Chapter 4

I got into the office early the next morning, there was a distinct chill in the air. A chill that Alice was going to feel this morning as well whether she was in the office or not. I waited patiently for the team to arrive in for the morning brief. Sure enough Alice was nowhere in sight she was either too ill to come in again or remembered, at least part of, what had happened on Friday night.

Bella was in and she did attend the brief, she didn't look uncomfortable or give any sign she was the target of my suspicions. But I found it impossible to fathom the fact she may not know anything. She came up after the brief and apologised for phoning me but insisting that Alice had nearly broken her arm before she did it.

"I'm so sorry Edward, I really am..." she said, ending her story of abuse at Alice's hands.

"Honestly, it's not a problem, I was away for the weekend, I got the messages last night so it's absolutely fine. Anyway, I guess that's what I get for giving my number to a permanently drunk couple! I'm sure it won't be the last time either" I managed to conjure up a bright and sincere smile, surprising myself. She blushed slightly, fuck knows why, I was the embarrassed one, the hurt party in this.

She nodded slightly and walked slowly away, glancing over her shoulder and smiling. Why the fuck did she keep doing that? I'm usually pretty good at reading people but she was a total mystery. She acts one way but it's totally not what I think, she seems nice but I'm still pretty sure she's not, she's only using my team to get a foot in the door. Shit, I've got better things to think about than this. God I was hungry!

Alice showed up late afternoon, looking innocent, like Bella, she didn't look uncomfortable. She greeted me in the usual happy manner. I took this to be a good sign, either she blanked out Friday, and the rest of the weekend or hadn't said anything to Bella.

After a few chats with the team and a couple of fixes to problems, I grabbed Jaz who was heading back from some high and mighty meeting and, ignoring his complaints about have lunch without Alice, dragged him to the coffee shop we'd gone to after the recent wild weekend.

By the time we arrived his protests had turned into the need to text Alice 'just so she knew where he was' Jesus, whipped or what.

"So why exactly did you feel the need to drag me away from the office and a lunch date with Alice, what's so important?" Jaz asked obviously not wanting a real answer judging by the constant glances at his phone. "If this is about Friday night, I was drunk, I don't remember much other than phoning you"

"No, no, mate, I just needed a break from the office, that and a friendly face" I started covering my back. It came out sincerely considering there was a very real reason for my current agitation.

Jaz obviously took the hint as almost immediately the phone slid out of sight. "Hmmm..." He mused, "not enough friendly faces at work? Or maybe to friendly?" He asked trying to seem innocent.

"What the fuck does that mean you cryptic SOB? I'm good at reading people Jaz but I'll be fucked if that made any sense" I pushed back at him a little more annoyed than I should have been without knowing why.

Jaz just smiled and shook his head "nothing... So what's up mate?"

The rest of lunch consisted of me spouting shit about work and Jaz looking at his phone. I had decided to forget the messages at the weekend, neither Jaz nor Alice seemed uncomfortable about it so why should I. It was finally time to head back. I had made the decision to get away for a longer break. I spent the rest of the afternoon arranging time off, booking tickets and accommodation. The trip was expensive but the break would be worth it. Over to Canada, I love the innate outdoor life over there. If I had a choice about where to live it would be there.

At the end of the day I walked through the team making sure everything was going OK, no dramas where evident which was good but suspicious, either everyone was working hard or not working at all. I made a mental note to check progress in the morning. I stopped by Alice's desk.

"Sorry about stealing Jaz at lunch, I needed a chat" I started the conversation.

"No probs boss, we didn't have concrete plans anyway" she smiled sweetly obviously preparing to grill Jaz about the content of our chat

"Listen, I'm heading away for a while, I need some me time" I said casually.

She glanced over her and then locked my eyes again "any particular reason boss?"

"Nothing major" I said slightly confused at the glance, over sensitive perhaps. "Anyway, I want you to cover for me while I'm away, it's a fortnight and Carlisle will give you any support you need. What do you think?"

"Edward! I don't know! I've never done your job before! I'm not sure I could!" To her credit she actually sounded genuine but I'd been reviewing her performance and helping shape her career for nearly a year. This was the break she had been waiting for.

"Of course you can, I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't think you could do it" I said smoothly. She took that as the compliment it was and nodded "OK, I'll do it"

"Cool, I'll set up a couple a of meetings with you to make sure you're up to speed with everything" she either looked stunned, happy enough to burst, ready to vomit or all three, it was hard to tell.

Again, that glance "oh, by the way, one of my friends from the Marketing Department has been asking about you, are you still single?" She smiled at me sweetly. If I didn't know her and Jaz so well I'd have been pretty uncomfortable with the pointed question even so it didn't feel right.

