Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, Edward, or Bella, but I do own The Posh (any resemblance to real establishments is purely coincidental). lol, if any of you ever decide to open a store or a restaurant, don't ask me to name it!

Chapter 10

Edward was waiting with a question for me when I arrived to our breakfast date on Friday.

"Are you busy tonight?" he asked, looking at me expectably.

"No," I told him. Was he really gonna ask me out? Company runners didn't usually date their assistants, did they? If I wasn't investigating him, I'd report him. I'm not sure to who, but to someone.

"You see, I have to go to dinner at The Posh tonight. It should be a little boring, but the food is really good. So… Can you come?" he asked.

"Um, I really appreciate the offer, but I think I'm going to have to pass," I told him. Seriously, just look at what the place was called! I'd probably have to use my entire life savings to pay for the entrée.

"Oh, okay…" he said sounding disappointed. I thought he'd given up, but then he said, "Is it rude if I ask you why?"

Pfft, yeah, it's very rude. "No, that's alright. Look, Edward, I really like working for you, and I'd like my work to speak for itself."

He seemed confused for a moment, then his eyes widened. "Ah, no, I didn't mean it like that!" he replied, waving his hands frantically. "That came out wrong, didn't it? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. It's just that I have to wrap up this important contract - the Hemingway one, you know? - and Emmett can't make it tonight, so I could use the moral support… But forget it, it was presumptuous of me to think that—"

He was babbling. "It's okay, it's okay," I said.

"I'm babbling, aren't I?" I slowly nodded my head after a moment. "I'll shut up now. But I want you to know that having dinner wouldn't have any weird connotations. I wouldn't do that to you, not after your last job and all that…"

"What?" Oh! My fake story, of course! "Ah, er, yeah. That. It's okay, that doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters, Bella! That must've been a traumatizing experience for you. I would never put you through something like that-"

"Edward," God, the dude spoke more than my old college friend Jessica when he was flustered. It was really weird of me, but I found it kind of endearing. "It's alright. I got it already. I understand, you didn't mean it like that." After a small pause, I said, "And I'll come tonight."

"Really?" I nodded. "Great! Meet me at the 24th and 6th around 10 o'clock. I'll be waiting."

"Okay… So how come this dinner meeting didn't run through me?" I asked. I arranged all of his meetings, but this was the first I'd heard of one with Hemingway. He and his company were really big at the moment, and him doing business with MD was a big deal. Hell, I would be nervous - no wonder Edward was, too.

"Since it's an older project, they only had Carmen's number," he said. "I'll introduce you tonight, though, and we'll run everything through you from now on."

Hm… That meant he hadn't transferred all ongoing projects to me yet. So there was a possibility that the Twilight Wetlands project was in development, but just not coming through me. That wasn't good. I had to get my hands on all of the projects, even if that increased my workload. In the long run, it would wrap things earlier and then I could return to my real job in the newspaper. I just wasn't cut to work for a selfish rich kid.

"You should transfer all the contracts to me," I said, then added, "Carmen already has too much to do."

"You already have too much to do," he retorted. "I sometimes feel like I don't have any free time, but then I remember everything you guys do and then I can't complain. I don't want you to overwork yourself."

I snorted. "Look who's talking - you're the biggest workaholic I know."

"Am not," Edward protested.

I raised an eyebrow. "You sleep in your office. I've never seen you go home, to tell the truth."

"Well, it's not like there's anything waiting for me there," he said. "It's just more convenient if I stay at the office. And I do go home. I have a cat to feed, you know."

"Poor thing, having his owner love his work more than him," I snickered, smiling, picture a prim persian cat.

"Ha, Arthur hates me! I think he's glad I'm out of his sight most of the time," he laughed.

"Aw, come on, cats hate everyone. I don't think it's anything personal," I said.

"No, it's just me, I'm telling you. Here, take a look," he folded the sleeves of his light blue dress shirt back, exposing his pale forearms… and I couldn't help but notice how toned they were. And then I saw what he meant.

His arms were covered in scratches, some old and some looking quite recent. I laughed. "What'd you do with it? Throw it in a tub?"

"No, he just does it whenever I'm within his reach! That cat is evil, I'm telling you," he said, shaking his head with a grin. I got the feeling that while the cat might really hate Edward, the feeling wasn't mutual. What a masochist.

"Cute," I remarked. He half grinned in response.

As soon as we parted ways at the office, I dialed Jasper's number to tell him about the recent developments.

"Guess who's invited to The Posh tonight?" I said as a greeting in the phone.

"Ah, lemme see… Me. No, wait, you're the one who has a rich mama's boy wanting to get in your pants, so… You," Jasper mocked.

"Yes," I laughed, "But according to Edward, it's meant to be about moral support, not future sex."

"Ha, and you believed that?" he snickered.

"Well, yeah, kind of. The man's almost asexual. Mind you, he hasn't made any moves on me yet, can you believe it?"

"Maybe he's gay. With his pretty boy looks, I wouldn't doubt it."

"Now that you mention it, he does kind of come off as that sometimes. He's way too nice to be straight," I laughed. "That'd be a shame, though."

