Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight. I merely play with the characters for entertainment. No copyright infringement intended.
Bella
You Can Do No Wrong
"Hello?" I answered a call from Kate, Cullen's assistant.
"Is Edward there?" Kate asked over the phone. She sometimes called me with messages from Cullen about the kid.
"I think so," I answered.
"He's not picking up his phone, and I need to talk to him."
"Okay," I said hesitantly not knowing what she wanted me to do about it.
"Can you find him?" she said not too politely. "Please?"
I made a face at my phone. Rude much? Kate wasn't usually this curt with me, which made me think something was going on.
Emmett was having his lesson in the library and I was waiting in my room. I didn't appreciate getting my mood brought down so early on a Sunday because of Cullen, and I stomped all the way across the hallway down past several rooms to his closed door.
I huffed and knocked. After a brief silence, I knocked again harder. I was just about to stomp downstairs to look for him when his door flew open. I gasped and the force of the door opening sucked the air around me and pulled stray strands of my hair in his direction.
There was Cullen standing in his doorway with only a white towel wrapped around his waist. Obviously, he had just come out of the shower.
The water droplets glistening on his bare torso and arms accentuated his lean, muscular figure. I blinked a couple of times and looked up at his face where his wet, tousled hair made him look dark and wild.
His blank expression changed when his brows creased.
"Uh," I said noticing the phone in my hand. I brought it up higher and declared, "Kate."
Cullen took my cell phone from my hand and brought it to his ear. "Yes?"
I stood where I was but put my head down, like that would somehow be equal to closing my ears to his conversation.
"I see…" he said. I let my sight trail from his feet up his legs to the towel, slowly to his abs. "And… no… definitely not..." he continued, while I discreetly checked out his arms. All this time, he was so fit under his suits, I had no idea. When did he have time to work out? Well, I had seen him swim, I guess. Yes, he had a swimmer's body, tall, lean, broad shouldered, and muscular.
My eyes wandered up to his face and I was slightly startled to see him staring right back. Shit, had he seen me checking him out? I wanted to tell him I wasn't lusting after his body, though that was probably how most people would see it. I was just surprised, that was all. Surprised and impressed, in a respectful way. Really…
"Okay," he said, seemingly to me, but actually to the phone. He backed up into his room and started closing the door. "I'll take care of it."
I was left standing outside his room, phoneless, staring at the door. I blinked a couple of times trying to figure out what just happened. I slowly turned round and walked back in bewilderment.
I was back in my room for a few minutes when Cullen came knocking on my open door.
He was dressed this time, in his usual dark suit and tie. His hair was still dark and damp, but less tousled. He had my cell phone in his hand and offered it back.
"I'm going to need you to come by the office later with Emmett."
I nodded. "After his next lesson?" The kid had his piano lesson at Ben's later today.
"No," he said. He put his hands in his pockets. "I'm going to need you to cancel that. I've already talked to Emmett about it so he knows."
Did this have anything to do with the phone call, I wondered.
"Okay," I nodded. I expected him to leave right away, but he just stood there. After a second of awkward silence, I tentatively asked, "Was there something else, Mr. Cullen?"
He inhaled and parted his lips as if to say something else, but instead said, "I will see you two later." I thought he was about to leave, but he abruptly added, "And skip lunch." And with that, he turned and left.
I opened my mouth to ask if he meant me too or just the kid, but Cullen had already gone far down the hall. I sighed and thought, forget it. I didn't want to talk to him any more anyway.
A little after noon, the kid and I were being driven by Seth to town to the offices of Cullen, Corp.
I looked down and to the side at the little passenger beside me. "You're dressed nicely today," I commented. He was dressed nicely every day, actually, but he seemed more prim and proper than usual. "Are you excited for your lunch with your brother?" I figured Cullen must have told him to dress up for some fancy place.
The kid looked at me like I was ridiculous. "Not really," he muttered. He crossed his arms and didn't speak to me for the rest of the ride, which wasn't an unusual occurrence.
When we arrived, Kate led us to the conference room. Emmett took a seat in one of the big leather chairs at the table. He was being on his best behavior, I could tell. He was never much of a rowdy child, but I thought being at his big brother's place of business held a different set of rules for him. I wondered if he took it upon himself or if Cullen had trained him this way.
Kate pointed to a garment bag hanging on a door and a shoe box on a table near it. "I had to guess your size," she said with a tinge of annoyance in her voice.
My eyes widened with surprise. "My size? What is this?"
"Your dress for the party."
"Party?" my voice went higher and louder.
Kate gave a sigh. "Yes, party."
