Pen-name: Crazierthanu
"When It Rains, It Pours"
A/N: This is an AH one-shot for the Realization in the Rain Challenge where the theme is to have a character come to some "realization in the rain…"
I really love one-shots! They give authors a chance at writing something completely different and fun. And it doesn't take up that much time away from writing of the current story.
Hope you enjoy!
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I woke up with my hand on her breast.
Whose breast was it?
I couldn't tell from the back of her head. Her hair was crazy red and long and wavy.
I don't know anybody with hair like that. Do I?
Fuck. I must have been so drunk last night. So drunk that I don't remember anything past the sixth beer.
It was a shitty day at work yesterday and I needed to unwind badly. I asked Emmett to come with me to the nearest bar, but he said he had to pick up his girl, Esme, from the doctor's office.
So then I asked Carlisle. He really wanted to join me, but he also had previous plans with Jessica. They were going to get their engagement photos done at a professional photographer's.
My last, and I mean very last, option was Jasper. I hated that bastard. He always left me in a lurch by picking up any skank who looked at his dick the right way. Fortunately he had to go to his parents' for dinner, so he was unavailable also.
I hated going by myself, but last night was the exception. I had to fire three people that morning and that made me feel like such a shithead. I hated being the boss sometimes.
The times I loved being boss was when the young female temps would come for the day and hover around my office, asking if they could help me with anything. Fuck, it was tempting to just grab their arm, pull them into my mahogany paneled, leather couched, bar fully stocked, shower behind the bookcase, office and have my way with them.
But I resisted.
Except for the one time. And never again after her. She was too good. By good I mean purely a gift from God.
She wasn't even trying and I got a hard-on the very first time I laid eyes on her. I saw her as I was walking into the building of my office one morning.
She had come early, and was trying to figure out where she had to go, downstairs in the lobby. She had a piece of paper in her hand and was attempting to decipher it and was glancing at the directory on the wall by the elevators.
It was Friday and I was dressed in casual dark jeans and an off-white cotton v-neck pullover, so she would have had no clue that I was the boss. I decided to have some fun and went over to see if I could help her.
Wow. When she turned to face me her scent, I think it was strawberry, hit me like a ton of bricks. She had me from that point on. When she smiled she was like an angel.
It was all I could do to keep my hands to myself. I clenched them under my crossed arms, praying to God that I could help her, in any fucking way possible.
"Are you ok?" She asked, biting the inside of her cheek. I think she was beginning to blush. Adorable.
I closed my eyes, pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head. Hell, yeah.
"I'm sorry. What?" Did I actually say that out loud? Lame. So lame, Masen.
"Umm…do you know what floor the Masen-Black Corporation offices are on?" She bit her lip as she awaited my answer.
I couldn't think clearly. My pants had just gotten tighter because I think my brain had fallen there. Nuts.
"Yeah…" and I pretended to look on the board in order to get my brain into proper working order.
"See?" as I pointed to my name, "They're on the 26th floor. At the very top of this building."
She thanked me and headed toward the elevators.
It was then that I noticed her hot, rocking body. She was dressed in grey cotton dress pants which hugged her ass the way my hands were itching to do, a robin's egg blue knit sweater which complimented her skin tone stunningly and black strappy pumps. Altogether she was wrapped up as a fantastic birthday present for me.
Yeah, it was my birthday.
I watched her cross her ankles waiting for the elevator. I couldn't walk yet, but desperately wanted to get on that ride with her.
I closed my eyes again and ran my fingers through my hair and took a deep breath. I forced one foot to follow the other and managed to get beside her before the doors closed. I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Do you work here? I don't think I've seen you here before," I pretended not to know. Of course I knew everybody who did work here. I'm the one who'd hired them all.
"Well, just for today—I'm just a temp," she said and quickly looked away to the floor numbers flashing on the wall, as we ascended far too quickly up this skyscraper.
"Oh." Brilliant response, Masen. I'm sure she wants to jump your boner right now. You really are a dweeb. Why couldn't I be like Jasper and just exude suave-ness which made the ladies crazy for him? Even though I was in the power seat professionally, I just wasn't confident personally.
Suddenly I felt stupid and didn't want this beautiful mirage to know that I'd be her boss this day, so I got off the elevator on the 23rd floor.
What was I? Seventeen? I couldn't believe I'd just caved like that. I am the head of that company - well, co-head - and I have to be there. I had meetings scheduled all day.
I pulled myself together by splashing cold water on my face in the washroom on that floor and got ready to go to my office.
As I got off the elevator, fearing I'd see her, I looked around stealthily and realized there was no one around. I decided to forget her and get on with my busy day.
It wasn't long before I was entrenched in replying to my e-mails and voicemails. I decided to work on my HTC Android, instead of my laptop, and sat on my chaise lounge by the floor to ceiling window overlooking the Vancouver marina.
