Disclaimer:Stephanie Meyer created the twilight universe. The following story is in use of her property not intending to set flames.
Hi, it's been a long time...but here's an update.
WARNING: some hardcore stuff up ahead, please do read at caution! You have been WARNED.
Dressed in a shirt and pencil skirt getup, I stepped into my heels and headed out of the room to get on the way to work.
Down at the hotel lobby I waited for the valet to bring my car to the front; a moss green Mini Cooper. Given to me by Edward when we got back to Chicago a few weeks ago from England.
Out of spontaneity, he dropped the keys in my hands and presented me with the brand new dealership-bought transportation. It was a day of gratitude and awkward moments when I couldn't shut up and accept his kindness.
"Take it." His arms tightened around my waist and his lips played with my right earlobe. We stood by the ceiling-to-floor windows in our room, observing the Chicago traffic and street lights in the darkness of our surrounding.
The car keys were tightly wounded within my fist.
I wanted to tell him that I was saving up for a car; it was something I was working on getting for myself. But I couldn't. The look on his face when he had presented me the keys was not hopeful or sincere, per say. There wasn't a sense of playfulness, but it was something opposite to ill-intentioned, yet not quite reaching purely good-intentioned.
It was something to do with his superior complex, hazarding a guess. There were proudness surrounding the ploy, he considered it a favourable gesture.
To him, it was a small disposable favour.
Even so, there was a conflict of debate in desperate cry. I can only think less of myself for taking it. What respecting woman would take a car off the man they are sleeping with and the man was already paying the woman?
Edward didn't see the thin thread of dignity I was trying to keep close to my heart. Either that or he didn't consider I was a woman with any dignity left. It was a hard pill to swallow but I allowed the quiet cry to lodge itself in the middle of my throat, my eyes piercing into the moving traffic outside of those windows.
"You don't need to walk in the cold anymore." His arms tightened around my waist and he inhaled. "And you'll have something reliable to get you off walking home in the streets at night where it's dangerous, take it to go grocery shopping, come and meet me, go wherever you want. It's all yours, you'll have far greater freedom with it at your use."
He was convinced that it was a considerate favour. How can argue my case- that my pride was being tossed away in accepting this gift full of shamelessness by my standard?
In the end I turned in his arms to face him. We kissed and I accepted my fate and part in this dirty corrupted secret.
Perhaps I have already sold my independence as an individual when I'd agreed to sell my body.
"Your car, Madam." A masculine hand held up the keys and brought me out of my revelry.
"Thank you." I greeted the person and started walking out of the building, not meeting the person's eyes.
Another weekend passed and another spent in the arms of the affectionate Edward.
He was romantic in nature and always sought physical contact. In bed and mostly in our rooms he was always the soft comfort of a compassionate loving man, and outside of it when he gained his consciousness of the man he was, Edward Masen was a bastard of cruelty, spiteful and ruthless.
Being with him like so allowed me to see the true colours in his nature and added to the foreignness to Edward Masen.
Arriving at Masen Corps I parked in my designated parking spot, a few spaces away from Mr Masen's Aston Martin and took the elevators straight to the top floor.
Edward had left me in the hotel room early hours of the morning, proclaiming the need to be ready for a conference call too urgent to be missed by laying together with me a few more hours to see the dawn breaking.
I was determined to follow him suit a couple hours later when it was the appropriate time for a dedicated secretary to arrive at work, but dreadful nausea had been plaguing my upset stomach and chest for the past week. And so I was left with no other choice than to stay in bed longer than I'd anticipated and waited until the dizzy spell was starting to clear in my mind well enough for me to drive to work.
It led to time to be well over breakfast time and the majority of the hardworking force in Masen Corps was already parked in the building and in their allocated work area to start their working week.
Stepping out of the elevator I went to drop off my coat and bag by my desk and headed into the miniature kitchen that was equipped to see to the demands of making Mr Masen's drinks and making refreshments for visitors.
Like many times before, I began the routine by cleaning out the wasted coffee and started a new brew.
The smell of the strong caffeine early in the morning on an empty stomach seemed to bring forth a fresh wave of nausea. I tried ignoring the effects of my weak stomach and paused several times to contemplate whether if it was a good idea to start having breakfast more frequently.
Since missing breakfast the better half of last year, I found that I'd come to lose my appetite for the morning meal. Unfortunately I had yet to get back onto a better diet, but it wasn't something to be forced so I waited out the lightheaded moments accompanied by queasiness. It was not preferable, but it just had to be endured.
