Chapter eight
"Sorry I'm late!" Bella apologized, almost out of breath after running from her cab to the restaurant, unable to pay for the whole cab fare to the restaurant, short on money until her next pay-check.
"Don't worry kiddo," Charlie assured her, hugging her before helping out of her coat and handing it over to the girl in the coat check. "They invited their son and he too is running late, so they haven't arrived yet."
"Good," Bella sighed with relief and a smile.
"Bella," the sound of Edward's voice made Bella almost groan, but she kept her smile on turned around, greeting him politely.
"Edward, what are the chances for us to be dining at the same restaurant?"
"It must be fate," he said with half a smirk and Bella knew he was teasing her.
"Ah, Charlie, good to see you're already here," a handsomely blond man came up to Charlie and clasped his hand in his, "We were convinced we all would be late because of the horrible traffic tonight."
"Don't have anything but time on my hand these days, Carlisle, so I left the hotel with more than enough time," Charlie smiled back.
"Esme, they're already here!" Carlisle waved to a beautiful looking woman with hair that could only be described as caramel, her heart shaped face filled with kindness and warmth.
"We're so sorry we're late," the woman, Esme gushed, as she hugged Charlie, kissing his cheeks in greeting. "We were on time but there was an accident a few blocks from here, making the traffic a small hell for everyone behind the wheel."
"We have all night," Charlie assured them, "And as I told Carlisle, it was I who arrived early. In fact, I think you're all just in time."
A waiter led them to a large table a little away from everyone else in the restaurant and Bella watched as Carlisle, the blond and handsome man, slipped the waiter money, thanking him.
"Talk about being parents of the year," Esme suddenly laughed when Carlisle pulled her chair out for her, "Charlie, this is our son, Edward."
"Nice to meet you, son," Charlie stretched out his hand for him to shake and Bella watched as Edward's eyes narrowed slightly before stretching out his own.
"Nice to meet you as well, sir."
"I know the two of you must know each other already as you were there when I picked up Bella for lunch, but I just love introducing her because she gets embarrassed so easily," Charlie smiled and Bella didn't protest as she loved seeing him smile again. "This is my daughter, Bella."
"Dad, Edward is actually my boss," Bella explained as she picked up her menu.
"Oh, so you are his new assistant?" Esme questioned with delight in her voice.
"Yes, I am. I've been working for him for what, eight weeks now."
"It's nice to finally meet the firecracker Edward has told us about," Carlisle said nonchalantly as he studied his menu.
"Firecracker?" Bella questioned, her eyes on Edward.
"That's our nickname for you, dear," Esme explained, putting her menu back down, "Edward told us that you were a no nonsense kind of girl, that when you say no, you mean it and that you don't tolerate any of his bullshit. It's plain and simple: Edward find you valuable in his office."
"I'm valuable, am I?" Bella teases lightly as their parents turned their attention to the waiter that arrived at their table to take their orders.
"You know how to do your job," Edward said in a low voice, leaning slightly closer without looking at her, "You know your calendar inside-out and just like me, you like order."
"To be honest, I didn't think you care much for me as your assistant," Bella confessed in an equally low voice, "To me, you only seemed interested in one thing."
"Oh, I'm mostly interested in that one thing and believe me when I say that I will have it when I want it, but I can't deny that you are a very reliable young woman with a sense of order. And you have the ability to take orders without questioning them all the time."
"I think we both know why I seldom defy orders," Bella murmured with a slight blush to her cheeks.
She had never thought of herself as a submissive person but when it came to Edward, she was willing to do anything he told her only for the pleasure he could give her.
"A trait about you that I find very pleasurable," he whispered with a smirk on his lips, and Bella found herself smirking back at him as she tried to hide her blush, glad that Charlie was busy ordering his dinner.
The rest of the dinner went by without a hitch and Bella found herself enjoying Edward's company on a whole other lever than she had ever experienced before. He talked with Charlie as if they were old friends and Charlie had no problems revealing embarrassing stories about Bella and her childhood.
"Tired dad?" Bella asked later on when the waiter came with their desserts, a weary and worn look on her dad's face.
"Just old, kiddo," Charlie smiled but Bella didn't buy it: he wasn't in his sixties yet, but she didn't push him either.
After dessert, Carlisle and Esme said their goodbyes, reminding Charlie of his appointment the next day.
"Let me walk you back to the hotel," Bella said softly as she accepted her coat from the girl in the coat check.
"Bella, I'm not an invalid: I can walk and I can talk, so I think I can manage on my own. I would appreciate if you got yourself home and into bed: you like tired."
"You sound like a parent," Bella huffed as she buttoned her coat up.
"That's because I am your dad and just because you're twenty-three now, doesn't mean I'm not your dad anymore: do as I say kiddo."
"Fine, I will get a cab home and go to bed," Bella smiled, kissing Charlie's cheek. "Will you be able to have lunch tomorrow?"
"I don't think so: Carlisle and Esme want to run as many tests as possible before I fly back to San Francisco, but don't worry, I will visit again soon."
