5. Flight of Fancy

BPOV

"Certainly, Mr. Fuller. I'll revert after scoping out all the options. Have a good day." I placed the receiver back and heaved a sigh. As I reached for a glass of water, my screen pinged with a new message from Leah – In my office stat.

I groaned and put my head on the table. Was she ever capable of greeting me a little nicely? God! I hated her, I hated this stupid job, I hated my stupid life, but mostly I hated my throbbing headache. Damn me! Why did I let Rose take me to that party? And why did I listen to Char and land up with this huge hangover? I closed my eyes tightly and tried to remember the events of last night. It was like trying to play a badly damaged CD. I recalled wisps of images – bitchy friends of Char inciting me, dancing on a table and falling...hard (according to the bump at the back of my head). I tried to feel it carefully, and another sharp pain stabbed through my head.

Alright then, lesson learnt: never, ever let anybody make you do things which you would regret later. What was the point of turning twenty-four if you couldn't even say no when you wanted to? From now on I was going ignore Rose and Char's ideas and be firm.

Piinggg! "STAT!"

Well, there was one person I couldn't ignore. I willed myself to get up and slowly made my way to Bitch Central. She was on the phone, so I let myself in and waited. After hanging up, she was quiet for a few moments and then seemed to realise I existed.

"Thank you for gracing me with your presence. Didn't the sun rise for her highness yet?"

Ting! Round one begins. "I'm sorry for being a little late today. I have a severe headache and-"

"Excuses - which I'm not interested in. What I called you in for an hour ago, is to ask whether you would like to go to L.A tomorrow. Pierce's editor, Susan, started her pregnancy leave last week, and can't travel that far to meet him. He is in one his rare moods to let us in the loop about his latest novel."

I blinked. "Wait a minute, Pierce? You mean Graham Pierce?"

She nodded.

"The Graham Pierce?"

"I know only one, unless you have someone else in mind."

I let out a breath. "No… I-I mean," narrowing my eyes I asked, "why would you send me?"

"I thought you would do, but of course, if you don't think you're up for it…"

"No, no," I said hurriedly, "I would love that. So, you want me to go to L.A. to speak with him?"

"Obviously its not chit chat," she asserted, "We've acquired him with great effort, and he is proving very taxing. He doesn't do well with communication and I know for sure, even Susan would like to roast his balls. Just get a general idea about his proposal. Anyway he's not going to go into detail with you. He would want to talk to his editor only, so just try and be a little convincing and persuasive. I want you to understand that he is a very, very important man and one of the most stubborn and reclusive as well. If I were you, I would be very careful with him. Don't ask unnecessary questions and just do your job. You leave early tomorrow morning. And don't get any more… headaches," she added smiling sweetly and wickedly.

With a tight smile I nodded swiftly. She went back to her work, ignoring me and I took it as my cue to leave. In the powder room, I ran into Angela and she asked me excitedly, "Is it true that you are going to L.A. today?"

"It's actually tomorrow, and how do you even know that? I just agreed to it."

"Yeah, well, news like this spreads like wildfire," she replied smiling, "I heard he is a real pain. Good luck!"

"Thanks. I have a feeling I might need it."

It was beautiful all around. Clear blue ocean, palm tress swaying distantly and the warm, afternoon Californian sun. I was surrounded by postcard-perfect beauty and couldn't enjoy even a second of it. I was too nervous about my meeting and was jumping my foot up and down in the back seat of the cab I was riding in. To calm myself I checked my phone and saw that I had two new messages from Rose – "Bella we need to talk! Call me as soon as you land." And, "I presume you have landed and are ignoring my messages. Once I get hold of you, you are dead meat."

I sighed. Rosalie was the tip of the iceberg. She was stalking me since yesterday and it was really getting on my nerves. I was bombarded with phone calls and messages all day, while I was busy prepping for my meeting. I ignored all of them, and sent her a message late last night, before passing out from exhaustion, informing her about my trip. I knew she wanted to talk and torture me about my drunken adventures, and I was in no mood for that. In fact, I never wanted to bring up that party again. I was too ashamed to even recall my dancing. God, I must have made a proper fool of myself and in front of entire Manhattan, no less.

