A/N: I am sorry that this update took a few weeks. I have not been in a good place recently, but I have gotten out of it. This chapter is very short, but there are some important things that happen that I hope it makes up for the long wait and shortness. Happy reading!
11. Business
Bella POV:
I remember the first job that I had ever had here, and how nervous I had been. The first assignment came within days of my hiring, it was for a wealthy bachelor who had a company party that he didn't want to show up to alone. My hands had been shaking the entire time that I was getting ready, my hair turning out horrible, but it had to do because I had no time to fix it. This was back before Angela and Jessica joined, so I was living on my own; those had been the good days. Don't get me wrong, roommates have their advantages, but I missed being able to go into the bathroom and not have things that weren't mine cluttering the surface.
He had been late picking me up, which just made the panic worse, and he wasn't exactly a nice guy. I hadn't met him before and if I had, he would have been going to that damn party by himself. I don't even remember his name, that's how memorable it was. He was a complete ass all night, his hands roaming, unwanted, to places that they shouldn't when we were dancing. I had never met anyone more cocky than him.
It didn't seem that I was the only one that disliked him. People went out of their way to avoid him when we walked by, some lunging to get out of the way. To top it all off, he tried to make a pass at me, offering to pay me extra to sleep with him. My drink "accidentally" ended up in his face. I fleeting thought that I could get fired for the passed through my head, but the next day when I walked in, he had paid me extra. He hadn't been back since.
"You wanted to see me?" I spoke when my shock had worn off. In all my years working for Alice she had never shown weakness before. The sight was unnerving.
She cleared her throat, smoothing her jacket, "Yes." she gave the man a look, but he didn't move. "I have job for you. This man needs a date for a party." Venom was clear in her voice, the man continuing to say nothing, just standing there watching our exchange.
"When?" I asked, trying to act like this was a normal situation. I eyed the man, who still remained unnamed, out of the corner of my eye.
"Tonight. Is that enough time for you?" she composed herself, arms going to hang at her sides. There was definitely something going on between them, she wasn't looking at him and he only had eyes for her.
"Yeah, that's enough time."
She turned to him, looking up at him where he towered over her, "Take it or leave it."
"Al.. Miss Brandon..." she cut him off, which if it had been on normal circumstances,would have been considered rude.
"I can't fulfill your request." she paused, licking her lips. "If not Bella, I have others. Even men if you'd prefer."
What the hell is going on ? I had never seen her be so rude to a customer before. I also couldn't think of a request that couldn't be fulfilled, unless it was sexual in nature.
The man sighed in resignation, "She'll be just fine."
"Great." Alice looked to me. "Give Mr. Hale your address so he can pick you up. If you'll excuse me."
We both stood there in her office, watching her leave. Neither of us said anything, an uncomfortable silence settling in. I chanced a look at him from the corner of my eye, him doing the same to me. I cleared my throat.
"I'll write down my address for you." I took a sticky note from Alice's desk, scribbling my address on it, almost to the point of it being chicken scratch.
He took it from, eyeing the paper. "I want to apologize for that. I know that must have been uncomfortable for you."
I shrugged, "Don't worry about it. I have seen some strange things. You have nothing to explain to me."
He smiled at me, a sadness in his eyes. "I guess that I will see you later then."
"Yeah, I guess so."
&7&
Edward POV:
The day had been long, too long. Everything that could have gone right had. The system went down, taking the whole day to be fixed, making deadlines that we'd had to have met today impossible. When I pulled into the my driveway, the last thing that I wanted was to go to my parent's house tonight for dinner. My mom had called me earlier in the day to ask me if I wanted to come over for dinner, and I had said yes. I knew that if I called and tried to cancel now, it would just cause her to guilt me into coming.
When my phone rang, I groaned thinking that it was work related, but happy to see the name of the person that I really wanted to talk to.
"Hi," my mood instantly lifted when I answered the call, a smile coming to my face.
"Hi. I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Bella asked, rustling coming from her end.
"Not at all." I threw my belongings on the couch.
"I just wanted to hear your voice. It's my first night back at work, and I'm nervous." she laughed.
I sat on the couch, "Why?"
"You should know why." Hawaii. She was nervous because of Hawaii. "It just doesn't feel as simple and uncomplicated as it once did. I never used to think about it before." I could see her running her hands through her hair, pacing around the room she was in.
"Well, I am going to my parents for dinner tonight," I sighed. "They're going to ask why you aren't there."
