Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Perfect For Me

By Mama4Dukes

Chapter 03:

Friday night…

Jasper pulled into the parking lot at Red’s. It was a standing date. Each Friday night, he’d get together with his buddies for some guy time at the local bar and grill because the food was great, the beer was always ice cold, and the service was excellent.

Red’s was run by a woman named Victoria Tracker; a former college Women’s Studies professor, turned bar owner. She liked to hire struggling college students to work at her joint. She had flaming red hair and a brilliant smile – hence, the name Red’s. Her husband, James, was a prosecutor for Houston. He worked the bar on his days off to keep an eye on things.

All types of patrons frequented Red’s; there were college kids, young professionals, older businessmen and women, bikers, rednecks, you name it. Everyone went there. On the weekends, you had to be twenty-one, but on the weekdays, families often brought their kids. They were closed Sundays and Mondays.

Red’s had one rule, which was boldly posted in capital letters on the entry door at eye level and prominently on the walls behind the register and the bar: “DO NOT TOUCH OUR PATRONS, OR STAFF WITHOUT PERMISSION UNLESS YOU WANT TO LEAVE WITH A BROKEN ARM, OR TWO.”

It wasn’t an empty threat. Jasper and his buddies had witnessed a few people leave with shattered arms. Unless you were stupid, you didn’t dare touch the pretty waitresses in the joint.

Jasper walked up to the entrance, only to run into Paul arguing with the bouncer. “Jake, you’re my brother-in-law. You know how old I am. I shouldn’t have to show you my ID.”

“Rules are rules. I don’t want to get canned on my first night.” The bouncer turned to Jasper. “Oh, hey. Thanks for the other night. You make good beer. Can I see your ID?”

“Jasper, you remember Rachel’s brother, Jake, don’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah. Uh, you slept in my bathtub.”

“That’s right. You got it, man.” The buff, Native American man flashed his pearly whites. Jasper handed his license to him, which Jake checked and quickly allowed him entry.

“Paul, just give him your license. He’s only doing his job,” Jasper prompted.

“Fine,” he grumbled, and took his license out of his wallet.

In a professional manner, Jacob stated, “You’re clear,” and let him in the bar.

“You’re goddamned right I’m clear!” Paul growled. Jasper pulled his hotheaded buddy inside before he started something unnecessarily. “I swear, he’s driving me insane! Why couldn’t he go to grad school somewhere else?”

“I say the same thing about Bella,” Sam griped when they took a seat.

“Who is Bella?” Jasper asked.

“She’s my wife’s stepsister – so my stepsister-in-law. She’s attending graduate school out here with Jake.”

“Are they dating or something?”

“Nope. They’ve been best friends since they were babies. They grew up together.”

“They made mud pies together.” Paul rolled his eyes.

“Mud pies?” Emmett asked.

“Yeah, mud pies.”

“Hey guys! What can I get for you?” A cute brunette waitress with long, wavy, brown hair and sparkling eyes approached the table. She was wearing a tight, white tank top, daisy dukes, and Doc Marten boots. She was the hottest girl Jasper had ever set his eyes upon.

“Bella, what, the fuck, are you doing here?” Sam cried. “How am I supposed to keep you safe if you’re working here?”

“Oh, I can take care of myself, Sammy. Don’t worry. Hey, Paul. How ya doing?”

“Why, Bella? Why? This is my sanctuary. Why do Jake and you insist on invading it?”

“Rachel thought it would be a good idea if we worked here.” She nodded matter-of-factly. “She said Red liked hiring college students.”

“Couldn’t you work at Starbucks, or something? That’s what I did.”

“Nope, Red is really flexible. She understands there are times when our schedules may get busy.”

“What do you go to school for?” Emmett asked.

“Oh, I’m in grad school for Mechanical Engineering.”

“No kidding? Well, you’ve got a ton of engineers at this table – everyone except for Paul and me. Even Jasper majored in engineering.”

“Awesome,” she replied, and then introduced herself. “I’m Bella Swan. I’m Sammy’s sister-in-law and a royal pain in Paul’s neck.”

“You’ve got that right.” Paul rolled his eyes.

Emmett, Jasper, and Peter all took turns introducing themselves to Bella.

“Anyway, nice to meet you. Have you decided on what you’d like?” They all placed their orders. And Bella walked away.

