Paige's Tumblr Prompt Extravaganza Part One
All rated: T.
All written by: xPaige Turnerx
Summary: Soulmates AU. Bella/Lauren. "The first words you say to your soulmate are marked somewhere on their body.
Greeting Bella is... difficult. Everyone who has, eventually, met her agrees. Nobody knows this better than her best friend, Edward. He tells this to their new manager after the staff meeting, after sitting through all the presentations beside Bella. Smiling apologetically on her behalf as she leaned her chair all the way back, boots up on the edge of the boardroom table, swivelling her chair back and forth to the beat everyone could hear coming from her awkwardly large headphones over her beanie.
She's long gone by the time the meeting is completed. Actually, she's gone just before the end. Grabbing Edward's notes and all but sprinting from the room, off to hide in her office, while Edward assures the necessary people that he'll fill her in on any details she might have (but most definitely) missed.
(Not that it ever matters. There's a reason she's been given so much leash. She doesn't need their details, their meetings, their suggestions. Everything that comes from her office is sublime, or whatever Aro had sung to her last week.)
Still, he lingers behind. Shakes hands with the new branch manager; a pretty girl, much younger than the last. Around his age, if he had to guess, so he makes no show of hiding his admiration.
He laughs in a weak, tired sort of way. His I'm so sorry about her laugh. "She's just... shy," he says flatly and not even he can buy the excuses he serves these days.
"Petulant, more like," the woman scoffs with a shake of her head. Her arms are full of binders and books, ones that Edward offered to carry but quickly backed down at her indignant look. "I doubt she heard a word anyone said in there."
"Probably not," he agrees. The manager, Lauren, he thinks she said, turns to leave. He quickly grabs the glass door for her, following her out into the hall. "It's not, I mean, it is rude, but it's not intentional," he rushes to explain.
No need for this woman to target Bella, and she seems the targeting type. That's a certain amount of drama he's sure he'll get dragged into and that means even less sleep. Jacob's already riding him to ask for an extended vacation in the winter so he has an extra week to catch up on some Z's.
"Bella is-"
"Brilliant," Lauren bites in. She pauses by the cubicles, gazing over the short walls. First days always suck, but this is shaping up to be a particularly shitty one. Her only saving grace is this sweet, elegant boy by her side. Especially when he doesn't ask if she's lost and only nods his head towards her office at the far corner. "Mr. Volturi has a concerning admiration for Miss Swan. Maybe something HR should be aware of."
"Yeah, he likes to collect talent."
The comment is offhanded, mostly a dismissal because as creepy as Aro can be, he's harmless. Harmless and oblivious.
Still, Lauren makes a note of it.
Again, Edward holds open a new glass door. This one belongs to Lauren's office and she sighs in relief. Fearing a dark, dreary little corner, she's rewarded instead with a large, open, window-walled office. Light pours in from two walls, overlooking Seattle, and yes. This will do quite nicely. A good space to live in while she catches up to all the work.
(Her lip curls up in a grimace at the thought of all the boxes in her apartment that she still has to unpack.)
Rearranging the flowers in a vase on her wall shelf (that Lauren also notes with interest, wonders if it's habit or compulsive), Edward chews on his lip hesitantly. "She's not good at greetings."
"Clearly."
"No, she..." he steps farther into her office, lowering his voice despite the door being closed. Giving personal information away makes his skin itch and he knows Bella might punch him later for it. "She has Soulmate issues."
Instinctively, Lauren raises a hand to brush her fingers over her ribs. Mossy green eyes glance down and Edward's face softens, as most people's do when speaking about Soulmates. "She hasn't met hers yet." It's a safe guess, it makes the most sense.
"No, and she's... reluctant." His face shifts to something like a grimace and he steps closer again, motioning with his hand. "I think she's afraid? Her mother died when she was little, so she grew up watching her father mourn the loss of his Soulmate. She had to live with that."
Lauren's gaze falls to the carpet, her lips tugged down in a frown. "Oh, that's... you probably shouldn't be telling me this."
She, of all people, understands the need of privacy.