"Nice, hm? Don't tell me you're letting him get under your skin," my partner teased.

"Pfft, shut up, Whitlock. It's just an impartial statement of fact. You know, I think I should introduce him to you. You could learn a thing or two about being a gentleman, you man whore," I said.

"You're one to talk, eh? How's that blonde dude you were dry-humping this weekend? What was his name again?"

"I don't know," I told him, fully aware of how slutty that made me sound. Well, who cares, I'm young and just want to have fun. Knowing the name of the guy I slept with doesn't make him any less of a stranger to me. "How's Lottie, by the way?"

"Sending me a text message right as we speak. I kind of regret giving her my number now. You were right, she is hard to get rid of. It's funny how you have any eye for those types," he said.

"Years of practice, my friend," I said. "But let's get back to the matter at hand 'cause I have piles of papers to go through here. Did you see into the virus I suggested?"

"Yes, and I've requested one from the Tech guy. He said he'll have one for me by the end of next week, tops."

"Hm. Today I also found out that there are a few projects that are sent to the second secretary instead of me. Maybe the TW plans are with her."

"Well, damn. You know, you should suggest them to digitalize everything instead of having some only on paper. That would make things way easier."

"The new projects are digital, but the older ones are still mostly on files kept in the file room. It's really a pain."

"Why don't you just go there and look under 'T'?" he asked.

"Do you think I'm stupid? Of course I did that, but I didn't find anything named 'Twilight'. Maybe it's under the company's name or something like that. There are infinite possibilities."

"If that's the case, why don't you ask your boss to transfer everything to you?"

"I have, but he said he doesn't want to increase my workload since I already have a lot to do."

"Ha, I think he just doesn't think you can handle it."

I left that comment at that. "Well, that's all I had to say. I have to go now. See you." I ended the call and got to work.

"That's enough, Edward," Emmett said, stopping the younger man as he stuffed his pasta with enough grated cheese to feed a family of hungry mice.

"Tch, mind your own food, will you, Em?" Edward said.

Edward, Emmett and I were having lunch together at some Italian place Rosalie had suggested we visit. We had invited her and Alice to come along, but they said they had other plans. The food was good, and since I didn't have to worry about how expensive it was, I was quite enjoying myself.

"If I let you have your way, you'd stuff yourself with salt and cholesterol," the big guy said, eyeing his friend seriously. Edward just shook his head and looked away.

"In that case, thank you, Dad." Emmett flinched.

I laughed, "Edward, you're so immature. He's just looking out for you."

"That may be, but he goes overboard, don't you think?" he reasoned with me.

"Um, yeah, a bit," I replied. It was an understatement, but I guess parents are all like that, right? Not that I'd know, though. Maybe Edward wasn't so far off when he'd said Emmett was like his brother. Or father, for that matter.

"I wouldn't if you didn't worry me so much," I heard Emmett sigh in response.

The suddenly tense atmosphere made me uneasy, something that rarely happened with me. It was weird to have Edward act anything but cheerful and polite all the time, and Emmett was just so… intense. It was weird - he gave me the feeling of being old and wise, although he wasn't that much older than I was. I also had the impression that he wasn't entirely happy, like he carried some sad burden deep inside him or something.

…And here I was, psychoanalyzing a guy when I should be getting rid of the uncomfortable tension at the table.

"So is there something I should know before dinner tonight?" I asked Edward. "You know, some unspoken rule about not wearing any particular color or dress cut? I've never been invited to such a fancy restaurant before."

"You're going with Edward to The Posh tonight?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Shame you can't make it, Em. You'd be a great help when talking to the men. You probably know more about the project than I do," Edward said.

"That's not true. But I'm sorry, I really won't be able to go tonight," he replied.

"Oh, that's alright. I feel better knowing Bella will be there with me," he turned to me and grinned. "And I can't wait to see what she's gonna wear. Besides, you never go out on dates, Emmett. I wouldn't keep you from this rare occasion."

"I'm not going on a date," he protested. "I told you, I'm—"

"Yeah, yeah," Edward teased, cutting his friend off, "Don't be shy, Em."

"Edward—"

He laughed. "I'm just kidding, you don't need to explain yourself."

"Yeah, seeing he's just using this as an excuse to ask me out on a date himself," I laughed. Both men looked at me, stunned.

For a second, I was afraid I'd screwed up by opening my big mouth, but then Edward broke out in laughter. "Okay, fine, you caught me. And here I'd thought I'd been so sneaky." Then he sobered a little and said, "But Bella, like I said before, I won't do anything like your old boss. I won't ever, ever—"

"Edward, it's okay. I know that. You're nothing like him," I said, them found myself being completely honest, "I would never go out on a date with that man, but with you… With you, I wouldn't mind it at all."

A huge grin lit up Edward's features, and I couldn't help but smile too. Emmett observed us with one of his own, but I got the feeling that the small arch of his lips wasn't completely honest.

A/N: And so we'll finally see them outside of the breakfast/work/lunch rut we've had. Yay! Sorry that I'm making you wait for the dinner date, but I just didn't want to squeeze it all in here.

Don't forget to review, pretty please :)