Okay so here's the last of the ones that I have submitted to The Fictionista's. This is my entry from yesterday's prompt....
Word Prompt: Lust

Scenario: Imagine you are working as a bartender on a Friday night. A drunk woman is pouring her heart out to you just as a brawl breaks out. A beer bottle shatters on the floor and a woman screams. What happens next?

The bar was hopping tonight. I had already emptied the tip jar twice and it was filled to overflowing now.

“Hey, man, you think you could grab another case of Corona out of the back cooler?” Jasper called over his shoulder as he served up the latest God awful concoction of Jaegar and Redbull for some chic sitting at the end of the bar.

How the fuck anybody drinks that shit I will never know.

“Yeah, no problem, on my way,” I yelled over the thump of the music the DJ was spinning tonight.

Friday nights at The Midnight Sun were always interesting. It started out calmly enough. I came in for my shift at eight like I do every Friday night. Changing into the standard black t-shirt with the bar logo scrolled across the back, I turned to step out of the office and was met by the bar owner, Carlisle.

He was a nice enough guy, not a man of many words, but he had been good to me since I started here six months ago. Carlisle didn’t ask questions about why I would move to a small town on the Olympic Peninsula from Chicago. He didn’t seem to care what brought me here and I was more than happy not to offer any of those reasons up voluntarily.

“Evening, Edward,” Carlisle greeted with a slight smile as he passed to enter the office, closing the door softly behind him, not waiting for a response from me.

“Evening to you, Carlisle,” I mumbled as I turned and made my way up the stairs to my post behind the bar.

Getting right to work restocking the beer cooler with the more popular selections we offered. I double checked and replaced all of the liquor bottles for any that would not make it through last call tonight. Jasper joined me before long and we caught up with one another from the week, as our last shift together had been the previous Friday night.

Jasper had met a new girl a few weeks before, Alice, and he was beside himself with talking about how he had found ‘the one’.

My thoughts on the whole sordid affair was simple….he’s fucking nuts. I learned back in Chicago there was no such thing as ‘the one’ and I had no intention of traveling down that path ever again. Period. End of story. There is no one, not for me, not anymore.

The only thing I was looking for now was a good time and a good lay. The one for me was whichever girl caught my attention for the night.

Some tried to tell me back in Chicago that I hadn’t found the one that it was all about lust and not love but I knew different. She was different or so I thought…..

I shook my head as I wiped down the high ball glasses and finished up the last of my prep work for the night just as the bar began to fill with the college co-eds looking for a way to blow off some steam from the week long late night study sessions. I remember those days fondly. Pulling an all nighter with my best friend, Mike, and the girl I thought was my one. We would stay up working on whatever assignment or test was on the agenda. She was a whiz with the science stuff and helped me study for my chemistry exam as we prepared for finals the week before it all went to shit.

I released a heavy sigh and ran a hand through my hair as the thoughts and memories of that time in my life flashed through my mind. It did me no good to do that to myself because that’s all they were….memories.

The fact remained that even after all this time, when those memories flitted through my conscious or when her name would suddenly be on the tip of my tongue I still got the same choking sensation and my heart would clench in my chest. It was testament to the fact that she was different. And I knew that I at one time, like Jasper, believed in having one person made truly just for me.

So how it was that I was now finding myself standing behind the bar after a hellishly busy night listening to the same chic, Jasper had been pouring the Redbull and Jeagar for just a few hours ago, spill her guts about the latest guy to fuck and run on her was yet one of the ways this night would go down in the record books under completely fucked up.

The things she had confided in me, like I was Dr. Phil or some shit, was beyond my comprehension as to why she felt the need to dump her troubles in my lap. I had enough problems of my own but I listened, nodding my head and humming in the appropriate places. She was so far gone that I didn’t think it would matter if I stood there completely mute and never uttered a sound.

“So….ya, this last guy, John, I think that was his name…..” she slurred.

