BPOV

Edward Cullen?

Why would he want to meet me? May be I should rephrase the question. Why would he want to meet me before our supposed 'official' dinner gathering? And
why did he write that 'It's urgent'? What could be the possible reasons?

My mind started racing. Did Emmett tell him something? I highly doubted this possibility. Emmett Cullen was a coward bastard. If he wanted to let his family know about me, he would have done that a long time ago. And why would he tell them? Because he knew that if he told them about me, I wouldn't shut my mouth, too! All he wanted was to get a revenge with me, to destroy me emotionally. I felt the anger I had been trying to suppress was there again.

"That fucking bastard…" I muttered under my breath.

I couldn't let that piece of shit control my life. I shouldn't let him win. I told myself.

At this moment the biggest question was, why did Edward Cullen want to meet me?

Before I could think further, I received a call from the same number!

"Hello?" I asked.

"Ms Bella Swan?"

"Yeah… Speaking…"

"Hi… It's Edward Cullen. I know you wouldn't be expecting my call at the moment, but there is some important matter I'd like to discuss with you." He said.
I couldn't guess what could be the matter he would want to discuss with me. "Actually I am thinking there's no need for us to meet. We can have a telephonic conversation."

"Mmm… We were supposed to meet within few minutes, right? In fact, I've already reached at the 'Twilight', so…"

"Oh, you're there already?" he asked.

"Mmm... yes?" I said.

"Oh! I should had called you earlier." he said, which increased the level of my confusion.

"Well, I'm just on my way then. I'm sorry, you'll have to wait for some minutes." he said.

"It's okay. I'm waiting." I replied.

What could be the matter? The reputation of Edward Cullen was entirely different from that of Emmett Cullen. Emmett was just a wild party animal, a prodigal son and a playboy. Edward Cullen on the other hand was, the successful CEO of Cullen Industries, and one of the most eligible bachelors of the town. He was known for his intelligence, smartness and his maturity. So, the point was, if he wanted to meet me so urgently, there must be some reason. What could be the reason?

I realized that it wouldn't be fair to Edward if I agreed to marry him just to beat Emmett. He deserved better. I decided to tell him that I couldn't marry him, without stating the true reason.

Twenty minutes later, Edward Cullen arrived. I had seen him many times before, at some parties or social gatherings. But probably, this was the first time I'd be talking to him.

"Hello." He smiled at me. He looked so different from Emmett. Nobody could tell by looking at their faces that they were brothers.

"Hi…" I tried to smile back.

"I'm sorry you had to wait."

"It's okay." I said.

"No, it's not." He insisted, "I hate when anyone has to wait for anyone. Time is money." He said without any emotion.

Well… okay?

"We should go inside. I've already booked a table. I'm sorry I should have told you earlier. I'm sorry you had to wait outside."

Why was he apologizing so much, for God's sake?

"Look Ms Swan…" he said after we gave our orders.

"Bella… You can call me Bella." I said.

"Alright…" he said, "Look Bella, I know you're definitely confused about this meeting." Did he love to use the word 'the meeting' or what?

"Look… I should have done this earlier. I'm sorry for that." he apologized yet again.

Come to the point. I wanted to snap.

"Look… You know why our parents wanted us to meet, right?" he continued without showing any emotion," I just want to tell you that… I can't marry you."

I choked on my drink. Did Emmett tell him anything or…?

"Look, I'm sorry…" he continued, "I should have told you a few days ago."

Few days ago? Well, this seemed like it had nothing to do with Emmett.

"I want you to know that this has nothing to do with you. I don't want to feel you uncomfortable. It's my mistake. I shouldn't had agreed for this whole thing
in the first place. I'd tell this again. It has nothing to do with you. The thing is, I'm still not over the heartbreak I had in the college." He smiled weakly, "And I think, you deserve better."

I was still in a shock to reply anything.

"Once again, I'd like to say that I'm really sorry…" he said.

I wanted to laugh out loud. How ridiculous was this situation! Here, I was making plans about how to hell him that I couldn't marry him, and just look at this. He didn't even give me a chance to say anything.

But still, I needed to tell him something, right?

You've no idea, how happy you've made me. I wanted to say. "It's okay." I said.

Right now, you might be my favorite person in the world. I wanted to say. "I've no idea why are you apologizing to me." I said.

I've heard many times that Edward and Emmett Cullen are opposite polar ends, but today I agreed with them. I wanted to say. "It's not like we're engaged or something. Today, for the first time we have met, right? You don't owe me any explanation or any apology."

