When The Ball Drops 2

“Do you need to get that?”Rosalie asked Isabella as they rode together in the elevator up to the penthouse Isabella had been staying at. The pair had barely made it off the Eiffel Tower when Isabella’s phone started buzzing with numerous calls and texts. Isabella had checked it initially but just ignored it the rest of the time. Not knowing who was calling her mate was driving Rosalie nuts because she knew that Isabella was an important person in the vampire world. She had mentioned a couple times that she was Aro’s favorite and that she had a coven she traveled with but Rosalie didn’t know how she became involved with Aro other than she had turned herself over to him to save her. Rosalie didn’t even know who Isabella’s coven mates were.

“No it’s just James, Didyme and Athenodora being nosy.”Isabella told her.

“The queens are calling you and you aren’t answering?!”Rosalie didn’t know anyone who would dare not answer a call from the queens. Actually she didn’t know anyone who the queens would call. Not even Carlisle had their numbers. He didn’t even have the kings numbers and just used the universal number that all vampires used.

“They are gossips and just want to know if you showed up and if you did how did everything turn out. I bet the only reason James didn’t show up was Victoria stopped him. Sulpicia isn’t calling because she knows if she doesn’t I will likely call her back first.”Isabella would have to do something nice for Victoria for stopping him.

“James would have interrupted us?”Rosalie didn’t know how she would have felt if another vampire showed up.

“Not only is he a gossip but he is a hopeless romantic. When I told him about my plan for the Eiffel Tower on New Years Eve he squealed in excitement. He and the queens have been pressuring me for years to make contact with you. They didn’t seem to understand that the repercussions would have been to severe to let that happen.”Isabella had been dealing with James’ nagging for since she was changed. When she met the queens it got worse.

“Well I personally couldn’t think of a more romantic way for us to be reunited.”Rosalie loved the setting and the champagne.

Isabella led Rosalie by the hand out of the elevator towards her room. Stopping at the door she opened it and ushered Rosalie in.”I once heard you mention that the most romantic place on earth was the top of the Eiffel Tower at night so you could see all the lights lit up.”

“I can’t believe you remembered that.”Rosalie knew exactly the conversation Isabella was talking about. Edward and Alice had been talking about what would be the perfect date if they had been human to go on. Edward said Shakespeare in the park. Alice said New York fashion week. Isabella was the one who asked Rosalie her opinion. That was when she told her about the Eiffel Tower at night.

“I remember everything about you.”Isabella said like it was a given she would remember a conversation from over a decade and a half ago when she was human.

Rosalie wrapped her arms around Isabella and kissed her.”Well I think it was extremely romantic so thank you for fulfilling my fantasy for a romantic date.”

“It will be the first of many I promise.”Isabella groaned when her phone started buzzing again.”Let me just message these idiots and then I’ll turn it off.”

“Are you allowed to keep your phone off?”Rosalie asked.

“I can do whatever I want. The worst they can do to me is complain.”Isabella told her.

“Well it would be nice not to be interrupted.”Rosalie said as she pulled out of the hug and looked around the room. It was a spacious suit that had a full kitchen and formal dinning table and chairs. Plus a complete living room set and two doors off to the side that peaking her head in Rosalie found one was the bathroom and the other a bedroom. Seeing the bedroom Rosalie smiled. There were candles set up around the room that hadn’t been lit yet and rose pedals laid in the shape of a heart on the bed with a bottle of champagne on ice in a bucket on the night stand.

“All done.”Isabella announced as she walk up behind Rosalie and put her arms around her.”I guess you’ve seen my surprise.”

Rosalie turned in Isabella’s arms.”It’s very sweet.”

“I’m glad you think so. I was wondering if I could make you dinner before we retire for the evening.”Isabella wanted the extra energy so they didn’t have to stop to feed.

“Dinner as in the food you invented to take the place of blood?”Rosalie asked.

Isabella nodded.”The kitchen is stocked only with foods vampires can eat.”

