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Chapter 3

BPOV

Waking up to the sun beaming into my window. I stretched pulling myself up to sit on the edge of the bed.

My thoughts went to Edward. It has been five weeks since that weekend and I never heard from him once I left a message on his phone. I guess he does not want to talk to me.

I went to get up from bed and I felt my stomach roll and become dizzy all of a sudden. I ran to the bathroom reaching it just in time for me to release everything I had in my stomach. Which was not much.

Maybe I'm coming down with the flu or something. I thought with the flu that your whole body hurt. I felt fine other than my stomach being nauseous and me being dizzy. I'll give it a few days and if I'm not better I will go to the doctor.

I ended up getting in the shower so that I could get to work. Alice would not be happy if I was late. I'm pretty much my own boss since I run the business end of Alice Brandon Designs.

I just hoped that I could make it through work without getting sick. If I got sick and Alice saw me she would ask a million and one questions. I was not in the mood for that.

Walking off the elevator's my receptionist Laney greeted me.

"Ms. Swan you have some mail along with some messages. Would you like some coffee this morning?"

"Morning Laney, no I don't think I will have coffee this morning. Do you think that you could get someone to go and get me a blueberry muffin along with some tea with lemon please?"

"Yes ma'am. Anything else?"

"No that will be all."

I walked into my office and low and behold Alice was sitting behind my desk in my chair.

She looked at me like she really had something to say.

"Alice just spill whatever the hell you have to say so I can get to work."

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I was just wondering if you have heard from Edward."

"No Alice. Its the same answer I gave you yesterday, the day before and the day before that. He has not called and I don't think he will since he has not yet. So can you please stop asking me. Beside don't you have some designs to create and stop worrying about my personal life."

"Yeah, I'll go design something, but I'll always worry about your life. What is a best friend for?"

"One that is there for me when I need her. One that doesn't ask the same question everyday for the last five weeks. Please let me be with this Edward thing. If he calls, you will be the first to know. I just want to get some kind of normalcy. I haven't had that since Jake and I started dating. I want my life back to the way before Jake ever happened."

"Honey you do know that's never going to happen. Jacob is going to be a part of your past and there is nothing that you can do about it now. I think what happened has made you a stronger person and I think that in the long run you will be glad about that."

She finally left my office as Laney came in with my tea and blueberry muffin. She sat them on the desk and I looked over at the pile of mail and messages sitting there.

A little part of me was hoping that there would be a message from Edward, but in reality I don't think I'd ever hear from him again. He was Jake's cousin after all, and they say blood is thicker than water.

I lifted the muffin to my lips and was about to take a bite, when my stomach made that gurgling sound again.

I decided not to eat the muffin, I sipped on my tea as I looked at the first message. The first one I looked at was from of all people Jacob fucking Black. My day was going pretty good until I saw that one.

Without question or reading it I threw it in the thrash. The second one was from one of our buyers. They wanted to set up a business meeting to see if they could get a contract. I would call them a little later today.

I got to the third one and I dropped the tea I was drinking all over my desk. It was from Edward Cullen.

I read the message.

"Bella please give me a call. I need to explain to you why it's taken me so long to get back to you."

I sat there and kept reading the message over and over again. I was still in shock and did not notice that my tea was running off my desk on to my clothes.

I got up and went to get some towels. Fuck, what a mess. All because of a message from Edward.

I went to the closet and pulled out a new pair of dress pants, and I went to clean up the mess before I changed.

Thank goodness they were the same kind otherwise Alice would want to know why I have different pants.

Once I finished I sat back in my chair and picked up his message again.

What should I do? I know what Alice would say, just call him and find out why he never called you.

I'm still not sure if I was ready to find out why he hadn't called. I have missed him a good bit and I have been hurt because it has taken so long for him to get back to me.

Edward was the one person who seemed to get me. He was so easy to talk too. Plus he was HOT in bed.

Just thinking about our sex time together had me wetting my panties. I wonder if he enjoyed it as much as I had.

I guess I should just give him a call and see what he has to tell me.

I picked up my phone, slowly dialing his number. Putting it to my ear listening as it rang. After the second ring I thought that he was not going to answer.

"Hello, Edward Cullen."

EPOV

I sat at my desk after just getting back from Italy. They had called me saying that the construction was at a stand still due to labor disputes. They had been wanting more money and the contact said something else.

Of course I was the one that had to go and put the flames out. I felt really awful for not calling Bella before I left but I had to go fast. Every minute counted on this project. Everyday the workers did not work more money was lost.

I have a ton of paperwork to catch up on. Dozens of emails that I needed to response to. I would be working a lot of late nights to get stuff back to normal.

Sitting at my desk answering some email when my phone rang. Without looking I just answered it.

"Hello, Edward Cullen" I spoke.

"Um...Edward it's Bella."

I stopped my work and could not believe that she was actually calling me.

"Hi, Bella. Thank you for calling me."

"Your welcome Edward. In your message you said that you wanted to explain why you hadn't called me back."

"Yes, I did. I got a call telling me that I had an emergency in Italy on a project I have a contract on over there with the workers. I had to go and put the flame out. That's why it took me so long to get back to you. I'm really sorry for not being able to call before I left."

"It's fine really. I would like to apologize for running out on you that day. So Jacob is your cousin?"

"Yes Bella he is but I want to tell you that he and I got into after you ran out. I don't care if he's my cousin or not he should have never cheated on you or even been after your fathers money. We got into a fight and once I was done with him I spent hours looking for you. I was so worried about you."

"Edward I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. I was so happy the time I was with you and then he came to the door and started in and I could not take it anymore. I just had to get out of there."

"I understand that beautiful I just wish that you would have stayed and I would have gotten rid of him and then I would have taken you where ever you wanted to go. I really enjoyed talking to you among other things. I have never had a connection with anyone the way I did that night with you. It's like we have known each other for years instead of just hours. I would really like to get to know you better and see what might happen."

"I did to Edward but there still the fact remains that you are Jacob's cousin and I'm not sure I could be around him if we did get together in that kind of way. I mean I would not like you to have to choose between me or your family. I also did enjoy the time we spent together. I have never had anyone so in tune with me like that not even him. If I am honest I think that you pleased me more than I have had been before."

I could not believe that she was saying that to me over the phone. I felt my pants getting tighter. I had to make her see that I was nothing like my asshole cousin. I had to show her that there could be an us. That Jacob would not be a problem.

"Bella, Jacob will not be a problem. I really do not talk to him much. Before the wedding I had not seen him in over three years. We have grown apart. After what happened once you walked out, I'm pretty sure that I will not be seeing him for awhile."

I sat there and waited for her to respond but it took her few moments. I'm hoping that she is thinking about what I have said.

"How about this Edward. We can start to talk and see how it goes. If things progress then we can deal with Jacob when the time comes. Does that seem fair to you?"

Here idea was actually a good one. She was not turning me down totally she was compromising. If that was what she was willing to do then it was fine by me.

"I think I could do that. I look forward to it. Beautiful I really need to get back to work. Can I call you later on tonight?"

"That's fine. I have work to get done as well. I'm looking forward to talking to you later handsome. Bye."

"Bye my Bella."

Once I hung up I sat there for a moment and just took in what had all been said. I was thinking she was going to be pissed for not calling but she seemed ok with it. I was glad that we could see where things could go.