Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise, I just use their creations to have my wicked way with them. No copyright infringement is intended.

This story wouldn't be what it is without my wonderful beta, The Real Teacher, holding my hand and correcting my many errors. Thank you so much!

Chapter 1 – The Big Apple

Or how I bit off more than I could chew.

The first thing I noticed that morning as I stumbled into the kitchen was a bright pink post-it note stuck to the polished black fridge.

Lucien's at seven.

No excuses.

I chuckled. At least Rose and Alice were nothing if not predictable.

I'd already suspected a summons from the two of them would come as soon as I resurfaced after my weeklong trip. After all, family road trips usually made for great entertainment and, well, if that family happened to be the Swan family…let's just say that kicked the whole entertainment factor up a notch or two.

I yawned, reaching blindly for the coffee maker, pressed the 'on' button and headed back into my room to grudgingly complete my morning ritual.

Six-thirty AM could kiss my ass.

Seriously? Who ever came up with the whole notion of having to start your workday so ridiculously early? Was it some kind of particularly masochistic son of a bitch who got his kicks by torturing him or herself and others by wanting to get up so damn early? Had it been a sadistic rich bastard who got off on seeing his staff trudge into the office half asleep every morning? Or was it simply one of those horrible, horrible mutations of mankind who called themselves 'morning people'.

Ugh! I hated those, even though I seemed to attract them like flies to a fresh pile of dung. Which happened to be exactly how I was feeling right now.

Like crap.

Growing up with my mom – who happened to be one of those annoying people who could be all peppy, cheerful and ready to go no matter how early they were forced out of their beds – hadn't been so bad (apart from a few incidents) since the fact that she was outnumbered three to one in our house had basically neutralized any attempts she'd made at being cheerful and peppy in the mornings.

Alice, however, was a whole different ballgame.

Which was why it was a godsend that Alice – my roommate and colleague – had to be at the magazine at eight AM – most of the times even before that – while I was a regular nine-to-five kind of girl.

I made my way through a quick shower and spruce-up on auto-pilot, still feeling the effects of an eleven hour flight followed by four hours of sleep as I tried to pry my eyes open long enough to squeeze my contact lenses in between my lids and apply a quick coat of mascara. I sighed, brushing some lip-gloss onto my lips as I shot a sideways glance at the messy pile of pillows and sheets on my bed.

It had never looked so tempting before.

Still, after a week of lounging on the beach with a book in my hands and a parasol protecting me from the Hawaiian sun while sipping on a cocktail, going back to work was oddly refreshing and…normal. Besides, waking up after four hours of sleep wasn't that bad compared to waking up at seven to the sounds of Emily, my newly pregnant sister in law, puking her guts out in the bathroom next to my room or those of my mom and dad bickering over the fact that dad had spent yet another morning fishing while he should have been 'engaging in family activities' with the rest of us.

Dad had never been that much of a team player, which might explain why they'd made him the chief of police. At least that way he could give orders instead of having to follow them – which, by the way, was another thing my dad didn't particularly enjoy.

He must have been good at what he did though, considering the fact that he'd been chief for the better part of two decades, making him a sort of permanent fixture in town. Kinda like the Timber Museum or The Lodge. They'd been there as long as anyone could remember and long enough for no one to question their right to be there.

By the time I was finished in the bedroom, my coffee was brewed to its black, slightly-stronger-than-usual perfection, a small groan escaped my lips as its powerful aroma rose up while I poured it into my travel mug.

Dear coffee, oh how I love thee. Especially in the morning.

Fifteen minutes later and I pushed myself into an already overcrowded subway trail, trying to ignore the glares and groans of the people around me as I squeezed myself in, barely managing to grab hold of something I could faintly make out was a handlebar and not some random protruding appendage (I found out the hard way that a girl should always – and I do mean always – look before she grabs) before the carriage shot into motion, a wave of swaying bodies almost sending me crashing to the floor.