Holy hell, the chic couldn’t even remember the name of the last dude she bedded and yet she wondered why she had an issue with them ducking out before the sun was even up. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out, now does it?

“Yeah, yeah, his name was James.”

Thought his name was John? I thought miserably to myself as I listened to her drone on and on.

“He was really nice or so I thought. We went out on a couple dates…..really, Eddie, he was a nice guy. But then he just up and disappeared when things started getting……intense,” her words were coming slower and she turned up the last of her drink before looking up at me through bloodshot eyes.

“Ya know, Vicky, why don’t you let me call you a cab and you call it a night, huh sweets?” I offered hopefully because honestly I’d had about all I could take of the young and clueless episode for one night.

“Oh…..yeah, may-“ her words were cut off as I heard the crash of a beer bottle and the sounds of a woman’s voice screaming over the music.

“Oh shit! Jasper! Where’s Emmett?” I called as I vaulted myself over the bar and made my way toward what looked like two girls squaring off against one another in the middle of the dance floor.

From what I could see one was a little bitty thing with long chestnut hair that for a split second caused my heart to stutter and I faltered for a half step.

It’s not her dumbass. She’s still in Chicago. Get a grip!

The other was at least a good six inches taller than the brunette with long strawberry blond hair and at the moment she was staring wide eyed at the other girl. Evidently the little brunette was the one breaking the beer bottle. And from what I could see she was about to use it to mess the blond up.

“Bitch, you better back up! I don’t know what your problem is but I’m about to solve it for you ,” the voice of the little brunette wafted to me as I pushed my way through the circle of people surrounding them.

As soon as I heard that voice I froze solid in my spot. For all of thity seconds I could do nothing but stare at the back of the little brunette. I felt Emmett bump into me on his way toward the women to break up the fight before one of them got hurt seriously.

“Alright, ladies, I believe that’s enough fun for one night,” Emmett called.

Though he smiled through most every situation and always seemed to come off as sounding friendly, he carried himself with an authority that most obeyed without question. It worked well for him to head up security for the bar. Emmett just had a way of helping people see the error of their ways with him rarely ever having to become physical.

Emmett’s voice snapped me out of my catatonic state and I moved without any further thought about what I was doing. Circling in front of the brunette I threw her over my shoulder and made my way toward the back door.

I could hear Emmett and Jasper calling to me as I stepped into the alley just behind the bar, letting the door slam behind me before I sat her back down on her feet. I had no idea what she was doing in this podunk town and I sure as fuck didn’t know why she was in my bar. I was furious. My heart was slamming against my ribs and my breathing was rapid and shallow.

Was I was actually seeing the vision of what was before me?

Why? Why would she be here now after all this time? I was completely dumbstruck.

I blinked several times, shaking my head trying to clear it, making sure that I had not completely lost my mind in the last ten minutes. I could hear her rapid breathing; her intoxicating scent was filling my nose.

She truly was standing right in front of me. She wasn’t in Chicago, she was here.

“Edward…” she breathed.

“Why? Why are you here, Bella?”

Okay...there's a little edit in this that is not on the Fictionista submission. I made a mistake and named Seattle in one paragraph when I had said that Edward had moved to a 'small town' on the Olympic peninsula so, I corrected that here. It's mine...I can do that. *wink*

And here's another.... With the following prompts given by the dear ladies over at the Fictionista Workshop word prompt: pulse Multimedia Share: Search Google or YouTube for one of the following words, then select a search result at random and write about it: envelope, happy, porch swing

I sat waiting, incessantly rubbing my sweaty palms on my jeans trying anything possible to distract me from the task at hand. Desperate to calm my ragged nerves I picked at the destroyed skin of my fingers. The butterflies in my stomach had me on the verge of being ill and I wasn’t sure I could get through this discussion without losing my lunch all over the porch.

How the hell am I going to do this….I don’t even know where to begin….