“Alright, give us the scoop on the girl,” Emmett asked. “She’s hot.”

“She’s off limits!” Paul and Sam exclaimed simultaneously.

“Why? Is she dating that Jacob guy?”

“No, but she’s my kid sister-in-law. You can’t date her.”

“Yeah, because Chief Black and Chief Swan will have our necks if she gets hurt in any way!”

“I know who Chief Black is, but who is Chief Swan? What do they have to do with us?”

“You know Chief Black is Rachel’s father – my father-in-law,” Paul explained, “and Chief Swan is Bella’s father – Sam’s father-in-law. You totally can’t date her. Even in Forks, she’s considered off limits because her daddy is super overprotective.”

“You got to marry her sister,” Pete pointed out to Sam.

“Yeah, but that’s Leah. Chief Swan isn’t as protective of Leah because she’s his stepdaughter. Besides, Leah is an outright bitch if she doesn’t get her way.”

They all nodded their heads in agreement.

“But Leah is a protective bear when it comes to Bella, and so is Rachel for that matter,” Sam stated. “She’s like their kid sister. Anyway, neither of you, single guys, can date her and that’s that.” He pointedly eyed Emmett and Jasper.

“It’s alright. Things are heating up between Angela and me. I’m seeing her again tomorrow night.”

“Can’t get enough of her, can you?” Pete asked.

“Nope. I’m glad Char introduced me to her sister. It’s hard to believe those Weber girls are preacher’s daughters.”

“Hey, I’m not gonna argue with you. My Char is insatiable! Anyway, Ange can’t stop talking about you. She came over to dinner at our place last night. And she was a non-stop chatterbox about one topic and one topic only, Emmett. I was afraid I was going to start dreaming of you after I went to bed last night.”

“That would have been a nightmare!” Sam joked.

They continued chatting until Bella showed up a few minutes later with their drinks.

“Okay, IPA, IPA, Pilsen, Stout, and we have Lager for my wimpy brother.”

“Bella…” Sam sounded exasperated with her.

“Yeah, yeah, like drinking Lager is going to help you from getting chewed out by Leah again for not calling before you passed out drunk at your friend’s house last Saturday night. Thank God, Paul called Rachel because my sister almost had Daddy calling in favors to the local cops. Fortunately, I was there to reassure her you were just being your usual idiot self.”

“Seriously, Bella? You’re going to lecture me now?”

“Of course not. I assume you’ve learned your lesson now.”

“Little girl, I know all your secrets!”

“Ooh! I’m scared.” She taunted. “You know I tell Daddy everything.” Bella walked away to wait on other tables.

“It’s true, you know?” Paul agreed. “She tells Charlie everything. Hell, I don’t think she’s ever told a lie in her life, she’s so good.”

“True.”

The guys chatted about their careers and their lives while they waited for their dinner. Bella, it seemed, was generous. They got more fries and wings than usual. She bumped into Jasper while she was setting his burger down in front of him. “Sorry.” She winked at him and gave him a sweet smile.

Jasper gulped and could do nothing more than stare with his mouth hanging open. She was so damned pretty. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. There was something about her that was so un-Alice-like. She was casual and down-to-earth, and she joked around with Paul and Sam as if she was one of the guys. It was clear they were protective of her.

“Let me bring you guys another round of beer. Are you still sticking with the Lager, Sammy?”

“No, bring me an IPA.”

She nodded. “I thought so.”

She stopped at another table filled with college students to take their order when one of the guys decided to cop a feel. “Hey, don’t touch me!” she snapped. Immediately, the patrons at the bar all turned their eyes on the unfolding scene.

The drunken guy, who was probably a just turned of age frat boy, put up his hands. “Hey, I meant no harm. It was an accident.”

Bella glared at him and continued to take orders from the table when drunk-boy decided to touch her again. Others at the table warned him to lay off before the bouncers were called, and he left with a broken arm.

“I asked you not to touch me.” Bella repeated.

“I don’t know what keeps happening. My hand keeps wandering. Guess it’s cause you have such a pretty body. You want to get together later after your shift?”

“This is your last warning,” Bella growled. “Next time you lose use of your arm.”

The idiot stood up. He was big – at least six feet, three inches tall and wore a football jersey from his college. He was probably on the team.

