Perfect Snapshots: Episode Nine: Dance

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Episode Nine: Dance

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I had never been good at dating. I was too anxious. I had been on dozens of first dates in college, but they never went anywhere. Once I got to LA, I thought it would be different. I had broken up with Vicky, and I was away from my mother. I thought I could relax and be myself. I had gone on a single date in the time I had been in America, though. I couldn't even remember her name. I had gotten offers, but none of them interested me.  

I was out of my mind with nerves. I hadn’t been excited about the party before the morning. But, now that Bella had agreed to go with me, everything was different. I showered and shaved with more attention to detail than I might have had before. I actually tried to fix my hair, though I wasn’t sure what good it did me. 

When the car arrived, I knocked on her bedroom door to let her know it was time to go. I felt like my heart was in my throat while I waited for her to open it.  

Now, of course, when I bought her that stupidly cheap little dress, I imagined what it would look like on her. I wanted her to wear it for me, after all. But I was not prepared for how beautiful she looked in it. I was actually speechless. The dark black dress went to her knees, sleeveless to show off her thin arms with a high lace collar around her deliciously slender throat. Her gorgeous curly black hair was wild around her face, framing it beautifully. Her large blue and brown eyes looked up at me in almost surprise, taking me in.  

“Are you ready?” I asked after finally clearing my throat. 

She licked her bottom lip lightly before letting out a soft breath. “Yeah, I am.”

We walked beside each other silently to the car. I held the door open for her so I could watch her slide inside. I could smell her amazing scent as she moved past me. I had never smelled anything so good in my life. I wasn’t sure how she did it. I wanted to bury my face in her hair and breath her in all night. 

Bella looked utterly terrified, though, pressed up against the door. Her arms were crossed over her stomach. She pulled out her phone to use as a light, and she tried to swipe her lipstick across her plush lips. Her makeup was very simple and light. She was naturally gorgeous, and it just made her even more beautiful. But she seemed so unsure. 

"You look really nice. That dress is very pretty, and the colors look really good on you," I blurted out, my mouth taking over before my brain could think of something better to try and reassure her. I cleared my throat quickly, embarrassed with myself. I had to be honest with her, though. "It makes me really happy that you agreed to come. I don't think I would have any fun knowing you weren't." 

“Thank you...” Bella looked over at me, brushing some of her hair out of her face self consciously. I could see her swallow even in the darkness before she spoke, “it would have been okay, by the way. I'd understand if you wanted to get rid of me for a few hours. I've been in your space for almost a week now.”

Is she insane? Of course not. I turned towards her quickly. “No, I don't want to get rid of you at all. I have really enjoyed having you around the past week.”  

Bella looked so flustered. “You just like my cooking.”

Couldn't she see how I felt about her? Did she like me, too? Or, did I just want her to like me? Did she need time away from me? I hated that I couldn't tell. "No. I mean... yeah. Of course, I do... I really like your cooking, but that’s not why." 

Quiet hung in the air for a long time. She looked so sad for a minute. “You must be ready to have my camera out of your face all the time.”

“I don't know if you have noticed, but it's kinda my thing.” 

The car came to a slow stop at a red light, the golden glow of the street lamp spilling over us. Her eyes were so intently locked on mine. I wanted to grab her up again and kiss her like I had wanted to so many times in the previous week. When the car started moving again, she quickly looked away. We didn't speak again until we reached the club.  

I had to change this. I had to change her sad mood. I wanted her to laugh and smile again. I wanted our banter back. Bella thought it was funny when I was being dumb. I could do that. I put on my stupidest grin.  

“So, you're going to have to pretend to be my date to get in.”

 It worked perfectly, and she laughed sweetly, "oh, do I? Really?" 

I felt pleased with myself, quickly adjusting my tie to ham it up more. “Oh yes, it's on a list. Edward Cullen and his date. Zafrina said so. Don't worry, it'll be real easy. I'll be a perfect gentleman.”

I quickly rushed over to her side of the car before the driver could open her door, taking a quick calming breath. I put my smile back in place before popping it open.

“I hope you don't think you're going to get anything else out of me that easily,” she said in a teasing voice, taking my offered hand as she stood. 

Oh yes, this was better already. 

“One can dream,” I replied as she took my arm. 

It was time to slip my mask on for the rest of the evening. I held my chin up some and put on my confident grin as soon as they began to call my name. A million flashes went off at once. Bella never once looked in their direction as they chanted my name and demanded to know who she was. Of course, they would want to know who the pretty little thing on my arm was. I wasn't in the mood to stop for questions, though.  

I didn’t care about clubs or parties. I had already had my fill of them in my short time in Hollywood. They were all the same to me. The lights, the music, the smell. I focused instead on Bella’s arm wrapped around my own and the way the purple and blue lights fell over her skin. 

