Hello, All. New Chapter is up. This one is from Bella's POV still. I think it's important that you fully understand Bella's current life before bringing in Edward. and that consists of her life at Twilight, and her life with Jasper. This chapter will give you a small look into the early years of Twilight while chapter 11 will dive into her past and current status with Jasper. Once again thank's go to Karina, Zoey, and Carson for letting me use them.

Chapter 10- Twilight Affairs

Using my index finger and thumb I rubbed my eyelids in a small circular motions; why was this so hard? When the three of us had first gotten the idea to set up shop on the east coast, we thought it only made sense. Since we opened our doors, we've been flying all over the country—and in some cases world—for clients. To have an extension on the east coast would save us time, money, and travel miles not to mention increase profits with the ability to take on more clients—in theory.

Because now that we've not only put the idea out there, but have the ability to run with it, the harder part was here. The three of us all had separate ideas, questions, and an inexhaustible amount of 'what if' scenarios that needed to be addressed.

I wanted to talk about it last Friday over drinks, but Jasper wouldn't hear of it. He suggested we just celebrate for a night without the hammering details ruining our high, and Sam whole heartedly agreed.

Now that Friday had come and gone—and we were dangerously close to a new Friday—I decided our Thursday meeting would be a good place to start. Now that we were three hours in, our high of the news long gone, I wished I pressed the discussion at the bar because I needed the drink.

"Okay, I think where should be the first thing we decide," I insisted bringing it back to the main question in my mind. We had come full circle at least seven times and we'd gotten nowhere.

"NYC is the event capital of the east coast," Sam suggested.

Jasper just shook hos head, "We have almost a full ten percent higher client volume in D.C., and my money says that's where we need to be. Access to Dulles can get us on a direct flight pretty much anywhere if we need to ship out."

"Yeah, because La Guardia doesn't have the same thing," Sam breathed.

I shifted in my seat, kicking off my shoes to sit on my foot. "I don't know. I think if we chose a city like NY or DC we'd just be a blip in the event planning pool. There are planners that are already locked in as the go to. Maybe we should build up somewhere less focused like Cincinnati, Chicago, or Newark—"

"You can't pay me enough to live in New Jersey," Jasper rejected almost too quickly.

Sam was shaking his head too, "And O'Hare is a nightmare to travel out of."

"Fine, no Chicago and Newark," I surrendered, "but come on, Detroit, Baltimore, Pittsburg, you can't tell me there aren't possibilities there."

"Pittsburg…" Sam mused rubbing the bottom of his chin, "Pennsylvania has potential."

Jazz was still skeptical, "Yeah but the real estate his horrible."

"When is real estate not horrible?" I argued. I was a second away from tossing my pen at him, then I was struck with genius. "I have an idea. How about we each pick two cities. And in those cities we do it all. Scope the market, visit, narrow down a place in each and we'll bring everything back to the table."

Jasper nodded, "That'll give us six choices, I'll take that compared to the hundreds of possibilities any day."

"Doing research on two cities isn't hard," Sam agreed.

I let out a sigh of relief. "Good…now, there's a more difficult topic to discuss. Staffing. Who's going to head the east coast?"

Sam had that one already figured out apparently, "Bella will take one, Jazz will take the other—"

"Hell no!" "No way."

Jasper and I protested at the same time before he could finish. "We're not separating." I shook my head. It'd been B and J for so long the idea of splitting would be beyond weird. We'd both been through, and helped each other grow so much I couldn't imagine us being without each other. In areas I was weak he excelled, where I was brilliant, he needed work—we complimented each other.

Not saying that I couldn't live without Jasper, because with time I could adjust to anything. But we were like Outkast, separately we did great things, but together we were extraordinary so why change that?

"Not going to go there," Sam breathed letting his eyes roll up to the ceiling. "What do you suggest then?"

Jazz volunteered, "We'll head up one and you'll head up the other."

"I'm not a partner," Sam reminded and rejected at the same time.

Technically he was correct. Jasper, and I had started Twilight Affairs with James as a silent backer, and Sam didn't join us until a few months later. We always treated him like a partner, he attended our business meetings, had access to our corporate accounts, we discussed everything together, and never made a decision without him on board.

