Hey guys! I finally got around to writing this. Thanks to the reviews...and thank you Crazykate28, my beta, who knows just what to write, whenever I feel at a loss of words...and she can make the most simple sentences sound poetic! Love you!

This chapter corresponds to chapter 8,9 and 10 of the story "The Office", Bella's POV.


I stayed holed up in my house most of Sunday morning. But then my roommate Eric came out of his bedroom with two girls and suddenly I felt the need to get out of the apartment.

I took the keys to my Volvo and just drove; I had no particular destination in mind. Soon, I realised I was driving to my favourite café, Café Karma. It was the kind of open-air café with red and white checked tablecloths covering the tables, all covered by umbrellas.

I parked my car nearby and walked towards the tables. I noticed one table occupied by a girl with brown hair, dressed in a white tank top and jeans. She was reading a book. I got closer, only to see that the girl was Bella. I stood next to her table, too stunned to say anything at first.

She was the one to speak first, as usual. I don't know what it is about her that renders me speechless. She looked up from her book and noticed me standing there staring at her.

"Edward! What are you doing here?" She asked looking rattled by my presence.

I managed to gather my wits to reply. "Oh…I was just passing by when I noticed you sitting here. So I decided to come over, to…urm…apologise for my behaviour yesterday." I gave her my best "innocent boy" look. I bowed my head, casting my eyes to the sidewalk and clasped my hands nervously behind my back. "What do you say we start over again," I looked up slightly, quirking my eyebrows at her in question. I straightened up and offered her my hand. "Hi, my name is Edward Masen."

She smiled, hesitating briefly before she shook my hand. "Pleasure to meet you Edward. My name is Isabella Swan, but you can call me Bella."

"Bells?" I asked trying my luck but she cut me off. "Don't even think about it!" She squeaked out, she scrunched up her nose, shook her head slightly, while her laughter rang out, surrounding me in a melodious fog. Oh, that laughter!

I sat down on in the chair opposite her and ordered an iced tea.

We sat there in the café for almost 3 hours, talking about our favourite books, music, the office and even politics. I was surprised at how smooth the conversation seemed to flow between us; normally she seems resistant and short with me. I loved how carefree she was being.

She looked at her watch and sighed. Looking her in the eyes, I quirked my eyebrow at her in question.

"Is there a problem?" I asked. Remembering something my grandmother had once told me. "If the person you are talking to looks at their watch, he is getting bored."

"Oh…I needed to go shopping. But I don't think I'll be able to do it now. I always take too much time, I can never seem to decide, and usually Alice and Rose are there to help me out."

"If you don't mind, I could help. If I may say so myself, my taste in clothing is impeccable!" I said with a hint of laughter. I just wanted to spend more time with her. The thought of her modelling clothes, trying to decide what she wanted was just a bonus.

"Urm…sure." She seemed a bit reluctant, probably from the prospect of having a man with her.

We went to the nearby mall and I picked out a pink and white shirt for her, teamed with a navy blue blazer and trousers. She was hesitant but I insisted she try it on. When she went into the changing room, she handed me her phone and purse.

Just as she locked the door to the changing room, her phone rang. It was from Alice Cullen. I sighed and rejected the call. Damn that pixie. I promptly, put her phone on silent mode after that.

While she was trying on clothes, I called a florist and ordered her an orchid arrangement to be delivered to her house. I remembered that they were her favourite. I also included a note. "I know these are your favourite, dearest Bella. Still am, albeit secretly, your admirer." I hope that she would accept the flowers, even if she didn't know whom they were from.

Luckily the florist didn't question me about the note. I also made sure that when they were delivered that even if Bella asked insisting on knowing who sent them that they would not tell her.

Bella came out of the changing room; she looked stunning in the clothes I chose for her. She ended up buying them. In my mind I yelled out a "Hell Yes!" while pumping my fist in the air. We continued shopping together, where even I ended up buying some things for myself. By 8 that evening, we were standing in the parking lot, with our numerous bags in tow.

"I will see you in office tomorrow." I was feeling a bit nervous at the moment, not entirely sure what to do and my words came out as more of a question.

"Yeah. Tomorrow." She smiled and gave me a friendly hug before placing her packages in her car, climbing in herself and driving off. I stood there for a moment watching her drive away before getting into my own car.

The next day, I decided to go into the office a little late by my own standards. Normally, I would arrive by 8:30, but I knew that Bella and her friends usually came in around 9:00. Leaving later than usual I was hoping to run into Bella, I just really wanted to see her.

My timing worked out. Upon entering the building she was the first person I saw. Bella, waiting for the elevator with everyone else. She was facing her friends, and thus, facing the entrance of the building. The smile on her face faltered just a bit when her eyes met mine. I reached the elevators and wished a good morning to everyone. Smiling slightly when I looked at Bella.