The private area was gaudy with big plush velvet couches, but there was at least champagne waiting for us. Liquor was precisely what we needed to help along the night, I rashly decided. Jasper always said I never relaxed. I wanted to be with her. I didn't want to scare her off. I just wanted us both to have a good time. I decided to ignore the previous evening with the rationale that she just needed a drink too. 

I quickly poured myself a glass and one for her as well. “You're off the clock.” I passed her the flute. I realized suddenly how close we were to one another. Her face was inches away from mine. I had to distract myself from her lips.   

“A toast to landing safely.”

We clinked glasses. She smirked a little bit before taking a sip. She obviously enjoyed it, even if she still seemed a little nervous and sad for some reason. I stretched my arm out behind her head on the back of the couch, trying to act casually. We kept stealing glances at one another. 

Why couldn’t I just reach over and kiss her? Why was I so scared? Maybe because she is it and I am only going to get one good shot? I kept downing my flute like an idiot and refilling it. Whenever Bella's emptied, I would fill it for her, but she was drinking much more slowly.  

I was being a dumbass for not trying to have a conversation with her. I was wasting precious time. 

“So, do you think you got the pictures you needed?” My mouth decided to ask. 

“I hope so. I think they're great. Some are really beautiful. I'm proud of them. I've been editing every night before I go to sleep. And, every morning when I get up too.” We had so much in common. Editing was normally how I spent most of my evenings and mornings before she came.

 “That's great! I knew when I first saw you... you were the perfect one for me. Your work, I mean,” I blurted out. 

I was either already drunk or not drunk enough. I decided the latter and downed my drink quickly before pouring myself another. Luckily, Daniel chose that second to show up. I was so grateful that I hopped up to my feet. 

“Daniel, you remember Bella from earlier,” I said quickly, smiling awkwardly. I really needed to work on my acting skills. 

“You didn't bring your camera!” Daniel said to Bella when he sat back in one of the big red ugly chairs. His eyes were going over her, smiling at her appearance.  

“No photography allowed,” Bella replied smoothly, flicking one her tiny fingers towards the dancefloor filled with people. 

All I wanted to do at that moment was to dance with her. I wasn’t sure if I had the courage for it yet. Luckily, there was more champagne already on the table. 

“Have you ever been to anything like this before?” Daniel asked Bella conversationally. I liked him well enough. He was good at his job and mostly professional. I didn’t know anything about his personal life. He didn’t come with a date. 

Bella actually scoffed before she laughed, "an after party for a skydive to promote a video game? No. The New York club scene is better, but I haven't been in a while. I've been working." 

So, she liked going out. That was interesting. Bella had made jokes about drinking in her past. She didn't seem like the hard partier type though. I could believe that she had been working too much to go out, though. She was a hard worker, obviously.  

“What's better about the New York clubs?” Daniel asked her as he leaned over, his eyes going over her again. I honestly wanted to claw them out of his head. 

“Oh. Well. They're in New York. Obviously.”

She said it was such dry boredom that I actually had to stop myself from laughing out loud. I tried to hide it by turning my face away and scratching my cheek. Daniel was obviously not used to women being so unimpressed with him. Most were falling all over themselves to impress celebrities, even minor ones. She obviously couldn’t care less. His mouth opened and closed a couple of times.

Daniel then ordered himself a whiskey.

“So, that was one hell of a jump,” he said to me, deciding it was time to ignore Bella. She wasn’t easy prey. 

“Yeah, it was amazing. The weather was perfect for it,” I replied. 

"Right." He grinned. "I was checking the weather earlier, and they're really talking up this storm on Monday." 

I rolled my eyes. "They've done that a few times, but it's not appeared yet. I'll believe it when I see it. Seriously. It'll probably be nothing more than a little rain again. If even that." 

"I don't know. They're pretty sure." He finished his Jack and ordered another. I poured Bella another glass of champagne and realized she was definitely zoned out of the conversation. She couldn't have cared less if she tried. Her eyes were drifting off somewhere in the distance. When she realized I was pouring her another, she gave me a little smile. I couldn't blame her in the least. I found it boring too.  

“I hope it rains,” I told him honestly. “I’m in the mood for a good storm.”

More and more people that I worked with came trickling in. Bella smiled at them politely, but she seemed a little distracted. All I could think about was dancing with her, even as I tried to hold up conversations with other people. I just kept drinking, trying to hold my mask in the place for just a little while longer.  

When there was a lull in the conversation around us, I looked back at Bella. She was biting her bottom lip as she swirled her drink her glass absently. I couldn't resist her a second longer, the liquor finally giving me the courage I needed.  