He jolts in place, as if remembering he's breaking a friend code. "Yes! Well. Sorry. You're the branch manager, and as much as Aro loves Bella, you have more immediate pull over her. Some people take Bella's antics... personally. The last manager did."
"Right," Lauren sighs and rubs her forehead. "I simply don't have the time for personal grudges, Mr. Mason. As long as she does her work, we'll be fine."
"Perfect!" he beams. "That, she can do! Um. Mostly. Due dates and time tables don't always agree with her..." Edward watches Lauren's brows furrow in frustration and shuffles to the door. "Never mind that, I'll make sure she meets them. Everything's - it's fine, she's fine. I'm fine. Bye, Lau - Miss Mallory! God, stop talking. Me! Not you. Oh my god-"
"Goodbye, Mr. Mason!" Lauren cuts him off, holding up her hand.
He gasps in a lungful of air, hand in his hair, and nods graciously. "Thank you."
She watches him yank the door closed and all but flee through the cubicles.
.
.
.
People-watching is an, admittedly, guilty pleasure of hers. She's not unaware of her personality, she knows how she can come across, how people feel about her. This doesn't change anything, she doesn't believe in playing pretend just to make friends.
Despite this, she's thankful every day for Angela and how the kind girl managed to look past Lauren's biting personality all those years ago.
People like to avoid her, she knows. She's known forever. So naturally, it would leave her in the semi-permanent position of watching these people around her, if she can't interact with them. Eventually, it formed into a habit, and then a hobby.
People are weird, she's never bored, it's a win-win.
Watching Bella is... something more.
She doesn't know what-
(Yes. Yes, she does. She's brilliant, after all.)
-but she knows she can't stop and that's potentially dangerous. It's not her fault, though! Not when there's all these oddly charming almost-meetings. Like the one on her third day here in the office.
(Lauren has to fight the urge to rip the coffee maker right out of the wall, cord and all, and hurl it through the window of her office. She hasn't slept in a good thirty two hours, her desk has long since drowned in papers, and now the universe won't let her have one damn cup of coffee.
It's not fair, it's really not, and maybe she's not going to hulk out on the coffee machine, maybe she's just going to lay down here and cry.
Someone comes along and even that dream is taken from her. She sucks in a breath, blinks the sting of tears from her eyes, runs her hands through her hair, and plasters on her Business Boss Face.
Her fingers curl back into her palm, hand still held out to shake her oblivious counterpart's. Lauren blinks a few times, glances around at the few dreary souls still trying to wake up at their desks.
She was not expecting Miss Swan to be one of the firsts into the office.
Bella goes about her morning, utterly unaware of the new boss [kinda] beside her. She hums along to music blaring in her headphones while she digs through the fridge. Ink and paint stain her fingers, pencil smeared on the side of her palm and cheek where she held her face [probably, Lauren assumes] in her hand. Besides that, Lauren can see ink [tattoos, this time] etched into her skin; covering the exposed spanses of her arms, creeping up the side of her neck only to loop to the back and disappear in her hair and under her beanie.
She has that classic creative punk look going for her that Lauren is loathe to admit works.
If that's not bad enough, she's completed the look with some seriously out of place looking glasses. Large and thick and adorable-
[Goddamn, what an adorable hipster.]
Lauren's busy judging and reprimanding herself, but she doesn't miss the way Bella stuffs a can of coke in her back pocket, clenches a bag of goldfish between her teeth, and collects a large bowl from one of the cupboards.
Brown eyes widen in surprise and alarm when Bella finally turns to look at Lauren, reaching for the Frosted Flakes by the coffee maker. There's an awkward pause, an uncomfortable lull. Lauren doesn't know what to do, doesn't want to admit she was staring, doesn't want to address it but how do you not?!
Bella blinks slowly. Those dark eyes flick down to the bags beneath Lauren's, to the coffee maker, and then to the cereal. Slower than necessary, Bella grabs the box and tucks it under her arm. She glances up to meet Lauren's gaze beneath her lashes, still leaning towards the counter, and pushes a button on the top of the coffee machine.
It whirrs to life and Lauren jumps slightly. She breathes out all at once, looks to the machine and-
Fucking.