It was another soggy day, the fog limiting the viewing potential. It was days like this that I wished I had chosen a drier climate for my head office. But Jacob had made a sound financial argument for choosing this locale. The taxes weren't as astronomical as in the state of California.
I was totally immersed in another call with a client when someone came in with a tray laden with coffee, a mug and mini muffins. I waved for them to place it on the coffee table, not turning to acknowledge their presence in the slightest.
As soon as I did notice the black strappy heels, I was in shock. I grabbed a fistful of my hair and tried to keep my head from turning toward her. Fuck. What was the matter with me?
She escaped my office, untouched. I don't know if she even realized who I was, or had pretended to be. I fervently hoped she had not.
Another few minutes to calm myself down. How did she do that? Just the sight of her leg, and I was a sex-crazed animal. Fuck.
The rational side of me, which had been diminished of late, wondered what the hell I was thinking. I'd never, in all my life, reacted like this to any woman, no matter how hot they'd been.
It was like she was some drug, and I was a junkie who went all beserk at the sight of her. This couldn't be normal.
I'd just have to get through this day and she'd be gone.
Gone. Forever?
Suddenly I felt panic. I couldn't not ever see her again. I needed to see her again.
But I couldn't let her know my position here. How could I not? Ugh! What a fucking mess I'd wrapped myself up in.
Maybe she had recognized me. I'd just have to go out there and see. I walked out of my office and the outer office was totally empty. I checked my watch. 12.30. Lunch time. Crap. Good. I think.
I made my way down to the elevators and hopped on. I went to the bistro across the street to grab a sandwich.
And, of course, she would be there. She was with my personal assistant. Shit. I hoped they wouldn't notice.
They seemed to be immersed in conversation, so I was optimistic that they would just keep on talking together and not even notice my presence. I turned myself away from them as I awaited my order. I asked the bartender for a beer while I waited. I needed to calm down.
"Hello, Edward." Alice chirped behind me, touching my arm. Double shit. I turned around slightly toward her, but not enough to totally expose myself.
"Hello, Alice. Enjoying your lunch break?" I wanted to keep this particular conversation super short.
"Have you met today's temp, Bella?" she asked, as if she expected me to actually go and greet her as if it were our first meeting.
"Wish I could, Alice, but I have to run to catch an important call from Tokyo…" I left, forgetting my sandwich, still not ready. Tokyo? Really? Lame, Masen.
I sprinted across the street, nearly slamming into a yellow taxi in my haste. The driver sure had a vast arsenal of expletives at his disposal. I barely glanced his way, holding my hair by my hand, only because it had gotten stuck in the tangled mess it was. Fuck. I needed a haircut.
Once inside the building I slowed my pace enough to catch my gasping breath and made sure I wasn't being followed by Alice and…Bella.
Bella. Wow, the name was perfect for her. Beautiful. I wondered whether she was Italian.
I realized that I would now go hungry until dinnertime. Damn my brilliant ideas on how to deal with women. I should just take a page out of Jasper's little black book and pick up a tramp at the local watering hole.
I had to get my mind off of her.
… Bella. Stop!
I had work to get done before deadlines or else Jacob would be on my ass, complaining about my ineptitude again. Man, you goof up once and suddenly he gets all anal about every little issue.
It was just before the end of our fiscal year when I was given a stack of papers to peruse and verify important figures, when there was a flood in my office.
That wouldn't have in and of itself been the cause for my lapse, but I'd allowed Emmett to use my telephone that day and he'd accidentally knocked those particular papers off my desk, right into a puddle, which was nearly invisible beside my desk.
I don't know why he didn't notice his clumsiness, just leaving the papers on the floor, to really absorb the liquid, and thereby erasing all data.
It was a nightmare which took 2 days to reconstruct the missing information. The teams which had prepared the documents were not all available at the same time and that was what delayed the completion of the reports.
I wasn't bothered by anyone for the rest of the day and I even forgot about – her - for some of the time.
As I took my afternoon coffee break, in my office, I thought about my behavior and had pretty much decided to 'fess up to Bella at the end of the day. Better be an honest jackass than a deceitful one. I guess.
It probably wouldn't make any difference to her as she hadn't appeared to be at all affected by me in the first place. It was just all me, in my own head, making up this weirdness.
By the finish of my workday I was hopelessly involved in negotiating a minor merger with two affiliate companies and was unable to break free at a normal quitting time.
Damn it.
I gave up trying to rush the process and accepted that I wasn't going to see her again. I then shook off the anxiety of trying to finish on time and poured my extensive negotiating skills to use.
It really was what I did best and I relished in the success of each merger. Just the process was a thrill and the satisfaction I received was truly my reward. Of course, the monetary acquirements were definitely a bonus.
