Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or plotlines of the Twilight Saga and the following is a form of fiction based on the brilliance of Stephanie Meyer's work.
Author: ToryD
Beta: Splendorous Night Unfurled (I've got a Beta on board so you won't have to suffer my horrible grammar errors any longer! So a huge big Thank you to SNU!)
Title: A Forbidden Forever
Chapter Four
"Okay, so what do you think?" Alice asked with her hands on her slim hips as she awaited her brother's opinion.
"It looks nice," Edward commented almost absently as he glanced briefly at the hand carved, cherry-wood desk that Alice had placed directly outside his office.
"Nice!" Alice huffed back as she shot Edward an annoyed look. "I'll have you know that this is over two hundred years old and is a priceless antique."
"I said it was nice," Edward replied with an amused smile creasing his perfect face. "Is the computer up and running?"
"Yes, someone from IT came in and set it up this afternoon," Alice answered as she pulled a loose petal from one of the three dozen yellow roses exquisitely arranged in a Waterford crystal vase on Bella's desk. "I think we're all set."
"Good," Edward answered in the same tone as he used when he commented on the desk.
With her lips drawn into a tight line to show her irritation at his lack of interest in all of her preparations, Alice turned to glare at her bothersome brother. What she saw instantly caused her features to soften in a look of understanding, for no matter how anxious she was to please Bella, it was obvious that Edward was experiencing some far deeper emotions at the moment. "Edward, are you okay?" she asked softly, with a wealth of worry in her tone.
Frowning, Edward looked up sharply into Alice's concerned gaze. "I'm just a little nervous," he admitted with a deep sigh.
"Well don't be," She advised as she crossed the short distance between them to lightly kiss his hard cold cheek. "No matter what happens I'll be here."
"I'm counting on it," Edward responded as he tweaked her nose affectionately. "I just don't want to scare her away. I think that I will have to go very slowly with her if I want her to even begin to think of me as more than just her boss."
"Oh, Edward!" Alice exclaimed with a look of complete bewilderment crossing her beautiful, pale features. "You really didn't notice how she reacted to you last night did you?"
"What do you mean?" he asked as he looked down at her with a look of intense concentration.
Shaking her head, Alice smiled gently. "Didn't you hear her heartbeat when you came near her?"
"Yes, but that was just because she was a little frightened of me. Most human females' hearts begin to race when I come into contact with them," Edward offered as he continued to watch the look of complete astonishment on his sister's face.
"You know Edward," Alice began as she walked into his office. "Sometimes you can be about the stupidest man I've ever known."
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Bella frowned at her reflection in the elevator doors, not at all sure that her simple black skirt and white button down shirt was appropriate for her new position as Edward's personal assistant. What was I thinking! She silently admonished herself as she wondered just how she was going to be able to function in such a close proximity to the astonishingly handsome Edward Cullen. The ping of the elevator caused her to draw in a deep breath to try to bank down her nervousness before the doors slid open.
"She's here," Alice called excitedly to Edward as she rushed to the opening elevator doors to greet Bella. "Hi Bella!" she said as she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet like an excited child.
Somewhat dismayed at Alice's enthusiastic greeting, Bella paused before she stepped out of the elevator with a soft smile. "Hi Alice," she returned the greeting.
"I've got your desk all set up and ready to go," Alice advised as she grabbed Bella's hand to pull her anxiously through the glass doors leading to Edward's offices.
Edward stood leaning against his open office door with an unconscious inherit grace in his elegant roll neck ivory sweater and jeans. "Good evening Bella," he called out with a melodic tone as his mesmerizing gaze met and held Bella's prisoner.
Bella felt her heartbeat accelerate at the sound of Edward's voice. Unable to pull her eyes from his, she returned his greeting shyly. "Good evening Mr. Cullen."
With a slight frown, Edward strode forward, careful to match his steps as though he were a human. "You have to call me Edward, Bella," he instructed as he politely indicated that he wanted to take her worn wool coat from her shoulders.
"Thank you," she smiled as she allowed him to draw the coat from her.
Alice watched the exchange between Bella and her brother with a gleeful look in her golden eyes. 'See, I told you she wasn't immune to you,' she silently conveyed to Edward via her thoughts. "So Bella, I thought we could start with Edward's invitations."
"Okay," Bella answered as she took the chair that Alice indicated behind a beautiful antique desk. "This desk is exquisite," she commented as she ran her fingers caressingly across one of the hand carved drawers.
