A/N: I'm so glad some people are reading my little story! Disclaimer: I don't have a beta, so all the mistakes are mine. Stephenie Meyer owns all the characters, obviously, but I'm the one who makes them do all the weird stuff.

Chapter 4

I've noticed these are mysterious days

I look at it and like a jigsaw puzzle and gaze

with wide open mouth and burning eyes

if only I could start to care

my dreams and my Wednesdays ain't going nowhere

baby baby, you don't know,

you don't know,

you don't know anything about me

what do I know? I know your name

you don't know you don't know

you don't know anything about me

Milow: You don't know

EPOV

This has been the weirdest sort of day. Going from an awful break of dawn to this afternoon, when I am walking along the beach with Bella after a nap, a wonderful shower and lunch, feeling almost like myself again. Correction, feeling like an improved version of myself. I glance surreptitiously over at Bella while we're walking, marveling at how she manages to look like a movie star behind those huge sunglasses, even though she is still in yoga pants and a black windbreaker, no visible make-up, just sneakers, no heels.

She seems nervous and keeps looking down at the pavement, not inclined to talk, but that is fine with me. I wouldn't know what to say, how to hold her attention. People we pass glance her way too, probably wondering if they should be recognizing her – this is California after all, and a chance encounter with a movie star could just happen. I smile to myself. I couldn't be more thrilled if I was walking along with Catherine-fucking-Zeta Jones. She would never have given me the time of day, much less cooked me an awesome lunch and trusted me enough to help me find employment. Bella is an incredible lady, and I am still completely bewildered at my luck.

The café is small but looks inviting and seems to have a steady stream of customers. The sign is still in the window, and Bella leads me round to the back office, seemingly knowing her way around the place. The manager, Kate, seems like a great lady, too, and I can see that she is reacting to my outward appearance now that I am scrubbed up and presentable again. Beauty is only skin-deep, I would like to warn her, but who am I not to capitalize on my only bankable asset? So I smile and try to find out what it is she would like to hear from me.

When Bella tries to creep out of the office I have a brief flash of panic, and I have to make sure that she won't just slip away again. My hand curls instinctively around her small, warm hand, and she gives me a small reassuring smile as she nods her promise to wait for me. I exhale and relax infinitesimally, then turn back to Kate with yet another one of my best smiles. What will it take to make her hire me, I wonder?

"So, Edward, you do have some experience with keeping records on a computer?" Kate asks. I nod. In fact I do, although not much, but back home my father and mother let me try my hand at most of the tasks around their respective offices, since I was good at almost everything and a quick learner.

Kate is looking at me speculatively. "What I really need is someone who can take the morning shift every time it's needed, be here to clean and open up early in the morning, help with the morning rush hour, washing the dishes, clearing the tables, keeping the coffee machine going and stocking the fridge, taking out the garbage, that sort of thing. You won't have to serve the customers or manage the till or cook, at least not to begin with. After a bit, it would be good if you could become familiar with the rest of the tasks too – whenever someone calls in sick it's convenient if we can all pitch in and help each other out. And if you can show me that you can work this shitty program, I will probably give you a raise".

She knits her eyebrows and gives the computer an angry slap. "Think you can do that?"

"That sounds wonderful," I say, and I mean it too. Kate nods to the other chair and I sink down, careful to keep a respectful posture, my back straight, even though Kate herself is lounging in her desk chair like a teenager.

"Then I need you to fill out a form with your name, address, social security number and bank account number, and we're all set to go," she says, and starts rummaging through her desk drawers. Now it's my turn to knit my eyebrows.

"Actually, Ms Monaghan, that will be a bit of a problem. I only just got here, and I haven't got any of those things straightened out yet." She is looking at me under raised eyebrows now, sky-blue eyes narrowing.

"You haven't found a place to stay? I'm sure you'll sort something out, though. Do you have your ID, driver's license, any kind of papers? No social security number? No credit card? How come?"

This is where it gets tough, but I'm willing to give it my best shot, for Bella's sake. I clear my throat.

"I have had some family trouble," I say, looking Kate straight in the eye to make my story more believable. "I dropped out of college and left home after a huge fight with my step-father. I didn't take anything with me, I just picked up and left, and now I'm starting over. I don't want anything to do with my family or my old life, and I don't want to give them any chance of finding me. I have no money, no ID, no papers, nothing. You have to take me at face value, I guess. But I work hard and I am willing to do minimum wage and long hours." Just like other wet-backs and shady characters is what I think Kate is thinking but not saying.

She is still looking at me, her face unmoving. I swallow.

"How do I know that you're not wanted by the police for selling drugs or killing someone, or running away from knocking some girl up?", she says, unsmiling.

I shrug my shoulders in a defeated way, and look down at the floor, then up at her through my lashes.

"You don't, I guess, you just have to trust your own judgement and give me the chance to prove myself." I tense my shoulders, waiting for her to make her mind up and chuck me out of her office. She leans back in her chair and puts her arms behind her head, thinking.

"Here is what we'll do, Edward", she says slowly, after a minute that feels like an hour. She sits up straight and runs a hand through her blond hair. "I will give you one week to prove that you are indeed a hard worker and that I can trust you to do what you´re told and not mess things up. If after a week I feel you can live up to expectations, I will let you stay on until you do anything, and I mean anything, to make me change my mind about you. In that case, you'll be lucky if I don't set the cops on you so fast you won't know what hit your ass."

