A/N Hi all! Sorry for the delay in updates but my household has been on the cycle of sickness. Happy to report the family is all back up and running save for some coughs and runny noses. Not much feedback from last chapter I was surprised. Lets see whats next for our favorite characters!
-Edward-
"Sooo hypothetically of course...If I were to ask you to bring more bread sticks and then I discovered I couldn't possibly eat anymore could I take them home?" Jesus Em the thirty five you had already wasn't enough. It probably wasn't that many but it sure seemed like it. My brother and those damn dimples have Tammy our waitress in a tizzy. She smiles and winks saying she'll take care of it before heading to the kitchen.
"Some things never change." Alice says smiling at my brothers ridiculousness.
"What can I say I'm a growing boy!" He laughs rubbing his stomach.
"You're 27 I don't think that applies anymore." I tell him and he shrugs.
"Sure it does."
Tammy returns with a few Styrofoam go boxes for our leftovers, because the Italians know nothing about portion control, not that I'm complaining though. She hands Emmett a bag with one already in it, surely filled with piping hot bread sticks.
He takes a look in the bag and...yep the dimples come out. "Thanks you're a doll."
"You're welcome. Just warm them up a bit," She says suggestively "If you have any questions I wrote my number on the top." Her voice leaves nothing to the imagination. It's quite obvious what she really wants my brother to warm up.
Alice clears her throat God love her. Em and I pay the bill and head out. I don't have to look to know that Bella is still here, but I do anyway. So is Hulk, Cowboy and Blondie. For the first time all night since I left her table earlier she looks up just as I'm passing. I smile at her because I can't help not to. My entire body is drawn to her, has been since the moment she walked into SP yesterday morning. She looks beautiful and when her cheeks flush pink as she smiles back I swear my heart stops. Her blush is quickly becoming one of my favorite sights.
How can she look at me with such contempt this morning in the break room and now she's looking at me like...like...I don't know what but it's sexy as fuck.
"Bye Alice it was a pleasure meeting you darlin." Cowboy says with a twinkle in his eye I slow down realizing we're not going to get past their table with just a simple waive in passing.
Alice eats that cowboy routine right up. Her smile is a mile wide. "You as well Jasper, don't be a stranger. You know where to find me!" She giggles.
He looks at Bella with a silly grin, then back to my sister. "That I do..." he says with a wink. He looks back to Bella "I might just have to drop in next week for a grand tour Swan, what do ya think?"
Bella laughs. "I'm sure you will Jasper."
"What about you Rosalie?" My brother asks like a lost puppy. Her features are rigid and she looks pissed. Her eyes are focused on the container in Emmett's hands. Oh shit is she jealous?
Emmett gave up the bag to Alice because she had two to-go boxes. She's tiny so her leftovers could easily feed her the rest of the week.
"Depends are you going to call that number?" She points to Tammy's number, calling him out. The rest of us are snickering but Blondie and Em don't seem to notice.
"What..?" he looks confused then follows her finger. He smiles at her and she softens...slightly. It's the dimples. "Rosalie I thought it would be impossible for you to look anymore gorgeous but jealousy looks stunning on you." She huffs and he winks at her takes out a pen and grabs a napkin from the table. "Here is my number." He goes to hand it to her but brings it back "now don't go throw this away like I'm going to do with this container...call me."
"I wasn't jealous." Blondie quipped taking a drink of her water trying to act aloof to my brothers charms.
"Uh huh just call me and you can tell me how not jealous you are." He laughs.
Watching my brother in action going after what he so obviously wants gives me a headache. Why can't I just man up and make a move on the brunette goddess that is currently watching her friend trying to suppress her giggles.
She's the most exquisite creature I've ever laid eyes on. Ever since she walked into to SP yesterday morning she's all I've thought about.
Bella's eyes lock with mine and it makes me feel warm. Like fresh hot brownies on a cold winter night. I want to pull her across the table and kiss those sexy parted lips and lose my fingers in a mess of mahogany waves. But I don't.
Hulk clears his throat and Bella looks down at the table in front of her. Not fast enough to hide her flushed face. That blush...damn...I wonder if her face is the only pla-..NO! I have to get out of here. Thankfully my sister saves me.
