Chapter One

And so He returns

You could feel the atmosphere change almost immediately in the studio. The radio station was a buzz all of a sudden but there was no indication yet as to what was going on. The whispers were so loud in fact they began to drown out the local DJ's morning show. DJ Manic Mike looked up and met Bella's gaze. Shrugging her shoulders she let him know she had no idea what the uproar was about.

At first Bella Swan had not noticed the intense shift in the room. She was concentrating on the show and the roster of performers that had agreed to interviews on the show. It was nothing new for celebrities to frequent the studio on a regular basis. Once Bella's distracted mind realized something was amiss only a few seconds had gone by. Bella looked up from her schedule for the day.

Bella looked around the room and into the studio again trying to understand what was going on. She had expected the talent for the day to be entering the studio in about 30 minutes and was sure the group had arrived early.

Only a minute had gone by and the commotion had already started to settle down. Most of the office was still excited and seemed to be on pins and needles. The women were definitely reacting differently. Bella knew for sure it was the talent of the day at that point. James typically had that effect on women. He was tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. Bella had never found herself attracted to him. Although most women swooned not because he was attractive but more that he was a celebrity. However, this was more of a buzz than even a local celebrity like James was used to causing.

Bella searched the room for a more specific cause to all of the loud whispers and giggles. Not to mention the urgently applied make up. It only took another second for Bella to discover the cause. Bella immediately felt sick to her stomach. She debated on weather or not she needed to run to the nearest bathroom or just hit the nearest trash can. The nausea was immediate and unfortunate. She felt faint and the terror that hit her was sudden and painful.

She swallowed hard and choked back the urge to run out of the room. Bella grabbed onto the counter she had been standing at and fought her body's urge to collapse. Her heart was beating out of her chest as she watched her past walking slowly through the room. Bella watched the tall dark-haired former love of her life stroll slowly through the lobby of her office building. Several of her co-workers were huddled around him. Bella immediately started looking for the nearest way out. This man was even more amazing than Bella had remembered. Bella had spent years trying to forget, forget his perfect face, voice and features. Every woman Bella had ever known had considered him the most perfect man on earth. Of course Bella disagreed she considered him the last person she would ever want to be face – to – face with again.

Bella had almost figured out her escape route when her boss and also the station owner made eye contact with her. Bella looked directly at him and then glanced at the man beside him. Edward Cullen. No wonder there had been such uproar in the studio. Edward was the hottest super star on the charts right now. He was internationally known and hailed as the new John Mayer as far as guitar skills were concerned. His voice was as close to perfect as you could ask for and he could melt a woman with his voice, eyes, or simply a strum on his guitar. Bella squeezed her eyes shut and hoped she was hallucinating.

When Bella opened her eyes again her boss Mr. Newton was already heading her way. Mr. Newton waved at her and smiled. Inside, Bella cringed and screamed. "Please God NO!" Bella started looking around more franticly now. "Please Please Please" Bella chanted under her breath this time. Bella knew they were heading towards her. What Bella didn't know was how in the hell she was going to get out of there. Keeping her head down Bella tried to slowly slip out of the room and into the nearest conference room. "BELLA! Hey Bella!" Mr. Newton was calling to her but she pretended she didn't hear him. "BELLA!" this time the voice was a little on the annoyed side. Bella stopped in her tracks and turned slowly, not ready to face the hell she was about to come face to face with.

Edward was looking directly at her, staring to be exact. Bella's breakfast gave a nice little lurch in her stomach. She swallowed hard before attempting to speak. "Mr. Newton, Good morning." She didn't stutter which was a blessing. It helped her feel a little stronger. More prepared for the confrontation that was sure to follow. Bella immediately thought to herself "Why are you so worked up? "It's not like you ever meant anything to him anyway" It had been over 10 years since she had laid eyes on Edward, in person. Of course Bella had seen him on the cover of every magazine, tabloid, and internet gossip site around. More specifically she had seen him on all of those publications with the arm of every beautiful woman, actress, model you could imagine.

Edward just like every superstar had started as nobody in the industry 10 years ago. He took himself and his brothers and sisters to the top. International celebrity status was almost impossible to obtain yet Edward had achieved it. Every place Edward performed, walked, spoke women threw themselves at him. They threw there hotel keys, panties, phone numbers. It was all very common and for Edward it had become a way of life. For Bella she felt really stupid thinking he would even remember her. He had made it pretty clear that she was nothing to him.

After an awkward moment of silence Mr. Newton finally spoke. "Bella, this is Mr. Edward Cullen I am sure you know who he is." Bella let out the breath she just realized she was holding. "Yes, of course" Bella replied. "Hello, Mr. Cullen" finally making eye contact Bella waited for his response. "Hello, Bella It's been a long time" Edward was smiling his famous smile at her. "CRAP" Bella thought to herself. "You two know each other?" Mr. Newton's interest had been peaked. This was already heading into dangerous territory for Bella. "As a matter of fact Bella and I go way back" Edward took a step closer to her as he spoke again. "Don't we, Bella, way back isn't that right" Bella swallowed hard once again. "You could say that I guess" This time her voice wavered slightly which angered her. She felt the blood rush to her cheeks. "Bella, if you knew a super star of this caliber why haven't we booked him on the air?" Mr. Newton was elated at this point. "I didn't think it was important" Bella replied knowing it was a weak answer since her job was booking talent for the station. "Besides, I didn't expect Mr. Cullen to even remember me." It was a jab. Bella knew it and it was satisfying for her to watch the brief look of pain flash across Edwards face.

