I ran out of ideas here. It's only 6 pages in MS Word. I'm not used to writing that little.

I have ideas for a new story maybe, or a songfic collection. But I will finish this first.

Enjoy! :)

-MW-

Chapter 9

"I'm In Love With a Girl – Gavin DeGraw"

"Flightless Bird, American Mouth – Iron & Wine"

"Myspace Girl – The Afters"

AT THE NEXT-NEXT-NEXT MONTHLY MEETING. (So this is December, people.)

Edward POV

How was I going to go about this?

I knew liked Bella, a lot. And all the time we've been spending together has been great but they weren't exactly… dates.

I keep trying to ask her out but she's always beating me to the punch line.

-FLASHBACK-

I was walking into the diner near Swan Corp. for some of their apple pie – I love that thing, it's so good – when I ran into her at the entrance – literally.

"I'm so sorry!" we both said at the same time.

As soon as I saw that it was her, I suddenly smiled. She smiled back at me.

"Edward, what a surprise! I didn't expect to see you here!"

"Yeah," I ran a hand through my hair, "me either." I lied.

I was so expecting her. I had this plan to stay here all day if I had to.

Geez, stalker much?

Okay, enough with the inner-self talking. Ask her to dinner or something!

"Do you wanna get something to eat?" she asked me.

"Um, sure. Ladies first?" I gestured to the diner.

"Thank you," she said, smiling at me.

Nice. That was real smooth, Edward.

I followed her to a private booth that was next to the front window of the diner.

"Favorite spot?" I asked her.

"You could say that," she smiled again, "I came here after my very first meeting with the board."

I made a face at her.

"First board meeting..." I said knowingly, "I can still remember mine."

"I'm sure it wasn't half as bad as mine."

"Hey, Bella! And Bella's…" she trailed off when she saw me.

"Edward." I answered for her.

She laughed a little and I suddenly realized how that must have sounded.

"My name is Angela, and I'll be your waitress for today. What can I get for you guys?"

"Apple pie." We said at the same time again.

I looked at her and she looked at me, we both had humor in our eyes.

"So cute," Angela said quietly, "Anything else?"

"Just water." Bella said.

"For me as well."

"Alright, two apple pies and two waters coming right up!" she said as she left to place our orders.

"So you like apple pie?" she asked me.

"Only the one they serve here. It's the best one in New York, and I can vouch for that."

"I believe you," she said, smiling, "Rose told me to try it sometime. So, here I am."

It got silent at our table, so I started a conversation because I wanted to avoid any awkward moments between us.

"Cindy Lauper," I said.

She looked at me like I had an extra head growing out of my neck.

"What?"

"You said your first board meeting couldn't have been half as bad as mine. My answer to that is Cindy Lauper." I said with slight embarrassment, "Alice was very excited for me that day. Saying something like, I finally got to play with the big boys."

She laughed.

I wanted to hear it again.

"Then in the middle of the meeting, my phone went off. Cindy Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun was Alice's ringtone back then."

She was still laughing.

And I felt good, knowing that it was because of me.

"Here are your apple pies," Angela put down our plates in front of us, "and your waters."

"Thanks, Ang."

"Thank you."

"No problem. Just call me over if you need anything else." Then she left to serve another table that was a few feet away from us.

We ate in silence for a few seconds before she put her fork down and her hands on her lap. She sat up straight and took a glance out the window before she spoke.

"Inexperienced."

This time it was my turn to look at her like she had two heads.

She just smiled at me and I immediately understood.

How could a bunch of old men look down on her? She was perfect for the job!

"I was a nervous wreck," she admitted, blushing, "I tried to keep calm when I got there."

"What happened?" I asked her.

She bit her lip before answering.

"The moment I walked in there, everything went silent. They were all watching my every move like a hawk. And then when the actual meeting started, I voiced out my opinions every now and then – trying to not seem overpowering but at the same time, letting them know that I should be heard."

I nodded. She sounded fine to me, what was she talking about 'inexperience'?