Alice beamed at her, at last receiving the reaction she wanted for her efforts. "I know! I can't believe that I was able to secure it without a bidding war erupting at Sotheby's."
"The flowers are breathtaking," Bella whispered reverently as she drew in a deep breath to pull in the enticing scent.
"Those are from Edward," Alice advised.
Looking up Bella smiled gently towards Edward. "Thank you, no one has ever given me flowers before," she said with a softness that caused Edward's chest to fill with joy.
"You're welcome," he replied in a gentle tone that Alice had never heard him use before. "Can I get you anything Bella? Coffee, tea …" Edward asked as he stood poised on the threshold to his office.
With a slightly puzzled expression, Bella wondered why her billionaire boss would be asking her if she needed a drink. "No thank you Edward," she answered with a soft smile that traveled up to her gentle eyes, thus causing Edward to lose his train of thought for one of the first times in his existence.
Alice bit her lip to hold back the laugh that threatened. "We'll bring the invitations in when we've got them sorted Edward," she advised as she watched her brother shake his head slightly as if to clear out the cobwebs.
"Okay," Edward acknowledged as he turned to enter his office in hopes that he wouldn't make more of a fool of himself in front of Bella.
"Okay," Alice began as she reached for a large box holding a multitude of unopened envelopes. "Let's start by opening these first and then we'll sort them."
Reaching for a large stack, Bella began to open the thick envelopes with a letter opener. "I guess your brother is pretty popular," she suggested with a telling glance at the volume of correspondence.
"I guess so," Alice mused as she continued pulling the unopened letters from the box. "It's more like they want his money more than anything else."
"I guess there are people out there like that," Bella responded with a deep sigh.
"Well, those and then there are the others," Alice commented as she began to open one of the large stacks in front of her.
"Others?" Bella queried with a slight tilt to her head.
"The ones after his body," Alice replied with a wicked grin on her perfect lips.
"Alice," Bella called out with a slightly admonishing tone as a blush began to creep up into her cheeks.
"Well it's true," Alice said with a comical expression. "You should see how they swarm around him, like he is some Greek god or something."
"Well you have to admit he is absolutely gorgeous," Bella imparted as she watched Alice make a face.
"I guess," Alice added noncommittally as she watched Bella closely for her reactions. 'See, she is totally hot for you!' Alice shot the thought at Edward without once breaking her concentration on the verbal conversation she was sharing with Bella.
Edward couldn't help the wide smile that spread across his perfect face as he eavesdropped on Alice and Bella's conversation. Perhaps there was hope after all, he thought as he leaned back in his leather chair.
"So tell me about your day," Alice instructed as they continued to work.
"Not much to tell," Bella began with a slight wrinkle of her nose. "I had three classes and helped my boss make six wedding cakes."
"Wedding cakes?" Alice asked with a slight raise to one of her perfectly arched eyebrows.
"I work in a bakery," Bella informed.
"So you have two jobs and go to college," Alice stated with a look of wonder on her pale face.
"Actually I bartend on Friday and Saturday nights as well," Bella added as she finished with her first stack of invitations.
Alice stopped her work to focus her soul attention on Bella. "Well when do you sleep?" she asked with an air of astonishment.
Laughing softly at Alice's expression, Bella reached for another stack of envelopes. "I'm one of those lucky people who only need about four to five hours in order to function."
Edward scowled in his office at the information that Bella was foretelling on her hectic daily life.
"I guess you don't have a lot of time for socializing," Alice said in more of a matter of fact tone than a question.
"No, not really. But my friend Mike comes down on Friday and Saturday nights to visit me while I'm working at the bar," Bella offered easily.
Edward jumped up from his reclining position to move towards the door so he could see Bella's face when she talked about this 'Mike' person, whom he now instantly counted as an enemy.
"Mike?" Alice asked while shooting Edward a warning to stay in his office as she heard him moving towards the open doorway.
"My foster brother," Bella answered automatically. "He is a running back for the Seattle Seahawks."
"That's football right?" Alice asked as she finished her stack.
"Yes," Bella smiled as she thought of Mike's wounded reaction if he had heard the beautiful Alice's question.
"So Mike was your foster brother," Alice prompted Bella to continue.
Bella smiled knowingly as Alice continued to lightly pump her for information. "Yes, we've known each other for a quite a few years now."
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but how did you end up in foster care?" Alice asked as she put down the envelope she was opening to give Bella her full attention.
Shifting uncomfortably in her chair, Bella averted her eyes from Alice's expectant features. "I lost my parents in a car accident when I was eight," she answered with a still yet unhealed pain evident in her voice.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Alice whispered as she reached out and placed a cold hand upon Bella's shoulder.