As everyone inside the carriage continued to get jostled around as the train crashed through the darkness of the New York subway system, my eyes fell on a small girl, sitting on her mother's lap; her eyes wide in wonder and her arms clutching a huge, well worn teddy bear to her tiny frame as if she was terrified some punk would try to steal it from her.

She reminded me of me, three years ago, when I first arrived in the city.

Well, minus the teddy bear that was.

Moving to New York had been the single most daring step I'd ever taken in my life but it had also been the best decision I'd ever made. I had been at the lowest point in my life, having just lost everything I ever wanted and not knowing what the hell to do with myself or my future but to get as far away from Forks as possible – and Mike, my miserable, cheating ass of an ex-husband as I could ever get.

When my cousin Alice had first suggested moving to New York when I'd called her – snot sobbing as I told her about the horrible fail train my life had turned into – I'd thought she was joking. Me, miss-goody-two-shoes-never-did-a-wrong-thing-in-her-life-because-she-was-too-scared-to-be-a-badass, Bella Swan moved to the big scary metropolis? Never!

However, two disastrous run-ins with the Newton clan later and I was on a plane headed to aforementioned scary metropolis after Alice had somehow managed to get me an interview with Jane Livingston, editor in chief of Epicenter; a magazine I only knew from the glossy covers that shone up at me from the newsstand.

The look on my dad's face when, two days later, I came back to announce I'd not only gotten the job but would be moving to New York, would have been priceless if the throbbing vein in his forehead didn't have me worried he'd die of an aneurysm before I'd ever finished telling him how great an opportunity this had been.

His answer was something along the lines of 'Over my dead body will my baby girl move to that disgusting Walhalla of drug lords, serial rapists and knife wielding gang thugs.' Which, also, would have been funny if part of me wasn't shit scared that he may have been right.

It had taken another call from my cousin – who happened to be the kind of girl who could charm a cow into buying our milk if she put her mind to it – to explain that though she'd been living in New York for eleven years now, she'd yet to encounter any drug lords, serial rapists or knife wielding gang thugs and that she would be taking excellent care of me because I would be moving in with her.

At least that got the throbbing vein to retreat back into my dad's skull, though I don't think he ever got over the fact that his little girl was living in a town that, as far as he was concerned, was Sodom and Gomorra all stuffed into one big dangerous hotbed of crime and vice. At least, not if the steady stream of mace cans and state-of-the-art deadbolts he kept sending me were something to go by.

Still, even in spite of all my dad's warning I'd fallen in love with the city almost the minute I first set foot on its soil; the versatility and constant buzz of activity created a constant tension; a hum that crawled under my skin and opened up my senses in a way I'd never experienced in Forks or even in Seattle, while the vastness of the town provided me with the anonymity I craved after being subjected to the small town gossip circuit for most of my life.

The city was everything I wanted, right when I needed it most.

As was my job.

When I first started out as a junior editor at a glossy magazine, I could never have imagined I would grow to love my job as much as I did right now. As grateful as I'd been to both Alice and Jane for taking a chance on a girl who's only experience in editing was a part-time job at a local newspaper, I'd seen my job as a temporary thing; a position that would do me fine for the time being while I kept my ear to the ground in search of something that was more…..me.

As the weeks went on, though, and I started to get more accustomed to working in a large office where office talk evolved mainly about clothes, culture and celebrities instead of 'hard news', I was quite shocked to realize how much I enjoyed myself there.

In fact, I was having more fun at work that I ever had.

Epicenter, though glossy in every aspect of the word, didn't cater to the same niche as say Vogue, Elle or other high-end glossies did. It focused more on young, hardworking professional women who had some money to spend but didn't want to spend all of said money on clothes that were ridiculously expensive no matter how pretty they were. Sure, clothes still took up a sizeable portion of our magazine but the prize tags were a lot more realistic to the average budget and next to fashion spreads we also had interviews with the people that dominated the news, photo reports contributed by up and coming art photographers and articles that actually carried some substance instead of focusing on the latest hot new teen star.

