A/N: I'm so happy that all of you guys reviewed! It would be even doubly awesome if you kept reviewing…all of your comments have made for a really spiffy week on my part.
Also, a note on this chapter—it's basically one giant plot device. I hope that it's an enjoyable plot device, but a plot device nonetheless. I am going to basically be using everything in it for reference points and such in chapters four and five. So, if it's kind of strange, bear with me. It will all make sense in the long run.
Disclaimer: Do I have to do this every time? Well, I don't own Twilight or its characters, and I have no hopes of ever doing so. So that's that.
And, again, this will all be in Bella POV. But if you catch any mistakes or what not, please review! Constructive criticism and just general comments are greatly appreciated.
Anyways, onwards and upwards!
Chapter 2
Rrring. Rrring. Rrring.
Alice looked at me and whispered, "Do you think we should take the phone off the hook?"
I violently shook my head and went back to staring at the phone, which had been spasmodically vibrating for the past three hours.
"Wait for it…" Alice started counting down on her fingers. Three, two, one…
"Hey, this is the flat of Isabella Swan and Alice Cullen. If you have a message, please leave it after the beep and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. Unless, of course, this is Jasper, in which case, you have our cell phone numbers, so why are you calling here?" BEEP.
I shuddered as the annoying voice that had been leaving messages for the past three hours started to speak. "Bella? Bella? Are you going to forgive me? I love you. You know that, right? I would never intentionally hurt you. It was just a one-time thing! Lauren doesn't mean anything to me, you've always been the one for me! Bella? Bella? Are you there?" Cue the mild cursing.
I sighed and buried my head in a pillow. "Oh my God, Alice. He won't leave me alone."
"What?" she said hoarsely, "Your voice is muffled."
I picked my head up and gazed bleakly at her. "Why won't Tyler leave me alone?"
She shrugged. "I guess he was more into you than you thought."
"Urgh!" I flopped back down onto the couch. "You would think that me telling him for the past two years, 'we're over' would knock some sense into him."
Alice gave a nervous sort of giggle. "Apparently not." She was silent, and then, "Do you think he'll come to our flat? Because, no offense, but I really don't want him hanging around here at night stalking you. It would be…"
"…Creepy." I finished her sentence for her.
"Yeah." She nodded.
"Look," I said tiredly, waving an arm half-heartedly in the air, "the next time he calls, I'll pick up and set him straight. And then maybe he'll leave us alone."
"Or," Alice helpfully offered, "he might just get a renewed interest."
I lifted my head up so that I could glare at her. "Thanks for reminding me."
She yawned. "Just tell him to wait until morning, okay? It's already midnight, and I'm really tired since we stayed up all last night…but if the phone's always ringing…"
"We could put duct tape over it to muffle it," I suggested.
"No, that might hurt the machine."
"Actually—" I was about to debate the issue with her when the phone rang again. I glanced at it and took a deep breath. "Now or never, right?"
Alice just clapped her hands over her ears and said, "Do it already."
I obliged her and picked up the phone. "Tyler?" I said, trying to sound as angry as possible for a person who was coming down from a caffeine-high and still awake at twelve A.M. after an incredibly long day at work. "Do you know how annoying you are being right now? Do you? We broke up years ago. Years ago. And now you are phone stalking me. Phone stalking me! Don't you have something better to fill your time with, like screwing girls at fraternity parties?"
There was silence at the other end of the line.
I sighed. "Look, Tyler, what we had was great, but I am getting really uncomfortable. I think I'm going to get a restraining order if you keep this up…"
Suddenly, a deep, handsome voice spoke at the other end of the line. "Hello?" he said cautiously.
"Uh, who is this?" I said curiously. Maybe it was one of Tyler's cronies.
"Ah, this is Emmett. Emmett Cullen."
"Oh," I squeaked, almost dropping the phone. "Oh. Well that's…different."
And then, to put the cherry on top of my sundae of embarrassment, he started laughing. I could hear him on the other end of the line, saying, "Oh…oh Edward, oh Edward—do you know what your girlfriend just said?" I heard a muffled "She's not my girlfriend!" followed by Emmett chuckling, "Yeah, whatever—but did you know she's being phone-stalked?" Pause. "I know, right?" Pause. "Hey, what are you—" suddenly his voice was coming through loud and clear again. He sounded out of breath. "Hey, this is Bella, right? Well, right now my brother…is…forcing…" he panted and said, "…he is forcing the phone out of…out of…" there was a dull thud, and a resounding "OUCH!" from a source that sounded suspiciously like Emmett.
