This was a mistake. This was a mistake.
Those words kept circling her brain as she carefully walked down the sidewalk, wobbling on the black heels she only wore for special occasions. She shivered as the December chill cut through her sheer black tights, her black skirt not supplying any warmth. She snuggled into her wool coat a little more, stuffing her hands down into her pockets, and attempted to quicken her pace, but between the snow covered sidewalks and her stupid heels, she did good to stay upright as it was.
Tonight was the annual Christmas party for her office, and even though she would much rather be cuddled up in her warm bed, she forced herself to brave the cold and make an appearance. She had always really enjoyed these parties that were thrown by the firm partners. In fact, there had been a couple times in years past that she had headed up the planning committee. It was her favorite time of the year, and she loved spending time with her friends at the office, just having a great time.
But last year changed all that.
She finally made it into the lobby of the high rise, and relaxed as soon as the warm air hit her. She slowly untied her scarf and made her way to the mirrored elevator to take her up to where the party was, and couldn't help but recall the memories from this time last year.
The party was in full swing, and everyone was well on their way to being completely blitzed. She was just getting ready to take another round of shots with the girls, when he entered her line of vision. She didn't remember ever seeing him before, but that meant nothing. Each partner was on a different floor, so someone could be working there for a whole year before you ever met them, and it was usually at something like this when you did.
He caught her staring, and walked directly over to her.
"Hello." He said in a smooth voice that made her already unstable legs tremble even more.
"H-h-hi!" She stuttered. A few of the girls giggled at her.
"My name is Edward." He said with an amused look on his face, as he extended his hand to her.
"Bella." She said in return, placing her hand in his. He slowly drew it up to his lips for a featherlight kiss, keeping his eyes on her the whole time.
And that was all it took.
They were inseparable the rest of the night. He called her the very next day and asked to take her to dinner that following night, to which she enthusiastically accepted. They spent nearly every night of the two weeks before Christmas together, including Christmas Eve.
She politely ignored her friends' concerns about the two of them moving too fast, and that this wasn't like her to get so attached to someone. All she could tell them was that 'this was different'. She could feel it in her bones, this was meant to be, he was put in the right place at the right time just for her, a gift from the fates.
A week later they were in a penthouse owned by one of the partners, attending a private New Year's Eve party. While Edward wasn't a partner himself, he worked so closely with them that they usually included him whenever they had any kind of social gathering. They mingled and talked throughout the night, Bella knowing some of the wives from other firm events was able to easily befriend them.
As it neared midnight, she went in search of Edward, but couldn't find him. She worried he had gotten ill, so walked into what she thought was the bathroom, but turned out to be a small office.
Not too small for him to have some leggy blonde bent over a desk and calling out to whatever deity he could think of.
She wanted to scream, cry, throw things, and unleash the anger and hurt throbbing through her body. But instead she just quietly closed the door, not letting him know she had seen anything, and left the party immediately.
He had called constantly, leaving messages begging her to talk to him. She would arrive to work and a bouquet of flowers would be on her desk. But she just simply threw away the flowers, ignored his messages, and when he tried to see her during work, the other paralegals would intercept him for her.
She wasn't necessarily mad at him. Of course he was an ass and didn't deserve for her to even give him the time of day, but she was more mad at herself. For some reason, this guy had caused her to completely abandon the person she had been before, even her friends had seen it. After just three weeks, she had given him her heart, and he treated it as if it was nothing. He was just another name on the long list of douchebag guys that she had come across. She couldn't put her finger on what exactly it was that supposedly made him different, but she was definitely going to watch out for it from now on.
The ding from the elevator brought her back to the present, and she shook herself away from the memories. As she walked down the long hall toward where the celebration was taking place, she took a deep breath and forced a smile on her face, allowing herself to slip into her confident stride. She wasn't going to let an old mistake keep her from enjoying her favorite time of the year. Besides, she had someone in her corner now, someone who had made her realize how great she really was, despite how she felt.
She opened the door and the sound of laughter and music was like a wall that hit her suddenly. A member of the hired wait staff offered to take her coat, exchanging it for a number, and then she went in search of her entourage.
"Bells!" She heard Angela call out loudly. She made her way over to the group quickly, and was welcomed by warm hugs all around.
