A/N: Yeah, so I couldn't wait. LOL. I'm sure you don't mind. OK, so before you read this, just remember that I only have a cursory understanding of Washington State law. Did my best, ok? No fighting with me on details LOL. Anyway, enjoy. Heading to the office for the first time. Let's see how it goes, shall we?

Chapter 9

Sunday passed by in a blur of activity. After lunch, I settled down in the kitchen and started cookies. Edward had run to the gym, telling me he would be back in a couple hours, so I concentrated on moving around so I didn't let my nerves overwhelm me.

The last load of laundry was in the dryer when the first batch of cookies came out of the oven. I pulled them off the sheet, set the next batch in the oven and then moved back to the crock pot. I had put a beef and vegetable stew in there in the morning for dinner. I realized that I should have just made something that didn't need to cook for so long, then my hands would have been busy at least.

Since I had sort of screwed myself on dinner prep, while the cookies were baking and the laundry was drying, I decided to start cleaning the apartment. I started in the master bathroom. Those were always dirty right? Though it had been cleaned before we moved in so I probably didn't have anything legitimate to clean. But I really needed to keep moving. My nerves were all over the place.

I was pulling the last batch of cookies out of the oven when Edward walked in. He set his gym bag down and walked into the kitchen, his nose in the air. "Holy shit, Bella. What is that amazing smell?"

I snorted, handing him a cookie on a napkin. He took it and ate it greedily, reaching for two more. "It's a mixture of chocolate chip cookies, beef stew, laundry soap and lemon scented pledge."

He looked at my questioningly, so I continued. "When I'm nervous I can't really sit still. I need to do something with my hands, or I go crazy. So, after you left, I made the cookies, finished my laundry, picked out clothes for tomorrow and cleaned both bathrooms and the kitchen."

"Damn," he said, looking around, just noticing how clean everything was. "Well, I guess I don't have to worry about you being a slob, huh?" He laughed, kissing my cheek. "These are really good, baby, thank you." He sat down at the bar. "What are you nervous about?"

"Meeting my boss tomorrow. Going to a new office. Everyone asking me why I moved." I bit my lip. "Seeing you in the elevator and not being able to stop from kissing you."

He laughed, which was not the reaction I was expecting. "I was thinking about that at the gym today. I am so used to being around you, I was worrying that I would forget we are at work and just say 'hey baby' and give you a kiss in front of everyone." He took another bite of the cookie in his hand. "I think that's totally understandable, the rest of it anyway. Rose is great, though, so don't worry about meeting her. I think you guys will get along just fine.

"As for what to tell people, I'm not really sure. That sort of needs to be your decision, right?"

"Do people know you are getting divorced?"

He shook his head. "My new boss and that's it. Only because he overheard me on the phone with my attorney setting up our meeting. I don't really socialize with people I work with, other than the occasional office party, or Christmas party."

"Oh, Christmas party! I haven't been to one of those in years. Are they having one this year?"

"As far as I know. By then, maybe we can tell people we are together. That's like 8 months away." He popped the rest of the cookie in his mouth. "Did you say we have beef stew for dinner?"

I laughed, throwing my head back, and turning to check the stew. "You only love me because of my cooking. Just hold on a moment, I'll get you a bowl."

Suddenly his arms were around me, pulling me back from the counter. "I love you for so many reasons; your cooking is just a perk." He kissed my neck and shoulder. "Hey, baby. I missed you."

"I missed you, too." I turned so I could kiss him. "Just promise me something."

"What's that?"

"You won't greet me like that at work." He laughed, letting his head fall to my shoulder.

By the next morning, my nerves were better. Now I was just excited to get there. Edward and I decided that he would still drive to work for a while, so that no one got suspicious about us showing up at the same time. By 7:30 I was ready and out the door. Alice had caved when I explained I was going to walk to work most days and let me get flats. They were pretty comfortable, but I'd see how it went. I had thrown some tennis shoes in my bag just in case.

We discussed the furniture arriving today while we ate breakfast. Edward said he had let the Property Management company know and they would be able to let the deliverymen in while we were at work. I hadn't thought that far ahead, so I was thankful that Edward had.

