Chapter Ten

Bella sat nervously at breakfast with Alice on the morning of her first day at work. She didn't know what to expect and that was making her more than a little nervous. She was fidgeting and bouncing her leg up and down. She was trying to focus on what Alice was saying to take her mind off where she was going today.

"I can't believe you're just on your way home now," Bella said. "I could never work those hours."

"I'm so used to it now, a 4am start is actually quite late really," Alice said taking a sip from her smoothie. "Although I will take a nap later," she said yawning.

"I should think so," Bella laughed.

"So are you and Edward really ok now? I know Rose and I have been asking a lot but we just want to be sure," Alice asked nervously.

"Yeah, we sorted everything out and we hung out yesterday it was really nice," Bella said.

"I'm so relieved!" Alice said sighing. Bella looked at her curiously. "I was so worried that he'd fucked up and that you'd be too mad to hang out with me," Alice explained quickly. "So I'm just really pleased that he's made it up to you."

Bella found it strange to see Alice so frazzled, she normally took everything in her stride. So it was odd for Bella to have to calm her down and reassure her that everything was okay.

"It wasn't all Edward's fault, I freaked out too. But we've sorted it out now and we've been learning a lot about each other," Bella said as she rearranged the food on her plate nervously. "He ... uh... told me about his parents," she finally said.

The silence that hung between them after she had mentioned Edward's parents made Bella panic. Perhaps she shouldn't have said anything, had she betrayed Edward's trust. Bella stared into Alice's eyes which were now as wide as saucers.

"He did?" she spluttered.

"Yeah, about his mom and what happened with his dad. How he moved in with your family, everything I think," Bella said still feeling unsure.

"Yeah that sounds like everything," Alice said slumping back into her chair.

"Should I not have mentioned it? I don't want to make things awkward ..." Bella asked.

"It's not that, I'm just amazed that he told you. He's always been very wary of telling people about his past, particularly about his parents," Alice said. She seemed to contemplate something for a moment. "He's a great guy, really he his. As long as he doesn't shut you out and I'm so glad that he is talking to you," she said.

"He told me that your mom was upset with how he treated girls," Bella said.

Alice took a deep breath, steadying herself before she continued.

"When he transferred to our school it was the worst, I mean for him," Alice corrected when she saw the shocked expression on Bella's face. "I loved having him there. He's older than me and I thought he was cool, I knew he was going through a lot so I wanted to make him feel welcomed and loved but I guess I came across as really overbearing and insane," Alice said laughing.

"You? Never!" Bella teased.

"Don't interrupt! Do you want me to tell you the story or not?" Alice asked in a mock serious tone.

"My apologies, I don't know what came over me. Please, do go on," Bella said grinning at her friend.

"Alright then," Alice said before continuing. "High school girls are all ridiculous, I'm sure it's the same all over the world. But at that age – like 16, 17, 18 – most girls are crazy! They have this radar for guys that are hurt or damaged or those rebel types you know? Yeah, anyway Edward pretty much fitted into all of those boxes. Girls loved him. They tried everything to get his attention," she paused. It seemed as though she was deciding whether to go on or not.

Maybe she's editing the story to protect him, Bella thought.

"A lot of them did get his attention, but none of them held it for very long. He hurt a lot of them," she said. Her voice was full of regret. "It wasn't like he was cruel or cheated on any of them. None of them were long term relationships. He just didn't give them what they wanted. Come to think of it, they probably didn't know what they wanted from him at the time. But I think they just wanted him to care about them. I noticed it most in their reaction to how he was with me. He was very protective of me and they hated me for it. I'm not mad with him about that, I never was. I was protective of him too, I would have defended him to the very end."

Bella recognized a fierceness in Alice's eyes, which she respected.

"He told me a bit about that, only in passing. We haven't really had the whole 'past relationships' talk," Bella said. "But we will," she added confidently.

"I'm glad he's opening up to you. I think you two will be really great together," Alice said returning to her chipper attitude that Bella had come to know so well. They chatted about work and their plans for the weekend before they went their separate ways.

