A/N: I love, love, love you guys. Thank you for each and every like, follow, favorite and review. Even the guest reviews rock! Enjoy the next chapter. Mwha xxx
Chapter 4 - Mistakes
"Bella, wake up." A voice coaxed her from her sleep.
"No." She groaned and buried her face deeper into the pillow. "Five more minutes." Her voice came out muffled.
"Please?" He begged. "My parents will be here any minute."
Bella shot up in bed at his words, but instantly regret her swift movements, as a jackhammer started pounding away inside her head. Bella mewled. "Owww!"
She looked around at the room, squinting at the sunlight shining in through the windows. Bella recognized this room with it's cream walls and sleek, modern furniture. It was Edward's room. She frowned and looked down at herself. She was naked. Completely naked - her lower body barely covered by the sheet. In his the bed, no less. What the fuck? Why? How?
"I don't know. I can't really remember." He sighed and massaged his temples. Did she just speak out loud?
"WE HAD SEX?" Bella shrieked.
"Again, I don't remember. I was pretty hammered last night." He looked over to her with a pleading expression as he asked, "Would you mind keeping it down? My head hurts like a bitch."
"Sorry," Bella mumbled and shuffled off the bed. A throbbing pain between her legs made her groan. Yup. They definitely had sex. And by the condition her lady bits were in, she'd bet a whole months salary that they'd had loads of it. Probably really rough sex, too. She'd never been this sore before. And if that wasn't proof enough, the stickiness between her legs served as further evidence.
Edward's head shot up as the doorbell rang. "Shit! They're here." He whispered harshly. "If my parents ask why you're here, just tell them that I asked you to come over to help me with a new manuscript - that we're behind on our work because of the conference I had to attend."
Despite suffering from a severe hangover, Bella's mind was apparently still able to form coherent thoughts. "Uh, Huston. We have a problem."
"What?" He demanded impatiently.
"I can't very well put the red dress from last night back on. It's a little inappropriate for a 'work meeting' so early on a Sunday morning. Your parents will see right through our lame excuses." Bella stated matter-of-factly as she searched for her dress, not even bothering to cover herself up. "Where is it, anyway?"
He stared at her blankly, his mind working overtime. The doorbell rang again. "Fuck." He cursed. "Okay, wait." He said and disappeared into his closet, returning shortly with a grey dress and a pair of black wedges. "Will this work?" He asked, looking terribly vulnerable and uncomfortable.
"Why do you have women's clothes in your closet?" She challenged.
He sighed. "It was my wife's clothes."
"Oh." Bella was stunned. He still kept his wife's clothes? And more importantly, he was lending them to her?
"So, get dressed - fast. And then come down. My parents are here for breakfast."
Bella nodded silently, already working the dress over her tangled hair.
From downstairs, Bella heard voices. He must have finally let his parents in.
Bella flipped her hair over her shoulder and zipped up the dress. It fit perfectly. She stepped into the wedges, which were a size to small. This wouldn't work.
Bella hunted down her own pair of nude pumps, one stuck out from under the bed and the other one was way over in the corner of the room - what the fuck had they done last night?
She pulled on her shoes and headed for the en suite bathroom.
"Oh sweet lord." She moaned as she looked into the mirror. Streaks of mascara, or eyeliner - she couldn't tell which - were smeared under her eyes and her hair was pointing in all directions. There was a clump of matted hair to the side.
'Brush!' Bella thought. 'I need a brush.'
She found one on the sink, though she wondered why Edward had one. His messy copper hair generally looked like it never had a brush near it.
She took the brush and started working through the mess that was her hair, with fierce determination. It was a painful process. She had to stop once or twice to recover from the pain, but eventually, it looked acceptable enough that she could move on to brush her teeth with her finger. She scrubbed her numb tongue wildly, trying to get rid of the rancid taste in her mouth. It worked - to some extent. She grabbed the bottle of mouthwash, hoping and praying that it could remove the remnant taste of last night's alcohol. Next was her face. She rinsed a cloth under the warm water, and started wiping away the make-up. She took care not to scrub too hard and leave her face looking red.
"Here she is." Edward announced with a dazzling smile as Bella ascended the stairs. He walked up to her and placed a hand on the small of her back, leading her toward the couch. "Mom, Dad, this is Bella Swan. My new P.A." He motioned with his other hand toward each of his parents. "Bella, this is my mother, Esmé and my father, Carlisle."
"Don't forget, impromptu Editing Assistant." Bella quipped as she greeted his parents with a friendly handshake and a smile. "Nice to meet you."
Bella could see the brief shock on his parents faces, before they were replaced by pleasant smiles. She wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that she resembled his late wife?
"Will you join us for breakfast?" Esmé invited.
"Oh, I really should get going." Bella declined.
"Please don't. We'd love to have you here." Carlisle said.
Bella looked over to Edward for a response. "You went through so much trouble to help me with the manuscript this morning. Please? It's the least I can do." He offered. She had to admit, they played their parts really well. She just wished this raging hangover would subside so she could focus better.
"Alright." Bella conceded.
"Fantastic." Esmé clapped her hands together. "Would you mind giving me a hand in the kitchen, dear?"
"Not in the least." Bella replied and followed behind Esmé to the kitchen, where she herself had once cooked for Edward.
Bella enjoyed Esmé very much. She was super sweet and a very smart woman. Conversation with her was quite stimulating.
"You really aught to hold on tight to this one." Edward's mother pointed to Bella as they sat together, enjoying their breakfast. "She'll be good for you."