Great. She didn't push On.
Perfect.
Embarrassment floods her cheeks with a red flourish and she turns to explain her absent mind. Bella's startled look has melted into a smirk or maybe a grin - bag of goldfish between it and all, and winks.
Winks.
She's gone before Lauren composes herself.)
Since then, Lauren't hasn't known how to exactly approach the head of the design department. So she's watching her, instead. Apparently.
And she can't. Stop.
.
.
.
Another month goes by and they haven't talked.
Not really.
Bella, as it turns out, is a very difficult woman to reach. Her schedule it always "full" and she's constantly booked with "meetings" even though Lauren never sees her leave her office. No one enters, either, except for Edward Mason. The two are thick as thieves, as he seems to be the only soul deemed worthy of entry to her dark office across the bullpen from Lauren's.
Her blinds and curtains are always drawn, the door closed, the walls all solid and not glass like Lauren's.
(The blonde wonders if that's a happy accident or if Aro really does love Bella enough to customize her office like that. Enough to tear down and put up new walls.)
Besides this, Lauren has also noticed that Bella refuses to take anything from anyone else. That all the others who have to work with her around the office, send things through Edward if it's vital that Bella takes a peek.
Her frustration grows when she sees Jessica, her new assistant, shoving a memo under Bella's door and knocking once before scurrying away. When questioned later, Jessica's all nervous laughter, with a sheepish, "Oh, just a tip from Edward. She'll deal with it quicker if she doesn't have to talk to people."
The frustration morphs into disbelief when Jessica hands the memo back to her, and notices the notes along the sides.
James in marketing doesn't know his head from his ass. Talk to his partner -Victoria- if you want reliable data. Beware Laurent, his smile's a trap.
The backdrop in our latest models are turquoise btw not "blue"
And we need a new vending machine up here. This one eats quarters. The company owes me a small fortune at this point.
After almost half an hour of searching, Lauren discovers that Bella has long since disabled her work email. HR quoted her as saying it was "pointless distraction. I'm here to draw, not talk to people."
It's then that Lauren decides that she can't decide if Bella is endearing or obnoxious.
.
.
.
Days stretch on forever. Lauren's at work more often than she's at home, but that's nothing new. What's new is that, surprisingly, she's not the last one in the office anymore. Light always spills out from the crack under Bella's office door, even as Lauren drags herself home at two in the morning.
It's... comforting, knowing she's not alone. That finally, finally, someone else takes their job as seriously as she does. That someone else suffers with her, while she watches all her [technically, now] employees punch out at the end of the day. Work completely forgotten. Worries melting from their shoulders.
She rubs at her own shoulders, leaning up in her chair to twist her back. God, she's getting old. One more thing for her parents to bring up at Christmas. Completely ignore the new job opportunity, and jump straight to her shortcomings. How old she's getting, and still single. Still moping around her one bedroom apartment. Alone. Angela, her only friend, married and with children, back at work teaching grade one.
It's mind-boggling how inferior she can feel with the literal heaps of success she's achieved. But maybe inferior isn't the right word. Envious hits closer to home, when she looks at Angela. When she sees her with Ben, with their kids. Happy smiles and soft eyes, not the sharp scowls and barking commands that Lauren has at her own disposal.
Whatever, there's no time to focus on that. This project is due in three months and the techies are still having trouble with the coding.
Movement catches her eye and Lauren sits back. She pulls the pins and ties from her hair, lets it fall down around her shoulders. She's alone in the dark office now. Sort of. Bella's there, somewhere, in her own office. Moving around, actually, by the looks of it.
Lauren pushes her chair back and walks over to the glass wall of her office. She blinks in surprise when the blinds are yanked up in Bella's office, revealing the department head. If possible, she looks more exhausted than Lauren [Lauren hates to admit that Edward was right all those weeks ago. Bella works exceptionally hard].
A piece of paper is smacked against the window beside Bella's face. Blue sharpie scrawled 'no' in the middle of it.
After sifting through her head, Lauren remembers the email she printed out and gave to Jess to slip under Bella's door before she left. She's quickly disgruntled and turns, looking for... something.