"Well we have to get going!" We all say quick goodbyes my eyes linger on Bella for a few moments longer than appropriate and finally...finally we're outside. The crisp fall air feels like a bucket of ice water on my heated skin. I've never had this type of reaction to a woman before. Not like this. The restraint it takes to keep my hands off her body my lips off her neck, it's like nothing I've ever experienced before.
Emmett throws me the keys, "You're driving, I think I ate too much." I laugh because really what was your first clue Emmett? We drop my sister off at her apartment and I get out to walk her to the door. What can I say my mother raised us right.
"I'm going to miss you Pix, be safe and call me okay?" I tell her getting off the elevator on her floor.
"You know I will. I love you Eddie."
"I love you too."
We get to her door and before she ducks inside she gives me a hug. She's tiny in my arms, she always has been.
"You need to tell her how you feel bub, who knows she might just be feeling the same thing."
She gives me that look one of those 'I know what I'm talking about don't question me' looks. For a second I feel like she's right. Alice is always right somehow, it's like she can see the future.
I just nod and head back to the car.
"Do we have to go and get your car tonight? I'll drive you in in the morning dude lets just get to the house." Emmett whines when I get back in the drivers seat.
"No way, I had to take a cab into work this morning. Did you go home with that redhead?" I assumed when I left the bar in a cab last night after the whole April nightmare that I could just catch a ride with Em in the morning but the fucker wasn't home.
He chuckles but it turns to a groan when he grabs his engorged stomach. "Hell yea I did man she did this thing with her legs th-"
"I don't want to know." I interrupt him laughing. It's good to stop Emmett early...the longer you let him go with a story the more likely you are to need brain bleach.
"Well you don't have to worry about those days anymore bro so its all good." I look at him and he's dead serious. "I hate to see the squirt leave but I'm glad she won't be here for Sunday dinner."
"Why's that?"
"Because one short-stack squealing and carrying on is enough!" He must see the confusion on my face because he continues. "Mom's going to flip her shit when she finds out all of her babies fell at the same time."
No...uh huh..nope.
"Don't even try to deny it...I didn't notice it until tonight but you are so gone for Bella. Rosalie...well...damn that girl is mine, even if she doesn't know it yet...and Jasper that slick talking southerner's going to be our new brother!"
I go to argue but it dies on my tongue leaving my mouth dry and scratchy.
"You know how it goes for us we fall, and we fall hard. You know our family history man, love at first sight and all that shit. There hasn't been a Cullen before us that didn't fall on their ass and it looks like the three of us are no exception!"
I've been fighting it since I first laid eyes on her because how cruel is it for her to be my boss, but leave it to Emmett to just throw it all out there. Part of me wants to chalk it all up to some silly myth or superstition but the other part of me knows deep down I believe it with every fiber of my being. All I have to do is look at my parents and my grandparents before them. Even my Uncle J was hit with it, although it was a little bit later in life. He met my Aunt Lucy about eight years ago. I was a senior in high school when they met and their wedding was about a week after my graduation. He said he waited long enough for her he wasn't waiting any longer. After about five months together they were married.
Its why all of us, Em, myself and Alice haven't really dated anyone serious. We've grown up hearing the stories, seeing it first hand. When we meet the one, we'll know it. We'll know we've found our soul mate.
"Yea well yours didn't turn out to be your boss. What the fuck do I do Em? Not to mention she'll never even give me a shot after what she heard this morning."
My brother has the decency to look chastised.
"I really am sorry about that, I had no clue she was there. About her being your boss who the hell cares. I've got news for you she's it for you so get over the whole boss thing now or look for a new job because this isn't something you can just walk away from."
"I don't even know if she's single...did you see that guy sitting next to her when we left? You don't think they are together do you?"
"If they are I don't think they will be much longer after the vibes you two were throwing down tonight! Seriously I thought you were just going to jump across the table." If he only knew.
"It took everything I had not to do just that."
"Oh yea you're gone." He laughs.
"Hey what about you Mr. Jepsen?"
"Who the fuck is Mr. Jepsen?"
"You know 'Call me baby'" I sing-song in the best Carly Rae Jepsen impersonation I could muster without my dick falling off.
Emmett busts out into laughter and I'm not keeping it together any better than he is.
"Oh...my...God that's awesome!" He says still cracking up. "Seriously though dude you have to stop letting Alice play with your iPod."
