Disclaimer: I only own amazeball grades thanks to neglecting my personal life. Also, don't own Twilight.
The call had come at two in the afternoon.
"Congratulations. You're now part of the Cullen Incorporated family, Mr. King. Have a nice day."
Or something like that, anyway. Truth be told he'd been so surprised to hear he wasn't jobless anymore that he'd forgotten how the conversation had gone exactly.
It wasn't that he was inefficient or dumb. He was an excellent worker... but terrible at teaming up and, well, being a co-worker in general. Authority, he had no problem with. Peers, he abhorred.
They were loud. They interrupted his work. They didn't have patience for him even when he took the time to explain thirty times what he meant by a five sugars one milk.
More than anything, he hated how little they understood him.
It was always him fitting himself to their likes. Him trying not to be a bother. Him being the freak that couldn't get jokes even though he was a fully functional human being.
"Royce is so creepy," he had heard murmurs. "He seems like the type to go after little boys."
Children? The thought was insulting. Although he certainly preferred their easygoing presence to his awful peers'. At least kids were direct products of their environment and could still be shaped. Adults were the shapes they'd chosen to give themselves, and sometimes, those shapes were incredibly disappointing. Between a dumb child and idiotic, hateful, judgemental adult he'd pick a child any day.
Not for sex though.
He liked his partners brown-haired and buxom, if his previous flings had been of any indication.
Perhaps, he pondered, just like the woman approaching him right now.
No, not just perhaps, he thought, eyes locked in on her.
Exactly like her.
The day had started off normally enough for Edward. First he swung by Bella's cubicle with a hot cup of coffee, had his employees give him a brief report of the previous day's transactions and then proceeded to answer mails for what remained of the morning. Bella had taken him out to the local five stars restaurant, Jack in the Box, and they'd come back to work by one. Then Bella'd been sent off on an errand by her supervisor, complaining about how she had to go halfway across town, and shit had gone down from there.
"Mr. Cullen, there's a Tanya Denali here to see you," came Regina's nasal voice through the intercom.
Fuck.
Edward couldn't say he was glad to see her. Even after their first meeting the taste left in his mouth had been bad, like something was off. Tanya had spoken as though she had concrete proof of Royce's dealings, but had asked him to collect evidence. It had taken two weeks for him to hire the potential criminal, and in the three months the guy had been working here Tanya hadn't stopped by once. She'd sent a mail asking him to detail his experience while hiring Royce, but that had been it. No more contact, and how blissful it had been.
Still, reality always came knocking on your door.
"Send her in, Regina," Edward sighed, hoping that Tanya could hear the reluctance in his voice if she was near enough.
"Right away, Mr. Cullen."
Stuffing away a work report Royce had supplied for him during the earlier briefing session, he stood up to receive the agent from last time just as she was entering the office.
Face serious, hair tightly pulled back, and suit in pristine conditions, she briskly walked to meet Edward halfway and shake his hand.
"Agent Denali," Edward greeted, quickly pulling out his hand. "How are you?"
"Fine, thank you Mr. Cullen," Tanya said, and her tone made it clear she wasn't here to chat. "Take a seat, please. I'll be brief."
Why thank you kind gentlewoman, for allowing me to seat in my fucking office.
Yeah, seeing her hadn't put him in the best of moods.
He just showed her to the seat in front of his desk, going back to his chair. Not wanting to suffocate with annoyance and a knot, Edward chose to loosen the bright red tie in order to find some patience within himself not to kick the woman out. He hated being fooled, and he had a feeling he was being made a fool of by this woman.
"What brings you here then, Agent Denali?" Edward asked, leaning back and narrowing his eyes slightly. He had no intention to play games, and making his displeasure known was essential.
"Yes," she gave a sharp nod. "I'll be straight with you then, as I'm sure we're both quite busy people." She cleared her throat, crossing one leg over the other. "I need everything you've got on Royce King."
Edward frowned.
"I'm sorry, Miss Denali, but I don't think I have anything that could interest you. I've been monitoring his activities within the company and honestly, he's an exemplary worker. Always on time, never does any work but the one assigned to him. I haven't been able to find a trace of the cyberterrorism you're so worried about." He shrugged, noticing how as he spoke the woman got an increasingly deeper crease between her brows.
"You've wasted all this time then?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"Agent, I agreed to cooperate, not do dirty work for you," Edward scowled deeper. "I've done what I can as his employer."
