The Firm
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Chapter 8
BELLA
I was too giddy to sleep. I lay in bed thinking about what I had witnessed in my office and almost squeed out loud several times. Edward had been asleep on my couch and I wondered what he was doing there. I wondered for a moment if he had been waiting for me, wanting to talk to me or see me, and this time I did squee out loud. Yeah, like that would even be likely. No, I had to resign myself to the fact that he had just fallen asleep, the where he'd fallen asleep part probably wasn't important. I knew I should have just been happy he was back and I could admire him up close but from afar again. I tossed and turned for what seemed like hours before finally dropping off some time after three o'clock in the morning.
Death warmed up, that was the only way I could describe how I felt the next morning. My head ached and my throat burned like a furnace. Shit, I was coming down with something, that or the really late night had taken its toll on me. I had been burning the candle at both ends, as Edward had phrased it, what with reading his papers as well as my own and preparing the court documents. I needed to calm the fuck down and rest up properly. Now that he was back, I could do just that. My load would be lighter, too. The success of the case yesterday meant I had one less thing to worry about. Yeah, things would start to quieten down as my workload lessened, then I could concentrate on me.
EDWARD
It was still dark when I woke up. I knew I was not in my bed because I was still dressed. It took me a further minute or two before I realised I was still in Bella's office and racked out on her futon. Shit, I was still in my D&G suit for Christ sakes. Sitting upright, I groaned, confused by how a blanket had gotten placed over me and a pillow underneath my head. Jessica must have found me and taken pity on me. That thought embarrassed me thoroughly.
A quick glance to my watch told me it was nearly three o'clock in the morning. I needed to go home. I ordered a taxi and then put Bella's bedding back in the cabinet before I made my way back to my own office bathroom where I splashed water on my face, trying and failing to make myself feel alive. My suit was a mess, crumpled to fuck. Shit, it was one of my favourites, too. It would have to go to the cleaners to see if they could resurrect it before I decided if I needed to send it to the charity shop.
Once I made it home, I collapsed into bed, not even bothering to shower. I would have one in the morning, but right now I needed rest more. Exhausted, I succumbed to sleep almost immediately.
My alarm woke me four hours later and I felt a little more like myself. A long hot shower followed by a couple of minutes under a cold blast had me raring to go. I wanted to get to the office and see Bella before anyone else arrived.
Her lights were on, so she was already here. I dropped my briefcase off in my office and logged on to my laptop before I made my way across to the office opposite. Her door was slightly ajar so I pushed it open a little more…
BELLA
My aching head and sore throat did not deter me from being the first to arrive again. I was relieved to see that Edward was not still on my couch. The bedding I had tucked him in with was back in the cabinet and the material was cold. It meant he had been gone for a while.
Without thinking, I reached for the pillow in the cabinet and held it close to my face. It smelled like him and subconsciously I took in a deep pull of Edward's scent. Mmm, he smelled divine. I could almost imagine he was standing right here with me.
Someone clearing their throat behind me had me cramming the pillow roughly back into its place and spinning round. Shit, Edward was stood in the doorway in his famous lean-on-my-doorjamb pose. A now familiar throb started in my nether regions and suddenly my panties felt slightly damp as I gulped down the rise of a panic attack. I didn't want to faint or crumple into a puddle at his feet. No, that would not have been attractive, at all.
"Edward, you're back. Good to see you," I stuttered, trying and failing to sound composed.
"Bella, has that pillow done something wrong to you?" he asked with a cheeky smirk on his lovely face.
"What? Oh, no, just putting it back in its rightful place, that's all."
"Looked from here like you were devouring it," he added moving into the room and closing the door behind him.
"No, I…I…" I didn't get the chance to continue.
"Never mind, Bella. So, I heard good things about your case. Seth has sent me countless emails singing your praises. You've made quite an impression there. Congratulations on the win by the way. You did very well. And I'd also like to say thank you for taking some of my load off me while I was away. I'll return the favour if you ever need me to. So, did I miss anything interesting while I was away, apart from your case being bumped?"
"Um, thanks. Seth's great, thanks for introducing us. I think I've made a friend for life. We get on really great together. As far as office doings, I've been too busy to tell you what all has happened around here. I'm afraid I'm a bit of an ostrich when I'm busy, sorry. You should try Jess or Emmett, those two are the ones who see and hear everything round here."
I sat down at my desk and looked up just as Edward was taking a seat opposite. Shit, he needed to stop doing that to me.
"Bella, have you noticed anything odd between Jessica and Mike?"
