
coming from Alice, who barely cleared five feet. Again, she was willing to
overlook it since he was still taller than Bella. He had nice high cheekbones and
decent blue eyes. The eyes were on the smallish, squinty side, but he had a
warm smile and an open expression on his face that offset the squinty eyes. He
was nothing special, but if he could get Bella out of the office for once, she'd
approve of him in the short term.
Alice smiled back at him and tipped her head to indicate Bella back in the corner.
Jay craned his head around, looking over Angela's head, and finally spotted Bella
nearly blockaded by her desk. His flowers were still lying where he'd left them. He
wondered what that meant, that she hadn't put them in water or unwrapped
them or anything.
"Hey, Bella!" he called from the doorway. "I just wanted to make sure you got
the flowers I left for you."
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