The Firm

I really do not know what to say. So many new readers and reviewers. Welcome to each and every one of you, great to have you onboard. Sorry I have not been able to reply to each individual review, too many to get to. This note hopefully makes up for this massive fail. I appreciate each and every review, I cannot tell you just how much. I love that you all are so invested as I am and we're only a little way in.

Thanks as always to Dollybigmomma whose magic red pen works wonders.

Thanks to Stephenie Meyer who owns all that is the wonderful Twilight.

Chapter 5

BELLA

I flounced into the coffee shop, not caring who or what I barged into on my way to get to Alice. She was already there, thank god. I needed to off-load about Edward. I needed to tell someone before I exploded for sure.

"Hi, Alice; thanks for coming on such short notice," I greeted her as threw myself into the seat opposite her.

"Your mayday calls don't come very often, Swan; in fact, I don't recall ever getting one before, so I assume it's serious and you need my help. That is, after all, what friends are for, right? So, what's up? Are you okay? You've not lost your job have you? Given one of the bosses a piece of your mind?"

I had to laugh, she knew me so well. She knew I did not suffer fools gladly and really struggled to keep my mouth shut. It had gotten me into more trouble over the years than anything else.

"No, Alice, I still have a job, or at least I think I do after walking out in the middle of the day. No, my problem is of a more personal nature and I don't know if I'm okay. I can't believe I'm telling you this, telling anyone this, actually."

"Bella, what is it? You're scaring me." Poor Alice looked really concerned. She was going to be pissed when she found out all of this was over a man.

"Okay, so don't be pissed." I took a deep breath and told her all about Edward. Our first meeting, the electric shock, how breathtakingly handsome he was, and also how he infuriated me by blowing hot and cold.

Alice's mouth remained open for the duration of my speech. I dared not stop and let her in; she was going to eat me alive, chew me up and spit me right out. We girls had always told each other everything and I'd held out on them. I didn't do crushes, everyone knew that. This was so not me and that was one of the reasons I had kept this, whatever the fuck it was, quiet until now.

"So what should I do? How do I react to him going forward?" I asked her hoping she would go easy on me.

"Did you not think to talk to Rose and me about this Edward person before? Surely after that first day, when the spark was evident, you could've said something."

"I didn't realise it was more than just an electric shock, Alice. You know I don't react well around men. This is totally confusing for me. One minute he's friendly and the next he's being a dick. He's emailed me today to ask if I'm okay. I was a little taken aback this morning during the meeting, he being in Paris and all without notice. I was quieter than I usually am. He noticed, and then sent me an email. Cheeky fucker asked me to keep the other associate in line. Then he sent another email, this one less formal and said I could call him anytime. What the hell is he playing at, Alice? I don't know how to deal with men at the best of times on a personal level, but ones like him; he's a danger to me, my career, and my sanity. What do I do? Please, Alice, tell me what to do."

"His last email was personal you say? It sounds to me like he doesn't want to see you upset. You said it was always a possibility that he'd have to go to Paris. If that's the case, why are you so perturbed?"

"Nathalie Oberlauge, in a nutshell."

"Nathalie who?" Alice asked confused.

"Edward didn't want to go to Paris because Ms. Oberlauge is an oversexed cougar who was making sexual innuendos at every opportunity and I think Edward was scared of her hitting on him in person. That's what seems so strange. While I know it was always a distinct possibility he'd have to go, he really didn't want to. So for him to just up and go on such short notice…it just doesn't make any sense."

"Okay, we'll talk about this more later. I need to get back to work. In the meantime, go back to the office, reply to his email, and be nice and friendly while keeping it professional. He can't find fault with that. Look, I really do have to go. We'll get together with Rose later in the week. I'll text you with the details. Love you, Swan," she said as she got up to leave.

"Love you, too, Alice, and thanks for the advice."

"You do realise that Rose is going to have very strong opinions on all of this when you tell her, Bella. She's not going to be happy that she's the last to find out that her best friend has been keeping things from her. Especially something like a man crush."

I sighed heavily. I knew she was right.