"And then it started… All the questions, mostly from Newton."

I nodded. Mike Newton was one of the board members, and I think one of her dad's good friends.

"I suppose it was like some kind of test to him, to see if I actually was worthy for this position and everything that came with it."

I found myself listening to her intently as she was looking down at her plate while she talked.

"He kept throwing me these questions about business, and the company, and these situations that could happen and asked what I would do. I knew all the answers and I was totally prepared for it. But they kept getting stuck in my throat. The others never gave me time to answer anything. They said that thinking fast was one of the most important skills I would ever need to run the business. I was just really intimidated by all of them."

She didn't cry, but she looked really sad. This made everything around me seem darker. Somehow, her moods always affected everything around and about me.

Suddenly she smiled – a real smile – and the moment she did, everything became bright again.

"But you're stronger now." I made it sound like an observation.

I guess she caught on my tone because she replied with a soft 'thank you' and blushed again.

"So, was Alice's ringtone really Cindy Lauper?"

I laughed and we got into a conversation about Alice and her odd choice for a ringtone.

-END FLASHBACK-

I did three quick knocks on her door and this time, I waited patiently for her to answer instead of going at a repeat of last time.

I smirked to myself. I had to admit, that was a little funny.

The door opened to a smiling Bella – her face bruise-free.

"Edward! You're right on time! Please, come in." she motioned for me to come in with her hand.

I walked in to find Rosalie Hale sitting on one of the chairs in front of Bella's desk, looking like she had just cried.

"Edward! I see you're here for the monthly meeting again." She said, smiling at me.

I could see why Emmett loved her so much. First of all, she's his type – physically and emotionally. And they could handle each other's strong personalities.

Second, Bella said that Rosalie always took care of her ever since they were kids, looking out for each other and all. I was forever grateful to her for that.

And lastly, Emmett was a sucker for blondes.

"Hello, Rosalie. Yeah, I am…" I said, suspiciously. But what was she doing in here in the first place?

I turned to Bella, hoping to find some kind of answer. But she was looking past me, staring off into the distance, with the corners of her mouth tugged downwards.

"Well, I suppose I'll leave you two now. Bella, call me." She said, shutting the door behind her.

Bella walked from her position at the door towards one of the chairs in front of her desk and motioned for me to sit in the one across from her.

"'Call me'?" I said, smirking, "What, did she ask you out on a date or something? Finally getting rid of Emmett, huh? Can't say I blame her." I joked.

She said nothing. She just smiled weakly at me and said,

"Let's get started."

We were done discussing the important details now, and her earlier mood's been consistent. She looked so down, and I really wanted her to not be. Everything was going fine with both our companies and there was nothing to worry about. So why was she still so gloomy?

"Bella," she was fixing some books on her massive bookshelf, most of which looked like classics, "What did Rosalie say to you earlier?"

She stopped, her hands in mid-air, just about to put back one of the thicker books.

She sighed and turned to me, the book still in her hands. She walked over to me and put the book on her desk, then folded her arms across her chest and smiled.

"Would you like to go to the Charity Ball with me, Edward?"

"Yes," I immediately answered. I doubted that that was why she looked so upset.

"Bella, what's going on?"

"Edward, I'm leaving."

My heart dropped.

"…on a business trip?" I asked, hoping she would say yes.

She sighed again and sat down in front of me, crossing her legs.

"Something like that."

This confused me even more.

"I don't understand." I took her hands in mine and looked her in the eyes, "Bella, what are you talking about?"

She started to tear up and sob a little.

I pulled her up with me and hugged her as tightly as I could without hurting her.

"Shh… Bella… Shh… It's okay… Don't cry, please?"

I couldn't stand to see her like this, and it didn't help at all that I knew nothing of what was going on.

She pulled away from me a little and wiped her eyes before she looked at me.

"They're asking me to move to Italy."

*GASP* DUN DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!!!!

hehehe :D

R&R! :)

-MW-