Chapter 25 – Is She or Isn't She?
Just so everyone knows, I took a few liberties in this chapter. I don't know anything about the classes in the FBI; it just sounded like something that should be taught there, lol. If anyone actually knows if they do teach this there or not, that'd be a good tidbit to know!
BPOV
What an arrogant ass! How dare he come into my office, fuck me on my own desk and then just write me off like I was just some trashy whore.
I knew his game. He was acting like he didn't care for me at all, thinking he could treat me any way he wanted to since he was suddenly my boss. Two can play that game. As I went back to my office, my chest felt tight and there was a lump in my throat – I wouldn't let the tears flow. So while I sat in my chair, legs propped up on my desk, thoughts of how I should play my next move swam through my mind.
I was trying to get over him. Granted, I did wear my sexiest lingerie today under my new little black dress and stiletto heels just in case he showed up to work today. Not that I thought I'd be doing the nasty with him on my desk, no less, but it sure made me feel sexy whenever I was around him. The man epitomized everything I was against, and I still screwed him. What was wrong with me?
It took everything I had in me to keep from sitting him down and asking him why . . .? Why would he turn to a life of drugs knowing his mother got hooked and eventually succumbed to them? Deep down, I knew he wasn't a bad man, but I knew he wasn't exactly a pillar of the community either.
Leaning up from my chair, I grabbed the wallet currently sitting on my desk. It wasn't surprising it was Italian leather; my guess was it set him back a few hundred bucks. I'd love to see the look on his face when he discovers it missing. It serves him right for treating me like some cheap whore earlier. I'd been an expert pickpocket for about ten years now. One of the FBI training classes was a course in Thievery or basically learning how to be a common thief.
When Edward had his pants down earlier, I saw that as my golden opportunity to do a little lifting, so to speak. When he left my office shouting a few orders on the way, I rummaged through it briefly, having every intention to give it back to him at the end of the day. However, when he rebuffed me earlier, he lost that privilege of getting it back.
Jerk.
The man certainly carried a lot of cash with him. I guess it just goes with the territory of masterminding the biggest drug ring of the South. There weren't that many pictures in there; actually there were two. One was of him and Emmett with their graduation caps on, so I assumed it was from high school. The other one was of a pretty woman about the age of forty or so. It was old and a little worn so it was hard to tell the exact age, but I guessed it was his dead mother. They had quite a resemblance, especially with the hair color and the eye area.
His driver license picture was interesting; it looked to be about five years old because Edward's hair was quite short, and he was wearing glasses. Hidden in a small opening of the wallet was a torn piece of napkin with an address written on it. I grabbed a sticky note and copied down the address before sliding the napkin scrap back into its rightful place.
Men must make a habit of writing things on pieces of napkins. Oddly enough, the napkin scrap unfortunately reminded me of James. Years ago, when we first met in the college classroom, he had slipped me his phone number on a piece of napkin from our university cafeteria. Now, it was ironic the current man in my life did the same thing.
A knock on my door startled me, but since it was closed, it allowed me the opportunity to hide the wallet in my desk drawer.
"Come in." I replied, after closing the drawer.
Alice appeared at the doorway. "Hey, Marie. Are you hungry by any chance? I was just wondering if you had any plans tonight. For some reason, I'm hungry for Cuban food. I think it was because I was watching the Food Network last night and that cute chef was on there . . . I forget his name, but anyway he made the most delicious looking Cuban sandwich and –″
I cut her off before she got even wordier. "Sure, Alice. I'll go with you. I'm getting a little hungry myself. Let me just close down a few programs then I'll be right out."
Truth be told, I needed a night away with a friend. Being holed up in my condo over the last few nights gave me way too much time to think. A girls night out is exactly what I needed.
I grabbed my purse after shutting down the computer and slid my chair in behind the desk. I went over to the door, but suddenly realized I had left Edward's wallet in the drawer. Knowing him, he would unlock my office tonight to check and see if I stole it, so I went back to get it.
Meeting me outside my office, Alice started in again. "Okay, I just did a quick Google search, and unfortunately there are hundreds of Cuban restaurants in Miami. I know which ones are my favorites, but I thought we'd try something new tonight. I'm not sure why I'm asking you this, but have you encountered any great Cuban restaurants since you've been here?"
I thought for a moment before answering her. I certainly did know a great Cuban place. "Actually yes, I do. Edward and I had our first date at a small restaurant down in Little Havana. Are you up for a short drive?"