The sound of the door opening brought my attention back to the present and my eyes shot to the person stepping out the door. I stood quickly and crossed from the swing to extend my hand in the attempt to shake hands. I hoped the steadiness of my hand didn’t betray my inner turmoil and shake like a leaf on a tree when he took my hand.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Sw-,“ my words cut off immediately as Charlie quirked an eyebrow in silent question of the sudden formality I had reverted to in my nervousness. “Charlie, sorry…..um, it’s good to see you, sir.”

Charlie snorted quietly as he shook my hand and I could see a slight smirk attempting to form under his mustache.

“Good to see you too, son. What’s got you so skittish? Bella isn’t here you know. Gone off with that sister of your’s again somewhere.”
“Oh. Um….yes, sir, I know that. I needed to talk to you, sir. I w-wanted to…um….I needed to….” I stumbled over how to begin this conversation and wasn’t doing a very good job of even remotely covering up my nervousness.

I was well aware that Bella and Alice were currently shopping the afternoon away as my dear sister had helped in my plan. Bella left our apartment early this morning to visit her parents and had planned on spending most of the day with them. Thanks to my pixie-like sister those plans had been shortened and gave me the perfect opportunity to speak with Charlie knowing we wouldn’t be interrupted.

“Edward, what’s got into you, boy? I’ve never known you to be so tongue tied.” Charlie laughed, clapping me on the back and leading me back toward the swing which I had just vacated.

I took a deep breath as we sat back down and tried to gather my thoughts trying to find the words to say what I came here today to do.

Turning to look the man who could quite literally make my life a living hell at this moment I said what I felt in my heart for his daughter and laid out my intentions.

“Charlie, I wanted to ask you a very important question and I’m….well I really don’t know how you will react. I want to tell you how much I love your daughter, sir. I love her more than I can even explain to you. And the miraculous thing is she seems to feel the same way about me. I plan on asking her to be my wife, sir. And well, I would like to do that with your blessing, I think it would mean a great deal to Bella to know that you gave your permission even though she’s very much an adult. I want to make her happy, Charlie, that’s all I’ve ever wanted and getting your blessing is just one step in making that happen for the rest of our lives.”

I did my best to keep eye contact with Charlie although it was exceedingly difficult the longer it seemed to take him to respond to what I said. The second’s drug into minutes as I waited for him to answer in some way, I wasn’t sure he was even breathing at the moment.

That’s when I saw it….and my pulse quickened as I watched the smile spread across Charlie’s face.

“Edward, there is nothing that I would like more than to give my blessing to you.”
He stood and we shook hands briefly before he pulled me into a one armed embrace and slapped me on the back as he laughed.

“Just one thing and I’m only going to say this once so you need to listen and listen close,” the smile he had worn only a moment ago was gone. “You make Bella happy and I’d have to be a complete fool not to see that but if you ever, and I mean ever, hurt her I will hunt you down and they will be looking for you for years to come. Do I make myself clear?”

I swallowed thickly and nodded my head curtly. I wasn’t sure how much truth was laced in that threat but I didn’t plan on ever finding out. Charlie smiled and released my hand.

“Well, son, I do believe this call’s for a celebration. I’ve got beer, beer and let’s see I believe I might have a beer.”
We both laughed as he draped a heavy arm across my shoulders and practically drug me toward t he front door.

Now all I had to do is ask her….and I was sure that would be infinitely more difficult than even this conversation had been.

So I'm a few days behind on posting the WitFit entries here but I'll be catching that up today. Here is the first of the entries I have submitted to The Fictionista Workshop over the last several days. There are a few of these which have spurred plot bunnies for me and they will be the spring board for stories from me in the future. Hope you enjoy....

Scenario: You are walking quickly down a city street and bump into another person, causing both of you to fall to the ground. Upon helping the person up, you realize it’s someone from your high school you haven’t seen in over ten years. Write the conversation.

“Umphf.”

Well, that was graceful. I thought as I hit the sidewalk tangled with the woman who had just ran into me as she stepped out of Starbucks.

