AN: The chapter is two days late because this week, I finally managed to land myself a job and for the last three days, I've been working and sleeping.

Enjoy it!

Chapter seven

Monday, Bella arrived early as always, though not as early as she used to, unable to stop thinking about her purse, just early enough for her to be able to leave at five. Over the weekend, she had tried contacting Edward but he was impossible to reach and her missing purse remained a mystery.

She was sitting by her desk, waiting for Edward to arrive at work, when she heard it, the gossip reaching her long before Edward would: he was in a foul mood, ready to bite a head off and rip someone a new one. Bella didn't really care what kind of mood Edward was in, as long she wasn't the poor victim of his rage.

Minutes after the gossip had reached her ears, Edward strode past her and into his office, the door slamming shut hard behind him.

Tapping her fingers on the top of her desk, she waited for Edward's harsh bark, demanding to know where his coffee was and if she had turned into a turtle, or slug, over the night, that being the reason why she wasn't already in his office.

After staring at the intercom for five minutes, no commands or demands erupting from the small black device, Bella rose from her desk and gathered two large mugs of black coffee. She stopped at her desk on the way back, checking the intercom, and pushing her calendar under her arm before, with great effort, knocking softly on Edward's door.

When there wasn't any answer, she took the liberty of entering without his consent.

"I don't know what got your panties in a bunch, but people are scurrying around here like headless hens, afraid you will rip them a new one if they as much step in your path," she said lightly, her voice filled with humor. She used her foot to close the door behind her before she placed the larger of the two mugs of coffee in front of him.

"What took you so long?" he demanded to know, ignoring her comment.

"There was a queue," she smiled sweetly before taking sip of her own coffee: black, three sugars and a tiny splash of cream, just to make the bitter liquid somewhat sweeter.

"Whatever," he took the coffee and drank it while Bella opened her calendar and got ready to fill his week once again.

An hour later, she closed the book that was her calendar, picked up the two empty mugs and headed for the door, Edward's week sorted out and most of her own as well.

"I tried to call you all weekend," Bella said as she stood by the door. Edward looked up from his computer and raised an eyebrow at her.

"And why would you do that?" he asked, his voice leveled and Bella knew he suspected her of wanting something more off him: maybe she did, she had no idea, but she wasn't going to admit that to him.

"Friday, when I was about to pay the cab driver for bringing me home, I realized that I didn't have my purse. I called the taxi company, but they hadn't seen it, so I'm hoping it's still at your place."

"I haven't seen it," he said, dismissing the subject.

"Can I come over and look for it? Most of my money and all of my credit cards are in my wallet: it would be nice to know that they haven't fallen into someone else's hands."

"Come over after work, around eight, and have a look," turning back to his computer, he dismissed her and Bella gladly ventured back to her desk, dumping her calendar before heading for their coffee room, ready for her lunch.

She was sitting by one of the small tables by the window, ripping small pieces of her dry sandwich she had thrown together that morning, realizing that it was about time to fill up the fridge and the cupboards of her kitchen again.

As she gazed out at the greying sky, the fall sun that she shone on her as she walked to the office slowly disappearing behind heavy clouds, filled with rain, her phone rang. She smiled as she saw Charlie's name flash across the screen and she picked it up quickly.

"Dad!" she smiled as she greeted him.

"Hey kiddo," she could hear the smile in his voice as well, which only made her smiled grow even bigger.

"How are you feeling"? she asked, keeping her voice light so not to make their moods fall.

"I'm good, just fine, never better, so stop worrying about me," Charlie laughed on the other end.

"You know I can't," Bella sighed, suddenly feeling a flash of anger towards her older sister. "Have you heard from Helen?"

"Yeah, she called a few days ago: they just had another one," Bella's eyes widened in surprise. "Did you know they were expecting a third one?" Charlie asked and Bella could hear in his voice that he was afraid Helen had told him and that he had forgotten.

"No dad, you know we don't talk much, not since I moved to Boston." Yet she had expected her sister to call her, or text her, letting her know that she was becoming an auntie for the third time. "And she haven't told you either," she assured Charlie and she heard him breath out in relief.

"Good to know I haven't lost my head," he laughed and Bella wished she could take everything as lightly as he did. "I didn't call you to talk about your sister and that odd shaped nut she decided to marry all the sudden," Bella wanted to laugh at her father's way of describing Nathan, Helen's husband.

