Author's Note: Let's meet some of Edward's colleagues, eh? Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.


Chapter 52

Edward's Point of View

I walked into my office the next morning as briskly as usual.

"Hey, boss," one of my colleagues, Brian Hudson, greeted me. "What's up?"

"I told you," I said as I sat down in my chair. "Don't call me boss. We're all lawyers here. Equally." I narrowed my eyes at him as I grabbed a file from my desk.

Brian laughed. "Whatever, man. The Law Offices of Cullen is under your name. You started this thing, and we're just your employees. Whatever you say, you're our boss. After all, you have the power to kick us out."

Brian specialized in divorce cases between married couples. There were other lawyers in this office that specialized in different things, and we all worked together often on a single case.

I rolled my eyes. "Why is it that when you say the full name of this office, it sounds like you just made it up?"

"Well, you're in a bad mood," he observed. Then, abruptly, he yelped, "OW!"

I jumped a foot in the air.

Brian whirled around, grimacing as he backed away, his hand on his bottom. "What'd I do this time?"

I smirked as I looked back down at the file.

Rachel Perkins, our elderly secretary, was standing there, frowning. She was about sixty, and had been a secretary in the law offices for a long time. She was quite petite, even smaller than Alice was, and her low, husky voice was rather rough and harsh. She reminded me of those grandmothers that nagged you constantly.

But she was the best and efficient secretary anyone could have. She got her work done promptly, giving me no reason to fire her. In fact, she was constantly begging me to do so, claiming that she'd worked enough her entire life, and was ready for a retirement. But I wasn't about to let go of a secretary that did her work perfectly.

I'd learned to never take anything for granted. And letting go of someone that I wasn't even romantically linked with was something that I hated doing now. That one mistake eight years ago had really changed my perspective.

Rachel's hobby was to stroll around and make sure that everything was on schedule. We had fifty lawyers working here at The Law Offices of Cullen, not including me. And she usually went to one office to another to make sure none of my employees were having fun. And most of them, like Brian, got hit quite a bit.

Brian and Rachel were having a glaring contest. Finally, Rachel reached up on her toes to bang him on the head. It was quite an accomplishment, seeing how he was with a bit taller than six feet, while she didn't quite reach five. She was an inch smaller than Alice was.

"Ow!" Brian protested. "What'd I do?"

"That's for glaring at an elder, Hudson!" Rachel barked, her coarse voice sounding like an evil witch.

Brian sighed. "Why do you hate me, Rachel?" He sounded mockingly dramatic. He knew that Rachel was a sweetheart on the inside, but she just chose to be a witch on the outside to cover that sweet nature. Everyone in this office loved her, and regarded her like their real grandmother.

Rachel's expression softened as she chuckled. "You want to get on my good side? Stop bothering my boy."

I smiled as I signed on the file.

Brian snorted. "I'm jealous. Why is it that you love Edward, but you hate all those other boys in this office? I've never seen you hit him. Is it because he's your boss?"

"Of course not!" Rachel snorted, waddling towards my desk and dropping two folders on my desk. "Boss or not, he's still an immature twenty-year old!"

"He's twenty-seven, Grandma," Brian pouted, calling her nickname, and leaning on the wall. "He's the youngest in this office, I admit, but twenty-seven isn't exactly a baby. So why do you love him so much?"

"Because he's so lovable!" Rachel said, smiling at me affectionately. "Just look at him, Hudson! How can anyone hate him? He's so handsome and charming and a gentleman. Tall, generous, and intelligent. On top of that, he's rich and has a perfect background."

Brian pretended to vomit. "Why don't you two just marry each other?"

I smiled at her sweetly. "I love you, Rachel. You know that, right?" I winked at her.

Rachel laughed. "I love you too, boy. Look at him!" She turned to Brian. "So lovable. How can anyone hate him? Why can't you and the other boys be like him?"

I stuck out my tongue at Brian behind her back. He shook his head exasperatedly.

"What are you talking about, Rachel?" Brian asked. "We can never be like him. He's too perfect. He has everything."

"Nonsense!" Rachel said. "Anyone can be like him. And I know just how to do it!"

Brian perked up. "How?" he asked eagerly.

"Stop being a lazy butt and work hard."

His face fell. "Grandma…" he whined. He yelped again when Rachel kicked his butt again. "Rachel!"

"I told you. If you want to be like my boy, then stop being a lazy butt and get out of here. Go work! Don't you have anything better to do than annoy my son?"

"He is so not your son, Grandma! You've been married for one hundred thousand years, and you already have a son and a daughter that have already married as well! He is so not your son!"

"Get out of here!"

The door slammed behind him as Brian escaped. We heard him laughing on the other end as he went back to his office.

I smiled amusedly. "What would I do without you, Rachel?"

Rachel waddled back to my desk. "You'd be dead, of course. Those two files are new cases that called in this morning. And Eva Benson called me. She wants you to call her as soon as possible."

"Thanks, Rachel."

She grinned. "How was your Christmas?"

I hesitated. "It was…good, I guess."

Her eyebrows raised. "Something happened."

