My alarm clock went off at six the next morning, I was told to be at work by nine ready for anything. I thought about how life would be as I rolled off the bed, feet hitting the floor. Maybe I would get my own desk. What would I put? A picture of the Blacks and me? Of course one of Charlie and my mom, but I didn't have any kids to put pictures of, or boyfriends. I thought about putting one of Jeremy, but it would be a waste of time since he wasn't in my life anymore. I wanted to put a picture of Stella but I thought that doing it might qualify me as a cat lady.
I put on a purple blouse and another pair of black slacks. I wanted to get coffee from Starbucks, but I wasn't sure I'd have enough time. I ate my Special K cereal and brushed my hair and teeth. I pulled my hair up in to a neat ponytail bobby-pinning any loose bits of hair. Then I got in to the grey Carola, it had frost on the windshield. I let the car defrost while I put in a CD my mom's boyfriend made me. Traffic wasn't that bad it only took ten minuets to get there on the highway, and I was three minuets early.
The same woman was at the front desk. I walked up but she didn't take her eyes off her computer screen. She was talking about a lunch meeting and a delivery of flowers that where going to be accepted today. I had to clear my throat to get her attention. "Yes dear?" She looked about fifty, a little larger; her voice was as sweet as honey.
"I'm Bella Swan, it's my first day." I bit my lip hoping that Alice was the type of person to be late.
"Hold on sweetie, Let me get Mrs. Cullen." She pressed a button on the phone and put it too her ear. "Hi Alice. Yes she is here waiting for you. OK dear see you soon." She hung up the phone and she smiled "Give her a second."
The elevator binged and I turned to see a small girl, almost childish, skip out of the elevator to the spot right in front of me. "Hi Bella, I'm Alice." She smiled and her button nose crumpled. "Let's go this way. Ill shows you your new desk." Right before the elevator closed the lady at the front desk winked at me. Alice giggled. "You will like Sally she is nice. Oh that reminds m you'll need a press card. I'm sure you can set up your mail account on your own, . But right now Edward wants to see you."
"What? The Boss?" I turned my head to look at her so fast I think it scared her.
"Yep Yep, good old-big brother. He is nice a Lil stern but sweet. This is your desk. "She pointed to the one we where passing that was closest to the elevator. There was a stack of folders on it and the computer looked like it hadn't been used for a while. "This is the third floor. That right there is my desk." It was ten feet from mine; it had metal accessories all over it. It was perfectly organized with nothing out of place. As we went by she named people some who looked up and smiled some just went on with their work. Finally we walked up to a big wall, it had windows with blinds in them. They where all closed. It was large; in time I found out it was 30 feet out of the 45-foot building width. It was twenty feet long, with a sign on the door that said "Edward Cullen, Editor and Chief."
Go on it he doesn't bite." She giggled and skipped off before I even started opening the door. I looked and she was talking to Rosalie. They both looked at me. Alice gave me a thumb up and Rosalie's blue eyes just stabbed in to my abdomen. I pulled the door open and peeked in. There was a man standing at a bookshelf. He turned to look at me. His honey brown eyes welcomed my in to the room, with straight golden brown hair that looked straighten. He had muscle but not enough to call buff, he would still be considered skinny, and he stood about Six foot.
"You must be Isabella Swan." His eyes glowed warmly at me.
"Yes, but you can Call me Bella. It's nice to meet you Mr. Cullen." I bit my lip as he gracefully moved across the room, making it look like a ballroom dance as he sat down in his chair. Watching him move made my heart flutter. At the second that he shook my hand my stomach did flips and finally sank. I knew falling for him would just end in disappointment.
"It's Edward, now Bella I have looked at your portfolio and Résumé. You're a talented writer, and we are blessed to have you even if it is just a fact checker. Hop fully your skills you use to write and report will help you with your facts. We are delighted you wanted to become a pert of our team." He spoke as if he was reading a poem he had memorized by heart. He offered a candy out of a small bowl on his desk. I shook my head and popped it in his mouth. "Bella you have your work cut out for you. Alice will show you around and she will help you with what ever you need help with for a few weeks. Understandable?"
"Yes sir." I gave my head a small nod.
"Be in by eight thirty tomorrow and I will have all the articles we have held back because of questionable facts. There is at least ten." I got a feeling like I needed to run out of the room and get all of the things done. I didn't think that when I asked for the interview there would be this much work on the first day.
"Yes Sir I'll see you in the morning." I nodded and reached for a candy in his dish just as he did. Our hands caught while reaching for the same candy. My skin caught fire as his hand slid from the top of mine. I could still feel his fingers tingling on mine as I left the room. Alice was standing at the door holding it open. She looked at him one eyebrow crocked till I was waiting on the other side of the door for her.
"Ok Bella down to the first floor."
As the day went on I got to personalize my desk a little, and set up my work mail account. The picture I put as my screensaver was Becca, Jake, Rachel and I the day after my dad's funeral. I learned what happened on the first floor was sort mail, print and distributing papers. There were some conference rooms and that were about it. The second floor was more conference rooms and writing stuff, layouts and headlines of recent news, and a few file cabinets. There was a main conference room that could fit at least fifty people in it with a TV and a long table. The third floor was all the reporters and desks. We didn't venture up to the fourth floor but she told me that it was full of every newspaper article the paper had ever written and published.
Alice and I went to the bathroom; she was fixing her hair in the mirror. It was then I noticed that the Cullen's all looked like porcine dolls. Alice was short about 5 feet, with small square features. Edward was amazing and Rosalie no matter how cold and stiff her facile expressions where beautiful. They weren't related but they were all perfect.
I sat at my desk about noon when Sally called up and asked Rosalie to come get Jake and bring him up too me. I was marking Favorites; Emmett Rosalie's husband was there to eat lunch with her. Alice and Edward had just left to have lunch at whatever restaurant her husband owned. He brought up the food Becca had made for us as soon as she had gotten to the house. Which wasn't much because all I had ingredients for where PB&J sandwiches. She glared at me as I ran at him to hug him. She treated him like he was a criminal, telling him all the visitor rules like she was about to damn him to hell. We grabbed the food and took it to a conference room so we could eat in peace.
We sat and talked about how he was doing and about Billy's health. Neither of which were in dire trouble. From what he told me Rebecca and her fiancé, Clyde, where settling in to the house. I hadn't met Clyde yet but Becca loved him and they where getting Married In January. Jake told me that they both had jet lag and Clyde went to bed as soon as they got there. Becca was probably going to sleep after Jake left.
He left at about one when every one was getting back to work. Diving home I thought about how different things where and how they had changed so fast. I realized I had never loved Jeremy and almost ran in to a fire hydrant.
