CHAPTER EIGHT
All of my clothes were too fancy. I had the pullover sweatshirt and jeans combo that I arrived in Seattle with, but it wasn't enough. I needed a clear drawn line to crossover so there would be no mistakes made of my intentions.
I raided Rosalie's closet while she was in the shower getting ready for work. I was about to give into my sweatshirt combo when I spotted it. Deep down in the far reaches of her closet was a balled-up pair of white overalls with paint stains. Pulling on the overalls, I still needed a shirt of some kind. I didn't want to be removed from the building for public indecency charges before I had a chance to make it up to seventy-seven.
I found a black tube top in the closet and pulled it on to go with the overalls.
"What the hell are you wearing?" Rosalie asked still wrapped in her towel.
"Cute right?"
"Are you trying to get fired?"
"That is the plan," I mumbled under my breath while looking myself over in the mirror. I turned around to look at her. "I was just looking for something to wear this weekend. I told a friend I would come over and help paint his apartment."
I hated lying to Rosalie, but it was necessary. If I told her I was trying to get fired, then she would want to know why. Then I would have to tell her about the threat on her life and that kind of thing could ruin a girl's morning.
"Well, you better get ready fast. We have to leave soon."
"I already called in that I was coming in late today. You go ahead."
I went over and flopped down on Rosalie's bed while she walked off to find something to wear for the day.
"You seem to be spending a lot of time with this friend of yours. Is this long-term potential?" she asked.
I laughed.
"Um…no!" I said sounding offended. I don't know why I was acting like this. I thought of Edward when she said, friend. The long-term potential with my boss whose sole task he had to accomplish today was firing the girl who de-virginized him was looking bleak. I look at myself in the mirror dressed in the ridiculous outfit. I was really going to have to up my game today.
Rosalie left, and I stayed around trying to come up with ways to horrify Mr. Cullen. I couldn't just put on a trashy outfit and arrive late to work. As I said before, it would take a miracle to get this man to fire me. He seemed to have a soft spot for me and it would only be made worse since I plucked his cherry.
I pulled on a long trench coat not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to myself and began the trek to work. My phone rings several times and I see from the caller ID that it is work. I'm only an hour late so what is with the what! I see Edward's name appear on my phone, but I hit ignore and continue to focus on my surroundings. I feel eyes on me once again but when I look around on the bus I don't see anything out of the ordinary. Still, I feel bothered, so I attempt to remain vigilant.
I pop off the bus and take a deep breath before I head in. Once I was in the elevator I pulled off the trench coat and balled it up. The elevator bell dings alerting me of my arrival.
"Okay, Bella. It's showtime!"
"Good morning, Angela!" I sing as I walk in and toss my coat off onto my chair.
Angela's mouth drops wide open and her eyes nearly bug out of her skull. Okay, that's the reaction I was going for.
"Bella…I…I…I have been calling. Mr. Cullen was worried. You're…a little late."
"Am I?" I look around. "Hum…weird. Oh well! Anyway, what is the hap?"
I pull out a Bubblicious from my purse and place the large wad of gum into my mouth and begin snapping away at it.
"The hap? Um…well I imagine that Mr. Cullen would like to see you. He seems stressed."
I wave her off and go around to my desk to fire up my computer. I place my feet up on the desk and sit back waiting for the phone to ring or for Mr. Cullen to come out and see me in all my glory.
I didn't have to wait long.
"Bella, where have…."
He stops and assesses.
"Is something wrong?" he asked still looking me over from head to toe.
"Wrong?" I stood up from my desk still smacking my gum, so he could get the full effect.
"Can I see you in my office?" He asked quietly placing his hands on my short cube wall and leaning over slightly.
I felt bad for him. He probably thought it was something he did when in fact, it was something I did. This germaphobe broke protocol touching my wall. That was how upset he must have been.
The phone rings waking me up from my moral dilemma. I pulled the wad of gum out of my mouth and picked up the phone holding out my finger for him to hold off a minute. In my best sex phone operator voice, I answered.
"Edward Cullen's office, sex-god extraordinaire. This is Bella speaking."
I see Edward turn red but before he has a chance to remark on my colorful new greeting I place the wad of gum onto his hand holding onto my cube wall. He instantly recoils, and his hands are shaking at the invasion of germs crawling around my gum and now onto his hand.