"Odd? What do you mean?" I wondered what he was asking.
"Well, I may be wrong here, but for a while, I've just had the feeling that those two have become more than colleagues. I wondered if you'd noticed anything."
"Not really, no. I mean I did wonder the same thing that first day, but it was just how they were with each other at the meeting, nothing else. I haven't seen anything since. Anyway, there's the no-fraternization policy in place so I assume they'd know it would be prohibited."
"I agree, but sometimes things like rules and regulations are broken. I'll keep my eyes open, see if I spot anything. So, do you have anything else to tell me?"
"No, I don't think so…" Only that I thought about him every night in bed and I wanted to run my fingers through his hair again and maybe lick him all over for good measure. I added those things in my head, or at least I hoped I did not say any of that out loud. A really deep blush rose up from my toes. Shit, he was squirming in his seat and now he looked all embarrassed.
"Okay, then I'll leave you to get on with it. I'd like to talk to you about Paris at some point, if you're still interested that is. Have a good day, Bella, you know where I am if you need anything. I'm in the office all day today." He got up and quickly made his way out, closing the door quietly behind him.
My quiet response of okay hung in the air and I did not know if he'd even heard me. I pondered his words; Jasper had told me about his conversation with Edward about Paris and I had gotten the impression the idea had been shelved. Huh, maybe not.
A strong black coffee brought my senses back to the job at hand, reading depositions. My headache had mostly gone, but my throat still felt like the bottom of a birdcage. I decided to take a walk to the chemist during my break.
The rest of the morning went by without incident. Mike popped in and congratulated me on winning in court yesterday and asked if I knew that Edward was back. I nodded, really wanting to get on with my work. He took the hint and left, closing the door once again.
Throat lozenges were a miracle cure as far as I was concerned. My throat felt a hundred times easier than it had this morning and when I shouted a loud and clear, "Come in," to the most recent knock on my office door, I knew I was on the mend.
"Bella, these just arrived for you," Jessica said handing over a large glass vase full of cream-coloured lilies. I gasped at the beautiful flowers in front of me.
"For me?"
"That's what the courier said; Isabella Swan. There's a card popped in the top, look," she nodded towards a small gold envelope.
"Thanks, Jess," I said dismissing her.
I waited until the door was firmly closed before opening the small card. A picture of Betty Boop brightly blushing was on the front, and she looked all sheepish. I knew immediately who they were from.
EDWARD
The sight that greeted me as I stood in Bella's doorway made me catch my breath. She was holding the pillow that I had slept on close to her face and appeared to be breathing it in. What the fuck? The sight went straight to my dick. Did that mean she was breathing me in? No, she couldn't have been doing that. She didn't even know I was here, never mind that I had slept in her office on her couch with that very pillow, did she?
I cleared my throat, not wanting to prolong my own agony. She was beautiful if a little pale today. I wondered if she was okay. We bantered a while and I was glad to see that she did not react to the mention of Seth in any other way than platonically. Thank God. The way his emails had read, I'd gotten the impression it was love at first sight, may for him at least, but not for Bella. I would deal with Seth's crush later, that fucker had the sharp edge of my tongue coming at him for his comments on Bella's "kryptonite" blush.
Making my way back to my office, I realised that I had just left her blushing once again, and once again, my hasty retreat was so that she remained none the wiser about my uncontrollable erections in her presence.
She walked past my open office door at lunchtime and I heard her tell Jessica she was just popping to the local chemist. I was right, she had been pale earlier. I hoped she was okay. A short while later, her lovely fresh fragrance wafted through my open door, letting me know she was back and I immediately felt calmer. Ridiculous, really, for a grown man to be so...so, whatever the fuck I was.
My door remained open for the rest of the day. I saw that fucker, Newton, pop in to see her. She must have sent him away with a flea in his ear. He wasn't even in there a minute. A wry smile crossed my face; she was good, I'd give her that. When Jessica passed by holding what looked like a display of lilies, I got up from my desk and stood hidden behind my open door. Bella's reaction appeared genuinely stunned, but she seemed pleased to have received such beautiful flowers. Jessica telling Bella about the card attached to them heightened my interest even more. She did not know who they were from. I wondered about that. Note to self, she liked flowers. I argued with myself why it mattered. I was really starting to grate on my own nerves now. I needed to grow the fuck up.
I waited as long as I could stand it before I found myself walking out to Jessica's desk, casually asking who the flowers were for.
"They were for Bella, lucky thing. No one sends me flowers like that, ever," she grumbled.