I looked up, breathing in the fresh – or at least in comparison to the staleness of the subway – air as I emerged from the subway at the corner of 42nd and Times, my legs automatically carrying me down the streets towards the high-rise office building on 6th Avenue.

Work.

The sheer business of the town, even at eight-thirty on a Monday morning, never ceased to amaze me even after years of submerging myself in it. Sure, Forks had rush hours in the morning but over there it usually meant that there would be five cars lined up in front of the traffic light instead of you being the only one. Over here….it seemed like the whole city was on their feet, rushing towards work or other engagements that had them pushing people out of the way or cussing up a storm as if their lives depended on getting where they needed to be on time.

Which, given the current economic climate, might not have been that far from the truth.

Nothing much seemed to have changed at the 22nd floor, the one completely occupied by Epicenter. Lauren was still sitting behind the desk with a look on her face as if she'd just been forced to gnaw down a lemon, her hands busy filing her nails into ten perfect little murder weapons while she spoke disinterestedly to someone on the phone, one of her brows rising up in greeting as she spotted me coming out of the elevator.

"Bella!" Riley squealed as I walked into the huge open plan office space occupied by most of the editorial staff. "Look at you, girl! I do believe that's a slight hint of a tan I spot on you!"

I rolled my eyes, how was it possible for a single person to be quite so….over the top? "How are things around here? Did Charlotte and Kate manage to hold down the fort while I was away?"

"They did just fine," Riley grinned. "In fact, they did so fine that we barely even noticed you were gone….well, apart from the fact that the atmosphere seemed to have been a whole lot calmer now that our resident raging control freak wasn't chasing after us with her 'to do lists'."

"Fuck you!" I growled, flipping him the bird as I booted up my computer.

"Sorry darling, you're not my type," Riley snickered before turning serious, his tall frame leaning against the side of my cubicle as he studied me. "So how was Hawaii?"

He grinned at the smile that appeared on my lips, even before I could say anything. "It was amazing."

And it really was because even in spite of my parents' bickering and my sister in law's puking, the island had been beyond belief, its bright colors and clear waters almost painful on the eyes at first and the people incredibly friendly even though they had to deal with hordes of annoying tourists all the time.

Besides….when did mom and dad not nag at each other about the small things in life? It was kind of their way of showing how much they loved and cared about each other. And Emily….she was having a baby! I was going to be an aunt! That news alone made the trip amazing and well worth while the nausea of hearing someone puke their guts out a few feet away from you every morning.

Riley listened with rapt attention as I gave him a detailed account of everything I'd seen and done, from the snorkeling and being tickled by exotically colored fish to my first and last attempt at surfing and my chagrin when both my dad and my brother Sam managed to shoot across the water perfectly at the end of the day while I couldn't even stand up straight without face planting in the water.

"So where are Alice and Rose?" I asked as I finished my account of my trip. "Is Alice out on a shoot?"

My cousin had come very far in the eight years she'd worked at the magazine, climbing up from a simple accessory stylist to assistant art director in record time. Then again, she was amazing at what she did. Her sense of style had always been impeccable, even when she was still young, and that combined with an almost inhuman prediction of fashion trends had made her virtually indispensable around this place.

Riley nodded. "She's at a shoot in Central Park all day…something about the modern Garden of Eden or other sales crap to get women to buy clothes they don't need."

"Hey!" I snorted. "It's because of her tempting people into buying crap they don't need that you and I can pay our rent, so please don't bite the hand that feeds you!"

He rolled his eyes. "Rose is out with Jane. I think they went to preview the fall collection of that new designer…..you know? Garrett Young?"