"Your choice not ours," I reminded folding my arms. Jasper, James and I had offered him partnership legally more times than I could count over the years but he'd always refused. He told us over and over that he was content with his role in Twilight. He was happy just planning events for the masses and often said taking on the extra legal and administrative responsibilities would take away the magic for him.

I didn't believe a word, because every quarter while Jazz, me, and our faithful accountant Paul burnt the late night oil crunching numbers and filing forms he was right there beside us with a calculator making sure we met deadline. If I had to guess, I'd say the fear of failure was halting his step forward, but I couldn't force him.

Jasper had long given up, "Well we could always hire a—"

"No!" I hissed shutting that idea down. "Twilight is our life, our reputation, our names. We can't have someone doing 'I don't know what' with it."

"We're going to have to hire more staff at some point Bella," Sam reasoned.

He was right, this move would force us to expand in all ways but not someone with that much power. "Yeah, we'll have to bring in more staff I know, but they'll be under our supervision. As in one of us. Everything about Twilight is unique, our structure, our process, our team, no firm operates like we do and we don't need someone from the outside trying to change that."

"We hear you Sugar," Jasper agreed trying to soothe my outrage at the idea. "She's right though, we have our own thing going here, and it's all packaged nicely and tied off with a bow."

"Then what options do we have?" Sam repeated not disagreeing with us.

There was only one, but I refused to entertain the idea of Jasper and I splitting up if I couldn't convince Sam to step up to the plate. "I think the question of who heads where should also be deferred until we know where where is."

"Okay, what about the juniors?" Jay continued.

Sam started "Well, once we pound out the details, we'll have to start interviewing for the new ones."

"But I like my junior," I frowned not wanting to replace her.

"We all like our juniors, but if we make moves they might not want to come with us." Jazz chuckled.

Sam pointed out another possibility, "We might have to rearrange."

"What do you mean rearrange?" I wondered switching feet.

He didn't get a chance to explain, Jazz more than willing to do it for him. "He's saying that the juniors might want to transfer even if their senior stays. So if I head up the east, and Karina wants to go…Jessica will be your new junior."

The corner of his mouth crooked into a wicked grin and I wanted to smack it back almost immediately. "You would use that example."

"I'm just sayin'," He defended widening his grin in a failed attempt to be innocent.

"I swear it's only the people I love that make me want to hit them. Keep away from my junior." I threatened with my pointed index finger.

Sam just shook his head, "Be reasonable Bells—"

"What I am being reasonable, I like my junior."

"We all like the juniors" Sam reminded. "That's why we hired them. They are all indispensable assets for Twilight. "

Jasper agreed wryly. "They're irreplaceable alright. Despite the fact all three of them were the only candidates that couldn't get a unanimous 'yes' from us."

That was true, we'd interviewed five people a day over the course of a week. All of them were well qualified individuals on paper, and could potentially become great members of our team. Karina, Jessica, and Carson were the only three that somehow managed to get a strong 'hell no' from at least one of us in the long list of maybes—all for different reasons of course—but no's all the same.

—

L.A., May 2009

"Now this, this is an office," Jasper approved stepping off the elevator and into the wide open space meant to serve as the reception area.

I stood in the center and turned around slowly trying to get a feel for the space, something just felt off about it. "I don't know…"

"Oh come on Bells," Sam encouraged, "give it a chance. This is just the entrance, we should at least finish the tour before you write it off."

Maybe that was the problem; it was all just too big. "Are we sure we need this much space for just us? Maybe something smaller, quainter."

"This is Hollywood Sugar, do you think anyone in this city is going to want to meet in a tiny office and trust us with a contract? They want big, grandiose." Jasper pointed.

My lips twitched at the way he pronounced grandiose his Texas twang making it sound like a different word entirely. But, no it wasn't just the size of the building, it was the size of it all. We were changing how we operated, and relocating while we were at it. "What's the asking price, for something like this in this city?"

"J.M. said our first office sets the standard so think big, this is big. But not too big." Sam presented. "We're in a corner building off Santa Monica and Beverly Glen, that light, sees a minimum of 200,000 cars a day."

"It's L.A. isn't it," Jasper picked up crossing his arms. "You don't want to leave San Francisco?"

