Chapter five
While Edward was the devil sent from the fiery depths of hell, Kate was an angel sent from the clear heaven above them. She did everything in her power to make sure that Bella would get the hang of the job before the week would end and Kate's last day would arrive.
The small drawer section underneath the desk held a folder filled with so many cheats for Bella to use until she had the hang of it all, though Bella couldn't understand when or where she would be able to use them all. Bella's favorite cheat was a list over all of Edward's current clients. Kate, being well organized, had gone so far as color coordinating all the files with the names on the list.
Everything Kate said was written down and Bella took it all to her heart. It was easy to grow fond of Kate and Bella found herself dreading the end of the week when Kate would leave her alone with Edward.
Unfortunately, and sadly, Kate's last day came at the end of Bella's first week, much faster than Bella had anticipated.
"I've told you everything you need to know about helping Edward run his department of the office," Kate said to Bella as they made their way through the many tables in a small café across from the office. "Now it's time for me to give you all the secrets that will make working for Edward a whole lot easier."
"Is there an easy way?" Bella questioned in disbelief as they sat down at a table overlooking the busy street outside.
"Ok, so there's not an easy way, but believe it or not, there are ways that will make it all a lot easier."
"Tell me all about it," Bella said with a small smile as she sipped to her hot tea.
"Edward likes to test people, and there's no reason to ask me why because I don't know, but I think it is to make sure that you're reliable," Kate shrugged, wrapping her hands around the mug of coffee in front of her. "Today, before you go home for the weekend, he will tell you to turn up at seven on Monday and you will do that because he's your boss. The thing is, Edward won't be at the office until eight, maybe even eight-thirty."
"Then why should I turn up an hour earlier than him?" Bella demanded to know, cutting Kate off.
"As I said, it's a test of sorts, but I know how you will knock him off his feet. Turn up around six-thirty, or a quarter to seven, and make sure the security guard knows and will inform Edward of your early arrival. Use the hour to get yourself ready for your first day alone with Edward, make the desk yours, organize it and make sure that you know every appointment he has before lunch."
"So I'm supposed to use my first day to impress him?"
"Yes, but your main focus will of course being getting your job done, but if you impress him on Monday, he will see you with a different set of eyes, believe me. Now, a quarter to eight, go down to the deli at the corner and buy a triple cheese bagel you heat in the microwave in the coffee room. Make sure that it's hot when Edward arrives, so make the security guy tip you off when he arrives. Edward loves the triple cheese bagel but he will only allow himself to have one during the week because he likes to be in good shape. You've seen him." And Bella had seen him, so many times she had lost the count only a week into their little agreement.
Before, she had only read about men being as fit like Edward, as muscled as he was. His shoulders were broad and hard, his arms, underneath the ink, corded with muscles that twitched whenever he moved. His hips were narrow, his thighs hard, and just like his arms, corded with muscles: she had felt every inch of him move behind her, pressed against her and above her.
The thoughts of Edward muscled body made Bella slightly flustered and she felt herself grow wet, against her own will, but she knew there were no use denying that she wanted him, that her body responded to him, no matter how much she tried.
"I've seen him," Bella confirmed, trying to keep the huskiness out of her voice as she spoke.
"I learned quickly that by giving Edward his favorite bagel for breakfast on a Monday, the rest of the week wouldn't be so bad. Even though he looks inhuman, he's just like us and has the blues after a weekend. A cup of strong, hot coffee and a bagel and he will purr like kitten, at least as close as a kitten Edward Cullen will ever come, and make your week tolerable."
"Show up early, ally myself with the security guard, triple cheese bagel and strong coffee," Bella summarized.
*** C R S ***
Bella spent the weekend memorizing his calendar for the week and she knew she had blown Edward off his feet when he stared at her after she had given him the full list of his appointments that Monday. She had seen his smirk when he had asked, knowing she didn't have her calendar with her at the moment and the satisfaction of seeing his wide eyes was more than Bella would ever be able to describe.
*** C R S ***
It didn't matter how hard Bella tried to suppress the sexual feelings that surged through her body whenever she was near Edward. It, unfortunately, didn't take more than three-four weeks before Bella found herself spreading her legs for him again: her needs for a man, especially a man like Edward, was too strong.