"Bella?"
I rolled my eyes. Apparently, Edward had successfully taken the phone from Emmett. "Mr. Cullen, could you please hand the phone back to your brother? I believe he was trying to tell me something important."
He brushed my comment off. "No, no—nothing important, trust me. We'll deal with that later. But what's this I hear about someone stalking you via your telephone?" He sounded accusing now, as if I was in the wrong for not telling him of my predicament.
"Look," I said angrily, "it really is absolutely none of your business, so I'm just going to get Alice or something…"
"No! Bella, listen to me," he actually sounded pretty worried. Did my ears deceive me? "I can…help you with him, you know. I have connections. What's his name? I can get people to straighten him out."
I tried my best not to sound annoyed, though I didn't succeed. "Is it a habit of yours to interfere in other people's business?"
He was snapping now. "Well, I'm sorry if I'm concerned for my employee's welfare."
"Not for long," I corrected him. "I'm getting out of your firm as soon as I can, and going through law school."
"Oh. Right." He sounded vaguely unhappy. Probably upset that he would soon be losing his servant.
"Well," I yawned, "it's my bedtime, and I'm really very tired…so did you want to speak with Alice?"
"What?"
"Alice?" I reminded him, frustrated. "You know, your sister?"
"Oh, Alice."
"Well, aren't you going to talk to her?" Wasn't that the whole reason that Emmett had called?
"Oh. Yeah. Sure."
"Well, I'll give the phone to her," I said slowly and bitingly, hoping each word stung. He was really getting on my nerves—calling up specifically to speak to Alice and then acting as if she didn't exist. How was that for brotherly love?
"Hey, Alice!" I called, putting my hand over the receiving end. "Hey, Alice! Yoo-hoo! Telephone!"
She stomped over to me and rubbed her eyes, muttering groggily, "Is it Jasper?"
I shook my head and mouthed, "Your brother."
Her eyes widened. Then she asked suspiciously, "Which one?"
"Well," I said, trying to keep my voice low, "first it was Emmett, but then Edward stole the phone from him…"
She frowned. "Why would Edward do that?"
"Oh, something about Emmett mentioning the whole 'Tyler' dilemma," I said lightly, hoping she would drop the subject.
Her brow creased even further. "Wait, so…was he worried?"
I shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? He's your brother."
She just gave me a patronizing stare and stretched her hand out for the phone. I gave it to her and whispered hurriedly, "I'm heading off to bed. Wake me if you need anything."
She gave a curt nod and put the phone to her ear, saying in a very polite voice, though with an undercurrent of caution, "Hello?" There was about a minute of silence, and then she started babbling into the phone, her voice a furious whisper. I wondered what they were talking about, since I couldn't make out what they were saying…but decided I could ask Alice tomorrow. It wasn't as if she would keep it a secret—and besides, it probably wasn't that important anyways.
ASADSFADS ASADSFADS ASADSFADS
I slumped against my chair, leaning my head back and staring intently at the ceiling. I had re-scheduled his entire week. I had sorted all of his case files. I had called all of his clients, not to mention spent a half hour arguing with one of the bailiffs over the judge we wanted to preside over an upcoming trial, and between it all had to run back and forth fetching Edward food. It was just like it had been on my first day…except this time, Edward kept having me come into his office instead of out. I was there more often then I was at my desk—and I had yet to drink my daily dose of coffee.
All in all, I was in a pretty bad mood.
Then, of course, Jessica was the icing on the cake, sauntering in to me and saying, "I'm off to see Edward…hope you don't mind," and then flouncing through his door like she was about to be swept off her feet. Of course, when she came out three minutes later looking acutely disgruntled, it didn't seem as if she had gotten the reception she had desired. I would have laughed in her face, but I was too tired—Tyler had kept calling late into the night. At least I knew he was building up one heck of a phone bill.
Currently, Jessica was standing in front of me, hands on her hips, and glaring at me. What had I done this time? Everything I did seemed to annoy her. I think it was mostly the fact that I saw Edward more than her, but it seemed to also be something else…I didn't really care, as I believed I would figure it out soon enough—she was fairly transparent. And, likely as not, it was something extremely trivial and unimportant.
