Chapter 1
My broccoli looked gray. Not a blatant gray but not the vibrant green that marks fresh produce. I pushed it along the trail of vinaigrette that was left on my plate to try and trick my mind into accepting the odd hue. I could feel my stomach growl in protest. I'm sure my face was twisting into a grimace at the seeming need to eat this mediocre meal when I felt something hit my cheek and fall onto my arm.
"You aren't eating." I looked up from the popcorn kernel that landed on my arm to see the amused, but concerned, face of Rosalie. Her icy blue eyes scanned my face and before I could get used to the worry that reflected in them, she slipped her nonchalant mask over her features and flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder, "You've been pushing your food around for two minutes and the sound is really starting to get on my nerves."
"Rose, stop," Alice scolded from next to her. The shorter girl seated across from Rose reached over to pull me into her side, "four years here obviously changes the way you view the food." I chuckled silently and rested my head on her shoulder.
"It's not even that bad. She's just so picky," Rose rolled her eyes but pushed the salad that she brought from our favorite restaurant across the street my way. I beamed and gladly accepted her offer. She grabbed my plate and stabbed the left over broccoli with her fork, making a show to eat it and punctuate my so called pickiness. The truth is, I would eat anything. Food and I have always had a deep and meaningful love affair. We had only hit this rocky spot in our relationship when I entered my fourth year of the summer internship program at Cullen Enterprise. I had just completed my senior year of my undergraduate career and was given the rare experience of the same internship every year since I began at the University of Washington. Every summer, I would come to the Cullen Enterprise campus and live in their on-site model apartments and work with various teams with another set of interns. Inexplicably, I was the only student to return once, let alone every year, and was considered to be the unofficial leader of all intern teams. In fact, I was even a guaranteed new hire once I graduated from this last stint in the three month program.
Rosalie and Alice had been hired by C.E. to head the social media aspects of the marketing department almost one year ago. I was assigned to them as their only intern in the hopes of easing their transition and the development of their positions. To say we hit it off immediately would be an understatement. These women were my best friends, my sisters, and my mothers all in two amazingly talented and intelligent individuals. Alice Brandon is 5'2" with a vibrant smile and energy that hit every person she encountered at full force. We start work at six in the morning and at 5:45, Alice is at my apartment with a large black coffee and enough enthusiasm to charge a battery. She works with our creative division to put together the best images for every department to put out through Rose and herself in various outlets of social media and I can't think of anyone better suited to complete the job. As small as she is, she commands respect with the immense amount of competency she displays with every department head. Shakespeare was writing with her in mind when he said, "Though she be but little, she be fierce."
If Alice is a small tornado, Rose is a tsunami. Rosalie is a 5'9" brick wall of beauty and attitude. Of course, her attributes flow much deeper than that, but she has had to work to display them and create an image that presents her intelligence and poise before her jaw dropping good looks. Rose is a technical genius but is constantly discounted due to the male dominance in her field. Alice and I were dear friends and confidants, but Rose and I bonded over the doubt many people have over our abilities and merit in this company. In the last year, Rose has educated me on and protected me from misogyny in the work place. She has given me confidence to demand the treatment I deserve; I trust her with my life and respect her endlessly.
When their hire was made official and the department created, Rose and Alice entered Cullen Enterprise as the perfect storm and everyone was changed in their wake. They captured the attention and praise of the owners of C.E. almost immediately. Three brothers own C.E. after it was created by their great grandfather. It has been ten years since they took their respective positions and the company has grown immensely. The three brothers usually keep to themselves, but the CFO and COO in particular, have taken me under their wings due to my continued presence here. Through their brotherly obsession with me, they were thrusted directly into the paths of Storms Rose and Alice and never came out.
Jasper Cullen is a soft spoken, deeply passionate man who takes care of everything any employee needed as the roll of COO. He didn't stand a chance against Tornado Alice. It seemed as though they met and haven't truly seen another person since. Their love, although sometimes nauseating, inspires me every single day.
Rose and Emmett have a decidedly different epic love story. Emmett felt similarly to Jasper when he first saw Rose. As the CFO, many expect him to be a quiet boring accountant with a clear inclination to numbers over people, but Emmett Cullen challenged that stereotype every day. Sometimes, I think he went into finances just because no one ever would have thought he could. Emmett is my bear. He towers at 6'4" and his personality is somehow still bigger than his actual person. He is loud, boisterous, and cares so deeply. He also has been known to appreciate beautiful women regularly and vocally. Keeping his conquests away from C.E. did little to keep the rumor mill from labeling him as the player that he was and unfortunately, his reputation preceded him. The moment he saw Rosalie, we could all notice a change in him, but she would have no way to know he wasn't wooing her in order to conquer the new hire. She fought their budding relationship every step of the way, refusing to be the woman who slept with her boss. Her heart didn't get the memo though and on my first official day as their intern, the dam of emotions broke and she relinquished her fears and I've never met a happier couple. Their relationship is still relatively new and Rose's old insecurities occasionally rear their heads, but as far as Emmett is concerned, they've been in love as long as he's been alive.
"Listen!" I sassed as another piece of popcorn was launched at me, "I've been here for four years. I have been subjected to this cafeteria for four years. I earned the title of picky when it comes to this place." I pointed to the rows of buffet style lines that surrounded us. The staff were able to eat in the dining facilities or bring something in for lunch, but the interns had no choice during their stay in the program unless they wanted to spend their entire stipend on groceries. Rose and Alice just snickered at me and shook their heads when Alice suddenly stopped and began her excited vibrating. Her body's movement was shaking the whole table and I clasped my hands over her shoulders.
"Okay, Lassie, use your words. What is it girl?" Rose teased.
