Chapter three –

I had ended up leaving my celebratory drinks gathering early, due to the buzz killing meeting with my ex. I had tried to withstand being in the same room as him and his new 'girlfriend' of sorts, but like the wimp I am, I couldn't take it. It was too much to deal with too soon in my opinion. So I made up some lame excuse to everybody, saying I had a headache and wanted to go home to bed, and made my leave. Rose knew something was going on, but she didn't question me in front of everyone, for which I was extremely grateful. However, I knew she would bring it up when we were alone.

The night passed uneventfully after that, leaving me in bed, wallowing in self pity, until I passed out from exhaustion. To say I was tired when my alarm started buzzing menacingly, would be an understatement, I was practically dead on my feet. But sleeping in for another half hour was definitely out of the question, if I was late on my first day I would never hear the end of it and I was too grouchy from sleep deprivation to be criticised or receive any snarky comments today.

Once I was up and about, I shuffled into the kitchen so I could get my morning fix of caffeine. There was nothing like a steaming hot mug of coffee to wake you up in the morning, and I had become some what of a caffeine junky in the last few years, loving the rush of its energizing ways as the warm liquid invades my body.

'So you ready for your big day?' A deep voice asked from the entrance of the kitchen, making me jump.

I swung round, holding my coffee mug at the ready to use as a defensive weapon. I hated it when people crept up on me, mainly because I wasn't the most observant of people. 'Emmett! Haven't you ever heard of knocking?' I scolded, glaring at my older brother.

Emmett backed away from me, holding his hands up in surrender, mock fear colouring his eyes vibrantly. Once I lowered the mug, he smirked and wondered back into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table and stealing one of the slices of toast I had just made. 'Haven't you ever heard of locking your door?'

I ignored his comment and went straight to the point. I didn't have time for all the chit chat; I needed to be ready for when Edward came to pick me up. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of me delaying him; I would never hear the end of it if I did. 'What are you doing here; don't you have a job to go to?'

Waiting until he had finished his mouthful – which is an extreme improvement by the way, he never used to do that until Rose came along – he answered me. 'I came to see if you were okay.'

I shrugged. 'Yeah, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be. If you are worrying because of this animosity between Edward and I, don't. I am more than capable of handling Edward Cullen.' This was true to an extent.

'I'm not on about Edward Cullen, Bella.' He paused, his eyes probing me for answers. He used to do this to me when we were kids. He's strike up a conversation, wanting to get something out of me at the end; usually it was when he wanted me to confess something. I looked at him innocently, honestly not knowing where he was going. 'I saw Jake after you left.'

I froze, my gaze immediately dropping to the floor. I was already not in the best of moods thanks to my lack of sleep, talking about Jake would make me even worse. 'Oh.' I feigned ignorance. 'How is he?'

'Bella, I know you spoke to him.' I shrunk back a bit. Emmett was doing what I didn't want. I didn't want to talk about it and open up. Because if I did, I didn't know how I'd be able to hold it together. To Jake I had opened myself up, and by doing so, I had given him the power to break me, and that is exactly what he did. To be fair the break up of our relationship was most definitely two sided, but still, I wasn't willing to go back there again. Thinking about Jake was painful enough, talking about it was excruciating.

I figured there was no point denying it to Emmett, he had obviously spoken to Jake, so the best thing to do was add an air of nonchalance, make it seem like it didn't bother me. 'Yeah, briefly. It was no big deal.' I said, clearing the kitchen table of all breakfast appliances.

'That's why you suddenly got a headache after?' He knew I was lying, that is why he kept on pushing me for answers. I had a tendency to close down when talking about topics I found particularly hard, and Emmett being an open book, found it hard to cope with me when I was like that and felt he had let me down until he had managed to break my reluctance to talk.

I sighed, looking him dead in the eye. 'Emmett, I need to be ready in forty minutes, and if you don't want to be late, I suggest you head to work.'

He grunted in frustration, throwing his arms in the air. 'Bella, don't do this, don't shut me out. I'm your brother, you can talk to me.'