“What are you going to do?” He taunted. “Call one of your bouncers?”

Bella stared him down, completely unfazed by the threat.

“Guys, we should help her,” Jasper suggested.

“Nah, she’ll be fine,” Paul stated, dismissing him with a wave. “Jake should be along in a moment.”

Jasper couldn’t believe how nonchalant Paul was being. And Sam? This was his sister-in-law. Shouldn’t he be stepping in to help?

“Need any help, Bells?” Jake asked as he approached.

“Easy peasy,” she replied without taking her eyes off her assailant. “I’m asking you kindly to leave.”

The drunk, who obviously had addled brains, couldn’t process the request. Instead, he became belligerent. “Who, the hell, are you, telling me to leave? I’m a paying customer!”

“Chad, dude, you need to apologize to the lady and leave.” One of his friends urged.

“Yeah, come on, man! You’re in the wrong here. I don’t want to be banned from this place.” Drunk-boy’s other friend turned to Bella. “I’m sorry, ma’am. It won’t happen again. Chad here has just had a bit too much to drink.”

“Be that as it may, he needs to leave now. You all do.”

“Right. We’re leaving now.”

The party all stood up to leave when Chad abruptly grabbed Bella’s arm. “Hey, you don’t dictate shit to me!”

“Hey, take your hands off of her!” Jasper had no idea why, but suddenly he felt the urge to rescue her.

Chad, who was much bigger, turned around and slugged Jasper’s stomach, sending him crashing to the ground on his bottom. He watched helplessly as the drunk turned around to attack Bella.

“Never take your eye off your opponent,” Bella growled as she brought her foot up between his crotch and kicked him hard. When Chad dropped to his knees, she jabbed his eye, elbowed his throat, and then walloped him with a crushing left hook. She got right back into a fighting stance.

“Hey, Jasper, man. Are you okay?” Peter asked. “God damn! She’s pounding the shit out of the guy.

“Holy crap! The chick can fight. Let’s get out of here, man!” Chad’s friends said and helped him up.

By now, the drunk was angry and humiliated. He broke free from his friends, ran straight for Bella, and tried to punch her. She blocked him, grabbed the offending arm, flipped him to the ground, and incapacitated him by scissoring his punching arm between her thighs.

“Please, please don’t break my arm!” Chad begged.

“The next time you disrespect me, or any other woman here, I’ll break your arm and then some!” Bella warned.

She let Chad go. His friends quickly helped him up and left the establishment, while he clutched his shoulder.

Vicky walked up to Bella with a smile. “I knew it was a good idea to hire you! I had a feeling!” She happily turned to the patrons. “Okay, show is over!”

Meanwhile, Jasper was still watching, stunned, from his perch on the ground. A hand reached out to help him up. “Are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah. Thanks.”

“Thanks for coming to my rescue.”

“You’re welcome.” He scratched his head. “I didn’t do anything really.” It was true. He had no idea how to fight. He just thought stepping into save her was the gentlemanly thing to do.

“But you tried,” Bella said kindly.

“Bells, I don’t know why you didn’t incapacitate him with a liver shot instead of kicking him in the balls,” Paul criticized.

“Excuse me? Were you the one fighting him?”

“He was way taller than you are. You should have busted his liver first.”

“No, she did it right,” Jacob argued. “What if a punch to the liver didn’t drop him? The kick to the balls is practically guaranteed. Jeez!”

Jasper, Emmett, and Peter simply watched the three friends argue about fight tactics. Sam simply rolled his eyes as if he was used to the zaniness.

“It doesn’t matter. Bella, you can’t work here. I promised your dad I’d look after you. How the hell am I supposed to look after you if you work here?”

“Sam, I need this job.”

“Why can’t you work at Waffle House, or somewhere safe?”

“I like it here. It’s fun. I get to meet friendly people, and kick some ass. It’s like the best of both worlds.”

“We’ll talk about this later,” Sam insisted and then snapped at Jacob and Paul. “Stop encouraging her!”

“Listen, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve got to get back to work. You can get so uptight sometimes.” Bella kissed Sam on the cheek. She squeezed Jasper’s hand. “Thanks again for trying to save me. It was so sweet of you.” She flashed a brilliant smile at him, and then walked away, leaving him mesmerized.