After working so closely with him as she had since Kate had left, having him lean over her desk, over her shoulder, having him watch over her with his hawk eyes as she filled in his calendar, had the sexual tension build up faster than it would take for a New Years Eve rocket take off from the ground.
She simply couldn't fight it any longer.
It was a Thursday night in the beginning of September, when it all happened. Bella was working late because Edward was working late, working on an important case that was just coming up. Edward had needed every man and woman he had on his team, yet it was not enough. There were several similar cases going on spread across the floor and it left Bella as the last person who could devote her time 100% to the case.
It had been Phil who had suggested that Edward could use her when he didn't have enough people. Edward had frowned at the idea, clearly not liking it, but he had warmed to the idea ever so slightly when he realized that without her help, they wouldn't be able to finish it all in time.
That Thursday night, as seconds grew into minutes and minutes grew into hours, Bella found her mind swimming with all the information she had been taking in, information she couldn't even begin to process. Her desk was flooded with files and papers someone had thrown on to it and Bella was hunched over it all when she started to wish she had taken that waitressing job she had been offered first. However, as she thought about the late hours spent on her feet in uncomfortable shoes, a job that wouldn't even pay half of what she was earning being Edward's assistant, the thought quickly disappeared.
"Are you finished with the May-file?" Edward called from his office, the sound of his loud voice making Bella jump in her seat.
"Almost!" she called back and quickly turned her attention back to the file she was working on, but the longer she looked at it, the harder it became to keep focus.
"You need coffee," Bella jumped in her seat again when Edward's voice reached her ears, though suddenly from right behind her.
"You scare the fucking shit out of me!" Bella accused with a hand to her chest.
"Didn't mean to," he smirked, making Bella scowl at him.
"Somehow, I find that hard to believe."
"Ok, maybe I did: you were so consumed in that file that I believe a horde of elephants could have run through the office without you noticing."
"I'm just being thorough but if you have a problem, tough shit!" turning her back to him, she hoped he would leave her alone so she could finish her work and go home.
"Thoroughness is an admirable treat," a strange look crossed across his face but as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. "Now, are you done with it?"
"Almost, but if you need it, take it," throwing the file together, she held it for Edward, sick of the damn case. "I might have missed something but I'm sure you'll find it if I have."
"I'm sure you haven't missed anything, but I will have a look at it," Edward nodded, moving away from her desk, "Make sure all the files are in alphabetic order and leave them at my desk. When you've done that, you can leave for the night."
"Thank you," Bella smiled, stifling a yawn as soon he was back in his office.
The first time Bella had been told to sort a pile of files in alphabetic order, she had done what she had been told and sorted them alphabetically, A-B-C-D and so on. However, Edward had his own system and he had even taken time out form his busy schedule to teach it to Bella.
For Edward, everything had to be alphabetized after how important the different files were for the case they belonged to. If a file was marked with A-1, it was the most important and the most well protected one. Every file marked with a D was less important than everyone else, but the higher number that followed the D, even less important it became and the file could contain nothing but scribbles.
Bella admired his need to have order and a file cabinet that was easy to go through, but hungry and tired, Bella wanted nothing more than to push the files up the place where the sun didn't shine on Edward.
By the time she was done with the files, Bella's judgment was frazzled, if existing at all, and all she wanted to do was to go home and crawl into her brand new and wonderful bed, and sleep for a hundred years.
"I think you need coffee as well," Bella said softly to Edward as she placed the pile of files in the chair in front of his desk, making Edward look up from the file he was currently working on, his eyes bloodshot, and heavy, just like hers.
"I need something much stronger than caffeine," he said as he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes.
"Tell me if there's anything I can do," Bella said softly before retreating from his office.
"Come in here!" he called mere seconds later and Bella quickly turned on her heel.
"What is it?" Bella demanded to know, not going to obey his orders simply because they came from him.
"Come here," he pointed to the spot in front of him, a determined look on his face.
Bella knew it was a bad idea, a really bad idea, to do as she was told by Edward, but his dominate side held an appeal to her and it made things happen in her body, things she couldn't explain.
"Bella," the tone of his voice made her move and she found herself looking down at him as his hands came to her thighs, stroking slowly up and down, and sending electricity through her body despite the woolen fabric of her pants.
"What are you doing?" she demanded but her voice faltered as she melted underneath his touch, trying to keep her eyes from closing in pleasure.