"Hi…uh…this is Esme. Edward's mother…"
I nearly wet my overalls, but this could be the final nail in my career coffin. After all, improvisation is the key to a successful final act.
"Mrs. Cullen! Hi! How are you?"
I see Edward's eyes go wide. I'm sure he is smart enough to have caught on with my little performance and how badly this might turn.
"Edward? Yes. Edward is right here and has been awaiting your call. I will transfer you now. But, before I go, I thought I should tell you that I went ahead and RSVP'd to his high school reunion. He can't wait to see you all!"
Edward reaches to grab the phone out of my hands, but I dance out of the way in time to press hold and hang the phone up.
"ISABELLA! My office. NOW!" He barked.
I cannot allow myself to be turned on. His pain is not for my pleasure. Still…I can't help myself. He was always so unassured of himself, but that glimpse of bravado has sent my nether-regions singing, the hills are alive!
The wad up ball of gum is still in his hand as he storms off to his office. I dance along behind him and notice that Angela has shrunk down as far as her chair would go behind her cube.
I walk in and see him depositing my gum into the trash before he pumps a large dose of sanitizer into his hands. I close the door quietly behind me and hug it with my backside.
"Yes, Mr. Cullen. You wished to speak to me?"
He stands behind his desk with his hands on his hips looking me over. His jaw is tense, and I can see he is making a great effort on remaining calm but losing the battle.
"What is going on with you? What is all of this about?" He asked waving his hand at my current fashion choices.
I shrugged not giving him more of an answer.
"Is this because we had sex? Are you…no longer comfortable around me?"
I really did not want to answer that. Something like this could ruin his fragile virgin heart. I merely wanted to be fired. Not make the man celibate for the rest of his life.
"You probably want to answer that. I'm sure your mother doesn't want to be on hold long."
He sighed and then looked down at the phone to see the blinking green light. It takes him a very long minute before he begrudgingly picks up the phone. I wonder if he is going to tell his mother that I lied to get out of the predicament I put him in.
"Hello."
He pauses and cringes the minute Mrs. Cullen begins.
"Mom…uh…she's new and quite undermedicated. My apologies. I am taking care of the problem as we speak," he says looking up to meet my eyes.
He looks away and begins to argue with her.
"No…mom. I can't…look. I…please…no, don't tell Alice. Mom!"
She must have hung up because he holds the phone away from his ear and slowly drops it down to the receiver. He too falls down into the chair and looks down at his desk. He is five years old and looking like I just kicked his favorite dog.
"You want me to fire you. Fine. Do whatever you want. Just…leave me and my family alone."
His voice is hollow. I took this one step too far. I wanted him to fire me, but I didn't want to hurt him. I see how my actions were so the wrong way to go about getting what I wanted.
Ah geez! This would be so much easier if I didn't feel my heart constricting. I sighed and walked towards his desk.
"I'm sorry, Edward. I didn't…" I trail off knowing that an apology from me wouldn't be enough.
I stepped closer and sat down slowly in the chair across from him.
"You gotta give me something. Why don't you want to go home? The high school reunion? That can't be the only reason. I mean…I get that people were assholes in high school, but they can't be the only reason you don't want to see your family."
He doesn't respond.
"So, don't go to the reunion. I mean…if it makes you that stressed but really, you deserve to go to that reunion. Every guy in there will wish he was you. Wish they were nicer to you because they could have been friends with the billionaire. Every girl will wish she gave you the time of day because they could have been Mrs. Billionaire. It's time you showed those assholes what an amazing person you are in spite of them!"
Still nothing from his end of the desk.
"And your parents? I don't know what happened with them, but your mom has been the nicest person on the phone to me. I've only been here a few days but most of the people who call to speak with you are assholes. They are probably rich and entitled so they feel they can treat a receptionist or assistant like crap, but your mom has always been kind even though she knows you are going to blow her off."
Still looking at his hands. Maybe wondering if he should be checked for rabies from my gum incident.
"I could go with you? Throw in some pity sex if that helps?"
He perks up.
"You would do that?" he asked finally looking up at me.
"Pity sex?" I shrugged. "Sure, why not."
Yes, I would take one for the team. I can practically feel sainthood upon me for enduring another round with the boss.
