Roots Before Branches ▷ Bella Swan

TWO

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TWO; GOOD EVENING, BELLA SWAN

     AFTER A MARVELOUS BREAKFAST, Alex found himself at a local diner with colored contacts shoved into his eyes. He blinked frequently, annoyed by the discomfort in his orbs. A waitress came over, smiling shyly at him, clearly attracted to the vampire.

     "Hi, I'm Wendy. What can I get for you?"

     Alex smiled charmingly. If he hadn't just eaten breakfast, Wendy would've made an incredible appetizer to his lunch. "You know, I think I'm good today, Wendy. You don't mind if I just sit here for a while, do you?"

     She blushed. It was against restaurant policy to let a customer sit without buying something, but Wendy had to make an exception for him. She nodded politely, drifting away from him. When she thought Alex wasn't looking, she would gaze at him fondly.

     It wasn't until late in the afternoon that Chief Swan and Bella walked in. Every time Wendy would get suspicious as to why Alex hadn't left yet, he would wipe her memory clear of his presence. Unfortunately, he had to experience her being bashful all over again.

     Alex thought Bella was completely ordinary. Beautiful, of course. There was no denying that Bella was gorgeous, even though none of her features prominently stood out. Her features as a whole intrigued Alex, and his lips turned upwards at the sight of her. The first thing he truly noticed about the girl was that she smelled divine. It was like Alex was a newborn vampire again. He suddenly wanted nothing but the taste of Bella's blood.

     A different waitress greeted them as Wendy stood behind the counter, ogling at Alex. Bella smiled politely, even though it never reached her eyes. Alex grinned to himself — Victoria really underestimated how much he was going to enjoy this. He did always enjoy teasing himself, so he contemplated holding himself off from killing Bella and the whole diner right away.

     Alex wiped the waitress' mind, and added into her thoughts that he was the new waiter-in-training. He grabbed the pen and paper from her hands as he walked over to Bella's table, boxy grin wide.

     "Welcome. I'm Alex, and I'll be your waiter for today."

     Chief Swan was surprised by his presence. "Oh, hey. Are you new?"

     "Waiter-in-training," Alex explained. He wiped Charlie's memory of being greeted by the waitress. "Can I get you started with some drinks?"

     Bella was taken aback. Her usual dinners with Charlie always consisted of the same routine, but she felt surprised by this new man's appearance. Gorgeous wasn't the correct term to describe him, but that was the only word that came into Bella's mind. It was the first time that Edward had not completely filled every crevice of her brain, and she couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

     "We'll just have two waters, please," Charlie requested politely.

     Alex nodded, pretending to write it down. "Great. I'll be back when you're ready."

     His eyes lingered on Bella, and she felt a shiver run down her spine. He grinned, and the breath was easily knocked out of her.

     Yeah, this was going to be very easy and extremely fun for him.

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     Alex hated physical labor unless it led him into the warm embrace of sweet blood. Working at the diner was absolute torture, but luckily for him, he was able to wipe people's minds and convince them that he didn't have to do anything around the murky old place.