"I wish that I could be there." her voice was sad now, no longer nervous in sound.
"Me, too. Soon."
I heard her let out a laugh, "Soon. It won't be that bad. It'll be here before we know it."
A comfortable silence fell over us, both of us just happy to be on the phone with each other.
"I have to go," she finally said unwillingly.
"Okay. 'Bye, Bella." I didn't want to hang up.
"Edward!" her voice was panicked when she thought that I had hung up. "I love you."
I smiled again, letting the feeling of hearing her say those words fall over me. "I love you, too."
"I'll call you again soon." she sounded just as reluctant to end the call as I did.
We ended the call then, leaving me sitting in my dark living room. The house seemed extra huge in the days since I had come home. I wanted to sell it, nothing but bad memories were left here. A new place that Bella and I could start fresh would be nice. Once she graduated, we could go anywhere. We could even go back to Hawaii if we so chose. I could see us there now, raising a family together in the house that had changed us both so much.
Having a family was something that I had pretty much given up on when Tanya cheated on me. It took until Bella stumbled into my life for me to see that future again. I couldn't imagine her not in my life.
I forced myself off the couch so I could change before going to my parent's. I hated wearing a suit when it wasn't necessary. When I made it to their house, my mom met me at the door, a huge smile on her face.
"Well, isn't this a treat." she hugged me, "Where's Bella?"
Wow, she hadn't even let me enter the house before she asked me where she was. "She had some school work to do."
Her face fell, "Oh." She sounded far more disappointed than I imagined she would be. It was almost insulting, like she would much rather see my girlfriend then me.
"She'll be here next time." I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, walking us into their spacious front room where my father was sitting. "Where are Rose and Emmett?"
"They'll be stopping by later."
My father put down the book he was reading, "How's business, son?" He knew of the merger that my company had been working on for months now, asking me about it occasionally.
"Good, we're just waiting to hear back from to hear from them, but I think that everything is going the way it needs to."
Dinner was served not long after.
&7&
Bella POV:
I sat at the bar of the restaurant we were at, a coke in front of me. Mr. Hale had picked me up an hour ago and brought me to a restaurant that was filled with what I assumed were his colleagues. The place I was in obviously something that I could never afford, the piano music and dark stained wood telling me that.
"Who is he?" Mr Hale sat down next to me, holding a glass of scotch in his hand.
I whipped my head toward him, "What?" How did he know I was thinking about Edward?
He smirked, "You don't have to worry, Bella, the last thing that I am going to do is tell Alice you're dating someone."
"How did you know?" my eyes roamed his face, searching for clues to how he had known.
"You have a far away look. I know that all too well. I also know what is like to be in love with someone and not be able to be with them."
Light bulb went on over my head. That's why Alice was acting so weird earlier, they'd dated, it obviously not having ended well. "Alice."
Another smirk and a nod, "Yes, Alice. I knew her when she was working as an escort herself, before she opened her on business. I needed a date, and she was assigned to me."
My mouth dropped, "You hired her. You fell in love while she was working for you."
Another nod. "It ended when my sister found out what she did, calling her ugly names. Alice called it off after that. Until today, I hadn't seen her in over three years."
Suddenly all of Alice's insane rules made some sense. She didn't want what had happen to her to happen to any of us.
"Your sister sounds like a real peach." I commented, taking a sip of my drink.
He laughed without humor, "That she is. You know of Edward Cullen, right? Owns Cullen Enterprises. She's married to his brother."
I felt the blood run from my face. Mr Hale was Rosalie's brother, Jasper. The world really was a small place. "You're Rosalie's brother."
His glass stilled halfway to his mouth, "You know her?"
I nodded, not telling him how, but the expression on his face told me he already knew.
"It's Edward. You fell for Edward."
I gulped, things were getting interesting.
&7&
Edward POV:
I should have known that something was up when Emmett and Rose got there because she was way too quiet as she sat next to her husband. The ice bitch face was set in place on her face. My interest was piqued when she followed me into the kitchen.
"Where's that girlfriend of yours?" she leaned against the counter, her voice too calm.
I got some ice out of the freezer, "She had school work to do."
"Bull."
I spun to face her, dread invading me. "What?" my response was sharp.
"Bull," she walked within a few feet of me, "She's an escort isn't she?" my blood ran cold, the glass that I had been holding slipping from my hand and shattering on the floor, "I bet she even works for Alice Brandon."
We were fucked. Rose knew, and she wasn't not happy.
