Chapter six
Frustrations-
Bella POV-
After Emmett had left yesterday afternoon, the day was pretty uneventful. I stopped by the store to pick up some things I would need, including teething medicine for Connor.
Emmett had arrived at ten minutes to eight, exactly as Edward said he would, and I headed down to the office, slightly nervous. I hadn't worked for a couple of years, but from my experience, I knew that things were updated regularly, and I was worried I wouldn't catch on fast enough.
As I walked in I saw Edward sitting at a desk, his, I presumed. He smiled at me and stood up, covering the distance between us in long strides.
"I assume Emmett was on time this morning?" He asked, smiling again.
"Perfectly, and I think Connor couldn't have gotten along with anyone else better."
"That's great, now, today I'm starting you off sorting all of my files, and then sorting that pile," he pointed to a pile of wobbly papers, "into them. All I can say is good luck. I was never very good at keeping things organized."
I laughed, "Well, that's what you have me for, I'll get started."
He nodded, "If it's anything that says 'decided' toss. Everything will have either 'court' or 'complex' written on top." and with that he walked back over to his desk, picking up some papers, and typing things on his computer. I wondered if it was something to do with a client or with the apartments. It must be hard to handle everything from one office, but he couldn't be at both.
I walked over and noticed two large black file cabinets, with open drawers that were clearly overflowing. The cabinets were labeled, separating the courts and his business, but none of the folders inside were labeled. I decided to start by taking everything out of the court file cabinet, going through the folders, and throwing away dismissed things. When I was done with this almost everything was gone, and I realized it had been a while since he'd had someone to work on his papers. I took the remaining papers in the files and put them in piles, and then looked through them, and matching up everything. They were mostly cases he was working on, and all of the information that went with them. The last name of the case was in the upper right hand corner, which made things easier. He was clearly trying to be organized, but couldn't follow through with it.
I put the cases in a folder, and then wrote their name on the information tab, and put them in alphabetical order as a put them back in the cabinet. When I was done with the first cabinet, I glanced at the clock. Over four hours had flown by. I couldn't believe it had taken that long.
I quickly got started on the apartment files, which there weren't so many of, and I didn't have to throw away much. I made a file for each family staying in the apartments, and then separate ones for the title, and license to rent, etc.
Going through the pile also went fast, because it was mostly cases and new tenants. All I had to do was make them a new file, and put all of the information I found involving them in it. However, when I was done I realized that it was almost four.
I went over to Edward, who was on the phone, obviously making an appointment with someone. "So I'll see you on Monday, then. 2:00. Bye."
He set the receiver back on its hook and sighed.
"So, I got all of the papers sorted." I was confident I'd done the job right, and was glad I could start out the right way.
He looked over in surprise. "Wow, you got everything done in one day? I was expecting it to take a few… It looks so much better over there now, without papers falling everywhere."
"I'm glad you think so. Can I ask you something?" I had thought about this a lot yesterday, and I was sure of it now.
"Sure, anything."
"I need to get a divorce." I spoke clearly, never losing eye contact with him.
"Okay, how about we meet after work tomorrow and discuss things. Do you have a reason? It'd help if we had evidence."
"Yes. He was abusive. I have photos and I wrote what happened down as soon as I could." I had taken out my camera when we were at a hotel, and taken pictures of my back before the bruises had started to fade. "But I'm worried about Connor. I don't want Jacob to get custody of him. That would be horrible."
"I really don't think that you would have to worry about him getting custody if he was abusive. I wouldn't worry about it."
"Okay, then. I'll see you tomorrow." I said, walking over to the door.
"Bella?"
"Yes?"
"I'm really sorry that he hurt you. I'm glad that you moved away. You don't deserve that. Neither does your baby." He said, looking angry.
"Thank you, Edward. I'm glad that you agree." I said, walking up to my apartment.
I didn't connect his words and obvious feelings until Emmett had left the apartment. He was mad at Jacob for hurting me. Which would mean that he was protective, or at least cared about me. Huh.
I didn't really have self esteem problems. I knew that I wasn't hideous or fat, but I still didn't walk around expecting every male in the immediate vicinity to suddenly become obsessed with me. It had never really occurred to me that he felt the same way as I did, even if I shouldn't. I knew nothing about him, the attraction was merely physical. He was my boss, and landlord, for Gods sake.
I placed Connor in his highchair, and gave him some cheerios to keep him busy while I made spaghetti for myself.
When I was done eating and Connor was asleep I popped in my favorite CD, and sang along while I cleaned up a bit. It wasn't something people normally listened to, but the lyrics made so much sense, and I felt myself connecting to the music.
Edward POV-
I quickly closed up the office, and went over to my apartment. I was incredibly furious. How could someone ever hurt Bella? He obviously couldn't see what he had. What a beautiful child they had had together. I was glad she wanted a divorce, and was determined to win the case for her.
I was getting attached. How stupid of me. I slid in a CD, quickly flipping to fourth track. My dad always told me that once I found a woman who reminded me of this song, I would know she was the one for me. I knew who it made me think of, but I wouldn't allow myself to acknowledge it yet. It was way too risky, and I knew that I wasn't going to rush anything, anytime soon. She wasn't ready for it, and I refused to wreck this.
I paced around the apartment. I didn't know what to do with myself. I decided to go for a run, so I quickly changed, shut off the music, grabbed my keys and walked out the door.
I started running as soon as my feet hit pavement. Running had always been an out for me, even in my parents divorce, and my dads death, it was the one thing I knew couldn't be taken away from me. Well, technically it could, if I lost a leg or something. But emotionally, no one could touch me when I was running. I blocked everything out, only concentrating on the sound of my breathing and of my feet hitting the pavement. I would run and run until I couldn't breathe, usually ending up miles away from my house, and walk back, running if I needed to.
When I got back to the apartment I felt much better. I hit the shower, letting the cool water wash away all my sweat.
It was dark now, as I had run for almost two hours, before turning back. The clock read 11:45. I groaned and grabbed a granola bar before laying down in bed and falling fast asleep, my dreams of none other than Bella.
I will post a youtube link of the songs they are talking about once I reveal the bands. This chapter took a while to write. I rewrote it a few times, and I think this one will work out the best. Plus, listening to 'their' songs as I wrote, was extremely distracting.