"Ah!" I smiled. Alice had been nagging about the guy for ages. Apparently he was going to be the next big thing in fashion which wouldn't be surprising seeing as he was young, good-looking and straight, three things you didn't often find in a fashion designer. "I hope someone gave him a courtesy call before they sprung Rose on the poor guy."

Riley chuckled. "And ruin all the fun?"

I laughed along with him, my eyes widening at my computer screen as I opened my mail inbox to find a shitton of unread messages. "Fuck, Riley, I have to get to work if I want to answer all this stuff."

"I won't keep you," he grinned, using his heels as leverage to push himself away from the wall. "It's good to have you back."

I smiled, watching as he walked around the wall to the adjacent cubicle, his office chair squeaking as he flung his long limbs into it. "It's good to be back."

"Isabella Swan." We both jumped as the sound of Jane's voice drifted through the open-plan-office. "My office. Now."

Riley shot me a worried look. "What did you do, Swanny?"

I shrugged, feeling a little panic. "I honestly don't know." Unlike a great many others in this room, being summoned into the dragon lady's office wasn't something that happened to me a lot. It was one of the perks of being a completely neurotic and out-of-control control freak that I rarely ever messed up when it came to my job.

Uncertainties scared me which was why I always made sure.

What had me even more puzzled was the fact that, since I'd walked into the office three hours ago, I hadn't really done anything worthy of receiving an executive bitch-slap.

"Well, go on!" Riley pushed me, looking a little worried as I made my way down to the executive suite.

As I hovered outside the outer office, quickly running a hand through my hair and checking to see if my clothes were all in place, I mentally cursed myself for not paying better attention. Riley had told me Jane and Rose would be out and I – being the idiot that I was – had naturally assumed that that meant they would be out for quite some time….

I should have known better, though.

Rose had just put the receiver down as I walked in. "So you're back in one piece!" It was a close to a 'welcome back, I've missed you' as you were going to get from Rose.

When I'd first started working here, I'd been borderline scared of the imposing beauty and snark of Jane Livingston's personal assistant. No matter what Alice said about her being as harmless as a newborn Golden Retriever puppy, Rose could be pretty damn scary when she wanted to which, I'd come to realize, was exactly why Jane had hired her.

Over the years I'd come to know her better though. Her behavior, though still bordering (or crossing) the fine lines between assertive and insulting was merely a front she'd put up to escape the common prejudice attached to beautiful blond girls who had money in the bank. She's simply been through too much shit because of her looks to remain friendly and open to just anyone.

As a friend, however, she was completely loyal and fiercely protective if not brutally honest and frighteningly commanding if she thought the occasion called for it.

"Do you know..." I mouthed at Rose, nudging my head in the direction of the inner office.

"Not a clue." Rose shook her head, her fingers stalling over her keyboard for a moment as she urged me on. "Go on! You know better than to keep her waiting."

I swallowed hard, taking a few deep breaths and pulling my shoulders back as I walked into my boss' office, determined not to show my fear. After all, walking in there was like charging into a lion's den: one sudden movement or show of weakness and you knew you would be eaten alive.

"Ah, Bella," Jane's smile caused my levels of discomfort to rise to almost painful levels. "Take a seat."

I obediently trudged to the seat she pointed out to me, silently reminding myself that Jane, though scary, was no Anna Wintour who ate interns for breakfast, editors for lunch and executives for dinner. That being said, she, like her more famous colleague, was a fixed mark in New York's fashion world and could make or break someone's career with a quick snap of her fingers, her fame rising to such extents that only her first name sufficed when speaking of her.

"You wanted to speak to me?" my voice was awfully shaky as it pieced the silence.

"Over the last three years I've come to know you as a dedicated member of my staff," she started, pressing the tips of her fingers together so that her hands formed a triangle in front of her chest as she stared at me, her cold, blue eyes revealing nothing about what was going on behind them, "as well as one of the best editors we have on staff."

I frowned, her compliments coming completely out of the left field. What the hell was going on? Was this some kind of reverse-psychology thing?