“And these are all your creations?”Rosalie pulled away from Isabella and made her way to the cabinets. She saw a lot of unfamiliar foods and a few she thought she recognized. Moving on to the fridge she noticed various cuts of meat, fruits, vegetables and condiments. There were even two dozen eggs. Even more curious she checked the freezer and found a bunch of different types of ice cream.

“Yes. When I was turned the first year I was a vampire we traveled all over the world experiencing different cultures.”Isabella had a great time seeing all the new sights.

“Who is we? You never did say what coven you belonged to.”Rosalie wanted to know who Bella had been hanging around with.

“Oh I thought I made it clear that my coven was Victoria and James. They used to have a third member but he betrayed them and we killed him. They are my coven but the kings and queens claim me so I use the last name Volturi. So do James and Victoria even though they have nothing to do with the royals or any Volturi business.”They just used the name because Isabella didn’t want to use her name for the coven and James and Victoria didn’t have last names. Plus it gave them added protection.

“You stuck with the pair of them this whole time?”Rosalie was going to have thank the pair for taking care of Isabella all this time because without them she would have been stuck in some sick false mate bond with Edward trying to keep herself and Rosalie alive.

“Yeah they were the ones who got me into travel. They also taught me that most culture revolve around food. So to experience it properly you need to eat with the people. I followed their lead and would eat with the locals and talk with people over meals at their houses when one day I asked Victoria why didn’t vampires invent their own food. She thought about for a minute then said she didn’t think that anybody actually tried to make it. At the time we had been using my gift of sight and ability to read minds to buy stocks and swindle people in casinos so we had a small fortune in our bank account.”Isabella told her.

“You actually succeeded in buying stocks?”Rosalie would think about Isabella cheating at casinos another time.

“I told you Alice doesn’t know how to use her gift. She looks at the future based on one decision. I can look at the future based on hundreds.”Noticing Rosalie confused expression Isabella tried to explain.”Alice’s visions are a fixed point. If someone made a decision on that fixed point the vision disappears. My visions aren’t fixed points. If someone changes their mind that isn’t the end for me. I can focus on what going to happen in that person’s future to figure out their next step. So if a stock I invest in I think is going to do well because I saw a merger in the future I would have a vision if that merger was going to fall through. Alice would just lose the vision completely and wouldn’t know the reason the merger fell though was because they decided to go with someone else. Therefore I would sell my stocks and buy the other company they pick making myself a ton of cash.”

“That makes sense.”Rosalie could easily see how Bella could make so much.

“I mediate an hour every morning to check on all our investments. My visions are also how we came up with the food. I would put together formulas in my head and focus my visions on the results. By the time I was ready to make my first product I had it completely figured out. No testing needed. That saved a lot of time and money.”Isabella was pleased with the final results.

“Well I would love to try some.”Rosalie hated animal blood and would try anything to stop from having to live off of it.

“What are you in the mood for? Or should I surprise you?”Isabella asked.

“I know nothing about human food so please surprise me.”Rosalie didn’t care what Isabella made.

“Alright let’s go with steak with baked potatoes topped with sour scream and bacon and a side of broccoli.”Isabella pulled the pan out of cupboard and set it on the stove top.

“How did you actually get it so we could eat meat?”Rosalie couldn’t figure that part out.

“The animals are given a special kind of food that contains certain chemicals, vitamins and enzymes that stay in their body that when butchered ad cooked allows us to not only eat the food but digest it as well. It also lets us taste it like we were human.”Isabella told her.

“Can humans eat this stuff?”Rosalie wondered how a human would react to food made for vampires.

Isabella nodded as she put oil in the pan and pulled out to steaks.”The food is mass produced and doctors prescribe it for humans that are low on iron and other nutrients found in blood. It is also big in the fitness community and you can find all of it in health food stores to include the ice cream and snacks.”

“So you not only figured out a way to stop vampires from having to survive on blood but you sell the products publicly and your main customers are humans?”Rosalie couldn’t believe that Isabella even had the guts to sell her food to humans.