"The defense attorneys for the Black case are on their way over," she snapped, slamming some papers onto my desk. "You're supposed to make them at home and get them in for a conference with all the Cullens in the boardroom."
My eyes widened. I was confused—only Jessica ever went into the boardroom. "Why would they need me for that?"
She sniffed and put her nose in the air. "I have absolutely no idea." She then whirled around and stalked off. Well, it explained her seemingly irrational anger…she thought I was stealing her job. Ha! I didn't even want it.
But, as enjoyable as it was to see her so upset, it meant added work. I heaved a sigh and gathered up the documents, rapping lightly on Edward's door. "Come in," he called.
I walked in, internally speculating as to how his office had gone from pristine condition yesterday to looking as if it had been turned upside down today. Papers were scattered everywhere and coated the floor like a second carpet, while law book were stacked haphazardly in the clearest areas of the room—the places where you could actually glimpse the rug underneath. Burglars, perhaps, had done this? Or maybe a legion of his adoring fan girls…I didn't doubt that they could wreak mass havoc—Jessica was proof enough with the damage she did everyday.
"Do you want me to set up the boardroom now?" I asked, stifling a yawn. I was not about to show him weakness and let him know how tired I was…I would just suck it up.
He ignored my question and simply inquired, "Are you quite alright? You can go and lie down, I'll take care of setting up the conference for you."
I vehemently shook my head, vaguely wondering why now of all times he decided to act like an actual human being. "No, I'm fine."
"Well, I know that your ex-boyfriend was calling you at the wee hours of the morning today. If you're tired, it would be understandable." So then why was he having me run around all day? Was he trying to get me even more tired?
I bit back another yawn. "And how…would you know that?" I covered my mouth with my hand, disregarding the fact that it probably looked very odd. I didn't care if he thought I was weird for randomly slapping my appendages over my mouth—I simply was not going to let him see me yawn.
He eyed me critically. "It wouldn't take someone of my mental capacities to figure it out."
I glared at him. There he went again being egotistical. "I'm going to set up," I said firmly, spinning around and completely prepared to walk off in a cloud of indignation at his arrogance…when I slipped on the papers beneath me and toppled to the ground.
"Bella!" instantly Edward was at my side, supporting my back with his arm. He sounded genuinely concerned. "Are you alright?"
I scowled. My nefarious clumsy streak always kicked in at the wrong moments. "Of course I'm alright," I huffed, "why wouldn't I be? I just fell, that's all."
He frowned at me. "Bella," he said sternly, "you could have been very seriously injured."
I snorted. "Please, it happens all the time."
He looked horrified. "Really?"
I nodded.
He then turned egotistical again. "Oh, so you're not just impacted by my presence, then?"
I frowned. That had had more than a hint of arrogance in it. "Yes," I said dryly, "it certainly is nauseating enough to make me swoon."
He grimaced. "Ah. So, I'm still a rogue to you, then?"
I shrugged. "You're my employer." I wasn't going to say anything more on the subject, or I would blurt out something that I would later regret. Like that he was an arrogant prick. But, these things happen.
He stared at me intently, his green eyes calculating, before saying, "Here, give me those."
"What?" I asked, slightly dazed. I had been a tad preoccupied with his eyes, I angrily and ashamedly admitted to myself. But they were just so green…and really, who could help physical attraction? Certainly there wasn't enough intellect and morality in him to sit comfortably with company in a tablespoon, so it shouldn't matter to me—there was no way I would ever become romantically involved with him. But I could enjoy the view while it lasted…
He smirked. "Give me the papers."
I stared at him, not fully comprehending his meaning. Then it clicked. "Oh, no!" I said, clutching them even tighter against my chest. "This is my job, and I'm perfectly qualified to do it."
He remained stubborn and reached out a hand for the papers. "I am your boss, Bella. Give them to me now."
I shook my head obstinately, pressing my fingernails into the paper. I was probably leaving indentations…but I didn't care. I wasn't letting him take my work—he was probably trying to butter me up so he could un-guiltily send me to Walmart to fetch him some wheat flakes. Arrogant swine.