It was dark by the time I finally was able to leave the office and everybody had gone home, leaving only the cleaning crew to begin their work day.
This is when I usually felt the loneliness of my life. No one to go home to. No one to cook dinner for me. No one to buy flowers for.
I hated this part of my life. It sucked lemons.
As I exited the front lobby doors and checked to my right and then to my left, I saw her standing by a bus stop. I couldn't believe my eyes. I looked at my watch. It was getting really late and I didn't understand why she would still be hanging around this place.
I decided to muster up some balls and walk over to see if I could be of assistance. You know, with anything. Any little fucking thing at all. I had to work hard to keep myself in check.
Don't screw it up this time, Masen.
"Hi there. What are you still doing around here? I thought temps didn't have to work late." Nice casual banter, Masen.
"Hi. I…um…I've lost my wallet and don't have any money for the bus." She was nearly in tears as she said this.
Oh man, finally, something I could do to help her.
"Oh, not a problem, Bella. I can give you some money…" I began to dig into my pants' pocket for my wallet.
"How did you know my name?" Oops. Shit.
I stared blankly at her, my mouth hanging open. I was dumbfounded. All I saw was her inquiring eyes probing mine and I was stilled, as stone.
"Okay…funny story…" I proceeded to try to explain my bizarre behavior today and to beg forgiveness. I'm sure I'd never have to face her again. After all, why would she want to work for an ass like me again?
Her mouth slowly began to curl up at the edges and she tried in vain to stop from laughing by biting the inside of her mouth.
I was incredulous that she wasn't running away from me as I finished my tale of absurdity.
"Do you want to go for a drink?" she asked, looking at me from beneath her long eyelashes, and searching for something in her purse.
Smoldering. Very sexy. For me? Fuck.
"Yes. Okay. Let's go," I scrambled to unscramble my wits about me.
Could she actually be attracted to me? I'd waited so long for someone like her to come along. And I thought I'd very nearly blown any chance I hoped I might have had. Amazing.
We had no trouble with keeping a steady stream of conversation going as we proceeded to slowly get inebriated together.
We both realized at the same moment what was occurring when we couldn't stop laughing at something inane I'd said.
It was then that we agreed to continue our evening by having dinner together.
It was all so effortless and so sublime.
After dinner I offered to drive her home in my silver Volvo C30. She admired the leather interior and fiddled with the climate controls and then inspected my CD player to see what I was listening to last.
"Classical. Nice." She turned up the volume and relaxed into her seat and closed her eyes. Damn, she was fantastic.
As I drove through the nearly deserted streets of downtown, I caught glimpses of her legs as the street lights illuminated them every few meters along. I got increasingly uncomfortable in my pants. I couldn't readjust myself without being blatantly obvious.
I had to get her into my cave…I mean bedroom.
"Would you mind stopping by my place for a nightcap, instead of me driving you home?" I was beyond the nerves, having had ample alcohol in my system to chase any inhibitions away.
"Sure. I'd love to see how my boss, for the day, lives. Do you possess any interesting art?" What? Why would she ask that? Had she talked to someone about me?
She couldn't possibly know about the paintings in my possession from my father. Early sixteenth century stuff. Family heirlooms. She couldn't know anything about that. Just coincidence.
"Um…I have some. You probably wouldn't be very impressed by them though. Just some paintings passed down in my family," I tried to sound non-chalante, suddenly feeling protective of them.
As we walked through the parking garage to the elevator, I put my hand under her elbow to lead her the way to the elevator entrance. She looked up at me and smiled and then stumbled on I don't know what. I very nearly missed saving her from hitting the hard pavement with her hands.
I paused as she was in such close proximity to my body. I could feel the electricity pass between us. It melded us into one for a painfully brief minute.
I wanted to never separate from her exquisite softness.
She held her hands against my chest and glanced up at my face.
In that instant I acted without having to analyze my feelings versus actions and wove my hand into the back of her hair, pulling her to my lips.
How we got to my condo was a blur to me, as we didn't stop kissing all the way up in the elevator and we were practically tearing each other's clothing off in the hallway prior to entering my place.
She had grabbed my already messed up do with her hands and was intent on keeping my lips locked on hers.
I was trying to get free of her hold on me so that I could begin to undress her. She looked like she needed to get cooled off and what better way…?
"Bella. Bella! Stop for a sec'," I managed to utter in between our intermingling of tongues and gasps for air.
"What? Why?" She moaned into my mouth. Fuck, that was hot!
I managed to disentangle her hands from my hair and I clamped them together in mine.
"I want to disrobe you – you know…" I began to pull her sweater up over her head and arms and she complied and made the progress that much faster.
She continued with the process and took her pants off.