Edward gave me a kiss before I left, promising that he wouldn't kiss me again until we were both home. I chuckled at his joke, but kissed him a second time. I was getting used to him being around, and honestly, I was concerned about how much I was going to miss him. Even if it was only for the work day.

The walk to the office was only fifteen minutes, so I was there in record time. I walked into the building, signed in at the front desk and waited for my boss to come get me. I didn't have an access key, but would get one today. I waited a few minutes until a tall, gorgeous blonde walked into the lobby.

"Bella?" she asked, stepping up to where I'm sitting. I tried to keep my mouth from falling open.

"Rose?"

"Yeah, oh this is so great. I'm so glad you are here! Please, come on up. Let me show you your desk and introduce you to everyone." She looked intimidating as hell, but she was really nice. I had gotten that from the interactions I had from her before I had moved.

She took me through the hallway to the elevators and then up to our floor. I'd been there a couple times before of course, but it still felt brand new. This time I was staying, which did feel really strange.

"So, I understand from Edward that you have been working from home for several years?" Rose asked as we stepped in the elevator.

Trying to figure out why Edward would have talked to Rose about me, I said, "Yes, that's true. Almost eight actually. I started when the Roseville office was still around. When they closed the office, I was given a choice, and I opted to work from home."

"Oh, wow! How long have you worked here then?"

"Ten years last November." I shuffled my bag. "I started when I was in college as a part time employee. But I was made full time once I graduated."

We chatted as she led me through the office toward the back wall. Once there, she showed me to my desk so I could place my stuff down. I glanced around noticing several name plates that I recognized; I had worked with many of the people around me, so that was positive. At least they were people I knew.

"Now, I don't know about you but there are two things I have to know when I start in a new office. Coffee and then bathroom," Rose said, flipping her hair back. "Let me show you to both." She motioned for me to follow her. "Also, I wanted to take you out to lunch today as a welcome to Seattle. I hope you didn't have any other plans?"

I had packed a lunch for today, but that wasn't a big deal. "No, that would be great, Rose. Thank you, that's really nice of you."

She showed me to the break room where we both got a cup of coffee, then she continued to walk me around the halls. She would point out an office of one of the executives, conference rooms and where other important people sat. When we passed by the conference room where Edward had first kissed me, a slight blush formed on my face. Remembering that night always did that to me.

By the time we got back to my desk, others were starting to show up. They greeted me enthusiastically, welcoming me to the office. I hugged a few of them that I had worked with closely before, just happy to have work friends already. It wasn't as scary as I thought, since I had known so many people here before moving.

"I have to run to a meeting, but I put some time on your calendar to go through your paperwork with you," Rose said, looking at her phone. "So, I'll meet up with you in the conference room at the end of the hall in about 30 minutes ok?"

I nodded, having no clue what paperwork she was talking about. Instead of asking, since she was already walking away, I sat down and started to get situated at my desk. Within the 30 minutes, I had gotten everything put together, but still hadn't turned on my computer. I grabbed it and carried it with me to the conference room. I looked up when I heard a familiar voice. Edward's office was right on the other side of the conference room. He was talking on the phone, but he smiled at me, half waving. I waved back and turned to go into the room.

Rose was waiting for me when I got there. She produced a folder with a few papers inside them. "Since you moved recently, you need to fill out an address form. We have to make sure your benefits and taxes and everything are set up for the new state."

I nodded in understanding. I hadn't even thought about that, but I would have to get benefits now. I had benefits through my ex's work, but that wouldn't fly any longer. I sat down and started to fill everything out, taking out my phone and looking at a text from Edward that had our new address information listed. When I got to the insurance part I sort of panicked, though, because I had never signed up for it through work before.

"Rose, is there anyone who can answer some questions for me on the benefit packages? I'm afraid I'm not really sure what I'm looking at here." I looked up at her, and she raised her eyes from her phone.

"Sure, let me see if our HR lady has some time today to go through that with you. Medical, or just everything?"

