Part III

At the store Bella picked out her baguette, but decided to get a few other things while she had the chance. Alice was turning out to be a comforting and enjoyable occupant, but she couldn't make anything except sandwiches, popcorn and hot chocolate. Bella could imagine her roommate looking at a small mound of produce on the kitchen counter with utter bewilderment. She laughed to herself in the canned goods aisle, and selected a couple of sweet corn. The cart was half full with an interesting variety of items, but they all paired awkwardly. She was unable to decide between salads and comfort food; if she loaded up on ingredients to make heavy comfort food dishes, at least the salads lessened the guilt.

Renee had called. Well, left a wild, hurried message with an airport attendant blaring from overhead speakers was more accurate. Bella didn't mind and hoped their travel was safe.

After she got dinner underway, Alice arrived, remembering to wipe her boots on the doormat, and sniffed the seasoning in the air with appreciation. They sat at the little kitchen table and ate like an old married couple, which amused Bella. But as soon as Alice was full and went to her area of the living room, Bella escaped to her room with Facebook on the brain. Everybody needed down time for themselves.

There was no new message from Edward. The disappointment hit her harder than expected. Once it hit, it settled in her middle like some awful twinge of coming down with something. She hadn't realized how much her immediate happiness depended upon hearing from him, even if it was something as stupid as his sudden decision to never eat turnips again. Did he even eat turnips? Of all the silly places her thoughts traveled to...

It wasn't false hope that made her check her e-mail. Instead she opened her inbox to occupy her mind elsewhere. Perhaps one of the spam e-mails she received would finally entice her enough to do a little online shopping. Unexpectedly, the newest e-mail at the top of the mountainous spam was unmistakably from Edward. How did... Then her brain was quick to make the connection. Her personal e-mail address was listed in her contact info on Facebook.

She opened it, confused as to why he changed their platform of communication, but pathetically relieved nonetheless. It must be because their conversations were turning longer and more personal.

From: Edward Cullen

To: Bella Swan .com

Date: December 12, 2011 10:34 PM EST

Bella,

That chicken soup sounds about perfect right now after the day I've had. I'll be breaking open a can of Campbell's and pretending it's as good as yours. I had to deal with a very surly client and almost lost the account. I should've fired the marketing assistant and given the job to you. Your brain seems to be working perfectly, but he looked so distressed by the ordeal that I took pity on him. Anyway, I'm sure you don't need to hear me rant and wallow over nonsense. I'm fully aware that I'm speaking to a lovely woman and not an unresponsive journal.

I realize now that I shouldn't have asked you what you do in your spare time since the tables have turned on me. ;-) One word: bowling. If you go to one of the alleys in the city, the guy behind the counter might know me by name! Billiards is fun when the mood strikes, baseball games, anything to do with going out, I guess. Work takes up a lot of my time (in and out of the office).

Don't downplay what you do, Bella. If you weren't there, I'm sure phones would ring all day while higher-ups watched in despair as their calls got missed, and then nothing would get done. If I've learned anything from past corporate jobs it's to treat people well, then they'll do anything for you. Seriously, I love the receptionist here. Her name is Phyllis and she keeps everyone in line. There's something efficient about the elderly; they don't waste time getting things done and tend to cut through the bullshit with a withering look. It makes people feel an old shame their grandmothers used to cause in them when they were young.

I've rambled too much already. Sweet dreams, B.

Edward

Bella was smiling broadly by the end of it and giggled under her breath at his description of Phyllis. But it told her more about Edward than it did about his receptionist; Edward Cullen was a sweet person at heart. Any person who treated old people well and did it with good humor was rare nowadays, it seemed. She still wondered that he was suddenly e-mailing to her personal account. He must be trying to keep her on her toes a little. They had shared a lot in a short amount of time. They acquired each other's e-mail addresses and employment whereabouts, the wealth of knowledge and imagery Facebook provided, and of course, mailing addresses. As far as Bella was concerned, it was already getting personal.

If he were like any other friend, shouldn't she invite him out with her friends? She already knew the answer to that question. She wasn't ready to share him with anybody else. He'd pop up in her social atmosphere like a daisy in winter. And the interested, knowing looks from Alice and Rosalie would be too much.

Her smile slowly faded. There was a quality, a tone to his words that she had initially dismissed in her enthusiasm of receiving the e-mail and the part about Phyllis. It was a rough day for him, or perhaps it was something else, but he sounded gloomy. She imagined him as if they were having a face-to-face conversation over coffee, and he was forcing a smile while telling her about his day.

A funny feeling settled in her middle. She cared about him, and the extent of it surprised her. Even more surprising was how quickly she had made the decision…

The next day she sent the package to him by way of a personal courier, tipping the boy, Tyler, generously. He was a frequent deliverer of all things lunch-related from Jenks' favorite place. Jenks liked to order take-out from them at least once a week and she had gotten to know Tyler in a friendly way.

