It hasn't been long since I began work at Masen Insurance Company, but already, I was smitten.
I just graduated college earlier this year, a bit later that most young adults. I went to college after high school, but got involved with the wrong crowd, slept around, and drank so much beer that I pretty much quit going to class. After earning a DUI when I was 21, I left school, mailing my fines to the courthouse and deciding to try to put the past behind me. My trust fund left me with little excuse to sit around doing nothing when I had opportunities that most people my age did not. I decided to travel and see the world.
I surfed in Australia, rode elephants in India, and ate dim sum in Hong Kong. During my travels, I waited tables, tended bar, and worked other odd jobs in order to not entirely deplete my savings. I kept only a duffel bag of essentials, and it was easy to move from place to place when I was ready for a change. I bought a portable external hard drive and loaded photos of the places I had been to keep the memories with me. After four years of restlessness and exploring place to place, I decided to come home, plant my roots and begin adulthood.
Home is the city of Seattle, Washington, which is, more or less, where I spent the majority of my life. After my parents died when I was six, I lived with my aunt and uncle, Esme and Carlisle, and they raised me as their own. I inherited my trust fund at 18, and Esme and Carlisle, being the laid back and easygoing people that they are, allowed me the freedom to do as I pleased. I enrolled in college at 18 thinking I would get my degree, gain experience working for a company, and then open my own. Life doesn't always work that way though, and I made mistakes, which I could dwell on, but I try not to. At least I got out and explored the world, lived a little, and now I am ready to attempt to be a grown up.
I got an apartment, and actually began collecting possessions again, more than what fit into just my worn duffel bag. I enrolled at University of Washington, transferred in my credits from my first year of college, and signed up for a full schedule of classes – I wanted to dig my feet in and get my degree as soon as possible. I got another job tending bar – after all, the tips were good – but I started to notice with the late hours my homework suffered. So, I quit working, and simply focused on my studies, trying to get done with my degree as soon as possible.
Two years later, I surprised even myself by being awarded a bachelor's degree, shaving a year off of the time it should have taken me to complete my program from start to finish. Now the only question was – what to do next.
I met with a career counselor who administered career tests and Meyers-Briggs type assessments for me. She deduced that with my determination that I'd be great at entrepreneurship and that I could create a start up.
I decided to go into the field of insurance or accounting – both appealed to me. I ultimately researched that I could earn more money with insurance while still keeping a similar overhead. I also found that in order to get my insurance license, I had to wait out the year until my DUI dropped of my record.
The career counselor suggested that instead of reverting to tending bar, that I take advantage of the internship placements provided for graduates of the university to gain industry experience. With a week, I was placed as an intern in the claims department at Masen Insurance Company, on the sixth floor.
The sea of beige cubicles and grey carpeted floors was unlike what I had pictured. I thought an insurance company as prestigious as this would have mahogany office doors lining the outskirts, dark wooden desks with modern computers and telephones. There were two office doors on the far wall, for managers I assumed, but the rest of the floor was just the cubicles.
The receptionist led me to a set of cubicles on the back wall near the window, underneath the glaring of fluorescent light bulbs. She stopped at an empty, dusty cubicle, with a computer that looked older than me, and introduced me to my mentor.
That was the first time I saw her.
"Isabella, this is the intern that we received from the university. This is Isabella Swan, one of our analysts. You'll be working under her," the receptionist, Jane, informed me, as the woman sitting at the cubicle behind the empty one stood and faced us.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," said a voice as soft as silk, a voice that made my cock twitch.
In front of me stood the most beautiful woman that I had ever seen.
"What was your name?" she inquired politely.
I cleared my throat. "Um, Edward," I squeaked.
Jane looked at me oddly, her expression a disbelief that I was stumbling around the female known as Isabella.
Jane rolled her eyes and walked away, shaking her head.
Isabella watched quizzically as Jane walked off, then turned back to me.
"I'm not sure what that was about, Jane is usually polite and professional. I apologize," she said sheepishly.
Did she notice how I had stared at her lips as she spoke?
I cleared my throat again. "It's no problem. Isabella," I spoke her name after a pause.
"Please, call me Bella. It's the name I prefer, although our boss is a stickler for full names, and Jane tends to abide by his rules," she explained blushingly.
Bella. Even her name meant beautiful.
We exchanged pleasantries for a few moments more, and then Bella showed me to my desk, apologizing for the dust, and booted up the ancient looking computer.