When she kept on staring at me I realized she was waiting for me to say something. "Uhm….thanks?" I offered, a small nod telling me I'd probably said the right thing.

"However, I think there's more to you than what you've shown us," she went on, her words confusing me more with every single one she uttered, "which is why I want to offer you another job…..one that will allow you – and us – to make full use of your talents."

"O-okay?" I stuttered, confusion now giving way to complete, blind panic.

Jane chuckled. "Don't you want to know what that offer is?"

"Errrr….Yes?" I squeaked, cursing my sudden inability to speak more than two words together in a sentence.

"Upstairs," she nudged her head upwards to indicate she was talking about the Volturi Publishing Group bigwigs, the ones who own this magazine and a whole lot more, "wants us to add a regular travel section to the magazine. According to them it would add to the 'versatility of this publication'."

She snorted, her lips pursing together to make clear what she thought of their interference in the way her magazine was run. "I'm willing to give it a go as long as the new travel section fits in with the rest of the magazine. Which is where you come in."

My brows furrowed in confusion. "But….I'm not….."

"I overheard you talking to Riley earlier when the two of you were discussing your trip to Hawaii." She sat back, her eyes shining with….something as she studied me. "I think you'll be perfect for the job."

If my life had been published in cartoon shape, this would be the moment where a huge hole in the floor would swallow me whole or where my body would explode in a fit of panic. "W-what?" I stammered, thinking I must have misheard. "But I'm no good at that! I've never even travelled further than Hawaii!"

"Which is exactly why I want you to do this!" Jane insisted. "You have a fresh, unjaded view of the world, just like much of our readers will have. Besides, I know you can write…I've seen some of the pieces you've contributed. You'll be perfect."

"I…" I opened and closed my mouth a few times without words coming out. "I don't know…."

Jane scowled, obviously having expected more enthusiasm. "Think about it, Bella. I expect your answer first thing tomorrow morning."

And with that and a nudge towards the door I was dismissed.

oOo

"Bella!" I shocked out of my trance by the snap of a pair of fingers, to see Alice and Rose looking at me with bemused smiles.

"Our waiter wants to know if you want any more wine," Alice clarified.

"She'll have more wine," Rose answered before I could say something, turning to me when I scrapped my throat in annoyance. "Believe me, honey, you need more wine."

I rolled my eyes, moving a few leftover bits of lettuce form my appetizer around on my plate.

"What I don't understand," Alice mused as our waitress was out of earshot, "is why Jane wants to spend all this money on a new recurring item when she's always nagging at us to keep the cost down."

She shot me an apologetic glance before she went on. "I mean, not that I'm not ecstatic for you, Bella, but sending you on road trips around the world seems kind of….outrageously expensive if you'd ask me."

I nodded. "Yeah, I've been wondering about that myself."

"I think I can explain," Rose said, both of us turning at her as she went on. "I read something about this kind of stuff a while back. It turns out that many of the major cities and other popular – or not so popular but wanting to become popular – tourist haunts actually have a budget for self promotion. They can spend that whichever way they like….running ads on major television stations and in magazines and stuff….but those always look kinda forced."

I nodded. "You mean the ones with all those people who look so happy you're starting to wonder what kind of drugs they're on?"

"Exactly," Rose grinned. "Flying in a bunch of journalist to take a look for themselves and write about it will put out a much more realistic view…at least, that's what they're hoping for."

"But what if Bella completely hates one of the towns she visits?" Alice frowned. "Wouldn't that create a problem for them and the magazine?"

Rose shrugged. "I guess they are just going to have to make sure Bella enjoys herself while she's in town. Or Bella is going to have to connect with her inner diplomat."

"Bella isn't even sure if she wants to be entertained by foreign cities," I squeaked, all the talk about problems and being dragged out of the safety of my office and into the great unknown shooting me right back into panic mode. "In fact…..Bella is thinking her boring little desk job has never looked quite so good as it has right now."

