CHAPTER FIVE
Isabella winced as she tried to pull herself into a more appropriate position. It wasn't the disgusted look upon the master's face that caused her to grimace but the fact that she had landed once again on the sore leg that she had managed to bruise earlier that day.
Master Cullen on the other hand did not know what to make of the unreasonable jeans with markings up and down them. They looked like tattoos, something he would never tolerate.
"Stop looking at me like the seventh circle of hell just opened up on your dining room floor," Isabella said pulling herself off the ground.
"Why would you wear something so hideous?" Master Cullen snapped.
"They aren't hideous. They are an Alice Original and if you could pull your nose out of the clouds you would be proud of the beauty they behold. A pair of jeans that accomplished far more than a silly ruler."
"Alice Original?" Master Cullen questioned. "What do you mean by that?"
Isabella sighed wondering if she should not have divulged this piece of information. She didn't want to get Alice in trouble nor did she want her employer to make demands on the way she taught her future lessons.
"Alice knew the piece," She started off stating. "But, it was obvious that she has a nerve problem. She stands in front of you why you stare down at her all judgmental and she falls apart. I thought that if I could get her to focus on something other than your scowl, she would achieve success and I was right. She was successful."
Master Cullen's eyes narrowed. He didn't like being spoken to in that tone. This young girl believed that she knew more than she did.
"I know that Alice knew the piece but I still expect her to perform in spite of any silly fears or nerves she may have. The real world won't care for a person who is unable to handle their nerves. It's a lesson she must learn."
"The real world?" Isabella practically yelled. "You know nothing of the real world. You really believe that the real world is a place where woman dress like they did in the eighteen hundreds and refer to their employers as masters. Where conversation, art and beauty are discouraged at every turn. Your daughters may be well educated when it comes to math, reading and writing but I fear they will be at a serious disadvantage when they enter the real world."
"I will not be spoken to like this in my house, especially by someone who is practically no greater than a child."
"Oh, you mean someone who speaks the truth and isn't afraid to tell it?" Isabella pushed.
"ENOUGH!" Master Cullen roared.
Isabella felt herself back up a pace. She knew she had pushed him too far and although that was exactly what Master Cullen needed to wake up and realize how unjust he was, she needed to take baby steps to make him see reason.
Master Cullen advanced slowly on Isabella with his hand out.
"You will hand over the offensive material."
Isabella wagered for a moment her options. She could argue with this stubborn man and most likely win to keep her jeans but then her argument might yield casualties when it came to her more important discussion regarding the guideline changes. She had many more jeans where those last ones came from and could continue on with them if necessary.
Deciding to keep the master calm was for the greater good so slowly; Isabella pulled up her dress and began to unzip herself out of the jeans. She wasn't trying to play tricks but the way Master Cullen read the situation, he was turned on, catching a glimpse of her pure white cotton panties as she slowly pealed the offensive denim off her body.
The prominent bruise was the saving grace to pull Master Cullen out of his impure fantasies.
"Let me see you," He demanded.
He pushed Isabella down in the chair behind her and pulled up her dress.
"Sir! This is most inappropriate," She complained.
But Master Cullen did not care for her protests as he inspected her leg more closely.
"Says the girl who just stripped in front of her master."
"Employer!" Isabella corrected exasperated.
"You should be looked at. This is a nasty bruise," He replied ignoring her.
"I'm fine! I've had much worse and any doctor you manage to dig up would only tell you that an ice pack is the cure."
She pushed his hands away from her upper thigh and straightened out the boorish dress once more.
"I believe we have some guidelines to discuss," Isabella said standing once more.
"Can you manage the trip to my office without falling?"
Isabella decided to ignore his implication. "I have to go back to my quarters to retrieve my guidelines. I will meet you in your office in five minutes."
"Ten minutes," He dictated. "Please change first. I don't want you falling all over my house. I will have Mrs. Cope come and take the dresses back for mending. I fear that you may not have anything appropriate to wear to classes tomorrow…"
"I have dresses. If that is what you so desire…" Isabella interrupted.
"I will be sure to have the dresses back to you by the evening tomorrow. Lord knows what you believe constitutes a dress."
A laugh bubbled up from Isabella's throat and she marveled at the Master.