I was incredulous. I looked over to the kid who had a knowing face. He seemed amused by my surprise. He no doubt kept this info to himself to see this exact reaction from me. I thanked the kid sarcastically in my head.
"And I'm expected to go to this party?"
"Yes," came a male voice. It was his.
Cullen was standing in the doorway, and when we all turned to look at him, he effortlessly strode into the room.
Kate and I unconsciously stood up straighter at the same time. The man knew how to put tension in a room.
He walked over to where we were standing and addressed me. "It's only for a couple of hours, and I need to take care of a few things while I'm there so I need you to keep an eye on Emmett."
I knew he was my boss, and the man was powerful enough to probably make or break my life, but I couldn't keep from showing irritation on my face. And I couldn't keep from saying what I said next with contempt. "Typical. You could've at least told me earlier."
As soon as I said it, I knew I shouldn't have. I had a simultaneous urge to both see and avoid his reaction. My curiosity won out. I stared at his face awaiting a response. I expected him to get angry or annoyed or even apologetic (though that last one was a long shot) but he wasn't any of those things. He wasn't anything, or at least he didn't let anything show.
I should've expected it anyway. This was his forte. I wouldn't be surprised if he made his fortune by selling diamonds he made from his tight ass.
No, this was not the time to be thinking about his ass, tight or otherwise. I was supposed to be mad.
"There was a change of plans. Couldn't be helped," he said.
I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. If that was true, then the phone call from this morning probably had something to do with it. He could've told me then, couldn't he?
I sighed. I supposed it didn't matter anyway. I was going to this thing whether he warned me earlier or not it seemed.
I tilted my head in resignation and asked, "And do I have to change?"
"Up to you," he simply stated and strode effortlessly back out.
My frustration seeped in as I inhaled deeply, and with clenched fists I let out an infuriated growl.
That bastard! He knew by giving me the choice, he was giving me no choice at all.
I was breathing heavily, letting off the extra steam when Kate unhooked the garment bag from the door, scooped the shoe box in her other arm, and directed me resignedly, "Come on, let's get you in this dress."
My breathing relaxed and I saw Emmett still sitting in his spot, with an amused look. "Come on," I said to him, drained of energy.
I didn't think the outfit I was wearing was bad at all. I personally found my black trousers and white blouse more appropriate for a nanny, even at a party, than this dress.
But I had to say, the dress was beautiful. It was nicer than any dress I owned, though it was slightly loose on me. But Kate had done a good job guessing my size, especially with the shoes. The shoes were amazing. I knew they must have cost a fortune. They were a pair of gorgeous electric blue platform heels.
And they matched the knee-length blue sleeveless chiffon dress. Personally, I thought it was too much blue, but if they wanted me to wear these, then I would. I was done fighting.
When I came out of the bathroom stall where I changed, Kate looked pleased. Emmett who was also there because I couldn't leave him unattended showed less reaction, but I noticed his eyes did get a little wider.
"How do I look?" I asked the kid. He shrugged his shoulders in response.
"Let's put your hair down," Kate said and pulled the clip that was holding up my hair. She then proceeded to fluff my hair and try to style it.
"I'm not trying to be a model here," I told her, willing her to give it a rest. She didn't stop.
"Well, it doesn't hurt to let people think you are," she responded.
"Yes, it does," I muttered stubbornly.
"Stop pouting," she ordered, which only made me pout more.
Kate then proceeded to put her makeup on me against my wishes.
"Not so much," I protested.
"Don't you want to look nice?"
"Not for him," I said with distaste.
Kate paused applying the makeup to look into my eyes. She looked concerned. Or was it sad?
Had I offended her? I knew he was her boss, but he was my boss, too. Yes, she had known him longer, but that should mean she would know better how awful he could be. Shouldn't it?
She didn't say anything, and after a moment had passed she resumed putting lip gloss on me. But the mood had definitely shifted.
Geez, was she in love with him or something?
I decided to inquire. "So, Kate, do you have someone you want to look nice for?" Okay, so that wasn't the most subtle way to get about it.
But she seemed to brighten up and blush at the thought. She really was very pretty.
She suddenly got shy, unlike the confident professional I knew her as.
"There is someone," she started. For a second the thought crossed my mind that it might be Cullen. "It's still pretty new, but I like him," she said trying to show less emotion than I knew was behind it.
Oh. So it wasn't Cullen, I thought. Unless… unless he's cheating on Tanya with his secretary? He wouldn't do that, would he? He seems so self-righteous, but I guess I don't really know him at all.
I was distracted from my thoughts by Kate's speaking.
"He's traveling right now, so it's a little difficult, but we're working it out." She smiled sadly.
