Dressed in black slacks and an untucked crisp, white button-up shirt, Edward Cullen looked less than ready for the day ahead of him. Sitting comfortably at a brand new stiff black dining table, he couldn't tell if he was supposed to be enjoying his job or not. His gorgeous new "wife" was out in the field. She handled evenings. He wished he'd been assigned nights. Days were always so boring, so mundane.
When he applied to be an "in-field investigator" (he preferred the term spy) with Zone 50, he'd imagined something a little more glamorous than what he was getting. Apparently, you shouldn't pick careers based on your own idealized, cinema-based views. The disappointment, though, did not mean he hated what he did. There were times, more often than not, when he actually enjoyed what he did, but after five years on the job, he'd been assigned a dead-end job. He was located somewhere in the very distant outskirts of Seattle. They were investigating the illegal buying and selling of organs, particularly kidneys. The government had been investigating this particular case for a while but had not been able to get a lock on which doctors were involved. Most people thought developed nations were far ahead of this procedure, but when there is a long waitlist and people become desparate for life, things happen.
Edward and his "wife" had been placed at a relatively unknown hospital as physicians (both were medically trained), Edward as a nephrologist and his "wife" as a family physician. He had received a bit of a crash course in nephrology beforehand. He knew what he was talking about, but he'd done his residency at a Zone 50 sponsored location three years ago. He had obviously needed a refresher.
A lock clicked faintly from the front room and in walked his so-called wife. "Honey, I'm home!" She said sarcastically.
"Good for you. Anything worthy?"
"After a fucking month? I don't think so." Both of them knew they'd been assigned a fairly unimportant location. All the doctors seemed like straight-laced, small-town folk. No one had any idea about any controversy anywhere in the world. They lived in their own small bubbles. Edward couldn't help but be frustrated by the fact that the company had failed to rule out this location beforehand. Nothing was going on here. They didn't even get any major organ transplant cases. Most of those were transferred to the larger hospitals.
"Look Rose, I think at the next briefing we should tell them that nothing's going on here – that we think nothing will happen."
"Look Edward, I don't think they care what we think. I have a better idea."
"Rosalie! I already told you that wouldn't work. They'd just think we were whining."
"I know, but come on! Let's pretend to not get-along. It won't be that hard. Especially since the feelings I have for you don't come close to love."
"Mutual, darling."
Rosalie Hale and Edward Cullen had usually worked in opposite sides of the country and rarely met at the headquarters. It was this way until the two had started training together a few months ago by request from their boss. When they first met, Rosalie had naturally tried to one-up Edward at the shooting range, hand-to-hand combat, study sessions, shortened residency and anything else that came up. She'd always believed in being independent and couldn't stand the fact that she would have to work with someone else, especially a man, in her next assignment. Edward cared less about the competition. At first, he found it minutely irritating, but he'd grown accustomed to it – even fond of it. They'd come to develop more of a sibling bond, which, of course, came with the fights and rivalry.
"On second thought, I think there's supposed to be a new batch of residents coming in soon. I don't think it could be – "
"No, I think it might help. You know what chief said last meeting? The key to going beneath the surface is – "
" – understanding what superiors are telling their inferiors."
"Load of bullshit if you ask me, but I think we might as well pay attention to it. There isn't exactly anything else to do that we haven't done."
"Wait, did you get an invite to the Pharmacists' Christmas Party?"
"Yeah, why?"
"How?!"
"Well, I know a few of the people. Nancy – "
"You were flirting! You fucking hypocrite. You told me stay away from Dr. Schmidt, but you're off with some – "
"I was not flirting. And, Dr. Schmidt is a sleaze."
"Yes, you were. And, you think I didn't know that about him already? I was just working my assets."
"Too much."
"Eddie, I know you have a sad brotherly reflex when it comes to seeing me with men, but let it bring peace to you that I don't plan on changing my status from single to taken any time soon."
He ignored her, and went back to his previous pose: head in resting in his hands, staring out the large glass windows. It looked like it was going to snow soon.
"When are you going in tomorrow?"
His work cell rang as he was about to answer. Looked like he'd be going in today.
Rosalie's pager rang a few moments after he'd received news of someone needing dialysis. He'd forgotten she was on-call this week.
"What is it this time?"
"Some girl broke her arm, opening her car door or something. You?"
"First time dialysis."
"Nice."
"Shall we?" Edward indicated the door with his head. His white coat – a sign of prestige he could care less about – was on the coat hanger right next to it.
"Same car?"
"Sure. If you don't mind hanging around for a bit."
"It's fine. Let's go."
The duo arrived at the hospital in minutes were seeing their respective patients a few seconds after. Edward, surprisingly, finished faster. One of the other doctors on his team said he'd take care of it since the man was actually a former patient of his.
He drummed his fingers on the fading cafeteria table as he waited for Rose to finish up her consult and plaster maybe. He failed to understand why a broken bone required on-call assistance. He heaved a final sigh, but Rose entered on cue with gorgeous brunette beside her. The two were laughing as if they were former acquaintances.
"Edward, this is Bella. Bella, my husband Edward."
Edward smiled brightly, extending his hand toward the beauty before him. She smiled timidly before indicated that she couldn't shake hands. She had a cast on. He laughed at his stupidity and did a Namaste – Indian-style. This received a laugh Bella. Even her laugh amazed him. Goodness, this could not be good. He needed to snap out of it. He was "married" man.
"It's nice to meet you. Rosalie was nice enough to help me out. Actually, my family's out of town, and…well, I tend to be a bit of a clutz."
"I see." He grinned.
"So, you're a nephrologist?"
"No! What gave me away?!" She giggled in response. She obviously seen the title printed on his coat and badge.
"Since you know what we do, what is it that you do?" Rosalie interrupted, giving Edward a knowing look.
"I'm a teacher at the elementary school a few blocks down from here, actually. Perfect location for me."
"That's great. It must be exciting to know that you're changing people." Edward had considered going into lecturing before he'd finally accepted the invitation to join Zone 50 as an analyst, and then locking himself in the career by applying for in-field investigator.
"Well, it's exciting, but it's not all that glamorous." She smiled weakly – perhaps recalling something that had recently occurred with her kids. "Anyway, I should head out. There are fifty papers on my desk just calling my name. It was nice meeting you both, and thank you Dr. Masen – "
"It's Rosalie, please."
" – Rosalie for your help."
"It was no problem." As Bella left, Rosalie turned to Edward, wiggling her perfectly trimmed eyebrows at him.
He laughed loudly – maybe a little too loudly – in response and replied, "Rule number one: Don't bond."
"Like hell. Remember Jones? He dropped out after he met Ivana – who he was supposed to be tailing."
"That's Jones. Anyway, it's not like I'll be seeing her again." He sounded more disappointed than nonchalant.
"It's not like you don't want to. Plus, I've just found out that her dad is chief of police in the town. I think he might know a few things we don't."
"What excuse would we be using to meet this dad?" He sounded incredulous at the idea of going into question an unsuspecting policeman.
"You'll see, darling."