Hello...I'm back again with another update (not that this story has too much of a fan following anyway)...I'm just trying to bring it in sync with my other story "The Office" which is Bella's POV to this story. Anyway - thanks for the lone review I got for the previous chapter and also thanks to Crazykate28 who stuck with me throughout the story (she's my brilliant BETA)
I could barely sleep that night…I kept tossing and turning and finally, at around 5 in the morning, I decided to get up. Having given up my fight trying to sleep, I decided to call for hot chocolate, nothing like a cup of good old hot chocolate to calm one's nerves. When the room service guy brought up my hot chocolate, I noticed the light in Bella's room was switched on. I could see the glow from the crack between the door and the floor where a small sliver of light filtered out.
I quickly put on my nightshirt, washed my face and brushed my teeth. Deciding to go to Bella's room; my hot chocolate conveniently forgotten; what was she doing up this late?
When she opened the door, I was slightly taken aback. Bella was dressed in a black satin nightdress, with a gown draped over it. It ended just below her knees. It wasn't revealing in the least, but the material clung to her body, outlining every plane, every curve of her body. She was exquisite.
"I couldn't sleep. So I ordered some hot chocolate. I noticed the light on in your room when I opened the door to pick up my order, so I figured you couldn't sleep either. And I honestly could do with some company right now…" I said, trailing off slightly, noticing my voice sounded raspy. I saw that she had her laptop on the table.
"So you've read Carlisle's email?" I asked her. She just nodded. "You don't say much, do you?" I teased.
"I talk when I'm given the chance." She shot back at me.
"Indeed… Anyway, I presume you aren't able to go back to sleep either. So, what do you say we go for breakfast and try and get some work done before we head to the office? That way we can make sure we're prepared? Sound like an okay plan to you?" I asked her, already worried about the small amount of time at hand.
"Sounds like a plan to me, if I didn't know any better, I would think you are a workaholic." She replied back. "Well I suppose I will just get myself ready then." And with that she walked towards her bathroom, and I walked back to my room to change.
It took me a while to decide what I wanted to wear. I eventually decided on a light green shirt, olive green tie and black trousers with a black blazer. I met her at the breakfast table to find that she was wearing the pink and white shirt and the blue blazer I had picked for her. Internally I was doing my happy dance. The blue of the blazer looked amazing against her skin, making seem to glow in the early light of the morning.
During breakfast, I kept picking at the fruit on her plate. She let me at first, but then got angry. "Get your own if you like it. I don't like people eating from my plate," she snapped.
"Oh I'm sorry." I said, a bit sarcastically.
After breakfast, we went into Bella's room and I briefed her on the work allocation for the day.
She seemed apprehensive. "I doubt we'll be able to finish all this in a day. This is to be a proper full-fledged investigation," she said.
"Yes…that is true, but I'm hoping to finish it by tomorrow," I replied.
She still did not look convinced at all. I didn't know what to do. So I just gave a light squeeze to her shoulder. "Relax Bella; we'll manage to do it, just as long as we stay together."
The car came to pick us up at 8 AM and Tanya Denali was waiting for us inside. Once inside the car, I made Bella sit next to her. I wanted to keep my distance from Tanya this time around.
"I live close by. So I decided to come and pick you up," she said.
Now haven't I heard that before? Cue eye roll.
We reached the office at around 9:00 while the rest of the staff came pouring in from 9:30 onwards.
Bella really took a fancy to the accounting personnel – Aro, but I'm pretty sure it was his accent that she found alluring.
The records at the branch were a mess, I was pretty sure that Tanya would have to be let go after this.
The entire day, Bella looked at all the payments made. She did voice her apprehension over Tanya approving all the payments, some of which were highly unnecessary. I shared her opinion; I wasn't too happy with the investments made by the branch on my end either.
After dinner that night, we opted to go to my room to continue on with our work. Both of us had changed into our nightwear. Bella wore normal sweat pants and a baggy t shirt. But she looked beautiful nonetheless. We worked together till about four in the morning…her presence made it difficult for me to concentrate. So I had to keep changing my place. Her scent alone was a distraction.