With coffee in hand, I entered his office to greet him good morning.
In reply, he gave me a nod and sent me back to my desk with a kiss on the hand which delivered his strong late-morning brew.
In effect, my senses became alarmed in contrast to the earlier numb and nauseous feeling, they refined the masculine yet clinical colours in the room, retouched my pulse and the thirst inside my throat. The pounding in my head pulsed and not subsided, but I held out and made it back to my desk.
The hectic Monday morning was a slow blur; checking numbers, filing papers, sorting out the input and output box, correspondence with the emails accumulated over the weekend- everything carried into the late afternoon when I seemed to have recovered from earlier faintness. Near home time was when the real work began and I was finally returning to a coherent frequency.
"Shouldn't you be getting ready to leave?" His voice carried from where he stood rooted next to the doorframe.
I looked away from the computer monitor toward him.
"Just a little bit more." I offered in reply. He needn't be troubled by my lack of efficiency from an ill morning.
"I'll see you on Friday." His voice was like velvet, wrapping around every one of his syllables. We smiled at each other like friends about to bid each other good bye for a long time of separation.
He was going on a business trip almost half way across the world to Germany, but only for a few days.
"Yes Sir."
"See you soon Isabella." He paced his way toward the elevators and my eyes followed, recording the way his fingers wrapped around the strap to his bag, one of his hands in his trouser pockets, measuring the steps he took and the distance between his movements. And I stared at his ass.
Before it was deemed too long to reply, I replied: "Have a safe trip Sir."
The doors opened immediately for him as soon as he pressed for the elevator button.
He gave me a firm smile before stepping into the elevator, ready to finish his working day.
I remained at my desk for another few hours before heading home myself.
At home, that night I made dinner for one as usual, enjoying the peace and solitude by myself.
Before going to bed, I read a few chapters of Shakespeare before turning off the lights to go to sleep.
Without Edward by my side, I held onto a pillow and dug my face into it, smelling the fresh linen and slightly musty cotton. My feet quickly got tangled between the sheets, seeking warmth and comfort that were hard to find in the mist of the duvet of years old.
The fabric was not as crisp as the ones I became accustomed to in the hotel, but the days I spent by myself in my bed during the weekdays kept me stapled to my world. It didn't allow my emotions to cloud reality, I knew that what Edward and I had in the weekend was an alternate universe, but parallel to my world, only for the weekend for as long as Edward was still interested.
In the weekdays, the days that I worked and when it mattered, I was a woman who worked hard to pay for rent and food, a life like many others.
My nights were dreamless but I was kept warm and safe in the shelter of my flat.
The next day, I attended work as usual, at the same time with the same amount of work waiting to be done. Everything was the same as if Mr Masen was in the office. Everyone was focused, efficient and professional as always- Mr Masen's army of workers.
Documents came in and went out of my station. Automatically, I sifted through to the important ones and emailed the scanned copies for Edward to read through and approve; the less important ones were left in a pile to be screened by him when he arrived back to work at the end of the week.
Working as close to a human robot can be, each task went by smoothly; all the numbers made sense, each word spoke to me as if like a friend rather than looking like a blurred puddle, voices were clear and rang out like a bell and even interaction with people from different departments were executed wonderfully. It felt like any employees' wet dream to have everything ran so perfectly; in my case it was a secretary's wet dream.
Moments like these when I worked alone in the office was when I got to appreciate my job. A huge sense of gratefulness overwhelmed me; to have the work security and to be able to work for a corporate of such high standing. A job opportunity filled with professional elites made the job easier to go to, there were results and order to each agenda.
I remembered a few years ago when I was working for the Washington branch; it wasn't painfully inefficient but it was a world away from the advancement in the Chicago headquarters- professional individuals were few and far between to be found throughout the entire Washington firm.
Memories of interaction with Mike Newton brought goose bumps to my skin.
The ringing sound from the phone brought me out of it and I scrambled to get the call.
"Edward Masen's office, how may I help?" I answered the phone.
There was a pause.
"Hello?" I asked into the phone.
"You're not my grandson." A soft voice replied, it was an elderly woman's voice- Edward's grandmother.
I'd never interacted with Edward's personal matters before; he normally dealt with all of his own phone calls and it was only when he wasn't schedule to be in the office that his line was directed to mine. And even then personal calls never came, this phone call was the first time.
"Apologies ma'am, I'm his secretary, Isabella Swan, and I'm sorry to tell you that he is currently on a business trip. Is there anything I could do for you?"