"That sounds wonderful!" Alice was suddenly excited. She went and grabbed her purse, and we both headed down to the parking lot.
. . .
We reached the Versailles restaurant around seven thirty and the crowd had thinned out a bit, thankfully. Alice had never been there so it was nice to know I had the upper hand for a change. I looked around for Marco, the owner to see if he remembered me.
The hostess sat us in a nice corner while handing us the menus.
"This is very quaint. I find it quite interesting the illustrious Edward Masen knew about this place though. Speaking of Edward, you two sounded a little . . . cozy earlier. Are you two on good terms again?" Alice asked while perusing her menu.
My face probably turned fifty shades of red. "Shit. You heard that? Oh my God. I'm mortified!" My hand raised up to my mouth as my head lowered.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm just glad the two of you kissed and made up. It sure would make for a lot of tension at work. I'm sure you're glad too, right?" She shut the menu, laying it down on the table.
"Unfortunately, it's not that easy with us, Alice. He's obviously still pissed at me for the alias I gave him, although I can't figure out why exactly. Not to mention I'm still getting used to the idea of him being my . . . boss." Boss wasn't the word I really wanted to use, but I had to of course.
The server came up to our table bringing back a couple glasses of water. We ordered our food then Alice spoke up again.
"Uh, okay, then what were all those sounds coming out of your office earlier? I seriously doubt those spreadsheets are all that sexy, unless of course there are some porn pics thrown in there." Alice giggled, thinking she said something extremely funny or something.
"Well, if you must know, I believe it's called letting off a whole lot of sexual tension. Alice, I really don't know what to do. I really need to distance myself from him, but I can't, of course, because he's my fucking boss! I cannot believe I just said that. I am actually fucking my boss. Just shoot me now, please."
Alice put her hands on top of mine, patting them gently. "There, there, Marie. It's going to be okay, really. Technically, I guess he's your boss, but Emmett will be back in a week and Edward will be going back to his house to work. That makes it better, right?"
"Oh, yeah. That's a WHOLE lot better, thanks." I rolled my eyes at her as I took a sip of water. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Marco standing near our booth, talking to some customers. He turned to go toward the kitchen when I hollered at him.
"Hola, Marco!" I waved at him while he looked over his shoulder at us.
"Hola! Lo siento. No recuerdo su nombre pero parece familiar." Marco said that he was sorry but couldn't remember me even though I looked familiar to him.
Alice just stared at me like I had two heads. "Me nombre es Marie. Soy amigo de Eduardo."
"Ah, yes! I remember now. How is Edward doing? I miss him. I haven't seen him since you two were here a few months ago."
"He's good. He's working hard as usual though. I'll let him know I ran into you." I really didn't know what else to say. There definitely wasn't any reason to let Marco know we probably weren't going to make it as a couple.
"Edward is such a sweet man. You need to hang on to that one. He is very private though. Why he wants to keep everything a secret is beyond me." It was very noticeable that Marco truly adored Edward.
"How long have you known him, Marco? Were you friends with his family?" I might as well get as much information as I can from other sources who know Edward − especially since I wasn't having much luck anywhere else.
"Mr. Edward didn't want me to tell you this, but since you two are close, I don't see what the big deal is. Years ago, my restaurant was in a lot of financial trouble. Mr. Edward ate here quite often when things started to spiral out of control. I was just days away from closing my doors when a man from the bank came with a check. A very, big check. He said it was from an anonymous source, but I knew where it came from. There was no one I knew who had that much money but Mr. Edward."
Marco's face lit up like a Christmas tree when talking about Edward. He truly was appreciative of Edward's gratitude. My heart warmed at the thought of Edward anonymously saving this quaint little restaurant and his friend from bankruptcy. He had all the qualities of being a genuine, kind-hearted person, so why the hell did he turn to a life of crime?
Tears started welling up in my eyes which would start a floodgate if I didn't get a grip on myself. It was so easy these days for my emotions to be all over the map. What the fuck was wrong with me?
Alice handed me the table napkin, and I nodded a thank you. She must've been inspired by Marco's account of Edward's generosity, because it prompted her to re-tell her own story.
"When I first started working for C&M, I didn't have much money. We didn't get paid until after my second week of work and my rent was due." Looking over at me, she continued. "This was when he came into the office once in a while. It just so happened he was in the area of my desk when he overheard my conversation with my landlord. I didn't even know he was there until I hung up and was crying. He came up to me and asked me if everything was all right. I just nodded and blew my nose. The next day, I went down to tell the landlord I couldn't pay him just yet, and he looked at me like I was nuts. He proceeded to tell me it had already been taken care of for the next three months! I knew it had to be Edward because absolutely no one else knew about it."