"Bella," he said, frowning. I merely shook my head. "Bella, please?" he pleaded, turning the full force of his eyes on me. It took every ounce of my willpower to actually concentrate on what he was saying. But honestly, when he was looking at me like that…giving him the papers didn't seem like such a bad idea.
"N…no," I said, my breathiness making my annoyance sound diluted.
He smirked. "Oh really, now? Would you care for me to ask again?"
I rolled my eyes and stalked out the door, not bothering with a response.
ASADSFADS ASADSFADS ASADSFADS
I had never known before how many automatic reflexes I possessed. For the past three days, I had been fighting my natural instincts to smack Jessica, or at least give her a good tongue-lashing…and now they were coming back at me, full-force. I desperately wanted to give her a good thumping for being so...attentive to Edward's needs. It was painful to my eyes to watch her flaunt herself in front of him—it was disgusting. I almost wished she would just end the torment and do something completely outrageous so he would be obligated to put her in her place. Or at least drag him into some supply closet in the nether regions of the building and get both of them out of my way. But, of course, that didn't happen.
"Mr. Cullen?" she said, batting her eyelashes at him as if she thought it would somehow charm him to his knees. To me it looked as if she had a muscle twitch.
"Yes?" he said, sounding faintly annoyed. I wanted to rub his obvious disinterest in her face—maybe it would get her to just leave already—but, again, having to be professional came back to bite me in the butt.
"Do you need any help?" she said, flipping her hair and leaning slightly to the side on one hip. Her stance screamed out her intentions, though her tone was completely professional. I had to admit, she flirted well…though what she wanted was still completely obvious except to the exceptionally unobservant onlooker. I waited to see what his reaction would be.
"No, thank you," he said firmly. "You can return to the front desk, now—make sure that the lawyers are brought in."
She looked displeased, though the only evidence of this was how her rouged lips turned slightly downwards. "Oh, Mr. Cullen," she said gravely, "I was specifically instructed by Victoria to help you out. I'm sure your secretary," it didn't escape my notice that she pointedly ignored the fact that I was with her and privy to the conversation, "can handle the rest of the set up. Such as getting your brothers and such."
"One brother, one sister-in-law," Edward automatically corrected, his gaze fixed upon the ceiling. "They have their own secretaries."
Jessica shook her head. "Actually, they let them get off early today. They said they wanted some time to discuss the case together."
Edward noticeably blanched and tugged at his collar nervously. This puzzled me—what about her statement had made him so obviously uncomfortable? "Ah, yes," he said, "that. Well, I suppose then that you could…" Oh, I understood now—he was probably jealous of Emmett and Rosalie's relationship…that was why he was so uncomfortable.
"Oh, no, Mr. Cullen," I said, placing my hand lightly on his shoulder. He looked down at my hand in shock, not even attending to my words. I had only meant it as a gesture of goodwill so that he would feel peaceable enough to let me go without some snide remark. "I'll go get them. I'll be back immediately."
"Er, what?" he was still gazing at my arm as if it were some kind of extra-terrestrial.
"I'm going to go get your brother and sister. Right now." I tried my best not to sound annoyed that he wasn't paying attention, but I expected him to jump at the chance to get rid of me—after all, he had been having me run around all day today. This was pretty minor in comparison.
"Actually," he said frowning, "I would prefer it if—"
But I had already turned around and marched off. If he felt particularly indecisive at the moment, I knew that he would change his mind shortly and I would end up having to go and get them anyways. Really, I was saving us both a lot of trouble. And, I guess, finding his fellow lawyers would be relatively easy in comparison to hunting through Walmart to find wheat flakes…a task which I had yet to forgive him for making me do.
I strode confidently through the Cullen Wing door, and then wondered which of the three concealed doors I should take. I giggled—it was like I was in a maze. Of course, I checked off Edward's door—after all, why would his family partners be in there?—and decided to check Emmett's office first. I knew him slightly better than Rosalie, if only because he had spoken to me on the phone. And he had seemed good-natured, so I probably wasn't going to walk in on someone who was completely rude, unlike other pig-headed men I could name…
I knocked lightly on his door before walking in. Of course, there was Laurent's desk, neat as a pin, which was the result from his being the single male secretary on the entire floor. His co-workers never let him forget it, either. Emmett, in fact, had stated numerous times that he would have preferred to have a female working for him, but had ended up with a man simply because his wife and partner, Rosalie, had expressly forbidden him from having a woman secretary. This resulted in Laurent having the constant appearance of being disgruntled, something I found to be understandable. I would have been just as unhappy if people had been treating me in the same way…it also meant that he gained an unquenchable thirst to prove himself to his employers, and tried to do so by being the best secretary it was possible to be. Unfortunately, no one's opinions of him changed, except that he was a neat-nick. My obvious sympathy for his predicament had led to a cementing friendship between us, for which I was grateful. He was a fairly amiable person.