“Oh. My. God! Are you alright? Oh….oh my….I cannot believe….” The leggy blonde stammered as we unwound ourselves from one another. “It’s been, what, like ten years?”

“No, no, I’m fine. Are you okay?”I blinked several times as I stood trying to get my bearings and figure out who this woman was. Looking at her confusedly for a moment when I finally recognized her. Christen Hough. We went to high school together but I hadn’t seen her since the summer after graduation. I heard she married the quarterback from our high school while still in college and they had a few kids.

“Holy cow! Christen, I’m sorry. I didn’t recognize you for a minute. You look great. Yeah, it’s been at least that long. How are you?”

“Lord, honey, let me tell you. Three kids, a dog and one good for nothing ex-husband later and I’ve dropped about thirty pounds over the last year. Well, two hundred and thirty if you count the ex-husband as the dead weight I lost. Are you sure you’re alright?” She reached out and touched my arm to emphasize her concern.

“Yeah, yeah, really I’m fine. Oh no, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you and Chris split up.” I waved her off and concentrated on the important part of what she had just told me.
“Lord girl, don’t be sorry. He was runnin’ around on me. I caught him in….well, let’s just say a compromising position with his secretary. It all worked out in the end. Me and the kids are better now. “ Christen laughed it off but it was easy to see she wasn’t feeling as blasé about the circumstances of her divorce as she let on.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that you’re doing better. How old are your kids?”

Christen’s smile spread across her face and she lit up like a Christmas tree at the mention of her kids. She immediately reached into her purse to pull out a small photo album and opened it up to show three of the most beautiful children I have ever seen.

“Let me show you their pictures. Robert is 8, Sophia is 6 almost 7and Joshua is 4, almost 5. He and Sofia are only like sixteen months apart. It was crazy there for a little while.”

“Oh God! They are so cute!”

She flipped a few pages and it was obvious how much Christen loved her kids.

“Hey, do you have time to get a coffee? We could catch up a little?” I asked hoping she would be able to hang out for a little while. We were good friends in high school and I was always sad that we lost contact after we left for college. I headed off to Dartmouth while she stayed here attending UW.

Of course, moving across the country was the best thing I ever did and there was no way I would regret meeting the love of my life that first year at Dartmouth, so definitely no complaints here.

“Oh, honey, I would love to but I’ve got to met Chris to pick up the kids. This was his weekend, so I’ve got to meet him in,” she looked down to check her watch. “Shoot! I’ve gotta go, I’m supposed to meet him in about fifteen minutes. God, it was so good seeing you! We really should get together sometime. “ She began fumbling around in her purse for an unknown object. “Here, here’s my business card. It has my cell number on it. Call me and we’ll get together. Have a girl’s night and just catch up. Okay?”

“Absolutely, I’ll give you a call. It was so good to see you and we most definitely have to get together sometime soon.” I slipped her card in my back pocket and we said our goodbyes.

It was really good to see her again. I’m most definitely giving her a call. I thought as I entered the Starbucks and got in line to order my daily staple of a Grande Caramel Macchiato.

I don’t think I would have held it together as well as Christen if that were me, if I were in the same position the devastation would have been epic. I know that I would have fallen completely apart if my marriage would have fallen apart the way Christen’s did. I just have to send out a prayer of thanks and realize how lucky I am at this point in my life to have beautiful children and a husband that would rope the moon for me if asked it of him.

WitFit entry for today. The word prompt was Pride and we were given a scenario to work from as well. Scenario: You wake up and go to the bathroom. You look in the mirror and a different face is staring back at you. Begin your story.

So, this is what came to me with those prompts.....

I stretched my tired and sore muscles as I threw my legs off the bed and stood. Yawning loudly I stumbled through to the bathroom to grab a quick shower. Turning the water to the hottest setting possible, I stripped down while waiting for the water to heat up and caught a glimpse of my reflection from the corner of my eye. I couldn’t help the groan that escaped me at what I saw.

