Disclaimer: Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

Author's Note: I am very happy with the amount of reviews I received for the first chapter. Seriously you guys thank you so much. Your comments help keep me motivated to make this story as wonderful as possible. I really hope it does not disappoint. It is harder for me to reply to reviews on because some people have disabled pm's or it is just hard to keep track so just know I appreciate each and every one. I do leave author's responses to reviews on since it's easier and quicker there so if you have a question or something you want me to answer in a review, you can head on over there too! :)

Alright so here is the next chapter. I decided to post it a little earlier just so you guys could get a better understanding of the direction of this story. I am going to aim for at least one update per week. This chapter starts out in Edward's POV and then ends with a little bit of Bella. I will be alternating between the two POV's through out this story. I will use other character POV's as well if necessary. This chapter will definitely clear some things up. Enjoy!

Edward POV

I hated having to come into work on the weekends. Maybe if some people did their jobs correctly then I would be able to sleep in on a Saturday for once. I always had a ton of paperwork to fill out and no one around to help me. I needed a new assistant. An ugly, fat, old assistant. A male assistant. Yes, an old, hairy, bald, male assistant who would only speak when spoken to.

I was still in the process of hiring a new assistant after having fired my last one. The memory of that situation hit me like a ton of breaks as I turned around in my chair and looked out the large windows that offered me a beautiful view of New York City.

It was that night. That one fucking night.

XxXxX

I groaned and finally finished replying to the last of my e-mails. I looked at the clock and knew Bella would be waiting for me at home to take her to dinner for our three year anniversary. The thought made me smile as I began to shut down my computer and collect my paperwork into my briefcase.

There was a knock at the door and I looked up to see my assistant, Tanya Denali, standing there in a short black dress. She was smiling at me seductively as she stepped into my office, closing the door behind her. I watched her in utter confusion as she started walking over to me.

"Tanya, I thought you left," I said. Everyone else in the office had already gone home for the weekend.

She shrugged and winked. "I didn't want to leave you here all alone." She came around the desk and stood in front of me.

It was no secret that Tanya had a crush on me. I always tried being polite about it, but even Bella noticed. I was reassuring myself more than her that it was nothing to worry about. Little did I know she'd come corner me in my own office where no one was around to hear me scream.

"Tanya this is very inappropriate. Not to mention that I'm married." I emphasized the last part very loudly so she'd understand that I only had eyes for Bella.

I tried to get up to leave, but she pushed my shoulders back down before shrugging out of her dress and straddling me in nothing but a skimpy piece of black lace lingerie.

"Tanya, what the—" I was silenced by her cold fingers on my lips.

"Shhh," she cooed. "Just relax."

Just as I was about to stand up and knock her off of me—I was usually a gentleman, but she was obviously not getting the hint—I heard the sound of glass breaking in the doorway and quickly turned my head in the direction of the door only to see Bella standing there looking like she was on the verge of tears.

I had been relieved she had come to my rescue; that is until she turned around and took off running down the hall. I finally managed to get Tanya off of me before running down the hall after her and calling her name, but she was gone.

I turned everything off in my office, grabbed my briefcase, told Tanya to pack her shit and get the hell out, before bolting down to my Volvo and breaking every traffic violation in the state as I made my way home.

I wasn't expecting, however, to find my wife under Jacob Black when I arrived. I always knew he had a crush on her, but to be making out with her in my own house? That was seriously messed up.

After scaring him into leaving, I tried to explain the misunderstanding to Bella, but she wasn't having any of it. She accused me of cheating even though she had just been in our own home, all over that piece of shit.

She went into our room that night and left early morning before I even had a chance to try and explain myself. I tried calling her after that, but she never answered my phone calls. It was unfair that I had done nothing wrong and she was avoiding me. The thought of her thinking I would want anyone but her sickened me almost as much as the memory of her on the couch with Jacob.

I sold the couch a week later.

XxXxX

So here I was, three months later with nothing to show for it. Bella and I only talked if we were going over the divorce papers and that was very rare. All I wanted was my wife back. I wanted her to sit and listen to me explain what had happened that night and then afterwards, I would forget all about who she had been kissing when I came home. I would forgive her because I just wanted her. But she never gave me the chance to explain.