I arrived at Mr. Pierce's home, or mansion was more like it, and the security buzzed me in after checking my details a million times. So much for face value, I thought rolling my eyes. An elegantly dressed middle aged man led me through a grand hallway to the parlour room. I sat on the edge of a very large, uncomfortable chair, sweating my ass. And I waited.

I was furious. No, scratch that. I was livid. Who on earth did he think he was? After waiting for over forty minutes, that man had the audacity to tell me to go home. He fucking told me to go home. No wait, his fucking man-servant told me to fucking go home. Apparently, he did not deal with little people like me and would only speak to his editor or none at all. Well, up his!

"Passengers travelling through American Airlines flight 10 from Los Angeles to New York are kindly requested to proceed for boarding."

The announcement provided me with much comfort and I boarded the flight. Thankfully, I had a window seat, and settled in comfortably. I wanted nothing more than to get some sleep, go home and live out my humiliation in quiet. Just then, my phone started blaring noisily.

Rosalie. Great. "Hey. I know you're probably mad that I didn't return any of your calls, but I'm irritated, tired and still in L.A. Can I call you back tomorrow sometime?"

"No Bella. You may not. I have been going mad over here and you can't even answer a bloody cell phone? First of all, why are you in L.A? Are you with him? No, no. First of all, how did you even land up with him? Royce told me yesterday that Edward Cuilinn was at Venom that day, but he was in a private room," she paused at my silence, "Bella?"

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Edward Cuilinn. I'm talking about Edward Anthony Cuilinn! You know, you were stuck on a roof with him? I would love to know how you managed to lock him up alone with you like that. It's totally hot and genius."

"Edward Cuilinn… Why does that name sound so familiar?"

She waited. "Are you drunk right now? Or are you still hungover? He's the guy, I'm assuming you did naughty stuff with, when you were locked on Venom's roof at your birthday party. Ring any bell?" She added sarcastically.

I was taken aback. "I was stuck on the roof at that party? I don't remember. And you say I was with Edward Cuilinn? Are you sure? I don't remember him, or the roof. In fact, I don't recall anything after I started dancing."

Rosalie whispered dangerously, "You have got to be kidding me! You met the effing prince and you don't even remember it? Man!"

"Prince?"

Rosalie took a deep breath. "Bella, you do know who he is, right? He is the Crown Prince of Darvour. You met the effing royalty when you were drunk on your ass."

"Madam, I'm sorry, but could you kindly switch off your phone. We are getting ready for take off," said an air hostess with a tight smile.

I nodded at her and told Rose, "They are asking me to shut my phone down. I'll talk you in detail once I'm back okay? Tomorrow's Saturday so you can badger me all you want."

"Oh you bet I will. What time you back?"

"The flight should land at around five thirty tomorrow morning, New York time."

"Meet me for lunch around 1 at Chuck's.I'll see you then. Goodnight."

Edward Cuilinn? Prince of Darvour? Rosalie must have gotten something wrong, I thought while taking out my jacket from my carry-on. I paused to find that the jacket I had in my hands was not mine. For one, it was quite large, and secondly it looked like a man's. How on earth did it get in my bag? Rose must have left it in my apartment or something. I packed in a haste and didn't really check everything. Whatever. I had a long, tiring day and another long flight ahead of me. I was in no mood to solve the mystery of the secret jacket. I lifted my bag to place it in the overhead compartment, but could barely make it. Damn thing was too heavy.

"Here, let me," said a man behind me, and put it in its place, along with his bag. He turned towards me and stilled. I was met with a striking pair of green eyes, and felt a sense of déjà-vu. He had a defined jaw, perfectly kissable lips, quite a lot of stubble and a seemingly good looking body. He wore a cap from within which golden-brown hair was peeking out. We were both looking at each other, me in confusion and him in…surprise?