When Bella arrived at Whitman House she squared her shoulders bracing herself to begin her new journey. As Bella rode the elevator to her new job her stomach fluttered and she felt light headed. Edward had text her to wish her good luck. She smiled and replied to thank him for thinking of her. She was still adjusting to having a boyfriend, never mind such a thoughtful one.

When the elevator arrived at her floor she walked up the receptionist's desk to ask where she should go.

"Ah Isabella yes, I'll show you to your cubicle," Victoria said.

"Ok thanks," Bella followed Victoria to a cubicle beside the window, it had a reasonable view which surprised Bella.

"Bob will be here in a few minutes, he'll be your immediate supervisor. Why don't you get aquatinted with your computer, sign into your email all that stuff. All the details are in your welcome pack," Victoria said handing her a thin red binder.

"Sure, ok, great. Thanks," Bella said as Victoria walked away.

Bella read through the binder a few times, gave herself a professional sounding signature for her email and then decided to re-read the welcome pack just one more time. She was halfway through when a man she hoped was Bob came striding towards her.

"Hi Isabella? I'm Bob Banner, it's nice to have you with us," he said cheerily with his hand extended.

"Nice to meet you Bob, you can call me Bella," she said shaking his hand.

"What a lovely accent, Bella. Where are you from?" he asked as he pulled over a chair to sit beside her.

"Ireland," she said not sure about how much to elaborate.

"Ah the Emerald Isle, very nice. Well let's get you set up here. Oh I see you've already got a welcome pack and you're signed into your email? I guess you don't need me here, maybe I should take a half day!" Bob said nudging Bella with his elbow.

Is that my queue to laugh? Bella thought.

It seemed so, he was pleased when she did laughed and it didn't seem to occur to him that she was forcing it a bit. Over the next half hour Bella tried to take in as much of what Bob was saying as possible. She was going to be making ebooks, the HTML seemed simple enough when Bob explained it so she wasn't too worried about that. She would have to proofread the final file before sending it to Bob who would check it over before it went 'live'. Bob was hoping to build a bigger digital content team once the budget allowed for it, but in the mean time it was just the two of them converting the house's substantial back catalogue. He gave her a hardcopy of the first book she'd be converting, he told her to take the whole week to work on it. Perfection was as important as speed, but if he had to choose between the two he said he'd choose perfection. He gave her a brisk run through of the programs she'd be using and some common problems to look out for, then it was on to a tour of the office. As Bob flew through the office Bella tried to keep up with him and take in all the names, faces and departments that he was pointing out. Her head was spinning. She did retain the names of one other newbie starting today Mike, the blond guy with the gelled hair from her the day of her interview.

No bow tie today? Bella thought. Mike you have let yourself go!

Despite her teasing thoughts Bella resolved to seek him out at lunch, perhaps they could share first day horror stories.

"Well that's the grand tour. I'll leave you to get started if you need anything my extension is 425 but I would suggest that you try to get answers yourself, it's really the best way to learn," Bob said when they arrived back at Bella's desk.

"Will do, thanks Bob," she said as he headed back to his office.

Bella liked Bob, he was a geek. He loved information and knowledge, sharing tidbits of interest. Bella loved his apparent shameless thirst for knowledge, it was something she respected in others. She spent the next hour trying to iron out some kinks in the file she was working on. It was going well and when 11 o'clock rolled along she felt as though she had really earned her coffee break. On her way to the break room she as accosted by a small girl with dark brown hair, she wore an over zealous grin on her face that felt fake to Bella.

"Hi, I'm Jessica! You must be Isabella?" she asked rhetorically but Bella answered her anyway.

"Nice to meet you Jessica. Yeah, I just started in the digital department today. You can call me Bella," she said as they waited in line for the coffee machine.

"Cool, I guess I'm kind of still new here too. I joined about two months ago I work in the publicity department and I love it!" she was gushing.

Where is this energy coming from? Bella wondered.

"That's great, it seems like a really friendly company," Bella said as she poured a cup of coffee .