“It’s a very lucrative business. As a matter of fact we just had to buy another farm because the demand for our meats is so high. Victoria is currently trying to figure out how to legally sell certain game meats. My current project is trying to figure out what we need for fish to be something we can eat.”Isabella hoped it would be soon because she loved fish.

“So you have your own processing plants and butcher shops?”Seeing Isabella nod gave Rosalie more questions.”Who do you employ?”

“Humans mostly. There is a vampire in charge of every different plant, farm, butcher shop and other departments of the business. All of them members of the Volturi. Even some of the humans who work there work for the royals.”Isabella put the steaks in the frying pan, then moved on to wrapping the potatoes in foil and putting them in the oven.

“Don’t you feel angry the Volturi took over your business?”Rosalie asked.

“It’s actually Victoria’s business. I just came up with the idea for the products. She was the one to run with the idea and marketed it to humans. She oversees everything and has the authority to fire anyone she wants. Something she has done numerous times when some of the vampires get a little to cocky thinking because Victoria isn’t a member of the guard that they should run things not her. My involvement is make the products and she does everything else. She thrives off it and it gives her a hobby as she had gotten bored with being a nomad for so long.”Isabella didn’t mind that Victoria controlled the business. She did a much better job than Isabella would have done.

“Can I take a tour of the facilities?”Rosalie wanted to see where everything was made.

“Sure when we get settled I’ll take you.”Isabella said.

“Speaking of getting settled where exactly is our house?”Rosalie realized she never asked that.

“We call England home. It is also where we base our company out of because of the bad weather other vampires need to be able to go out during the day.”Isabella told her.

“What do you mean other vampires need to be able to go out during the day. Don’t all vampires need bad weather to go out during the day?”Rosalie thought Isabella’s wording was a little too specific.

Isabella groaned.”I ruined the surprise.”

“What surprise?”Rosalie asked.

“I had plans for tomorrow. I rented a convertible and I was going to take you sight seeing and maybe to walk around for a bit.”Isabella hated that she ruined the surprise.

“How would we be able to be out in the sun without exposing ourselves?”Rosalie would love to spend a day how Bella described it but it was impossible.

“Part of my physical shield is that I and anyone who stays within a certain distance of me is protected from UV rays. Meaning I can take you out in the sun and we don’t have to worry about sparkling.”Isabella really would have preferred to surprise Rosalie with that information.

“Are you being serious right now?”Rosalie wanted to make sure before she got her hopes up.

“I know it’s been your dream since you were human to ride around in a convertible on a sunny day with the top down and I wanted to surprise you tomorrow by helping you fulfill that dream.”Isabella told her.

Rosalie rushed to Isabella, took her in her arms and kissed her hard on the mouth.”This is so amazing!! I wish we could go right now.”

“So it’s still a good surprise?”Isabella wanted to make sure.

Rosalie laughed.”This is the greatest surprise.”

“I’m glad you think so.”Isabella was worried Rosalie wouldn’t think it was that great of a surprise.”Now go back over there I’m trying to cook and I don’t want to burn anything.”

Rosalie stole one last kiss and made her way to the other side of the kitchen island.”You know that even smells good. Not like normal human food does.”

“That’s because you are smelling the enzymes and nutrients contained in blood. If you haven’t already you should be starting to produce extra venom soon.”Isabella opened the stove and checked the potatoes. Feeling that they were done she grabbed them out of the oven and set them on the counter.

“I thought the excess venom was because of all the fantasies that keep running through my head staring you and that bottle of champagne.”Rosalie wasn’t kidding. As soon as she saw Isabella at the top of the tower her mind had been in overdrive thinking of all the things she wanted to do when she got them alone.

“That’s probably part of the reason.”Isabella drained the broccoli in the sink and dumped it in a bowl. She then pulled the bacon out of the pan and put it on a pile of paper towels.”Can you grab the butter and sour cream out of the fridge and put them on the table and while you are in there can you grab me a cola and get yourself whatever you want to drink?”