"Then why did you call?"

"I'm coming to Boston."

"Why?" blurred Bella out.

"Whoa, kiddo, hold your excitement!" Charlie laughed and Bella laughed with him, "There's a protégé couple working at Massachusetts General Hospital. They are the two leading people in the world when it comes to experimental treatment, seven out of ten surviving. One of them, don't know which one, was in San Francisco last week and offered Dr. Johnson to take over my case."

"And he just said yes?"

"Well, no, they consulted with me first as they are talking about my health, but I thought it might be a good idea to give them a shot and Dr. Johnson agreed. I'm arriving tomorrow morning."

"Ok," Bella said, nodding her head though Charlie couldn't see her, "Where will you be staying and for how long?"

"I'm leaving Wednesday afternoon, only staying for a day, and they've already set me up with a fancy-smancy hotel. They wanted to come to them so they can take all the necessary tests with their approved equipment. Now, we can talk more about this tomorrow when I'm taking you out for lunch."

"That's sounds nice. Why don't I text you the address to the office and you can come here around noon? Then we can try and find a place we both agree on."

"See you tomorrow. Love you kiddo."

"Love you too, dad."

*** C R S ***

The purse had some how ended up underneath Edward's bed, much to Bella's relief, but it wasn't until she had checked the contest of it that her shoulders slumped down to where they really belonged: under her yaw and not by her ears.

*** C R S ***

Edward's mood wasn't much better the next day and Bella saw when she arrived at seven-thirty that he had added several meetings for 'personal business' over the week, the first one at eight, then one at noon the very same day.

Shaking her head in both amusement and frustration, Bella made two cups of coffee for them and went to his office to wait, ready to give him a piece of her mind, letting him know she wasn't some toy he could use to relieve himself off stress and anger.

The plan went out the window the second he entered his office, locking the door behind him, the click of the lock echoing around the room as she stared at him.

He was wearing a new suit that fit him snuggly, showing off his broad chest and shoulders, and he had pulled the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows, exposing parts of his ink.

"Ah, good, you saw my little addition to your calendar," he smiled, or smirked, and it was the first time he had shown any other emotion than anger since she had told him 'no' in the cab Friday.

"I saw," she said softly, feeling her body responding to him just by watching how he carried himself as he walked over to her, how he's body moved.

"Then what are you sitting around for?" he asked, pulling her to her feet, crushing her to his chest as his lips captured hers.

Bella moaned in his mouth as his pulled the zipper of her skirt down and pushed it roughly down her legs. She couldn't hear the sound of thin silk panties being ripped from her wet pussy, but she felt his long fingers as they entered her, making her shiver and buck against him.

His hot breath fanned over her face as he chuckled at her response, but she didn't care: she needed to feel him inside of her, his thick, long and hot length filling her the only way Edward could fill her.

She relished the sight of his surprise in his eyes when she pushed him away and made quick work of his shirt and jacket, throwing them on the floor before she knelt in front of him, using her teeth to pull down the zipper of his pants agonizingly slowly.

"Fuck," he hissed when she covered his cock with her mouth, the fabric of his boxers between her mouth and his hot and pulsing flesh.

"Want me to suck your cock?" she asked, blinking innocently up at him as she removed her blouse, draping it over the chair she had left mere minutes earlier, before removing her bra, letting her breasts bounce free.

"Shut up and suck it!" Edward growled, grabbing her by her hair and pulling her to his cock, which she willing let slide between her moist lips. A guttural growl emitted from Edward's chest and Bella took pleasure in knowing she was the reason he growled.

After two world rocking orgasms and a moaning contest, Bella dressed, thanking Edward when he handed her a wet washcloth to clean herself up.

"I expect to see you at lunch," he said casually as fastened the button of his pants and zipped up his fly.

"I can't," Bella said as she smoothed down her hair, "I have an appointment I can't cancel or move around." She kept the fact that she was having lunch with her dad out of the picture, unable to see a reason for Edward to know anything about Charlie.

"Are you defying your orders, Ms. Swan?"

"I find it funny that whenever there's something you want, like sex, I'm Bella, but as soon I do something you find displeasing, I'm Ms. Swan," Bella couldn't keep the smile away from her lips as she spoke. "And yes, I'm 'defying orders', as you called it, because I can't cancel just because you might be hard and horny around lunch."

