Wow! You guys overwhelm me! Thank you again to all of you who have been taking the time to read my little story. You are fabulous!

AN: I do not own Twilight.

EPOV

I made a list in my head of what I needed to do as the elevator took me to my floor. I had just had a lunch meeting and was anxious to get the new information I had received back to my team. When the door opened I was greeted by one of the secretaries as she was trying to get into the elevator. As I stepped to the left, she stepped to the left. I then tried to go to the right and she did the same.

"Hey, Mr. Cul-len. Wanna dance?" I chuckled at the girl's reference to our little game of musical steps.

"Um…hi Miss Stanley. Off to lunch?" She didn't move when I stepped back to the left this time. Space was tight on either side of her but I was able to squeeze myself through.

God, her perfume stinks.

"Oh, I'm not hungry…for food that is." She did this weird fluttering with her eyes and I wondered if she had some sort of tic.

"Okay, well, enjoy." I said hoping she had a nice lunch as I turned and headed toward my office. When I got there, I greeted Bella and Paul. They were hunched over a rather large book discussing something Bella was pointing to. Paul was listening intently. I hoped some of Bella's capability was wearing off on him.

It had been a week since Bella had joined Paul and me on the Hunter case and I had to admit it was worth everything I had to promise Jasper, even sitting next to Emmett on Christmas Eve. Bella knew her shit, that was for damn sure. I already felt we had made more headway on this case in the last week than we had in the last month. It was such a relief.

I went into my office and began sifting through my new information. After about an hour I heard a rather loud high-pitched voice outside my door. I recognized it as my sister and remembered that she was supposed to be dropping off my gifts for the Secret Santa Exchange that started tomorrow. I went to my door and swung it open expecting Ali to be standing there with her arms full, but that was not the case. She wasn't outside my door.

I heard her so she had to be here. I stepped outside my office and looked around until I spotted her. She was having a very animated conversation with Bella who looked like she was enjoying it. In fact, it appeared that they knew each other. Very well.

Huh?

Ali finally saw me standing there and stopped mid-sentence. "Edward! Hi." She came over and gave me a rather large hug. I embraced her back, still feeling slightly confused.

"Hi, Al. Um…do you guys know each other?" I wanted to know. You know, just in case I needed to do some introductions.

"Of course we do. Bella is my home girl, silly". I looked back to Bella who was smiling at Alice.

Again. Huh?

Ali rolled her eyes at me. "We've been friends for a long time. She does work for Jasper, you know." Yeah, I did know. But I didn't know that she and my sister were besties. Does that bother me? No…but it kind of bothers me that I didn't know.

Why does it bother me? I have absolutely no fucking clue.

"Anyway, I have your stuff. I'll bring it into your office and I can show you."

"Do I really need to know the specifics?" Couldn't I just wrap them? Better yet, couldn't she just wrap them and I'll make sure Mike gets them?

"Don't be such a fucking scrooge? You should at least know what you got the guy." I heard a soft snicker and saw Bella try to bury her nose into a file. She thought she was being all stealth, but I was on to her.

"Fine, just come in and show me…quickly. I have work to do." Ali picked up the couple of shopping bags and started for my office. I followed behind but almost ran into her when she stopped short.

"Oh, hey Bella. Friday night? Are we still getting our drink on?"

Shy, reserved Bella? No…there's no way she would be into that.

"Absolutely. I'm going to need it. I'll call Rose and make sure she's in too."

Rose? As in Rosalie, our sister-in-law? She's friends with Bella too? And they all drink together?

"Okay, see you Friday." Bella smiled after her for a moment before turning her attention to me. Her demeanor shifted from my sister's friend who apparently likes to socially imbibe in alcohol to the consummate professional employee.

"Edward, I went through all of the phone records you gave me and I found some pretty interesting coincidences. I highlighted the suspicious calls and made some notes. They're on your desk for your review." God, she's good.

"Thanks, Bella. I appreciate it." She went back to her work and I went to my office wondering what the hell just happened.

Ali showed me every gift, in detail. She then proceeded to tell me which gift to give on which day. She even labeled them so I wouldn't forget. But see, that wouldn't be the problem. The problem is that I wasn't really listening in the first place. I was still trying to figure out why I didn't know that Bella was an important person in the lives of my best friend and family.

"Are you even listening to me, Edward?" I shook my head and looked into the annoyed eyes of my sister.

"I'm sorry, Ali. I'm just not into this Secret Santa stuff. But I really appreciate you going through all this effort. I'm sure Mike will love everything." I needed to appease her because I knew I would need her services again next year. I did my best apologetic smile and eventually the icy stare I was receiving began to melt.

"Of course he will. And don't forget, it starts tomorrow."

Ugh…here we go.

The gift exchange starts tomorrow. I wonder what Bella is going to give Edward first? Thanks for reading!