Sam ran his hand down his face. "We can't stay in San Fran Bells, you know that. Happily Ever After is too heavily established, and we don't need to get into a client battle with Zafrina Luz. You know how petty she can be."

"I feel like if I leave she won." I muttered absently lost in thought.

It was no secret Zafrina harbored resentment with my decision to leave Happily Ever After and go into business for myself, but she didn't really do anything. I may have had the talent, but I was unknown, and to her knowledge could never pull the resources that it would take to become her competition.

Then the word got out that not only did I have a backer but he was none other than James Marsden her feelings changed to outright loathing. I may have been nobody, but James wasn't. And when he'd mentioned to his friends that he was starting a business venture they supported him. With his backing and referrals her client list took hit—not a big one but even the slightest bump was enough to set her off.

In her eyes I had stolen her clients and she didn't hesitate to spread the word. No matter how pissed it made me we never defended or retaliated. Jasper constantly reminding me that the only people with guilty consciences felt the need defend themselves over something as trivial as words and not to care what people thought because our work would speak for itself.

But when Sam left to join me everything went crazy. There were strains for venues, ad space, vendors, and so on but with Jasper's ability to finesse, and Sam being known enough to call in favors of his own, we managed.

For the past few months we'd met with clients in a location of their choosing, and used my apartment as a base for team meetings, storage, or whatever else—but James suggested it was time to set up a set location for us hinting that L.A might be the place.

"She isn't winning anything Bella, and this isn't about Zafrina." Jasper dictated. "We're not going to let thoughts about her ruin this. I have a good feeling about this place, and I think if we paint the right picture, you will too."

In a huff my shoulders slumped in surrender. I still thought we needed a smaller office space, but they both seemed so confident and I trusted their judgment. "Okay… show me around…"

L.A. Office, August 2009

"There's no room in the budget to hire staff." Paul apologized going over the number again.

"Then I'm tell you you're countin' wrong," Jasper snapped red faced and tired.

"I went over your figures three times," He apologized again, flinching. Poor guy didn't look much older than me and was obviously new. I bet he had no idea what he was getting into when one of James's people sent him our way.

Sam was just as terse, "Then we need to count a fourth time, we're burning on all cylinders here."

"What my friends are trying to say, is that we need staff. They'd be able to convey that a lot calmer if we weren't all working seventy hours a week and sharing Sam's one bedroom apartment for the past few months." I breathed on the verge of wanting to scream and collapse myself.

We'd been working non-stop since we touched down permanently with barely enough time to sleep let alone look for our own places. The commissions from each job kept our personal bank accounts growing, but that wasn't keeping me from sharing a pull out sofa bed with Jazz every night.

Sam sighed, "There has to be something we can do. What if we all take pay cuts?"

Paul took a few minutes to rework some math, "Then based on your client volume, the expenses, and the rate you charge, you'll be able to hire a small staff in three to four months."

"That's holiday season! Why do you think we need the staff? If we're slaving like this and it's only August we'll be dead by Halloween." Sam was frustrated again.

Jasper shook his head, "Three to four months isn't' going to cut it."

"Okay, you two, no more talking." I ordered before they scared him off. "It's not your fault, and they know that, they're just—tired. I'm sure we can work something out. What if we put a bit of our own money back into the pot here?"

Paul sighed, "It'd help but it's not something I'd suggest, it's nothing to seize at. The average event planner makes 49k which is nothing in L.A, plus the cost to insure the additional liabilities, and their certifications…"

"Okay then let's do the math." I suggested getting up from my chair to join him at the other end of the conference table.

I didn't understand half as much as he did, but I knew what was fair for a salary, I knew how much it's cost to get them covered, so I could at least help there. It took us another forty minutes, but we found a number.

"A hundred thousand dollars." Paul finalized. "That's what you'd need to hire one employee."

Thankfully the three of us weren't average event planners, and our clients didn't really have the average budget. "I'm up for it."

Sam looked relieved already writing a check. I swear he was the only person I knew that kept a checkbook on his person. "I thought it'd be more."

"A hundred thousand bucks to get some sleep? Sold." Jazz rushed slapping his palm down on the table like a gavel before dropping his head on his arm.

So it was decided. We'd hire an assistant each to start off with. We also let Paul rework the figures, agreeing to take a small pay cut to lock away money for the sole purpose of when the need to hire more arose. We were insane to think the three of us could handle it all alone for a year.