That is not me, there’s just no way….. I thought to myself as I took in the man staring back at me in the mirror.

The scruff of a full day’s growth on my jaw which was more gray than not and the deepening of the lines around my eyes from squinting into the sun for too many years, these were features of a different man, they didn’t belong to me. The man that stared at me in the mirror now was not the man I had once been. The man I saw today was tired, he was haggard and worn.

As much as I would like to pretend they hadn’t affected me, the last few years had taken their toll. They took more out of me that I had to give and there was no denying it, I was bone weary. I had become a completely different person and the man I was looking at now only proved that point.

Stepping into the steaming water, propping one arm against the back wall and laying my head on my forearm I willed the heat to relax my sore muscles. I knew I had overdone it yesterday, that I let my pride get the better of me and attempted more than my body was capable of accomplishing.

But damn, I have forgotten more about gentling horses then those boys will know in the whole of their lifetime and it was nothing but stubborn pride that talked me into climbing on that crazy ass colt.

Didn’t matter if I did own this ranch and they all worked for me, a challenge was a challenge and those boys threw one down.

And your dumbass picked it up…. I snorted a sarcastic laugh at the thought because now my subconscious decides to chastise me but where was that little reminder yesterday before I climbed in the saddle.

Here's a bit of a teaser for Ch 26....hopefully it will be ready to post by Monday.....

Edward leaned across the console and pressed his lips to mine. Edward wove his fingers in my hair holding my face to him as he deepened the kiss brushing his satin tongue over my bottom lip and sliding it in my mouth as I opened to him. I moaned into his mouth as our tongues met caressing one another.
"I love you, Bella." Edward whispered against my lips as he broke our kiss.
I pressed my forehead against his and framed his face with my hands whispering my love for him.
"Come on we better get out of here before I drag you in the back seat and have my wicked way with you." Edward winked with that wicked grin on his face and opened his door.
"You keep saying these things as if I were going to complain about them, quit it with all the idle threats."
I could hear Edward's musical laugh ring out as he closed his door and I stepped out of the car myself.
Edward wrapped his arm around my waist as he joined me before we entered the house.
"You are going to be the death of me, woman," he laughed as he pressed a kiss to the side of my head.
I giggled, leaning further into Edward's embrace and tightened my arm around his waist.

So here's my WitFit entry from January 2nd. Just a warning, the following snippet contains the suggestion of domestic violence and it's briefly described. The word prompt was 'Roots' and this is what my brain came up with.....

You promised to always be here, Eric. Damn you! You promised you’d take care of me. ‘Roots, Bella, we’ll put down roots here. This will be our home and we’ll make our own history right here’, the memory of Eric’s words crashed in on Bella as she holds back the sob. The memory of when she and Eric bought their home and began their life just the two of them and their baby, of what could have been left a gaping hole in Bella’s chest.

So long ago…..seems like a lifetime already. Bella thinks as she contemplates the options available to her and her 12 year old daughter.

At thirty-two Bella has seen more trying times than she cares to remember. She was on the streets by fifteen, married by eighteen, a mother by twenty and a widower by twenty two. Eric dropped out of college when he and Bella got married because his parent’s stopped paying his tuition and turned their back on him completely. Disowning him when he married the ‘street urchin’, so Eric picked up and became a long haul truck driver. He fell asleep at the wheel on his way home from a week long haul and drove off into a ravine just outside their home in Denver, Colorado. Bella and Shaina have been on their own ever since, Eric’s parents never offered Bella or their granddaughter any assistance when their son was killed in a motor vehicle accident.

Eric was an independent driver and hired himself out to various companies. The insurance company ruled the accident driver failure and didn’t pay out. Eric’s life insurance policy only gave Bella enough money to bury him. Bella’s meager earnings from the local diner barely kept food on the table when Eric where alive, now that she was on her own there was no way she and Shaina could keep living in the home she and Eric shared. Shaina was only two at the time.