"Ummm... Yeah, I am" I answered honestly. My face lit up as I realised how to defuse my discomfort "but we're just friends Alice, Jaz would kill me!" A smiled widely and Alice responded with her own smile.

"Ok... anyway, back to work" even to myself I sounded embarrassed "I'll let Carlisle know what's going on and we can get the support sorted if you need it, which I don't think you will"

"Thanks Edward, I appreciate it" Alice said honestly. I walked away somewhat confused by the exchange but relieved that Alice had taken the opportunity I gave her. I liked Alice but she could be somewhat difficult to fathom sometimes.

I spoke to Carlisle and outlined my plan, he seemed happy to accept the trust I put in Alice although warned that I should be contactable in an emergency. "Well, if you arrange a satellite phone for me I'll keep it switched on other than that I can't guarantee you'll get me"

"What about a number for where you're staying if nothing else" was the not unkind answer.

"I'll need to check the number of my tent but I'm pretty sure that it doesn't have a direct dial phone extension" I warned

Carlisle smiled "one of those trips huh? How long have we known each other Edward? five years?"

"Feels like a hundred and five sometimes Carlisle" I answered with a grin

"The only time off I've seen you take is time off to stop yourself going into meltdown, I agreed to your request for that reason. You want to tell me what's wrong, is there a problem I need to know about?" Carlisle had obviously flipped into dad mode again, the concerned father figure.

"No, it's nothing like that, I just need to recharge my batteries, get a bit of perspective" I half lied.

"Good, I trust Alice will have an easy ride for next two weeks then"

"No planned disasters boss, Alice is perfectly capable of handling herself and the project" Carlisle nodded apparently understanding I would say no more about the problem I was running away from, good, I didn't really know what it was either

"Good! Edward, if there is anything work or home you can tell me you know that already so no more" he said closing that conversation "I trust you will brief Alice on all the information she needs and send her our regular meeting slots" Carlisle decisively closed the conversation. Walking out of his office I realised there was a problem but I'd be damned if I knew what it was!

I saw Bella laughing happily with Alice and grumbled to myself, already climbing that new ladder, Bella was quick off the mark. I had to appreciate her skills at befriending Alice so quickly, she was hard to like but Alice was slow to trust. It surprised me when Alice looked over and pointed at me, Bella's face turned so quickly and flushed, she said something quick to Alice a headed straight back to her desk. Oh shit, the boss saw me slacking off, I could imagine her reaction, one more crack in her perfect veneer.

I sat at my desk and picked up the phone, I watched Bella typing away, her long wavy dark brown hair hanging down, covering her face as if placed there on purpose, until the annoying disconnection tone kicked in so I muted the deadline, trying to buy a little more time watch Bella, waiting for her to fuck up again. She glanced over a couple of times but I managed to overt my gaze in time for it not to be obvious that I was watching her. If she knew she'd be less likely to take the piss. Alice appeared seeming out of thin air at my desk "earth to Edward, hello? Anyone in there" she asked sarcastically

"Huh" was my simple reply

"Ummm... Hi, I'm Alice, the girl who's been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes" five minutes? I'd been 'on the phone' for thirty seconds, maybe, fuck! I must be tired.

"Yes, sorry Alice, what's up?"

"I just wanted to get a start on the handover stuff so I was looking for the stakeholder list" she was taking this seriously, if she wanted that she was planning communications with the teams and probably the customers.

"Fuck" I muttered "it's on my to do list, you'll get used to it over the next fortnight. I'll stay late, pull it together and send it over" I replied. She shrugged, lazy bastard it said "no problem boss, I just wanted to get a view on who I would be talking too.

I did stay late and made a half hearted attempt in doing the list of everyone with a vested interest in the project. I couldn't concentrate on it. My mind kept wondering back to problems and risks of the project, associated with those things, Bella Swan. I don't know why, it just was. The success or opposite of the project seemed to hinge on her or at least I couldn't pull the two things apart. It was close to 9pm when I finished up.

I made my way home and shoved some brown mess with rice in the microwave and settled down at my computer to plan my trip. I'd booked a return flight to Vancouver, intending to hike north through some of British Columbia before jumping on a train back for my return flight. I trawled the websites of the local shops looking for essential things like new hiking socks, a new flint for my trusty lighter, maps of the areas I wanted to get through and most importantly a new knife. The blade on my old one had been chipped after dropping nearly 100 ft during an unexpectedly difficult climb of Mount Kennedy. I remembered my survival coach's mantra; you can't survive in the wild without three things, ability, balls and a blade. The guy was a dick, thought he was fucking Rambo or some shit but that saying has always stuck with me for some reason.

I collapsed into bed after noting all shops I'd visit over the next few days and working out the impact to my already decimated bank account, not good but worth it. Oh so worth it.