Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or it's characters that would be Stephanie Meyer. However the words posted here are my own, and they may not win me a Pulitzer, they are mine none the less. If you steal them I will find you and round house kick you in the face so just don't do it.

Hello! Is any one still out there reading this? I know it's been a little while since the last chapter and I have a couple of really good excuses and then a few not so good ones. But I won't bother with the details and just let you get to it.

Love to my Beta queen Lynyrd Lionheart who is a super busy woman but still managed to edit this quickly for me and my pre-reader LittleMissInnocence who bribed me to finish this by promising me cookies.

Special thanks to a few awesome ladies who encourage and motivate me on a daily basis to keep going with this, you know who you are & your support means more to me than you'll ever know.

Her Ivory Tower

Chapter 4

I woke up the next morning feeling a million times better than yesterday. There's something about the day after a hangover, when you wake up feeling alert and not wanting to run to the bathroom to puke, that makes you contemplate giving up drinking altogether. Well, not really, but you know what I'm getting at.

I rolled out of bed and walked to my bathroom while checking my phone for messages. Nothing too exciting, just one from Emmett telling me we had a problem with our liquor order and that I needed to call the distributor, and then a text from Alice.

Meet me at Cafe Umbria 10am. Don't be late or I'll beat you with my new shoes. -A

Alice was always to the point, and I wouldn't put it past her to try and take me out with her size seven heel. I sent a quick text back letting her know she could keep her Prada's on and I would be there.

I threw on a pair of dark jeans and a red, faded Lucky clover shirt. Looking in mirror I noticed I was looking a little scruffy but decided to forgo a shave. I could go another day without it since I didn't have any important meetings today. Plus, I know how some women like a guy with a little stubble. Makes them think about your face between their legs or so I've heard.

XXXXX

When I arrived at the café Alice was already seated with a coffee in hand and one already on the table. It was obvious that she didn't want anything to interrupt whatever she wanted to talk to me about.

I smiled as she stood up to hug me, my 6'2 frame dwarfing her petite 5'3. She was wearing a bright yellow top that you couldn't miss even if you wanted to with a pair of cropped jeans and a pair of funky heels that tied up at the front like tennis shoes, but were missing part of the back. The spiked heel was the same yellow as her top. Alice always had a different flare for fashion growing up.

"Hey tiny," I said as I took my seat. "How's the new line coming along? Bella said you had some issues yesterday?"

She waved me off taking a sip of her drink. "Oh, its fine. Just a little mishap with some colored pencils and some fabric swatches. Bella always exaggerates." I knew for a fact how temperamental Alice could be when she was designing, as I once had a sketch book thrown at my head just for interrupting while she was in the 'zone,' but I wasn't about get into that argument again, so I went the safe standby of smile and nod.

"Anyways, that's not why I asked you to meet me here Edward, and you know it."

"Okay, but I'm not exactly sure what it is, so why don't you just spill it?" I said with an exasperated sigh. I knew by the look on her face that I didn't want any part of whatever it was she was about to say.

"Well, before you say anything to interrupt me or say no, just let me explain." I nodded as she took a large gulp of air. Not a good sign. "I want to throw a birthday party for Bella-"

I immediately threw up my hands shaking my head furiously. "Uh uh. No way Alice. Do you remember what happened the last two years you have tried to throw a party for Bella?" It's not so much that Bella hates birthdays, she just hates celebrating hers. She has made it well known that presents of the expensive variety are always welcome, but parties are not. Last year's party thrown by Alice ended up with a server thrown head first into a fountain and cake all over the place.

"Yes Edwierdo, I remember. But this year is different, if you could please let me explain," she huffed.

I just rolled my eyes because I knew she would just pester me until I heard her out, so there was really no point in arguing. "Sure thing, Tiny. I'm pretty sure my answer will still be the same, but by all means please continue."

"Thank you. As I was saying, I want to throw Bella a birthday party this year, but I want to incorporate it with the new lingerie launch for Sinful. Bella and I talked about doing a Masquerade Ball theme and maybe holding it at The Orchid Lounge"—She took another deep breath—"I have a few weeks to get the designs finished and the pieces manufactured. I could have everything ready just in time for Bella's birthday then she can't complain when we throw the party."