I stepped past the desk and knocked on the door. There was no answer, so I called out, "Mr. Cullen? It's Miss Swan, Edward's secretary, and you are needed in the board room immediately." Again, silence. "Hello? Mr. Cullen?"
I waited by the door for a full two minutes before I decided that I should go in. I pushed the door open, and quietly stepped inside. I noticed that it was exactly as messy as Edward's room, if not slightly messier. And there were odd gadgets and doo-dads lying around that seemed as if they served no purpose other than to provide an amusing spectacle for a bored eye.
This left me one option—if they weren't in here, then they had to be in Rosalie's room. Ah, yes, Jessica had mentioned that they were discussing the case together, so naturally they would be together. That made sense. They were probably looking the documents over even as I stood there.
I dashed out the door and hurried to Rosalie's office, not even bothering to knock on the first door—it was just Angela's desk, so I knew that if I didn't announce myself before entering, no one would mind. I quickly ran up to the next door, rapping it loudly with my knuckles and calling, "Mr. Cullen? Mrs. Cullen? This is Miss Swan, Edward's secretary. You are needed immediately in the boardroom."
I heard a crash from within the room, and some swearing.
"Hello?" I heard a woman gasping out the word from inside. It sounded as if she was doubled over in laughter…or possibly pain.
"Are you alright?" I called nervously. Was somebody injured? If so, what should I do?
"Oh, we're alright…" the woman sounded as if she found something very funny with the whole situation. Her irrational humor frustrated me. What was so hilarious?
"Are you sure?"
"Perfectly," I heard a man grumble, and I assumed that it was Emmett. The woman snickered—that had to be Rosalie.
"You can come inside," she shouted. "In fact, please do."
I shrugged and turned down the knob, just as the man shrieked, "No! No! Don't come in, whatever you do, don't come in!" But by that time I had already opened the door.
I gasped. "Um, Mr. Cullen?" I squeaked.
Lying before me on the floor was a big, bulky man with curly brown hair and glaring brown eyes. He looked like he had some very impressive muscles…maybe he lifted weights?...and he was very handsome—the attractive gene apparently held true for all of the Cullens. But despite the positives about his physical appearance, they were instantly negated by what he was wearing.
"I know, right? A carrot suit!" the woman I had heard before was giggling insanely, saying, "Oh, I wish I had a camera."
"It's not that funny," he muttered, attempting to cross him arms but prohibited by the costume.
The woman who was propped up on the desk clutching her sides I took to be Rosalie—even though she was only related to Emmett through marriage, she carried the Cullen beauty gene. Maybe being married to one of the Cullens just naturally made you gorgeous. She had long blonde hair that tumbled down her back, and wide blue eyes that made you immediately suspicious that she was wearing contacts. However, I assumed her electric cerulean orbs weren't fake—she looked like a woman who would flaunt every natural part of her, and not try to falsify her beauty…it's not like she would need to, anyways.
I then noticed two other costumes propped up in the corner of the room—one looked like a tiger costume—in fact, possibly Tigger from Winnie-the-Pooh. The other was a shapeless, bulky gray blob.
"Um…why are you in a carrot suit?" the question popped out of my mouth before I could stop myself. I honestly didn't mean to pry, but really—who dressed-up as vegetation when they were working? I had every right to be curious.
"I," Emmett said proudly, "am a vegetable."
Rosalie snickered. "That's absolutely right."
He scowled. "No, I mean I am donned in a vegetable suit."
I nodded. "I can see that."
His frown deepened. "You know what? I don't think I want to be with people who are so judgmental." He attempted to stand up, but failed miserably, only succeeding in rocking back and forth with his arms flailing in the air.