Another pause.
"May be I can take a message? Or I can get him to call you back?" Trying to be as smooth and professional as possible I had my notepad at the ready.
My pulse was running thick and heavy in my veins knowing that this lady had a hand in giving life to my boss, who also happened to be my lover- I use the term loosely. It gave me the chills whenever I read the word in books, stories and novels.
A lover was far too romantic and unrealistic. Such character only existed in fantasies and in the mind- there never is a true example of such specimen in the human society I am sure of that.
Shit, I'd spaced out.
There wasn't a sound coming out of the handheld device though.
"Hello?" I asked again, sounding like a superficial automated answer machine. I cringed at my tone- phones calls were always my downfall.
"Actually, you might be able to help." She finally answered.
"I'm glad hear that ma'am, how may I assist you?"
"Are you in charge of his schedule?"
It so happened that I was indeed in charge of Mr Masen's schedule for the few day that he was away.
"Yes ma'am." Though apprehension began to cloud my judgement- would it be naive of me to believe that this lady was indeed Edward's grandma just because she said she is?
I decided that if she asked me about his schedule, she wasn't going to get anything out of my mouth.
"Isabella,-" The sound of my name from her lips sounded endearing, like it was an endearment within its own rights. "-it will please me very much if you could pencil me and my husband in for a lunch date with our grandson sometime during next week."
That was easy, I could schedule the appointment and inform Mr Masen when he gets back from his trip. If he had a problem, he could personally call his grandma dearest to cancel.
"Yes, that will be no problem. Just hold on a second for me ma'am- I'm going to take a look on his schedule to see when he is free."
Soon we both hung up and a lunch date for Edward and his grandparents were booked in for the next Friday lunch time- apparently Edward's grandparents was visiting Chicago for a week and wanted to see their grandson once before going back to Alaska.
Grandma Masen was a nice woman once we got into conversation, though the call lasted a little longer than I anticipated for making a lunch appointment.
The rest of the day sailed on without obstacle- until a document arrived for Mr Masen marked urgent and confidential.
Under normal circumstances the documents delivered for Mr Masen was left to the side for until he arrived back to the office to review them. But it was labelled urgent so I made a move of initiative and opened the document to scan and send to Mr Masen.
The document was sent from a hotel which was a current Masen Corps project.
I quickly scanned the document and saved the files before sending them in an urgent email to Mr Masen.
With that done, I was finished for the day.
By the time I got home I was ready for bed as nausea and fatigue struck me again and I had felt ill since lunch time.
The next day I made eggs and bacon for breakfast and ended up trying to expel the contents into my toilet for a good five or ten minutes or so.
I knew it was not food poisoning as I'd always prepped my breakfast like so, and I'd been feeling like this for several times already. I must have developed a weak stomach or something.
Should I stay at home today? I asked myself. But at the cost of ignoring a day's worth of work? No mate, not happening. I told myself not to kid myself.
Since it was the day before Mr Masen was due back in the office and things needed to be organised before he got back in the office the next day- I had to be in especially today to get everything ordered and maintain my work of good office duties.
I'd just stepped out of the elevators when Stephanie, the department head from marketing was waiting by my desk, looking grim.
"Hey Stephanie." I greeted with a smile and started removing my scarf and coat. "How can I help you this morning?"
"Bella, I am sorry to disrupt you this early in the morning but this is urgent. Has Edward been answering your emails or calls in the last twenty four hours?"
I reassured her that her being there was no bother at all and proceeded to answer her that Edward and I had only been in contact through email. Stephanie was normally a cool bird and didn't raise alarm until absolutely necessary. So her being there with alarmed senses told me something bad was brewing.
"Do you remember the Alistair from London?"
He was a difficult client who faulted everything he had set his sights on.
"Yes, I believe I remember him from last fall?" To which Stephanie nodded.
"His company is being prosecuted for money laundering and bribery." One look said all.
Shit. Masen Corps had launched a joint campaign with them a month back. If Alistair's company sank, Masen Corps reputation will also sink along with it- to an extent but bad association was never good news.
"When did that happen?"
"It came out in the news yesterday. I've been trying to contact Edward ever since but he never replied."
"Hold on a second, I'll give him a call now."
The phone kept ringing but no one answered.
I checked my emails and found that Edward hadn't answer anything since three o'clock yesterday afternoon.
Another wave of nausea swept over me since the morning. I clenched closed my eye lids and onto the table, sitting myself onto my chair for the extra support.
That was not something I needed on top of a missing boss.