"We're still running a DOS based system, so we've never upgraded our machines. The good thing is that although the system is old and command based, it is stable and reliable and we don't usually have issues with it," Bella explained, and I was mesmerized by her voice.
We fell into a comfortable routine, her training me on the system, the processing of the claims, and us getting to know each other with short stories. I thanked my lucky stars that I sat right in front of her and could enjoy her company from 8am – 5pm daily.
Over the following months, I learned about Bella's family; her father that was the police chief of a small town; her mother residing with her minor league baseball playing husband in Florida. Bella lived alone in an apartment and had close friends from college that lived nearby.
The more I learned about Bella, the more drawn to her I became. She was a genuinely good person. She cared for our customers, and her co-workers. Each Friday, Bella brought in a home-baked breakfast item for our department, things like egg and ham casseroles, cinnamon rolls and coffee cakes. I noticed that Bella rarely drank the coffee at work and questioned if she liked coffee.
"Have you tasted the coffee here, Edward?" Bella asked.
"No, I drink my coffee at home before work."
"The stuff we have here - it's just not drinkable. Highly disgusting," she smirked.
"We could fix that, you know," I pointed out. "I have a French press at home. I'll bring it here for our use at work."
"A French press?" Bella said, with an almost surprised look on her face.
I frowned. Maybe she had never heard of one. I began to explain to her what it was.
She shook her head a little and shut her eyes. "Sorry, I know what a French press is. I just hadn't met someone who uses one like me before. My friends think I'm a bit of a coffee snob," she explained.
I smiled, grinning that we had something in common.
The next morning, I stopped into Starbucks on my way into work, and ordered a half pound of French Roast, coarsely ground. At my desk, I unpacked the French press and ran into the break room to use the hot water to make the coffee. By the time I returned to my desk, I had a steaming cup of coffee ready for Bella, who had just arrived.
"Thank you," she smiled, taking the cup graciously and lifting it to her lips. I was surprised she took it black.
She moaned a little bit at the taste. "It's perfect," she said, taking another sip.
I grinned from ear to ear. I would enjoy making her coffee, coffee that she loved, each morning.
We continued to get to know each other, and I began to realize that I was falling for Bella. She was lovely, for lack of a better word. A good person, conscious of others, making sure that everyone was comfortable and taken care of. She was happy to help those in need, and a hard worker, earning recognition from her peers and management. I had also never been as attracted to anyone as I was to her.
Three months after I started working there, I still had one burning question on my mind – did Bella have a boyfriend?
She hadn't mentioned one in all of our conversations, however, that didn't mean one didn't exist. Bella kept no personal photos at her cubicle, only a small fern and an elephant figurine graced her desk, so that was no indication. However, I felt I had waited an appropriate amount of time to get to know her, and decided to ask her to dinner.
On Tuesday morning, the office was quiet. There was an off-site company event, with the CEO of the company gracing the employees with his presence on this side of the country and most of the staff had gone. Since I wasn't a permanent employee, I wasn't invited to attend, and our manager of the claims department, Marcus Aro, had asked Bella as well as a few others to stay behind to keep up on the workflow. I figured this a prime opportunity to get to speak to her and ask her out on a date.
"Bella, do you have plans for this weekend," I asked smoothly.
"Not exactly – it is only Tuesday," she replied, smiling. She was teasing me.
"I was wondering if you were free Friday night. I would love it if you would join me for dinner."
I hung on the silence, and it felt like minutes ticked by before she replied softly, "I'd love to."
I let out a breath of air, not realizing I'd been holding my breath. I felt light, like I would float away, from her simple answer to me: yes.
The rest of the week went by slowly. I was anxious for our date. I had begun to care deeply for Bella, and I wanted to know if there could be a future between us.
On Thursday morning, Bella asked where we would be dining on Friday. I let her know the name of the restaurant that I had made reservations at, La Bella Italia.
She smiled, saying she had read about that restaurant in the paper, and heard it was good from her friend, Alice. This made me happy to know she was looking forward to where I had decided to take her.
It was decided that I would pick her up from her apartment at around 7pm. She gave me the address, then handwrote directions. I would get to see where Bella lived.
Friday night finally arrived. I rushed home after work, having stayed a few minutes late to finish up a claim I had been entering. I showered, shaved, and changed my shirt three times before settling on a dark charcoal dress shirt, black slacks and my grey wool pea coat. The Seattle air was unseasonably cool, and in a panic, I hoped that Bella was planning to dress warm.
