Disclaimer: unfortunately all the characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

This is my first twilight fanfic... so I hope you like. :)

The main roads were crammed with unenthusiastic drivers as they made their way into work on this particularly dark and cloudy Monday morning. I pushed my foot down on the accelerator as hard as I could without causing the car to lurch forward and assault the vehicle in front. Patience had evaded me as I tried to dodge my way through the stream of slow moving cars, travelling at a turtle pace due to their driver's reluctance to start the working week. It didn't matter how many cars I seemed to pass, the ones in front of me appeared to multiply, making the never ending traffic look even more infinite.

Admitting defeat, I sighed and stopped trying to find my way out of the never ending maze of traffic. There was no point in trying to fight the inevitable. I was already an hour late due to the chaos on the roads, and there was no way I was going to make it into work within the next half hour before my meeting started. I was so sure that in that meeting I was going to receive the promotion I had been so desperately seeking after, but being tardy was definitely not going to win it for me. For the last year I had been busting my ass, trying to be the best I could possibly be. Working in journalism was an extremely competitive career path, and even though I was young, I knew if I didn't make my mark before I was twenty five, I was going to find it harder and harder to make myself known and sought after, delaying my dream of becoming a hot upcoming writer that everyone wanted to employ.

As I came to yet another stop, my phone started buzzing insistently, crying out for attention. Predicting that the person on the other end of the line would be my dragon of a boss Victoria, I gave myself a quick inner pep talk before switching to hands free and knocking the volume dial down on my car radio.

'Bella Swan.' I answered, making my voice sound as subdued as possible, hoping this might soften the wrath Victoria was most definitely going to throw at me. It was like we were two in a pack of dogs and she was the alpha, I always backed down towards her to show my respect and willingness to follow her commands. (Not to mention that I was more than slightly scared of her.

'Bella, where the hell are you?' She snapped, her sharp high pitched voice making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Victoria was a very clever business woman. She knew what she wanted and she did everything imaginable to get it, not letting anything stand in her way. With her lean, tall body and fiery hair, she reminded me of a feminine version of the devil. She had a cold devious side to her and if you got on her bad side, god help you. She was definitely a force to be reckoned with. However, although the woman scared me half to death most of the time by just looking in my direction with her stony gaze, I couldn't help but feel a sort of admiration towards her. She worked hard at what she did and always stood up for what she believed was right. She may have been a terrifying boss, but one thing was for sure, when she saw potential in any of her employees, she pushed us for all we were worth, never letting us quit until we got the outcome she knew we were all capable of.

'Sorry. I'm stuck in traffic. I'll be there as soon as I can.' I replied, knowing an apology wouldn't appease her, no matter how sincere.

She practically scoffed down the phone, her throat making a vile scratching noise. 'Make sure you get here in the next twenty minutes. I don't wait for anyone Bella; you've worked here long enough to know that.' The line went dead.

'Shit!'

My hold on the steering wheel constricted making my knuckles go white from the lack of blood flow. This wasn't good. I couldn't miss out on whatever Victoria had wanted to discuss with me, I just couldn't. I had worked too damn hard to pass up on whatever she had in mind because of some lazy drivers, who didn't want to get their asses in gear.

Jammed in the middle of all these cars made me feel like a caged animal at the zoo, I needed to get out; I needed to get to work. Panicking slightly, I looked to my right; the lane there was moving a little more freely so I pulled out of my current lane and into that one. With a bit of luck I might just get to work in the time limit Victoria had given me.

After a hell of a lot of unnoticed speeding, I managed to get to my office block with five minutes to spare. I don't know how I really managed it, but I wasn't going to question myself just yet. I needed to get inside before Victoria got in too much more of a pissy.

Signalling that I was turning left, I navigated my way into the office's parking lot. Things seemed to be looking up a bit, I was nearly there, and maybe with a bit of luck things might start going right for me today. However that hope went out the window pretty quickly because, in my smug state, I neglected to see the black BMW that was speeding through the parking area after entering from the other entrance. If I had, I might just have avoided what happened next. Once the car zoomed into my periphery vision, my reflexes kicked in. I considered breaking for a split second but soon realised if I did that there was no way to avoid the collision, so I slammed my foot on the accelerator and attempted to swerve out of harms way. The screeching of tyres from the other car echoed throughout the parking lot, making its approach known. But the warning didn't matter and neither did how fast or strongly we both acted, it wasn't going to prevent the collision. In slow motion, but moving so fast at the same time, the other car ploughed right into the side of my own, sending my car and I skidding across the concrete. I gripped the steering wheel harder, as if by doing so the car would somehow come to a stop, but obviously that didn't happen. The sickening squeal of metal hitting metal was still ringing in my ears, even after my car had come to an eventual halt, and now that my adrenaline had worn out, I suddenly felt very light headed and shaky. Closing my eyes, I tried to slow my breathing from erratic gasps to calm normal breaths, knowing that hyperventilating wasn't going to help with my woozy head. Once I had managed to get my breathing under control, nervously biting my lip I looked at the other car, sitting calmly where I was a minute ago, the only give away that it had had an accident was the slight dent in the front bumper and a scratch along the front. What the hell!