Though she’s not alone now it infinitely makes the decisions she needs to make more complicated. Bella doesn’t have just herself to think about now, she has a child, a child that she wanted to provide things she never had herself.

A stable home life was the thing she every wanted her daughter to have most. A mom and a dad and the little white picket fence in the residential neighborhood with a dog and all the friends she could keep up with.

God knows, Shaina, has enough to deal with. All she needs is a little bit of normal.

Bella was sure she found that with Mike. He was a good guy, so she thought. Mike Newton provided the illusion of the roots Bella craved for herself and her daughter. When she met mike five years ago he was the answer to prayers Bella had been sending out to a God she wasn’t sure existed any more. Mike’s family connections ran deep in the little town outside of Jackson Hole Wyoming. His parents ran an outfitting company and supplied tourists with the required equipment for everything from Skiing to hunting and fishing. The Newton’s were well known in the community and for all intents and purposes they were well liked and respected. The problems were underneath the façade, behind closed doors the Newton men were overbearing and ruled their house hold with an iron fist.

Unfortunately for Bella and Shaina this was a well guarded secret. By the time it was apparent Bella and Mike were married and starting what she thought was the fairytale ending to the hell her life had been up to that point.

Roots. Bella thinks to herself as she picks the broken glass up from the marble floor, the shattered remnants of the vase she dropped when Mike’s hand connected with her face, all over the entrance of her home. A home she thought would provide what she wanted for her and her daughter. The metallic taste of blood on her tongue and the sting from the cuts on her hand the reminder of yet another time she has disappointed her husband.

I only wanted roots for Shaina. I wanted something better for her. At least she wasn’t home this time. Bella’s mind is in a thousand different directions all at once.

We can live like this anymore. I’ve got to get Shaina out of this house. I’ve got to get out of this house before he kills me.

The barking of Shaina’s little feist dog alerts Bella to her arrival. Bella had gotten the dog for Shaina as a birthday gift just a few months ago. The beating she took that night for going against Mike’s instructions about not getting a dog was one of the worst. But because the neighbors had been there and seen the dog Mike couldn’t get rid of it without notice.

Shaina kept the dog locked in her room every night for fear that Mike would harm it when she was asleep. Bella knew that the only thing Mike liked to hit was her and figured the dog was pretty safe at the present time.

‘Mom?’ Shaina called as she entered through the back door followed closely by the yipping puppy. ‘Mom?’

‘In here, Shaina,’ Bella called out as she dumped the pan of sweepings into the trash bag tying it off to take out to the curb.

‘Mom, you’re never going to believe what ha-‘ Shaina’s words stopped abruptly as she took in Bella’s stance.

Bella stood with her back to her daughter. Truly afraid to turn around and face the little girl who she loved with all her heart.

‘Mom?’ Shaina was hesitant as to how to approach her mother. She was sure she knew what had happened, that her step-father had hit her again.

‘It’s alright, Shaina. Just go on and take Jesse up to your room and get started on your homework, okay? I’m going to take this out to the curb and get dinner started.’ Bella didn’t turn around but made her way to the front door. ‘Go on now, honey.’

Shaina opened and closed her mouth several times before she bent to pick up Jesse and carry him up the stairs to her room. She was so angry she could feel the tears of frustration burning in her eyes. She didn’t understand why her mother took that from Mike. She didn’t understand how Mike could do that to her mother. Shaina wiped angrily at the tears as they fell down her cheeks. The little feist puppy squirmed and licked at her cheeks causing her to giggle despite herself.

Roots. That’s what her mother had told her as to why they were moving yet again. When her mother explained that she was marrying Mike that’s how she explained it, they would have roots, a place to call home, a place to feel safe. But all Shaina felt was anger, hurt and confusion. Her chest tightened with the anxiety and she reached for the inhaler on her desk shaking it before taking a quick shot of the medication that would make her breathing easier.