"We should invite Bella to dinner tonight!" Alice beamed. She began to mention all the things she needed to get and all the ways it would benefit me before Rose interjected.
"We don't know if she wants to spend the only Friday night that she isn't working with work people, Allie. You have to remember, she's younger and maybe wants to be with her college friends. She has seemed really burnt out lately."
"Oh." Alice seemed dejected. She turned to me and held her face in my hands, "She does have those bags under her eyes again. Do you think she actually isn't eating? Sometimes not eating affects sleep cycles! Oh! Why don't we pick up some melatonin when we go shopping for tonight?"
The conversation shifted between every topic that could possibly be covered about me without me contributing before I pushed out of her arms and raised my hand, waiting to be acknowledged.
"I hate when you do that." Rose scoffed
"Bella, you know you can say whatever comes to mind." Alice soothed.
I waited to see if they would start talking again but when Rose flourished her arms signaling their attention was mine, with an eye roll, I began, "I am eating. My bed is uncomfortable, so my back hurts and I wake up in the middle of the night. I love hanging out with you guys and the others from the office. I don't have friends my age. What is going on tonight?" Alice looked like she was going to fight with me on every point I made but Rose beat her to it.
"We're going to dinner tonight with Emmett and Jasper but then we're going to Edward's apartment here in Seattle for drinks." Edward Cullen was the youngest Cullen brother and the CEO of Cullen Enterprises. He was possibly the most beautiful man I have ever seen in my whole life. Despite the height of his position on the corporate ladder, he was the head coordinator of the internship program and I had the immense pleasure of working with him for my first two years here. In the beginning, he was training me and the others but when I returned, I aided in the process and worked directly under him. Now that I am considered a more valuable and stable member of the team, I don't work with him or really any of the other interns even though that is my official status. To say that I am disappointed at how infrequently I see him would be an understatement. Although, it's probably for the best as he's married to a beautiful, albeit, a little shallow, woman with an amazing three year old little girl. His wife, Tanya and daughter, Irina, had recently moved to Portland, Oregon when Tanya got a large promotion in her company. Truthfully, none of us know what it is that she does nor do we care. I'm less adamant with my dislike of the woman but Emmett and Jasper hate her deeply which, by proxy, goes the same for Alice and Rose. Edward is very tight lipped on the whole situation. He will never allow a bad word to be spoken of her in his presence and, as far as I can tell, supports her in every way. He is a very commanding presence and to think that Tanya is able to dictate what he will do in his domestic life, especially in the concerns of his daughter, is a contradiction to the man he portrays himself to be. Truly, the whole relationship confuses me. Thankfully, it isn't mine to be confused about.
"Well, where are you going for dinner? I don't really want to drive in the city and I can't ride with you if you're going back to Edward's."
"Bella, we're asking you to meet us at Edward's after our double date!" Alice said in a duh, kind of tone. I must have looked as hot as I felt because Rose busted out laughing and pointed at my heated complexion.
"Oh my God! You still have a crush on him! Look at how red you are! Alice, do you see her face? She's so nervous at the thought of going to Edward's apartment," Rose teased and pointed at me.
"Stop talking about me like I'm not here," I rolled my eyes and put my hands to my cheeks to cover the red tinge of my blush.
"She isn't denying it," Rose sang.
"Okay. So, the man is beautiful and maybe when I worked with him I developed a little bit of a crush and maybe I still think of him from time to time." We all knew I interjected the maybe's to save face. I had gotten far too drunk one night when the three of us were celebrating our first successful social media campaign and we began to confess all sorts of things to one another. Three bottles of wine and some shots in, they became a little loose lipped on their love lives and I lamented about my lack thereof.
"Bella, you're smokin' hot. Why in the world are you telling us you've been single for four years?" Rose had slurred in disbelief.
"I'm in love with someone I can't have and no one else compares!" I had blurted out in a frustrated groan. The second the confession left my mouth I slapped my hands over my lips and giggled silently. I had never vocally expressed my deeply buried feelings. Of course, the two women shrieked and lunged for me. They grabbed my arms and shook until the words were tumbling out of me, quite possibly from their sheer force. "It's Edward!" I yelled. Before they could recover from their deep shock at what I had revealed I started to relay the tale of how we met and the adoration I felt from the moment we locked eyes and onward. By the end, I was sobbing and telling them my distress at feeling so deeply for a married man, and my boss no less! They comforted me as best as they could and we all eventually fell into uncomfortable sleep on the couches in Rose's one bedroom apartment. The following morning, before anyone could make any comments to me, I explained that I had been feeling the alcohol a little too intensely and all my feelings came out exaggerated and magnified. I assured them that it was just a passing crush and I still found him attractive but wasn't upset in the slightest that we weren't ever going to be together. Thankfully, they accepted the partial truth and we never discussed it again.
Popcorn hit me again and I registered the two women in front of me waiting for me to say something about their accusations, invitation, or both. I weighed my options. I could protest their claims of my crush, but that would get nothing accomplished but bring more questions to the table. I could decline the offer to drinks, but they would ask why and my only reason would be because it was Edward's house and I had just told them how desperate I was for a cold beer. I sighed deeply. I had one choice that didn't end with their ridicule. I had to go.
I looked up from where I had been studying my knuckles and nodded my agreement. Alice cheered and threw her hands up in victory. Rose had a small smirk on her face and cocked her eye brow up in her signature bitch face. She had won and she knew the night was not going to pass by uneventful.
Butterflies erupted within me. For the first time since I had met him, I was going to be in a nonprofessional setting with Edward Cullen. Two of the six people that were going to be in attendance knew of the feelings I had for him, regardless of how I've covered them. Uncertainty washed over me with a strong under tow of excitement. Rose's eyes said it all. Tonight would be interesting to say the very least.