Another passenger behind him said, "Excuse me," and we both broke our contact scrambling to take our seats. To my surprise, he plopped right beside me. Once safely strapped in, we both looked at each other again. Upon meeting each others gaze, we looked away, again at each other, away again. Unwilling to continue this dance, I steadfastly looked outside the window. But, throughout the take-off I could feel his eyes on me.

After a while it was starting to get irritating, and my neck was beginning to ache, so I turned and asked, "Would you prefer the window seat? You seem to like the view."

He looked taken aback for a second, and then a slow smile crept up his face. "No thanks I'm good," he smirked, "I think I prefer the view from here."

Ughh. Creep. These days, even the handsome ones were turning out like this. No wonder, women couldn't find any men. One fine day all of them had turned into perverts. Who was I kidding; of course they were perverts from the beginning. And this one beside me was still staring at me. Or rather, staring at my lap.

"Nice jacket," he commented.

"Uh thanks… it's my boyfriend's," I added for good measure, "I like to carry it with me when he's not travelling with me." There. That should hopefully make him back off.

Strangely, he seemed to be amused at something. "Something funny?" I asked briskly.

He smiled and replied, "Loads actually. I'm sorry I didn't catch your name."

I thought for a moment before answering, "Renee."

He raised his eyebrows and said, "Renee? Wow, it's a beautiful name. Renee. That's good. So, Renee, what do you do?"

"I'm a purse maker. I love making different kinds of natural purses."

"Natural purses? What is that?"

"You know with sea shells, crab shells, barnacles, and the likes. They smell like sea and fish and are a big hit with beach-loving people."

Scrunching up his nose, he asked, "Really?"

"Oh yes. Mostly, we have to pull out the organism and kill it. You know, so that the shells can really smell. The smellier, the better."

"Oh?" he asked with trepidation.

"Totally. Their effects last longer. Of course, one does smell pretty bad after doing all that work, but hey, doesn't really matter when you do what you love the most. In fact, I have just come from a heavy assignment. Don't mind if I smell like some dead sea creature," I finished smiling up at him.

He looked horrified. In fact, he seemed to be a little scared now. Good. That would get him off my back for the next few hours.

The air hostess arrived with our dinner options. "Would you prefer the fish or the chicken, sir?"

"Chicken!" he rushed loudly, "Chicken, please."

I tried to hide a smile and asked for the same.

After dinner, I began rummaging through my hand bag for some emergency chocolate. The dessert they served was atrocious and I had to have something sweet after every meal. God! Where was it? I searched furiously and futilely. Throwing the bag down in frustration, I folded my hands and started bouncing my right leg.

After a few minutes he exhaled audibly and looked pointedly at my leg.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I know I must be annoying," I said getting my leg under control, "it's just that I can't find my chocolate."

"Chocolate?"

"Yes," I stressed.

Rolling his eyes, he removed his cap and revealed a thick mass of unruly, golden-bronze coloured hair. He stopped by a passing flight attendant and whispered something in her ear. She replied, "I'm sorry sir, our economy class meal is limited." He again started whispering and she began giggling like a school girl. "Well, there are some truffles I can swing by. I'll be right back," she stated grinning and he winked at her.

I narrowed my eyes and asked him, "What did you say to her?"

"Just what she wanted to hear," he answered cryptically while pushing his seat back, leaving me wondering about the mental capacity of blonde flight attendants.

Hmm... Anyway what do I care, as long as I get my fix. "Thank you. Sometimes, I just desperately need sugar."

I think I heard him mutter I know. "Excuse me?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Also, thank you for earlier. You know when you helped me with the bag."

"It's no problem. Seemed quite heavy for a small thing like you. Carrying your famous purses in it?"

He had a distinct accent and a foreign lilt to his speech. I tried to place it and in the process ended up staring at him.