I headed back, wondering how Jessica was going to react to my being gone for a couple of hours during the day.

She wasn't at her desk when I exited the lift, thank god. I skulked into my office unnoticed. The first thing I saw was a message from Jessica telling me that Edward had called. Shit, that meant he knew I had gone AWOL. I decided I had better respond to his email. What time would it be in France now I wondered? A quick glance at my watch told me it was a little after one o'clock in the afternoon here; that meant it would be after nine o'clock at night there. I wondered if he would be still online or even working.

To: EdwardAMCullenatCullenHale&McCarty

From: IsabellaMSwanatCullenHale&McCarty

Sorry for the delay in responding. I'm also sorry my previous email did nothing to alleviate your concerns about me not being happy. I assure you that I'm fine.

I'd be more than happy to look over any paperwork you feel is urgent. I could always email you my thoughts, highlighting any concerns, etc. Have Jessica redirect anything you want me to look at. I'm sure you'll be able to offer me some assistance at some point in the near future. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you sort things out in Paris sooner rather than later.

I've added my mobile number to this email so that you can call me if you need or want to. I promise I will not disturb your sleep. Don't want you any grumpier than you already are!

Bella

I considered removing the last sentence, was it too much? Was it disrespectful? I hoped he would take it in the manner in which it was meant, as a light-hearted jibe at his somewhat challenging behaviour. I pressed send before I could change my mind.

EDWARD

I had almost given up for the night, there was no dinner date. I was being a prick as usual when I added the glib comment to Jessica. Nathalie's team and I had eaten in the office earlier and now I was back in my hotel suite alone and still seething over Bella's disappearing act.

Phone calls to both Emmett and Jasper did not shed any light on her whereabouts. If she had gone off to sort her love life out on work time, I would be more than a little pissed.

Just as I was about to log off and shut down for the night, my email pinged, letting me know I had a message. Surprise, surprise, it was from Bella.

It was much friendlier than her last one, a little too friendly if I decided to take offence at her last sentence. However, it brought a smile to my face. She was right; I was a grumpy bastard, with or without sleep. She didn't mention where she had been. I pondered whether I should I ask her.

I was glad she would look over all my paperwork while I was away. It would stop me worrying, knowing that someone with her attitude about her work was keeping on top of things for me. She had also given me her mobile number in case I needed or wanted to ring her. I wanted to ring her now, but I hesitated, knowing I would struggle to keep things on a professional level. I knew I would ask her where she had been for two hours earlier when she should have been working. No, I decided I had better keep our correspondence to emails for now. I decided to drop her a quick thank you. I no sooner seemed to have pressed send when my Blackberry rang.

"Edward Cullen."

"Edward, it's me, Bella. I hope it's not too late to call. I just received your email so I presumed you were still awake."

"Wide awake, so what can I do for you, Ms. Swan?" I could have kicked myself for going back to the formality of her full name.

"Oh…um…" Shit, I'd thrown her by being so formal. "I just wanted to let you know that Seth contacted my client and we have a meeting set up for later this week. Thank you for doing that, and don't forget to ask Jessica to forward me all your paperwork that you want me to look over."

"I've emailed Jess already, Bella. It should start coming through to you tomorrow. Let me know if I overload you; don't forget, you have your own cases to deal with, too. Thanks for doing this by the way. I owe you big-style."

"Edward, is that not what colleagues do for each other? Cover each other's backs? Look, it's already late where you are and I don't want to be held responsible for your lack of sleep and grumpy mood tomorrow so I'll say goodnight."

"That's twice you've called me a grumpy bastard today, Bella. I could take offence you know, even though I know it's true." She laughed quietly and that little tinkle of laughter went straight to my dick. "I'm not tired. We can talk some more if you'd like?"

"Oh, okay, so tell me how the case is going. You said the mole was keeping his or her head down. Any further progress forward?"

"I think we made some progress today. The rate at which information is being leaked seems to have slowed since I arrived so I guess we'll see."

"And how is Ms. Oberlauge treating you?" she asked quietly.

"Well, apart from her continued flirting and her propositioning me at every opportunity, okay I guess. She's pissed about the leaks and wants to get to the bottom of it."