"Sir, did you just make a joke?"
He had indeed made a joke and it wasn't something he had done in quite some time. Master Cullen couldn't understand what this girl had done to him to make him forget himself. The curve of his mouth changed within an instant and he fled from the room barking out the order to see Isabella in ten minutes time.
The door slammed shut behind Master Cullen as he finally found sanctuary in his office. He had exactly ten minutes to collect himself. He sat down in his chair, holding his chest once again trying to stare at the wood in front of him.
When he first thought to bring Isabella back to Haven, his reasons were plenty. He knew that with the death of Charlie, she would have no one to turn to. He would honor the agreement that his father and Charlie made by bringing her back here and ensure that she have everything she could need. The feud between the Swans and the Cullens came to end when Carlisle and Charles, both sensible men, sought to put their families petty differences aside. They did not want to carry on the burden of their ancestor's silly archaic disputes that no longer held weight in this new world.
Since the agreement of the two wise men, they had hoped that the town could be free to live in peace. With the residents of Haven no longer having to choose sides, they were free to all live in harmony. Perhaps then the curse would be broken. But, it didn't work that way and Charles decided to flee the town hoping to be exempt. He met Isabella's mother and decided to move across the country to be with her but as any resident of Haven found, Charles was doomed no matter how far away he went.
Isabella was pulling off the long dress when she heard a loud knocking on her door. She quickly pulled on a sweater and pants before rushing to answer. She had been expecting to find Mr. Whitlock or Master Cullen but was taken aback when it was Mrs. Cope.
"I've come to collect the dresses."
There was something very no nonsense about Mrs. Cope. However, Isabella thought to herself, there was something very no nonsense about every person who lived at the Cullen estate. Isabella had hoped that Mrs. Cope would have been another woman she could come to confide in but so far, every interaction she had with Mrs. Cope left her feeling that opportunity would never come.
"Sure. Let me gather them." Isabella turned to go toward the closet to collect the three dresses.
"Did you want me to try them on for you? So you can see where to hem them?" She asked.
"I don't need you to. I know how tall you are. I will have no issue with length."
"How about fit? Do you think there is any way you could maybe take them in a bit? They seem a bit big around my waist," Isabella suggested.
Mrs. Cope raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips. "Let me guess, you don't feel pretty in them, do you? You want me to bring them in to give you more shape so you can flounce around in tight inappropriate clothing, is that it? This is a uniform. Not a hooker dress. I suggest you remember your role while you are here."
Isabella looked around her room wondering if maybe this whole ordeal was some kind of hidden camera joke. Was this woman being serious?
"Mrs. Cope, I mean no offense. The dresses are quite a bit bigger on me then the last person who must have worn them. That was merely my point."
Mrs. Cope walked closer to Isabella and shoved a pointed finger in her face.
"I know what you Swans are all about. You may have captured my master's interest but you won't fool me. Lazy, promiscuous Swans who bring ruin to Haven. You mind your place and I shall do the same."
And with that, Mrs. Cope swept out of the room with the three dresses grasped in her crone-like hands. Isabella stood in the same spot marveling at Mrs. Cope's warnings. She didn't understand what she had done to deserve such a hostile welcome to this house. What puzzled Isabella the most was the way Mrs. Cope said her last name as if it were a cursed word. It was very unsettling and something that she would need to get to the bottom of soon. The grandfather clock at the top of the stairs chimed throughout the house alerting Isabella that she better get going to meet with Master Cullen.
She snatched up the guidelines and raced out of the room to leave behind Mrs. Cope's vulgarity for the time being. Isabella approached the solid wooden doors and gave a knock alerting the man inside of her presence.
"Come in," Master Cullen barked.
The ten minutes were exactly what he needed to get over his unusual spell. Once again Master Cullen appraised Isabella once more and found her clothing choice to be horrendous. The girl did say she had dresses. He wondered why she chose to put on this boyish ensemble.
"Let me make this clear, Miss Swan. I am entertaining minor changes to the set guidelines. Please don't become too full of yourself for your aspirations in this meeting."
Isabella had to stop herself from blatantly rolling her eyes or letting a sound of protest come out her mouth.
"Need I remind you under the conditions that I return to this position, you agreed to changes in your guidelines. Perhaps you should wait and hear my proposal's before closing your mind off to them."
