Long Time, No See
Chapter 2
"Mr. Cullen, very nice to see you again." I held out my hand to greet the man that stood before me. He looked even better with age, if possible. My stomach was doing flip-flops and I now knew why Jasper had that shitty grin on his face. Revenge will be mine.
"Mrs.?" Edward asked me.
"It's just Ms., Ms. Swan." I assured him and I noticed he swallowed tightly.
"It's been a long time. You look fantastic. Corporate life suits you." Edward smiled.
"Yes, it really does. I get to do what I love and help people in return." I motioned for him to sit.
"So, are things serious between you and James Hunter or are…" Edward started and I held up my hand.
"Whoa! What? I am NOT sleeping with my boss!" I hissed.
"I-I'm sorry. I was under the impression when I talked to him, that you two where an item." Edward held his hands up in defense.
"Yes, well I can assure you I have not and will not be sleeping with Mr. Hunter. EVER! Now, we need to get to business. I'm sure you've gone over the fees and schedule we had set up." I switched on my bitchattude, as Jasper and Emmett called my lawyer façade.
"Yes, Carlisle has your company on retainer. I've been assured that you'll make a hefty fee and I've been told that you'll make partner if this goes well." Edward smiled.
"Yes, I'll be partner if this goes well, which I have no doubts it will. I've already found out that you're soon to be ex has hired an attorney by the name of Jenks. He's a low life, He'll cheat anyway he can, he'll make you to be the bad guy and blame her unfaithfulness on you and your work." I stated plainly and went through everything with him.
"You have no doubts we'll win? She was caught red handed cheating, I have the P.I. photos to prove it." Edward shrugged.
"Yes, no doubts." I stated firmly and confidently.
"Good. I'll be in town for a few days and I'd love to take you out." Edward smiled that fucking sexy smile that made my panties wet…
"I'm sorry Edward. Everything will be kept professional. I don't date clients." I stated.
"OK. What if I ask you to lunch with your cousin tomorrow? Can that happen?" he asked hopefully.
"Yes, as long as Jasper is there. If he doesn't show, I'll have to leave." I told him firmly.
"He'll be there, promise." He smiled.
"Good. I'll get with Jasper later for the details. Have a good day Edward." I stood up to shake his hand, and as I offered it to him, he held it to his lips and kissed it.
"Good day Bella." He smiled and walked out.
Later that night I called Jasper at work and asked about lunch for tomorrow.
"Yes, I'm going to be there. I'm pulling a double, but I get off at noon, so 12:30 at Matt's in the Market?" he asked.
"Yes, sounds good. See you there." I smiled. "And be safe." I picked up at the end.
"I will. And I'll call Edward as well." He laughed and hung up.
"What's got you all smiles sis?" Emmett asked, walking in from his hospital shift.
I sighed and debated on how to tell him. "Edward's back." I blurted out.
"Excuse me? What?" he stopped in his tracks.
I let out a long sigh. "He was my client today. Apparently Jasper and he have kept in touch all these years." I shook my head.
Emmett burst out laughing. "Why does that not surprise me that he's an egotistical surgeon?"
"Believe it or not, he was really nice, except when he asked about my boyfriend, Mr. Hunter!" I gagged.
Emmett spit his water out and laughed. "What? He thinks you're doing Mr. Creepy?" he laughed some more.
"Yeah, where he got that idea, I don't know." I shrugged.
Emmett had a look on his face.
"What?" I asked.
"He's kept in touch with Jasper, right?" Emmett drew out the word right.
"That sneaky bastard! Wait until I get my hands on him!" I snapped.
"Easy Bitchella!" Emmett laughed.
"Hey, come with us tomorrow. I'd love to see Edward's face at seeing you again." I laughed.
"OK. I'll come pick you up. I'll be your date tomorrow." Emmett hugged me tight. "But, I need my beauty sleep." He laughed and walked to his room.
I sat on the couch doing my paperwork, when my phone beeped.
"Bella, I need you at 6am tomorrow, meet at the corner coffee shop. We've got a domestic dispute/domestic violence case, with a child involved. She's heard great things about you from a friend of yours named Alice and will only trust a woman to handle her case. She didn't leave a name or anything, in case she was being followed or anything. But was told to drop Alice's name, in case you had questions of your own." Aro said cautiously.
"Aro, I just took on Mr. Cullen and was supposed to make him a priority." I said.
"Yes, I know and he will be, but this young woman needs help. She'll have all her stuff packed and ready to go, I'm calling my movers to come and move her to a safe location that you'll get as soon as you get into the office." Aro stated.
"Yes sir. But if she's in trouble that badly this must be someone of power, whom I know you can't speak of, but I'll bring my brother, Emmett. This was he can maybe entertain her child and get some kind of feel if the child's been hurt mentally, since he's a pediatric doctor." I said.