September 2009- Day 1

"Okay whose next?" I sighed late into our first day of interviewing. We had stacks of resumes and agreed that we should unanimously pick three since we'd be working with them each solo at some point.

My eyes raked down the list and pulled her resume, "Carson Davenport."

"Says here he got his degree from Johnson & Wales," Jasper read.

I nodded in approval, "Good school."

"You'd know better than me," he shrugged still looking at the page. "He also did print and ad campaigns for a while, that could be useful."

I didn't really care about the resume, my eyes were on the portfolio. "What makes you think it's a he? This is really beautiful work."

"Are you saying a man can't produce beautiful work in our field Bella?" Sam teased giving me a look. "That's sexist."

I elbowed him in the ribs, "No, I'm saying that there are some definite feminine touches in these layouts."

"Could be gay," Jasper debated.

Sam narrowed his eyes at him, "Yeah because you don't hate when people assume you're gay after they know what you do for a living."

"Just invite them in," I insisted not wanting to debate gender, this was our last interview of the day and I wanted to go home. "It's your turn to get up Jay."

He grumbled something neither of us could hear but disappeared out the door and down the hall returning with a tall dark haired woman with grey eyes. I smiled my 'I told you so smile' and greeted her, "Hello, you must be Miss Davenport."

"You can just call me Carson," She insisted extending her hand to me. Her smile seemed forced, like she was nervous or uncomfortable.

I shook it and made a round of introductions. "Carson it is then, I'm Isabella Swan, you've met my partner Jasper Whitlock, and this is my other partner Sam Uley."

They all shook hands and we insisted she sit so that we could get started. She sat down and the first thing I noticed was that she didn't cross her legs or ankles like all of the other girls we'd interviewed today. She just kept her knees together, locked her fingers and planted them in her lap.

Sam started off with the prelim questions and I took in her overall appearance. She sat with pin straight posture that made me want to straighten my own, her black slacks, matching blazer and blouse were clean, pressed and presentable, but she didn't look comfortable in them. Like outside of this interview she didn't like the corporate garb.

I listened in silence as Jasper and Sam both took turns reading from the list of questions we discussed. What are your qualifications? Tell us about your past experiences planning events. What is the largest budget you've worked with? Have you ever had to deal with a difficult client and what was the result?

She answered every question directly with no elaboration, and there was no smile in her voice as she did so. When we got to my part of the interview I explained our roles, and what we'd expect from her if hired, each time asking her if she'd be capable of meeting the standard. Each time she answered me with a direct, un-hesitated 'yes' and no elaboration as to why she felt she could.

"One more question Carson," I requested looking up from my notes on her interview. "What do you think your greatest strengths and weaknesses are?"

Her eyes dropped to her hands for a brief second in thought, but she looked back up to answer just as quickly. "Honestly, I can come off as a tad impulsive and impersonal at times, but I think it's also my greatest asset since those two things are really just the byproduct of being direct and honest.

It makes me result oriented, I get things done and I get them done to the exact specifications required of me. If an issue arises I won't give you or anyone else a long excuse about how it happened, I'll simply tell you the situation and tell you I'm on it.

When I walk through the doors and they shut behind me, my thoughts about my personal life go with it. I focus on what needs to be done and don't bring personal drama to work with me."

The three of us stole a glance at each other to see if anyone else wanted to ask anything. I shook my head and so did Sam, and Jasper nodded. "Okay Carson, thank you coming in." He smiled clicking his pen closed, standing up to walk her out.

Day 4

"First up today, Jessica Stanley," Sam announced pulling her portfolio and resume. "Look, says here she graduated from Champlain College a year before you."

Jay nodded looking over her portfolio, "And her portfolio is huge."

"Some of them a very good, but I see a bit of template planning in here," I voiced flipping through the pictures passing them off to Sam.

Sam nodded in agreement comparing two photos side by side, "Yeah, I see what you mean here."

"What's template planning?" Jasper wondered looking at the picture over again still not getting it. Being the only one in the group that literally fell into the career of an event planner, his mental glossary of 'planner lingo' (his choice of words) was still growing.