I was brought out of my musings by my phone vibrating in my pocket. I sighed and looked down at the screen and smiled as I answered, "Alice. How are you?" I loved my little sister. She always knew how to make my day.

"Good morning, big brother," she replied cheerfully. "I cannot believe you are working on a Saturday! Bella said you were in a meeting. I didn't interrupt did I?" she asked.

She had talked to Bella today? Bella had mention me?

"Uh no, I just got back," I lied, keeping to the story that Bella had started for some inexplicable reason.

"Good," she said excitedly. "Have you talked to Bella yet today?"

I was suddenly hit with that oh-so-familiar pang of pain and guilt that came whenever somebody said her name. Of course we hadn't told my family or hers about what had happened; that would simply destroy them. We figured it would be easier to break it to them gently once everything was finalized.

"No, I haven't, Alice. Why?" I replied as nonchalantly as I could.

"Brace yourself! Jazz and I are getting married in five weeks and you're the best man!" she screamed excitedly.

"Alice that's great! I'm so happy for both of you!" I answered sincerely. I always knew they would get married eventually. We were all just waiting.

"And the best part is that we are paying for you and Bella to fly down here in a week to help with the wedding plans. I already talked to Bella and she said you guys would love to come!"

"Of course," I managed. "We'll be there." Fuck.

"Alright, well we're looking at places right now so I gotta go. But Edward?" she added.

"Yes?" Fuck, all I wanted to do was end this conversation. Now.

"I don't know just…something seemed off when I talked to Bella earlier. Is she okay?" she asked, concern evident in her tone. She and Bella were best friends, pretty much sisters, so of course she sensed something was wrong.

"Yea, Alice. I'm sure she's just tired from work or something," I lied.

"Okay," she said, seeming less than convinced. "I love you. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Alice." I hung up the phone and then just sat there staring at it.

How in the hell were we going to spend four weeks with my family without them realizing that Bella and I weren't speaking? I groaned internally before realizing what I had to do.

I picked up my phone and typed in the only thing I could think of before pressing send. I hadn't used her number in a long time, but I didn't even have to look her up in my contact list. I knew it by heart.

We need to talk.

-Edward

About a minute later, my phone buzzed with a reply. I hadn't realized I was shaking with anticipation at what she was going to say. I finally sucked it up and opened the message.

I know. Café On Broadway? Noon?

-Bella

It almost felt like the old days when we were together and would set up a date or something. I pushed those thoughts aside and texted her a quick reply.

See you there.

-Edward

The rest of the morning went by in a complete blur as I waited for lunch time to finally roll around. I don't know why I was so anxious to go see Bella. Maybe it was the fact that I hadn't seen her in person for months now. Or maybe it was the tiny bit of hope I felt at the prospect of us being in one of our favorite café's together again. Maybe she would give me a chance to talk and explain things. Maybe…shit…it was useless. I wasn't an idiot. If she felt nearly as terrible about seeing me with Tanya as I did seeing her with Jacob Black, I wouldn't blame her if she never wanted to look at me again.

But then why wasn't I pissed off and ready to scream at her the first chance I got? Oh that's right, because I was an idiot who had no balls and was madly in love with her.

Finally eleven thirty rolled around. I walked over to the closet at the corner of my office and opened it to check myself in the mirror hanging on the inside, making sure I looked somewhat presentable. My bronze hair was a complete disarray as usual, but my simple black suit and matching tie looked good enough that it cancelled out the whole hair thing.

I took a deep breath before collecting all of my papers, throwing them in my briefcase, and locking up my office for the rest of the weekend. I swiftly made my way down to the parking complex and hopped into my silver Volvo. Before I knew it, I was parked in front of Café On Broadway, practically having a panic attack as I contemplated the repercussions of my actions if I just turned around and drove back to the office and pretended this whole thing never happened. None of my family members needed to know that Bella and I were separated. We would simply show up to the wedding and not speak. That wouldn't be too suspicious, right?

I was actually becoming dizzy and lightheaded from my nervousness—so much so that that plan didn't sound half bad. That was, of course, until I glanced in my rearview mirror and saw the most beautiful human specimen make her way into the café.