"Having something that's a lot stronger than coffee," he murmured seductively as his hands came to rest on her ass, pulling her closer until his face was aligned with her stomach.
With a sexy glint in his eyes, he looked up at her as he pulled the zipper down, seductively and painfully slow: the longer his green eyes lingered on her, the more turned on she felt by him.
"I can feel the warmth coming from you," he murmured as he nuzzled his nose against the pale flesh of her stomach he had just bared, going lower until she felt him against her slit, the tip of his nose.
"Oh God," she moaned, her head falling back as she felt the tip of his tongue connect with her silk clad pussy.
"So, Bella," she loved the way her name rolled off his tongue, "Do you want to come on my tongue, fingers or cock?" as he moved the fabric of her panties away and licked her wet slit, Bella found herself unable to speak and she only nodded, not really giving him an answer.
Before she knew it, she found herself staring at the ceiling of Edward's office as she laid on his desk, all her clothes but her bra, which was pulled down to just under her breasts, pushing them almost painfully up.
With a swift push, Edward was inside of her and Bella heard a loud moan filling the room, unaware it was she herself who moaned so loudly.
"More," she heard herself demanding, "Harder!" and Edward complied, his thrust becoming harder and faster, giving her more just like she wanted.
The orgasm she had earned since she had started to work for Edward four weeks earlier, came crashing over her, hard, a chocking moan escaping her mouth as she arched off the desk, her knuckles going white as she gripped the edge of the desk tightly.
She could feel Edward explode inside of her and before she could stop the thought of entering her mind, she wished he would collapse on top of her, let her cradle his head against her chest as they caught their breath.
Time and time again, she had been warned by Alice and Rose that she would always look for something more with a guy when a future between them didn't exist. As Edward pulled out, she was reminded of their words and Bella shook her head to free the silly thought that had entered her mind. She knew that to Edward, she was nothing but a quick fuck, a way for him to get a much needed release of built up tension. Just as the icing of the cake, she was his assistant and secretary, which would make the situation a lot harder if anyone found out about their mutual sexual attraction that would in the future, lead to a lot more sex than just a quickie on Edward's desk.
Besides, she wasn't looking for a serious relationship, not that she knew what a serious relationship entailed as she had never been in on, but she knew that getting her life and future right first was more important at the moment.
"That will keep me going for a few more hours," Edward smirked as he pulled on his white shirt, covering up all of his delicious tattoos.
"Glad I could help," Bella muttered with a roll of her eyes as she sat up and straightened her blouse. Looking around, she found her skirt lying on the floor next to Edward's chair and her panties hanging from a large plant to the left of the desk.
"Told you I would get you underneath me again," Edward bragged, his smirk still plastered to his face, as he picked up her clothes and handed them to her.
"If you need to brag about it, I guess it doesn't happen so often, you having right I mean," raising an eyebrow, Bella silently challenged him. When he shook his head, she just shrugged and slipped her panties back on. "It doesn't matter if you were right or not because this mistake won't happen again."
"I don't see how it can be a mistake when we both enjoy it so immensely," Edward smiled, emphasizing his words by slipping a hand underneath her still open blouse and cupping her right breast, pinching her nipple, which pebbled underneath his touch.
"My body might answer to your touch," Bella confessed as she pushed him away and got to her feet, "But I'm your assistant, which makes this wrong."
"Why stop doing something that's wrong when it feels so right?" Edward questioned, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. "Some rules are meant to be broken."
"Says the lawyer," Bella muttered as she stepped into her shoes. "I'm not going to break the rule that will cost me my job."
"You've already broken it," Edward pointed out.
"Ok, I will not break the rule that will get me fired, again. Now, unless you need me for anything else, I will be heading home." Walking briskly out of his office, Bella left Edward with very little room to speak. Picking up her jacket and purse, Bella left the office.
*** C R S ***
Bella's tiny loft was her pride and had become her new love. The loft was 'tiny' as in 'tiny'. It was a typical loft in the big city with a few large windows in what could only be called the living area of the place, the windows facing the better parts of a rather shifty neighborhood.
In the back of the loft, where the bathroom were and a small walk-in closet, there were a few freaking tiny windows looking out over the back alleys. Exposed brick walls gave the room an industrial feeling, a feeling Bella didn't care much for in her new and own home. However, the brick was beautiful and she loved the rusty red color, so she had no plans in changing it any time soon.
