Hi guys...remember me [or the story]? I'm awefully sorry for the delay. My exams were going on and I really did not have the time to write another chapter...I haven't even written my diary in a month! That's like a record!

And after that, I was totally content reading fanfics written by other people...but then I received my 50th review today [Thanks GenTonic10] and I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to finish this...and trust me, finish it I will!

Thanks for all the lovely reviews and the patience...reviews help motivating and a patient reader always makes you feel special!

Hope you enjoy this chapter...it isn't much, but trust me, there's more to come :)

I woke up feeling rather dazed. Thanks to the curtains, I hadn't realized the sunlight outside. I looked at my bedside clock.

"Damnit," I muttered under my breath, quickly jumping up from my bed. I had all of 45 minutes to reach office…and it took at least half an hour to drive to work from here. Assuming there would be no traffic, and that was a completely irrational assumption.

I quickly got ready in 10 minutes flat…Charlie was having his breakfast in the kitchen, as I rushed downstairs, my hair flying all over my face. I didn't have time to tie my hair up into my regular formal bun. I hadn't realised my hair had grown so long…they almost reached my waist.

I grabbed a banana from the dining table and hugged Charlie goodbye, quickly telling him I won't be around for 3 weeks…he was stunned by the news…I could tell…but he did a good job of hiding his astonishment.

It didn't take me too much time to get my car out of the parking…out of curiosity, I looked over at the opposite street, where I had seen Edward's car parked last night. It wasn't there anymore. So I assumed he would have left already.

I drove like hell…and still managed to reach office around 10 minutes late. The nice part at work was, nobody really bothered if you turned up late once in a while…just as long as you didn't make a habit of it and got your work done on time.

Before going into the finance room though, I went to the washroom and tied my hair up into a simple braid. Normally, I opted for a tight, sleek bun, which would come slightly loose by the end of the day. But today I didn't have the resources, or the will to do my hair up in a bun. Thank God I always kept a scrunchy in my handbag.

I walked out of the washroom only to bump into someone at the main entrance of the office. I looked up to see who it was. Edward was standing right in front of me, with an amused expression on his face. He seemed to have just entered the office…I could have safely assumed that because he was still playing with his car keys in his hand and was holding a briefcase in the other hand. This was totally weird because I hadn't seen his car as I left that morning.

"I like what you've done to your hair, Bella," he smiled.

I just smiled back and walked towards the finance office. He followed me as just as I was about to enter he pulled my arm, gently, and said, "we need to plan out our trip Bella…what time will you be free?"

I wriggled my arm free and said, "I've checked out their relevant reports and stuff…I don't have nothing to do…just give me 5 minutes to settle down."

"That does ok…see you in the conference room in 5 minutes," he smiled.

It took me more that 5 minutes to settle down. I slumped down on my chair, wishing for nothing but a nice, steaming cup of coffee. I switched on my computer and took a printout of the abnormalities I had found in the reports of the two branches.

Alice looked at me quizzically but I ignored the look. I had enough time to tell the tale of the traitor curtains.

I picked up my favourite purple pen and walked into the conference room. Edward was already sitting there with a plethora of papers and the Waterman Charleston that he had gifted me. I was kind of surprised that he was using it now. But it was a really good pen…so I reckoned that he didn't really have a reason to not use it.

I also saw two takeaway cups of Starbucks coffee. I smiled to myself.

"I didn't have time to have a proper breakfast this morning. So I picked up these coffees. I figured it would be awfully rude of me to not offer it to you," he smiled as he handed one of the cups to me.

I smiled gratefully as I accepted it and sat down opposite him.

We discussed the abnormalities I had come up with. But they seemed immaterial compared to the observations made by Edward. He had done some sort of a comparative analysis of the financial position of the branches in the past few years.

"The receivables have increased and so have the bad debts," he said still looking into his papers.

"But isn't that how it is supposed to be," I asked taking is calculations from his hand and studying them.

"Yeah…but the non recoverable receivables have increased more than proportionately," he replied, pointing at some figures in his working.

"Hmm…something's definitely up," I replied, pondering over the various reasons for such drastic changes.

"Well, we'll just have to find out, won't we," Edward smiled, taking a sip from his coffee.

I'm sorry for the abrupt ending...I just didn't know what else to write...I know I had promised introducing another character in this chapter, but that would make the chapter longer than desired. Besides, I have no intention to test your patience anymore :P. Besides, I need to read my story first before continuing...I forgot what I was supposed to do to them [blame it on the exams people]!

I don't know the accounting practises in the rest of the world...so I don't know whether Bad Debts are accounted in New York, just like they are accounted here!

Just a few reminders:

1. I've put up a poll on my profile because someone suggested I do Edward's POV and I figured I could write a seperate story out of it

2. BETA offers are welcome...I really need a BETA!

3. I've uploaded a songfic about remus lupin and tonks...please read that and review...I'm also currently working on another lupin tonks fic...by working, I mean I have a blank word file on my laptop labeled lupin tonks :P