I put the perfect example in front of him and scooted closer to point out the detail. "You see how in these two pictures, the style's practically the same. The Grecian like columns at the altar, the flowers, the draping on the pillars of the aisle. The colors differ and the fabrics vary, but side by side they're practically the same."

"They both look good," Jasper commended staring at the pictures. "But, I take it this template planning is a bad thing."

I rocked my head back and forth trying to say yes and no at the same time. "It could indicate her inability to be creative. As a coordinator you try not to repeat, when people hire you they want something that is uniquely their's."

"I'd rather see a small portfolio of completely different layouts than a large portfolio filled with the same things in different colors. But her resume is impressive." Sam agreed closing the file.

Jasper snatched it up with his list of questions. "Well go get her, Bells."

"It's Sam's turn, but fine," I relented pushing myself up from my chair, and heading down the hall.

The first thing I noticed was bone straight long brown hair. She was turned away from me talking a mile a minute to another person here to interview. He didn't really seem comfortable, but she was oblivious practically listing off her accomplishments.

Oh great she was one of those people… I thought to myself letting out a deep breath. "Miss Stanley?"

She turned around with a flashing smile and bright blue eyes and before I could process she was up and out of her chair with her hand out front. "You must be Isabella Swan. Look at us, we're practically sisters already!"

Giving her a glance over I tensed a bit. She was wearing a black pencil skirt and blazer with a royal blue blouse the exact shade as mine—the styles wed different but that was about it. I smiled back dropping my hand. "We're ready for you to come on back."

I opened the door and let her in, going through the brief round of introductions, offering her a seat before returning to my own.

"You match…" Jasper mumbled under his breath in amusement while Sam got started.

"Shut up," I hissed pinching his forearm.

He grunted getting her attention, but he smoothly recovered turning it into question. "Why don't you tell us a little about yourself Miss Stanley?"

She took a deep breath, like she was going to say it all in one breath, "Well, I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Champlain College. I have a five year background in successful planning with seamless execution. I'm an expert in managing facilities, schedules, travel, and accommodations."

"Tell me about a time you've have difficulty staying within budget for an event," Sam prompted jotting down a few notes.

Jessica's eyes widened, "I've never gone over budget."

"Never?" Jasper echoed in question writing on his own pad.

She shook her head, "No, never. I've orchestrated an event with a budget of twenty thousand dollars and fifteen-hundred attendees."

"That's impressive," Sam commended still writing.

Not really, if they're cookie cutter copies with increased quantities. I took the next question. "I see a lot of corporate events and weddings, do you have any experience in other types of events?"

She shook her head, "No, but I'm a fast learner and I'm capable of handling any situation. I've proven to be quick on my feet."

"How so?" Jasper prodded throwing a pointed glance my way.

"I successfully developed an on the spot contingency plan during adverse weather conditions." Jessica boasted flashing that same bright smile.

I tried my best not to furrow my eyebrows, "You didn't pre plan a contingency for weather?"

Jasper flicked my knee and Sam took over, "A lot of the time we'll be working with very persnickety but high profile clients, can you give us a time where you had to deal with a difficult client and how you handled it?"

Jessica's eyes widened, "High profile like celebrities high profile?"

"Miss Stanley—"

"—Because if it's celebrities that isn't a problem. I coordinated fundraisers where Oprah, and Bill Cosby were benefactors." She rattled cutting me off.

Sam sat back in his chair, his 'interesting' face coming to the surface. "I see, did you work with them directly?"

"No, not really," she admitted, "but I would have handled it exactly the same. The ability to plan for more challenging clientele is why I moved to L.A."

I looked at both of my partners, wondering why her words only brought up a red flag with me. I let out a small breath letting Jasper finish with the wrap up question, giving up on addressing my concerns until it was all over.

Day 6

"Bella are you sure you meant to call this one in, she has no formal training in event planning, and her portfolio is tiny." Sam questioned checking his watch.

Jasper took the resume giving it a glance over. "How tiny?"

"Like four events tiny," Sam explained, "Two weddings, a quinceanera and a sweet sixteen."

"There's no mistake," I confirmed pulling out the portfolio to show him what I meant, "to have no training there's a raw talent there. It's all over the fine touches."

Sam nodded, "I'd never personally use rhinestones and pearls in a bouquet, but it's refreshing to see pomanders."