So it wasn't Cullen. I didn't know why I felt relief. I guess it was disappointing to find out someone's faults. Though Cullen had plenty of other faults, in my opinion.
"Will he be back soon?" I asked.
"Hopefully, if something else doesn't come up. Garrett travels for work so you never know. He's done some consulting work for this company, too. That's how we met. I guess you could say Edward introduced us," she said with a reminiscent smile.
And then I felt guilty for thinking she was having an affair with Cullen. She was just feeling protective of him over my comment.
"I'm sure you two will be reunited really soon," I tried to reassure her.
When we were finished dressing me up like some doll, we left the ladies room, me very carefully as I was clumsy enough without having to balance on what were essentially mini-stilts.
I was concentrating on my feet and the floor when I heard a familiar voice say, "Bella, you look beautiful."
I looked up to see Jasper smiling. Damn, he looked good.
"Jasper."
"Hello," he greeted. "I see you're all ready for the party."
He then looked to Kate who was slightly behind me. "Can you ask Edward to find me before he leaves? Thank you."
Kate nodded and walked briskly down the hall in her heels, and I was a little jealous I wasn't as deft in my shoes.
"You're not going?" I asked him.
He looked apologetic. "I'm afraid I need to man the office today while Edward is out. But it looks like it's going to be a nice day to be out. I'll be green with envy while I'm stuck here all day."
"Oh," I said a little disappointed. Cullen was always a bit more bearable with Jasper around.
He gave me a sympathetic smile. "You'll have a good time," he said and placed a hand on my arm reassuringly.
I returned a weak smile. I supposed it shouldn't be too bad.
There was a ringing sound, and Jasper reached into his pocket to see the caller on the screen of his cell. "I have to take this, Bella, will you excuse me?"
I nodded, and he left to take his call.
Kate returned and let us know the car was waiting for us downstairs. So I took Emmett down first knowing I would need to move slowly if I didn't want to trip and fall on the way.
When Cullen finally came down, he sat in the front passenger seat while Demetri drove.
By the time we reached our destination, the sun had decided to peek out. It was looking to be a nice day, especially since the party was held outdoors at someone's mansion.
There were many people there already, spread about the great lawn. No one had told me this was going to be a garden party. Though, why should they? Apparently, no one told me anything anyway.
I saw some young children playing further away from the main party. The hosts of this thing must have hired a kids' party company and rented a bunch of bouncy castles and game stations, so I started ushering the kid there before Cullen could tell me what to do. I did not want to hear direction from that guy.
But getting across the lawn in new heels was not easy. I wondered if Kate considered this while making the purchase. I supposed she wouldn't have a problem getting across any surface in her heels. But I did.
So I took them off and with a shoe in each hand, I walked barefoot across the grass the rest of the way. I didn't look back to see if Cullen or anyone else was watching. (He probably was, and I didn't care.)
When we made it to the "children's section," I laid the shoes down on the side.
"Why don't you go play with your friends?" I told the kid.
"They're not my friends," he said grumpily.
"You mean all rich kids don't know each other?" I joked.
He scowled. Obviously, he didn't get the joke.
"So what, do you want to hang with me all day? That's not very cool," I tried to jest again. I didn't know why I kept bothering.
He looked conflicted. He didn't seem to want to join the other children, but he seemed to take my words at value.
I told him to hold on, and I walked to a nearby bin where there were various balls and toys laying about. There were a lot of activities planned and organized for the children, even though I saw that there weren't even that many. The hosts obviously didn't want the kids of this party to get bored or bother the adults.
I picked out a brand new soccer ball and a brightly colored jump rope and walked back to where my shoes lay.
I picked one of them up, walked a few paces, and put it down. Then I walked across past Emmett several yards and laid the jump rope stretched out in a straight line parallel to the invisible line I made with my two blue shoes as the other goal line.
I kicked the ball towards the kid and shouted, "I want to see how good your soccer skills are."
And he was pretty good. I took it easier on him, of course, but he certainly had more energy than me and was less prone to fall.
At first it was the two of us, but slowly some of the other children started joining us and we had to stretch out the goals to make the playing field longer. And then some of the adults, caretakers and even some of the hired party rental people who had nothing else to do since most of the kids were now playing with us, joined our game.
With more people running around, there was a greater danger of my shoes getting kicked, and that's exactly what happened. There was a small crowd of players huddled by the goal trying to kick the ball when one of them accidentally hit one of my heels.
Emmett ran to the young man and pushed him. Of course, Emmett came up to the guy's hip so he ended up pushing the man's thigh and he didn't cause any damage.