The usual afternoon lag time between two and three-thirty arrived. She picked up the ringing phone with the disinterest that comes from doing a repetitive task and spoke the company's greeting.

"May I speak to Bella Swan, please?"

"Speaking."

Recognition slid neatly into place, though she couldn't pinpoint exactly how she knew it was Edward. She simply did, and hunched to the corner of her desk in a way that demanded privacy. A curtain of her hair fell forward to obscure the business further.

"Bella," he said again. Her brain had already begun to fit the deep tone and smoothness of his voice into a clearer picture of him. "I received a package from you. Hopefully I was the right recipient..." He chuckled nervously. "I did mention this is Edward. Edward Cullen. Didn't I?"

She started laughing, and relaxed her shoulders she hadn't realized had tensed. "I don't send packages often, so it was easy to figure out."

"It was really thoughtful. The best delivery I've gotten, in fact. We've done a pretty good job of tracking each other down, haven't we?"

"Hm. Maybe I should screw my degree and start a career in identity theft." He laughed, and it relieved her that he somehow got her weird sarcasm immediately. "I'm glad you got it all in one piece, no spills. I paid Tyler extra."

"No spills, except for the occasional spoon drips down my shirt. I ate it right away, but I think it's ruined me. I can't ever go back to Campbell's again. Listen... If you hadn't traversed from our cyber communication back to material channels, I would have, so I'll be straightforward. Would you like to get coffee sometime?"

Her breath caught in her chest. "The other line is ringing. I'm so sorry. Can you hold? I'll be back in a sec..."

She didn't wait for an answer, and leaped to her feet. Her chair was left swinging from side to side as she went in hot pursuit of Rosalie. Bella found her sipping from a cup of coffee, a small break from her usual, high-efficiency self.

"He asked me out for coffee."

Rosalie was used to Bella's greetings—right to the point of what she wanted to say. She smiled at Bella's ingenuous young face framed by hopefulness and worry.

"And you said yes, I assume."

"Actually... He's on hold."

"If you're trying to make him sweat, you're doing a fabulous job of it so far."

The color drained from her face. "Damn. He probably hung up."

She rushed back to her desk with as much a semblance of normalcy as possible under the circumstances. The red light was still blinking. She wrenched the phone back and said, "Edward?"

"I'm here."

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"About getting coffee sometime."

He forced a laugh. "I thought you were pulling off an escape route. Ah, never mind. I have no idea why I said that. Is tomorrow evening a good sometime?"

They agreed on the when and where of it, and it wasn't until they hung up that the happy amazement rolling through her shifted gears toward nervousness. She hadn't even checked her calendar to make sure she was free, but it didn't matter. Occurrences like Edward didn't happen often—ever. Not to Bella Swan, at any rate.

When she again pieced together everything she learned about him thus far, she wondered if she was too much of a homebody for Edward. He seemed very adventurous, and that didn't appear to be limited to his love for outdoor athletics. He'd been predominantly the one to seek her out after their initial mix up. He was the one who started using e-mail, then he sent a Facebook request, and now, he was calling her on the phone. The sound of his voice as she remembered it replayed in her head, causing a pleasant shiver to roll up her spine. Sure, she'd gone out on a limb once or twice, but she had a feeling Edward's proactive ways had more to do with his personality and less to do with her.

In short, she thought he might be bored with her.

She dressed a little more carefully for work the next day and took extra time with her hair until it flowed like silk. She wouldn't really have time to go back to her apartment to prepare for her coffee… what was it? Date? Meeting? Get-together? Yes, get-together. She could handle get-together.

Alice made a few suggestions about her appearance and was dead set on creating a Wow Factor. To be kind, Bella took a few options into consideration, but simply had to refuse most of them. She wanted to look nice, but still feel comfortable. The office had a No Jeans policy so she wore one of her favorite pairs of slacks and selected a pretty blouse to go with it. It had light, two-toned floral patterns, and she adorned the simple collarless neck with a lace-edged camisole. And when in doubt? Always wear flats.

She arrived at the coffee shop early so she'd have time to scope him out. Unfortunately, it was crowded, which foiled her carefully laid plans. It did nothing to help in her search. Instead, she caught herself staring openly at random men, which was just embarrassing. Why did his profile picture have to be so vague? She needed more information.

She took a deep breath to try to calm herself down. If he was already seated somewhere, she was sure he would be able to recognize her. She turned around to retrace her steps back toward the entrance, and slammed into a hard body. The figure staggered back, catching his balance just in time before causing people around them to spill their coffee.

"You must be Bella," he said, his mouth stretching into an amused grin.

Her own mouth wavered at the corners. "Is my clumsiness that obvious?"

"It wasn't the only thing," Edward said pleasantly, directing her to a recently vacated table. The previous couple had gathered their things and was leaving. "I'm glad I caught you again in the midst of one of your escape routes."