"So, who were they from?" I asked trying and failing to sound casual.
"I don't know, Edward. She kicked me out of the office before she opened the card. Anyway, why are you so interested?" She was looking at me curiously now, as if she were trying to solve the world's biggest mystery. "Now that I think about it, you were so grumpy on Monday when Bella wasn't at the meeting, too…" She paused for a moment before a look of understanding passed over her face and I inwardly cringed. "Oh! Edward, are the flowers from you?" she asked with a suspiciously raised brow. Shit, time to start back-peddling.
"Don't be silly, Jessica. Why would I send Bella flowers? And I wasn't grumpy at the meeting; I was just surprised that our newest associate wasn't there. I now know why and it's all good." I hoped that would appease her and throw her off the trail. I would have to be more careful with that one. "So, I need to apologise to you about before, you know, before I left for Paris. Sorry I haven't said it sooner. I'm a bastard, I know, you don't need to tell me."
"I'd forgotten about that, Edward. Hmm, maybe you could buy me some flowers and I'll think about forgiving you," she added with a wink.
As I walked away towards my office, I threw back at her over my shoulder, "Don't push your luck, Stanley." Her tongue popped out at me and I bit back a barking laugh.
Bella's door opened and she emerged, probably to see what the noise was just as I was level with her. She took in my laughing face and smiled shyly.
"Is everything okay out here? It's usually so quiet up here," she added looking down at her fuck-me black heels and blushing. Damn it, I was hard again.
"Sorry if we disturbed you, Bella, we were just being a couple of old birds gossiping a bit." Jessica was trying to be funny, but failed miserably. I couldn't help laughing. Jessica shouted from her desk, "Oh, Bella, Mr. Cullen here is mighty interested in who your flowers are from. He's handing apologies out, too, so if you're due any, now is your time to collect."
Bella looked from me to Jessica and back, her tiny mouth half open, poised to say something.
"Ignore her, she's pissed off that no one buys her flowers. She asked me to, but I shot her down in flames. Come on; let's go into your office." I took her elbow before I could think about what I was doing, trying to ignore the electric shocks shooting through my body and closed the door behind us.
"Sorry about that," I said looking at my hand once again, "but once Jess starts, she'll go all day if you don't remove yourself from the situation. Now about those flowers, they look lovely by the way."
"They're from Seth, a thank you of sorts I guess."
Clearwater…I should have guessed. "Seth sent you flowers?"
"Yes, is there something wrong with that?"
"Well, no, I guess I'm just surprised; he hardly comes across as the hearts-and-flowers type of guy now does he. I mean he must be seven feet tall and wide."
"Edward, stop exaggerating, and I didn't realise you had to be a particular 'sort of guy' to send someone flowers. Do you think it makes him less of a man?" she sounded pissed. "Or maybe it's just me."
"What? No, I never said that. I just guess I don't know him as well as I thought I did. That was all."
"Was there something else you wanted, Edward, or can I get on now?" she dismissed me coldly, really pissed now.
Back in my office, I felt like an idiot. Not only had Jess and I disturbed Bella's work, but then I had insulted her. If she didn't hate me already, she was sure to after today.
I decided I needed to speak to Seth and see what he was playing at.
From: EdwardAMCullenatCullenHale&McCarty
To: SethClearwateratQuileuteLaw
We need to talk! Whenever you have a free hour or so. Soon.
Edward
Within five minutes, my mobile phone rang. It was Seth.
"So, when can we meet?" I asked not bothering with the pleasantries.
"Well, hello to you, too, Edward. What, no thank you for your help while I was living it up in Paris, Seth? Great job you did on Bella's case, Seth? Grumpy bastard. You want to meet during the day or at night?"
"Either, just soon, and I am grateful for your help with the case, you know that already. So how's your diary looking?"
"It's empty right now, tonight, and tomorrow after two o'clock. Whenever suits you, really."
"Okay, tomorrow at three o'clock, my place. Bring some beer, I'll supply the food."
"Will Jazz and Emmett be there?"
"No, they won't, it'll be just us two."
"Okay, see you then, and say hello to my beautiful Bella for me." He hung up before I could growl at him.
Fucker, I could tell he was damned well toying with me…
So he's back and it looks like his crush is still going strong.
Updating schedule, I will continue to update twice a week until I have uploaded all the chapters already completed. After that, it's more likely to be once a week, but I'll do twice if I'm able. And of course the more reviews I get, the faster I write. So get to it...
Thanks to Dil9 for her Rec, check her stories out, they're great, too.