I pulled the kid away and apologized on his behalf to the man who was part of the rental company. He was gracious about it and apologized, too. I hurriedly replaced my shoes as goal posts with some other nearby toys lying about.
I took the kid and myself along with my shoes away from the game.
"You don't go around pushing people," I reprimanded him when we were out of earshot of the other people. "Even if they do kick your very expensive shoes," I added. I inspected the shoes for damage. Besides some dirt caked on the heels from where I sunk into the ground before I took them off, there was a dark scuff mark on the side of one.
In truth, pushing the person responsible might also have been my immediate reaction had the kid not done it for me. But that didn't mean it was right. And I was supposed to be the mature one in this situation.
He crossed his arms in response. I sighed. "I think you should eat something," I told him, and led us to where the separate tables with trays of food for the children lay. These people were determined to keep their children away from their business.
After Emmett and I had eaten, we found a pretty park bench in the shade to sit on because he seemed tired.
From the bench, I had a nice view of most of the great lawn. I noticed the soccer game had come to an end. When I looked all the way over to the "adults" area, I saw several of them standing in small groups. I couldn't really make out their faces from my distance, but I found Cullen by the color of his dark suit and his dark hair that seemed to shine in the sun. The man could be in a shampoo commercial.
He was standing with one other man with blonde hair in a grey suit. The blonde man was shorter than Cullen and was giving him his full attention. Cullen, on the other hand, had his body and head turned slightly to the side in our direction. He could have been looking at us, though I couldn't tell for sure. But knowing him, he probably was checking up on his brother and my progress. He probably knew exactly where everyone currently was in relation to himself. I didn't know why I thought that, but he seemed like a calculating man to me.
As I thought, Emmett was tired and had fallen asleep on my lap on the bench.
Some time had passed. The clouds came back and took away the sun. And most of the children had left the party.
I looked down at myself and noticed how dirty I had gotten from all the running, and falling, around. My knees looked like I had painted them with green streaks, with some dabs of dark red. I flipped the hem of the skirt and noticed some of my blood had dotted and dyed the dress where they touched my knees. I gasped. The blue dress was in a terrible state with dirt and grass and now blood stains. I gasped again when I inspected more closely the skirt of the dress where I could around Emmett's head on my lap and found a couple little rips.
I regretted not fighting harder to keep my own clothes on for this event. I hoped that surely Kate had not selected too expensive a dress for the nanny.
Cullen seemingly appeared out of nowhere while I was distracted by the sorry state of my outfit. I gasped again from fright and guilt.
But he seemed to ignore my "natural" look. Instead, he deftly scooped Emmett up and held him against his shoulder and chest without waking him.
I stood and I could feel the nerves in my legs waking up from their long resting slumber.
I could at least try to have a care for my appearance in front of Cullen, so I bent down to quickly put on the blue shoes when I heard him say, "Leave 'em off."
It surprised me so much that I didn't even properly register what he said, (surely he wouldn't tell me to keep my shoes off), and I continued to try to put my shoes on, but even more quickly.
I was standing on one foot, trying to slip on the shoe of the other when I lost my balance and started tipping over. I blame my legs being asleep, but who was I kidding?
I was waiting for my inevitable meeting with the ground when Cullen grabbed my hand and countered my weight to pull me from my fall.
I looked up at him in stunned silence. I couldn't even say thank you properly.
He started to walk away, and when I started moving, too, I realized he still had my hand in his. Cullen, still holding Emmett up against his chest with one arm, pulled me along with his other hand. I had just enough time to bend down to pick up the other shoe in my other hand.
I couldn't help looking at his back as he pulled me along the lawn. My eyes trailed down to where our hands were gripped together.
His hand was cool and firm. I couldn't really explain how his hand holding mine made me feel. His hold was sure, just like he always appeared to be, but somehow it made me feel unsure. But as confused as I was, I knew I was one thing for sure in his hands: safe.
Cullen led us down a side path lined with trees and leaves glittered with string lights, and not where we had entered from near the front entrance. I didn't question him.
The trail led down to part of a driveway where a black sedan was waiting. Demetri stood waiting beside the car, and when we appeared, he opened the rear side door. I expected Cullen then to let go of my hand to put down Emmett, but he guided me forward and only released me when I was seated first.
Demetri carefully closed the door to my side. The door to the other side of the backseat opened. I thought Cullen was going to lay down the kid next to me, but instead, he carefully seated himself still holding his little brother against his chest.
When Demetri was in too and the doors were all closed, Cullen softly and almost tiredly said, "Let's go home."
And I knew exactly where he meant.