"No…I mean…you would go with me? Go to meet my family and accompany me to the reunion?"
I owed him that much.
"If it will pull you out of this funk. Sure."
"My family can be a little…overwhelming."
"I'm great with family. Just call me Mary J. Blige," I said with the wave of my hand.
"I don't know what that means."
I sighed and stared at him for a long second.
"We'll get you an iPod. Anyway, will me going to the rents make you feel better or not?"
I see him blossom before my very eyes.
So where did we stand on the pity sex? That was still happening, right? I mean, I wasn't doing this all pro bono, was I?
He seems to instantly relax. He sits back in his chair and glances me over from head to toe once more. I nearly forgot what I was wearing.
"So…you want to explain?"
I look down and rack my brain for a decent excuse. I already used the period one on him yesterday. A girl can only get away with that so much before people begin to question it.
"I…I have no explanation. Just…know that it's me and not you."
"The old, it's me and not you, line," he replied.
I sighed and looked down.
"Edward. Please…I wish I could give you a proper explanation, but I just can't. I'm sorry. But, you have every right to fire me…which, I doubt you will do but I wanted to put that on the table."
"No, I must have done something pretty awful for you to go to these extremes. I think it would be a much better punishment for you to stay on here until you are ready to tell me what is truly going on."
I look away. I can't give him that. He would be more upset than if I kicked his imaginary puppy.
"Bella. You can tell me anything."
He won't let up.
"I'm just not ready," I replied shaking my head slightly.
"Okay, you know where to find me when you do decide to. Until then, you should probably get back to work."
I go to stand up.
"Oh, and can you do me a favor and try to not leave the floor today? I really don't want my other employees to begin questioning the dress code."
I cringed.
"Do you have a shirt I can borrow? I won't leave the floor, but it might help make Angela feel more at ease. Plus, it's freezing in here!"
He gets up from his desk and walks over toward the door nearest to his desk and pulled out a crisp clean white shirt. He hands it to me and I drop the overalls and pull the tube top down around my waist to make a cute but probably still indecent skirt. I pull on his shirt and button it up before stuffing it into my now makeshift skirt.
I realize my little deck change probably made him a tad uncomfortable, so I look up slowly and apologize.
"Sorry, I probably should have taken the show into the bathroom."
"It's fine," he replied shaking his head slightly. "However, something just occurred to me."
He walked back around towards his desk and picks up his cell phone. He is looking it over as I die in anticipation. He picks up his office phone and begins to dial.
I creep towards his desk wondering who he is calling.
"Hello, yes. This is Edward Cullen. In a moment my assistant will call. She needs a change of clothes. Please attend to this matter quickly."
He hangs up the phone.
"Uh...you gotta work on your social skills. Most people say, please, thank you…hello and goodbye."
"I said hello," he defended.
I paused and then shook my head.
"We'll work more on this later."
He writes down a name and number on his notepad and tears off the sheet handing it to me.
"Her name is Jessica and no, she isn't that Jessica so please don't treat her as such. She works at Bloomingdales. Just order something…professional and have them put it on my account."
"I can't. This," I said waving at my outfit, "isn't your fault. You shouldn't have to pay for it."
"Why don't I believe you?" He asked. "Look, consider this your punishment. Take the damn clothes and don't bother me with it anymore."
"Punishment? Oooo, we might have to upgrade that pity sex."
He steps forward and looks me directly in the eye.
"Bella. There will be no more sex until you make good on your deal. Understand?"
And just like that, the virgin makes me feel like the sex addict.
I scowl and turn to leave from the room. He has all the power and I hate it. No sex until his high school reunion? Once out of his office I run back over to my computer and look up when the damn event is to be held. Mrs. Cullen sent me an email regarding it a couple days ago. I look at the date and it is set for the Saturday after next. My lady bits feel a government shutdown underway.
I call Bloomingdales and speak to this Jessica and get squared away with a change of clothes. They are sent over to me before my lunch period. Talk about quick and speedy service. Once I am redressed I muster up the courage to go and speak with Angela.
"Sorry about this morning. Mr. Cullen sent me a prank email stating that today was come as your favorite Spice Girl day and as for the skit we put on earlier, uh…just know that it is a rehearsal for the upcoming company talent show."
She wrinkled her forehead letting me know that she wasn't buying any of it but since this is Angela and not Jessica, she didn't get pissy.