"We were worried you weren't going to come!" Jessica smiled.
"More like taking bets." Leah laughed, rolling her eyes.
"Wow guys, thanks!" Bella said, laughing. A waiter silently dropped off several shots at their table.
"She's gonna need at least three more." Leah yelled after him, gesturing toward Bella. He nodded with a smile and returned shortly with a few more.
"Catching up, am I?" She asked with a smirk.
"That's right!" They chorused together. They all continued laughing and joking for the next half hour, when Bella noticed Angela looking over her shoulder at something.
"Um, Bells, it seems you have an admirer." She said with a knowing smirk and a wink. Bella turned to where she was looking, and couldn't stop her wide smile.
"Excuse me ladies." She said, attempting to sound calm and cool, but knowing she was anything but.
Bella turned, drink in hand, and began making her way over in his direction.
He was absolutely stunning. He wore dark jeans and a charcoal gray button up with black pinstripes, a stark contrast to his gold skin and blond hair. He stood nearly six inches above everyone else, but never broke eye contact with her.
"Hello, handsome." She smirked, looking up through her lashes at him.
"Well, hello to you, gorgeous." He said, matching her smirk.
They stood dangerously close to one another, bodies just barely brushing each other, their breath fanning against the other one's face.
"You haven't been drinking too much, have you?" He asked, a hint of seriousness to his tone.
"Nope, just enough to calm my nerves." She smiled.
"Good." He said, then leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Because I want you to be completely coherent when I take you home tonight."
She bit her lower lip as her eyes drifted shut, letting just a small moan escape her as her body involuntarily leaned into his. She took a deep breath and leaned back, opening her eyes again before narrowing them at him.
"Behave yourself." She said with a smirk, poking him in the chest. He opened his eyes wide in innocence and held up his hands in surrender. She just rolled her eyes and guided them over to the bar.
"So, is he here?" He asked quietly, glancing around the room.
"Don't know, and don't care." She said with a shrug, as she turned around to face him.
"Isn't that the whole reason we came tonight?" He asked as he sipped on his whiskey.
"It was until I saw you." She said pulling him closer, his face dropping down to hers. "Now I just want to take you home and-"
"Isabella!" A booming voice sounded in front of her. She jumped a bit, but plastered her 'work smile' on as Mr Newton walked up. He had obviously had quite a few drinks, and was looking her up and down very conspicuously. She just rolled her eyes, pressing herself closer into the man beside her, who was holding her protectively to his side.
"Mr Newton, let me introduce you, this is my…." She smiled and blushed when she considered how to introduce him. He just rolled his eyes playfully and smiled.
"Jasper." He finished for her, extending his hand. "Jasper Whitlock."
Mr Newton gave a weak shake, looking up at the man curiously, then smiling as if he realized something.
"Ah! You must be her brother!" He slurred. "That's why I haven't seen you around."
Bella and Jasper looked at each other, before breaking out into uncontrollable laughter.
"What?" Newton asked, furrowing his brows.
"I'm sorry sir, but no, he is definitely not my brother." She said after catching her breath. Newton's brow furrowed once more, but before he could strain himself anymore, he was called away by another group of attorneys.
"Wow, and he's a lawyer?" Jasper asked incredulously.
"-ish." She answered. He looked at her questioningly.
"He was grandfathered in." She said, shrugging her shoulders.
"I didn't think they could do that anymore."
She just rubbed her fingers together as the universal sign for 'wealth'.
"Oh, by the way, I meant to ask why were you so late?" She asked after taking another sip of her wine.
He clenched his jaw and looked straight ahead.
"Alice."
She bit her lip and looked at him worriedly.
"What now?"
"I just don't understand how something so small could so much damage!" He said, wincing.
"Oh God, what did she do?"
"The new bedding for the guest bedroom? Gone. Completely destroyed. Along with the new lamp I had on the nightstand. The shower curtain was pulled down and shredded, Oh! And the best part! I went to put my boots on, and she had taken a dump in one." He shuddered.
"I am so sorry. We'll get you all new stuff."
"It doesn't matter." He huffed. "She'll just destroy the new stuff."
"I'm so sorry, this is all my fault, I-"
"No, no no no." He said softly, placing a hand on her cheek. "I'm sorry, I didn't tell you all that to make you feel bad, I was just venting. It will get better, I promise."