I sighed wearily. She'd lived long enough to know everything.

"Not really," I answered. "It was just a shocking Christmas Day. That's all."

"Didn't you spend time with your family?" Rachel asked. "What could be so shocking?"

"You have no idea," I said darkly. "You would be shocked too, if someone you haven't seen in eight years suddenly decides to drop by to spend Christmas with all of us." I sighed as I laid down my fountain pen and leaned back.

"You lost me, boy. Back up."

My eyes fell upon the various picture frames on my desk. All of them held pictures of my family. On one of them, Alice and Jasper peered out at me, laughing happily on their honeymoon. Emmett and Rosalie peeked out of another one, wearing baby blue-pink couple hoodies at the amusement park. Carlisle and Esme were sitting on the sofa of the family mansion's living room, smiling comfortably in each other's arms.

There was another one with Emmett, Jasper, and me together. Another one with Alice and me. And another one with Emmett, Alice, and me, laughing together.

Finally, there was a picture frame that I treasured the most. Because it held a picture of the one person that I'd loved ever since I could remember. My eyes lingered on it longingly.

How many times had I stared at her picture, wondering how she could be smiling so happily when I was in pain? Wondering when she was coming back. Wondering if I would ever have the chance to see her smile like this again.

Rachel caught me looking. She'd memorized where that one specific picture was placed, though she couldn't see from where she was standing. She clucked her tongue sympathetically.

"Are you telling me that your wife came back?" she asked.

I sighed. "Ex-wife, Rachel. Ex-wife."

She snorted. "Same difference. So? Did she slap you around or something?'

"I wish," I said wearily. "If she'd done something, I would probably feel a lot better. But she was trying to act normal around me. She's trying to avoid any awkward situations where it would remind everyone about what happened eight years ago."

"Hmph," Rachel grunted. "What was it like, seeing her after eight years?"

I groaned. "She looked so…incredibly good. If it's even possible at all, I feel like she's gotten even more beautiful. It's a miracle she's not taken already."

She grinned. "So we're not at a total failure with your love life." Rachel, too, had been concerned at my lack of interest in women, like my parents. "That's good, boy. Why don't you start over?"

I sat up. "That's what I'm going to do. I'm planning on getting her back."

"Good." She nodded. "I've seen you grieving for her for years now. It's high time you moved on from that depressing life and have hope again."

I smiled wryly. "Do you think I can do it? Do you think she'll even consider forgiving me?"

"If she's really that girl that you've praised and complimented so much in front of me, she'll take you back," Rachel said. "And besides, didn't you hear me earlier? How can anyone hate you? While it's possible that she hasn't forgotten about that incident, I'm sure she doesn't hate you. Didn't you tell me that you guys were like siblings when you were younger?"

"Yeah, but…" I shook my head. "I've always wanted to be more than just a brother to her."

"Ah, the things love does to people," Rachel sang. "Love is a beautiful thing. Good luck, boy. If she refuses to come back to you, talk to me, and I'll make sure she caves." She punched her fist in her palm. "No one can refuse me!" And she waddled out of the room.

I laughed quietly, then reached for my desk phone to call Eva.

"This is Edward, Eva," I said when she answered. "Did you want to talk to me about something? I thought we were going to meet up later to see the other witness."

"Oh, it's fine, Edward," Eva reassured me. "I've already called on her. She agreed to come on Friday. So there's really no need. I just wanted to tell you that in person. And…to ask you a question."

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"Your sisters from yesterday…"

"Oh," I said. "I'm sorry about that, Eva. It won't happen again, I promise."

"No, no, it's fine. I'm not offended or anything. It was nice to meet your sisters. But I was wondering… Are all of them your sisters? I mean, really?"

"I don't quite understand what you're saying," I said confusedly.

"Alice is your biological sister, I assume? And Rosalie is the fiancée of your older brother. Bella is your sister-in-law."

"Yes."

"The other two make sense. But how is Bella your sister-in-law? I mean, in what way?"

I blinked, bemused, but answered, "She is Alice's husband's younger sister."

"Is she really? I could've sworn I saw her before, Edward."

I raised my eyebrow. I finally understood. "Perhaps on TV?" I suggested.

"Why…yes! That was it! Is she famous, Edward?"

I smiled wryly. "A bit. I think the reason why she's so familiar to you is probably because you've seen her on the news with me a couple times. About eight years ago, perhaps?"

There was a beat of silence. Finally, Eva said, "Yes. I remember now. She is your ex-wife, is she not?"

"That is correct," I replied. "Is that clear to you now?"

"I'm sorry, Edward," Eva apologized. "I had no idea… Then your sister…?"

"Yes, she married Bella's brother. Quite a bit of a coincidence, really." I smiled. "Was there anything else you wanted to know?"

"No, no. I'm sorry for asking. It was personal. I guess…I'll see you on Friday, Edward."

"I'll see you then." I hung up and sat there, blankly staring at the picture of Bella.

I missed her.


AN: Difficult people are making our hero's life hard. But then, there are people like Rachel Perkins who give him consolations as well. That's good. Right?