Looking up I saw that Stephanie was busy on her phone, glad that she didn't notice something was off with me.
It was getting to the point I was sick of getting sick. I hated being weak and physical illness was a good example of being weak. Nothing was worse than being incapable of working to the best of someone's standards.
Stephanie spoke in front of my face but I couldn't quite understand her words.
"Sorry what was that?"
"I've managed to arrange a conference call with Alistair's vice chairman who will be calling at lunch time, do you know if you could get Edward on the phone in time?"
That I was unsure of, but everything will have to come together eventually.
I dismissed Stephanie and told her I'll handle Edward. I sent her back to her office and got her to prepare a speech to be released to the press as soon as I got in reach with Edward.
After a dash to the toilets, I returned to my station and rang the hotel Edward was staying in and they informed me that he hadn't been sighted in the last day which got alarm bells ringing in my head.
It was unusual for Edward not to have told me about where he was or to not have contact from him for such a long time since we corresponded and he managed his empire at a distance for a few days through giving me orders.
Not that it never happened, but it was rare and it never happened during these critical times.
By late morning time, Mr Masen's cell had bound to be bombarded with a few dozens of recorded message and half a dozen of emails from me alone. I tried calling the hotel again to ask if they had organised transport for Mr Masen the last they had seen him, but was not hopeful as I already knew the locations from his schedule.
I contemplated calling clients he were meeting with to see if they had anything regarding his whereabouts- but what sane secretary would let her boss's client know that she believes that her boss was going missing?
Though at that point it seemed like a tempting deal- at least I would get a better idea of where he was last seen and whom he had been with.
By lunch time my anxiety was a roller coaster ride and I had already been to the toilet peeing more than needed in a day- I blamed it on the stressful morning.
"Still nothing from Edward?" Stephanie rushed out of the elevator quickly and hurried to my desk in her sky high heels.
"No." I replied helplessly. "Sorry."
I hated letting down colleagues almost as much as letting Edward.
"But the call is in a few minutes!" Stephanie's nervous emotions went up another notch.
"I'm really sorry." I sympathized with her situation.
"Well, I guess I'll just have to cancel. The thing is I don't know if we'll manage to get through to them again anytime soon, they are covered with their own problems already and as well as partnership with others and not only us." Stephanie seemed so defeated, I wanted to help as much as I can.
And on behalf of Mr Masen I wanted solve as much of his problem as I was capable.
"Since we've got an appointment, I think we should try to communicate anyways." I suggested. "See what their strategies for dealing with this are and see how we could go from there."
"That is a quite a good idea." She contemplated for a few seconds, a hand on her chin showed that she was deep in thought, trying to figure out if this will work or not.
"Let's go." I said not wanting to waste another second.
During the conference call, George, Alistair's vice chairman eventually asked for Masen Corps's support in help to clear the name by trying to secure our continued partnership. But since Edward was absent to make any serious decisions, Stephanie and I tried our best to not act like incompetent fools throughout our visual and acoustic interaction with George and nothing was cleared or solved by the end of the lengthy one hour conference call.
What I had was a written set of notes to type up and report back to Mr Masen when he decided to surface the world again.
Unfortunately, a planned half day at the office to organise matters into order for Mr Masen's planned arrival back into the office tomorrow was turned into an unplanned day of frustrating sickness and fatigue, forced lunch, an unproductive conference call, phone message recording, and a dash of mad email refreshing activity. And whilst still trying to organise matters into order ready for Mr Masen – it all soon translated into a long day at the office.
It was an hour and a half away from home time, I looked towards me pile of work and sighed a breath of relief.
I was close to finishing and I'll be able to go home and rest soon.
"Isabella." Mr Masen's voice flowed out of the elevator as soon as it opened.
"Sir?"
He was not scheduled back until tomorrow lunch time- on top of his unexplained whereabouts made me worried that he won't be back until after the weekend.
His suit was slight rumpled and his normally ordered hair was ruffled.
"How are you?" He asked.
"Same old sir, how are you?" I got out of my chair to go to him. "Want me to hold your bag sir? You look very tired."
"I'll be fine." He ignored my outstretched hands. "Get ready to report to me about the last few days of my absence. You have ten minutes to prepare, knock on my door when you are ready."
With that he stride straight into his room and closed it.
My hands were still outstretched, unsure of where to place themselves. Naturally, it would be to fall back to my sides, but I was a little shocked by Mr Masen cold eyes.
Quickly I brought myself out of it and scrambled to gather my notebook and the relevant files as well as his schedule.