Bella waited until Charlie was almost out of her sight before she started to walk in the direction of her neighborhood, regretting choosing high heels for her black dress, especially with the slightly icy sidewalks thanks to the drop in the temperature.
"Get in," Bella gasped and clutched her hand over her heart as she stared at Edward through his car window.
"You scared me half to death," Bella accused, not moving from the frozen spot.
"Only half," Edward smirked before his face became serious again, "Now, get in the car Bella."
"I'm not going home with you," she knew she couldn't take another sleepless night, no matter how good it could be.
"And I'm not going to bring you home with me, but drive you back to your place."
"Why?" Bella demanded with narrowed eyes.
"One, it's freezing outside and your coat doesn't look as if it could keep you warm in the summer. Second, you're wearing high heels and if I don't remember wrong, it's at least a thirty minute walk back to your place."
"Forty-five actually," Bella corrected in a murmur.
"And thirdly, I promised Charlie to drive you home because he knew you wouldn't be taking a cab. Now, get in the fucking car or I will put you in it."
Huffing, Bella got in the car, shivering as the hot air from inside it hit her chilled skin.
"Why didn't you tell me he was your father? Why did you let me believe he was just another guy you were fucking?" Edward asked when he had stop at a red light.
"I like to keep my private life private," Bella shrugged, keeping her eyes on the road in front of them.
"He's sick, isn't he? That's why he's here in town, to meet my parents so they can have a go at him? Cancer?"
"Melanoma," Bella said in a low voice, uncomfortable talking about Charlie's illness, not because of Edward, but simply in general: it had always made her uncomfortable because the cancer could take a parent away from her and she had no one to lose.
"Where on his body?"
"They found a mole in his right leg that was deformed and in a pink-ish color a few years back. They removed it, believing that they could remove everything but it had already started to spread, small lumps appearing on his leg underneath his knee. He started chemo and everyone believed that because it stayed underneath his knee, they thought the worst scenario would be amputating his right leg if there were chances for it to return and spread. They didn't know that had. Now, his right leg looks like a carved ham and they have removed so much flesh and skin that they've been transplanting skin from his left thigh."
"He's all you have left, isn't he?"
"My mom died from an aneurism when I was eleven. Since then, it's been Charlie and me," she didn't bother informing him of Helen as she hadn't had a place in Bella's life since Renee had died.
"I can't imagine how it must be like to lose your mom and then seeing your dad balancing on the edge of life."
"There was nothing no one could have done for Renee, my mom, and even though Charlie had the odds against him to begin with, they have finally started to turn. Charlie will come out of this alive and maybe even stronger than before."
The rest of the drive to her apartment was spent in silence and Bella knew that Edward didn't see things from her optimistic side. Even when the doctors had warned her that the chemo could take Charlie, she had refused to believe him and held on to her own optimistic beliefs. She was the one who had been right, she was the one who had believed hard enough for him to live through the extensive chemo that almost broke him and took him away from her.
"See you tomorrow," Edward said to her as she climbed out of the car in front of her building.
"Yeah," was all she said and then he was back on the road again.
*** C R S ***
A British and slightly arrogant voice reached Bella's ears as she headed for her desk after lunch Thursday. The three days previous had been spent worrying about her big mouth and how easily she had talked about Charlie and his illness. She had barely left her desk, listening to every conversation Edward had, convinced that he would either tell his parents or Charlie about a complete slut she was, selling her company and now willingly giving herself to her boss.
Nothing happened. Edward barely talked to her, consumed in yet another big case that could ruin him if he fucked it up and Bella had finally dared to leave the building long enough to get something to eat and bring something back to Edward so he too could grab a bite.
"I just can't understand why you bother staying here when the London offices keep offering you so much money that you can retire after only a year," the arrogant British voice said and when Bella rounded the corner to her desk, she saw Edward with a rather handsome looking blond man, Edward towering over the blonde one's short frame.
"You clearly don't see the value of family, Riley," Edward answered, looking bored but something changed in his eyes when he spotted Bella walking towards them, something Bella couldn't quite put her finger on.
"Hi," she said, smiling kindly, "I brought you a nine grain bagel with turkey and low-fat garlic cream cheese," as she handed the bagel over to Edward, their fingers brushed and confusion fell over Bella.
"And who is this little English rose," Riley, the blond haired, British and arrogant man said, turning his attention from Edward to Bella.
"I'm not little and I'm not an English rose," Bella smiled politely before turning to her desk, starting where she had left off before lunch.
"You may not be British but you are a rose, for sure," Riley drawled but Bella ignored him. "Tell me, what are you doing here, working under Dwyer, when Holland's department is much more lucrative and giving for a young girl like you?"
"Simply because I enjoy working for both Phil and Edward, and I'm not planning on moving from Boston any time soon. Do you have time to go over your calendar or do you want to wait until you've had time to catch up with your friend?" Bella asked Edward, turning her attention away from Riley.
"Come to my office in an hour: I'm sure Mr. Biers and I will have finished any business he wish to bring up."