I quickly gave myself a once over, making sure that I hadn't acquired any injuries in the car wreck, then realising for once, that no damage had occurred to me physically, I shot out the car and towards the other driver who was also vacating his vehicle. Looking back I realised my car had suffered much more in the crash that the other car, the passengers side was dented so prominently it was practically caving in on itself. Good thing that the idiot responsible for the damage was going to pay for it, because just by looking at it I could tell it was going to cost a lot to have it fixed. Marching towards him, my vision was impaired by the red haze of anger bubbling away in me. One day, that was all I wanted, just one day where everything went right. That wasn't asking for much. The god's could throw anything at me after today, but I just wanted things to flow nicely for these twenty four hours.

The maniac of a driver I had had the pleasure of bumping into – literally – was completely out of his car now and standing tall walking towards me. His strides and hold on himself exuded control and purpose and his posture told me he was someone who thought highly of themselves. However, It was at that moment that my fiery haze seemed to desert me, because stood in front of me seemed to be the most drop dead gorgeous, god like male, I had ever seen in my entire life. He was tall, not over tall so he seemed thin and weedy, but a nice height, just over six foot I'd say, he was a height that would make a woman feel safe and secure when his arms wrapped around her. He had a stern build to him with noticeable muscley arms and wide shoulders and I would take a wild guess and say he probably owned a six pack as well. His bronze hair was set in a casual disarray and shimmered with goldeny streaks under the dimmed parking lot lighting; it reminded me of a much welcome fire in the middle of winter. His eyes were what got me the most though; they were a vibrant, unique green, like two sparkling jade stones. I had never seen green eyes so light before, they were mesmerising, the kind of eyes someone could fall into and never come out of. Then, there was his face, his heavenly, angelic face. His features were all perfect, completely one hundred percent perfect. Not one flaw did he hold. His square jaw was strong and slightly stubble covered, his nose was straight and angular and his thin, light pink lips were in perfect proportion with each other; the top lip supporting an amazingly flawless cupid's bow. He was literally the epitome of perfection, but as he came to a stop in front of me, I realised there was something vaguely familiar about him.

'Look what you did to my car!' The angel like man yelled, his green eyes glowering dangerously. It was nice of him to ask if I was okay. To apologize for driving so irresponsibly. Jackass, and just like that, my awed bubble of dazzlement popped. It was plainly obvious that the only person this guy cared about was himself.

'Your car? Your car! What about mine, you've practically butchered it!' I retorted, violently pointing at my battered car.

He snorted and crossed his arms over his broad chest. A smirk flittered across his features and he adopted a patronizing air when consulting me. 'Well, maybe if you were travelling the speed us normal people drive at, this whole thing could have been avoided.'

'Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realise I was at a race track.' I snapped, my fist itching to snap out and hit him. This urge surprised me, I was usually a very non-violent person, but dealing with a person like the one in front of me, I could change my mind right?

'I wasn't going fast!' He hissed, throwing his arms up in exasperation.

'Maybe not in your world, but here going one hundred miles an hour is classed as speeding. You can get a speeding ticket for it.' Okay, maybe I was over exaggerating, with the whole one hundred miles per hour thing, he wasn't quite travelling that fast when he hit my car, but he wasn't exactly going slowly either.

'Okay, if we're playing this game, do you know what else you can get a ticket for? Travelling too slowly. A snail travels faster than you.' He laughed lamely at his own joke, but his chuckle had no humour behind it.

'Yeah, well whatever. I don't care what you think; there is nothing wrong with my driving. I just hope you know that you're paying for the repairs on my car.' I watched with smug satisfaction as the smirk slowly slipped off of his face, being replaced with an annoyed grimace. Annoyed that I had got one up on him and that I planned to make him pay for his actions.

