RIDING THE RAILS

CHAPTER 28

DISCLAIMER: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and its characters. I'm just taking them for a ride!

Hello all! Yes it's me and yes here's another update without having to wait more than two weeks! As the riding season is drawing to a close I will have more opportunity to put into words my thoughts. Now, I may not have as much of an inspiration as riding on the back of a Harley gives you but I'll try! My mind has a tendency two conjure up things when I'm being "vibrated" (hee hee)!

As usual I truly want to thank Caz, Miss January and Jasper's Destiny for their wonderful assistance in making sure that I don't drive you all crazy with the grammar, rambling on and on and on. Stop it - Della!

Anyhow's – here's the latest. Hope that you enjoy!

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Bella stepped down to the platform and stood off to the side to let the wave of passengers exit the train. She had been advised to wait by the car for a supervisor to come and collect her to give her statement.

As she stood there, a number of passengers came up and expressed their gratitude and pride in her handling of the situation that Billy had called her to assist with. "That was kick ass," she heard one young man say as he walked by and saluted her. "Way to go Swan," another stated in passing. "Miss, you handled yourself exceptionally," an older woman said as she patted Bella's forearm.

Handled myself exceptionally… Bella internally scoffed. She hadn't handled it exceptionally. People had gotten hurt, and she wasn't sure exactly what went wrong and when. She closed her eyes and tipped her head to the side a bit to relieve some of the tension in her neck.

What in hell had gone wrong? she asked herself. She was so deep in thought that she barely registered that someone was calling her name until she heard it again and felt a light touch on her shoulder.

"Bella, are you okay?" The smooth, sultry voice that she remembered from yesterday brought her out of her musings, and a small smile pulled at her mouth. She turned to face Edward to ensure him that she was okay, but when she looked up at him her smile fell. In place of the playful grin he'd wore yesterday, and earlier today, his lips were pressed so tightly together they were white. When her gaze met his eyes, she stepped back. Gone was the sparkling green glint of mischievousness and in its place was a green so dark they seemed to blaze with fury.

Edward reached out and ran the back of his fingers along her cheek, stroking the tell-tale signs of a bruise as a wave of anger surged through him. He wanted her to tell him who was responsible for the damage to her lovely skin, demand their names, but he held back. "You're hurt," he eventually breathed out.

"It's nothing, Edward." Nothing that I haven't experienced before. Plus, I've had worse, she thought to herself. Bella watched a swarm of emotions pass over his face as his eyes roamed over her appearance. She noticed the trembling of his fingers as he pulled his hand away and the clenching of his other hand into a fist as he held it next to his side. A sense of being protected fell over her as she realized that this man, a man she hardly knew, was obviously concerned about her well-being.

"Swan," a deep, brusque voice called out. They both turned in the direction of the man that had called her name, and Edward stepped in front of Bella. The large, dark man approaching them put him on edge, and he felt an overwhelming urge to protect her.

"Yes, Laurent?" she answered. She stepped around Edward, looking up at his face in confusion regarding his actions. "It's okay, he's my supervisor," she said as she put a hand on his forearm and proceeded to step toward the man.

"I need you to give a full statement of what happened." Laurent said as he approached, his eyes raking up and down Edward, noticing the way that he was hovering around Bella, almost as if he were going to pounce on anyone who got too close to her. "Oh shit, you're hurt." His fingers lightly gripped her chin and turned her head so he could get a better look at her injuries.

"Head on over to the infirmary for an icepack and then meet me in my office for a debriefing." He then turned to Edward. "Were you a witness to the incident?" Edward shook his head in response. "Well, then, I guess we don't need to ask you to come along." Abruptly dismissing him, Laurent turned back to Bella. "Icepack, then my office in five minutes," he ordered and walked away.

"Arrogant ass," she heard Edward mumble once they were alone again.

"Edward."

"Bella."

They had spoken at the same time.

"You first," she said. She didn't want to appear to be rushing him, but she really wanted to get to the infirmary. Her cheek was starting to throb, and she knew from experience that a shiner was forming.

"I know we just met and don't really know each other, but . . ." He hesitated as he looked down to the ground. After a moment he ran his hand through his hair and raised his eyes to hers. "Would you consider going out for a drink with me tonight?" Edward held his breath, in hopes that she would say yes. He suddenly felt shy, a feeling he had never experienced before. There was something about her that made him feel like a teenager with his first crush. He wanted to take her out, but he also wanted to ask her about what had happened earlier in the other car and make sure that she was in fact okay.

"Edward…" Bella pinched the bridge of her nose tightly. The beginning of a headache of epic proportions was starting to make its way to the front of her brain, and she breathed out a small sigh. "I'd really like to join you tonight, but under the circumstances, I don't see that happening." She couldn't help but notice the disappointed look on his face. She knew that she shouldn't cave, but she couldn't take the hurt look on his face. He was only concerned for her welfare and wanted to get to know her.

"Sure. Okay, I get it." He turned to leave. "See you around, then," he called back over his shoulder.

I shouldn't do this; I'll probably regret it, she tried reasoning as her hand, of its own accord, reached out and touched his shoulder to stop him from leaving. "Edward, wait!"

He stilled his progress, took a deep breath, and turned to face her, hope clearly written in his eyes. She took a steadying breath herself. She was about to agree to go out with him, someone she didn't truly know. It's only a drink, Swan, for God's sake! But the longer she stood there, the worse her headache seemed to get. "What train do you take home?" she asked.

"I usually catch the four-ten, but I can take an earlier one if needed," he answered, with a bit of hope in his voice.

Bella quickly calculated the time it would take her to get home from her shift, clean up, and then meet him. "No, that's fine. You'll get to Elburn around five-thirty. You know where The Depot is, right?"

He nodded his head in answer while biting the inside of his mouth to contain his über-teenaged grin. I'd meet you on the moon if you asked me to.

"I'll meet you there around six o'clock," she told him.

His lips curled up in a smile, and he said that he'd be there, giving her arm a light squeeze before turning to walk away. His day was definitely getting better.

However, twenty minutes later, after he walked into his office, things took a turn for the worse. He was advised of a "last minute" meeting that Tanya had called. His assistant literally hissed her name as she gave him the message. Someone has obviously rubbed Angela the wrong way.

After setting his briefcase in his office, he grabbed the file folder for the latest client he'd been assigned to work with Tanya on and made his way to the conference room.

As he went through the office area, he noticed that there were fewer people around than usual. He had an uneasy feeling but wasn't exactly sure what was causing it. When he reached the room, the door was shut and the blinds were pulled closed. Hmm…this is weird, he thought. He knocked on the door instead of entering, in case there was another meeting being held in there prior to the one he was to attend, and he heard Tanya call for him to come in.

He twisted the door knob and walked in. What he saw when he entered the room stopped him in his tracks and he dropped the folder.

"What the fuck is this all about, Tanya?" he said as he held onto the door for support.

A/N: So. . . Hmmm . . . .

Let me know what you think!?