Jacob, who looked tired and sleepy, was wearing a crumpled white shirt tucked haphazardly into his jeans. He hadn't shaved either and it looked like the weekend camping trip was a little too much for him to handle. But he was alert enough to notice I was in later than usual.

"Edward! How come you're so late? Normally you're here at like 8:30?" Jacob asked a little too loudly for my taste. I just shrugged at him.

"Yeah…I decided to come on later. I can't really do anything in that half hour span anyway. So I might as well sleep a little more." I said as we filed into the elevator. Looking out of the corner of my eye at Bella, wondering what her reaction to Jacob's question. I didn't need my late arrival making her uncomfortable. "Perhaps I felt compelled to come later than usual." I whispered to myself while still focusing on Bella.

That afternoon, everyone had gone out for lunch. Everyone but Bella, that is. I leaned over the soft board partition between our cubicles and asked her why she didn't join her friends for lunch.

"Actually there was something I wanted to talk to you about." She said. A light pink blush spread on her cheeks.

"Sure, but I'm super hungry. Care to join me for a sandwich?" I asked her, feeling euphoric.

She hesitated, but agreed and we went to the cafeteria on the 4th floor.

I ordered two cheese sandwiches, knowing she really liked them. She normally had them whenever she had lunch at the office.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk about?" I asked her, initiating the conversation.

She rummaged through her bag and pulled out the Waterman Charleston pen I had sent her.

"I guess this belongs to you?" She said, handing me the pen. Damn, this was not what I pictured in my mind as to how this lunch would go.

"So you found out?" I said, forcing myself to smile.

"Yeah…I did. And I really don't appreciate you giving me gifts like this. The flowers were just an extravagance. And I really don't like this secret admirer thing!" Her tone of voice was short and fierce, as she was trying to hold back her obvious temper.

"So would you rather, I admire you openly?" I asked, trying desperately to stop the anger that was rolling off of her.

"No! You don't need to be admiring me…at all Mr. Masen!" She all but yelled at me and stormed out of the cafeteria. Everyone in the cafeteria was staring at me. I grabbed the uneaten sandwiches and quickly left. Shit, shit, shit!

I was upset and just wanted to tune everything out and listen to my music. However, James felt the need to stop me then.

That evening, instead of going straight home, I followed Bella's car to her house, and parked my car in a strategically selected location from where I could see into Bella's bedroom, thanks to the large windows.

Bella appeared at her window for a while. Looking like she had just gotten out of the bath. Her hair was wet and she was wearing a short robe. She was looking out at the moon. Bella had never looked more angelic than she did is this moment.

She moved away from the window, but the light in her room remained on. The next time she came back to stand at her window she was dressed in a delicate nightgown that fell upon her upper thighs. She stood there for a bit before she turned, the lights went out in her room and I started my car and drove off back to my own house.

The next day, again, I reached the office at nine in the morning, and met Bella at the elevator. Bella stiff when she wished me a good morning.

That day, at work, Carlisle called me into his office. He suspected that there were inconsistencies in the records provided by the other branches and he strongly suspected the possibility of fraud. So he wanted people from the head office to visit the branches and sort out the problem.

"So, what do you think Edward?" He asked me. "How do we go about this?"

"I would suggest that we send two people to each branch. It would be preferable that all the branches are covered at the same time, but seeing we don't have enough staff, we would have to do it one branch at a time." I answered.

"So who do you think we should send?" He asked.

"Well, Isabella for sure. She has been handling the branch reconciliations." I said. "Also I think myself and James. As the assistant managers, I think we should be able to handle this."

"Of course." He agreed. "Sending pairs would be a good idea."

"Also, I think Rome should be first. I've have been inclined to think that Tanya has a hidden agenda." I added.

"So can you handle Rome along with Miss Swan?" Carlisle asked me.

"Of course." I said, smiling. This would be the perfect opportunity to fix my situation with Bella.

Carlisle picked up his phone and called Bella into his office.

Isabella entered and Carlisle motioned to the vacant chair beside me. Her step faltered as she walked over to the chair next to me. I really needed to fix this between Bella and myself.

"Isabella." Carlisle greeted her as she sat. "How many branches do we have?"

She looked surprised and somewhat confused by the question, but answered immediately. "Five, sir. Paris, Rome, Delhi, Singapore and Sydney."

"Yes. And I have a feeling that we are not able to manage them well enough from here. In fact, I think that the people in the branches are being less than reputable in their work…the word fraud comes to mind." He said, painting a picture for her.

"So I've decided to send two people from here to each branch. Now since you've done work on branch reconciliations, you will be one of the representatives sent to investigate. Mr. Masen here will be accompanying you. You two will be going to Rome first and then Paris. The other branches will be assigned to other managers."

She looked stunned, but I could not help the grin that crept onto my face. I was going to Rome with Isabella Swan! Perfect, now I just needed to come up with a plan to fix this situation between us.


Do review and let me know how you liked it!