"Just medical, the life insurance stuff is easy. I have some previous experience in that department."

"Let me just email her, one sec." She typed in her phone, and then glanced up at me again. "You worked in the life insurance department?"

"No, I mean I worked on the Risk team for almost two years a while back. The assessments were my job for a little bit. It's not quite the same thing, but you would be surprised at how many questions I used to get on life insurance benefits while in that department." I smiled at her, and turned my face back down to the paperwork.

I kept the medical, dental and vision section blank for now, and continued with the form. After filling out the life insurance section I got to the beneficiary section. I thought for a moment about what to put, since I couldn't - nor did I want to! - put my ex's name down. The only person I really had in my life right now was Edward, so without thinking too much about it I put his name down. It sort of stewed in my mind for a little bit, worrying what would happen if someone saw his name and questioned it, but I really didn't have any other choice.

Once that was done, Rose got me set up with an appointment to talk about the benefits later that day. Then, she and I started talking about the projects I was working on, only one of them with Edward was still open, and what she wanted me to focus on once my email box was clear.

I made my way out of the room to see Edward leaning against the door frame of his office. "Good morning, ladies. Bella, welcome to Seattle."

"Thanks, Edward. It's nice to see you again." I smiled at him.

"Hey, Edward. Did you have a nice week off? Do anything fun?" Rose asked, walking up to him as I shifted to the side a little bit. "I thought you were coming over for dinner, what happened?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Rose, I was busy. I completely forgot that we were going to do that," Edward said, a smile forming on his face. I suppressed a laugh; I had certainly kept him busy, that's for sure.

"Next weekend instead, then, ok? You promised!"

"Sure, we can do that. I'll let Emmett know when, ok?"

My confusion must have been all over my face, because Edward shook his head at me. I wiped the emotion from my face and turned to go telling him to have a good day. Rose followed me back and wound around to her desk, which was on the other side of the wall from mine. We both got to work then, and I didn't see her until she showed up at my desk for lunch.

Edward texted me, but I hadn't had time to look at it yet. I checked my phone and saw what he had written.

Edward: I cannot believe I forgot to tell you. Emmett is engaged to Rose. Stupid, I can't believe I didn't mention that before. I introduced them a couple years back and they hit it off. They are planning to get married this summer. I'm so sorry, Bella, I don't know why I didn't say anything.

That made their whole interaction make a lot more sense. I sighed; that sweet man was always concerned with how I would take things. I really needed to get better about my reactions so he didn't have to do that all the time.

Me: It's ok, really. I was confused but that makes so much more sense now. And don't apologize for being human and forgetting something :)

Rose led me out to the parking garage where I thought we were going to get her car. Instead, we walked past it to a deli across the street. Edward had taken me to this deli the first time I came to Seattle after starting to work with him, so I knew how great it was. There was a small seating area inside, but most of the seating was outdoors in back, under a covered awning.

We ordered and got our lunch, moving to the back to sit down. Rose took a sip of her soda and glanced up at me.

"I know we don't know each other really well yet, but I hope you know that if you have any questions about Seattle, or Washington in general, I'm happy to help. I've lived here my whole life."

I smiled at her. "Thank you, Rose. It's sort of intimidating being here, living in a new state. I'm still kinda getting used to it."

"What made you decide to move up here?"

I took a big bite of my sandwich to give myself time to think through my answer. Edward and I had practiced this; vague answers unless I felt comfortable explaining part of the reason. I looked at Rose's beautiful face, etched with curiosity. I decided to tell her the truth – part of it, anyway.

"I'm going through a divorce, actually. I wanted to start over, I guess."

Her face fell. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Bella."

"Thanks, but it's ok, really. It's a good thing, I promise."

She smiled tentatively. "Should I say congratulations then?"

"What?"

"At starting a new life?" She smiled back and held up her soda. I picked mine up also, and we 'clinked' them together; or as much as you can with two Styrofoam cups. She looked at me again. "Is that why you needed help with benefits? Were you on his insurance before?"

I nodded. "I never had insurance through this company, believe it or not. When I was in college I was still on my parents, and by the time I graduated and was brought on full time I was married."

