"Good morning everybody, it's 5:00AM and it looks like it's going to be another wet and windy day for us. Don't forget your umbrella!"

Man, I really hated that weather guy on the radio. He always sounded so happy even when he said it was going to rain, because he knew too well that he wasn't going to get wet sitting at that nice desk of his, drinking warm coffee and laughing at the unfortunate souls who had to suffer at the hands of nature…

As my luck would have it, I was one of those unfortunate souls who had to suffer the wrath of the weather. I got up and walked over to the window, still not really awake, and saw that that son of a bitch was right again.

Rain. Lots of it.

I cursed profoundly as I got ready for work, and ran to the safety of my warm, dry car.

My car was not what you would call 'reliable'. I got it about 3 years ago, whilst still paying off my student loan, so I couldn't exactly afford to be picky. It's a rusty old Chevy truck that could probably survive a nuclear explosion, but would break down if you went over 50 miles an hour. I loved my car, but it could be a real pain in the ass when it wanted to be.

After the fourth attempt at trying to start my car, I was extremely close to giving up and beating my car with a baseball bat, but after another two or three attempts, it was finally up and running. A promising start to the day.

On my journey to work, I had a lot of time to think. I started thinking about Lauren's party that Alice desperately wanted me to go to. After finishing the paperwork that needed doing, I decided I had better show my face so that I didn't disappoint Alice. If there is one thing worse than owing Alice something, it's disappointing her; she makes it so hard to resist her cute, pixie-like charm! So I showed up for the last half hour in time to hear Lauren's farewell speech saying how she would miss the hospital, but success was beckoning to her. Such modesty.

As I thought about the party, my thoughts suddenly turned to the unpleasant experience I had with a certain Dean of Medicine just before the party. Of course, being the new Dean of Medicine, he had an obligation to attend Lauren's party, so I managed to earn a couple of death stares from him in my poor attempts in hiding from him…

That was it. I had finally had enough of the icy stares from Mr Smiles And Giggles, so I decided to confront Alice about the thoughts that were constantly bugging me. I still couldn't believe that Alice could possibly be of any relation to this psychopath, so I needed her to put my mind at rest.

"Bella, you made it! I knew you'd come around. No one can resist my charm. Not even you Bella Swan." Said Alice, obviously gloating.

"Clearly. Listen, Alice? I need to talk to you about something. I was wondering whether-"

"Bella! I thought you weren't coming. It's so great that you came! Not that it would matter if you didn't come, because I know you don't normally come to parties. Not that I wouldn't want you to come! I think it's awesome that you came." Mike yammered.

Mike Newton was like a lost puppy: once he finds someone he likes, he never leaves them alone. Enter my infamous bad luck. Just because I was nice to him on his first day as an intern, he always insists on following me and bringing me coffee or something. There's nothing wrong with free coffee, but Newton made it…creepy. Curse my infinite kindness.

Oh, almost forgot: Mike has had a crush on me the size of Russia since we first made eye contact. Great.

Alice, being the amazing person she is, decided to bring a halt to Mike's assault of niceness.

"Ooookay lover boy, why don't you go talk to Jessica? One of the nurses told me she really likes you…" Alice subtly dropping a hint.

"Really? Well… I dunno. Whenever I try to talk to her, she looks at me and I forget how to speak! I look like an idiot." He lamented.

"Well, that was before you had the help of someone with extraordinary social skills. Enter moi." Alice said as she put one arm around Mike and led him over to where Jessica and the other nurses were standing, whilst looking back at me to give me a quick wink.

Alone again. Naturally.

I knew it was going to be a while before Alice was going to be free, so I decided to go find the buffet and stuff my face with free food.

Cue my bad luck again.

As I turned around, I accidentally walked into a glass of red wine that was attached to a very clenched (very wet) fist.

Before I opened my eyes to see the damage, I knew right away who it was…

"LOOK AT MY SUIT! THIS IS SUIT COST MORE THAN YOU PROBABLY EARN IN A YEAR!"

I panicked, and so I started to stutter.

"I-I-I'm so s-sorry, sir."

Recognition flittered across his face.

"You. You're the one who-"

Before had the chance to hear the end of his accusation, I did the only thing I could think of:

Run away.

I ran to my car and hoped that the tears would hold until I was in the safety of my own home.

No such luck.

The tears were flowing so hard, I had to stop in a layby after almost crashing into a tree. Or two.

As the violent sobs started to subside just a little, my phone rang with my ringtone set as Ellie Goulding's 'Your Biggest Mistake'. The irony.

I answered my phone, trying to stop myself from replying with noises that sounded unnatural.

"Hello?" I asked quietly.

"Bella? What the hell happened! One minute you're there, the next I turn round to see you running away in tears!"

Of course, it was Alice. Probably making sure I wasn't driving in my unreliable car in the state I was in. Oops.

"I just. I walked, and there was wine, a-and there was a man, and I-I turned, and then the suit was there, a-and I panicked!"

She paused.

"Wait, you were the one who spilt wine on my brother?" she asked with curiosity.

That one word managed to kick me out of my guilt-ridden stupor.

Brother.

Alice was related to that insensitive monster.

"B-brother?" I asked with amazement.

"Yeah… I tried to tell you earlier, but-"

"You're related to him? B-but you're nice! And he's-"

"An idiot? A douchebag? A fun-sucking parasite? Take your pick. I admit he can be… high maintenance, but y'know, he's my brother."

I sat in silence.

"Bella? You there? Hello?"

"Sorry Alice, I gotta go."

"But Bella-" she said as I hung up.

I couldn't believe it.

My best friend was related to this… this monster, who now happened to be my boss?

My bad luck had finally managed to outdo itself.

I shook my head, as if that would erase the horror that was the night before.

No such luck.

As I pulled into the parking lot, I braced myself for the worst, and told myself that the worst he could was shout at me.

Unless he fired me. That would be much worse.

Keeping a positive outlook, I took my first steps into my living nightmare.

What could possibly go wrong today?

Ah, Bella... You could have jinxed it!

Well, this is Chapter 2 of who knows how many. If you want more, then please review! I just want to say thanks to my friend, Maria. Maria, if you're reading this, you're awesome!

Go check out her story:

~ Strange and Beautiful