I slapped a hand over my mouth to hold back my laughter. Fortunately, Rosalie did enough laughing for the both of us. "You see," she said to me, still chuckling, "we were playing 'Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral?' to help us…study. And when you knocked, Emmett here fell over." She gently prodded him with her foot, which only made him tilt further back and forth.
"You were playing…a game?" I said disbelievingly. "Isn't that a bit…well…"
"Childish?" Rosalie finished, still sniggering.
I bobbed my head in assent.
"Actually," Emmett piped up from below, "it was very mature."
I furrowed my brow, confused. "How could it be—oh. Oh, I see."
Rosalie grinned wickedly, while Emmett gave a polite and embarrassed cough. I had to say, however, that his wife was taking me walking in on their little "activity" quite calmly…though that might have been because of the fact that she had not been caught on the floor in a carrot suit. Really, compared to that, who wouldn't be confident?
"So, um…" I scratched my head and studied a random file-folder that lay in the far corner of the room. "You're wanted for a conference with the lawyers on the Black case…now…and I'll just be on my way…"
Rosalie beamed at me. "Thank you so much for notifying us. We'll be there in ten minutes…after I help Emmett out of his costume." At this she hopped down from her perch on the desk and walked casually over to her husband, bending over to pat him lightly on his orange-felt covered head. "Oh, darling," she sighed, "you always fall down at the worst moments, don't you?"
He grimaced.
I quietly backed out of the room, hastily retreating to the safety of Angela's desk. I decided that I would keep this little meeting a secret from Edward. I had an inkling that he might not take the carrot suit fiasco quite so calmly as Rosalie.
ASADSFADS ASADSFADS ASADSFADS
I took one satisfying gulp of my cappuccino before sighing in relief. I had been worried that I wouldn't get my caffeine for the day…luckily, Edward had given me a break while he was in his conference. Of course, it had required a serious amount of wheedling on my part—he seemed reluctant to have me leave the office—but I managed to convince him. That led up to me sitting in the small reception room right next to the Cullen Wing, sipping my drink happily. It would have been a truly perfect moment if I had had Alice with me…there were so many things I wanted to tell her. For instance, I was fairly sure that finding out Emmett had been in a carrot costume wouldn't come as a complete surprise to her. I think she actually would have found it rather normal compared to what he usually did.
I rested my feet on the chair next to me, getting something good out of the solitude. If anyone had been here with me, save Alice, I wouldn't have been able to put my shoes on the furniture—it would "ruin the décor" or some other such nonsense. Really, what damage could high heels do? If you weren't walking in them, that is.
Minutes passed as I relaxed, checking my watch every so often to see how long they had been occupied. As of now it had been…twenty minutes since they had disappeared into the boardroom, and ten since I had gotten my coffee. Edward had said it would probably only be a half hour, and that I should be ready and waiting to say a farewell to our guests when they chose to depart.
I stiffly got up, tossing my empty coffee cup into a trashcan, and walked out the door. However, as soon as I was in the hallway, I heard a crunching sound beneath my feet. I immediately fell forward onto my face—there was my nefarious clumsy streak again, coming back to haunt me.
"Owww…" I rolled over onto my back and sat up, bringing my foot around into my lap. I was fully prepared to rub my aching ankle back to feeling well, only to discover that the crunching sound I had heard had been my heel breaking. So that was why I had fallen. "Oh, crap." I slipped off both of my shoes, just to make sure that I didn't break the other one, and shakily stood up, gripping the wall for support.
That was when I heard the laughter behind me. I quickly whirled around, completely forgetting my shoes predicament. There stood a tall, handsome man—not in Edward's league, of course, but still very good-looking. He was chuckling to himself, and, having noticed my furious gaze, stuck out his hand.
"I'm Mike Newton," he said smoothly, a grin still on his lips.
"Bella Swan," I said, taking his hand and shaking it once before dropping it. I wasn't quite happy that he had been laughing at me.
"Here," he said, "let me take those for you."
I narrowed my eyes. "I'm fine. But what are you doing here? I've never seen you before."
He casually ran a hand through his messy blond hair, his blue eyes boring into my brown ones. "I'm a lawyer for the Black case. I came out to get some water…I didn't expect to find a beautiful woman in need of some help. Though it is a definitely preferable situation."
I blushed at his compliment, but still felt snappy. "I don't need any help," I said, frowning.