'There is nothing to talk about.' I snapped, glaring at him. 'Jake is with Nessie now. She can give him things I can't.'

'Things you won't.' He corrected. I could see it in his eyes that he was pleased he was finally getting something out of me. And seeing my reaction to Jake's new girlfriend, gave him an insight as to what I was actually feeling.

'I never said no to him!' I cried. 'I said not yet!' I shook my head, my voice growing smaller at the pain of reliving the memory of his departure from my life. 'That wasn't enough for him. End of story. Now, I really need to get ready for work, I'll call you later okay?'

Emmett sighed irritably and started heading towards the door. 'Fine, but one day, you'll eventually talk to me.'

I watched as my brother left, and then I darted into my bedroom to pick out what I wanted to wear today. Emmett coming here and trying to talk to me about the whole Jake situation had put a huge downer on my day; I could only hope that as time progressed my day would start to look up again. The prospect of spending the entire day with Edward Cullen though, wasn't giving me a positive outlook.

Looking in the mirror, I couldn't help but feel a slight smugness towards my appearance. I had tried really hard to look the part for today, although all I would be doing was research, I still wanted to look smart. I have always thought that looking the part was crucial when trying to achieve something and this job was no exception.

I had pulled my long brown hair into a pony tail, secured high at the back of my head with a black elastic band. I had applied the minimum amount of make up, not wanting anyone to think I was trying too hard to make someone notice me. I had pasted a thin coat of foundation on my face and added a small dose of blusher and bronzer to give myself colour. The only other make up applied was a thin layer of mascara and a clear coat of lip gloss.

With my clothes I had yet again, opted for simplicity. I wore a black, short sleeved, knee length dress, with a white thick belt around my waist and shrug to keep my arms warm. I also wore a pair of three inch black stiletto heels, glossy, with a buckle at the ankle. My outfit was far from designer, or the in-fashion, but it looked good on me, and fulfilled its purpose.

Just as I was getting my bag, and packing my laptop in its carry case, the front door bell rang, telling me that my preparation time was up and it was now time to see what today had in store for me, twenty minutes later than originally had been planned.

I flung open the door and stared at the god like creature in front of me. 'Well, you're late.' I stated, standing hands on hips, glaring at the man stood before me, like any pissed off mother would.

He rolled his eyes and sighed. 'And you're short, are we done pointing out the obvious now?' His voice took on an exasperated tone, like he was already at his wits end with me. I had a feeling this was going to be one long, long day.

I gave him a quick once over, while he stood staring at me. He was wearing dark jeans, obviously designer, and a light blue short sleeved shirt with a black leather jacket over the top. He was reminding me of a biker for some reason, but he was way too much of a pretty boy to pull the illusion off.

'If roles were reversed, you'd be giving me hell right now.' I said, raising my eyebrows, daring him to challenge my assumption. The best way to go about today was to not show any weakness. If I showed him I meant business right from the start, maybe he wouldn't be too much of a hassle or drama queen.

He smirked and nodded. 'Yeah, I would. So why don't you prove you're the bigger person, and so much better than me.' He said dryly. 'And remain silent?'

Yeah, like he was going to get off that easy. I smiled brightly and made it seem like I was at least considering his request. 'Hmm...' I bit my lip and shook my head at him. 'Tempting, but no.'

He chuckled and the first genuine smile I had ever seen him make appeared, making his flawless face fill with even more beauty than usual. 'Thought that would be your answer.'

Wow, he knew me so well. I couldn't be bothered with the general bantering anymore that seemed to occur whenever he and I were in a conversation for longer than thirty seconds, so I tried to get back onto normal conversation.

'So why were you late?'

He sighed and ran a hand through his dishevelled hair. 'Because I had to mentally coax myself out of the car.'

I chuckled slightly, leaning on the door, swinging it open a bit more. 'I had no idea I scared you so much.'