"I'm telling you guys, I have a good feeling about this one." The pictures in her portfolio caught my eye and sold me to her interview long before I checked her credentials.

Jasper just shrugged, this was the last interview before lunch and judging by the way he destroyed my pita chips and hummus (he loathed hummus) he must have been pretty hungry. "Okay, Bells says she has a feeling, she has a feeling, Sam bring her in."

Sam dismissed himself to go get her and Jazz looked over the resume again. "Sugar, are you sure you even want to consider someone with no training? We're approaching the holiday season, and the more a person can do on their own, the better."

He had a point it would be smarter to pick someone with enough experience, but ignoring a complete diamond in the rough wouldn't be smart either. "I'm sure."

Sam opened the door and Jasper's fingers dug into my thigh under the table. "Ouch," I hissed transferring his hand to his own leg before looking up to see what the problem was.

Oh. Well that just made things a bit more complicated. "Get it together Jazz." I whispered standing up to introduce myself to the candidate. Standing there to greet us had to have been one of the prettiest women I'd ever see.

She wasn't tall, more my height with maybe an inch or two on me. Her dark brown hair was pulled half up with the rest hanging on her shoulders in loose waves. Her skin was the perfect mix of olive and tan with the slightest hint of a bronze. Her brown eyes were bright, and the smile she flashed was as white as the skirt suit that followed the curves of her hourglass figure. No wonder I had Jasper's fingerprints in my leg, with those eyes, full lips, and oval shaped face she was almost a dead ringer for Maria—his ex-fiancé.

"Miss Diaz, these are my partners Isabella Swan, and Jasper Whitlock. Guys, this is Karina Diaz," Sam introduced, and I offered my hand first thanking her for coming, and looking over to Jasper hoping he'd gotten himself together.

Apparently he had, because the second my hand dropped he was up to extend his own before offering her a seat.

"Once again Miss Diaz, thank you for coming out today," Sam started pulling out his pen.

Her smile was infectious, "Thank you for giving me a chance to interview."

With a click of my pen I started with the first question, "Looking at your resume I see you didn't go the traditional route to become an event planner. What made you decide you wanted to coordinate?"

"Well, about two years ago my cousin asked for help planning her wedding. She was stressed, and I had free time, so I thought 'why not'." Her shoulders shrugged slightly with her laugh and she continued, "Honestly I didn't know the first thing about weddings but books have always been my best friend and my cousin was the champion of Google, so together we figured it out."

"So you're completely self taught?" I gathered trying to keep my smile small; it made the work in her portfolio much more impressive. "Impressive."

Sam took the next question, "The pictures in your portfolio, are they ideas you saw somewhere or did you plan it all out yourself?"

"It's all original work." She confirmed with a nod.

Jasper went on, "Where did you get the idea for the nosegays?"

Her head tilted slightly confused, "I'm sorry—"

"Nosegays, are the little tiny bouquets you used for the bridesmaids," I explained holding up the picture, "And the pomanders here are unique too. It'd honestly answer an entire slew of questions if you just explained the entire floral choice for this wedding."

She answered without hesitation, "Well, this isn't my cousins wedding, it's actually a friend of hers that I worked on last year. She was getting married, and was a bit disheartened, because she wanted a traditional wedding with bouquets, centerpieces, etc, but she was allergic to flowers."

"And you didn't choose to use silk alternatives?" Sam asked echoing my thoughts.

"Silk flowers are tacky, and they were somewhat expected." She explained shaking her head, "So we did some research and decided making paper bouquets was the way to go. She loved them, and they were completely customizable."

I caught on to something, "Wait—you made these?"

"Just the wedding party's, we ordered in the arraignments for the tables and so on." She corrected.

Sam and Jasper took turns asking her a few more questions and she answered them to the best of her ability. She wasn't quiet familiar with the terminology and the code of event etiquette but none of it changed my opinion of her.

Jazz touched on her education at Baylor University, some college in Walco Texas, and noted that she was multi-lingual, both of them going off a minute or two in Spanish like that was the key asset we were looking for. With all of us growing up in the south west, there wasn't a person in the room that didn't speak Spanish.

Her shifting into French however, did surprise me. Reminded of the potential problem if I chose to hire her, I wrapped up the interview before Jasper's subtle flirting stopped being subtle. Sam finished with a character question and in my opinion she aced, then the three of us thanked her again.