"But if it doesn't, then-"
"It will." He said adamantly, then bent to give her a sweet kiss.
"Let's go say our goodbyes." She said smiling. "I think I'm ready for you to take me home."
As she turned away from him and started walking, she froze as she realized the one person she had no desire to ever see again, was staring right at her. Her stomach clenched but not in the good way. She let her eyes move smoothly past him, hoping he would think she hadn't even noticed him.
No such luck.
Within a few seconds he was in front of her, smiling that same predatory smile she remembered from the year before. She felt Jasper squeeze her hand from behind, which reminded her that she was not that stupid, naive girl. She just stared at him blankly.
"Isabella." He said with a smile.
"Yes?" She simply acknowledged. She heard a slight snicker from behind her. Edward slightly narrowed his eyes at Jasper, but looked back to Bella quickly.
"I was wondering if I could have a word with you. Alone."
She looked at him as if he had just asked her to recite the Declaration of Independence in Mandarin.
"No. Now if you'll excuse us." She tried to walk past but he grabbed her arm to stop her.
"Isabella please, how many times do I have to say it, I-" He gasped as Jasper grabbed his arm
painfully and pulled him away.
"Touch her again, and you won't be saying anything for the next month." He growled out, before pushing him away forcefully. Edward stumbled back, looking to Bella for consolation, but she simply regarded him with a raised eyebrow, and turned and left him looking after her. Jasper reluctantly followed her, staring at Edward, as if daring him to make another move.
"That was intense." Angela said when they made it over. Bella let out a shaky laugh. Now that her adrenaline was gone, she felt weak, but Jasper was doing a good job of holding her up.
"I really thought you were gonna let him have it." Ben said to Jasper good naturedly.
"Yeah man, I don't know that I've ever seen you that angry." Jake chimed in, scooting closer to Leah.
"You haven't seen him around Alice yet." Bella snorted. The girls giggled and Ben groaned.
"Are you still dealing with her? Man, I think it's about time to admit defeat on that one and cut your losses."
"Aww, no!" Angela said. "It takes time, you have to be really patient."
"I don't know Ange, I'm starting to think it was a mistake myself." Bella grumbled.
"No way!" Jasper jumped to the defense. "Listen, we'll get through it, ok? I love her, really I do! I tell you what, we'll look into some training classes for her first thing in the morning, ok? And with everything that she did today, it was all my fault. I should never have left her out of her crate during the day. I thought she would be ok by now."
"Jasper, I swear, it would not hurt my feelings one bit if-" She was interrupted by a quick kiss.
"Hush woman. I've said my peace, I'm keeping Alice. We're keeping Alice." He said, nuzzling my ear. Leah just rolled her eyes.
"Blech, whatever. Anyway, let me see it again!" She said excitedly, her mood shifting quickly.
The other girls looked at her the same way and nodded. Bella just smiled and held out her left hand while the girls oohed and aahed over the ring Jasper had surprised her with. Bella was never one to graciously accept expensive gifts, even if it was an engagement ring, so it was not completely unexpected when Bella got Jasper the little chocolate lab as an engagement present. He had told her he had wanted one for years, and for the most part he was very happy with it.
"So does this mean you'll be coming around for more of these functions?" Ben asked, hopeful to have someone else to enjoy his misery with."
"No, it just means I have a better excuse to not come around." Bella laughed.
"The only reason I was able to come tonight was because my schedule finally calmed down for the holidays, but Peter and I have been talking, and since we're both settling down now, we're thinking about cutting our caseload by half."
"What?" Bella jerked around to look at him in disbelief. "Are you serious?" She was always trying to keep it to herself that she thought he worked too much, but he knew how she felt.
Jasper couldn't help but grin.
"I knew she'd be disappointed." He joked with the other guys. "She's such a gold-digger."
He jumped with a yelp when Bella pinched him on the side, then pulled him in for a deep kiss.
The couples sat back and continued talking for another hour, before finally saying their goodbyes, promising to meet up one more time before Christmas.
That night, cuddled in bed with Jasper, and watching the light reflected in the facets of her diamond, she thought back to how horrible the past year had begun, a stark contrast to how wonderfully it would now end. And not just this year, but every year from now on.