He gave me one of those don't-flatter-yourself looks and crossed his arms over his muscled chest. My eyes lingered on his chest for a moment longer than they should have and I quickly shot my eyes back up to his. Although the guy irritated me almost to death, I couldn't help but feel a slight attraction to him. Well, actually, it was more than a slight attraction. I was attracted to him a lot. But it was only due to his looks and nothing else, and therefore I could ignore them quite well. Every time I felt this attraction present itself I just reminded myself of what a jerk he was. I didn't like the fact that I was captured by his hotness, but what can you say? He is gorgeous, even if he is a dick, and at the end of the day, I am a woman. I'm obviously not going to be completely oblivious to his charms.

'Not you, you don't scare me. It's your neighbourhood. I've never seen such a rough place, why do you live here? Are you a secret drug dealer or something?' Edward asked, letting his sarcasm mar his words at the end.

I glared at him, showing him I was not impressed at his attempt of humour. 'Your concern touches me.' I replied, matching his tone of sarcasm. 'But even with my.' I made quotation marks with my fingers. ''drug dealing', I can't afford to live anywhere else. We don't all make the money you do, and unless I want to live with my brother again, this is my only option.' I don't know why I told him all that, instead of just coming out with a short snippy response, but for some reason I had rambled longer than I had wanted.

His eyes softened as he looked at me. It was like, for the first time, he was seeing me as a person instead of an annoyance. I wasn't sure if it was pity or something else shining in his eyes, but I didn't have time to decipher, because before I even had time to blink, his green eyes hardened to stone and all connection was gone.

He cleared his throat and gestured outside. 'Shall we go?'

I grabbed my bags from behind the door and stepped outside. 'Suppose so.' I grumbled. No longer psyched for the new opportunity that had been presented to me, but dreading it.

He ushered me out of my apartment building and outside on the sidewalk. It was quite a nice day out. The sort of day I would love to be outside for. The sun was shining brightly, no clouds scarring the perfectly blue sky and to top that off, there was no breeze, so the day consisted of a warm, pleasant temperature. Taking notice of the beautiful day, I failed to notice where Edward was leading me to, and I still didn't see, until I was stood in front of his car.

'What the hell is that?' I asked, muffling a giggle.

He stared at me as if I was a few screws loose. 'It's my car.' He said, slowly, enunciating each word.

'It's a Volvo.' I laughed, pointing at the silver vehicle he was unlocking. Out of every car Edward Cullen could have, he chose to drive a silver Volvo.

'No shit Sherlock.' He replied. Looking deeply offended at the mocking of his car. It was funny, although there was nothing wrong with owning a Volvo – in fact, I quite liked Volvo's – I had never pictured Edward Cullen as a Volvo owner. It was too plain of a car for him. I had expected him to have something flash, like you see other actors and actresses driving around in. I stifled another round of giggles. 'Okay, what is wrong with my car?' He asked, clearly getting frustrated with my behaviour.

I composed myself, taking a deep breath. 'Nothing.' I answered honestly. 'It's just not something I expected you to drive.'

'It's discreet.' He said defensively.

'It's ordinary.'

'I'm ordinary.' He retorted. A frown creasing his pearl drop skin.

I snorted, earning myself a filthy look from him. The words 'if looks could kill' flowed through my mind. 'Sure you are, and I'm a skinny, six foot model.' I sarcastically replied.

He lowered to my level, so our eyes could connect. 'Exactly what are you trying to say Bella?' He growled menacingly.

Well Mr Big Bad Wolf... 'Nothing. I'm not trying to say anything. It's just, I thought you would have a car with a bit more 'Wow Factor''

Edwards's eyes narrowed into slits. 'In other words, you were stereotyping me. You though that just because of my income and status, that I would – like most other celebrities – buy loads of top of the range cars that I don't need. And drive around in a flash new model?'

My eyes widened in innocent and I shrugged. 'Well... yes.'

He exhaled deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Just get in the damn car Bella.' He ordered.