Day 8

"For the sake of getting this over with, I think we should wave the unanimous voting and just stick with a two-thirds majority?" I suggested having no need to narrow down any further. We'd spent the entire day before filtering through applicants first by who would be a good fit for our company and then by who would be a good fit for us personally.

Sam shrugged, "Alright, I'll go first, Carson Davenport," he breathed throwing out the resume surprising both of us.

"But you put her in the 'no-hire' pool." Jazz reminded taking a swig of beer. We skipped out on the office meeting, deicing that these decisions could be made over burgers and beer at our favorite restaurant.

He nodded, "Yeah because she's impersonal."

"Which could be problematic with clients…" Jasper reminded.

I don't know, I didn't dis-like her, "But she was honest about it, which is a step towards improvement."

"She's a doer that's what we need." Sam agreed, "Besides, we'll be handling client interaction they'll just be backing us up."

Jasper still didn't get it, "I don't like it."

"You don't have to like it, but I know me. If I'm going to take someone under my wing, then I need them to come in, ready to work, and get the work done without the extras getting in the way." Sam explained. "I'd prefer to not be a trainer at all, Bella you know how I am."

He had a point there, outside of working with me and Jazz he wasn't exactly a team player and he rarely socialized with anyone involved with Happily Ever After. "Are you sure you want her?"

He nodded.

And with a shrug we put it to vote, "All for Carson—all opposed?" With a finger from Sam and I in approval she was hired. "Alright Carson Davenport is your new junior coordinator."

"Okay, well I picked Jessica Stanley." Jasper moved on.

I almost choked on my fry, "What? No way." I refused washing down my food with beer. "I'm not working with her."

"You technically won't be, I will." Jasper clarified.

Sam saw the positive side, "She went to the right school, she never goes over budget—"

"Of course you can't go over budget with cookie cutter designs. She's a corporate designer," I argued and Sam agreed with a nod. "We don't do the type of work she does."

"Then we'll show her our way," Jasper pressed. "Her portfolio is massive, the work is good, and she can handle a deadline."

"I know," I droned, "I heard the bragging in the interview, and her talking to the other applicant before I brought her back. She comes on too strong."

"She's aggressive," Jasper dismissed, " you're aggressive—"

"But I know when it's appropriate and how to turn it off. She lacks that ability." I argued back, not really fond with the idea of being compared to Jessica Stanley.

Sam sighed, "She seems confident enough to handle working with our type of clientele."

Were they blind? "She wants to plan for the rich and famous, fine, but does she also have the ability to maintain professionalism, and secrecy? Our ability to keep our events closed to the general public is what makes us strong. Can she meet those standards?"

"Like you said, she'd be my junior coordinator. She wouldn't be working with clients first hand and I am capable of making sure she understands how we work, but I got a feeling about this one." Jasper explained ready to call it to a vote. "So who's for it?"

As much as I loved Jazz, he wasn't getting my vote on that one—too bad he didn't need it, because Sam gave his consent. "Jessica Stanley is hired then. You're up Bella."

I didn't really have time to linger in disappointment on Jasper's choice for an assistant, because it was replaced with nerves at the reaction I'd get for my choice. "Karina Diaz."

"Hell no," Jasper protested like I expected him to.

I thought about my decision for a full day, weighing the pros, cons, and potential issues, but in the end I had to go with my gut. She had a natural gift, and if I didn't scoop her up, another company would no doubt. "She has potential."

"She doesn't have much experience." Sam argued logically.

Jasper agreed with him, "She didn't even know what a nosegay was."

"Yeah, because you totally knew the definition before you met me." I pointed.

Sam added another point, "Her resume's thin."

"We're practically the same age, my résumé would be just as thin if I didn't meet James." I argued, "You can't deny she has skill."

"She's rough with etiquette and customs, that'll hit us hard next wedding season." Sam listed.

Jasper laid it out plainly, "She didn't go to school for it, she barely has the experience, and has none of the qualifications to be successful. To bring her in would be setting her up for failure."

I rubbed my temples in disbelief that this was the argument he wanted to have. "Jasper, you of all people should know that it takes more than the schooling and experience to make this job work. It takes creativity, and talent, and as long as you have those you can learn the rest as you go. Hell you're the Cinderella story of event planners."