"Something wrong?"

I started and replied, "I'm sorry. I was just trying to place your accent. Are you French or British?"

"Neither." He didn't elaborate.

The attendant returned with some wonderful looking treats and fluttered her eyelashes at him, asking suggestively, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

He threw a million dollar smile at her and said, "I'll let you know."

I raised my eyebrows at him and took the chocolate gratefully. It tasted divine! It really did. As the chocolate started to melt, I began to moan loudly at the sensations. Realising what I was doing, I opened my eyes and grinned at him sheepishly. He had a strange look on his face. Probably thinking I was mental.

"I just really needed that after the long day I had," I said pushing my seat back completely and relaxing.

"Yes, I can understand. Making smelly purses all day must be exhausting."

I laughed. "Actually I… never mind. So, what do you do?"

He paused before replying, "I'm a collector."

"Really? What do you collect?"

"Old things, precious antiques...random useless artefacts."

"If they are useless, why do you collect them?"

"I find them to be quite valuable," he smiled. Just then, the lights were switched off and we were shrouded in semi-darkness.

"One man's trash is another man's treasure?"

"Something like that. I once procured a small fragment of a vase. It was the size of a post-it and sold for a six figure price."

"Are you serious?" I asked disbelievingly.

He nodded. "That tiny piece provided proof that, that civilisation had trade relations with the Persians."

I nodded as if I understood everything perfectly. "Uhuh. So you on your way for another collection?"

"Actually I'm just returning from one. I was lucky enough to find these," he replied, reaching into his jacket pocket. He held out his palm and in the centre rested two very large and worn out coins with a square shaped hole in the middle of each. They had Chinese symbols on them.

"These look pretty old. What are they?" I asked picking them up.

"Ancient Chinese Marriage charms. These are quite old actually, around five hundred years or so. You can find many reproductions of them in the market today, mostly from the seventies. But, these are original. Given to the newlyweds, more specifically to the bride."

"Why is that?"

He turned the coins over in my hand and I scrunched my eyes to make out some markings on them. Once I focused, I was taken aback. In each of the four directions, four figures of a man and a woman were present. And all the figures... well, they were in different forms of sexual positions. There was the missionary position, of course, and the anal. In the dark light I couldn't really make out the other two.

"As you can see it provides a vivid visual on what to do on the wedding night. In those days, when sex was still a taboo subject, this served as a sex-ed class. It taught the innocent and virginal maiden how to please her husband," he explained with a sly smile.

He turned the coin over, and I felt his cool fingers, making me shiver suddenly. "Literally, these symbols translate to – wind, flowers, snow and moon. It basically talks about a beautiful and perfect landscape to make love or for those in love," he whispered, and I felt his cool breath on my cheek. I never realised how and when our bodies had come closer to each other and, right now, were inches apart. From this angle I could see how green his eyes actually were, and how firm his jaw really was. But all I could focus upon were his lips. His pink, tiny, delectable looking lips. I felt him move a little closer and automatically, my gaze shifted to his eyes. Eyes, which were currently fixated at my lips. Reflexively I poked my tongue out a little to lick my lips and our eyes met. We held our gaze for a few moments, before, I again felt that sense of déjà vu. Suddenly, it was like a light went off in my head. I quickly pulled away from him and sat up straighter. Letting out a deep breath, I glanced back at him. He was looking at me confused and surprised. I quickly retrieved my sleep mask from my bag and put it on.

"Well, I've had a long day. Goodnight," I said turning to the other side feigning sleep.

I didn't have to act for long as sleep came to me quite easily, thanks to my busy day. It seemed only minutes later that harsh noises woke me up. The pilot was informing that we were going to land soon. It was morning already?, I thought removing my mask. My body certainly didn't think so. I opened my mouth widely to yawn and looked at my side.

"Good morning!" he said cheerfully.

I quickly snapped my mouth open and tried to compose myself. Shit! I tried to smooth down my hair with my fingers and replied in a small voice, "Hello."