“Sure.”Rosalie opened the fridge door and grabbed what Bella asked for taking a moment to see what her beverage options were. She decided to copy Isabella and get a cola.

“Alright this is all done.”Isabella said as she finished plating the food.

“I’ll grab silverware.”Rosalie was beyond excited to get the chance to use silverware for food she wasn’t going to have to throw up.

Isabella set Rosalie’s plate at the head of the table and set her plate to the right side of her.”I really hope you like this.”

“I”m sure I will.”Rosalie said as she handed Isabella her knife and fork and took a seat.”What do I do to the potato?”

“Cut it open and put some butter in it. Then take some sour scream and put it on top of that and if you like bacon you can add that as well.”Isabella told her as she doctored her own potato.

Rosalie decided to do what Isabella did. Piling everything on her potato she used her fork to take a big bite. As soon as the taste hit her tongue Rosalie groaned. She didn’t even swallow before speaking.”Oh my god that is so good.”

“I’m glad you like it.”Isabella was relieved that Rosalie liked at least the potato. The other food she hadn’t tried yet.

“I love it.”Rosalie stopped herself from going back to the potato and tried the broccoli. It was just as good as the potato. Moving on to the steak she didn’t understand how Isabella got it to be so tender and juicy.”Be prepared because after this meal I’m going to make you cook for me all the time.”

“I have no problem with that.”Isabella would love to cook every one of Rosalie’s meals.

“How much can I eat before I get full?”Rosalie wanted to try more than just what they were eating.

“It isn’t unheard of for a vampire to bing eat when they are introduced to the food. The only side effect will be you will feel like you have gorged yourself on blood. Depending on how much you eat is how long the feeling with stay with you.”Isabella had seen a vampire almost go into a coma like state after eating so much.

“I fed two days before I got here so I have some room.”Rosalie could push it a little bit.”How long do you have this room for?”

“I have it for the month because I wasn’t sure what you would say and if you were receptive I wanted to spend a month in the city of love with you exploring not only each other’s bodies but the city as well.”Isabella wanted to do couple things while in Paris.

“I like the idea of spending a month in Paris.”Rosalie couldn’t think of anything better than spending a month in the most romantic city in the world with Isabella.

“As for food I can have whatever we want delivered at anytime.”That was one of the perks Isabella got for being not only Aro’s favorite but the rest of the royals as well. She had the guard at her beck and call.

“Do you have a list of things I can see to choose from?”Rosalie wanted to know her options.

“Of course but for now do you want me to make you something else?”Isabella asked when she finished her food.

Rosalie looked at her empty plate sadly. She was torn. She wanted to try more food but she also wanted to ravish her mate and exchange bite marks. Exchanging marks being something she had dreamed of doing since she first laid eyes on Isabella. Thinking about Isabella being unmarked caused a slight panic in Rosalie thinking that if she didn’t make her claim Edward would come along and do it instead. Decision made she stood up and grabbed Isabella’s hand in her own.”Let’s leave the dishes for later. I’m suddenly craving champagne.”

“I will happily have a glass with you.”Isabella willingly followed Rosalie to the bedroom.

“Who said anything about glasses?”Rosalie asked looking over her shoulder and giving Isabella a wink. Now that the moment was here Rosalie had to take a deep breath to stop herself from ripping Isabella’s clothes off and taking her hard and fast. There was going to be time for that later. Rosalie wanted their first time to be about reconnecting and baring their souls to each other. Just like Rosalie always wanted. Isabella had never left her mind all these years and having the chance to make love to her, to bite her neck and have her bite Rosalie’s, Rosalie was going to savor the experience. They had time. A whole month to be spent doing what ever they wanted in the city of love. If Rosalie had any doubts of Isabella’s feelings her recreating Rosalie’s ideal date and renting a convertible to fulfill Rosalie’s dream to drive with the top down on a sunny day proved how much she cared. Rosalie had a feeling that there was going to be a lot of romance in the future and she couldn’t wait. That started with getting her mate naked.