Now if only you can put some sense in your asshole brother…I wanted to say, "So yeah… No need to apologize." I smiled.

For the first time in the evening, a huge smile appeared on his face as he said,

"You've no idea how glad I am by your reaction. The best one I've got till now." He said.

The best one I've got till now? What the hell did he mean by that?

"So, I'm not the first one to whom you've told this thing, eh?" I joked.

He seemed in confusion for seconds about whether to tell me or not before he said, "Well, yeah." He shrugged his shoulder, "Let's see how many more times I'll need to go through this."

I couldn't restrain my laughter. So, he goes through this routine again and again? Why the hell couldn't he say a 'No' for the arranged marriage to his family instead?

Aahh… Look who's speaking, I asked myself. Life would be much easier if it was that easy to convince one's family.

"No but seriously, you're really good." He chuckled, "One of these women, my mother had selected for me," he rolled his eyes before continuing, "She said I had no right to break her heart like this. She said she had already made plans for our future. We hadn't even met before for Christ's sake!" he groaned, "Thankfully, I was able to convince my mother that the girl was too immature."

"That's funny." I smiled.

"So, this is your first time or…?" he asked.

He was cracking me up. After coming back from Emmett's place, I hadn't thought I'd laugh for days, but I was glad I was wrong. There was no point in crying over that bastard.

I looked at him and laughed again. The way he asked, 'Is this your first time or…' Boy, it looked like a question someone would ask about someone's virginity.

"No, it's my first time." I replied, trying to look as sincere as possible.

"Oh, lucky you." He replied.

"But I can't say this would be my last time." I said, and felt like I'd burst into laughter at any moment. It's a good thing he wasn't aware about what was I
thinking.

"Same here." He said without any emotion.

The rest of the dinner passed in silence as neither of us had anything to talk about.

"All the best for the future such kind of meetings." I smiled while parting our ways.

"Oh I do need that." He said, "And yeah, same to you."

"Thanks." I laughed.

I couldn't help giggling during my ride to the home as I remembered this evening.

It was ridiculous, and the way he asked, 'Is it your first time?' was priceless.

The next thing was so irritating- To describe this evening to my mother. I told her briefly that Edward wasn't interested in the marriage as he was not over his past yet.

"I don't believe this." She replied, "I feel like definitely you had told him something."

"What did you mean by that?" I asked, puzzled.

"You're too much, Bella. I know you didn't want to marry him, but what did you tell him tonight? Tell me, for God's sake. You don't care about our reputation, do you? Just tell me. What did you tell him? Tell me the truth."

I stared at her in disbelief. "I'm saying the truth, Mom."

"I don't trust you. You didn't tell me yet where you had eloped in the evening?" she raised her eyebrow.

"I…"

I had no answer for that. I didn't want to tell her about how Emmett Cullen had made a fool of me, and how I had let him do so.

"I'm saying the truth." I said firmly, "I don't give a damn whether you want to believe it or not." I said and rushed to my bedroom.

Later in the night, I was shocked to receive a call from Emmett.

Why was he calling me now?

It didn't take too long to reject the call. But he didn't stop there. He continued calling me for I didn't know how long. What did he want now, I asked myself, before receiving the call.

"Hey baby… Why are you ignoring my calls? And why didn't you come at my place in the evening? And what am I hearing? Edward and you're not marrying? What did you tell him? Did you tell him the truth or…? I mean, I'm happy, you know?" he was speaking breathlessly, " Everything is okay now. We can talk to our parents about us, right?"

"Shut the fuck up, Emmet Cullen." I said firmly.

"Wh-what?" He sounded shocked; he should be.

"I know everything. Everything." I said.

"What are…? How? What are you talking about, Bella?"

"Don't you dare to utter my name from your filthy mouth. I know you used me to get a revenge with me." I snapped, "And don't you dare try to call me again."

"Aahh… So you know." He began laughing, which took me by surprise. "But your dumb ass took it so long. Well, I'm not interested in talking to you either. I got what I wanted. I made a fool of you. And… you're not gonna be my sister-in-law either." He laughed like a maniac, "So yeah, life is good for me and you can go to hell now."

He said and hung up.

I sat there like a statue for some minutes. Nobody had ever insulted me like this in my whole life. I was fuming with anger as I threw the pillows on the floor. I felt like I would become crazy.

I couldn't sleep for a minute during the whole night. I just kept thinking.

In the morning, everything was crystal clear in my mind.

I smiled, as I sent a text message to Edward Cullen.

"Hey, I want to meet you.
-Bella"