We remained in silence throughout the whole of the trip. So many times I wanted to comment on his deadly driving. Even though it was before, it had yet again, become one hundred percent apparent that the crash was obviously not my fault. Being in his car was like being in death trap, each corner he took, or car he swerved past, I expected to be my last. Seriously, being in a car with Edward as the driver, was single headedly the scariest experience of my life. But, somehow I managed to keep my mouth shut and not criticize. I kept repeating the same words my dad used to say to Emmett and I when we used to be mean to each other, 'if you don't have something nice to say, then don't say anything'. I thought the best way to remain true to my internal word, was to lean back and shut my eyes, and will the journey to be over.

Once I felt the car come to a halt, I gingerly opened one eye. We were outside a towering block of apartments. They were clearly for the upper class citizens. The outside had an elderly looking stone exterior. Reminding me of some of the old country cottages you see in movies. Covering all of the higher building, were wall size windows, allowing tons of light in. If I sat at one of the windows for a full day, with weather like this, even I would probably come away sun tanned.

I turned to Edward who was laughing softly at my jaw-dropped expression. When I realised he was laughing at me, I immediately shut my mouth and composed myself.

'Let me guess.' I said, crossing my arms over my chest. 'Penthouse apartment?'

'Of course.' He replied. His eyes dropping from my face.

It took me a while to realise what he was so obviously staring at, until I followed his gaze. With my arms crossed beneath them, I realised I had accidentally brought my breasts to attention. Pushing them up, exposing a reasonable amount of cleavage.

I cleared my throat and glared at him. 'Do you want a picture?' Dry sarcasm cascading from my mouth.

He shook his head and looked at me patronizingly. 'No, a magnifying glass would be more appropriate.'

'Shame I cant say the same about your ego.' I snapped, hating the fact that I had given him such a reaction. But by the look on his face, my quick reply didn't bother him, he was still too pleased with himself over his earlier comment. His other insults, I could handle. It didn't bother me when he said them, because at the end of the day I gave him as good as he got. But I had always been self conscious about my looks. I wasn't what you would call curvy and I didn't have much in the boob department. Being friends with Rosalie had always made me feel inadequate with my appearance. Because, lets be honest, Rosalie was like a supermodel and I was... not. So I was used to feeling self conscious around her. But when by myself, that lack in confidence would take a backseat and I would be more upfront and proud of my looks. When someone like Edward says something like that to me though, my self confidence plummets and I wind up as confident as a nerdy teenager making a speech in front of the class.

I looked up at him, a smirk plastered across his face so prominently it looked like it would never disappear. However, when he registered my expression, the smirk dropped, his mouth relaxing into a thin straight line. I didn't realise I had portrayed the slight insecurity I felt, in my expression, that had showed him that he had hit a sore spot, but I obviously had, because suddenly his eyes clouded over and he actually seemed to be... apologetic.

'Bella, I'm-' He started, but I cut him off.

'Let's get this bullshit project out the way shall we? The faster we work, the faster I can get away from you.' I snapped, marching off into the building.

If I could only use one word to describe Edward's apartment, it would be 'incredible'. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. It made my own place look like a garden shed. It didn't have as many room as I thought it would, but it was every bit as big as it appeared from outside. The rooms were huge, hence why there wasn't as many of them. The place consisted of a state of the art kitchen, a modern, technically enhanced living room, a dining room, three bedrooms – one of them converted into a film and games room -, two bathrooms - with Jacuzzi bathtubs obviously – and an office where he had all of his awards, and where he and I would be working together regularly.

'Make yourself at home; I'll just go make us some drinks.' Edward said, still subdued from his bad behaviour earlier.

'How gracious of you.' I muttered sarcastically, picking up a picture of Edward and a small dark haired woman, with black pixie style hair and the same green eyes he possessed. Although there was a very limited resemblance between Edward and the mystery woman, I could tell that she was his sister, his younger sister I would guess. Even though Edward was no old man, the woman's eyes screamed youth and innocent, making me almost positive, she was to his junior.

'That's my sister Alice.' He said, coming up so close behind me that I could feel his warm breath on my neck.

