The Firm
Thanks to everyone for reading and staying with this. Thanks also to everyone who takes the time to review, it means the world.
This is a little early, I'm busy tomorrow.
Dollybigmomma, you rock as beta!
SM owns, I borrow and play.
Chapter 20
Edward
With all the excitement of seeing and talking to Bella, I had forgotten about the two women at the bar on Sunday. Then out of nowhere, it hit me. I knew who they were. I knew I had seen them both before and I was almost positive I knew where from. They were Bella's friends from the bar that night when she first started here at the firm, I was sure of it. Huh, how funny was that? My two best friends were lusting after Bella's best friends.
I decided to keep my new-found knowledge to myself, at least for now. Jasper had promised to work on adapting the no-fraternization policy with me. He thought I should let him rewrite the whole thing seeing as I was the one involved with a colleague. It was hard to let it go. I knew if Bella and I stood any chance at all, the damn thing needed to go, or at the very least be amended.
My mind wandered to Paris often this week. I still felt insecure over the fact that Seth was there, and I hadn't heard from Bella since I saw her on the conference call Monday. I knew I was pathetic, but I just missed her. I wanted to hear her voice and listen to her tell me she loved me before she hung up the phone. I suppose I would have to wait until Seth left to speak to her again.
Tuesday dragged into Wednesday, and on into Thursday. Jasper arrived at my door, waving a piece of paper at me.
"What has you so chipper?" I asked him looking up from my work.
"I want you to look over the new policy and tell me what you think."
He handed over the page of A-4 paper and I started to read.
Here at Cullen, Hale, and McCarty, we pride ourselves on keeping our private lives just that, private. Being a small firm, we're more like a family, and this policy aims to ensure that the privacy of our staff is safeguarded, as well as ensuring a place of work where we remain professional at all times.
Any personal relationships between members of the Cullen, Hale, and McCarty staff must remain professional and not interfere with either party's ability to carry out their professional duties at all times.
All displays of affection and personal interaction must be kept to your own time, (for example, before the start of your day/lunchtimes/at the end of your day) and should not be forced to be witnessed by other members of the team.
Providing that the above rules are adhered to, Messer's Cullen, Hale, and McCarty have no issues with members of the firm's staff being involved in a personal relationship.
Should any interoffice relationships have a negative effect on any aspect of either party's work or pose any conflicts of interest, the partners reserve the right to terminate employment with no prior notice.
If a relationship should come to a natural conclusion, it is expected that a professional working relationship will be maintained at all times. If this is not possible, the partners will be left with no alternative, than to terminate the employment of both parties involved.
This policy will be reviewed annually by Messer's Cullen, Hale, and McCarty.
After reading the document, I looked up at Jasper and asked, "Are you seriously saying we should amend the policy to this?"
"Why not? It covers keeping things professional and makes sure no one shoves anything down anyone else's throat. I thought you'd like it. It mean's Bella can come home and you two can be together."
"It's a little vague isn't it? Isn't it also a bit hypocritical on my part?"
"Well, I wrote it so who cares? Look, Edward, you're miserable without Bella. This solves everyone's problem and makes for a more harmonious work place, too."
"I've been better since Monday," I argued sulkily.
"Barely, Emmett thinks it's okay so I only need your approval and we'll get the damn thing changed once and for all. We can email Bella her copy, she'll see the changes, and all will be well when she comes back. By the way, have you heard from Seth?"
"No, I assumed he was having way too much fun with my girl to think about contacting us. Why do you ask?"
"Emmett said he got a text from him, but it made no sense. Ask Bella next time you talk."
"Seth will be back by then. I'm sure you can ask him yourself."
"So can I have your approval of the new policy for relationships at work? I think it's far better suited to what we require. Yours was too...stuffy, pre-Bella, Mr. Edward 'uptight' Cullen."
"You're so funny, you know that?" I asked wondering if I should mention the woman from the bar that he'd had a moment with. "So, have you found out who your mystery woman is yet? You know, the one you had a 'moment' with in the coffee shop."
"Edward Cullen, I can't believe you're mocking me when I've just saved your ass from a long and lonely life without Isabella Swan. Should I just rip this up and we carry on as normal?"
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Hey, I wasn't going to say anything, but I'm sure I've seen those two women before."
"Oh yeah, where, in my dreams?"