The cab showed up at her apartment at 6:45. I knew I was early but I took the off chance that she might be ready a bit prematurely, and climbed the stairs to her floor. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
A second later, the door flew open, and a beautifully made up version of Bella stood before me in the open doorway.
She was exquisite, in a red knee-length dress that nipped in at her waist and flowed into a full skirt. The top of the dress was a lacy red that swept over her shoulders and down her back. She wore nude strappy heels, and I smelled a flowery perfume emanating from her skin.
She began to blush, looking uncomfortable, and looked away, her arms moving up to cross over her chest. I realized that I had been ogling and moved to make amends.
"You look—" I began.
"Hey Edward—"
We looked at each other and chuckled.
"You go first," she said.
"You look amazing," I breathed. My eyes trailed down her dress once more, to her long curvy legs that seemed endless, before snapping back up to her face.
She smiled timidly, blushing a bit more furiously this time. She seemed to relax though, and stepped back, allowing me into the apartment.
Bella's apartment was scarcely decorated, but I got the impression that everything in the room held some importance or meaning. She had framed portraits on the wall of a large rock standing in the middle of the ocean, a few plants, a tall orchid in a pot near the window, and about one thousand books.
She caught me eyeing the photos of the ocean rock, and stood beside me.
"That's Haystack Rock, off of Cannon Beach, in Oregon," she explained. "It's a beautiful coastal town, with a true coastal town feel." She looked longingly at the photo for a moment, then faced me.
"Thank you for inviting me out tonight," she said politely.
"You are very welcome. I'd been wanting to ask you out for awhile," I admitted.
I hope she was alright with me sharing such admissions with her. She broken into an exulting smile, and I became more excited to see where this could lead.
I asked if she was ready to go, and she was. She slipped on a beige trench coat and tied the belt around her waist, grabbed a small purse, and then reached for my hand. I took it happily, proudly, and then we made our way out to the cab.
Dinner went by all too quickly, with us telling each other stories, and getting to know each other on a deeper level. I informed her of my DUI and the trouble from it, and my travels. She listened intently, and I kept waiting to see judgment written in her expression, but it never appeared. She told me of her boyfriend in college, who sounded like a possessive prick. James had told Bella all throughout college that he was going to marry her upon graduation, but she said she didn't want that. They had a bitter breakup, and he moved out of state after they graduated.
I learned that she and I had been freshman at the university at the same time. This led me to another piece of information, Bella's age. I had known she was in her late 20's like me but I had always been told by Esme that it was rude to ask a woman her age, so I hadn't known until now.
The waiter brought coffee, and we declined dessert. Before I know what was happening, the waiter had tapped me on the shoulder.
"Excuse me Mr. Cullen, I regret to inform you that we are closing for the evening."
I looked around, and Bella did the same, both of us unaware that there were only a couple of other diners remaining, and most of the staff was removing table clothes, mopping floors, and wiping tables. We had been in the restaurant for nearly four hours.
Bella and I laughed and then got up to leave. I left the waiter a healthy tip to make amends for us staying so late. We pulled on our coats and then went to the street to catch a cab.
Once we were in the cab, I turned to Bella and asked if she would like to come back to my apartment. She quickly agreed.
At my apartment, Bella did the same thing I had done, looking around at my possessions and searching for the meaning behind them.
She stopped in front of a framed photo of me on an elephant in India. I had enlarged several of my favorite photos from my travels and had them framed and matted. This one had me with a grin from ear to ear, clearly loving the exulting thrill of riding an animal so massive.
"I noticed you have an elephant figurine on your desk at work," I pointed out, as I took her coat.
"I've always loved elephants, ever since I was little," she explained. "They are just such a unique animal."
"Indeed. I love how gentle they are combined with their strength," I commented.
"I'm a little envious of you, right now," Bella admitted. "I'd love to get to ride an elephant someday."
"Maybe we can go on an African safari one of these days," I told her, searching into the depths of her eyes for her reaction.
Her eyes widened a little, and her bottom lip fell open as if in disbelief.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'm surprised to hear you talking of future plans…it's as if you've already resolved that we are going to be together for quite some time."
I stepped towards her, my eyes never leaving her face. How could she not know that I loved her? My forwardness must not have been as apparent as I had thought.
I placed my hand on her cheek, running my thumb along her cheekbone. She closed her eyes and leaned into my touch a little, seeming to relish the feel.
I leaned forward and kissed her, hesitantly, so that she knew exactly what I was doing. Her eyes widened, then fluttered closed again, as she returned the kiss, and I deepened it.
** To Be Continued **