She steps away for a few seconds, coming back to the wall and thankful Bella's still there. Watching with those dark, curious eyes of hers. Lauren's hand flows over the mini whiteboard before she holds it up.
It wasn't a request. You're doing the presentation.
Bella's face sinks into more of a pout, cap trapped between her teeth, sharpie yanked out of it.
hell no*
A graceless snort tears from Lauren before she can stop it and she glances down to compose herself, missing Bella's delighted look. She wipes her message away and writes a new one.
30 minutes tops. the other heads complain you never lead the meetings.
A moment passes and Bella disappears. Lauren falters, wonders if she's gone gone. Thinks about going back to her desk, or maybe marching across the bullpen.
Bella's back before she can decide, more paper in hand.
then leave the duffel bag at home next time
Not for the first time when dealing with Bella, Lauren is confused. She stands there, hip leaning against the arm of her little couch, lip between her teeth while she stares at the words. Her mind races. She has no duffel bag. No one in the office brings a duffel bag to work.
Eventually, she shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders. Bella visibly sighs, but her lips are still curved up.
nobody ever gets my movie references. I'm wasting gold on you peasants
Lauren shakes her head again but it's more amused this time. She wipes her message away, taking her time to write this one.
Do the presentation.
Bella's reply is a hanged-man stick figure of herself and Lauren actually laughs this time. Bella's wide smile is maybe worth the mild embarrassment, and so, with a boost of exhaustion fueled lightheartedness, she makes an addition to hers.
Do the presentation. Please?*
Dark eyes stare at her for long heartbeats. Heartbeats that Lauren can feel in her throat, her toes, her fingertips. Her entire body is an echo of anticipation. Bella rolls her eyes and tapes this final piece of paper to the window before letting the blinds drop again.
For you-anything.
.
.
.
The paper is still there when Lauren finally leaves, but gone when she gets in the next morning.
.
.
.
Her door is cracked open.
Her door is cracked open, and Lauren fears that maybe Bella's dead or murdered because her door is cracked open, and this just doesn't make sense.
Also, the presentation is tomorrow, and Lauren just wants to make extra sure Bella's not only willing, but ready. Winging it is not an acceptable goal plan, she's forced to remind the brunette through their window conversations. All she got in response to that is wiggled eyebrows and the middle finger, so she feels justified in going to check in.
She doesn't mean to linger when she hears voices, not really. It just kinda happens because, as she listens to Edward speak, she realizes she's never actually heard Bella say anything.
(And because she is brilliant, she connects the dots and only has half a second to be overwhelmed with daunting realization and suspicion and hope.)
"The guy seems really nice, I'm glad Rose finally found him. I just find it hilarious that he's responsible for the infamous - are you gonna eat that? on Rosalie's shoulder." They both laugh and Lauren marvels at the sound, can see Bella's smile in her mind, and it matches her laughter. "And - yeah, don't even start, I know what you're going to say. Who am I to judge with my poetic, oh wow. It's... it's weird, Bella! A crapshoot. Like, try to imagine it. Try. What do you think your first words to your soulmate are going to be?"
Now is when the realization hits Lauren. When she stumbles into the doorframe and loses her breath. When she's tempted to flee, tempted to storm in and scream, tempted to beg Bella to say anything.
All of these things, she almost misses it.
No grand build up, no theatrical pauses or nuances.
Just a casual, "Probably - hey - 'cause I'm an asshole," Bella snickers.
Lauren's hand is on her ribs, running her fingers over her shirt, along the letter she's memorized by heart. That she spends countless hours dragging her fingertips across, wondering who they belong to.
Probably hey 'cause I'm an asshole.
She pushes the door open with a sort of stunned face. Watches Bella and Edward jump to their feet. Locks eyes with that familiar dark gaze that makes her heart thump awkwardly in her chest. "Yeah, you are."
Edward's knee gives out and he grabs for the chair, staring up at Bella with wide eyes. Bella, who stares down at her wrist.
Hidden in the ink of her tattoos, the words are scrawled elegantly.
Yeah, you are.
.
.
.
First prompt donzo, dudes. More to come.