She glares at me with those piercing blue eyes. "You start tomorrow morning at 5.30. We open at 6. Carmen will show you around and you would be wise to do exactly as she tells you, or I will be very pissed off when I show up. I pay you minimum wage, until I can tell that you deserve better, then I will give you a raise. Since you don't have a bank account, I will pay you cash at the end of the week until you get yourself one. And I advise you to get a driver's license as quickly as possible. You will need it around here."

She stands up and sticks her hand out. I take it as my cue to stand up and shake hands with her.

"Thank you, Ms Monaghan", I say, with all the sincerity I can muster. "I will do my best to make sure you won't regret this. I sure appreciate it."

She smiles, still a little tight-lipped, but this time it reaches her eyes.

"Yeah, make sure you don't make me regret this, Edward, or it's your ass on the line." She winks, suddenly, and then gestures for me to accompany her while she takes me around to meet the other employees, the chef, Jimmy, a heavily built guy in his late thirties, and two women, one of which is Carmen, who is taking off for the day.

She is an attractive woman in her forties, long, black wavy hair with a hint of grey, olive skin and striking almond-shaped eyes, wearing jeans, a scarlet tank top and leather boots, sunglasses pushed back on her head. She looks tough, like a biker mom, her handshake is firm and she shifts a huge handbag on her shoulder as she turns to me and says hello with a smile. I think I'll be OK with her.

"See you at 5.30, Edward", she says as she is leaving. "Remember: early bird gets the work, right?"

Kate gives my shoulder a small slap and tells me to not be late tomorrow. As I walk out through the door to the café I look around and see Bella, sitting outside in the shade under an umbrella, in the far corner where she has her back to the wall and a full view of her surroundings, nursing a latte. I feel a small sense of relief when I see her, as if I can't believe my luck: she hasn't bailed on me.

She stands up and walks toward me when she sees me, carefully skirting the tables and chairs, keeping a wide berth from the other customers sitting in the sun, interspersed with shadow as the clouds come and go. When she comes up to me she tilts her head up and I try to see her eyes behind the sunglasses as she asks me how my interview with Kate went.

"Fine", I say. "I start tomorrow at 5.30!"

She blanches, then mutters something unintelligible, before she looks up at me again, and asks me if I want a latte. I shake my head.

"No, I'm fine. But if you want to stay here and finish your coffee, that's absolutely fine with me. I can wait." I look at her, trying to figure out what she wants. She shakes her head.

"No, let's walk back." She starts walking and I follow her, catching up so that we are walking side by side, me on the side nearest the road, like my dad taught me to do when in the company of a woman. When we reach some stairs to the beach, she takes a detour, and I follow her down unto the sand. It's heavier walking, but I enjoy the warmth of the late afternoon or early evening, and the chance to drag this time out a little more. I still don't know what I will do when we get back to her place. Take off – but where?

I will have to stick around close to the café for tomorrow morning, but I guess I can look for a place to sleep that is close by. Even if I don't get much sleep I know I will make it to my new job on time, and that is something to look forward to. Working in a restaurant will mean I will probably be able to sneak scraps to eat from the leftovers, which means I will last until my first paycheck comes around at the end of the week, which is another perk. I smile to myself. My life is really back to basics. Solve the eat and sleep questions and I almost feel like a lucky winner.

Bella is clearing her throat and I look at her. Her dark brown hair is free, and long wisps of it are blowing in her face, sticking to her lips. My eyes fasten on her mouth, how plump her lower lip looks now that she is biting it again..I want to bite that lip. Error, error. Earth to Edward. Listen to what she is saying, for God's sake!

"Would it be OK if you stayed at my place until you can figure something out?", she says, not really looking at me, but down at the sand.

"Sleep on your porch? That would be wonderful," I blurt out, amazed. "That is really generous of you."

Now she is looking at me, and once more that small smile is playing on her gorgeous lips. She gestures up at the sky and says: "Really, Edward? Sleep on the porch? I think it might be a better idea if you stayed in the guest room. I don't think we'll escape some rain before tomorrow, the way it looks right now." I follow her gaze and I see that she is probably right, and that we should get a move on, since the sun has disappeared and the grey clouds are covering the horizon.

I look down at her and try to think of a way to convey my gratitude as we quicken our steps. When we reach her house, I stop and reach out a hand to tentatively grasp her hand in both of mine.

"Bella," I say. "Thank you. I know you didn't have to do any of this, and that most people would never have gone out of their way for me, the way you have today. I just…I just want you to know that I fully appreciate what you have done for me, and that…that I will do everything to show you that you won't have to regret it. Anything I can do for you, please, don't hesitate to ask me. Alright?"

I look at her with eyes that really try to convey the sincerity of my little speech, and I hear her catch her breath. She slowly slips her hand out of my grasp and pulls off her sunglasses to look up at me with that warm, brown gaze that make me feel the need to catch a breath of my own. What is it about this woman that affects me so? She looks at me, then away, and says in a low voice.

"It's really not much, Edward, but I'm glad you think so. It will be nice to have someone around for a change, and I'm sure I will need your help with one or two things, if you have the time while you're here."

She walks quickly ahead of me before I can reply, and I feel the first drops of rain on my cheek, see them flecking the stairs where we stand, like tears. There's been enough tears, I think to myself. Maybe it's time for something other than tears.

A/N: Oooo, so Kate hired Edward, and Bella is letting Edward move in! Would you? Things are looking up for our boy! Are you prepared to help him out with a review?