Beaming like the Cheshire cat he asked, "Had a wonderful sleep?"

"Not bad."

"Really? Seemed like you were enjoying it thoroughly." There was something off about the way he was grinning at me. Like he was laughing at me privately.

"What makes you say that?"

"Oh, nothing. Just that you were talking about some things. What were they now? Oh yes, you screamed 'sex', 'position', and 'fast, faster' in your sleep. Actually no, you just screamed 'sex' couple of times and mumbled the rest all through the morning."

I was mortified. No I was beyond mortified. I was…I was… whatever was the most extreme point you could be embarrassed to. I knew I talked in my sleep, and had been teased about it many times by my family and friends. But this was something else. I had never sleep-talked about such things in public before, at least not that I knew of. To be humiliated like that, and in front of this man…

"Don't lie. I don't do that."

"Of course you did."

"How dare you? You shouldn't be making things up about other people. You're being really rude and offensive." I decided going for all out denial was the best strategy. It always was.

"Why would I lie about-"

"Because you have been trying to flirt with me ever since you got on this plane, even though I told you I have a boyfriend" I said, my voice growing louder and angrier with each syllable, "And you were disappointed I didn't join the mile high club with you because of some stupid chocolate and perverted coins. You are just being a sore and pathetic loser," I finished.

He looked angry. Oh, he definitely seemed furious. Good. Maybe now I could finally ignore him. People around us were staring at me. I tentatively gave them a small smile and concentrated on looking out of the window, even though all I could see was darkness. He didn't speak with me for the rest of the flight and dashed ahead when the doors opened. I was very grateful and made my way out slowly.

The afternoon sun was shining brightly as I made my way to Chuck's. I was exhausted, hungry and in no mood to deal with Rosalie. Of course, it couldn't be avoided, so, I consoled myself that at least one immediate problem could be solved. Chuck's had the best salads in the city. The hostess took me to a back table where Rose was firing away at her computer. She looked at me and leapt up, quickly hugging me.

"Bella! How are you?"

"I'm good. Dead on my feet, but good. Yesterday was one hell of a day. How've you been?"

"Frustrated and crazy," she replied sitting, "and all because you wouldn't pick up my god damn call."

"Rose I told you I was busy-"

"Na uh uh… No excuses, especially this time. Do you even realise who you've met?"

"Yes, you kept talking about Edward something…"

"Cuilinn. Edward Cuilinn. And I cannot for the life of me fathom how you don't know or remember him."

"I know him. I mean now that you mention it I can recall reading his name couple of times in the gossip mags. But, what am I supposed to remember?"

She took a deep breath and launched into her tale. It really did sound like a story, because by the time she was finished, I was confused and shocked.

"You mean, I managed to climb onto the roof and lock myself in with Edward Cuilinn, the infamous Prince of Denver or whatever?"

"Darvour. It's a small country between France and Italy. It's headed by its Royal family, the Cuilinns. And Edward, my dear, is the Crown Prince of Darvour, which means that he is the next king, after his father. And you fucking met him. Him!" she stated turning her laptop towards me. My eyes, which were scrunched up all the while she was talking, went wide apart when I looked at the screen.

It was him. The pervert from the plane. The delectable lips guy. The one who had heard me talk in my sleep about sex. The one I had blasted less than eight hours ago. HIM! I could feel my head reeling and tried to take deep, calming breaths. It was nothing to worry about. So, I had just screamed at and humiliated myself before a Royal. It was fine, not a big deal. Not at all…

"- and he asked me to keep an eye on you the next time you got drunk. I can only imagine all the things you did on that roof-"

I broke my inner monologue. "Wait, he said what? So, that definitely means I was with him then?"

Rosalie huffed. "How many times do I have to keep telling you? Are you even listening to me? You were lying on his leg, passed out. He was all zipped up at that time, but of course he could have done it after you blew him. You were there for almost an hour-"

"WHAT? You think I..I blew him?"