"Jeez, Bella!" Rose huffed. "Will you please take a moment and fucking listen to yourself? You just get offered the opportunity of a lifetime and all you can think about is how this disrupts your perfect little organized life?"

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head in disbelief. "I know you're a control freak and all that but don't you think this is taking things a bit too far?"

I sighed, knowing she was right. "I just don't know, Rose." I held up my hand to stop her before she could interrupt me. "I know Jane was right when she told me that this job would offer me the opportunity to do what I've always wanted to do but then again….I like what I'm doing right now. I'm just not sure if I want to risk all of the stuff I've worked for over the last three years on something I'm not even sure I can pull off!"

"But if you don't take a chance, you'll never find out!" Rose fumed.

"I agree with Rose here, hun," Alice's softer voice chimed in. "I know it's scary to put yourself out there like that but we both think you can do it and so does Jane. Just…..give it a go….see what it's like. If by the end of the day you still feel it's not for you, you can always go back to your old job."

"I know," I tried to squeeze a non-existent piece of dirt from underneath my fingernails – anything not to look at my two best friends. – as I contemplated their words.

I knew I'd just have to get over myself and take the leap. This was too good an opportunity for me to pass up on. Still…

"If you don't take this offer you're going to spend the rest of your life wondering what might have happened if you did," Alice pressed on, her arm slipping around my shoulders. "You're going to regret it, Bella."

"I know." I nodded grudgingly. "It's just….I can't get over the 'what if's'."

The increased pressure of Alice's body against mine told me she understood, both of us smiling forcedly as she gave me a moment to let it all sink in.

"You need to get laid." Alice and I both looked up in utter shock at Rose's words.

"What?" I arched my brow, still wondering if I'd heard her right.

"Seriously," Rose shrugged. "You're wound tighter than a fucking spring. A good old fucking from a guy you'll forget the minute he skips out of your house the next day will be just the thing to help you unwind some of that tension and hopefully remove that stick that's been wedged up your ass."

"Thanks but no thanks," I smirked, the whole prospect of having one night stand being enough to send my heart into overdrive (and not in a good way). "Unlike you, I don't really see the appeal in having someone I know nothing about stick his dick inside of me. I mean…..I don't know where it's been before me or what kind of personal hygiene regimen it sticks to and….just…..yuck!"

Glancing sideways at Alice I could see that she was in perfect agreement with me, her head bobbing up and down like one of those bobblehead figures as I went on. "Besides…..if worst come to worst I always have my trusty rabbit to help me out."

Rose snorted. "Yeah right! Like it's the same as getting drilled to within an inch of your life by some hot piece of man meat!"

"Rose!" Alice hissed. "I think that's the last thing Bella needs right now. She needs focus, not distraction."

Rose rolled her eyes amusedly. "I should have known you two prudes would stick together on this one!"

"I'm not…." Alice started, looking a little less confident now that she was in the hot seat.

"You're not?" Rose challenged her, a wicked smile gracing her perfect features. "Then please tell me: when was the last time you saw some live action?"

"I get plenty of action,' Alice pouted, narrowing her eyes.

"Oh really?" Rose arched her brow, easily catching Alice on a blatant lie.

I guess that was what you got by being an open book. All three of us knew that the moment Alice would find a guy she liked well enough to let him into her pants, she'd tell us as soon as she'd regained her breath after.

Alice growled. "I'm a career driven single girl living in a fabulous town. I don't need a man to make me feel good!"

"Stop quoting the damn Pussycat Dolls if you know what's good for you," Rose snorted. "Oh, and before I forget: how's Jasper?"