'Like hell I am! If anything it is you paying for my car.'

'If you think I'm doing that you are completely deluded.' I chuckled. There was no way I was going to pay for the actions of his stupidity.

'I'm telling you now; you are going to pay to fix my car!' He warned. I could sense he was used to people bending to his every whim, but with me that wasn't the case, and that was something he had never experienced before.

'And I am telling you, it's not going to happen.'

'Oh, but I think it is.' He nodded, still trying to get his own way.

'Uh-uh, nope, all you have to do is look at the two cars and see the damage to tell which driver was at fault. We can call the police if you want, I can have you reported for dangerous driving or we could sort it like adults. Basically either way, you are at fault; you are going to pay for it.'

'I'm not giving you a dime.'

'You know what. I don't have the time to take this shit. Give me your details, I'll give you mine. I've got a really busy job and an extremely important meeting I need to make in...' I looked down at my watch. 'three minutes ago.' Shit.

He scoffed and fetched his wallet out. 'You think you have a high maintenance job?' He asked flicking through his cards, as I did the same with mine. 'Do you have any idea who I am?'

We exchanged details, and then I looked up at him and smirked. 'Nope, nor do I care.' I turned on my heel and shot off towards the exit, leaving my car exactly where it was, not having the time to move it.

I tucked the guy's details into my jacket pocket and ran a hand through my hair, hoping that I didn't look as dishevelled as I felt. As I entered the building, I didn't bother to wait for the elevator, not moving would make me more agitated, so I just darted for the stairs, taking them two at a time, as quickly as my annoyingly tiny legs would take me; it was only five floors up right?

Arriving at my department, I flung the doors open and made a beeline for the office. Sweat started to coat my forehead in a light sheen – most likely smudging my make up - and my chest was heaving with constricting pants. I hadn't remembered those stairs being so steep and so many. Before I entered the office, I saw my friend Angela, sitting at her desk, staring into space.

'Can you park my car for me?' That's if it will start after the accident I just had. She gave me a questioning look. 'I'll tell you what happened later, but I'm late for my meeting with Victoria.'

Angela pushed her chair back and held her hand out for me to throw the keys to her. Bless her. 'Fine, but you owe me a coffee later.'

I smiled gratefully at her and tossed the keys, before shooting off towards the meeting room. 'I'm here, I'm here!' I gasped, pushing open the double doors (which were heavier than they looked) and stopped at the front of the room.

There were two people sat there staring at me. First of all there was Victoria, her angry gaze boring into mine, looking every bit the high powered career woman she was, in her designer suit. I was seriously going to get an earful later. Great.

The second person in the room I did not recognise. He had pale blue eyes with flecks of grey in them and short ashy blonde hair, cropped short, close to his scalp. He was of average size from what I could see with him sitting in front of me and he had a skinny, almost weedy shape to him. He possessed a cute podgy baby face, the kind you associate with a stereotypical mama's boy. He looked friendly enough, but by the way he was holding himself, I was pretty sure that he was very involved with his own self-importance.

The room remained silent as I panted away, trying to regain my breath and composure. Once my chest stopped searing every time I inhaled, I mentally prepared myself to start giving my excuses, but just as I opened my mouth, someone else entered the room. I turned to see who it was and my mouth fell open so much I could practically taste the dust on the laminated floor.

'You.' I gasped, my eyes narrowing into a scowl.

'And you.' The guy who had totalled my car replied. His expression matching mine. Displeased.

'What the hell are you doing here?' I inquired, not bothering to be polite, with everything that had happened today, my manners were pretty much the last thing I cared about now.

'I could ask you the same question.' He retorted, looking at the man I didn't know, for confirmation or back up, or whatever else he wanted. Something seemed to click in his head and he cringed. 'She's not Isabella Swan?' He begged, looking like a child who had lost their favourite toy.

'How do you know my name?' I demanded, enjoying the appearance of displeasure present itself on his features when he realised that I in fact was Isabella Swan.

'Silence!' Victoria yelled, slashing her arms through the air as if by doing so we would immediately stop talking. 'First of all, you are both unfashionably late.' She hissed. The venom in her voice made me cower away, moving closer to the guy I had just met, as even though he was a jackass, I still felt a sense of protection from him due to his height.

'Sorry.' I muttered almost inaudibly. I don't know what it was about her – well yes I do, it was the fact that she could probably make a body builder cry by just looking at them – but she always brought out the coward-like side of me instead of the usual confidence I presented.

