Once again, thank you to all my wonderful readers for your reviews, alerts, favorit(ing?)! I really appreciate everything you do.
I pushed this chapter out in a week, and it's a little shorter than my normal ones, but my favorite by far. This one is dedicated to the beautiful Shwe for just plain existing. I don't know what I'd do without you. Love you!
Now, onto this long-awaited chapter. See you at the bottom!
"If I had a rose for everytime I thought of you, I'd be picking roses for a lifetime"
Swedish Proverb
"My parents are celebrating their one-year anniversary," I told him, a bright smile plastered on my face, "and I thought, and they thought, buying them a house here on the East Coast would be the perfect gift."
Edward's face twisted from a moment of confusion to an amused smile. As he began scribbling notes on his legal pad, and I facepalmed—thinking about how stupid I had just sounded.
"Please don't write down an address to a mental asylum," I muttered, huffing as I leaned into my comfortable seat, wishing a UFO would hit the office and wedge itself between me and the desk so that Edward wouldn't be able to see me escape…
"Bella, please relax. You look so uncomfortable right now. Maybe I should just have someone else take your case because..." Edward said, looking concerned at my nervous crossing and recrossing of legs.
"NO!" I interrupted a little too loudly, jumping out of my seat. Edward sat back and I saw the beginnings of a smirk.
"I'm fine, it's just a little bit of a different environment here and I don't know what to do," I amended. Edward returned to scribbling notes.
"Well then, let's get started Bella. From what I got, this is for your parents? So what age range are we talking about here," Edward asked.
"Mid-forties. They want to move here to be closer to me since I'm doing my Masters at Columbia," I said.
"That's great," Edward said, continuing his scribbling, "Do you know the price range of the house?"
"Well, my mom is a successful artist with a small, privately-owned business. I'm not sure of the exact amount. Probably a hundred-million max," I stated.
"Any preferences on the location?" Edward continued.
"Close to the city, and a safe neighborhood. They're getting old you know," I joked. Edward grinned and I wanted to leap onto the desk and caress the wrinkles forming at the corner of his eyes and pepper them with kisses.
A red button on his desk lit up and Edward gave me an apologetic glance as he picked up the phone.
"Yes Lauren," Edward answered curtly.
Lauren? Wait, who's Lauren? Not a girlfriend. NOOO…please be single. I'll feel so bad sucking face with a taken man. Actually—no I won't. Gosh, Bella, have some morals. You should start by going to Church more often. Church? What a foreign concept! I haven't set foot in one since…
"Bella? Uh, Bella?" Edward called out, bringing me back to reality with the lightest of touches on my hand. I focused my eyes on the hunk of a man in front of me and smiled. I was sure my drool was covering his colorful carpet.
"Bella? Did you hear anything I said? I'm really sorry but I have to meet a client outside for just a moment. Would you mind waiting in here for a bit?" Edward pleaded, his pouting face catching me off guard.
"Oh, Edward," I enunciated, "please take your time. I'll just be admiring your office." And cleaning the drool off of your floors.
"Thank you Bella," Edward smiled, "I promise that I'll be right back."
I stared at Edward's gorgeous derrière as he made his way to the door, salivating. He closed the door with a wink at me, and I melted in my chair.
Turning towards his mahogany desk, I held my hand to my eyes as the yellow legal pad on his desk glared at me. I couldn't help but wonder what its problem was. The yellow pad screamed, "READ ME," and being the kind gal I was, I had to help it out. Unable to watch it suffering, I stood up and leaned over the desk to see what was written.
My mouth dropped in complete shock.
There, on the pad, were no notes of our conversation. Rather, a beautiful pencil sketch of my smiling figure took the whole page, my form looking completely relaxed as I laughed freely. My crossed legs made me look like a naughty businesswoman – ready to get down to business, but to have fun along the way – a complete paradox. Smiling, I reached out to touch the creases in the paper.
"Bella, what are you doing?"
A/N: Who's excited for the next chapter? Busy week up ahead, but I promise to try my best. Honestly, with my sporadic updating, you would be safer adding this story to your Alerts...
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