I blew my nose in my napkin for the third time. Why did Edward have a heart of gold but a mind of steel? By that time, our food had arrived, Marco excused himself, and Alice and I continued our meal.
Alice set her fork down, looking up at me in the process. "Do you also know Edward gives his favorite charity two hundred thousand dollars a year?"
My eyes widened and my mouth made a slight grin. "No, I didn't know that, but it doesn't surprise me. Which charity is it?"
I picked up my glass of water while she spoke. "End Drug & Alcohol Abuse Center off of 35th St. He goes ther –″
As soon as she said end drug abuse, my mouthful of water sprayed all across the table – and directly at her blouse.
"What the hell, Marie?"
"Oh, my gosh, I am so sorry! That was a complete accident!" I really needed to get a grip on myself.
"Geesh. Can't you swallow or something?" Alice took her napkin and began blotting up the water.
"Wow. He's so generous with his money but yet can be a complete jerk. Do you know he has me working late every night this week?"
Setting the wet napkin down, Alice started rummaging through her purse. "Well, that's one of the things I needed to talk with you about tonight."
"I thought you asked me to dinner because you were hungry for Cuban food." I took another bite of my steak, which was excellent. It was so succulent and juicy, making me even hungrier.
"Well, I was, but I still needed to discuss work. Emmett called and told me to take you out to dinner. Apparently, he was too busy to discuss work with you himself for some reason. Anyway, he wanted me to warn you that with Edward in the office, things might be a little . . . hectic."
"Hectic, how? By the way, are you going to eat the rest of your plantains? They look awesome."
"Um, no, I'm not. I can see you must be feeling better. You're eating like a horse tonight."
"Yeah, isn't it great? So, carry on. What's going on with Edward?"
"Well, Emmett says it's never a good sign when he's in the office. He requires a lot of attention and expects his top people to work god-awful hours. That's probably why he told you to work late every night. Oh, and he told me to tell you . . ." she pulled out a piece of paper she got from her purse a minute ago and began to read, "the Maggiano family from the Hamptons will be here Friday night. He expects you to wine and dine them at some fancy restaurant. I guess they're some big - ″
"THE Maggiano's from East Hampton?" Holy shit. The Maggiano's were the biggest crime family in the U.S. since the Gambino's. Everyone knew that – except Alice, I guess.
Alice had a surprised look on her face. "You know them or something? Are they famous in the car world because I've never heard of them before?"
"Uh, yeah. They're really loaded, that's all. Why am I meeting with them?"
"Emmett says they specifically asked us to customize a couple dozen Bentley limousines. He wants you to oversee the sale; he has complete trust in you now. You must've made quite the impression on him and your work with our company."
I shuttered at the trust statement. "I'm surprised he hasn't asked Edward to wine and dine them. He is part owner after all."
Alice paused for a second before she spoke. "I'm not sure why he isn't going." She quickly changed the subject. The next half hour was spent talking about the latest fashion trends, celebrity gossip, and Miami's weather for the week.
I finished up my plate of food and went to grab the check lying on the table. Just as I thought, Marco comped it for us since we were friends of Edward's. We couldn't eat without paying anything, so the server got a really big tip.
We got in Alice's car since she drove us to the restaurant which meant we had to swing back by C&M. There was one more stop I needed to make before the end of the night however.
"Alice, would you mind stopping by the drugstore for me? There's something I need to get."
. . .
The rest of the week went by fairly quickly with Edward being his usual prick self - except for the day after he fucked me and then shunned me. That day, he was in rare form.
"What'd you do with it?" Edward asked me after barging into my office.
"Do with what?" Okay, I had a big shit-eating grin on my face. I couldn't help it.
"You know what. Give it back." An angry Edward was a sexy Edward. He was looking like a straight-up model from GQ magazine in his navy blue suit and matching tie. I loved the way his hands were fidgeting in his pockets.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Did you lose something?"
"When I came in your office, I had my wallet with me. When I left your office, I didn't."
"Hmm. You certainly did come in my office last night as I recall." I couldn't help stifling a giggle.
"Do you think you're being funny, Bella? I do believe I hear a hint of insubordination in your voice." A small grin was appearing on his face; one I would just love to kiss off of right now. I really needed to get past these naughty thoughts of him. Why couldn't my body and my mind stop betraying me for once?
