"Oh my god what are you doing in Seatle?!" Bella inquired not needing to act on that one, looking at him all the other lawyers were also looking imploringly but for other reasons.

"I moved here right after grad-school. This company gave me an offer I couldn t refuse." Edward smirked cockily, an expression she wasn't familiar with. She frowned but found that even though it wasn't the crooked smile she used to love, it still kind of made her heart race.

Edward's mind was racing. Although his years in law school had helped him keep up a a cool facade, he was having trouble keeping his expression from betraying his inner turmoil. His brow furrowed. Why would Bella be working here? Last time he had seen her she was a year away from getting her bachelor's degree. She was extremely creative and had started her senior year internship early for her degree in marketing. A place like this wasn't suited for her, the puzzle pieces didn't fit something was definately wrong with this picture. Seeing her in that outfit presented to all the hungry men on a silver platter made his hands tighten on the armrests of his chair. He had been opposed to going there. Everything about the place made him feel like the only thing it was good for was cheapening women. Bella should have not been working here. But he couldn't deny the complete shock and happiness he felt when he saw her. He had missed her. Just seeing her made him feel like he could be the old Edward again, the one she knew, the one she...it was too painful to think of that night even though the years had passed it was still ever pressent in his mind, though from her sudden dissapearance from his life and the nonchalance she was currently showing confirmed his suspicions. She regretted it. Onion-skin's voice pulled him out of his mental tirade.

"Indeed! He just won a huge case and he s a novice!! That could only be a glimpse into what a great lawyer he s going to be!"his voice beaming with pride, "I'm Aro Vultori he extended his hand to be shaken.

Bella grit her teeth as she plastered on a smile. There was something about this older man that she really didn t like and she just couldn t place her finger on it. "Pleased to meet you," she forced out even though she was anything but pleased. Aro proceeded to place a kiss on her knuckles not letting go of her hand. She pulled her hand away as gracefully as she could without being obvious or rude resisting the urge to wipe off the clamminess his hand left behind.

He leered at her, "Oh no believe me the .pleasure is all mine" raking his eyes over her scantily clad body, then went on to introduce the rest of the lawyers never once taking his eyes off Bella s breasts. He didn t even blink, "Since Eddie over there forgot his manners let me introduce you to everyone. That on the far right is Emmet Crawford; the man next to him is James Henderson, then Jasper Jamison, and Laurent Fremount." Each of them muttered a greeting and smiled warmly at her as they were introduced.

Bella smiled at everyone,"It's nice to meet you guys and since I havent formally introduced myself I m Bella. So are you guys ready to place your drink order?" Each of the lawyers placed their drink order as well as their food order all giving her warm smiles. When she reached Edward and asked for his order he didn't once take his eyes off the menu and refused to look at her. Her heart broke a little. Why was she reacting like that? What did it matter, was she expecting anything different? He owed her nothing why would he be interested at all. It angered her that she in her heart of hearts believed Edward was above petty appearances. Today it seemed, was not a day Edward would slum it. He'd done it once and she thanked her lucky stars he had but thinking that it was more than a one time thing, that she'd ment something to him was beyond idealistic. Hell bent on getting him to look at her even if it was simply at her body, she put down the drinks at the table making sure to bend over a little more when she handed him his drink but there was no reaction. No gawking like the others though she hadn t done any bending for them. She longed for him to treat her the way he did at that party.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Flashback~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The distance between them only seemed to intensify her feelings for him. She could almost say she loved him. The problem? She wasn t worthy. She was a nothing-special-ordinary girl and he was meant to do great things. Corporate law was his aim and hers was marketing, both in the same field (business) but even profession-wise she was beneath him. It was never meant to be. He didn t see her that way either, nothing said otherwise. A mere friendship was all that existed between them and if it was up to her it was going to stay that way. It had stayed that way for six years and now he wouldn t know; he didn t need to.

She ran a brush through her brown tresses for the 10th time then checked her makeup. She rarely put on makeup but Edward was coming home for the summer and had specifically asked her to pick him up from the airport. She wouldn t admit it but she was ecstatic out of everyone he could have called he had called her. It took a lot out of her just to wear something casual, something that wouldn t look like she put too much thought into. She finally settled for a pair of super low rise jeans and a black tank top. A little bit of her stomach was revealed every time she took a step as the shirt rode up. She glanced over at the clock, her eyes widening. It read 12:30! How in God s name was she going to get to LAX airport in an hour when Sunnydale was two hours apart from L.A.? She shot down the stairs and ran to start her car and frantically pulled out of the driveway. She was speeding on the highway and shredded the freeway as she got into L.A. She was cutting off people left and right almost causing a few accidents and finally made it to the airport 20 minutes late. God! She was late! Here eyes surveyed the area, then settled, finally finding what she was looking for, a smile slowly appearing on her face. He didn t look unsettled or annoyed at all but he had yet to see her.