"No, Jazz, I'm serious. I think, and I may be wrong, but when Bella first started here, I saw her out with some friends in a bar. The said friends were fairly wasted and Bella got rid of me pretty quickly. I think the women Bella was with that night might've been the two from the bar on Sunday."
"You think Bella might know the woman of my dreams? Why aren't you talking to her right now and asking for a name and address, a phone number at least?"
"Jazz, I'm not a hundred percent sure on this. I'll talk to Bella after Seth leaves and see if she can throw any light on my thoughts. I might be way off on this so don't go getting all excited, and don't tell Emmett."
"I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine, partner."
"My back is perfectly fine, thank you, Jasper, now go and let me get on with some work. The new policy is okay, at least for now. I suppose we'll have to play it by ear and see what arises."
With a nod, he left without giving me any further grief.
I was packed up for the night when I noticed a couple of unread emails. The first was from Jasper attaching a copy of the new "personal relationship policy." I clicked on it and read through Jasper's short note explaining that everyone should sign and save the new policy. The next email was from Bella. No words were under her heading of the new policy, just a red smiley face. I guess she liked it.
Tomorrow, I had a lunch date with my mum. We'd hoped to get together before now, but our schedules had clashed and Friday was the only day we were both free. I booked us a table at a small café bar not too far from the office. I smiled to myself, knowing I was in for the grilling of the century. I looked forward to it. I liked talking about Bella. I mean, if I couldn't talk to her in person, what else was better than to talk about her?
BELLA
The week had been…
How would I describe it?
Weird…definitely, surreal…you bet, and awkward…like you wouldn't believe. Had I enjoyed it? Well, yeah, but who would have thought? Huh.
So, after my one-on-one with Edward, I returned to my office, which I found empty. Strange, where the hell was Seth? I found him a little while later lounging comfortably in Nathalie's office, the two of them flirting for all fucking France. I felt immediately out of place and excused myself, going to back to my office to finish up for the day.
When I went to collect Seth, he actually dumped me with a flourish. "Nathalie will make sure I get back to yours a little later, Swan. She's going to show me the real Paris at night."
I didn't say anything, but I left more than a little stunned. I wanted to giggle, actually, and thought I'd better do it in the confines of my apartment. Oh, if only Edward could have seen what I'd just seen. I didn't even hear Seth come back. It must have been long after I gave up waiting and went to bed, which was well after midnight.
Keeping to our original schedule, I headed to the office early each morning and was back home before Seth emerged from his room. I played the good friend and didn't ask him what had happened on Monday. He would tell me in his own time, if he wanted me to know. I noticed that Nathalie waltzed around the office like the cat that got the cream. She'd definitely gotten laid. Ew, no way did I even want to think about that. Her and Seth, ew, that was just so…ugh.
The email from Seattle surprised me. I sat and read the new policy over and over before I electronically signed it and filed it for future reference. Jasper was a good friend. He'd taken this heavy burden from Edward and sorted it in no time at all. I would have to remember to thank him when I saw him.
I couldn't resist acknowledging it to Edward. I hoped he understood the red smiley face represented two things; firstly, my blush, and secondly, that I was happy the damn policy was no longer an issue.
The mole was still being quiet and it didn't help me one iota. What it did do, however, was give me time to really look into Nathalie's accounts. I was in the middle of cross-referencing them with the company's bank statement. I was no accountant and it was a tedious job, but surely it would unveil more clues. I had come across over a hundred discrepancies from the last two years and noticed a massive amount of money was unaccounted for, missing, gone without a trace.
I scheduled a meeting with the financial director, Gerald Buffon, for later the next day. Surely he must have noticed the missing funds since he was responsible for the company's accounts. I'd see if he could throw any light on the situation. I wondered to myself if I was getting any closer to the truth here at Nathalie's.
Seth wasn't here when I got back today. What the fuck? I had things I could have been doing at the office and him wasting my time was starting to grate on my usually-patient nature. A swift call to Nathalie at the office told me exactly where he was. She had left for the day, showing a friend the sights of Paris. Yeah right, she was showing that particular friend that sight of her bedroom ceiling no doubt. Once again, I cringed at the thought.
Friday dawned, Seth's last full day, and he was joining me at the office. Nathalie wanted to send him off with a bang. "I'll bet she does," I chuntered to myself as we walked through the revolving doors once again. I left him and headed off to my office where Gerald was already there waiting quietly.