I started and dropped the photo onto the white leather sofa which framed around the living room. I twirled around to face him. Our close proximity making me wants to move even closer to him and further away at the same time. My nose was practically grazing his chest and for some reason I had the mad urge to lean forward and kiss him I swallowed and tried to shimmy back a bit, but my ass hit the back of the sofa, making it impossible to move any further away.

'Yeah, I kinda figured that one out on my own.' I replied softly, edging my way around him, so I could take a step back.

'Really?' He raised an eyebrow at me, surprise colouring his voice and features. 'Most women I bring back here think she's my girlfriend or something.'

He motioned for me to take a seat and I did so. Perching on the edge of the sofa and crossing my legs at the ankles. The room was very tranquil and natural. It consisted of three colours, cream, beige and chocolate brown. Two walls were painted in cream and the other two were painted in beige. The room was pretty empty. The most dominant feature in the room was the creamy white sofa that I was now occupying. It travelled its way around the room. At the front of the room was a fifty inch flat screen TV. I had originally thought Edward would have a bigger one, but with a life like his, I suppose he doesn't really spend enough time in, so there is no point in getting a TV much bigger. There were stacks and stacks of DVD's lined up in clear glass mahogany draws and under the TV was a cream marble fireplace.

Edward picked up the photo from where I dropped it and looked at it. Dimples creasing his cheeks as his lips tugged up into a soft mile. 'We look nothing alike.' He continued, off in a world of his own.

'I'm not most women.' Oh my god, how cliché do I want to get? 'And I am definitely not like the women you associate yourself with, I mean, I own more than one brain cell.' He grunted at my comment but chose to say nothing. I pointed at the photo. 'You have the same eyes. They're too unusual for you to both have them as a coincidence.'

He chuckled softly. 'You're observant. No one else notices that.' It amazed me that for once he was being sincere and was not trying to get one up on me and belittle me.

This time it was my turn to chuckle. 'That is because, the only other women you bring up here are more interested in getting into your pants than getting to know you.' If I didn't have a brain, I would probably be one of those girls, I mentally added.

Edward shrugged, not denying the fact that most women he brought home just wanted him for sex. At the end of the day, that was probably all he was interested in with them as well. So if the feeling was mutual, why should it bother him. He wanted a quick lay and they wanted to be able to say they had fucked Edward Cullen. It was a win-win situation for both parties.

He walked over to me and sat down next to me. 'You want to get to know me?' He teased, twisting my words, trying to turn them so it sounded like I had a hidden agenda for working with him. He didn't take his eyes off of mine. 'Here's your drink.' He handed me a flute of lemonade. I thought it was a nice touch putting the drink in a flute. It made it seem sophisticated. Never thought I would ever describe something Edward Cullen did as sophisticated, but then again, I never thought a lot of things could happen, for instance, I never thought Rosalie would agree to marry my brother... if I've learnt anything being a journalist, it's that people surprise you.

I stared into his eyes, loosing myself in his voice. When meeting his stare it was like being hypnotized. Suddenly all thought went out of the window and all I could concentrate on was him. Him and what he was saying. He nudged the glass further into my hand and closed my fingers around it. It seemed in close proximity to him, like I was now, I would find it increasingly hard to function like a normal person. 'Oh er... thanks.' I said, breaking my gaze away from his and revelling in the feeling of conscious thoughts pouring back into my head. 'Where were we?'

'You said you wanted to get to know me.' He stated, taking a sip of his drink.

'No, you said I wanted to get to know you. I basically called you a man whore.' I said, turning the tables this time and making his words turn on him from earlier. Although sometimes our bantering could over step the mark, there was something refreshing about being able to say whatever I wanted and not being worried about it coming back a biting me on the ass. But I hadn't come here for fun and games, I had come here to work and that was exactly what I was going to do.

He sighed and leant back. 'I take it you want to get to work.'

I nodded. 'Yes, I think that would be wise.'