"Me too, Bella" Edward whispered quietly to himself as he felt her pain wash over him as though it were a tangible, touchable force.
"It's was a long time ago," Bella said with a forced bravado that didn't serve to fool either of the two people who were both wishing there was something within their powers to make up for her loss.
"So you've known Mike since you were eight then?" Alice asked as she picked up her halfway opened envelope.
"No, I only met Mike when we were place in the same foster home when I was fifteen." Bella informed Alice with a tenseness that didn't go unnoticed by Edward.
"You really don't like to talk about that time do you?" Alice asked gently as she took in the sorrow reflected in Bella's brown eyes.
"No, there are some memories of that time that I would rather not have to think about," Bella replied in a small quiet far away voice.
Alice shot Edward a quick thought, 'Oh Edward! She must really have had it rough to be still carrying around this much pain after so many years.'
Edward clenched his hands into tight fists in an attempt to curb the urge to smash something; preferably the unseen face of the man who now laid dead that had dared to touch his Bella at the age of fifteen. A sense of unfulfilled justice filled him as he continued to stand in a tense, unmoving rage.
"I'm sorry that I brought this all up Bella," Alice apologized sincerely as she watched Bella with a concern that was both genuine and heartfelt.
Feeling warmed by Alice's obvious concern, Bella smiled softly. "It's okay," she replied quickly. "I'm finished so now what should I do?"
Seeing that they had at least one hundred invitations to go through Alice sighed deeply. "Well I guess we'd better start sorting them. First pile is for fundraisers, the second is for business functions, third - political candidates or causes, the fourth is press related, which Edward never entertains so we can just send regrets on those without having to let him know about them, and finally the last pile will be for personal invitations."
"Alright," Bella agreed as she began to sort the three large stacks in front of her into five smaller piles.
Alice's eyes lit with an inner light of inspiration as she spied a familiar looking invitation within the pile. "I'm going to check on Edward while you finish this up okay?" Alice asked as she rose gracefully from her chair.
"Sure," Bella responded without looking up from her task.
Alice all but danced across the short distance to Edward's office. "I've got another idea," she whispered excitedly.
Edward's own face broke out into a matching grin as he read her thoughts on the upcoming Portland General Hospital's Winter Ball. "Do you think she'll say yes?"
"Oh with the right persuasion I think she will," Alice answered confidently as she plotted just the right words to use in order to secure Bella's acceptance.
"How long do we have?" Edward asked as he went to take a seat behind his desk.
"About twenty minutes," Alice predicted as she took a seat on the corner of Edward's desk as was her custom.
"Well what's the plan?" Edward asked with a light of determination in his golden eyes.
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Bella rose from her desk and crossed the soft beige carpet to the threshold of Edward's office. "I've finished the sorting," she announced as her eyes met and held Edward's. Geez Bella, he's going to think you're a psycho if you don't stop staring at him! She admonished herself silently.
"Great!" Alice called out as she hopped off the desk to land elegantly on her black, ballerina-flats clad feet. "Come on Edward, it will be easier if you come to Bella's desk then for us to try to bring them in here."
Rising to his feet, Edward crossed the room while holding his breath, knowing that he couldn't sustain a close proximity to Bella just yet with the desire to feed on her blood so temptingly close to the surface.
Bella took her chair and watched Edward sink into a chair across the room reserved for visitors and business associates who had to await his attentions. "So what do you have for me?" he questioned with such an uncommonly sensual tone that Bella felt an instant flutter within the pit of her stomach.
Seeing Bella was once again effected by her handsome brother's presence Alice intervened. "Let's start with the fundraisers. Bella, just call out the name of the organization and Edward will tell you if he wants to attend or not and how much of a contribution he would like to make. If he agrees to attend, you will then need to see if he is available from his calendar on the computer and then insert the event to mark the date and time in the system. If you could also make a note on the invitation, we can then go back through them and RSVP and request the checks from our accounts payables department."
"Alright," Bella agreed as she picked up the invitations in the first pile. "The Portland Historical Association Annual Silent Auction on Saturday November 29th at two."
"Let's pass on that one and send a donation of $5,000 from CT," Edward answered quickly without taking his eyes off Bella's down bent head. God she is so beautiful, he thought as a look of intense longing crossed his exquisite pale face.
'Watch yourself Bro,' Alice warned silently as she watched Edward's reactions to Bella.
