Author's Note: Wow…I've always read authors who say that the reviewers are amazing, but I never really understood until now. For those of you who have any doubt in your minds:

YOU REALLY ARE ALL AMAZING!!!!

I got so many emails about favorite stories, and story alerts, it makes me inclined to ignore the one flamer. I really hope that this (LONGER xD) chapter doesn't disappoint.

Chapter Two—Excuse me?!

BPOV

I had just finished cleaning the coals out of all the fireplaces in the house, a task I had been at all day. Do you have any idea how much coal a house of this size burns in the winter? Oh well, I sighed, that's the job.

I'm a maid for the Cullen family, like my mother before me. I suppose that that's why I got the job. My mother is the most efficient cleaning lady I've ever seen in my entire life, so I didn't even interview for the job. My mother told Dr. Carlisle Cullen, the patriarch of this aristocratic family that she taught me herself, and I was in.

Of course, that's because Doctor Cullen has never met me. Or seen me. Otherwise he would know that I'm a walking safety hazard. I can't walk over a flat surface without finding something to trip on. I suppose it has its benefits, though. The easiest way to mop is to trip and have the water fly all over the floor for you.

That's not to say I'm not a hard worker. I know how fortunate I am to have a steady job here when so many others of my station live on the streets. I'm an honest worker, and with a lot of practice I've managed to come past my disability, at least a little bit. Today I managed to all the coal out of all the fireplaces without falling once!

Well….maybe once, but I wasn't holding any dustpans filled with coal so it doesn't count!

So after I cleaned out the coal, I swept up all the ashes and dust in each fireplace. Naturally, during this exercise I went from respectably clean to covered from head to toe in coal dust. I'm sure that I smelled like sulfur too, but who was going to see me? All my fellow staff mates here know what happens when you clean out the fireplaces.

That's what I was thinking when someone bumped into me, nearly sending me sprawling on the floor.

"Watch where you're going!" a voice above my head snapped. Then he looked at me while I was getting my bearings about me and muttered, "You're perfect," almost too quietly for me to hear.

I chose to ignore the latter comment, not even sure that I heard right. Instead, my temper flared out.

"Excuse me?! You are the one that bumped into me."

He just kept staring at me. Creep. Just because I had slightly better circumstances than most people in my position, I still lived in a disreputable part of town, filled with drunks and druggies and other generally crazy people. I knew that psychotic look gleaming in his eye.

"Hello? You gonna say somethin' or what?" I started to move away, before he grabbed my arm.

"EXCUSE ME! Keep your hands to yourself!" I roughly shook him away. Then I got a good look at him. He was well dressed, probably a guest of Dr. Cullen with bronze hair and deep green eyes. He was about six feet, and would be considered drop-dead gorgeous if it weren't for the look on his face. It was a mixture of disdain and devious contemplation.

"You are perfect," he said in a more normal tone, despite his weird words.

What? I thought, thoroughly confused and freaked out.

"Marry me." He said it like an order.

"W-what?"

"My father is forcing me to choose between getting married or disownment, and I am choosing you. You're such a lowly maid, my father will drop this whole ridiculous condition."

All I could get out was an unintelligible "Huh?"

He sighed impatiently at me. Hmm, an idle part of my brain thought, I've never been sighed at before. "You know, because you're such a filthy little thing, surely you understand---I didn't think you were stupid too."

Wait a minute. Wait a darned minute. He wanted to marry me, a complete stranger, to spite his father because he thought I was dirt.

There were way too many insults in that to even comprehend.

"You want to marry me," I said slowly, "because you think I'm dirt?"

"Yes, something like that." He replied, his tone making it quite clear that not only did he hold me in contempt, but he thought I was even lower than the dirt that scuffed my cheeks.

Then I lost it. My temper exploded and I tackled him. Despite his superior height and weight, he went sprawling on the floor. After we rolled around, I got on top of him, and was just about to beat the ever-living daylights out of him, when he said "If you do not cease your assault on me this instant, I will have you fired."

Instantly, I stopped. This job was way too important to me, and without it, my mother and I would starve. I stood up with an air of resignation, and as I was doing so, I got a really good look at him. His clothes were expensive looking, even when they were wrinkled from our tussle on the floor.

Oh no.

Oh no Oh no Oh no.

He must be a Cullen, but which one? He looks about my age…..oh God. Dr. Cullen has a son.

I am so fired.

Once we got up, he said "You fight like a mountain lion. I like mountain lions," with a saucy smirk.

That was promptly wiped off of his face as I slapped him. "Listen here," I said angrily "just because I am a maid, I am still a lady and you will treat me as such."

I took a deep breath. "I would never marry a man I don't love, least of all someone like you."

Hello dearies! Remember, I still need title suggestions. I was going to make this longer, but I decided that it was getting too long, and I promised Freddie (remember her?) that I would update tonight.

I'll update chapter 3 when I get a chance, but my life is hectic, so I probably won't have a regular update schedule.

¡Adios!