-P-
Work was going to suck today. I had half a mind just to call in. But I didn't because I'm a masochist. I didn't sleep at all last night...not a wink. Emmett barely made it to his room before slipping into his food coma but me-no I was up all damn night.
My tendency to be over-analytical was in full force. Emmett and I's conversation last night replayed on loop through my mind along with every moment since Bella walked into my life. Could she really be the one? I've never understood love at first sight most people with a habit of over-thinking everything like I do can't. It just goes against our nature. How can you fall for someone you know nothing about, it's just not logical. So I did the only thing that made sense, I made a list.
You know what I realized? I was right. Falling for someone you don't know isn't logical...but it happened. I barely know anything about her but somehow I know I can't live without her. Everything about her draws me in. The way she looks, her smell, her voice, the way her cheeks flush the most delicious rose hue, her sweet laughter, her cute giggle, everything. Like a moth to a flame.
And there isn't a damn logical reason why.
It's not that I don't know anything about her it's just I don't know enough. I know she grew up in Forks with her father who also happens to be the chief of police. But what happened to her mom? Did she have any pets growing up? Who was her best friend? I know she went to Columbia but why did she choose a college clear across the country? For everything I do know about her I have ten unanswered questions. She's a puzzle and I need all the pieces.
I've known a hell of a lot more about other woman yet never felt this connected. Sure I've messed around even dated, I am a warm-blooded male, but nothing ever really serious. I thought about it a lot and I came up with this. Falling is a physical reaction. You wouldn't fall on your ass if your brain was clued in because you'd catch yourself before you hit the ground. Falling in love isn't logical either its something that just happens it comes straight out of left field and changes everything.
So for the first time in my life I decided to not over think this, if we're meant to be we'll be. I'm only brave enough to say that because I truly believe in the "Fallen Cullen's".
The first floor of SP is completely deserted which isn't unusual seeing as its 5:30am. Hell this is early for me. I couldn't sleep and I'm smart enough to admit that a large part of me was anxious to get in and see Bella this morning. Hopefully by the time she gets in my nerves will have calmed down a bit.
When the elevator door opens to my floor I see I'm not as alone as I thought I was. Bella's door is open and the light is on. I figure saying good morning is a good start in the right direction to building the relationship I so desperately want with her so I bypass my door.
"Knock-Kno-" I'm cut off by the sight in front of me. There are papers everywhere, her dress I recognize from last night is thrown over the back of her chair empty candy wrappers scattered over every available surface. But cuddled up in the window nook in a sweatshirt way too huge to be her own, black leggings and bare feet lays the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. She looks so peaceful and out of place in her ransacked office. Her hair is a mess like she's been running her hands through it all night. She must have been here all night. She's still wearing the earrings she wore to the restaurant.
I'm torn between waking her up or going to my office like this never happened. I don't want her to be embarrassed by me finding her like this but I also don't want someone else to be the one find her.
My feet make the decision for me and before I can reign myself in I'm kneeling in front her.
"Bella." I almost whisper I don't want to startle her. "Bella, It's Edward..." I nudge her a bit and she pops up like a jack in the box. Even though I was expecting it she still catches me off guard.
"Oh shit! What time is it?" She questions running her hand through her hair freaking out. She looks around like she's on high alert.
"Shh...hey it's okay no one else is here it's not even 6 yet." Sleepy brown eyes lock with mine and I forget to breathe.
My hand twitches at my side desperately wanting to stroke her soft rosy cheek.
"Have you been here all night?" I ask needing to fill the air before I lean in to kiss those pretty pink lips. Her eyes dart past my shoulder. When I turn to see what she's looking at she grabs my face forcing my eyes back to hers. Ooookay that's odd.
"Don't!"
"Bella wha-?" Her hands are still holding my face in place.
"Just don't..." She has me on my feet and pushing me out her office door before I can finish my sentence let alone piece together what the hell is going on. "I'm sorry but I really have to get ready before everybody starts to show up. I'll see you at ten for our meeting with your editors. Okay? Yea okay bye!"
With that her door slams shut and locks behind me.
Well Cullen it seems you've been dismissed.
Yea no shit...What are you hiding Bella?
Until next time (which thank goodness will be sooner than before due to no more sickness...yay!) leave me some love aka reviews!