Bella was wearing black pants that hugged her ass quite nicely, along with a simple purple blouse. Her beautiful brown hair had grown a little past her shoulders since the last time I had seen her. The way she looked alone was all the encouragement I needed to get out of the car.

I didn't even register myself walking around to the entrance or entering the café. Suddenly I was standing in front of the hostess stand, asking where Isabella Swan was seated and being led to a small booth in the far back of the restaurant.

Bella was sitting there, looking absolutely beautiful in the dim light of the restaurant as she absentmindedly flipped through the New York Times. That was her dream job. I was surprised she hadn't accomplished it yet; she was so talented.

Her head came up slowly when she heard footsteps coming in her direction. Our gazes connected with one another's and I had to stop myself from getting on my knees and begging for forgiveness. She was too damn beautiful.

I thanked the hostess with a small smile and she just winked at me and walked off as I slid in the booth across from Bella. I didn't take my eyes off of her and she didn't look away from me either. I had to break the silence.

"You look beautiful," I said softly and cautiously once I was seated. This was our first face to face meeting in nearly three months.

She blushed—like she always did—and held back a small smile, but quickly caught herself and cleared her throat, folding up the newspaper and setting it aside before looking at me with a somber expression. "I take it Alice called you," she said in a flat tone.

Is that how it was going to be? Fine, I could be just as emotionless as her.

"Yea, she did," I replied curtly, glaring down at the table, angry at the direction this discussion was going.

The waitress came by again and took our drink and lunch orders. I noticed that she paid extra attention to me as she absentmindedly licked her lips. I fought the urge to shutter; Not out of pleasure, but out of the fact that she was making me so damn uncomfortable staring like that.

I watched her walk away, thankful she was leaving us alone for the time being, when I heard a small chuckle escape Bella's lips. I turned back to her and looked at her confused.

"What?" I asked.

She re-collected herself and sighed, shaking her head. "Nothing. Just nice to know some things never change," she said sarcastically.

Are you fucking kidding me?

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Shit. I wasn't supposed to say that out loud. "What do you mean, 'some things never change'?" I asked in a harsher tone than I had intended.

"Relax, Edward. It's not your fault you're so irresistible to women," she replied in a sarcastic tone once again.

Was she really going to be like this? I hadn't done anything wrong that night with Tanya. She was the one who was all over Jacob Black in our living room. On our couch.

"Funny you say that," I retorted. Her expression turned from humor to a glare in a matter of seconds. "I believe you were the one who jumped the first person you ran into. He took advantage of you, Bella!"

"Shut up, Edward," she spat back through gritted teeth. I suddenly felt guilty when I saw the tears emerge from her eyes. "You were there…on our anniversary…with…" she trailed off, choking up as she wiped her tears away quickly.

Back to that. Always fucking back to that.

"You never let me explain that to you!" I declared in frustration, raising my voice a bit.

"Just forget about it, Edward. It's over and done. The papers should be coming any day now and then we'll no longer have to have any form of communication whatsoever," she said after she had composed herself. The tears were gone and she was now forcing a small smile, pretending like everything was okay. I just sat there, glaring at her, trying to mask the pain that was ripping through me at her words. "You're sister's getting married," she continued, trying to sound cheerful, but failing epically. "That's the last thing we will ever have to do together. Then we're both of the hook."

I just sat there silently, letting her words hang in the air between us for a few moments before speaking. "You're absolutely right," I managed. "This is the last thing we'll have to do and then we can move on with our lives. We can each be happy. Finally." I was surprised that I actually managed to say the words without wincing as they came out of my mouth.

I saw a flash of hurt in her eyes, but it disappeared just as fast as it had arrived. Good. As long as I knew she was hurting at least a little bit—because I was hurting a fucking lot— then I would be satisfied.

"We'll have to figure something out then," she started after a few more moments of silence had passed. "We can't break the news to everyone right before Alice and Jasper's wedding. And we sure as hell can't seem to be around each other long enough to act civil toward one another so—"

"So we go," I quickly interceded without thinking. "We go and act like nothing's wrong. We pretend we're still the happy couple that everyone thinks we are and get this thing over with. Then, when it's all over and we return to New York, we'll call our families and break the news to them then."