"I wasn't escaping. I was simply going back to the front to wait," she managed, taking off her winter layers. Her body shivered and took a few minutes to acclimate to the warmer indoor temperature. When the front door opened, however, she got blasted again from the cold outside.

Edward also removed his layers, starting with the small sporty backpack from his shoulders. She noticed approvingly that there was no stiff, standard issue briefcase in sight. Once his coat and scarf were discarded, Bella saw that he wore a nice ensemble of collared shirt and khakis. It wasn't until then that she noticed something else about Edward Cullen, something very important.

Edward Cullen was beautiful.

"Thank you for soothing my ego," he said.

She would have laughed, but the relief in his voice made her quick to realize that he must be oblivious about the effect his appearance had on females. His good looks didn't completely surprise her. His heavy brow took a backseat to the extraordinary green of his eyes. His bone structure was almost too strongly angled, creating a distinct nose and sharp cheekbones that pointed to a generous mouth. This well-shaped part was full and expressive, and currently curved up on one side.

"Anything I can do to help a guy out," she replied affably, with a smile of her own. She studied him covertly while he tucked his backpack under the table at his feet. Or at least she thought it was covertly; he caught her looking, but said nothing and just smiled at her. She pushed ahead with the introductory conversation. "You seem in a better mood than last night. All is resolved with the work force? You're at some kind of ad agency for hiking gear, from what I researched."

"Yeah," he said, noting the reference to their ongoing joke. "It's a specialty agency. We test out all the products, familiarize ourselves with them before we begin a promotion. We expect the equipment to do what the manufacturer promises, and don't want to mislead customers. But that goes both ways, of course. Once we take on the account, they expect us to do everything in our power—well, everything permitted on a social media platform—to make sure the promotion is a success. "

She was fully engaged. "So, your agency builds a reputation that buyers can take into consideration before making a business transaction."

He nodded, pleased. "We review and market."

"I like that," she went on. "Especially because it's a discerning approach. It seems like advertising these days doesn't care what they've been paid to market as long as it's in your face."

"Money is the surest motivator," he agreed. "We're not sinking, but we'd probably be doing better if we let any willing paying client bend us over. Sorry, that was a crude metaphor. I mean...take advantage of our connections and the traffic we drive."

His flush of embarrassment made her laugh. The conversation went on at such a length and flowed so easily that they had completely forgotten to order their coffees. The sun had set and customers thinned without their notice. It wasn't until Edward stood up to stretch his stiff back that they noticed two hours had elapsed. He suggested they skip coffee altogether (the barista was eyeing them rudely) and grab dinner instead.

They walked to a nearby casual restaurant that was much livelier than the closing café had been, and ordered their drinks and meals. As they talked while waiting for their dinner, she noticed that Edward really listened when she spoke. His eyes were always alert and never left her face; he even responded to the changes in her expression.

"I understand that I won't be at Jenks forever. He likes me where I am now, so he probably won't move me to a higher position. I don't mind paying my dues, and it's helpful to be in a business environment I want to learn more about... but eventually I'll need more."

"You know Morgan Freeman didn't have a successful career until he was in his early fifties. It's never too late."

Her laugh was short, and his grin widened. "Do people really fall for that line?"

"In another life I could've been a motivational speaker," he said piously.

"It needs a little work, but I believe in you."

Humor was still floating, but the discourse tapered off there. They stared at each other. There was something impenetrable yet open about him in the quiet way he studied her. She felt mesmerized, wanting to let him lead her down that beckoning silence... but caught herself, experiencing a dizzying side effect.

She shook her head and smiled. "I should get home. It's a work night."

He agreed, catching a yawn that surprised him. It was late. He offered to see her home, feeling strongly about her safety. The commute consisted of a walk and a subway ride that was in the opposite direction of the east village, which was where he lived. But he didn't mention this. They rode the 6 in companionable silence.

Bella noted that he knew exactly where they were going without her direction. He didn't only know her address, he was familiar with being there.

On the sidewalk in front of her building, she turned to him and smiled, hiding any visible signs of nervousness. She wasn't sure if the effort was a success. She hoped he had enjoyed their evening out and would continue their communication. The air was still and bitter cold, her breath foggy against it.

"Thanks for a fun evening."

"Thanks, too."

"You know," she said, pushing a stray tendril of hair out of her face and tucking it away, "you never did send me those extra pictures of yourself."

"I thought it would be a better idea to authenticate the one picture with a personal experience. What do you think?"

"I think you were right. It was...a great idea." An unforgettable evening. She turned away, attempting to hide her shy smile.

He watched as she ascended the stairs of her building, his face riddled with an unreadable expression. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat and walked back in the direction they had come. Darkness swallowed him completely, but she heard the fading taps of his shoes on concrete as she unlocked the front door.

Thank you, kimpy0464 for the beta sprinkles, and to dollegirl for her encouragement. And thanks to you...for reading this. :) Any errors are mine.