Edward clapped his hands against his thighs and rose. 'Follow me.' He commanded, beckoning me with his hand.

I followed him through the kitchen and dining room, to a smaller room at the very end of the house. The door was mahogany, and I could kind of see a pattern going on. It seemed Mr Cullen likes his mahogany. Once we were in the room, I realised that this was definitely the smallest and most down to earth room in the apartment. All it consisted of was two black, leather arm chairs, a mahogany coffee table, where I assumed my place, setting my laptop on the coffee table and booting it up. Edward sat in the arm chair next to me, neglecting the desk chair pushed under the – yes, again – mahogany desk which held his - no doubt state of the art - computer. The only other thing in the room was his cabinet, full of acting awards that he had won in the past.

'So, where do we start?' Edward asked eagerly, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

I got a word document up on my laptop and smiled at him. 'For starters? We talk.'

The excitement faded from his eyes slightly and he looked down at me. I think he expected me to click my fingers and suddenly produce a book. Yeah, like it really worked like that. But I suppose that is what he had always been accustomed to, and so he was used to getting what he wanted at a speedy pace. 'Talk? What about?'

'Everything.' I replied, rubbing my temples, already feeling an aggravated headache coming on. I had never met a man who could do that to me, send me mad in a matter of seconds. It was obvious Edward Cullen brought out the worst in me, and nothing was going to change that. So the best thing I could do was just keep my head down and work my ass off, just like Rosalie suggested.

'Like...' He prompted, looking at me as if I had grown a second head.

'First of all what you want this book to be mainly based on.' How was I supposed to write a book when I didn't know what his main focus was.

He frowned slightly. 'What I want this book to be based on?' He asked quietly. 'I want it to be based on myself.'

I sighed in exasperation, how I was meant to deal with him for the next six months or so, I had no idea. Seriously, they weren't paying me enough for this job. 'Yeah, that much I've got. But is it going to be mainly focused on your childhood? Fame? Love life?' Or should I say sex life because there was no doubt in my mind that there was no such thing as love when it came to Edward Cullen. 'Etcetera, etcetera.'

Edward straightened up in his chair and announced proudly. 'My fight to fame.'

Oh Jesus Christ. Lord help me now. 'I don't know why I bothered asking.' I admitted, typing what he had just told me onto my laptop. I had decided that I would record anything he told me concerning the book on my laptop, no matter how stupid it may seem. 'I should have known that would have been your answer.'

He snorted as if I had completely misunderstood him. 'You make me sound really egotistical.'

'That is because you are.' I stated, not bothering to sugar coat what I was telling him. He opened his mouth to protest, but I beat him to it. 'No don't reply. We need to focus on the book, not enter into another slanging match.' He shut his mouth but continued to glare. 'Right, so I think that there are four themes we need to surround the book in. We need to include... childhood.' I made quotation marks in the air with my fingers for the next one. 'Fight to fame, your past loves and problems.'

He had agreed to all of them apart from problems. 'I don't have problems, problems are for people who don't have the money to fix them. I don't want my fans to think I have problems.'

I exhaled noisily. This man was enough to make a saint curse. 'We need them to know that you yourself struggle in some parts of life because then the readers can relate to you.' I argued. It was like talking to a five year old, everything had to be explained precisely and delicately.

'I don't want to be seen as common.' Ah, so that was the problem. He didn't want to be seen as the same as everyone else. Well, tough. I was going to make sure that in this novel, people knew that Edward Cullen was in fact every bit as normal as everyone else.

'You won't be seen as common, but you will be seen as human.' What part of we need people to relate, did he not understand?

'Fine, we'll do it your way, but nothing too extreme.' He warned, taking a sip of his lemonade.

What he had said however intrigued me. 'Why, how extreme can you get?' I had a feeling I didn't want to know the answer, but something was pushing me to find out. For some reason the thought of all the extremities Edward had gone to, to fix his problems, made me curious.

He chuckled softly, shaking his head at memories. 'Little girl, you have no idea.'

Oh my, what the hell had I let myself in for?