Jasper Whitlock had been the object of Alice's never wavering affection ever since he'd first sauntered into the office, two years ago. The look on Alice face as he marched into the conference room, all laidback swagger and Southern gentleman, was priceless. I'd never seen her look quite so flustered and that was saying a lot since I'd been there the day my fashion minded cousin had held her first pair of Jimmy Choo's in her hands…

The thing about them was, though, that they were both far too shy around each other to take any kind of action. In the two years they'd known each other – and hovered around each other as if in orbit – they'd been on business trips to Paris, Milan and other romantic cities around the globe but even in spite of Alice's solemn vows that this time she was going to take some action, nothing ever happened. They just idolized each other too damn much to ever take the first step; worried that if they really did this, the bubble would burst and they would both end up disappointed and uncomfortable since both their jobs forced them into each other's company all the time.

It was quite fascinating – if not a little sad – to watch both of them – equal amounts of hope and frustration – as they mooned over each other around the conference table, unknowing of the fact that their coworkers had set up a pool on how long they'd hold out.

Alice paled, her mouth opening and closing a few times without any sound coming out before the paleness slowly turned into a hot-headed crimson. "You. Did not. Just. Say. That!" she hissed, her small hands balling into tiny fists on top of the table.

Rose wasn't impressed, though. "Did too," she taunted, licking her lips as she finally put her cutlery down. "So how was he?"

Alice huffed. "Great. Never better."

"Did you guys talk?"

"What did you think?" Alice hissed. "I was at the fucking park with him all day, overseeing a fashion shoot he was executing. It's not like it could have been avoided."

Rose rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."

"No," Alice sighed dejectedly. "The evil-stick-figure-who-shall-not-be-named was there."

Rose and I both smirked, knowing that the presence of the evil ex would put a damper on any subtle (or not so subtle) flirting Alice would have had planned for that day.

"I really don't understand why Jane keeps insisting on hiring her," Rose growled. "Sure, she has arms and legs and everything in the right place, but if you'd ask me, her ugly personality shines through in every picture."

Alice rolled her eyes, her hand graciously swirling the burgundy liquid in her glass before she put it to her lips and drowned her wine in one huge gulp. "It's not like you're going to get any argument from me on that!"

"Or me!" I chimed in. "Why'd she even want to work with Jasper after he broke it off? Does the bitch have some kind of masochistic streak we don't know off?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Alice grumbled, "though I suspect she wants to try and win him back."

"So beat her to it," Rose snarled, the three of us united in our hate of Maria Salazar. "Show that bitch who's boss!"

"Amen!" Alice and I giggled as we both spoke at the same time, raising our glasses – mine full, hers empty - as we clinked our glasses, sealing the deal, the waitress bringing over our dessert – one crème brulée with three spoons – looked at us as if she wasn't quite sure whether to call the cops or chime in.

The appearance of our shared dessert was enough to shut the three of us up, looks being shared across the table as we all tapped our spoons impatiently, not wanting to be the first to dig in, before Rose finally had enough of it and – with an epic eye roll – cracked the caramel surface of the dessert, making all three of us moan as the sweet scent wafted up from the scorching ramequin bowl.

Dinner ended soon after that, the three of us walking out of the restaurant stuffed to the brim as we braved the cold February air. Alice and I said goodbye to Rose at the entrance to the subway, the two of us relegated to the horrors of public transport while Rose opted to take a cab uptown to her swanky Upper East Side flat.

Spoiled little rich bitch!

Still, I would go out on a limb and say that out of the three of us, Alice and I had the better entertainment on our way back home, the homeless guy trying to make music by clinging a penny against his teeth while all around him couples engaged in increasingly R-rated actions as others – including the two of us – stared at them in wonder, probably beating any kind of diversion a Manhattan cab driver could throw at you.

"You wanna go to bed?" Alice asked as we finally made it through our front door again.

I smirked, my head spinning way too fast for me to think that I would be able to get any kind of rest within the next hour or so. "Not really."

"Couch. Ten Minutes," Alice ordered, smiling satisfactory. "The first one to arrive makes the popcorn."