"Sorry I'm late, Gerald. I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long," I grovelled in the hope it would get him to open up a bit.
I knew he was nervous of me. Nathalie let on a while ago that my confidence scared him to death. He was a mouse of a man. Nathalie assured me he was good at what he did, but he had no confidence, or personality.
He nodded and smiled shyly. An hour later, he was stunned at what I showed him. It would appear he was not aware of the embezzlement going on here. That or he was a really good actor. He was reluctant to give his opinion when I asked him who he thought could be responsible. He seemed more than a little afraid. He knew something, that was for sure. I knew I might need extra help with this. If the person or people responsible for this were scaring people, it could turn nasty when I cut off their "unearned" funds.
Before Gerald left my office, we set up new secure passwords on all the company's account information. No one but he and I would be allowed access. I had also arranged for new security passwords to be set up on the company's bank accounts. No one without the passwords would be allowed to even view the accounts. It was all I could think of doing for now. I needed to bring Nathalie in on all this, but she was too busy getting her rocks off with my friend so I left her out of it, at least for now. Come Monday, hopefully she would be back to normal and we could decide how best to proceed.
On Seth's last night, he didn't show his face and I was more than a little aggrieved. I had taken time to make a nice dinner for us and he stood me up, the selfish bastard. I cleared my mind and considered how best to address this. I wondered if he still expected me to take him to the airport tomorrow. I'd sleep on it.
It was later than I planned when I emerge still undressed the next morning.
"Morning, sunshine, we need to be setting off for the airport in about two hours so get a wriggle on, Swan," Seth said from his seat at my kitchen table. My question from last night was answered.
"Oh, you're back, are you? So, I'm good enough to take you to the airport, am I?"
"What's up, Swan, jealous that I've been getting some and you aren't? You need to remember that I offered my services to you first. You knocked me back in favour of Cullen, who I believe didn't put out."
"Have you heard yourself, Seth? Good god, I actually thought you came here to see me, spend some time with me, your friend. Correct me if I'm wrong."
"I did, Bella, but I had no clue Nathalie would be like she is. She's awesome, I like her. We just clicked."
"Is that what you call it? I'll have to remember that."
"Look, Bella, I'm sorry if you're pissed for whatever reason. It just happened." His childish smirk meant I couldn't stay mad at him for too long.
At the airport, he got a call from Nathalie and wandered away from me. I was glad. I didn't want to hear all their lovey-dovey shit. I waited patiently by the entrance to the departure lounge.
"I might be back sooner than you think, Swan. Nat wants me back pronto. She'll even pay for my ticket. I'll see how my schedule is at the Res and let you know."
"You'll not be staying with me next time," I told him straight.
"I suppose not. Nat will want me at her place."
"I might talk to Edward about you helping me out with something if you're going to be around anyway. Let me know your timescales."
"Okay, I will, and I'm sorry if this was awkward. I never meant it to be, you know. It was just...bang."
"I'm sure it was. Safe journey, I'll speak to you soon." I hugged him one last time before he walked slowly through the doors into the airport's departure lounge.
It seemed like Nathalie avoided me for the first few days of the next week. She couldn't put off seeing me anymore, though, as I had scheduled another meeting with Seattle via video conference in a few minutes.
I wanted to bring the guys back home up to speed on where I was in my investigation. Now that I had closed down access to their ill-gotten funds, things could get interesting round here with whoever had been bleeding the company and I needed Edward, Jasper, and Emmett to be fully aware. Nathalie also needed to be made aware of how much money had been syphoned off her bank balance.
She looked sheepish as she entered the room. We had not spoken since she'd hijacked Seth.
"Nathalie."
"Bella, do I need to apologise for my actions with Seth?"
"It has nothing to do with me, Nathalie, but he was here to see me. It was rude if nothing else. When he comes back, I've already told him he's not welcome to stay at my place again."
"I understand, Mon Cherie, and I apologise on both our behalves. I'm right, though, in thinking that you do not want him for yourself, no?"
"No, Nathalie, I have no interest in Seth like that."
The screen flickered to life and my heart and mind were suddenly full of Edward. He looked amazing. His hair was all over the place, like he'd just gotten out of bed, and his lazy smile made my panties very wet. He was gorgeous and I missed him like crazy.
"Hello, ladies, how are you?" he asked sitting down, never taking his eyes off me.