Isabella gave the master a challenging look before taking a seat on the chair in front of the master's large desk and opening her packet to the first page. Meanwhile, Isabella's words reminded Master Cullen that the only way he could gain this young girl's trust was to try and be amenable to her requests. He hoped that she wouldn't go too far.
Isabella was about to begin when her interaction with Mrs. Cope popped up in her mind. She slowly closed the packet and took a breath. Master Cullen did not know what to make of this. Was she really so fickle that she could change her mind that quickly.
"May I ask you something?"
Master Cullen's heart stopped briefly wondering what question could possibly come off her lips.
"You may," He said.
Isabella wet her lips several times before gathering up the courage to speak.
"Why….me?" She started off slowly. "None of this makes any sense. There are far more qualified applicants for this position. You hardly interviewed me at all which makes me think you had your mind made up about me the minute I arrived. You find me absolutely inappropriate in every way. Your staff feels the same exact way and even the girls tell me that I am unlike any of their previous governesses…"
Master Cullen could feel his throat becoming dryer every second. What was he supposed to tell her? The truth? That wouldn't do.
"Mrs. Cope said something…about me being a Swan. I have no idea…"
"What did she say?" He barked at once.
Isabella shook her head flustered at his sudden tone.
"She…said that Swans were lazy and promiscuous. But when she spoke of Swans, she spoke as if she was talking about my family or something. Like she knew them. I don't know what to make of it all but something tells me that this situation that I have gotten myself into…something isn't right about it."
Master Cullen wanted nothing more than in that moment to search out Mrs. Cope and rebuke her for her indiscretion. How could she have been so stupid to say such a thing? But he knew that somehow he would need to deal with Isabella first.
"Mrs. Cope is old and losing her wits. It seems to me that she is merely speaking from a place deep within. I wouldn't listen to anything she has to say. But, I will be sure to deal with her conduct so that in the future she will not speak out of turn again."
"No. I don't wish that. Although Mrs. Cope seems to not approve of me, I would hope that after some time she may come to find some respect for me and maybe even befriend me."
"She will never befriend you," Master Cullen said. "Mrs. Cope has experienced too much pain to ever allow herself to enjoy another's company. She will look at you tomorrow with eyes no different than how she looks at you today."
There was silence as Isabella rolled around those words in her head. Was she really doomed to feel this sense of solitary her entire stay at the Cullen Manor?
"You didn't answer my other question," She reminded quietly.
"Why did I choose you?"
She nodded her head without looking at him.
Master Cullen stood up from his chair and came around the desk to sit in the chair beside her. There was a lot of fancy footwork to be had to get Isabella away from the true reasons he had brought her here. He needed to charm her.
"Miss Swan. After the recommendation I received I did a full work up of your background. It is true that I had already chosen you for the position before you arrived hence the reason you did not submit to a standard interview. I knew all I needed to in the information I had found about you."
"I'm not anything like the people you hire, sir. Whatever information you found on me must have painted a very different picture. Surely you can see that."
"No, all my information has rung true."
Master Cullen exhaled before continuing. He was really going to have to put himself out there to sway Isabella toward a different direction.
Slowly he took her hand in his and closed her small hand between his two massive ones.
"I need to be completely honest with you, Miss Swan," He said softly.
Honesty was the last thing on Master Cullen's mind but it was because of that daft Mrs. Cope that he needed to lie to her.
"You remind me of my late wife. When I read the information on you, you reminded me of her and it's because of this I chose you. My daughters never knew their mother. She died when they were babies, not even off her tit yet. They have never known her and I guess what I hoped to accomplish with bringing you here is that maybe in some small way, they could know the kind of person she was. I know my guidelines may seem silly to you or downright intrusive but I created them during a very rough period of my life. Every single rule in the guidelines was carefully created as a way for me to control every situation. My wife was sick and she refused me. She refused to see a doctor and because of her stubbornness, she paid the ultimate price. I cannot…will not allow that to happen again. I know you want to change my guidelines Miss Swan, but I implore you to see my reasoning and try…please try to understand the importance of them. I would be wounded if something happened to you while in my care."