Victoria glared at me – obviously the apology was not accepted – and then continued with what she wanted to say. 'I'm guessing that you two are already acquainted.'

I cleared my throat and nodded at her. 'Yeah, he's part of the reason I'm late. Manic driver here decided to plough into the side of my car and-'

'She pulled out right in front of me!' He yelled, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

'Like hell I did! I-' I was interrupted by Victoria's sharp snappy voice.

'Both of you shut it! We're at work, not in the playground.' She took an exasperated breath then continued with her lecture. 'Since you both know each other, we can cut this short. First of all, both of you sit!'

I did as I was told immediately, knowing that refusing Victoria was like signing you own death wish. So I sat in one of the two available chairs in the office, but my new acquaintance, remained standing. Victoria sighed irritably. 'Mr Cullen, I'm a very busy woman and I have a mountain of things I have to do. Let's get things straight, I don't care who you are, or what you do or how important you think you are, when in my work place you will do as I say, now sit!' She pointed at the chair next to me.

As she was giving her orders to our new comer something clicked in my head. I realised why he looked so familiar. 'Mr Cullen' Victoria had said. Mr Cullen... Mr Cullen, oh my god! 'You're Edward Cullen.' I gasped, my eyes widening with realisation as he sat down next to me.

'Ah, so now you know who I am, how convenient.' He turned and smirked at me. Convenient how exactly?

'Anyway.' Victoria turned to me and tilted her head to the left towards the baby faced man I didn't know. 'Bella, I'd like you to meet Mike Newton. Mr Newton here is Mr Cullen's Agent. He's here to offer you a job.'

'A job?' I asked. What in the hell could an agent offer me job wise?

Mr Newton spoke up now. His raspy voice filling the silence in the room. 'We have a proposition for you Isabella.' He paused, a small smile shaping his lips. 'May I call you Isabella?'

'Bella.' I corrected.

Mr Newton nodded and continued with his purpose. 'Okay Bella, here is the deal.' He swallowed and looked at Edward for the go ahead. Edward nodded his head almost unnoticeably. 'Edward is going to be publishing an autobiography early next year. But although he has many talents, writing sellable books is not one of them. So we need someone to write the book for us, and you are the person we want.'

Wow, I had not been expecting that. 'So you want me to be a ghost writer for Mr Cullen?' I asked, listening to myself voicing the question just sounded foolish, like I had got the complete wrong end of the stick. Why would a famous world known actor want me, a small town journalist to write his autobiography?

'Yes. That is exactly what we want.' Mr Newton confirmed. An annoyingly fake smile pasted onto his rounded face.

I was silent for a moment, needing some time to process what I had just been told. Well, least I knew my writing had been recognized, I just didn't think it would be recognized in this way. I thought if I was going to get noticed it would be by a higher magazine or paper, I never though it would get asked to write someone a book.

'Is there a deadline?' I asked. I don't know why I asked it; or rather I don't know why I asked that question before I asked any others concerning the project. I mean a deadline is something I need to know when I accept the offer, or should I say if I accept the offer? I think I was a little shocked at the proposal to say the least and I was one hundred percent positive that my brain wasn't functioning the way it should. That's it Bella, show them you are the right one for the job by playing dumb, that's exactly what they are looking for!

'You have six months to write it.' Six months, Six months? Sure, I could write the book in that time easy... if I didn't have a job. I mean seriously, was this supposed to take priority over my full time, paying job? I think not.

'What about my job?' I looked at Victoria, hoping this wasn't her version of a kind way of sacking me. I loved my job; I didn't want to get rid of it, not now anyway.

'Well, we've already discussed this with your lovely boss.' Ha, if he though he was going to get to Victoria by sweet talking her, he really was suicidal, no one could get to Victoria like that. She wasn't some sort of damsel in distress; in fact she was the complete opposite.

It was Victoria's turn to respond now. I saw her immediately stiffen at Mr Newton's flirtatious compliment but apart from that she ignored him. Wow, this must be important to her as well, because the last time someone did that to her, no matter how harmless it was, he had his ass handed to him on a plate. Victoria cleared her throat and looked at me head on. 'If you accept their offer Bella, Mr Newton and Mr Cullen have agreed to give us the first exclusive interview just before the book is released.' Ah, that made sense; something was in it for her and her beloved magazine. I should have known that she didn't just have my best interests at heart. With Victoria you never got anything unless there was something she could gain as well.