I thought for a moment. It wasn't a terrible idea. Bella hated celebrating her birthday, so using the launch as a diversion would probably work well enough. Not to mention what a great event it would be for the club. Still, I was sceptical.

"I don't know Alice. I think the launch idea is great, and we know The Orchid would be fine to host the event, I just think throwing Bella's birthday into it would be a bad idea."

"It'll be fine Edward she'll be so busy with the launch that she won't even notice the details for her birthday. I promise I'll take care of everything." She immediately brought out the Alice Cullen give-me-what-I-want-cause-I'm-cute-and-I'll-shank-you-if-you-don't stare and there was no way I could say no.

"Sure Alice, whatever you want to do is fine by me," I said with a sigh.

"Oh don't act like that, plus this will give you a great opportunity to make your move on Bella," she giggled when my mouth fell open. "Oh please big brother like it's a surprise that I would know you have a thing for Bella. It's fairly obvious to anyone who knows you well enough. Well, except for Bella. That girl is clueless."

I took a long drink of my coffee, enjoying the burn against my throat while contemplating what Alice said. I didn't think that my feelings for Bella were that obvious. Sure, Bella and I are close, which is expected since we are roommates and we spend a good majority of time together, but I never thought that it would be glaringly obvious to anyone who wasn't me. I guess I wasn't as good at hiding my feelings as I thought. I wasn't sure how I felt about this. Was Alice the only one who noticed? She was always kind of intuitive, knowing things before they seemed to happen or what people are feeling before even they do sometimes. But did anyone else notice? And if so, why didn't Bella?

Alice's voice broke through my thoughts before I could really think more on it. "Don't even go there Edward. You know that whatever it is you are thinking has more to do with Bella than anything else. She just doesn't...notice or choose to notice things of importance like that. Well you know..." She waves her hand in front of her like she is swatting a fly, "With the whole Jake situation it's just easier for her to ignore the important details like her best friend being in love with her."

Jacob Black was one subject I was not interested in talking about so I just decided to change the subject altogether. "Did Bella tell you we found a new DJ for the club?"

Alice just raised a questioning eyebrow but let the Bella/Jacob subject go. "Oh yeah. she said you mentioned a party at The Orchid Saturday to introduce him. What's his name? I don't think Bella mentioned it." She finished taking a drink of her coffee.

"Yeah, he is honestly one of the best I can't believe Em and I were able snag him. His name is Jasper Whitlock and..." I was just about to explain to Alice how great it was going to be for the club when she choked, and spit coffee all over the table. "Whoa, Tiny, you okay there?"

"Gah, yeah sorry Edward it was hot just caught me by surprise is all." She cleared her throat and started wiping the table off.

"Okay if you're sure." She nodded, so I decided to continue. "Anyway like I said he is one of the best DJ's out there, and we think he is going to pull in quite the crowd to the club, so we want to throw a huge party Saturday as kind of a welcome."

"Wow that's great Edward. I'm sure it'll be great!" she smiled but it looked sort of forced. "So um...the other reason I wanted to talk to you is Grandfather was not happy that you missed brunch on Sunday and wanted me to make sure that I quote: 'Get your sorry ass to brunch on time' this week."

I couldn't help but role my eyes, I knew I would be hearing something about my absence from brunch so I wasn't to surprised.

Alice ignored my eye roll. She was used to being the middle women between certain family members and myself.

"Not to mention a certain someone missed you on Sunday. You don't get to spend nearly enough time with her and she really looks forward to seeing you on Sundays. Could you please just try and show up and be happy."

"Oh now you are just trying to guilt trip me. Not cool, Tiny. Not cool at all," I laughed. "Yeah, I'll be there on Sunday, and I will even be on time. I might even talk Bella into going. You know Grandfather can't resist her charm."

"Yeah, well you do that. Listen I hate to cut our coffee date short but I have to get to the office to work on some sketches. I'll call you later, okay?" Alice stood and threw her empty cup into the waste bin.

"Of course, Tiny, have a good day and I'll talk to you later." I whispered 'I love you' as I gave her a hug goodbye and then she was gone. I ordered two more coffees, and then headed over to the club to get some work done.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I have the next two chapters some what outlined, so the next update should be sooner rather than later. Thank you to every one of you who reads, alerts and reviews! Especially the regulars your feedback is incredibly helpful thank you!

As always all rec's are in my favorites and clothes for this chapter are posted on the blog.

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