"Is that so? I wouldn't come any closer then. We wouldn't want Human Resources calling the owner of the company about sexual harassment charges." I was thoroughly enjoying this conversation as I sat at my desk, crossing my legs and putting my pencil behind my ear. I also might have crept my skirt back an inch or two.
Edward walked straight over to my desk, leaned right over to my ear and whispered. "Honey, I'd like to see you try." He then took the pencil from behind my ear, tracing it ever so slowly down my cleavage, over my thin blouse and across my skirt, only stopping at my mid-thigh.
Wiggling up in the chair to show him I wasn't bothered by it, I grasped a hold of his tie and pulled his face down to mine. "I'm sure you would like to see me try lots of things Mr. Masen," I muttered teasingly, as my leg began to find his crotch. I rubbed up and down on it a few times until I knew it was having an impact.
His breathing got heavy when I decided I'd had enough fun. Pushing him away, I rose up out of my chair and opened the door for him. "I hope you find what you're looking for, Mr. Masen. I'll be seeing you soon." Glancing down at his little problem, I picked up a file and handed it to him. "Oh, if you don't mind, could you take this file out to Alice for me? I think she needs it – right away." My smile couldn't have been any bigger knowing that I had the upper hand in this situation today.
The look on his face was priceless. The bulge in his pants was even more so. He growled while grabbing the file on the desk and marched right out of my office.
After shutting my door, I went back to my desk and pulled my drawer open. I took out the sticky note where I had written the address from the napkin in Edward's wallet. I took my personal cell phone out and dialed Charlie.
"Hey, Dad! How's it going?"
"Great, Bells. How's things there?"
"I'm managing. Listen, you need to go have some of our men check out this address, okay? I'm not sure what it is, but I found it in Edward's wallet.
Charlie repeated the address to me. "Got it. Any idea who lives at this address?"
"No, not really. I just want to be thorough and not miss anything. What's going on with the shipment from the Caribbean? Are you keeping tabs on Emmett?"
"If things stay on course, it looks like we'll have them arrested by the weekend. Mr. Cullen has met with some pretty big names in the industry, and we've got it all on tape. The surveillance videos are top notch, and he has no idea he's being watched that we can tell. I really think we'll be able to finally nail these cocky bastards."
My mind drifted as Charlie kept talking. The weekend? That was just a few days away! I didn't know what to do. The perfectly rational side of me wanted to praise myself for a job well done. The emotional side was a completely different story.
Edward was a very complicated man. His demons got the best of him at a young age, taking control of his vulnerability all because of a mother who was so strung out she couldn't properly take care of her own child.
I cursed her silently. If she would've only paid him a little bit more attention, his life would've never taken this awful turn. Edward was a thoughtful, generous man. I'd experienced that like so many of his friends and co-workers have; but the sinister side, the side that consumed him for years, and built him this huge empire had a lasting impact. And I was about to crush all of it.
"What do you think, Bells?" Charlie asked.
"Um, about what exactly?" Damn, I must've been daydreaming awhile.
"You get to do the honors. You get to be the one to put the handcuffs on the man who's solely responsible for running drugs in the south for the past several years. Edward Masen won't know what hit him."
I let out a huge sigh. "Yeah, I can't wait, Dad."
. . .
One other unusual thing happened this week. There were voices outside my office door that didn't sound familiar, so I peeked out to see a strange woman talking to Alice. She had fiery red hair and was slender but curvy in all the right places. However, what kept making me stare at her was her outfit. She was wearing a trench coat and the spikiest heels I'd ever seen. Hell, this was Florida for gosh sakes. Who wears coats even in the wintertime?
"He isn't taking visitors at the moment." Alice adamantly stated to the woman.
"Oh, he'll see me. Let him know that Victoria is here, please." The woman took her beautifully manicured hand and slid it through her hair.
"Are you a client or something?" You could tell Alice was getting more pissed by the moment.
The woman laughed. Loudly. She obviously craved attention. "Um, you could say that."
"Hmpf." Alice picked up her phone, buzzing someone. "Mr. Masen, there's a . . . woman here to see you and she's quite aggressive. Uh-huh. No . . . okay, I'll let her know."
She looked this Victoria person straight in the eye which made me giggle. "He said under no circumstances is he seeing anyone right now. He's extremely busy."
Her face turned to fury, and she was pissed. "You didn't even tell him who I am! What kind of secretary are you?"
Alice stood straight up and stuck her finger in the woman's face. "The kind that's going to kick your sorry ass out if you don't leave. Do I have to call security?"