The kitchen was in a corner to the left when one entered the, half a wall separating it from what made the living room and the bedroom. A small room in the corner to the right of the front door was the bathroom and the space was just big enough for Bella alone.
With the salary from Dwyer, Holland & Lee, she had been able to afford the place but just barely, and there were no chance in hell that she could afford spending any kind of money on renewing her wardrobe, just like Edward had one afternoon pointed out: she had a down payment on her new bed.
Heading straight for the shower when she entered her loft, Bella stood under the spray until the water started to turn cold. With a blank mind, she dried off, changed into a t-shirt and made herself a quick sandwich for dinner, a dinner she enjoyed in front of the TV as she watched My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding.
With some food in her stomach, Bella turned to the bed and curled underneath the covers, sighing happily and snuggling into the pillow before turning of the light and leaving the apartment in total darkness.
She was just falling asleep when the sound of her phone vibrating somewhere in the apartment brought her back to the real world. Throwing the covers off her body, Bella angrily followed the sound of her phone and almost growled like an wild animal when she saw Edward's name flash across the screen.
"What!" she snapped harshly into the phone.
"I need you back at the office, now," Edward's voice was just as hers: harsh and cold as he demanded her to come back.
"I had just started to fall asleep and it's almost ten-thirty!"
"I found several errors in the file you worked on, errors that can only help us loose the case and with it, more money than you can count!" with wide eyes, Bella quickly grabbed a pair of sweats.
In less than thirty minutes, Bella found herself back in the office, on the eighteenth floor, dressed far from appropriate for the office. She had thrown her blue trench coat over her shaggy t-shirt, her red Converse and green sweats making her look like one of those people who couldn't care about what people thought about them. Her hair was piled on top of her head in the messiest bun of all time, tendrils of curly hair falling out of the elastic and where were still a hint of mascara underneath her eyes.
"I'm here, what did I do wrong?" Bella demanded as she barged into the office without knocking, stopping mid-step.
There, on his very comfortable leather couch, sat Edward, his shirt gone, leaving him in only his undershirt. His hair was all over the place and he was wearing black rimmed glasses, and to top it all off, leaning forward on his knees, the muscles of his arms bulging, and chewing a pen.
"More than I thought possible," Edward said as he patted the spot next to him on the couch.
Three hours later, around half past one in the morning, Edward announced that they had managed to straighten up Bella's little mess. Edward had exaggerated when he had told Bella that the whole case was lost because of her mess but she felt the tension leave her shoulders when they were done.
It wasn't big but it still could cause Edward the case if he had brought Bella's mess into the court room.
"How could I have known about those numbers when no one told me about them?" Bella asked as they gathered the papers and filing them in the correct order.
"I know you should have been better informed about the case," Edward admitted, "But I thought would you understand it when you saw it."
"If I had known more about the case, I would have made the connection and I would have been in bed now, sleeping."
"Everyone can make a mistake now and then."
"Even you?" Bella asked.
"Even me," Edward smiled. "I've been working here since I graduated, as the mail boy on fourteenth to seventeenth floor, and I mixed up so many important letters and telegrams. I still can't understand why Phil never fired me."
"They were letters, they eventually arrived at the right desk. I'm the assistant forced to do things that weren't in the job advertisement."
"Don't make it sound worse than it was," Edward laughed as he pulled on his jacket and motioned for Bella to walked before him, "By the way, interesting choice of clothing."
"I had just fallen asleep when you called and you made it sound as if it was about life or death, so I simply just threw something on and hurried over.
"Well, I appreciate that you did and honestly, I wasn't expecting you to come back at all. When Kate worked for me, she refused to do anything after eight hours, even though she was my personal assistant."
"Maybe I have something to learn from Kate," Bella mussed teasingly and almost laughed when Edward narrowed his eyes, "Kidding. I'm taking this job seriously so unless you're a horrible boss, a real dickhead, I will come when call."
The smirk on Edward's face made Bella aware of her choice of words and she laughed with him as the elevator arrived and they rode down to the first floor.
"What happened earlier, in your office and on your desk, that won't happen again," Bella said for, hopefully the last time, as their ways parted.
"If you say so," Edward smiled.