She walked slowly toward him intent on teasing him as she tapped him on the shoulder," Excuse me but I m looking for a Mr. Edward Cullen, would you happen to be him or maybe have seen him?" she joked.

Edward tilted his head to the side looking quite confused, looked her up and down then smiled crookedly taking her breath away, "Who's asking?"

She burst out laughing thinking how cute it was he was playing along but then again everything was cute about him.

"Listen, I'm in town visiting for a while maybe you can give me your name and a phone number where I can reach you and we could maybe have coffee or something?" his eyes intensified and he smiled as charming as ever.

Thinking he was playing and keeping up with her little charade Bella extended her hand and smiled, " Isabella Marie Swan, at your service!" bringing her hand up to mock salute him.

He looked at her his eyes stretching to comical extremes in recognition and it dawned on her that he was being serious.

"B-Bella?" he said still flabbergasted

She looked at him quizzically "Yeah..."she said then laughed, it seemed she did a lot of that when he was around, "Gee I must not be memorable or something."

He laughed along with her, " You know you are very memorable. Do I get a hug or are we still playing mind games? I mean I come all the way from Indiana after not seeing you for a year. The least I could get is a hug right?"

"Not when you didn t even know who I was!" she pouted and playfully shoved him

He grunted rubbing the spot she shoved pretending to be in a world of hurt, "In my defense lost quite a bit of weight and your hair isn't in a bob anymore." He couldn t help but be drawn to her pout that just wouldn t let up, " Fine, Fine, I'm sorry." He said putting his hands up in surrender

She finally smiled at him, that illuminating smile he had always been so fond of, then looped her arm around his happily "Ok , so where am I taking you?"

"So it was as easy as saying I'm sorry and I would ve been off the hook sooner!" Bella just laughed never answering his question as she led him to the car.

~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~End Flashback~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Earth to Bella! Hello! Your order has been down for a while!" Rosalie's voice interrupted her musings and she jumped in surprise.

"Oh my God how long has it been up there oh my god it s my big top order isn t it? Oh just great I haven t even trayed it yet or anything ugh its gonna get cold by the time I tray it!" she said frantically looking for a tray.

Rosalie put her hand on her shoulder in a calming gesture "Hey Bells, don t worry I ve got your back I know you have a lot on your mind it s trayed and everything. Want me to help you take it out?"

"Oh Rose, what would I do without you?!" Bella said as she went up to her and gave her a quick hug and would you really help me take it out?

Rosalie laughed and then gave her a look as she picked up one of the two trays of food that was laid out and Bella took the second one smiling at how lucky she was to have a friend like Rosalie. They walked to the lawyer table just in time to over hear part of their conversation.

"So Edward, is Bella an easy lay?" she overheard James ask Edward.

Edward stayed quiet for a while then smirked, " Not only is she an easy lay she s a good one"

The guy Bella remembered being introduced at Emmett turned toward Edward, "Dude that's fucked up and you know it. Yeah I have my earned title of a womanizer but I would never say something like that about a girl who seems as nice as Bella is. Dude she looks like she doesn't even belong here." his voice seemed threatening yet calm.

Edward just laughed it off and slapped Emmett in the back,"Oh come on lighten up man. Besides its the honest truth. Bella is as easy as a dorknob and man can she blow." he finished. James and Edward s laughter ringing in her ears. She was hurt but she refused to show it. Appearantly Edward was more into false pretenses as of late. She could play that game and she'd give as good as she got.

Rosalie glared at the back of their heads tray in mid air ready to accidentally drop it on both ass holes but Bella mouthed "no" to her and she held her anger in looking at her in confusion mouthing "why not" and Bella smiled winking as she put her tray down bending over making her shorts ride higher up her thighs deliberately and smile plastered on her face

"Oh Eddie, I m so flattered that you think I m such a great lay but things have changed in the past years you know. For starters I m not easy," she smiled inwardly as she and Faith started distributing the platters which mostly consisted of wings and she purposely rubbed herself against Edward as she put down his plate in front of him. She smiled at Rosalie s confused face. "Though those two minutes were well.....okay they were horrible and it wasn't like size" she held up her thumb and forefinger about two inches apart to empasize her point. Ofcourse Edward had been great and his size was pretty above average but payback was a bitch and this time her name wasn't Rosalie, " could compensate for the lack in stamina. Though there is one thing I got from our little uneventful encounter. Faking an orgasm is a great way to stretch a guy's ego. Thanks ever so." Bella smiled sweetly and started to walk away. Rose had to hide a smile as the rest of Edward's table started laughing. Both she and Rosalie walked away. Rosalie giving her a subtle high five.

The girls barely registered the scraping of a chair on the floor and the footsteps dragging behind them. Bella felt someone was following them she turned around and met the face of someone quite unexpected.