"Why else would you be lying on his lap? You were obviously too drunk to remember. Who knows, maybe you passed out during the blow-"

"Rosalie, enough!" I thundered, "I did not fricking blow…," I lowered my voice, conscious of the people around, "blow him okay? If I did, I'm sure I would have remembered."

"But you were too drunk, so its possible-"

"I would know," I said adamantly, "trust me. And even if you think I did, shouldn't you be reporting this matter to the police. You know, instead of gloating about it. Such type of drunken sex is called date rape in legal terms."

"Oh please, he doesn't need to force you, or anyone for that matter. I'm sure whatever you did, or didn't do", she added at my look, "was out of consent. Even without his background, have you looked at his face?"

I glanced at the screen and felt the sudden need to go home. I needed to deal with this in private. Despite her protests, I bade Rosalie goodbye and rushed out.

I was panting slightly as I jogged across the familiar path. I couldn't believe it, I thought, I just couldn't. For the past couple of hours, I was cooped up in front of my computer and my mind was going crazy with all the information. I just needed to getaway and decided to go for a run. I had looked at a million web pages about Edward Cuilinn and could now answer any and every question about him.

He was born Edward Anthony Cuilinn on June 20, 1987 at Darvour. Darvour was a little country between France and Italy with a population of about two million. It was mostly a Christian state and in spite of being a small nation, it was very strong and powerful. It was headed by it's Royal family who gave its King and Queen, Carlisle and Esme Cuilinn, Edward's parents. He had an older cousin, Jasper Cuilinn, born to Carlisle's elder brother. After the death of his parents at an early age, Carlisle and Esme had brought him up as their own. Both the brothers had a fitting royal upbringing. Till here, everything was picture perfect.

But then came Edward. Famously handsome and notoriously called "The Wild Prince", he was the ultimate rebel. It seemed as if he had set out to break every rule in the book. From the age of nineteen, he was seen drinking, doing drugs and soliciting prostitutes. He was found at all the wild parties and apparently had the mouth of a sailor. Due to his appalling and deplorable attitude, he was termed as a disgrace to Darvour by the European press. America had recently been introduced to him by his ex Hollywood girlfriend and he was slowly getting infamous in the States too. In short, he was the bad boy your mother always warned you about, and the one all teenage girls fell in love with.

As I reached my street, I slowed down to a walk. I couldn't even imagine what I had done with him on my birthday. I closed my eyes hard and tried to remember. I grunted in frustration when I could not recollect anything. But, he must have remembered, yet he acted as if he didn't know me. Why did he do that? Perhaps even he was too drunk that night? What are you talking about Bella, of course he was drunk. According to Google, he is drunk every night. Then why did he ask Rose to keep an eye on me. Does that mean he was sane enough? If he was, why did he talk to me like a stranger on the plane. Did he really? I thought. He did seem to be smirking about something. Oh God!, I thought covering my face with my hands, what on earth had I done with him?

I opened my hands and glanced up. There, sitting on mydoorstep, twirling a piece of stick in his hands was Edward.

Authors Note :- How is it possible to abruptly start and finish a chapter in like two mins, while the middle takes two weeks? Thats whats happened with me here. Hope you like my lengthiest chapter yet! :-) Don't worry, I'm not going to go all psycho on the length and keep increasing it with every chapter. Depending on where I wanna end each one, some will be longer and others shorter. I want to thank all the readers and reviewers. Your support has made me get off my ass and write faster. And all the ones, who reviewed each and every chapter, I bow down to you :-) Another huge thank you to 'Thaigher Lillie', an amazing gal who gave this fic a shout out on her twitter and FB, bringing me readers and reviewers. Her help brought some bloom in my garden :-)

Got my semester exams coming up next week, so the next update will be only after Decemebr 13th, but don't worry started working on the next chap (Of course, starting and ending are never my prob...its only the damn middle!) Thank you for your patience and love. Read and Review :-)