The crease disappeared.
"Of course not, Mr. Cullen, but I would have hoped you'd have something by now," Tanya said, eyes flashing with an unsaid warning. "This isn't some groundless suspicion we have. Royce King is a criminal, and he is developing a software that could be very harmful to everyone around the globe."
"If you have grounds, why do you need me?" Edward challenged. Tanya's eyes flashed with anger, briefly, only to be hidden from him quickly. She was great at hiding her feelings, but Edward knew of better business people who could conceal murderous intent.
"All we have is word of mouth and material that is inadmissible in court. Which is why we need physical evidence obtained the admissible way." Tanya explained, her right eye twitching slightly. Apparently, someone didn't like being questioned. Good. Edward had found that one of his specialties was getting under people's skin.
"I c-"
"Edward?" The door to his office started opening, and a brown-haired girl poked her head in. "Regina wasn't at her desk, and Mr. Wayland needs a..." Bella trailed off, taking in the scene before her. Clearly, Edward was busy, and she hadn't even knocked.
"I'm terribly sorry," Bella said immediately, her eyes flickering between the stern blonde and the wide-eyed redhead. "I didn't know you were in a meeting, Mr. Cullen. Sorry for interrupting."
"Not at all," Edward said, standing up. "Miss Denali was just leaving. You got here just in time."
Tanya stood, and Bella took the chance to open the door a little wider, getting inside the room. The blonde fixed her suit in one sharp move.
"Mr. Cullen, I don't think I have to remind you what's at stake here. It's in your best interest to cooperate." Tanya said, and to Edward's horror, she didn't lower her voice. Shooting his eyes towards Bella, he tried telling her silently that nothing was wrong, but the teeth biting down her bottom lip spoke differently.
"I'll think about it." He bit back, then watched as Tanya left a file she'd come in with on the chair and walked out, not even sparing the intern a chance.
Bella shut the door behind her.
"What was that, Edward?" She asked, approaching him slowly. "What did she want?"
"Me." Edward nodded, but the look Bella gave him made him change his tune. "In a business way."
Bella pressed her lips together.
"She didn't seem happy with you." Bella commented, coming to a stop in front of him. "Everything ok?"
He sighed, not wanting to speak of the complexity of his situation. To talk of that would mean to involve this girl who made his heart rate go up and his brain cells dance. Worrying Bella would bring forth nothing good. So he was vague.
"Not quite. She's not happy I'm not more forthcoming with a bad deal I struck. I..." Edward sighed, raising his hand to caress Bella's jaw softly. It was clenched tightly. "I promise to fill you in when I can. Right now, you needed something from me, right?"
"Hello?"
"Agent McCarty? Hello, this is Isabella Swan. Is this a bad time?"
"No, not at all. Is everything alright? Did you already find out something?"
He heard a heavy sigh on the other end of the line.
"I... Can you tell me again what you need me for? What I'm here to do?"
"Just tell me anything you find out during your stay at the company that might be suspicious. Anything you witness, anything you read."
"Alright."
There was a moment of silence.
"... Miss Swan? Did you hear anything?"
Her heart almost rocketed out of her chest.
"No, Agent McCarty. Nothing so far."
Hey my beautiful people! I'd like to kick off by apologizing for the late update. I know, I know, I managed to upload a oneshot (check it out if you haven't, it's called The Words Left Unsaid) but that was because a) inspiration struck and I basically didn't study or go to the bathroom without my phone to write for like a week b) I had difficulty doing the new chapter because I have to connect it to the 10 k chapter I did further ahead and it ain't easy.
Leah.
P. S. I also spent an awful lot of time watching TS's new music video. Say what you wil about her, but she's an excellent entertainer and brilliant businesswoman. This was my unnecessary, personal, totally-unrelated-to-the-story commentary.
P. P. S. Also, a special thanks to snoopylover60 and ForeverRobsessed. Both have supported me tremendous amounts with the oneshot I posted. Debbie (snoop) posted about my fic on Facebook, and FR recommended it on one of her new stories. Thanks to actions so incredibly kind like theirs' The Words Left Unsaid got nominated on the poll for Top 10 favorite Twilight fics completed in August. Absolutely every single review and PM has stemmed from a place of kindness and I cannot tell you how grateful I am. Hopefully, some of you that enjoyed this fic will venture to read the oneshot. Again, thank you.