He didn't say another word to her after she left his office and Bella found the silence new and comfortable. Wordlessly, he added things to her already large pile of files and other things to do, like making appointments and notes about when to pick up his dry cleaning.

A quarter to noon, Lisa, the receptionist informed Bella that Charlie, a handsome elderly man as she had called him, was on his way up to see her. Not sure why Charlie had decided to enter the tower of an office she worked in, Bella powered down her computer and hid her calendar so Edward couldn't add more meetings for 'personal business', feeling a little childish as she locked the top drawer in her desk and taking the key with her.

"Bella," the sound of Charlie's voice brought Bella's head up and she smiled when she saw him walked towards her, led by Sherry to the right place. "Ready for lunch?" he asked after bringing her into a bone crushing bear hug.

"Can't wait," she smiled at her dad, unable to take her eyes of his healthy glowing face: it had been a long time since she had seen him so round in the cheeks or the pink tinge to his skin.

"I expect you back before two, Ms. Swan," Bella turned at the sound of Edward's voice, ready to snap at him, but his narrowed eyes and ridged stance made her close her mouth in confusion.

"Don't worry Mr., I will have her back by then," Charlie smiled politely as he took Bella's hand and led her to the elevators.

"So, have you met the protégé doctor couple yet?" Bella asked as she place her burger and fries down at the table they had chosen.

"They picked me up at the airport and brought me straight to the hospital, informing me that they want to run as many tests as possible before I leave tomorrow."

"I hope they can help you," Bella said softly, feeling the sadness fill her body.

"Don't you dare," Charlie snapped, "I'm already feeling better, these doctors are only making sure that I will stay healthy until I die because of old age."

"I know and I'm trying to stay positive every second of the day, but sometimes, a morbidly forbidden thought enters my mind."

"Don't worry kiddo, been there and I have done that so many times over the last three years I've lost the count, but I believe in this couple: they seem promising."

"I glad to head that," Bella mustered a faint smile before biting into her burger.

"And they are nice, and I'm not talking only handsome and beautiful, which they are, but they are polite, they're paying for the hotel and they're paying for dinner tonight, which you will join me for: I want you to meet those who will cure me."

"Free dinner?" Bella asked as she whipped the ketchup from her fingers. Charlie nodded. "Who can say no to that?" Bella smiled, making Charlie laugh.

*** C R S ***

"I'm needed for a dinner tonight," Edward announced the second Bella sat down behind her desk, the man himself emerging from his office as if he had been standing right behind the door, waiting for her.

"And?" Bella asked as she unlocked the top drawer, taking out her calendar.

"I need you to finish a few papers for me so I can arrive for dinner on time for once: I have two meetings this afternoon and I know the last one will stretch to six at least."

"I can do it, but I can't stay any longer than six," she informed his retreating back.

"And why not?" he demanded to know.

"I too have a dinner appointment I can't be late for and unlike you, I need some time to get ready, time to wash and dry my hair."

"Are you having dinner with the man from earlier?" Edward asked casually, leaning against the jam of his office door, his shirt tightening over his muscles.

"It is actually, not that it's any of your business who I have dinner with during my free time. After all, we only fuck now and then," Bella hissed the word 'fuck' in a low voice to make sure that no one had heard her.

"Does he know about your little side-job, about your past and our agreement over the summer?" Bella felt her face pale at the thought of Charlie knowing the truth of how she had been able to save so much money during her college years.

"Our 'agreement' as you call it was blackmail and we both know it, so why not call it what it was, huh?" Bella asked.

"Call it whatever you want, Bella, but I know you enjoyed yourself this summer and I know you've been enjoying yourself since we started up again," she wanted to wipe away the smirk from his lips, slap him, but Bella knew that if she touched him, she wouldn't be able to control herself: her self-control was a joke, a laughing matter.

"I will have your papers finished before I leave for the day," Bella sighed, turning to her computer, tired of their little conversation.

"Thank you," he said as his notes came down on her desk and Bella felt a small, warm fluttering in her stomach: it was the first time he had ever thanked her so openly.

Chapter eight will be up 20th of March! Please, stay tuned for the continuation of Bella and Edward's tale!