"For Christ's sakes! I'll just call him myself. How he ever hired you I'll never know!" She stormed off and stood in the corner while dialing her cell phone.
I came out and stood in the doorway to let Alice know I heard the whole thing. She didn't even notice me because she was grumbling under her breath and started slamming items on her desk every two seconds. Finally, I coughed which made her glance up at me.
She mouthed the word "bitch", and I nodded in agreement. I was still curious about her though, so I came out and stood over Alice's desk as if I were asking her something.
Who did this woman think she was anyway? Furthermore, what was she to Edward? My body started shaking a little and anger coursed through my body. Was he fucking her?
Eavesdropping, I heard her speak to Edward on the phone. "I was hoping I'd get to see you this afternoon." Oh brother. Her voice dripped of sex; anyone could tell what it is she wanted. "I didn't know I would need an appointment. I never have before, Eddie. What was that? I just thought you'd want, you know, a little fun. We haven't seen each other in awhile. I really miss you."
I stared at Alice and the look on her face was one of pity – for me. Or maybe it was an "I told you so" look, I don't know, but I was seething inside. How dare this woman come into this place of business and make a scene?
Alice knew I was mad, so she gripped my wrist tightly. "Let it go, Marie. She's totally not worth it."
Victoria spoke up again. "Really? You'll see me after all? You won't be sorry, I promise you, darling!" She slammed her phone shut and made her way over to us.
Looking me up and down, she gave me the once over and took her aggression back onto Alice.
"Well, ladies. It looks like I CAN see my man after all. Don't think I'm not going to tell Eddie how rude you were either Ms. . . . Brandon," Victoria said icily after picking up Alice's nameplate and slamming it back down.
Then she turned quickly on her heels, marching straight down the hall to Edward's office.
I swear if Alice's face could get any redder, it would've combusted. Our fury together could've started a war. I was playing with some files on her desk and furiously started rolling them together to give my hands something to do.
"Ooh, the nerve of that woman. Who does she think she is anyway? I swear if Edward is screwing her, so help me –″
I cut her off. "Please stop. I'm mad as hell right now too, however you warned me about him." If my pulse rate got any higher I was going to tell Alice to take me to the hospital. My feet started moving of their own volition, walking down the corridor to follow that bitch of a woman who was after my man.
Wait a minute. What claim did I have on him? Except the fact he told me he loved me once, he was a drug lord and all around bad guy, right? Wrong. This past week had shown me he was compassionate and caring. The money he made wasn't all for frivolous, material things but also to help those in need. Dammit! The jealousy building up in me overtook my whole body, making me want to go and beat the ever loving shit out of this woman.
Obviously, my heart felt otherwise because I was now at his door, listening in on his conversation with Miss Bitch herself. I knew it was wrong, but my instincts were telling me this woman was not to be trusted. Even though she had previously slept with Edward, for some reason, I didn't think she had the best of intentions.
I put my ear up close to the door and heard Edward's voice.
"What's so important that it couldn't wait, Victoria? As you can see, I'm very busy here, so out with it." Edward spoke to her angrily which delighted me.
"My, my. You're quite the stuffy one at work. I just thought that since it'd been awhile, I'd stop by and see if you needed a little – relief. You do seem really stressed out today. Is everything all right?"
"Everything's fine, Vic. I appreciate your concern but I'm really not in the mood. You've never come to my work before. Why did you come here instead of my house?"
That red headed slut has been to his house? I swear I wanted to slug her.
"Oh, I don't know. All this time I've known you, I'd never visited here before. I'm kind of glad I never have. Your staff is rude." Her voice was fading in and out which led me to believe she was walking around the room. Was she looking for something?
"My staff is paid to do what I tell them to do. They're under my direction and look out for my benefit." Edward's voice got closer to the door, so I backed away in case he was opening it soon.
"Well, that's ironic because I'm here for your benefit as well. It's been too long Eddie, and I desperately want you. You seem uptight, and we could help each other tremendously." Her voice was getting softer and more seductive. Suddenly, I heard some rustling of fabric and him growling. Or at least that's what it sounded like.
"Like what you see, lover? If I remember right, blue is your favorite color. At least it was the last time we were together."
The bitch must've taken off the trench coat and had nothing on underneath it. Smooth.
"Whoa, there. We can't do this. I'm kinda in a relationship now, and I hope you'll respect that."
"C'mon, Edward. You know I don't care about any of that. It's just a screw. If I recall, it's never bothered you before, especially when you were dating that nasty Tanya Denali."