He smiled. "Of course not. But I'd feel a lot better if I was allowed to escort the lovely young lady back to her office."
I put my hands on my hips, trying to ignore the patent leather shoes digging into my skin. "How did you know I work here?"
"That's for me to know, and you to find out," he said enigmatically. He then extended his arm.
I simply raised an eyebrow. "What's that for?"
"To take you to your office."
I frowned, but took it anyways.
"Now," he said, "where is it that you do work?"
I decided to use his words against him. "That's for me to know, and you to find out."
He chuckled. "Alright, then, Miss…"
"Isabella Swan," I said, finally starting to warm up to this charming man. He really wasn't all that bad, even if he had laughed at me—it wasn't like he had been as rude as Edward was at our first meeting. He clearly didn't expect me to throw myself at him. "But please, call me Bella."
"Alright, Bella," he said happily. "Lead the way."
ASADSFADS ASADSFADS ASADSFADS
I reclined in my chair, laughing as Mike recounted yet another story of his childhood.
"And then," he said, leaning forward, "do you know what my grandpa did?"
I shook my head vigorously, my eyes wide and my mouth forming a huge smile. "What?"
"He looked at me and said, 'Well, what do you know? I guess it was here the whole time!'"
I clapped my hand over my mouth to suppress my howl of laughter. "That…" I gasped, "…is too funny!"
"Isn't it though? My grandpa always did the strangest things."
"Really? Oh, my grandfather does, too. He was making jam once, and he accidentally dropped his glasses in it. He spent three days looking for them, calling up all of his senior citizen friends and his recreation clubs—only to have my dad fish them out of one of the jam jars. He had even contemplated just giving the jam to my grand-dad and seeing if he would actually try and spread it on a piece of bread…knowing my grandfather, he would have done it."
Mike gave an appreciative chuckled. "I completely understand what you mean. My grandfather almost never misplaced things, though—to a nearly absurd degree—but that was only because he kept them in the oddest places. Do you know where he kept his books?"
I shook my head.
"The icebox! Can you believe it? He said, 'A book is a dish best served cold.' I always thought that he changed that phrase on purpose, but apparently he actually got books and revenge mixed-up—hence the freezing temperatures. The librarians always became so flustered when he returned his books and they were still melting! It puzzled them to no end."
I giggled. "Sounds like a great guy."
Mike snorted. "Yes, that is until you realize where he kept spare coins—he taped them to the foliage of one of those giant, frond-like plants with the huge green leaves," he splayed his hands to show exactly how huge, "and my mother always used to say, 'Money may not grow on trees, but it certainly grows on garden plants.'"
I laughed again. "Oh, I love my grand-dad to death."
"Me too—only, he's passed." Mike's grin faltered for a moment.
"Oh, Mike," I said soothingly, gently grasping his hands in mine. "I'm sorry."
"That's alright," he said, his voice falsely cheery. I gave him a sad sort of smile. My grandmother had died years ago, so I knew what it was like for a grandparent to pass away. And it seemed as if Mike had been very close to his grandfather.
It was only then that I noticed that we were leaning closer together. It was unintentional on my part—I only meant to come forward to clasp his hands, but he apparently took it as an advance from me. Our faces were only one foot apart now, and I didn't know what to do—did I reject him after that wonderful conversation we had just had? And besides, the memory of his grandfather must be fresh in his memory—would it be too terrible of me to lead him on now so as not to further wound him? Or was I supposed to push him away and put up a front? I hadn't dated in so long…I had almost forgotten what was acceptable and unacceptable on a first meeting. However, I was pretty sure that you weren't supposed to kiss someone you just met, let alone the defense attorney for the Black case (as he had gleefully told me, it was his first case, and, to double the fun, he was trying it with his good friend, Eric Yorkie—that was why he had known that he would not be missed in the boardroom if he came to have a conversation with me).
So, to kiss, or not to kiss? I didn't have time for the question, as Mike soon began to take action.
"Bella…" he disentangled his hands from mine, and brought them up to cup my face. He tilted my chin towards him, staring straight into my eyes. I found myself fighting the undeniable urge to squirm out of his grasp. But no, I had to remind myself, you've just brought up some unpleasant memories for him, and this is his first case…indulge him a little—it's not as if a kiss means much, does it?
"Bella," he said quietly, "Bella, I really like you."