"Kay." I rolled my eyes, knowing that I would be the one to provide the sustenance.

Ten minutes later I was back in the living room, my work clothes exchanged for my pajamas and my hair up in a messy bun. "What do you wanna watch?" I asked, flipping through the channels as Alice scampered back into the room.

"Dunno," Alice shrugged. "Nothing too challenging, though, because I'm tired as hell. I think that vampire series is on….."

I snorted. "Which one?" Over the last couple of months vampires seemed to have taken over the cable networks, with new series sprouting up like mushrooms.

"You know," Alice's brows knitted together as she tried to come up with an explanation. "The one where they go at it like rabbits all the time."

"Yeah, like that narrows it down a lot!" I rolled my eyes, tossing her the remote control. "Seriously, should we be getting worried when evil creatures who are supposed to be death get more action than we do? I mean….we're young and not that unfortunate looking. Shouldn't we be out there….you know? Dating?"

Alice shrugged, obviously not seeing why that was such a big issue. "We're picky."

I sighed. Easy for her to say. She had Jasper and though neither of them seemed to be able to get out of the 'oh-I-wonder-if-he/she-feels-the-same-way-about-me stage and actually do something about the feelings they had for each other, at least she had something. Which was more than could be said about me.

As much as I hated the way things had ended between me and Mike, I had to admit that sometimes I missed the companionship you shared with your partner. It was just the simple things, like his arm wrapped around my shoulders as we walked home late at night after visiting some friend of family member; a single red rose to apologize for being late after a meeting or just because he happened to walk past the flower shop and remembered how much I loved roses; his arms wrapped around me at night, letting me know I would always be safe around him…

I huffed, the pleasant memories of my years with Mike soon supplanted by the bad. The reproaches, the constant comparison to his mother….his infidelity.

No, I was better off out here, single and living with my best friend. It may have lacked the warmth and safety of being in a relationship but at least this way I was in control of my own heart….my own heartbreak.

"You're awfully quiet," Alice remarked, shoving a handful of popcorn into her mouth while in front of us a bunch of vampires were fucking like it was the Apocalypse and they wanted to go out with a bang. Literally.

"I'm just tired, that's all," I shrugged. "In fact, I think I may call it a night."

"After the day you've had, that doesn't surprise me. You'll be missing out on a whole lot of hot monkey vampire sex, though," Alice smiled back at me. "Good night, Bella."

I reached towards her to ruffle her hair before kissing the top of her head. "Good night, you crazy little elf."

She growled, one of the couch pillows landing against the back of my head as I made my way to my bedroom. Alice always hated being called an elf, or just about every other nickname that had something to do with her small size.

Which was exactly why Rose and I loved to grab every occasion we could find to tease her with it.

"Oh and Bella?"

I turned around. "Yeah?"

"Take the damn job."

I chuckled, shaking my head as I crossed the threshold to my own little sanctuary, closing the door behind me.

She was right, though.

As I looked around the familiar L-shaped room, one side filled with books and a worn, old-fashioned lounge chair and a side table that held my laptop and some work stuff, the other by my bed, I realized that as comfortable and safe as I felt here, I would always regret it if I didn't take Jane up on her offer.

Three years after I'd done what no-one could ever have imagined I would do: leave the safety of my home town for the uncertainty of a new life in a bustling metropolis; it was time to take another plunge into the deep.

Yes.

Starting tomorrow, I, Bella Swan, was going to become a travel journalist.

God help me.

Like it?

This story couldn't have been more different from Absolution. There will be a lot less drama (can I get a hallelujah for that?) thought there will be some. First and foremost, however, this will be a love story.

Impatient to meet Edward? You will get your fix of Bohemian-photographer-ward (I'm going to have to come up with a shorter name for him) in the next chapter, though reviewers will get a sneak peek at him before that.

Follow me on twitter for updates on my writing and everything else. I'm missbaby25 over there.

Review and I'll tease ya.