"You don't have to put up with her treating you like that, Edward. What she's doing is sexual harassment and you could sue, surely she knows that. At least have someone else take over the case for you. I'd do it for you. I'd be willing to take on the case."

"You'd do that? Come to France just like that? What would your husband or partner say about that?"

"I'd do it if it continues to make you feel uncomfortable, it's not right and I don't like that she makes you feel like that, she shouldn't treat anyone with so little respect. And Edward, there's no husband, I'm not married."

"Your boyfriend then?" I asked fishing a little more.

"No, I don't have one of those, either. Like you, I'm too busy with work. Look, Edward, I really need to get on, I had a long lunch today. I needed to see a friend about something important. That was why I wasn't here when you called earlier. I'm sorry; I'll make the time up and it won't happen again."

I breathed a sigh of relief; no husband, no boyfriend, and she was with a friend before. With a smile on my face, I told her, "Bella, I think you've more than made up your time already. If you're sure everything is okay with you, let's just forget it, okay?"

"Okay, thank you, and like I said before, Edward, I'm fine, really."

"Okay, well, then goodnight, Bella. Don't work too late and thanks for the call. It's nice to talk to someone from back home."

"Goodnight, Edward, it's been nice talking to you, too."

The silence after she hung up pounded in my ears. She was single, no husband, and no boyfriend. I wondered again, why did I insist on a no-fraternization policy in the office?

I slept well that night, my dreams all of one Ms. Isabella Swan. Bella, it suited her; beautiful, that she was.

I had to stay away from her, though. If we worked closely together, I was not going to be able to resist my feelings for her and that would be a disaster. I did not do relationships and I just knew Bella was not the casual sex sort of girl. Heck, even I would want more than casual sex with her. I would have to give some serious thought to transferring the Paris case to her like she had suggested. It would certainly kill two birds with one stone. Hmm, I'd ponder on that some more. Would distance between us be the answer I was looking for?

The next day, I hinted to Nathalie that a colleague might take over if I had to go back to the states. She didn't seem impressed, swearing in French about how much having me on retainer was costing her and now she was being cast aside. I rolled my eyes at her typical French overdramatic reaction.

Emmett and Jasper were none too pleased, either, when I dropped Bella's suggestion into our daily conversation.

"No, Edward, definitely not; she's needed here. She's doing a great job and for once we're on top of all our cases. She makes Newton look like he's still in college. She stays here, we'll consider another alternative if necessary," Jasper argued. We would see, I thought to myself.

I had gotten a couple of emails during the day from her. All were work-related and I sulked like the petulant child I was when I saw there was nothing personal in them, not even an inquiry as to my health or even a hello. Nothing. I decided to be a prick again and ignored her. I did not even send her a thank you for doing my work while I was not there. There was really nothing I could say anyway other than to acknowledge what she had told me.

Grumpy didn't even cover how bad my mood was today. Poor Nathalie, I thought I might have scared her half to death with my ranting and raving, my foul language, and general scowl-ridden face. Maybe this would put her off propositioning me. Her later email let me know it hadn't. She thought I was even sexier when I was angry. For fucks' sake, my black moods were enough to scare anyone else away, why not her?

The week flew by and I did not speak to Bella again. She sent emails daily, updating on me anything she thought I needed to know. Her emails were polite and all work, very professional; I could not fault her work. She was efficient and had brought herself up to date on all the cases I had asked her to keep an eye on. I responded accordingly. We were both as bad as each other. My mood got blacker and blacker. I missed her, I missed her sassy air of confidence, I missed her chocolate brown eyes that drew me in, and I missed listening to her voice; what the fuck was all that about? I had only made her acquaintance recently; how the fuck could I miss her so badly?

"Cullen, you're so fucked if you give in to this," I told myself, making me more determined to stay the hell away from her. I was convinced she had cast some sort of spell on me. I'd never, ever had a reaction like this to a woman before. It scared me shitless and went against all I believed in. I did not know what to do.

To say I was royally fucked would have been putting it mildly.