I sighed, none of my questions were being voiced quick enough to prevent more and more building in my head. I needed to know so much more. 'So what do I do? Take time off, write from home?' I shook my head quickly at Victoria and Mr Newton. 'I can't afford to miss any work, I need the money.'

'She sure as hell does since she's paying to repair my car.' Mr Cullen chimed in; his witty, beautifully irritating voice spoke.

Everyone ignored him, concentrating more on persuading me to agree to write the book. I smirked and flipped him off. 'Do you hear that Mr Cullen?' I asked, raising a hand to cup my ear. 'Yeah, that silence, that is how much everyone cares for your input.'

He opened his mouth to retort back but Mr Newton and Victoria both silenced him with a warning glare. Ha, nice, for once he has been taken down a peg or two and been shown what it is like being a normal person who has to fight for what they want instead of being handed it on a golden plate.

'I am willing to give you your own private office to work in while you are writing the autobiography...' Victoria said, and then motioned with her hand for Mr Newton to continue where she left off.

'Yes,' he said. 'And as for your pay, we will double your monthly salary for each month you work on the book. And in the long run, you will receive a percentage of the royalties once the book is released and you will be mentioned as the author.'

That sounded pretty reasonable and at this stage in my career, I probably wasn't going to get a better offer. There were a lot of positives to the job, for instance; they said they would pay me well, but the money didn't bother me, I wrote because of my passion for writing, not because I wanted to get as much money as possible. The only thing concerning me was how much time I would have to spend with Mr Cullen. The thought of spending any given time with him was an immediate downer. So many women threw themselves at this man, and to be honest, I just don't understand why. Okay, so yes, he is very fortunate in his looks, but what were looks without a decent personality?

I mulled this over for a minute or two before giving Victoria a nod signalling the go ahead.

'Has anyone anything to add before we hear Bella's decision?' Victoria asked, glancing round the room. 'Or Bella is there anything you would like to ask?'

'Just one quick question.' I replied. 'Exactly how much time am I going to have to spend with Mr Cullen here?' I pointed to Mr Cullen and a dry smile tilted his lips upwards. 'Because if you say a lot, I think you're going to have to triple my salary.'

Mr Cullen's humourless laugh echoed throughout the meeting room. 'You are so funny Bella.' Mr Cullen sighed and leant forward, so his elbows were balanced precariously on his knees. 'Seriously Mike, this is the best you can come up with?'

'Edward, you have been very precise with the qualities you want your ghost writer to possess and Bella holds every single one of them.'

Childishly I stuck my tongue out at him. I know, it made me look really professional, but I just couldn't help myself. I had to do something to piss him off more, seeing his annoyance caused by me was addictive and I couldn't help but do it over and over again, to get the same pissed off reaction from him.

'Just to state this now.' I turned to Mr Cullen. 'I don't need this job. I'm perfectly compliant with the job I have, and the extra money has no influence on me. So if you want to spend another few weeks, flicking through possible candidates be my guest. But I'm telling you now, you wont find anyone that could make your book the success that I can.'

Victoria cleared her throat. 'Compliments don't get people anywhere, but Bella is without a doubt one of my best writers and if anyone can make your book sell, it will be her.'

Mr Newton nodded. 'The choice is your Edward.'

He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest glaring at me. 'Fine, the job is yours, but you step one foot out of line and you are gone.' He warned.

I smirked at him and held back the laugh threatening to break through after his 'serious threat' was made. 'And Edward.' I paused and tilted my head to the side, my stare screaming patronization as I surveyed his expression. 'May I call you Edward?' He begrudgingly nodded. 'I hope you know that the threat works both ways. You also 'step one foot out of line.'' I formed quotation marks in the air with my fingers as I said this. 'and I will be gone, and I will take whatever I have written with me.'

His eyes narrowed before he stood and swiftly left the room. He was like a spoilt child who wasn't getting what he wanted. Honestly, how old was he? Cant Edward take a little grown up banter? I could tell Edward and I were going to have problems, we both wanted to be in control and we were both by the looks of it, as stubborn as hell. So we were bound to clash while working together, but one thing I did know. I wasn't going to let a lack of friendship stand in my way of accepting this job offer.

'So Bella, I hope this means you are accepting our job offer?' Mr Newton hedged, his eyes brightening as he realised he was closing the deal.

'Yes Mr Newton. Thank you very much for your offer, and I would be delighted to accept.'

Working with Edward Cullen was going to be my biggest challenges yet.