"Ah, I see. That makes sense." I could tell that Rose wanted to ask me more questions, but wasn't sure if she should. Instead, she switched to work topics, making me breathe a sigh of relief.

When we got back to the office, I thanked her for lunch and went back to work cleaning up my emails and getting some project work done. I had almost forgotten about the meeting with HR; thank goodness for calendar reminders.

I asked Jessica to direct me to where HR sat, so she showed me the way. She was a really excitable person, and talked very animatedly the whole way there. I had worked with her on a few things a bit ago, and remember thinking she needed a valium. But she was nice enough.

"Hi, are you Bella?" the HR lady asked as I walked into the room. There were two other people there, and one of them was Edward. His face was set in a grim line as he glanced up at me. Suddenly, I thought I might throw up.

"Yes, it's nice to meet you." I came in and sat down next to her, rather than next to Edward. I saw Rose walk in the room behind me, her face in a sort of frown.

"Bella, my name is Sue and I manage the HR team here. This is Marcus, Edward's boss?" I nodded at them, so she continued as Rose closed the door behind her. "I noticed an issue with your paperwork that you filled out this morning, and had a conversation with my colleagues. We need to discuss something of concern."

I nodded again, looking down. I couldn't meet Edward's eyes; I had messed up by putting him as beneficiary, I was sure of it. Now he was going to get in trouble, or most likely we both were. All because of me.

"You and Edward both turned in change of address forms this morning; did you know that?" Sue asked me, her voice very stern.

"No, ma'am."

"Amazingly, you both had the same address listed on the forms. Would either of you care to explain that?"

I stopped breathing. It wasn't the beneficiary, exactly, but we had messed up. Neither of us thought about the address forms being of concern. I glanced up at Edward, who's eyes were on me. I shifted just a little and nodded. He turned to Sue.

"I'm sorry, Sue, I should have come to you to explain. Bella and I are in a relationship. We just moved in together."

Her face didn't really change, because this much was obvious from the forms she was holding. So, Edward continued.

"We are in the process of getting divorced and both of our spouses are aware of our relationship and know that the marriages are ending. We never meant for this to happen," he said, glancing at me again.

"Washington state law indicates that if you are going to start dating a coworker, the HR department of your company needs to be informed. We have to ensure that there is no possibility of sexual harassment or any kind of impropriety within the confounds of that relationship. Fortunately, you are not on the same team any longer, but that does not mean there is no risk here." Sue sat forward a little. "Edward, you know this."

"I know there is a concern if we are on the same team, or if she reported to me – which was never the case. Our relationship is new, Sue. We were not together while we were on the same team. I didn't think I needed to say anything, because there was no impropriety, as you put it."

"Edward, surely you understand that you should have at least disclosed it before moving in together," Marcus said next, eyes moving between us.

He shifted his focus to his boss, sitting right next to him. "Marcus, it wasn't malicious. I honestly just didn't think about it. People date here all the time without any repercussions."

Marcus and Sue glanced at each other; Rose was silent, looking between the two of them. For a moment, no one spoke.

"I just want to confirm what Edward said," I added, looking up at Rose. "We never meant for this to happen; and when it started, we had just been separated and were no longer on the same team. I promise that this has never interfered with our work in any way." I looked at Marcus, and then at Sue. "I am sorry that we didn't think to tell you before it got serious; as Edward said, it didn't seem necessary at the time, given how often our coworkers are dating."

"The problem is that Edward is a manager; he knows the law and requirements." Sue sighed, digging through the papers she had on the table. "If you are going to continue to pursue this relationship, then I'm afraid the company requires you to fill out a relationship contract. The wording is fairly standard for the state. It indicates that you are both in the relationship willingly, that there is no sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior that would impact your jobs; that you absolve the company from any liability as a result of the relationship."

"You mean, we aren't going to be fired?" I asked without thinking. I blushed, wishing I'd had better control over my mouth.

"No, Bella. This is not that type of situation." Marcus smiled slightly. "We just have to be careful, that's why the HR department is here. No one is getting fired today."