She stared at me, mouth wide open for a few seconds before finally formulating a response. "That's crazy, Edward. There is no way you and I can just spend four weeks together and pretend nothing is wrong. We won't get along and it'll ruin the wedding."

"It's going to be difficult…considering why we aren't getting along," I said, looking at her pointedly.

"You mean because you can't seem to keep it in your pants?" she replied swiftly.

"No, because you don't seem to give a shit about anything but jumping to conclusions and fucking the first piece of shit that shows you any sense of comfort," I spat back, instantly regretting the words as soon as they left my mouth.

"For your information," she ground out angrily. "I did not fuck anyone. Which is probably more than I can say for you." She put her hand up to stop me as I opened my mouth to argue. "And you're right. We'll just go along with this and pretend to be happy," she continued. "For Alice's sake. She and Jasper are all that matter right now and I'm willing to put my feelings aside so that my best friend can be happy and have the wedding that she deserves."

I just sat there glaring at her, my jaw clenching as the anger inside of me threatened to boil over. She needed to leave now before I fully exploded at her in the middle of the café.

She finally sighed and glanced once at me before taking some bills out of her wallet and placing them on the table. "I will see you in a week, Edward," she said gravely as she stood up from her seat. "Enjoy your lunch. Maybe you can ask the waitress to join you."

She didn't even give me a chance to reply with my own smart ass comment before turning on her heel and storming out of the restaurant. I just sat there, watching her retreating form, dumfounded, as the waitress returned with our food.

"Did the woman you were here with just leave?" she asked shyly as she set the food down on the table.

I looked at the waitress and swallowed the lump in my throat before shaking my head and looking down at the table. "That wasn't a woman. That was a fucking man-eater."

Bella POV

It took everything in me to save the waterworks for when I arrived back at my apartment. I was so sick and tired of crying over this. Over him, but I couldn't help it.

I made it up the stairs and to my apartment, closing the door behind me, before sinking down to the ground and putting my head on my knees. I had just walked out on the man that I loved. On the man that made me whole because I couldn't handle the pain of sitting there, knowing what he had done to me.

It didn't matter what he wanted to explain. Bottom line was that I had warned him about Tanya and he still never listened to me. Even if she had come onto him first, he had to have noticed her infatuation with him progress over time. Why hadn't he done anything about it?

I wanted so badly to forgive him—to forgive myself for what I had done when I had come home that night—but I couldn't. Because every time I looked at him, I saw him with her. Kissing, touching, being intimate and it killed me. And every time I looked in the mirror, I was disgusted with myself. Edward was right. I had come home and foolishly thrown myself at the first person who gave me any sympathy in my vulnerable state.

Finally, after a few long minutes of crying, I picked myself off the floor and walked to the freezer. It may have been cliché, but I got a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream and a bottle of tequila, and spent the rest of the afternoon drinking and eating my pain away.

In one week—one tiny week—I would be on a plane, headed to Seattle, Washington for my best friend's wedding. The man that I loved and currently hated with all of my being was going to be there with me the entire time.

But it was at that moment that I realized I didn't hate him. It was just easier to think that I did instead of facing the pain. So I thrived on it. I kept telling myself I hated him because I knew I still loved him, even after everything that had happened. He would always be my first and only love and there was nothing I could do to change that.

I would try to hate him though. I could do that, right?

I wanted to.

I needed to.

I still loved Edward. And over the course of the next four weeks that we would spend together, I hoped—I prayed—that I would somehow learn to love hating him.

Author's Note: Alright, so I know some people are going to think Bella is being a complete bitch at Edward and jumping to too many conclusions, but please keep in mind that Edward is the first and only person she has ever loved (and truly been with in my story) so she doesn't know how to handle this. Also, she warned him about Tanya and he always brushed it off as nothing so of course she is suspicious as to why Edward never did anything about Tanya's flirtations over the course of the time she worked for him. We all know it is because Edward is a gentleman ;) but Bella is only thinking emotionally right now.

Okay so long author's note I know. I hope this chapter did not disappoint. I will try and update at least once a week and the chapters will be most likely be longer. Like I said I have the next two chapters ready to go but I want to make sure I have a couple more written before submitting. Please review and let me know what you thought of Chapter 2! Thank you!