Collecting himself, Edward looked down at his hands wondering what it would feel like to run them through Bella's waist length auburn hair. 'Edward!' Alice screamed silently within his head causing a slightly guilty smile to cross his lips.
"The next one is for the Portland General Hospital Winter Ball, November 29th at eight," Bella announced as she pulled the date up on her state of the art computer.
Alice laughed wickedly at Edward, causing Bella to look up from the computer screen with a quizzical expression on her pretty face. "Sorry Bella," Alice apologized immediately for her secret joke. "This is the one event a year that Edward would prefer not to attend but has to because our brother Carlisle is the director of the Cardiac Department."
Bella smiled at the look of consternation on Edward's beautiful face and asked, "Why don't you want to attend?"
"I just don't," he replied with an abnormal sullenness that caused Alice to whoop in renewed laughter.
After collecting herself, Alice turned to explain to Bella. "Every year there is a certain female hospital administrator who thinks that when Edward comes to the Ball without a date that it is her job to make sure that he is ah…properly entertained," Alice offered with an amused glance towards her scowling brother.
Bella smiled at the enjoyment that was so clearly evident on Alice's face. "So why don't you just take a date?" she asked simply.
"Uh…" Edward began only to be interrupted by a gleeful Alice.
"Because Edward doesn't date," she said with an accusatory glance in her brother's fuming direction.
"That's not true," Edward began only to be stopped sharply by a very unladylike snort from Alice.
"Tell me then Edward, when was the last time you went on a date?" she asked with a pinning stare.
"I took Tanya to the Black and White Ball just last month," he shot back with an air of 'I told you so'.
"Ha! That doesn't count, she's our cousin!" Alice called him out triumphantly.
Edward grumbled something under his breath as he looked away from Bella's surprised and Alice's smug expressions.
After a moment of uncomfortable silence Bella asked if she should accept the invite. "So should I RSVP a yes to this one?" she asked cautiously.
"Yes," Edward sighed grimly as though he were committing himself to a fate worse than death.
"Hey, I've got an idea," Alice interjected before Bella had finished adding the date to Edward's calendar.
"What?" Edward eyed her suspiciously.
"You could take Bella to the Ball and she could run interference between you and Ms. Hot-for-you-Administrator," Alice advised with a look of complete lack of regard to the embarrassment of either Bella or Edward.
"That would work," Edward said after a short pause.
Bella's eyebrows shot up in surprise at his acceptance of Alice's suggestion.
"That is if you would be agreeable Bella?" Edward asked as he looked deep into her eyes as if to somehow will her into acceptance.
"Well," Bella began cautiously as she tried to come up with a reason to say no. "I really don't have anything to wear that would be suitable for such an event," she said after a moment's hesitation.
"Oh that is easily taken care of," Alice refuted quickly. "You and I look about the same size so you can just borrow something of mine or we could always hit Rosalie up for something."
Seeing that her first argument had gotten her nowhere, Bella came up with another, "I'm not sure if I could take the night off from the bar."
"Well if you could, you would sure be helping poor old Edward out," Alice advised as she pulled the guilt card from her arsenal.
Frowning at the thought of not helping out her new boss, Bella relented. "I guess they do kind of owe me a day off," she said as she glanced beneath her lashes at Edward's beaming face.
"I don't know how I can ever repay you Bella," Edward's voice purred softly, causing Bella to once again stare helplessly into his inviting eyes.
"I know a way," Alice prompted with a look of delight. "You are going to send me and Bella for a complete day of beauty the day of the Ball."
"Seems the least I could do," Edward agreed with a satisfied smile while his eyes continued their unrelenting hold on Bella's.
"It's all settled then," Alice said as she turned to share a triumphant wink with Edward. Pulling the RSVP card from the desk she wrote in an elegant script as she voiced the words out loud "Mr. Edward Cullen will be delighted to accept on behalf of himself and his guest, Bella Swan."
Bella felt a wave of alarm wash over her as she pictured herself as Edward's date for an entire evening, even if it was just a date for show purposes. God Bella! Just what have you gotten yourself into? She asked herself silently while she continued to update the computer's calendar with the date that would more than likely be the night that she became the world's biggest fool.
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A/N The next chapter will be the big date and we can finally get our two character's into each other's arms…dancing is an essential part of a Ball after all. Oh and we will also get to meet the somewhat jealous Rosalie. The story will really start moving now. Please, Please, Please review. I am trying to get a following in the Twilight category and don't seem to be having much luck as of yet so if you could please just shoot me a mercy review I would appreciate it. Thanks!