As soon as Edward's office door closed, Bella unlocked her not-so-secret drawer and pulled out her notebook. When the doctor diagnosed Charlie with Melanoma, Bella had searched for ways to cope with it all without putting unnecessary stress on Charlie. One had suggested that she could keep a journal, write about her feelings or her day to day activity.
The book had been bought but not written in once, not even opened. However, Bella had found use for it years after Charli's diagnoses: a way channel her thoughts about the choices she had made in the past years. Never good to write her feelings down, like doe eyes schoolgirl with pigtails and pink fluffy outfits, she chose her words carefully and wrote as if she was writing to someone, for someone.
"It all started when I was in college, freshman year. It was during spring and before a dance. I had no plans on going as I am a terrible dancer and our exams where closing in on us: I wanted to be prepared. However, there was one guy from one of my classes that begged me to be his date: he wanted to make his ex-girlfriend jealous and he offered me two-hundred dollars if I showed up with him and left with him a few hours later. Being a girl with no job and a future filled with student loans, I took the money and they made sure that I had food on my table for the next month and some.
I earned for my living during college by letting guys all over campus use me to make friends of girlfriends jealous, in exchange of money. I will never be proud of it, but I needed the money more than I needed to keep my pride and reputation. My father needed it moreā¦"
Happy with how easy it was to put her thoughts down on the paper, she closed her notebook and locked it in her desk before going back to work.
The sound of Edward's raised voice drifted out to Bella and she glanced at the door, wondering what was going on behind those closed doors.
Riley came rushing out and Bella almost flinched when he came to a halt in front of her desk and abruptly turned to her.
"I'm sorry I came on to you like that," he said, looking almost torn by something, "Will you let me apologize properly over a drink? Tonight?"
"I-I don't know," Bella stuttered, stunned.
"Just one drink and the chance to apologize, that's all I'm asking."
"Ok, one drink," Bella smiled slightly as Riley smiled brightly.
"See you at eight?"
"Eight," Bella confirmed and he left.
"Don't wear the black dress," Edward said from behind her and Bella gasped, swinging her chair around.
"What did you say?"
"Don't wear the black dress when you go out for a drink with Riley," then he turned on his heel and closed the door to his office, locking it.
Shaking her head, Bella turned back to her work.
At eight, she walked through the doors of the bar Riley had chosen and she had left the little black dress behind in her apartment, just like Edward had told her to. She had put it on when she first got ready but as she looked at herself in the mirror, she had quickly taken it off and started a dig-through in her closet.
In the end, she had opted on a black sequin skirt Alice and Rose had bought to her. It ended about two inches above her knees and the matted sequins didn't scream for attention. With a soft, pale pink silk blouse, Bella felt perfectly dressed for a simple drink.
"Bella," Riley waved at her from a table in the back of the bar.
"Riley," she smiled politely when she reached him but it quickly turned into a laugh when he shot to his feet and pulled the chair out for her, like a true gentleman.
"What do you want?" he asked, gesturing to the bar, "I'm having beer."
"I think I'll have just a glass of wine."
One glass turned into two and then two glasses turned into three and before she knew it, the third glass of wine turned into her fourth glass. Bella hadn't planned on even finishing her first glass and simply skipped her dinner, opting for a take-out pizza when she was finished with Riley, but then it turned out that Riley was quite funny and charming, when he had had only one beer.
It was easy to see that the man she had first met earlier that day was the true Riley Biers: a man who sweet-talked himself into women's beds, a man who objectified women to the best of his ability.
"So, Bella, how long did it take before Edward had you on your back, your legs spread and your cunt ready for him?" Riley asked in all seriousness.
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, don't play innocent, Bella! I know Edward fucks you! And judging from the fact that he didn't bite my head off when I first arrived at the office and I opened my mouth, or when I asked you out for a drink, you must be damn good in the sack!"
"What I do and with whom I do it with is none of your business!" Bella said calmly, taking a sip of her wine, which had started to go warm. "You might have the balls to ask such a question, but you're fucking stupid if you think that any women would even think of going near you."
Calmly, Bella rose to her feet, grabbed her coat and purse, and walked towards the door, only to stop with her hand on the handle. With determination, Bella walked back to the table where Riley still sat, fuming, and she picked up her glass of lukewarm wine and threw it in his face.
She could still hear everyone in the bar laugh as she stormed down the street. She was fuming with rage, ready to hit something, anything or anyone, especially Riley if she ever was so unlucky to lay her eyes on him again.
As she waited for a cab, several burly men walked out from the bar and coming towards her. They were sounding cheerful and as they noticed her standing there, waiting for a cab that took forever to snail down the street to her, they all cheered loudly and praised her for taking care of the entertainment for the night.
With a smile on her mouth, Bella didn't the cab driver her own address when she finally could climb into the cab.
This is what I've managed to rewrite so far. More will come soon but by leaving out the possible rape, I have to write chapter nine from scratch, more or less.
I've tried my best to make a stronger Bella. Let me know if she's straying back towards the meek one.
DevilsWriter