Shit. She was now clad in only a purple lace bra and panty set. My second brain was now saluting her awesome-ness and it was impossible to conceal.
She noticed the very large elephant in between us and smiled.
She grabbed my belt, yanked at it sharply, to undo it in one swift movement. Wow, she was a pro at that. I couldn't possibly get any more aroused and I moaned for her to continue in that momentum.
I stepped out of my pants, now at my ankles, and picked her up into my arms and took her into my bed.
Left only in our undergarments, it left so few obstacles left to remove before we could finally consummate this union.
It was swift. It was erotic. It was mind-blowing.
She directed me in the ways to get her to the ultimate climax and she knew exactly how to optimize my arrival also.
I never knew that the way to a woman's O was directly through her clit and had pretty little to do with my pride and joy. A fact that was a little bit deflating, I was ashamed to admit and I didn't, out loud.
She more than made up for it, though. I never had such an intense O as when she placed her warm mouth around my ego enhancement and hummed and did I wasn't sure what exactly to it. I reverberated for a good ten minutes after that.
It felt like the first real time for me. It obviously couldn't have been her's.
I didn't want to think about how many other men she'd been with. I wanted to believe that we were made for each other and no one else.
Afterward, I fell asleep in a bubble of contentment. All the anxiety of the day evaporated during our intercourse.
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When I awoke in the early morning, she was gone. There was no trace of her. Damn.
Did she have to leave?
I wandered sleepily into the kitchen to grab a glass of orange juice and noticed a post-it note on my fridge.
"I'm sorry. B."
Sorry? Possibly for leaving? Was she sorry for our time together? Why would she be?
I sure as hell was not.
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It had been nearly four months since that night and there had been no trace of Bella. I tried to track her down through the HR department, but all the numbers she'd given were disconnected. The address she gave was also not real.
I didn't get it. Why had she just disappeared into thin air? What was so wrong with us being together?
The more time that passed, the angrier I got.
Fuck it. Fuck her.
I wasn't going to let myself open up, in that way, to any woman, ever again.
So I decided it was time for Edward to become a ladies' man.
I skipped the Light Fantastic as often as physically tolerable. I took advice from Jasper on how to troll for a fun time and most of the time it was mindless fun. Sex. That was all. Nothing more.
Wow. It actually wasn't that fun, if I was honest with myself. It was just a way to release pent-up frustration.
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That would explain why I didn't recognize this woman in my bed. Actually, I wasn't even sure it was my bed. I looked around and did not recognize the surrounding furniture either.
Shit. Where was I?
I really wasn't interested in finding out who my recent lay had been, so I managed to tip-toe out of the apartment after re-dressing.
I wasn't even sure that my car would be here, so I decided to call a cab once I found out where the hell I was.
Absent-mindedly I walked out of the building, holding my cell phone in my hands, trying to engage the GPS system, when a gust of wetness assaulted my body.
Holy crap! It was a torrential downpour.
I huddled back toward the protection of the vestibule housing the intercom system while my cell did its thing.
I really should have asked that red-haired woman for some vital information, like 'where's my car?'
Just her choice in hair colour made me think she wouldn't be too cooperative with me. I was just probably being paranoid.
But how else would I find out? I can't imagine that I would have driven in my inebriated state, so I would have to try to call the bar I'd been at last night to ask if my car happened to be in their parking lot.
The rain showed no immediate signs of letting up as I rode home in the cab. It was a surprisingly long ride. I was incredibly far from home.
I thanked the cabbie and handed him enough cash to cover the fare and a sizable tip. He seemed pleased. That would be one of us, at least.
As I got out and prepared to run for the front door, something, or rather someone, caught the corner of my eye.
Bella. Why? After all this time?
I forgot all about the pounding sheets of rain and was frozen in place. She looked like a drowned rat, her long, brown, curly tresses now stuck to her head and overcoat. She had no umbrella.
"Why are you standing there getting drenched?" I inquired as she slowly walked closer to me.
"I…," she tried to keep eye contact with mine, but the rain was obstructing her ability to keep her eyes open. "I needed to see you again. I'm sorry."
"Sorry. For what?" I was not going to make anything easier for her.
"Sorry for leaving. I know that my actions were most likely confusing for you. I've dealt with those issues over these past months and want to apologize to you. I realize that you were the most amazing person I'd ever been with, so kind, so gentle…" she started to cry, although I'm not sure how one could tell through the wetness left by the rain.
I still felt numb, thinking about that night, but her obvious emotional display sparked something deep inside of me, a passion rising like lava from a dormant volcano.
"Come here," I croaked, yanking her to me, no space left for ambiguity, "I've been a shell of a human being since you left. I just now feel that void filling back. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Bella."
I cried. She cried. We kissed.
We would be together until the end of our time.