After a while of working, Bella, who was sitting opposite me, sighed. I looked up at her when she spoke. "Edward, I really don't think I'll be able to cope with the deadlines you've set up."
She looked so overwhelmed; I cupped her face into my hands. "We're in this together Bella. We'll manage together. What are you so worried about?" She just shrugged and went back to work.
By the time we finished, I was so tired; I could barely keep my eyes open. So I simply just hit the bed and was asleep the moment I shut my eyes.
The next morning was hell. I was so tired. With barely just 3 hours of sleep, I couldn't think of anything but my bed. I settled for extra strong coffee though. Tanya came to pick us up at 8:00 sharp and this time, she was talking to herself. Neither Bella, nor I even bothered to say anything in return.
We worked in a similar fashion the entire week. Tanya would pick us up at 8 in the morning, we would investigate the accounts at work and then, at night, we would sit in a room together, and document our observations. We were constantly in touch with Carlisle. Tanya's career seemed to be coming to a close at Cullen Enterprises.
I could feel Bella warming up to me over the week. There was a noticeable difference in the way she spoke to me, and she didn't flinch away from my touch anymore. By Friday evening, we had actually met the deadlines for the week. I had faith in Bella's efficiency, and she simply proved me right. Just like I knew she would.
I had a complete day planned out for Saturday. I had planned on going to Naples during the day, and then doing the Illuminated Rome tour, which included the Coliseum and Piazza Barberini. It was supposed to be very romantic.
So by 10 in the morning on Saturday, I was dressed and geared up for the weekend. I knocked on Bella's door, only to find that she was still in bed.
"Rise and Shine, sleeping beauty." I smiled at her. "We have a lot of places to visit today."
I could see the conflict on Bella's face…go back to sleep after such a hectic week, or visit the beautiful architectural delights of the city.
"Ok…Ummm. Gimme 10 minutes," she said, barely able to stifle a yawn. I decided to give her some space, and I went back to my own room, and switched on MTV. The songs were decent enough. So letting that play in the background, I checked my email. I hadn't received anything important since yesterday. Later, I changed the channel to watch some news. Bella knocked my door after a while and we went for breakfast together.
"So…what's the plan today?" Bella asked me during breakfast.
"I was thinking we could take a train and go to Naples, come back in the evening and do the Illuminated Rome tour," I said, not meeting her eye. I didn't know what she would make of the plan.
But her only reaction was to say, "You want to go to Naples and come back in a day?"
"It's only a one hour train ride Bella." I replied looking up and smirking at her.
"Ok then, whatever you say. But tomorrow is mine and I get to do what I want, and you've got to tag along, no questions asked." She shrugged and glared at me, pointing her butter knife in my direction.
"I'd struggle a guess that you want to go shopping." I smiled at her.
She just rolled her eyes and sarcastically muttered, "Damn it," under her breath.
Naples was as beautiful as the books had described it. We had a fulfilling day there. I was especially awed by the Villa Communale. That evening, we had coffee in a small café and then went to get a train to Rome. While waiting at the railway station, Bella, who was seated next to me, leaned back and closed her eyes.
"Bella, we still have the illuminated Rome tour." I reminded her, nudging her slightly.
"Yeah, I know. I was just resting my eyes." She said, as she opened her eyes and smirked at me.
The Illuminated Rome tour was everything I expected it to be. I was very satisfied with the mood it had set. After the tour, we had dinner at a bistro next to Piazza Barberini. Bella was very tired by the end of the day. She tripped on her own feet…twice!
"I think perhaps we'll have a late start tomorrow." She told me as she tried to stay awake.
Sunday morning, I decided to let Bella sleep as much as she wanted. But I was hungry. So I went to the dining room to have breakfast alone, at around 10 in the morning.
Just as I entered, I spotted a blonde girl sitting at one of the tables, facing the entrance to the dining room. She looked remarkably familiar. As I walked closer, I realised it was Lauren. The woman who had almost destroyed my life and was the reason I left my previous job. She was the secretary of the managing director of the company I worked in earlier. The woman who accused me of sexual harassment.
And she had the audacity to wave out at me when she saw me. I pretended not to notice and proceeded to go get myself some fruit juice.