"Oh, I remember" Edward looked her up and down and said "I would never forget you" Bella's heart thumped hard she felt in all the way to her core. Bella looked away and began to study her schedule again. If Edward was looking for a response to that he was going to be in for one long wait. It would be a cold day in hell before she would respond to that crap. Finally breaking the silence Edward was the first to speak. "Bella and I went to high school and actually attended some college together" Mr. Newton's eyebrows shot up. "Really!" he exclaimed. His excitement was growing and Bella's discomfort was too. "I'm surprised to see you went into broadcasting, from what I remember you had always been interested in writing and publishing" Edward was looking directly at her, prompting a response with his eyes. "I changed my major" Bella replied and tilted her chin up into the air. It was obvious she was daring Edward to say more. "Actually, Bella handles all of our talent, advertising and promos for our guests. She is the most amazing PR person I have ever hired and I have been in this business for a long time" Mr. Newton was excited with Bella and she knew it. At the same time she wished he would just shut the hell up! "I'm still hung up on the field change" Edward was laughing lightly with amusement. "Times Change and People Change" Bella spit the comment out knowing it would do its job. Edward flinched back slightly and even Mr. Newton could feel the atmosphere change. "I'll say" Edward hit back, one corner of his mouth twitched up. He was on the verge of flashing his signature crooked smile.

"Edward, it's been nice seeing you again but I think the talent for the morning show is about to arrive and I really need to go" Bella lied and Edward knew it. Before he could speak Bella was already past them and headed for the door. "Bella!" Edward called before she could get out the door. He hurried over to her and she was grinding her teeth. Most of the office was frozen and taking notes to discuss as soon as she was out the door.

"Bella, listen can I take you to dinner this evening? I'd really like to catch up with you." Bella stopped quickly with her hand on the door. "No, I can't and I don't want to" Bella didn't even try to hide her distain; she didn't try to lessen the blow with a smile or soften her voice. Abrupt and to the point was what she tried to portray and she did a good job. "Goodbye Edward" Bella turned and without looking back she walked out the door.

Edward watched Bella's retreating back. Bella had changed and Edward knew it was his entire fault. He had left her with a hole in her heart and from the looks of things it had been filled with blackness. He recalled the look of anger in her eyes when they first made eye contact. My Bella hates me. The thought made it hard for him to breath. She had changed all right. She was all womanly curves and was breathtakingly beautiful. Her brown hair was long and flowing, her curves were in all the right places and her legs were stunning. Edward had only seen her dressed in a dress once before so seeing her in a skirt was enough to drive him insane. His eyes traveled over her business suit as he listened to her heals make there abrupt escape. The Bella he had known would never wear heels. The Bella he had known was as close to a tom boy as you could get. This Bella was a heart breaker. Edward knew it and felt it radiate throughout his body. This Bella was going to hurt him… This Edward was going to let her.

"My Bella hates me. I will fix this. You will love me again." Edward thought to himself as she was still storming down the walkway. "Just give me a chance love and I will make you love me again." Back in the day Bella had been very clumsy but Edward saw no sign of that today. Her little body swayed and she was able to draw the attention of several of the men as she past by them. Edward was unsure as to why this sparked a little a jealousy in him. It has been 10 years for Christ's sake! All Edward knew and knew well was that when he had laid eyes on her again his heart had told him for a fact that he still loved her in some way. His Bella, for the longest time he was her protector and her best friend. When that had changed he was not sure who he was for a long time.

The changes in Bella were pretty severe. Back in the day she had kept her fingernails clipped and her face scrubbed clean. She had a natural beauty so she had no need to wear make up. She was attractive in a wholesome sort of way. That had changed as well. Now Bella could have been a runway model. She looked as though she had stepped right from the cover of some magazine. Bella looked sleek, smart and put together. She was the model of a self-assured career woman. She still had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen, but otherwise there was very little left of the tomboyish girl he had once known. Now at this very moment Bella was all woman. Definitely not the dreamy eyed love struck 16 year old he had met. Nor was Bella the 18 year old he had left broken and bleeding.

"Edward, let me take you to meet our DJ Manic Mike. He is actually my son." Edward groaned and internally reminded himself to behave. Edward had only stopped in today because there was a charity event at the station next door and his manager insisted that he get some free press while he was so close to the studio. As they walked into the DJ's booth Edward looked up to see Bella passing by with a well known group. James, Laurent, and Victoria were heading into a neighboring conference room. More than likely to prepare for there time slot. Edward made another mental note to make sure he had at least one more opportunity to speak to Bella. That meant he needed to stall. He needed to by himself some time. To do this Edward was going to have to do the one thing he hated most. Edward was going to have an on air radio interview with this DJ Mike. He planned to drag it out as long as he could and then maybe hang around a bit afterwards. As Edward settled in on the stool in the booth he could feel Bella staring a hole in his head. "This is not going to be easy." Edward thought to him self as the impromptu interview began.