AN: Okaaaay, slow down people.
So I got a few angry messages and reviews and that's totally okay. Let me clear the air, I am not abandoning Flights and Fates, I'm writing it side by side with this story. This is because I wanted to get more content out for you guys with the time I have whilst on my vacation.
The reason I ask you to review is so I get an engagement with you guys, its solely so I know that people are reading my story and that motivates me to write sooner and update soon as well. I have never asked for a certain amount of reviews to release the next chapter, I will always release the next chapter, I just wanted to know if people would be interested to read…even if it's one or two reviews, It lets me know that even for that one person, this story is worth writing.
I do apologize if I got off on the wrong foot with that.
For Flight and Fate, I'm sorry if it's going a bit slow, but the intention of that story had to end after the flight landed, however since a lot of people wanted to see their adventures in Barcelona I decided to extend the story. It's taking time because I need to think and write well because I don't want to deliver bad content. You all have stuck around since M&M and I don't want to let anyone down.
I hope that this story and flight and fates will keep you entertained. As mentioned before, I will be writing both of them simultaneously.
Again, thankyou for all the support. This will be the last time I write a big AN, I promise.
Now back to the main contents
Oh and someone asked me where I'm from! I'm from Sydney, Australia. And regarding the dates of the next chapter release, I accidentally messed it up (I'm on vacation and losing track of days). But it's been corrected now.
Okay I'm done, for real.
Stephanie Meyer owns the lot.
Bella POV
"He's what?" I heard her squeal and I tried to hush her down.
"Blind" I say and Natalie gaps.
Once Mike had taken copies of my portfolio, I was allowed to leave the building. He had told me he would call later to confirm or reject me. Either way, he would call.
As soon as I left the building I called Natalie, my best friend from university. She and I had made the decision to look for a job in New York together. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't have moved. She works with a small retail designer, hoping to start her own business soon. I always told her she should try for Cullen Couture, I mean Alice would be a perfect mentor.
But Natalie aspired less and wanted to make money faster, she had taken loans from the university and needed to pay them back. Until then she only encouraged me to pursue my dream of working at CC, but I wished we both could.
So here I was telling her about the ridiculous interview I just had. And she was as shocked as I was.
"So maybe that's why he doesn't get out much" Natalie says and I agree with her.
"I'm not sure the press even know he's blind" I say
"Wait, did he tell you he was blind?"
"No, but the way the interview went and he had his dark sunglasses on the entire time and I saw him walk out with a cane, it doesn't take a genius to guess"
"Hmmm, Bella what are you going to do?"
"What do you mean?" I ask and she sighs on the phone.
"What if you get the job, you'll probably have to babysit this guy" she says and I laugh.
"Don't be mean Nat, first, I'm not going to get it. He probably hated my guts the minute I walked into his office. But if I do get a call, I'm simply going to reject it" I say walking into a coffee shop.
I stand in line while waiting my turn. There are two people in front of me taking ages to order so instead of keeping Natalie on the line waiting, I continue the conversation.
"But Bella, getting into Cullen Couture is a dream for you. Are you really going to let this blind guy ruin that? Maybe you could get interviewed by Alice instead!" She says and I get to my turn to order coffee.
"One caramel macchiato please" I say to the barista, I give him cash and stand there waiting till he returns some change. I place my phone between my cheek and shoulder while I hold my wallet in hand.
"I know I know, but I want to do real work there. I don't want to be an assistant. I didn't do three years of university to become someone's assistant. I want to actually write articles and edit the magazine, not just bring coffee because he can't see where the coffee machine is. I could try with Alice but she's got so many people always around her" I say and the barista asks me politely to step onto the side as there's a customer waiting behind me.
I nod and turn back to apologize to the customer behind me as I move aside. But as soon as I see the flash of grey suit and white shirt I have a panic attack. My phone slips off my shoulder and falls. I don't have time to react, because the man behind me bends down and catches my phone mid-air.