"I was so happy to get the job. I had just finished an internship with Kangaroo Press when I got offered a position here," Jessica said as they walked over to an empty table.

"Oh, is the commissioning editor their namedAro? I think I met him at Angela Weber's book launch," Bella said happy to find something in common to talk about.

"Yes that's him," Jessica said dismissively. "I didn't really have a great experience there, to be honest it was kind of horrible. Aro is just awful," Jessica whispered. "I've heard some things about him from the girls I worked with, apparently it always comes down to you know, how far a girl will go," she said raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"I see," Bella said. She felt shocked by the news, she had thought he seemed like a nice enough man, maybe a little rude but she was bothered by the fact that she had hoped to impress him at one point.

"Luckily for me I got out of there before it ever came to that," Jessica said.

"Absolutely," Bella agreed.

"Oh my god! Are you Irish? That is so cool," Jessica said changing the subject.

"Glad to hear it," Bella laughed.

"I've always wanted to go to Europe, I think it's such a romantic place," Jessica said.

Bella smiled to herself at the irony, all of the most romantic moments in her life up until now had happened here in America, with Edward. But she understood what Jessica meant, Europe is old and seeped in history. Castles and ghost stories have a romance and lure about them.

Bella and Jessica chatted about what to do in New York and they agreed that they would meet for lunch later in the canteen.

"I'll show you which server gives the most generous portions," Jessica smiled.

"Great thanks, see you later," Bella said.

Lunch rolled around quickly, Bella couldn't help but marvel at how well her first day was going. She checked her phone before she went to the cafeteria to meet Jessica. Her heart leapt when she saw that there was one new message from Edward.

Hey, can I meet you after work? E x

Of course! I finish at 5. Maybe we can have dinner at my place? B xx

Bella couldn't fight the smile on her face as she made her way to the cafeteria. Her phone buzzed alerting her to a new message.

Sounds good, I'll see you then :) E xx

Bella planned to get take out and then attempt to get closer to having her way with Edward afterwards. She respected that he didn't want to push her and she agreed that they should wait and get to know each other more. But as usual her body did not agree with what her brain was thinking, so anytime she saw him all she wanted to do was jump him.

Once she had bought some lunch she found Jessica sitting alone and looking very unhappy about it. When Jessica spotted Bella her face lit up and she started waving. Bella gave her a small nod to calm her down and weaved through the tables to where she was sitting.

"Hi, you look happy," Jessica said inquiringly.

"Yeah? I did just make plans with my boyfriend so I guess that's why," Bella said as she sat down.

"Urgh I am so jealous, I'm chronically single! Like no joke, it's been a long time. If you know what I mean," Jessica said grinning at Bella.

TMI? Bella thought, but she smiled and nodded at Jessica.

"Hey could you set me up with one of his friends?" Jessica asked.

"Oh ... uh ... well," Bella struggled with how awkward she found Jessica's forwardness. "You know Jessica I would love to, but it's all very new and I don't know his friends very well," Bella said apologetically.

"Oh sure, no problem," Jessica said clearly disappointed.

Bella did want to help Jessica but really didn't want to put Edward in an awkward position so she decided to change the subject. Luckily just as she was searching for a topic to introduce, she notice Mike walking slowing through the tables and looking a bit lost.

"Oh look there's Mike, he's new too. Hey Mike!" Bella said waving, she slowed down her wave when she remembered how Jessica had looked earlier. Suddenly embarrassed Bella was glad that she had managed to get Mike's attention quickly. He smiled and joined them at their table.

"Hi Mike, I'm Bella I don't know if you remember me from our interview?" Bella said.

"Oh sure I remember you, congrats on getting the job," he said.

"You too," Bella laughed.

Jessica coughed to get Bella's attention.

"Oh sorry, this is Jessica she works in the PR department," Bella said.

"Hi Mike," Jessica said in a weird voice which Bella assumed was her 'sexy' voice.

"Hi," Mike said. "So how long have you been in America Bella, have you been looking for a job for long?"