I breathed a sigh of relief, though I couldn't look at Edward at the moment. Sue brought out the contract that she had readied for our meeting, and presented it to Edward first. He read through it, and signed his name a few times before sliding it over to me.

The contact did seem fairly simple. It basically said that we weren't going to do anything lewd during the work day, or anything else that would jeopardize our jobs or put the company in an uncomfortable situation. I signed that section. The next section was really awkward, as it stated that should the relationship be dissolved, we were to inform HR and we agreed that we would not sue the company should something happen between us. Edward had signed, so I did, too.

Once everything was done, and we provided the paperwork back to Sue, she glanced up at Marcus and Edward, letting them know that they could go. He glanced at me before he left the room, smiling sadly. Rose stayed behind with me in the conference room, as Sue shifted to look at me.

"I know that you just signed the paperwork, Bella, but I have to ask you now that they are gone. Did Edward pressure you into anything that you were not ready for? Did he force himself on you in anyway?" Her eyes held nothing but concern.

"No, ma'am. Not at all. He and I fell into this willingly together. I promise, no one pressured anyone into anything." I glanced down at my hands. "We never meant for this to happen, as we both said. It just sort of did."

Sue shuffled the papers again, standing up. "Well, that's good enough for me. I'm sorry that we scared you, Bella. We take this kind of thing seriously when it involves a manager. I'll get this filed and set up some time tomorrow to review the benefit package with you, ok?"

I nodded my agreement and Sue left the room. Rose was still looking at me as the door shut.

"I wish you had told me."

"I know, I should have." I looked up at her. "It's new. I didn't want to ruin anything by telling people; plus, we weren't sure how everyone was going to react to it."

"Did you think you'd get in trouble?"

"No, that thought never occurred to me. Honestly, I was more worried about what everyone would think considering just a few weeks ago I was happily married, as far as anyone knew."

Rose huffed out a laugh, and I glanced up at her again. "Yeah, I get that. Listen," she leaned forward, placing her hand on mine. "I totally get it. I just wish you had shared this with me; then we could have gotten the paperwork out of the way before you moved."

"Should I be looking for another job, Rose? Be honest with me, please." I tried desperately not to let any tears leak out. "I love this job, and I don't want to leave. But if I have caused too much harm here, I will."

"Bella, we are all settled now. Just don't get caught with Edward in a conference room or anything like that," she said, laughing. "Seriously, though, I think it will be fine now. Edward may have it harder. He is a manager, and he knows what he should have done. He should have said something."

"Will he be fired?"

"Didn't you hear Marcus? No one is getting fired. Edward is just going to get reprimanded most likely. It won't affect his job or anything like that. But this is the type of thing he is supposed to manage for the employees that report to him, so it's sort of a performance thing at this point."

"I'm happy to talk to Marcus, tell him that we never meant..."

Rose smiled at me, cutting me off. "I understand, and Marcus does, too. But he doesn't have any choice, and Edward will understand that. All it means is that he won't be up for a promotion next year. He can skate by as a manager for another year before being eligible to be promoted. It doesn't affect him long term, only short term."

I was quiet for a moment, realizing again just how much Edward was giving up for me. At this point, though, there really wasn't anything I could do about it.

"So," Rose said, smiling again. "You and Edward, huh? I'm going to kill his brother for not telling me."

I laughed, standing up as Rose did. "Emmett and I only met last week, and I didn't know you guys were together until this morning."

"I guess that means I should set the table for two people for dinner this weekend?" she asked me, opening the door for me. I walked through it, smiling again.

"Yeah, guess so."

A/N: In the research I did, it seemed that there was a law about relationship contracts in Washington state. Is it old? I'm not sure, but it's still out there on the internet, so let's just assume it's still in affect.

We are winding down my friends. One more full chapter and the epilogue. I'm sad to see the story end, honestly. Which is pretty funny considering this was supposed to be a one-shot. Nevertheless, don't want to keep it going longer than necessary. Just want to do my characters justice.

Thanks to my dear beta, zombified419 for all that she has done to help me!