He hands it to me, dark sunglasses still on and white cane in his left hand.
"Ought to be careful" he says a small smirk at the corner of his lips.
I take the phone and I can hear Natalie calling my name. But I cut the call, without saying a word and step aside waiting for my coffee and change. I watch as he taps the barista table and the same barista approaches him.
"A flat white Mr. Cullen?" the barista says and Mr. Cullen nods with a tight lipped smile.
"Yes, thankyou Andrew" Mr. Cullen says then moves aside placing his hand on the edge of the table as a guide. He's now standing right next to me. I try me best not to breathe. He doesn't need to know I'm there, I've already made the worst impression of myself.
I wish someone would just punch me.
"Do they not say thankyou in Forks?" I hear Mr. Cullen say, soft that only I can hear him. I know he's addressing me directly and I'd be a fool to try and ignore him now. I was trapped.
I mean I could run, but what good would that do?
"Thankyou" I whisper and he nods. I feel a rush of guilt, I was literally bitching about him and he probably heard everything. I felt guilty, awkward and just needed my coffee so I can erase myself from this situation before making it any worse.
"One caramel macchiato?" the barista calls and I feel like I had been saved. I waved at him and he gave it to me with a smile "Just wait a few minutes, I have to give you your change" he says and I want to just tell him to keep it.
I stand there a minute longer and I see Mr. Cullen tapping on his cane with his thumb. He's looking down at his fingers. I feel like I owe him an apology, I'm not sure how much he heard but whatever he did was enough.
I wasn't going to get a job anyways so I wanted to at least save what little bit of reputation I had.
"Flat white for Mr. Cullen" the barista returned and handed the coffee carefully to Mr. Cullen in his hand making sure he had a good grip on it. I smiled. There was something about that gesture that made my insides feel funny.
"Thankyou Andrew, put it on my tab" Mr. Cullen says and then turns to walk out the coffee shop. He doesn't talk to me at all, I don't know why I expected him to. The same barista returns with my change and I find myself walking out quickly to follow Mr. Cullen.
I watch from a distance as he takes a sip of the coffee and walks back towards the office building. He's using the cane to guide him but it also looks like he knows his way. I've heard about the blind knowing regular patterns of where they walk. The cane was probably cautionary.
I see him walk towards the main road crossing. An instinct in me walks faster towards him. Even though the crossing is a pedestrian one and traffic light is red where all the cars have stopped. A few people along with Mr. Cullen start crossing the road. I'm a few steps ahead turning back to see him walks and turning to look at the cars holding my hand up like an idiot for them to wait.
Mr. Cullen makes it out and then walks towards the CC building. I'm not sure why, but I kept following him. The crowd was getting more intense now with people walking in different directions I was almost loosing Mr. Cullen. I kept following the sound of the cane and his grey suit.
Made my way back to the CC building and I stopped a few metres away as he made his way into the building. Mr. Cullen sipped the last sip of his coffee then threw it perfectly into the dustbin before the entrance to the building.
How intriguing.
I turned away from the building and unlocked my phone, Nat had sent me a few messages asking if everything was okay.
I called her back as I made my way towards her office.
"Hey sorry, you're not going to believe what just happened" I explained all the details of the encounter I had and Nat had said only I could get myself into situations like this. She was right, I had that unfortunate luck.
I reached her office and she came down to meet me. Nat's a tiny petite girl with hazel eyes and hazel hair. She's the sweetest person, she helped get me through some of my tough breakdowns in university and she's always got my back. There would be nothing I wouldn't do for this girl. But all in all, Nat was fucking savage.
"So you blindly followed him all the way to the office? You know there's a word for that, it's called being a stalker Bells" she said pulling me into a hug.
I shook my head "Please don't make me feel even worse" I say and she smiled.
"You're okay now. It was a rough day, go home, make some tea and take a nap while you can afford to" she says and shakes my shoulders
"Green tea is not the solution to everything Nat" I say and she smiles content that I joined her green tea obsession after denying it for a whole year in uni.