"Would you like to dance with me?" I leaned into her ear so she could hear me over the deafening music. Bella turned to look at me with wide eyes. They looked into mine before glancing down at my mouth. I wondered if she thought about leaning in and kissing me, just like I wanted to kiss her. Or was I imagining it? "Please?" I wasn't sure what I was asking for. Another kiss or a dance.  

Bella slowly nodded her head, making her thick beautiful hair bounce. 

Before I knew what I was doing, I was moving us towards the floor. I was so stupidly drunk at that point. It hit me so hard. Her hand felt like fire in mine. I felt so hot. 

I didn't know the song that was playing. I didn't even really hear it. Bella pressed herself against me, her hands on my chest as she moved to the beat. I moved with her, putting my hands on her curvy hips. Her eyes were gorgeous, shining up into mine. Her lips were slightly spread as she let out a slow breath. She began to blush and quickly turned so that her back was against my chest. I couldn't stop myself from touching her. Her skin was delicate and soft as was her hair. I brushed it off her shoulder just so I could feel it again. When I brought my hand to her stomach, I pulled her as close as I dared to my body, and she brought her hand to mine. I twisted my fingers into her own, and she didn't pull away.   

Bella was a fantastic dancer, her hips swirling against me in a way that was nearly indecent in front of people. She looked over her shoulder at me seductively, her eyes glancing at my mouth again. I couldn't help but smile down at her. She returned it slowly.  

I don’t know how many songs we danced to. Everything felt so intense. My heart was beating wildly in my chest. I was so turned on by her. The way she would raise her arms above her head and swing her hips was beyond erotic. 

After a long time, Bella brought her hand up to my hair. Slowly, she pulled me down so that she could press her lips against my ear and whisper, “I need some water and air.”

Suddenly, I very much needed it, too.

“Yeah.” I took her hand and began to lead her back up to the VIP area. My bodyguard for the evening caught up as we walked up the stairs. 

“Is there a private place where we can get some air?” I asked him in a whisper so that Bella wouldn’t hear me. 

"Door to the left," he pointed it out to me. I smiled at him gratefully before grabbing up a couple of bottles of water. I pushed us through the crowd to the door, opening it for her so we could walk into the cool, almost fall air.  

Bella walked ahead of me, the LA skyline glowing all around us. She rubbed her hands over her arms as goosebumps began to form on her skin. I rushed to take off my jacket and wrap it around her. She pulled it close to her as she quickly walked towards a stone bench by the edge of the roof ledge. She sat down and took a drink, looking as drunk as I felt. 
I sat down beside her, but I couldn't look at her. I knew this was my moment. This was when I was going to get to tell her. She was leaving on Monday. We only had one day together after that night. I was terrified.  

 “You know. I've been thinking... It wouldn't be terrible to hire a professional photographer for the channel.”

And I thought to offer her a job was the way to do that. Great. Yes. Exactly what I needed to do. That is exactly how you get the girl, Tony. Good job. Fuck Seth for putting the words in my head and fuck my mouth for spitting them out like a drunken coward.

“Yeah?”  

Well, it’s not like I could stop. “Yeah. You've been super helpful this week. I learned a lot.”

“That's good.” I knew she was looking at me. I couldn’t look back. 

I swallowed heavily. “I don't suppose you'd be interested?”

“Eddie, I live across the country.”

“Yeah. I know. Well. It was worth a shot.”

And there it was. She was absolutely right, of course. We were worlds apart. I wanted to grab her and tell her that it didn't matter. I would do anything for a chance with her. But I was too much of a bitch for that. She was beautiful and talented, and I felt totally unworthy of her.  

I suddenly wanted to cry. I had definitely drank too much. I was always a drunk crier. What was I thinking? 

“If I lived here, I'd say yes in a heartbeat.” She tried to let me down gently. I think. I just knew then that I was just projecting my feelings onto her. My heart sank. 

“I don't want tomorrow to be the last day I see you,” I blurted out. “I've grown rather fond of you, Bella.”

"I'm fond of you as well. But... It's not like you don't have my number now. We are friends now, right?" She tried to say gently. Yeah, she was letting me down easy. She was a sweet woman, and she didn't want to hurt my feelings. I would be lucky to just be her friend.  

I smiled and nodded as I swallowed back my tears. "We are. That is true." I finished my drink quickly. I knew if we were on that roof a second longer, I would do something stupid. Like jump off of it. "Let's go get more to liquor. I need a beer." 

"Then would you like to dance again?" She asked softly when I stood. Her eyes looked up into mine, and I felt confused all over again. But I didn't want to think about it anymore. I didn't want things to be complicated anymore. I just wanted to dance with her some more. I smiled and offered her my hand to help her stand. Bella took it slowly, smiling at me as her delicate fingers slipping into my palm.  

“Yes, please.”

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This Episode goes with Episode 10 of Imperfect Pictures!

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