Isabella's mind was reeling with all the information Master Cullen had provided. Her mind was reeling over how comforting his hands felt around hers. What was she to do? She felt honored in a way that he would share something so personal. Was she really like the late Mrs. Cullen?
She sighed and squeezed Master Cullen's hand.
"I will try…as long as you are reasonable, I will try," She vowed.
"Thank you, Miss Swan," Master Cullen gave her a rare small smile. He let go of her hands and stood up expecting her to do the same. She rose to her feet and felt a sense of accomplishment. She had managed to peck away at this man's hard exterior and felt proud of herself for doing so.
"Good evening, Miss Swan," He said arriving to pull open his office door.
"You can call me Bella, you know. You don't always have to be so formal."
"But then you would expect me to allow you to call me Edward and that is most inappropriate."
Isabella bit her lip and reminded herself, baby steps with this one.
"I would never dream of calling you Edward, sir."
The name rolled off her tongue and it was the first time since the death of his father that anyone had called him Edward. Master Cullen liked it too much, especially coming from the mouth of his new servant.
Servant. Master Cullen thought. She was much more to him than just a servant, if he was being completely honest with himself.
The door closed behind Isabella leaving Master Cullen to think over what lies he had just told the girl. He paced around his office, his shoulders tense as he ran through the conversation again. He didn't want to believe it. His lies that he attempted to tell Miss Swan, something was off about them. He couldn't bring himself to admit that the reason something was off was because, perhaps, the lies he told weren't really that far from the truth.
But one thing that the conversation had reminded him of, he would need to deal with his other staff immediately. At once he paged Mr. Whitlock and Mrs. Cope to his office.
Within two minutes, the pair of them stood in front of his desk.
Master Cullen appraised them before beginning. It was clear that neither of them had any idea what they had been called for. He could feel his anger bubbling up. Unfortunately for Mr. Whitlock and Mrs. Cope, all of his anger wasn't exactly their faults. Master Cullen's anger stemmed from many places these days but they would receive the fallout from it.
"I want to make it very clear to each of you that in the future with regards to Miss Swan; I expect your mouths to remain shut when it comes to her lineage. I don't care if you don't agree with my reasons for bringing her here. I don't care if you don't like her at all. You will respect me and you will respect Miss Swan. If I have to speak to you again regarding my new guideline; know this, it will be to serve you with your termination paperwork."
Each word he spoke was laced with contempt. Mr. Whitlock, knowing that he had several conversations with Master Cullen regarding his dislike for the Swan girl was not surprised to be hearing this however, he didn't understand why Mrs. Cope would need to be told this. There was something else bothering Mr. Whitlock on how Master Cullen was dealing with Miss Swan. He feared the worse and was correct in his assumptions but he wasn't sure of it. Master Cullen was slowly falling for Isabella Swan.
Mrs. Cope felt her palms sweat as she thought over her conversation with Isabella earlier that evening. Perhaps that no good trollop told the Master of her biting words, she thought to herself. Coming to the conclusion that this must be it, Mrs. Cope disliked the Swan girl even more.
"Are we clear?" Master Cullen asked.
"Yes, Master Cullen," They both replied in unison.
"You're dismissed," Master Cullen said with his eyes still burning.
Both the servants backed out of the room and shut the door behind them. They didn't say one word to one another when they exited the room, not wanting for Master Cullen to overhear somehow and bring them back in for it.
Master Cullen was prepared to become lost in his thoughts once more but something caught his eye. His eyes snapped to the maze on his back lawn. Miss Swan was there. She was outside the house at this hour and looked to be inspecting his maze.
Master Cullen huffed and quickly ran out of his office. What was she thinking going down to the maze at this hour especially since she had never attempted to tour it before? Certainly she would be lost and stuck out there for the better part of the night. Maybe he would need to put the fear of god in her in order to keep her from doing foolish things. He had been too easy on her earlier and now she felt that she could do whatever she wanted. All of these thoughts filled Master Cullen's mind and spurred on his feet.
He had taken the time to reprimand his other staff and now it seemed that it was time to do the same to Miss Swan. She needed to learn her place. Perhaps some punishment was exactly what she needed.
AN: Thank you for reading and reviewing. I hope everyone is still enjoying the story and will let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: Story is mine, characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.