She got up and walked towards me. She was wearing the shortest skirt I had ever seen.
"Well hello Edward," she said, "now this is a pleasant surprise."
"Hello." I replied curtly, trying to walk away from here.
"I'm here on my honeymoon, you know," she said. I raised an eyebrow.
"Well, congratulations then." I replied.
Just then, I saw Bella enter the dining room. I waved out to her, and left Lauren speaking to herself.
We sat on an empty table. Just as I took a bite into my toast Bella looked up and said, "So who was that girl?"
"Oh, that's Lauren. I was just asking her about the shopping places around." I lied quickly.
Bella simply rolled her eyes. "You know, I don't really intend to shop all that much. I just wanted to visit the local sites, you know stroll around at a more leisurely pace. I wanted to go inside the Colosseum and stuff," she stated, with a hint of arrogance in her tone.
Wow, this girl surprised me every day. "Well, if that's what you want." I replied.
We went to the Colloseum first. It was a beautiful, breathtaking place. Next, we went to Vatican City. The architecture of the place was awe inspiring.
We spent the remainder of the day roaming around on foot and shopping. Both of us bought various knick knacks for our friends back home.
We stopped by a little restaurant for dinner.
"I had an amazing day today Edward," Bella said as we had our dessert.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," I replied, shyly.
After dinner, we walked back to our hotel and I dropped her to her room, as usual, before retiring to my own. That night was one of the few when I slept peacefully.
The next week wasn't as hectic, having done most our work the week before. I was constantly reporting to Carlisle and we had concluded that Tanya had tried to cheat Cullen Enterprises to earn a kickback from all the suppliers. Tanya was to be fired after this investigation concluded.
On Friday, we met Tanya in her office. "Hello Edward, Isabella. I hope you found this trip fruitful," Tanya smiled brightly as we entered.
"We sure did Tanya. So, I will just get right to it. Here are our findings," I replied as I retrieved a booklet of our findings from my folder.
The next couple of hours were spent arguing with Tanya. At the end of it, Tanya was fired and Aro was temporarily given responsibility of the affairs of the branch, till Esme found a suitable replacement. I was pretty sure Aro would be given the post permanently.
We left office at around 2 in the afternoon and just wandered around the city on foot, still in our office clothes.
Later, we went back to the hotel to pack up and change. We met each other in the lobby after a couple of hours and walked to the restaurant. I held Bella's hand as we strolled at a leisurely pace. I was surprised she didn't flinch or pulled her hand away.
As we sat in the restaurant I had something I had to say to Bella. "I need to tell you something." But just then, our food arrived and we ate in silence.
During the dessert, Bella suddenly looked up and said, "So what did you want to tell me?"
I sighed, took her hands in my hand and stroked her knuckles, ready to confess all. "Please don't be angry…but I've followed you once. That time you went to Charlie's house and I met you at the store? I don't live there. I just wanted to know more about you. So I followed you. It seems like a completely ridiculous thing now, but I didn't know what had gotten into me. Also, the day before that, I had come by at your house at night, but didn't have the courage to come and knock on your door. So I just stayed outside in my car. I know this is almost criminal, but I really don't know why I did it…all I know is that I love you," I said, rushing through my words.
Bella pulled her hands out of mine and stared at me for a moment before she jumped up from her chair and rushed outside. This really didn't turn out the way I had hoped it would. I threw some money on our table and rushed behind Bella, who was running back towards the hotel. I finally caught up with her near the Trevi fountain. I grabbed her arm and spun her around as I crushed my lips to hers. She stood still for a moment before she started responding to the kiss. Her arms went around my neck and her fingers tangled with my hair. I had to break away to gasp for air.
"I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have done that," I gasped as I brought my lips to hers again.
She broke away this time, "Yes. You really shouldn't have. What were you thinking Masen?"
Coyly, I brushed some strands of her hair aside, "I wasn't. But I love you and that's all I care about." There…I had said it. No going back now. I bent her down and kissed her, slowly and deeply this time. She responded and soon, our tongues were performing an erotic dance. This was the best day of my life.
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