"I actually have only been here a little while so I haven't been looking for too long, it worked out well. Timing wise anyway," Bella said sipping her coffee.

"Sounds like you've really got the luck of the Irish," Mike said. He was desperately trying to make her laugh. Bella forced a small laugh.

"Mike you are so hilarious!" Jessica said, placing her hand on his arm.

Lunch continued on in a similar fashion. Mike tried to make Bella laugh and Jessica continued to vie for his attention. There are always a lot of people that one meets on the first week of living in a new country, the urge to make connections and lay down roots can be overwhelming. Most of these connections are not strong enough to last. She wondered if Mike and Jessica would be a lasting connection, she also wondered if she wanted them to be.

The rest of the day passed quickly, Bella felt like she was making great progress with what she was working on. As she left that day she felt really positive about where she was going and about her move to New York.

Edward arrived at Bella's apartment at 7 o'clock. Bella had been tidying her apartment and feeling very grateful that Lauren had gone to visit her parents for the weekend. When Edward knocked on her door she practically skipped down the hall to answer it.

"Hi," she said. "You brought pizza! Now I really am happy to see you," she teased.

He grinned as he leaned in to kiss her and she melted into him. She pulled back, aware that they should eat before she let herself get carried away.

They settled down in the living room in front of the TV with some beers and the pizza. Bella noted how much she was enjoying having Edward here, the last time he'd been in her apartment she'd felt almost overwhelmed by his presence. He seemed more relaxed too, sitting on the floor leaning against the sofa.

"So how did your first day go?" he asked, opening a beer and passing it to her.

"It went really well actually. The people are really nice and I think I like what I'm working on," she said.

"You think?" he asked looking a bit confused.

"Yeah, I mean it's too early to tell if I really like it or if I'm even doing it right," she explained, "but generally speaking yeah I like it," she said smiling. "Tell me about your job," she asked taking a slice of pizza.

"Well, I'm a teacher. I teach English as a second language," Edward said.

"Is that always what you wanted to do?"

"No, I wanted to be a writer. But after college I needed a job and writing doesn't really pay the bills," he said.

"But if it's what you love, you should make time for it," she said.

"I do, I still write but it's just for me. I don't show it to other people or ever intend to publish it," Edward said.

"Good it's important to do things like that, I think anyway," Bella said, suddenly cringing at how preachy she was being. "But I don't mean to lecture you I just want you to be happy. What do you like about teaching?" she asked.

"I just like helping people, a lot of my students are adult learners so they're eager and it's important to them to improve their language skills. It's really important to them, it means getting a job and being able to communicate with people," Edward stopped he seemed a little shy all of a sudden as though he had said too much. "It's corny I know ..." he said. Bella sensed that he was about to backtrack.

"No, I think it's amazing. What you do is really important," she said sincerely.

"Thanks, I feel pretty passionate about it even though it wasn't my first choice," he said.

Bella turned on the TV and flipped through the channels looking for something for them to look at should the conversation die. She suddenly became panicked as she searched through the channels. She wanted something easy going, that would act as a back-up but not dominate the conversation. Edward seemed oblivious to her panic so she settled abruptly on some generic sitcom complete with canned laughter, no thinking necessary. Perfect, Bella thought to herself. They ate in companionable silence for a bit, laughing every so often at the antics on screen.

Edward had moved to sit beside Bella on the couch, he'd draped an arm around her shoulders and she cuddled into his side. After a few minutes she began feeling impatient as she waited for Edward to make a move , eventually she took it upon herself to get things started. She started kissing his neck and then kissed along his jaw, their eyes met just as she moved to sit on his lap. He smiled at her forwardness and kissed her in return. His hands rested on her hips, he wasn't moving very much and she took this as a sign that he was uncertain about something, but she was determined to take to the lead.

"This couch is too small," Bella said against his lips.

"Mmm," he replied as his lips traveled down her neck.

"Do you want to move to my bedroom?" she asked breathlessly.