"Yes, yes. That'll be fine. Oh, and dress in jeans and a t-shirt, just in case she's followed, you'll look like friends catching up. And after that, work from home for the next few days until we get her settled." He sighed.
"OK. Thank you sir." I smiled.
"No, thank you Isabella. You'll be partner as soon as the Cullen case is closed." He stated matter of factly and hung up.
I ran upstairs to let Emmett know about the morning, of course he pouted and whined, but after a promised free all you can eat breakfast and a round of video games he accepted.
Getting up in the morning and heading out with my brother was something we used to do whenever we had free time, but as of late that was rare, so even though this was a working breakfast, it was nice to spend it with my brother.
We arrived at the diner and Emmett motioned for me to go on and wait for the client, he was going to say hi to one of his patients. As I looked around for my 'client' I realized it was Emmett's patient.
"Um, hi. I'm Bella." I smiled at the lady and she stood and hugged me, tightly.
"Thank you so much." She kissed my cheek.
"So, you know my brother too?" I asked.
"Oh, well we've seen him a few times at the hospital." She shrugged.
I took out a pen and paper I had thrown in my purse to take notes.
"Oh? And why were you in the hospital?" I asked.
"Well, there were several recent times, but it's mostly when I'm clumsy." She said, sounding ashamed.
"Oh, well I'm clumsy too." I smiled. "This big lug got all the grace, although I don't know how." I joked.
She smiled nervously and looked around.
"Look, I want to help you if you're in a bad situation, you don't need to be with someone like that." I stated firmly. "Tell me a little about yourself, name, age, etc. and some about your son too. He's adorable by the way and Emmett is a natural." I smiled at her.
"Yes, every time I'd had to take Collin into the hospital, I ask for him, if not Collin gets upset and cries. But we've been seeing your brother for a very long time." She smiled and then thought about what she said. "No, I mean at the doctor's office, not like dating." She blushed.
"It's OK, I understand. I'm not here to judge." I reassured her.
We talked about what happened. She confessed that she'd have Emmett take pictures of the incidents, she always wanted blackmail. She handed me back my notebook where she wrote the information.
Name: Rosalie Hale-King
Age: 30
Complaint: Husband is abusive mentally and physically to her and her son Collin, age 6. Collin has become withdrawn in school and being picked on.
"OK, this looks great! I'm wishing you all the best on this and Aro had his team taking care of you. Here's my card if you need anything. Day or night." I smiled and she got up to give me a hug.
"Bells, they've been in and out several times in the last 3 months alone. She had a fractured jaw. That bastard thinks just because he's running for a seat in Congress he can do whatever he wants. She confided in me 2 nights ago. Bella, if you were to lift her shirt, you'd see the bruises all over her. He very rarely hits her on the face, maybe 2 or 3 times since I've treated her. And that's only because I figured it out after several visits. But my hands were tied, she wouldn't let me get the police or anyone else to help her. I'm glad she found someone safe to confide in." Emmett sighed.
"You like her, don't you?" I questioned.
"No, I'm just a doctor." Emmett smiled, his dimple showing.
"Don't lie to me brother." I smiled.
"OK, OK, I do like her. And Collin is amazing. He's terrified of Royce and what he does to them. He said his mom cries every night and one night he was really scared because his dad and his friends were ALL making his mommy cry. Said him mom was yelling and crying for them to stop." He shook his head sadly.
"The next day they came in and she had a black eye, she was bleeding in places she shouldn't have been bleeding, if you know what I mean. It was horrible. But as soon as she signs the papers, the pictures are yours, I want this bastard." Emmett smiled weekly.
"Thank you Emmett." I smiled and gave my brother a hug.
Lunch with Edward was interesting.
He kept smiling at me and flirting, Emmett would catch him and give him an evil eye.
By the end of lunch, I think he got the message.
"Bella listen, I want us to be friends. I know things ended badly, but that was 10 years ago. I was upfront and honest with you. I didn't date anyone my freshman year or go to any parties. But after that all bets were off, I blossomed. I found the right balance of school work and partying. I sowed my oats and then some. Met what I thought at the time was a terrific woman and we married. Only for her to cheat on me, after only 3 years of marriage." he sighed.
"Edward, I told you yesterday, everything between us has got to remain professional, anything after that we'll have to wait and see. OK?" I asked.
"OK. Look I leave back for California tomorrow, I've got some surgeries, but if there's any progress with the case, let me know. Here's my personal card, just in case you don't have my numbers." He thanked me and kissed my cheek, wished my brothers a good day and hopped into his waiting town car.
Once again leaving me stunned.
AN:
I hope y'all enjoy this chapter…
One of the longest by far…
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