"Look, I don't know what is going on with you and Mr. Cullen. I really don't care. He seems nicer when you are around. I just really need this job. I didn't want to come off maternity leave so soon but when they said the office I would be working in, I couldn't pass up that money," she explained.
"How old is your baby?" I asked.
"Two months. His name is Benjamin…well, Ben is what I call him. I named him after his father…" she begins laughing which turn to a mild sob. "Sorry, I just…you usually name a baby after the father when the father is a decent human being. He left…he…couldn't handle taking care of a baby. I'm sorry, this is probably a lot more information than you needed."
I sat down on her desk, my brand-new slacks paving the way on the wooden desk.
"I'm pretty sure you saw far more of me this morning. Don't worry. We are all about personal feelings on seventy-seven. So…who is watching Ben while you are working since daddy is out of the picture?"
This was the first female that I had girl talked with besides Rosalie and I kind of liked it. Angela was so chill. She was definitely my kind of peeps.
"My mom but she is elderly, so I don't know if it will last long. I just need to make it to my first paycheck and then I can maybe afford to look for a babysitter. It really worries me to leave a two-month-old with my mom this long. I've been video chatting with her on my lunch break just to make sure she is handling everything okay."
I looked around the floor. It was silent beside Angela and I talking. The idea popped up into my head and perhaps I should have run it past Edward first but I didn't.
"Why don't you bring him here?"
Angela looked at me like I had grown an extra boob.
"I mean…I'm not great with kids but it is just the two of us up here. Plus, the file room is right next to your desk, so you could stow him away in there for naps and such."
She bit her lip waiting to answer.
"I don't think Mr. Cullen would want a baby here."
I waved her off.
"You'd be surprised what Mr. Cullen thinks about babies. Just leave him to me. You're right, Mr. Cullen and I have a weird working relationship, so I will handle it. It wasn't right to pull you off your maternity leave so soon. I'm sure the Cullen Conglom…Conglom…geez for crap sake, couldn't come up with a better name? That ass!"
She seemed uncomfortable with my offer.
"I don't know, Bella."
I jumped down from her desk.
"Well, just think about it. Not like he would know if you did bring baby Ben here. He pretty much holds up in his office all day anyway."
And that was the last of that conversation. Of course, that is what I thought. However, the next morning when Angela arrived, she looked pregnant. She began pulling her coat off and there popped out baby Ben strapped to her chest like a bomb. My mouth dropped open and I skipped over to meet the baby.
Now, I am not one for babies…mostly. But that baby was soo cute and soo tiny. He brought a smile to my face and made me nervous all at the same time. I looked around feeling like we were orchestrating a heist.
"I couldn't leave him with my mom again. She forgot to feed him and then complained that he was screaming too much."
I pulled her along towards the file room.
"Wait here! Let me see what Edward has in his office that we can use for a blanket."
I ran off to the office. It was the second time I had been in here without permission. Thankfully, this time I wasn't committing corporate espionage. I ran around in a circle and if he was secretly watching a video of me at that moment at least I provided some entertainment.
Of course, Edward wouldn't think to keep a blanket in his office like a sane billionaire. I went over towards his closet door and inside was three individual three-piece suits. I ran my hand over each one until I found the softest. If baby Ben were to get it dirty, I would just send it out to be cleaned. I pulled down the gray suit and ran back to Angela.
"Here, it was all I could find." I placed the suit on the floor and folded it so that it would create a soft cushion.
"We can send out for something softer later."
Once baby Ben was all set up, Angela and I went back to work as if nothing had changed. The baby was so quiet and good it almost made me think I could handle one of those things. When Edward arrived at eight-thirty, I went into his office to tell him good morning. Mostly, I was checking to see if he was aware of anything going on outside of his door.
"Hey, boss! Getting in a little on the late side. Watch out. We might think you are starting to slack off."
He seemed in good spirits. At least he didn't scowl when he saw me.
"Morning, Bella. I was at a meeting across town this morning. No slacking here," he replied.
I began to laugh a little. "You know one of these days I am going to figure out your calendar. Anywhoo! I best be getting back to the salt mines."
I began to dance my way out of his office, but he cleared his throat loudly.
"Why don't you just tell me what is going on. I know you well enough to know when you're keeping something from me."