"So this Mr. Cullen, is he hot?" Nat says winking at me.
"You've seen his picture online haven't you?"
"Pictures are deceiving babe, besides you saw the man up close, what's he like? Other than the obvious" She says and I feel a bit bad that she's constantly bringing up his disability.
"Hey, lay down on that" I say and Nat fake gasps "Oh someone's already defending her new boss"
"No, it's not that. I just feel bad for him." I say
"Well don't, he's the CEO of CC and he's got a million dollars to take care of himself. I'm sure he has people to help him change clothes and prepare gourmet meals for him. He's living the royal lifestyle, that whole family is. You shouldn't feel bad" she says and I consider her point with value. She did make sense.
"But I'm curious about something" Nat adds
"What?" I ask and she and I take a seat by a bench nearby.
"How did he get that successful? He runs a fashion magazine, I mean how does he even know how everything looks without actually being able to see?" Nat says
"He does have his brother and sister at his beck and call, so they probably describe it to him" I say
"Yeah but, CEO Bells, that's a big position. And for someone who's-"
I give her a stern look and she sighs
"Someone who's a little unfortunate.." she says sugar coating her previous slip up "he's got everything handed to him so easily"
"Maybe he's really skilled" I say
Nat gets up and looks at the time "Ah fuck, it's almost time for me to get back. And no Bells, it's just a case of nepotism. The world is dominated by it. We should have been born into the royal family, I would rather be a princess and have my own line of clothes than finish up drawings for this guy" she says, Nat and the designer she worked under always had disagreements. But he paid well, and Nat was desperate.
"But, it's worth a shot don't you think? I mean once you're in, you're in" Nat says repeating my favourite line from a movie.
I smile and nod in agreement.
"Alright anyways, I have to go home and look up for back up plans. I need to get a job by the end of the week and it's already Tuesday" I say sighing. Nat pulls me in for a quick hug and tells me she'll see me again over the weekend.
I say bye to her and then head towards the subway. Once on the train, I sit down and feel the wave of disappointment run through my body. I slump against the seat and sink into the feeling that I wasn't going to get anywhere.
Backups were the first thing I went for, CC was my main plan. Now, I had nothing left. I imagined what my life back at Forks would look like and I shuddered. I would probably marry my long time best friend Jacob, who's had feelings for me and who Charlie undoubtedly loves. I could try and love him, but never the way he wanted.
But my career looked like a dead end, all those years of studying, the exam break downs, it was disheartening, and an unsettling feeling sat at the pit of my stomach.
I felt my phone buzz and I looked at the caller Id.
Unknown.
I picked up the call and answered "Hello?"
"Isabella Swan?" I heard Mike's voice on the other line.
"Yes this is her" I say
"Congratulations, you've got the job. You have twenty four hours to confirm, after which you will have a meeting with HR regarding income and other information and you start your first day on Thursday" Mike says and slowly adds in a low tone "Good job Bella, I hope to see you on Thursday"
"Thankyou" I say then cut the call.
I stare at my phone screen unsure of what to do. I quickly send a text to Nat, hoping she'd give me the strength for the decision I already knew I was going to take.
I got it, I have 24 hours to confirm, what should I do?
B
Not even a minute later the phone buzzed again.
Take it, silly.
N
I smiled and found my fingers redialling the number, Mike answered the phone.
"Cullen Couture, this is Mike Newton head receptionist for Mr. Cullen, how can I assist you?"
"Mike..it's Bella"
"Ah Bella, did you have any questions?" He asked in a kind tone
"I'll take it" I say and there was long pause before Mike replied
"Are you sure?" He asked, probably noticing my hesitation "You do have twenty four hours to decide"
I thought for a second "Yes, I'll take it. On one condition, you'll tell me everything I need to know about Mr. Cullen"
"It would be my absolute pleasure, Bella. Welcome to the Cullen Couture family."
DUN DUN DUN
New chapter drops on 13th July 2019
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