"Ah, Edward, we're magnifique, are we not, Isabella?" I nodded in agreement, a small blush rose up my cheeks.
When Jasper and Emmett also arrived, I brought them up to date.
"How much money are we talking, Bella?" Edward asked.
"Well, as far as Gerald and I can tell, more than two million Euros."
"Two million Euros?" Nathalie gasped at my side. She continued in fluent French with a whole load of what I assumed were other profanities.
"So you've shut access down?"
"I have, and only Gerald and I know the codes for the company accounts and the bank accounts. Nathalie, I can let you have them later."
"No, I do not need to know them. It's safer the less people who know, is it not?"
"It is; however, it's also dangerous. You've very likely pissed someone off big style, Bella, and you need to watch your back. Nathalie, make sure she's escorted to and from the apartment every day. I mean it, Bella; this could be just the thing to force our snake from under their rock, but it's incredibly dangerous."
"I know, and I'll be careful."
"Okay, so that now we know all this, do we just sit and wait it out?" Emmett asked.
"It appears so. Thank you all for agreeing to do this meeting. I thought it better to tell you all at once. I'll keep you all informed."
"Bella, a word please?" Edward wanted to see me on my own. My blood raced through my veins, eager to have this one-on-one time with him.
The others left after a series of short goodbyes.
"So, how was Seth's visit?" he asked getting straight to the point. I could tell he was still a little jealous.
"Okay, I suppose, but why don't you ask him for the details? I'm sure you'll enjoy his recounting of his visit."
"Oh, I'll be asking him, don't you worry. Do I need to be worried or kick his arse?"
"No," I told him laughing, "Quite the opposite, actually."
I could tell from his face he was dying to ask more, but he didn't.
"You'll be careful there, won't you? I worry."
"I know and I will be, I promise. So, how've you been this week? I expected to hear from you before now."
"I wanted to give you time with Seth. We said we'd talk when he came home."
"Yeah, I guess." I looked down now, not knowing what else to say.
"Are you okay? You seem a little off."
"I'm fine, overwhelmed a little I guess with what I've uncovered. I suppose I'm scared a little, too, wondering whether things will get nasty."
"Do you want me to come over and support you?"
"You don't need to do that, Edward. I think Seth is coming back soon. I was going to mention bringing him on board as backup."
"Seth's coming back? Why?"
"He'll tell you. He won't be staying with me, though."
"Really?" I could hear the smile in his voice.
"Really. So, how are you? I got the new policy Jasper sent."
Now it was Edward's turn to look down embarrassed.
"I'm okay, so what did you think of the policy?"
"Well, it's a hundred times better than the old one, but I still think I'll struggle with parts of it," I sighed.
"You do? What parts?" he asked sounding concerned.
"The controlling my displays of affection part. I want to kiss you so badly right now and we're half a world apart. How will I be able to resist when we're face-to-face in person?"
"Well, I suppose I could always make sure you're sufficiently kissed before work, top you up at lunchtime, and then again after work. How does that sound?"
"Like heaven. So you're okay? How are things with Mike? He was awfully quiet last Monday. Have you been picking on him again?"
"What? No, Jazz, Em, and I had a word with him, explained he was letting us down. We simply asked him to pull his socks up, it appears to have worked."
"Good, so can we talk this week? I miss talking to you more." I hoped I didn't sound too needy.
"We can, I miss talking to you, too. I miss seeing you, touching you, and most of all, I miss kissing you."
"Do you really, Edward? Are we going to be able to get us sorted out when I come back? I want to more than anything, but the longer I'm away, the more I worry it'll be too late."
"Bella, love, I can't wait until you come home and we can talk, sort us out once and for all. I'm not letting you go without a fight. I love you, I've never felt like this about anyone before and I want to explore it more with you. Please tell me you won't give up, Bella."
"Oh, Edward, I feel all the things you are, too, but I'm scared of the distance between us, the time apart. I want this more than anything, you know that. I guess I'm just feeling a little sorry for myself today."
"Well, how about I ring you later tonight when you're at home? We'll both be more relaxed and we can talk more, how does that sound?"
"Wonderful, I'll wait for your call then."
"Bye, Bella, and please be careful, I'll talk to you later."
Escorted home some hours later, I sat and waited for his call. I waited and waited and still my phone did not ring. What the fuck was he playing at now?
Any ideas? Let me know...