I cringed thankful that he couldn't see my face. I changed the face and turned back around.
"Keep something? I just wanted to come in and say good morning. Geesh! But if this is the way you want to treat me for going through the social norms of greeting the boss in the morning then I will be sure to cancel it for tomorrow. No good morning for you!"
I was so flustered that when I turned back around to leave I nearly slammed my face into the hard-wooden door. I straightened myself up and pulled the door open successfully. I was just about to my desk when Edward came out the door to follow me. I looked over to Angela who crept out of sight and went to hide off into the filing room.
"I won't stop pestering you until you tell me."
Now, he wanted to pester me. Thank god, he didn't take on the task a couple of days ago when I was stealing top secret information from off his computer. I cleared my throat and turned back to him.
"Okay…there is something going on. Um…but you gotta promise that you won't go thermal nuclear. Just…let me explain. Keep a cool head and remember that you had the opportunity to fire me and didn't take it so now you have no choice but to live with the consequences of my actions."
He sighed and folded his arms over his chest waiting for me to continue.
"So…I don't know if you knew this but maybe you did and just didn't care because I can see that about you. Anyway, if you did know then maybe you should have thought about it more since after all you want this kind of a future…"
"Bella, stop with the babbling. I know what you're trying to do. You think if you confuse me enough, you will get away with whatever it is that you are getting away with. Just tell me. I have a meeting in a half hour."
"You do? I should really figure out this Outlook," I replied sitting back down in my chair and firing up the program.
"NOW BELLA!"
Okay, he officially lost his shit.
"God! Geez! Okay!" I waved my hands at him in attempts to soften the flames.
"So…Angela had to come off maternity leave prematurely because Jessica left…well, you fired her for reasons still unbeknownst to me…"
He shifted on his feet indicating his loss of patience.
"Um…her mom has a hard time with watching the baby and since she needed to wait until her first paycheck which is next Thursday to afford a babysitter, we kind of had to get creative. But hey, you wanted a baby so now here is your chance to get your feet wet."
He stood there staring at me.
"I think I may be even more confused than I was before."
I sighed and walked around my cube and grabbed him by the arm and pulled him towards Angela's desk.
"He really is a good employee baby. I'm telling you, he hasn't made a peep!"
There was Angela squatting in the corner of the file room with baby Ben fast asleep on Edward's suit coat.
Edward's mouth opened in surprise as he stared at the nativity scene before him.
"Bella, please tell me that isn't my Versace slim fit wool suit."
I cringed.
"Well, now I know why Jessica thought you were gay. I don't know. I am not a designer whore like you are apparently."
He grabbed a hold of my arm and pulled me along all the way back to his office. Not even stopping to close the door. Once inside he let me go.
"She can't keep a baby here. It isn't professional. And using my suit. I…what? I…"
He made a noise that resembled something one would hear in the wild while on safari.
"You're mad at me. That's cool but…come on! She didn't have a place to take the baby and she couldn't afford the childcare. Have a heart!"
He continued to stew all around his desk.
"This isn't about having a heart. I'm not the only CEO who would find taking a baby to work is extremely unprofessional! Why don't you get a brain!"
Okay, now I was pissed.
"I understand that you are upset with my managerial decision but in the event of your reaction being what it is, I spent the morning looking into this and I will have you know that workplaces that offer childcare or assistance for childcare maintain higher employee retention. Which leads to loyal harder working employees which in turns increases your profits. You have the ability to make so many people's lives better by offering small but valuable perks. And when you die, sure you'll be remembered as the billionaire that did great things, but I would much rather be remembered as a good person. It's the only time when good is far better than great."
I walked toward the exit on stage right.
"Don't worry. I am taking an unpaid sick day to go and take care of baby Benjamin and until Angela gets her first paycheck or you pull that massive stick out of your ass, consider this my leave of absence notice, sir!"
I slammed his office door shut and went off to find me a baby.
AN: Thank you for taking the time to read and review.
I have a feeling I am going to get a little heat for this chapter. I hope you will hang in there. Posting early since I had a bad day. Hoping your reviews perk me up in the morning and will leave me with a better day tomorrow.
See you soon!
DISCLAIMER: STORY IS MINE. CHARACTERS BELONG TO STEPHENIE MEYER
