My thanks to Beachcomberlc and IpsitaC77 for their forgiveness and help with this chapter.
Chapter 4
Bella spent the rest of the weekend analyzing every word, every gesture Edward Cullen had made and then berating herself for her responses. Knowing she had made a fool of herself in front of such an important man made her feel sick to her stomach. She was highly tempted to call in sick for the first time come Monday morning. Talking herself out of it and dressing in her favourite silky blue blouse, the one that made her feel pretty, she swallowed her pride and went to work. She only ever wore the blouse for special occasions and it always served to make her feel better about herself.
Much to her surprise, there was no letter of termination, no disciplinary email in her inbox and her direct supervisor was not waiting at her cubicle to fire her when she walked into the office. In fact, the whole invitation thread had been deleted from her system, email and calendar included, as if it had never happened. The rest of the week was normal, boring as usual with little break in her usual routine. She ate in the lunchroom with some of the other assistants, bought a few groceries after work, stayed up too late one night watching the blooper reels and extra features of ER Season Four. All the while, she tried in vain to forget her dinner meeting with Mr. Cullen.
Thursday afternoon Bella received a message from her doctor with a request for an appointment. Normally, Bella had to call her doctor a month or so before she needed to be seen in order to get a time slot. Her doctor had never called her for an appointment before, even after testing. He requested to see her the next day at lunchtime. If all went well, she could be in and out within her lunch hour. That night she made sure to pack a quick-to-eat, handheld lunch wrap to save herself some time.
It struck her as odd that there was no one else in the waiting room at Dr. Uley's practice. The reception area was unnaturally quiet for mid-day. The receptionist, Dr. Uley's wife Emily, beamed at her when she arrived and showed her right into the doctor's office, not into one of the exam rooms. Bella found that strange, too, until the doctor explained he had sold his practice and there was a little bit of paperwork for her to sign for the new doctor who was taking over. He left the room to give her a moment to look over the file. Emily had left little pink post-it notes where Bella was to sign. Most of it was in legal jargon so Bella just skimmed it, signing on the last line if necessary. Dr. Uley came back with a coffee and a muffin for Bella and spoke to her about Dr. Cope, singing her praises as a wonderful alternative to his own stellar brand of medical care. She was out of his office within twenty minutes and stole a few moments to enjoy the bright Toronto sun at a local park on the way back to work.
Bella finished her work with ten minutes to spare, not long enough to consider starting a new task, but too long to leave for the day. She took her time packing her purse and messenger bag, making sure to wash her coffee cup and take all of her containers from the fridge before leaving for the weekend. She was in a good mood and had an extra bounce in her step as she boarded the subway for home. Splurging uncharacteristically, Bella bought herself dinner, stopping on Dundas Street in Chinatown for cheap noodles, a small tray of fresh spring rolls and most importantly, an avocado milkshake. The decadent treat made her choice to walk home from there worth it.
Riley Biers had a week from hell. He'd left the office to change clothes only twice during the week, sleeping on the small two-seater couch in his office and eating his meals from a microwave. His own assistant quit three days ago, not being able to handle the pressure. The only thing that kept Riley going was the massive bonus he had been promised if he pulled the entire thing off successfully. It was worth the hardship now to become completely financially independent in two months' time. He could kiss Cullen Tech and working for a living goodbye.
The last few pieces of the puzzle were within his reach and also not his responsibility. He had done everything he could to make the process go smoothly for Mr. Cullen and now he only had to wait for his reward. The pressure to complete this project nearly drove him over the edge. As it was, the whole thing had given him an ulcer, nightmares and a suspicious rash on his lower back.
From his office high above the sleeping city, Edward Cullen watched and waited. He read and reread every piece of paper, every email and report. He listened to tapes of every conversation made in regards to this transaction. He knew the name, birth date and social insurance number of every player of the game. He'd examined every loophole, checked timelines and run the numbers. In his heart of hearts he felt guilt, tremendous guilt for what he was about to do and for what he had already done. But he had to do it, damn the consequences and would apologize later.
He stared at the slim black mobile phone on his desk. It had never been used before and would be destroyed after its first and only call. He spun it around as he thought, clockwise and then counterclockwise. There was no point in delaying the inevitable any longer. He had to do it, the sooner the better, even though it would damage his soul irreparably. He picked up the phone and dialled. He spoke one word and then hung up.
"Go."
On the other side of town, a man carefully opened Bella Swan's apartment door and slipped inside. Moving with great caution, he walked to her bedroom and came to a stop at her bedside. In his hand was a small canister of nitrous oxide with a vinyl face mask attached. He held the mask to Bella's face, hovering just above her mouth and nose, and opened the canister.
In her sleep, Bella dreamed she was playing with balloons, pinching the necks and letting them scream their high pitched release of air.
The drugs worked and Bella didn't even flinch when he injected more into the crook of her arm.
When she woke, Bella felt that still-drunk, or slightly hungover feeling that accompanies sleeping in for too long. She felt confused and groggy, but rested. The room was bright with sun, her curtains open about an inch at the very top, like she had carelessly closed them the night before. She found it a little strange that she was lying on her back, her legs straight. She was usually a side sleeper, curled up with her legs bent, and very seldom moved in the night. She almost never had to remake the whole bed, just smooth out her side, when she could be bothered to do it. The last person, other than herself, to see her bed was the repair guy the super sent in to fix the smoke detector system two months ago. Bella was pretty damn sure he didn't care if she made her bed or not. He barely even glanced at her when he came in to do his work.
She brought her hands up to rub her eyes and noticed the small circular bandage in her right index finger. But she didn't remember putting it on or cutting her finger in the first place. Rubbing her thumb over the bandage, she couldn't feel any injury or soreness and the pad felt thicker than a regular bandage, stiffer somehow. She didn't notice the port inserted in the back of her hand or the tube that was taped along the length of her forearm. Confused, Bella turned her head to look at her clock radio. There must have been a power fluctuation in the middle of the night because the green numbers were flashing twelve.
Unsure of the time, Bella sniffed the air. The Lebanese restaurant downstairs served a special breakfast every Saturday morning and Bella loved to wake up to the aroma of stewed eggplant, garlic and tomatoes. The owner's ancient mother worked the cash register at the restaurant. She spoke very little English and kept trying to give Bella sweets, date cookies or baklava, to take home once she found out the girl lived alone upstairs. Bella loved the homey atmosphere and charm of the little place downstairs, but had overheard some of her neighbours complaining about the business. The air in her apartment smelled different, sharp and sterile, without the usual spicy scent. It was too quiet and Bella started to panic that maybe she had slept most of the day away.
Bella decided to get up and find out what time it was. She rolled to her right side to sit up and screamed out. Sharp, shooting pain travelled down the left side of her body from her armpit to her hip and spread out around her stomach. Her head swam with dizziness, little black spots danced in her eyes and she felt like she might vomit. Carefully, slowly, she lay back down again, panting with effort..
Bella's bedroom door opened and a woman dressed in green scrubs, her blond hair pulled back tightly, complete with scrub cap and a face mask covering her mouth, rushed into the room to Bella's bedside.
AN: I'm starting to get the impression that most of you are less that enamoured with this Edward. He's such a cuddle-bunny I can't fathom why he would be disliked.
My rec for this week - From The Cup of Duty by LadyExcalibur2010.
Thank you for reading.