Edward's lips stilled against her neck, he lifted his eyes to read her expression. She could see that he was still unsure.

"We don't have to go any further but this would be more comfortable on a bed," she urged shyly.

"Yeah you're right," he said taking her hand and leading her towards her room.

She sat on the bed and pulled him down on top of her slowly. She began kissing him hungrily, any reservations that he'd had seemed to have been forgotten.

"So much for taking things slow," he joked as if reading her thoughts. She giggled and continued to kiss him, hoping to convey with her lips that this was what she wanted so that he wouldn't feel guilty.

She rolled them over and sat up with her legs on either side of him. His eyes followed her hands as she reached for the hem of her top, she kept her eyes on his face as she slowly pulled her top up over her head and threw it to the end of the bed. Edward's lips were parted slightly and he sucked in a breath when he saw her reach around to unclasp her bra. She noticed his eyes dart to her's as the straps fell slack around her shoulders. She slowly removed her arms from the straps while holding the cups against her breasts. Bella felt Edward twitch beneath her, she felt a pulse between her legs. A sudden rush of adrenaline shot through her as she removed her bra completely and tossed it to the end of the bed. So there she sat topless with Edward lying under her. His breaths were somewhat ragged and uneven, but his hands still lay at his sides. She was getting impatient again.

"Touch me, Edward," she said quietly, trying to fight the insecurities that were creeping in due to his inaction.

He looked into her eyes and slowly raised his hand to her right breast. They both gasped when he finally did touch her. His hand cupped her from beneath, it was as though he was just enjoying the weight of her in his hand. Then his fingers ghosted gently across her nipple. She gasped and rolled her hips against him. Her unconscious act seemed to light a fire in Edward. He flipped them over so that he was back on top, back in control. His hands seemed to be everywhere all at once. He continued to roll her nipple between his fingers as he kissed her. Bella felt like her skin was on fire, she suddenly had to see more of him. She pulled his shirt off and pushed him away slightly so she could appreciate the vast expanse of his chest, there was a light smattering of hair that narrowed and thickened the further south her eyes traveled. He took deep, steadying breaths as her hands explored this new territory. Eventually she let her hands travel back up to his hair, she pulled him into another kiss and his hands resumed their exploration of her breasts. She was grinding against his leg, desperate for some friction.

"Edward please," she begged. She wasn't sure what she was so desperate for but she knew he could give it to her.

His hand moved to the waist band of her pants, his eyes asked for permission to continue. Bella exhaled with need and nodded, to make sure there was no delay she took his wrist and guided his hand under the waist band. They both groaned when he finally touched her. His fingers slipped into her easily, she was more than ready for this. His fingers moved slowly and expertly as he brought her to the release she needed. As his fingers worked her into a frenzy his lips continued to kiss, lick and nip at her breasts. Bella had never felt so many sensations before, she writhed and squirmed in pleasure. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was aware that the noises she was making should be embarrassing. She was groaning Edward's name and begging him not to stop, however the pleasure was such that she didn't care how she sounded. Finally she reached her peak and tumbled, gasping and quivering into a seemingly endless chasm of pleasure.

"That was unbelievable," she said when she regained the power of speech.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Edward said kissing her shoulder, his voice was thick and husky. It made a pulse shoot through her.

"Do you want me to?" Bella said reaching for the zipper of his jeans, hoping to assist with his notable bulge. He surprised her when he took her hands in his and gently kissed them.

"Not tonight, tonight was about you. I wanted this to be all about you, we've got all the time in the world to share this," he said kissing her forehead. "You're exhausted, you should sleep Bella."

"Will you stay?" she asked.

"If you want me to," Edward said.

"Of course I want you to, take your jeans off," she said as she snuggled under the duvet.

Edward did as he was told and then joined her under the covers. Bella kissed him sweetly.

"Thank you for being so wonderful," she said. Then she turned onto her side so that her back was pressed against his chest. He put his arm around her and kissed her hair.

"Goodnight, my Bella," he whispered.

AN: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, I really appreciate hearing from you all xx