A few minutes later I knocked on the door.
"Come in."
I opened his door and held my breath for a moment whilst I made my way toward his desk.
His eyes were on me, making me more self conscious than I already was.
My movement and eye coordination was never too-well. I stumbled many times through my earlier years right into my high school years and beyond. It was still a habit of mine, though less frequently nowadays.
My steps were observed by Mr Masen's piercing eyes and I found me limbs shivering from his intense stare. My heels were too loud as well- I wanted to screw myself up into a ball and shield myself away from Mr Masen.
When I got close enough, I laid the files in front of him.
"You're back early sir." I began the undoubtedly painful conversation. "Have you heard about the Alistair?"
"Yes, I've shortened my stay at Germany to go to the Britain. I've had a meeting with Alistair's lawyer and his shareholders."
"That's good news sir. Stephanie and I didn't know that you've already had it arranged, so what happened was we held a conference call with Alistair's vice chairman. I'm sorry you wasn't informed earlier, but things were in a rush and we couldn't get hold of you so we went ahead and-"
"Come here Miss Swan." He ordered. His tone was silent and took on a foreign dangerous edge, like a man ready to defend his land and honour.
The shaking in my wrists and hands increased, I held them close to me in order to hide my anxiousness.
Unsure of the reason behind his command, I bit onto my lips, nervously anticipating his ulterior plan.
Flashes of James's attack appeared in front of my eyes and brought on moisture.
Edward had never been violent before, but after James's attack a few weeks back, I'd been cautious of how violently men can turn within seconds of being roused.
I have done nothing wrong, but the fire behind his eyes told a different story.
My palms fisted into balls and I strode my way to him, toward his side behind the table.
Suddenly I felt like a scared little girl, wanting to beg my way out of a punishment. His eyes stayed on me, constantly monitoring me and measuring me. It was uncomforting and brought a new wave of tears to my eyes.
When I got to his side, he made eye contact and gestured for me to lay my notebook and pen onto his desk. I complied.
"Suck me." He said, intrigued.
Just like that afternoon in the office where I laid my head on his knees, I automatically positioned myself in the same position and stared into his eyes as I settled.
Unable to defy him and obeying his orders like the good, obedient thing he expected me to be; I got onto my knees and began unbuckling his belt.
I laid a kiss on his fabric-clad crotch before unbuttoning his pants and unzipped his pants.
His manhood was not quite beginning to erect so more work was expected to be administrated.
Looking up to his face I saw that he was observing me. With his torso laid back relying on his chair, both arms laid on their respective sides on the arms of the chair, his left hand supported his head sideways.
His eyes were questioning, troubled and calculating. Assessing and analysing something no doubt. It seemed to be about myself with the way his pupils targeted me and piercing into my skull, trying to reach my mind.
Both unnerved and aggravated, I pulled his briefs down to release him and began bobbing my head, working my way up and down his length.
Painfully, he grabbed my hair by the roots and toyed my head backwards, arching my neck and forcing his eyes on mine. His penis no longer in my mouth and my lips hanged open.
"Deeper." He commanded plunging me back to his length and entered my mouth.
The tip of his penis was deep in my throat and I wanted to reach for something, anything for help.
With both of his hands, he forcefully abused my lips and constricting airways. I choked on several occasions and began crying. But my tears were not enough to plead for his pity and he never released me from his grasp.
My lips were sore and my face were tear stained and mascara stained by now, I was sure of it.
Without a clue as to why I came to receive such a harsh treatment I wanted to scratch at his hands to release me. I wanted to hate him and I wanted him release me. I was trapped and I didn't think anyone could help me. I couldn't scream and I couldn't do anything other than to gag and feel the salvia running down my neck in parallel to my tears and snort.
I was helpless.
Then he stopped his forcefulness and tilted my head to see my eyes.
The pads of his thumbs reached to swipe under my eyes, trying to smudge me tears, I guessed.
In the silence of the moment, footsteps were heard outside in the office hallway and Mr Masen looked ahead straight away, trying to catch a glimpse of the unexpected intruder.
The door was slightly ajar and an airy breeze drifted into the room.
Still here mate?
When I originally imagined the last scene, it wasn't as harsh as I have made it. It reads like Edward has thoroughly violated Bella in what I have written, but anyho the gritty content stays. Of course I really hope this does not ever happen to anyone in real life. What I have written is purely for expression and not out of ill intention.
The story will start exploring more about what the description has promised, but it will be a slow burn.
Stay well everyone.