He told her he was in a relationship. Suddenly, I got a warm, tingling feeling all over and my pulse slowed down. He did still care about me. Wait a minute. Tanya Denali. Tanya, Tanya, Denali. Where had I heard that name before? Damn, it sounded so familiar.
Quiet. That's what I heard next. Nothing but quiet, and it pissed me off. Thank goodness I had grabbed some files from Alice's desks because I knocked on his door. Fast and loud. And I didn't wait for him to answer either.
I barged right in because someone forgot to lock the door. There she was in all her glory: black and blue satin lace, garter belt, bra and panty set. The whole shebang. They pulled apart as soon as I opened the door; obviously they were making out and Edward's face turned bright red.
"Uh, Be-Marie. What . . . this isn't what it looks like!" He stepped away from her quickly while she looked over her shoulder at me with a big ass smirk on her face. The bitch looked like she actually planned for this to happen.
I acted as if I didn't see a thing and that it didn't bother me in the least. "Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Masen. I'll come back another time. I didn't know you had company."
Victoria giggled as if she was embarrassed, which clearly she wasn't. "Oops. This is a little humiliating! Edward, I thought I locked that door. It was my mistake."
I acted like I didn't hear a thing, turning around to bolt out of there as quick as my feet would carry me. Edward shouted at me to stop which I did, but only for one second. This whole time I held his wallet in my hand, using it as my excuse to barge into his office but when I saw him in Victoria's arms, I completely forgot about it.
"Bella, wait!" He looked remorseful, but I knew what I had seen.
Although the tears were streaming down my face, I still mustered the strength to stand up to him. "You left this in my office." And with that, I threw it at him as hard as I could, aiming for his face, but hitting him in the chest. Money started flying everywhere and plastic cards were falling out one right after the other.
"Please hear me out!" I heard him shouting at me down the hall, but I had already high tailed it to the ladies room around the corner. I locked the door and stayed in there until I knew he was gone. After ten minutes or so, I went back to my office and got my purse.
I left quickly without turning off my computer, but I didn't care. Alice gave me a look of sorrow which I returned her a look of one as well. Holding my head up high, my legs took me to my car in the parking lot where I broke down again.
. . .
It was now Friday, the day I was going to meet the Maggiano's. I had kept my phone off all last night not wanting to hear any ridiculous explanations from Edward. So far, I hadn't seen him in the office and neither had Alice. That was great because I was going to finish up a few things then get the hell out of here to get ready for this big meeting tonight.
There was no way I was in the mood for a big confrontation anymore. It was quite clear where we stood in our relationship which was fine by me because I needed to forget him anyway. Besides, probably by the end of tomorrow or Sunday I'd be throwing his ass in jail, and then he'd hate me forever.
During the morning, I had finished up my sales reports, emailed them to Emmett, copied Edward and reviewed the budget for the next fiscal year. My tiredness set in, and I hoped to catch a small nap. I said goodbye to Alice, and she gave me directions to the restaurant. As I walked out, she winked and told me to have a great time. Weird.
. . .
Touching up my makeup, I applied my light pink lip gloss and took a look at myself in the mirror. The dark circles were still noticeable, so I'd put cover up on them to avoid looking like I had just gotten out of bed. Sleep was not my friend lately. Even though I was exhausted coming home from work late at night, I had been tossing and turning ever since my conversation with Charlie about me hauling in Edward. How did I end up in this position? Better yet, how could I be so stupid?
I knew better and tried to rid myself of these feelings, but they just wouldn't go away. If I had only known who he was before, I could've stopped this whole thing.
Standing in front of the mirror in my bra and panty set, I glanced at my profile. Damn, I had lost weight! The constant throwing up back in Las Vegas must have done a number on me. I knew I had since gained my appetite back, but for some reason, certain foods made me nauseous. My main food supply at night had been ginger ale and crackers which didn't make for a great dinner.
I knew I had been putting this off too long. Blowing out a big sigh, I walked over to my bed and grabbed the pharmacy bag. Pulling it out, I turned it over and over in my hands. It isn't complicated to use, Bella. I knew I had to; I just couldn't bring myself to do it. How did things get so fucked up?
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Dum de dum dum . . . ! I LOVE cliffhangers – but only when I write them. Lol Edward is a jerk, I know. How are these two ever going to work things out – especially with the bust just days away? The plot thickens. Reviews would be so awesome – so awesome that it might spur me to post my chapter sooner than a week from now. Woo hoo!