I bit my lip, flushing slightly, before answering with, "I like you, too." It seemed true to me, at least. I did think he was a really nice guy. I just didn't feel any kind of real romantic interest in him. He didn't exactly ignite my passion—sure, he was good-looking, but not exactly my type. But I wasn't about to tell him that.
He smiled slightly, his fingers gently brushing a strand of hair back behind my ear. My skin didn't tingle where he touched me, but it did make me feel nervous. Was he even going to kiss me? Was he going to just hold me? Was he going to do anything? Would I be stuck wondering about this awkward situation for the rest of my life?
He slowly leaned forward, his face tilting slightly to the side. I kept my eyes opened, watching how his closed as soon as his mouth captured mine. It wasn't magical, but it certainly wasn't horrible. He was a good kisser, I decided, as his mouth slowly opened, his tongue trying to pry my lips apart. I was about to comply, too, when suddenly I heard a sound coming from my right side.
I pushed away from Mike, and, startled, glanced at the door which was now ajar. Framed in the entryway stood Edward, his emerald eyes wide and his mouth hanging open.
"Edward," I said hastily, "I can explain—"
He just shook his head and stared at the wall behind me, saying calmly, "I'll be in my office if you two need me." He strode across the room and slammed his door behind him.
I groaned. He had acted that exact same way when he saw that I had brought Alice with me to work on Tuesday…he had practically emotionally shut down. But now the problem was Mike, not his sister…somehow, I had a feeling that him being a guy made the situation a whole lot worse.
"Oh, Bella," Mike said, "I guess this is kind of a bad time, but…do you want to get dinner tonight?"
I dropped my head to my knees and sighed. "Mike, I don't know—I think my roommate has plans…and right now, I have to sort things out with Mr. Cullen."
"Well," Mike said, grimacing and crossing his arms, "I don't see why he should be so mad. It's not like you're his girlfriend or anything."
I grimaced—thank God. "I know." However, I wasn't all too keen on Mike's sudden protectiveness…it wasn't as if he was my boyfriend, either.
"Well, what's your number, then?"
"Mike," I said, slightly peeved, "I have a lot on my mind right now. Can you wait?"
He scowled. "Look, I don't know when I'll get to see you next. I just want to call you so I can see when we can meet again. Who knows if the Cullens'll invite me back? Judging from your boss's reaction, it won't be anytime soon. He'll probably prevent me from seeing you or something."
"Mike…I really doubt Edward would do something like that…" Yes, arrogant and pig-headed though he may have been, he wasn't about to restrict me from seeing people if I wanted to.
"Just write it down really fast, okay?"
"Fine," I muttered, grabbing a pen and quickly jotting down my number on a sticky-note. "Have fun with that."
"Thanks," he grinned at me. I noticed that he had some food between his teeth. I shuddered—I was glad I hadn't opened my mouth.
"Sure," I said wearily, getting up and practically shoving him out the door. He didn't seem like such a great guy anymore. A good-looking guy, sure, but not as great as I had thought. Who would react to my boss walking in on us like that? Though there was the fact that his grandpa had died…I felt bad for him in that respect.
But my real problem wasn't with Mike. Of course, it might be later in the evening when he would probably call me…but for now, it was Edward. Victoria had said I would be fired if I was involved in any office romances…so would kissing the defense attorney for the Black case count?
Probably.
A/N: Hm. I wonder if that could be considered a cliffhanger? True, Edward's a tad emotionally unstable in this story—for reasons that will slowly unfold later on—and Bella's just a tad mean to him. But, of course, that's only because he's mean to her. Though what would happen if he got over himself? I wonder…and of course this all just adds to the tension. But would you consider it a cliffhanger? I don't know, you tell me.
Also, Laurent has become my new favorite character—you just gotta love a guy surrounded by sexist people in a sexist environment. Basically everyone's discriminating against him because he's male, but they completely ignore the fact that he's breaking the gender boundary in the secretarial workplace. Ah, well, he'll get his due in good time.
Anyways, here's a sneak preview summary of the next chapter—Alice decides that she needs to take Bella to a special somewhere, a place where they might even meet a certain someone…though this all depends on if Edward can get over the Mike incident, first. Mysterious, no?
So, if you want to figure out what happens next, review! It makes me happy and it makes me update…which are both good things.
Until next time!
