They say when you're facing death, your life flashes before your eyes. Bella Swan used to "poo-poo" the idea, until the red sports car ran the red light. When she saw the pieces of her life in her mind, she suddenly wondered when it became such a complicated web of lies and deceit.

From the outside Bella was an intelligent, beautiful, and witty young woman. She was married to her high school sweetheart, Mike. Together they had faced many adversities but always came out in one piece. They had just settled into a beautiful new home, and Bella was starting a new job with a cutting edge business. It was when you looked deeper at the couple you could see the tattered ends being held together with nothing more than frayed threads.

December 2001
Bella was the first to arrive at the office, as usual. Having always been a morning person, Bella was the only person at Prospect Incorporation that didn't stop at Starbucks for their morning latte and muffin. Settling into her chair at the front desk of the lush office, she was anxious to see if she got the promotion she had applied for. Bella knew she didn't want to be "the welcoming face" of Prospect forever. Her dream was to be in Marketing and Advertising. If only she'd gone to college as planned, rather than putting it off indefinitely for marriage and family, she could already be in that line of work. "College will always be there, Mike might get snatched up while I'm in school!"

"Good Morning, Sunshine!" Bella jumped at Jake's cheery greeting, and flushed when she realized he'd seen it. "You should really learn to tap on a wall, or make a bit more noise when coming down the hall. One of these days you're going to have to pluck me from the ceiling," she said as she rose to greet her co-worker.

Since day one, Bella had butterflies when she saw him. Jake was the (un)lucky one to give Bella the "newbie tour" of the office two months ago. While shadowing him, it became obvious how much they had in common. Both were the oldest of large families in small towns; had married early rather than attending college, and most annoyingly to the rest of the office they were both peppy morning people. The butterflies she felt had absolutely nothing to do with his eyes so brown they looked black, perfect auburn skin, flawless black hair, or even the way his jeans accentuated his perfect ass...or the way he kissed her.

He took her hand and led her to the break room in the back of the office. The room was only used on the off chance someone brought in their lunch, and since it was early December no one had started the New Year's Diet. He pinned her against the wall and kissed her with nothing but adulterous lust. As her knees went weak, the phone rang. Bella turned to answer and Jake pressed her to the wall again.

"Good Morning, Prospect Incorporation," she managed to say as normal as she could. Jake continued kissing her neck and nibbling her right ear as Alice's voice flowed from the receiver on the other ear. "Hey! I'm stopping for a bagel, do you want anything?" Bella tried her best to stifle her gasp as Jake raised her skirt to her waist, grabbing her by the hips. "Oh! Yeah, sure. Hey, why don't you use the company card and grab enough for the office. Boss Man wanted to do something for Emmett's birthday, anyway. Why not kill two birds with one stone, right?" As Jake pulled her satin and lace panties to the side, Bella's knees went weak and she let out a small moan when he teased her with his fingers. "Are you ok? You sound breathless." Oh, Alice, if you only knew! "I'm fine! You caught me coming out of the little girl's room, so I had to run to the phone. I'll see you when you get here, and be careful out there!" Just as she was hanging up the phone (and ready to completely violate Jake) the door chime sounded. "Shit, perfect timing," mumbled Jake as he rushed into the restroom, hiding until the throbbing in his pants subsided.

Present Day
Bella looked around the intersection at the wreckage of the two cars. Horrified witnesses were rushing to the aid of those involved, herself included. "I know I've screwed up, God, but please…please let me live through this." At those words, the scenery and bustle around her turned hazy.

...To Be Continued