Bella wondered if there was a hidden meaning behind Esmé's words. Did she mean it in the professional sense or personal? Or maybe both?
"Wouldn't dream of letting her go." Edward spoke in earnest. "I'd be lost if it weren't for her. She's extremely organized and very sharp."
"Yes. I noticed." Her mother smiled at them, her green eyes - so much like her son's - twinkling with mystery.
"So, I've always wanted to know. How is Edward as a boss?" Carlisle asked with curiosity.
Bella coughed to suppress a startled laugh. "Uhm," She glanced toward him, before focusing her attention to Edward's father. "He's very strict, I suppose."
Carlisle chuckled at Edward's discontented expression.
"I'm not that bad, am I." He frowned at Bella.
"No. I didn't say that." Bella gave Edward an appeasing smile. "I just said you're strict."
Edward huffed in indignation, which made his parents snicker.
Edward and Bella collapsed on the couch as soon as the door closed behind his parents. They'd pulled it off. They simultaneously turned to face one another, and burst out in a fit of laughter.
"It was a close call this morning." Bella said.
"Luckily, we both know how to think on our feet." He smiled. "Can you imagine the chaos if we couldn't?"
And like a chord snapped, things were serious again. They'd had sex...again. And yeah, it was something that Bella had sincerely wanted to happen, but not like this. Not when they were drunk and neither of them could remember a thing. She wanted them both to be lucid during the process and it made her heart ache. Because, she had somehow gone and fallen in love with Edward. She loved him - and he didn't love her. She had to put an end to this, or else she would end up hurt...really bad.
"We can't keep doing this." Bella sighed and sat up, raking a hand over her face. "It's not healthy. I mean, Jesus. We can't even remember a thing from last night. And next time we end up having drunken sex, it might not be as under the radar. You're my boss and if people find out that we slept together, it could really be disastrous for my reputation - and your's."
"I know." He mumbled into his hands now covering his face.
"I'll send your wife's dress for dry cleaning and have it back to you within the week." Bella had to get a dig in, somewhere. Except for offering Bella one of Louise's dresses, he still hadn't mentioned anything about her - or the fact that she looked like Bella.
"It's not like she's coming back to claim it, so keep the dress." He spoke bitterly. Bella had to be careful. She couldn't let on that she knew about his wife, at all...
"Why not?" She wanted him to talk about it. About her.
Edward snapped. He shot up from the couch, eyes fierce and full of pain. "Because she's dead, Bella!" He yelled. "That's why."
...and finally...he'd said it. And now, Bella had no idea what to say back. "Sorry." She tried on the word. It didn't feel like the right response. But his eyes softened.
Bella's eyes flitted between his. She could feel the word vomit boiling up in her throat. She tried to swallow it down, but couldn't. Oh shit...this was not going to end well, but she needed to be honest with him. "I saw pictures of her. On your computer the other day. I didn't mean to pry." Bella stood up from the couch, inching closer to Edward despite the anger now evident on his face. "And you know what? It disturbed the hell out of me." Bella was panting, her heartbeat going a million miles a second. She could probably kiss her job goodbye after this. Edward's eyes widened at her words. Bingo! That sharp mind of his was already grasping where she was going with this. There was a maniacally sharp edge to Bella's words when she spoke the next sentence, "Because, you know what? She looks just like me! Could you imagine my surprise when I realized that my boss is some psycho who is trying to sleep with me, just because I look like his late wife?"
"GET OUT." He ground out dangerously, pointing to the door.
"Yes, sir." Bella bit out sarcastically, saluted him and grabbed her purse. She'd said what she wanted to say - what she shouldn't have said...but at least all his wounds were scratched open and bleeding now, instead of festering away in the dark. He needed to realize how fucked up all of this was.
"Where are you?" Edward's irritated voice sounded loudly from the phone on Monday morning, just before nine. Bella had to pull the phone away from her ear. She was still in bed, in her pj's. She didn't even bother to get ready for work this morning, because she'd been pretty sure that she was sans job after yesterday's spectacular performance.
"I thought it was pretty obvious after yesterday that I was fired." She offered her explanation.
"I never said anything about you being fired? Whatever happens after hours doesn't affect your professional life." He grumbled. She could already see him pinching the bridge of his nose, in her mind's eye.
"Fine. But then I'm taking a personal day." She said confidently.
"No, you're not." He countered.
"Yes I am. Look, sir. Edward. Let me be blunt. All of the things happening after hours is messing with my head. I just need a day to get back on track. To sort through this mess on my own, so I can focus again."
"Fine. But I want you back on your post tomorrow morning at eight, sharp."
"Yes, sir. Good bye." She hung up and sighed.
God, this was one crazy mess. How was she supposed to go back to work and pretend that everything was a-okay? To be so close to him, without being able to touch him, or kiss him. The fact that she'd fallen in love with her boss, had severely complicated things and she had a choice to make. Was she going to resign and make a clean break - never see him again? Her heart stuttered and contracted painfully at the thought. Or was she going to go back to work and keep those feelings to herself? Could she do it? But Bella knew herself - ever the martyr - she would probably go back, because in the harsh light of day, the reality was that she simply couldn't imagine not seeing him every day. She would take what she could get to supply her addiction to him. Even if it was just by seeing him at work every day.
Bella sunk back on her pillow with a huff, increased the volume on her TV and pulled the covers up to her chin. She would soon go find her comfort in the freezer - her Ben and Jerry's stash - and work through her jumbled thoughts. But for now, she just wanted to lay here and not think.
A/N: Thanks for reading, guys. Please review and let me know what you thought.