"I thought I'd be the firm voice on this one," Sam pointed surprised. "You seemed to like her during the interview. What's up?"

Jasper didn't say anything, but I was more than willing to put it out there, "She's kind of Jasper's type." I explained putting it lightly—she was exactly Jasper's type.

Sam chuckled shaking his head, "Wait, so you don't want to hire her, because being her boss would make her off limits? Oh Jazz, come on"

I snickered too unable to help it. Jasper wasn't amused, "It's not funny Sam, and it isn't fair Bella. You can't bring her on as your assistant practically dangling her in front of my face and expect me not to—"

"What? Dangle in her face?" I finished making Sam lash out in an uncontrollable roar. I wiped my eyes and sobered up as best I could. "Look, I thought about this, and thought about this and I really want her Jazz."

"So does he apparently," Sam muttered and I elbowed him, but he just started laughing again.

I tried my best to shut him out, "Try to take it as a compliment. If I don't hire her, it means I have no faith in you to remain professional." He didn't respond, but I didn't expect him too right away.

"Alright, let's vote on it," Sam suggested. "Hiring her? Yes? No?"

"No," Jazz rejected stubbornly.

"Yes," I countered right away making Sam snicker.

Sam didn't vote right away, he just looked over our choices and shook his head, "What is it with these girls? They're the only three that managed to spark us good and bad. I guess that says it all doesn't it? She's hired."

—

L.A. Office –present day

I was brought out of my day dream with a knock on the door.

"Come in," Sam invited with a sigh, probably tired of going around in circles like the rest of us.

Zoey poked her head in to make sure it was safe before coming all the way in, "Sorry to interrupt, but the meetings gone longer than it should have. Mr. Whitlock and Miss Swan have three interviews scheduled back to back."

"For what?" I asked swiping through my tablet to check my calendar.

I don't know why I even tried to be faster than Zoey, "Your one o'clock is with Century Magazine, your two-thirty is with Biz Bash, and your three-thirty is with Tying the Not."

"J.M. suggested them," Sam explained.

"It can't hurt, trust me, they're curious." Zoey added fixing Jasper's tie.

"Curious about what?" I hissed making sure my blouse was tucked.

Zoey just laughed, "Oh you know, about how a few years ago you three were no one, and now your events are practically everywhere."

I shook my head re-buttoning my blazer. "Okay I can understand Century and Biz Bash, but why Tying the Not? That's just a wedding blog site ran by an over opinionated woman on the latest wedding trends."

"Do you know how much site traffic that over opinionated woman gets?" Sam chuckled.

Jasper just shook his head, "Suck it up Bells."

"Let's go, Century's waiting." Zoey rushed looking over her tablet. "Bridal magazines are easy, they really just want you to support their suggestions for the latest designs and stamp your name on it, so stick to the basics."

Zoey was all but pushing us out of the room at that point. "Wait? What about Sam?" I demanded wondering why he was heading back to his office and not the conference room.

"I'm not a partner," Sam reminded with a grin on his face that made me want to smack him. I knew he hated the advertising and promotion part of our job. "Good luck."

—

"We have an actual wedding this weekend," I fussed once the photographer for Biz Bash left leaving me blind. "We should be working on that."

Jasper just handed me a coke and pulled out my chair. "Jessica and Karina are at the venue, they'll call if there's a problem."

"Can I make a suggestion?" Zoey asked coming back in shutting the door behind her.

I shrugged, "You're going to anyway. Shoot Zo"

"Paula Jenks isn't your average interviewer. She won't just report what you say, but her opinion of you both in general. So I suggest, have fun with it." Zoey stressed. "You'll mostly be answering questions from brides-to-be but she has her own questions for you too."

"We can charm," Jasper promised. "We do it everyday."

"Okay, we'll I'll just let her in." Zoey nodded exiting to retrieve her.

Jasper squeezed my hand in reassurance, "One more hour and we're home free Sugar."

Okay, so there is one more chapter after this before Edward's POV comes back into the picture. Ch 12 is EPOV promise. Comment away. Thanks again to Karina, Zoey, and Carson. Oh and Madison even though you didn't appear in this chapter. You guys are the best. :)