Disclaimer: I neither own Autumn of the Witch not Twilight.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Two

Slowly walking down the stairs Isabella Swan could clearly hear arguing. She knew that the arguing was coming from the library, and knew it could only be her father and her step mother. She could distinctively make out Renee's high pitched annoying voice. She could also hear her father's deep voice as he raised it in objection; he was usually a calm easy going man, never one to raise his voice unnecessarily. But Bella knew that Renee would soon tire him with her persistent nagging and her dramatic flair. As Bella finished descending the stairs she paused on the landing, trying to determine what they were arguing about, without moving closer to their raised voices. It had become common place to find the two arguing as of late, Bella knew that her father was extremely stressed about the company's problems, and as a result his temper seemed to have a very short fuse lately, a fuse that Renee always seemed to be intent on igniting.

Moving off the landing Bella made her way across the lounge which was brightly lit by sun light streaming in through the windows. The room was large and beautifully decorated in matching furniture, rugs and curtains. There were also many beautiful paintings decorating the walls, many of which had belonged to Bella's mother and now passed to her. She could remember years ago when her father had just remarried, Renee wanted to get rid of some of the things around the house all of which had belonged to Bella's mother. And Bella was glad that her father had stood firm and pointedly refused until Renee finally backed down and left it alone. That did not stop her however from demanding to have many rooms redone to suite her taste.

Walking over to one of the windows that overlooked their perfectly manicured gardens, Bella found herself stealing many glances at her watch as she anxiously awaited Jake, who should be picking her up in a few minutes.

Jacob Black was the son of a pilot working for her father's airline. He was a twenty one years old, tall dark haired, very handsome man. They had been dating each other for almost a year now, they had made things official one Bella's eighteenth birthday, at her celebratory party to be exact. Though they were both still in college, her going to Harvard in Massachusetts and him going to Columbia here in New York, they made their relationship work, as they constantly talked to each other over the phone or on video chats or visit each other every once in a while, they managed to make it work. Bella really enjoyed spending time with Jake, he was very nice and easy good, she felt comfortable around him.

Lately she could feel than things were getting very serious and she could tell that they were coming to a point in their relationship where he might soon propose to her. Their friends had already even begun joking about them being an old married couple, and they were always being invited on double dates or to couple events together.

Even if they did get engaged now or anytime soon Bella was sure that they would not marry right away they would have to wait until they were both out of college and Jake found a job, which shouldn't be that hard since he was studying engineering and he currently had an internship at a very lucrative company which was interested in taking him on full time once he graduated. While Bella herself currently volunteered at in the children's ward at an oncology hospital, something she enjoyed and hoped to continue doing after college, and possibly even after she got married, at least until she had children of her own. Though she was not ready to marry Jake right now, Bella believed that with time she could be ready to start a life with him.

She shook her head trying to get rid of all these marriage thoughts, after all she was only eighteen, almost nineteen, and she was almost positive that had her mother still been alive she would not have even been entertaining the thought of leaving home this early in her life. Turning away from the window she caught a quick glimpse of herself in a mirror, and she had to really wonder if that troubled young girl was really her.

All this arguing between her father and Renee has been wearing her out, even though she tried to tune them out. Bella knew what a hard time her father was having and it bother her to see him so stressed. Renee was another story, the woman constantly went about trying to start a fight with any and everyone, before she started arguing with her husband, her step daughter used to be her favorite target to pick a fight with, because she knew how to unnerve Bella. Bella never knew why she let Renee get on her nerves so much, it wasn't as if she was afraid of Renee, far from it actually.

The sudden loud ringing of the door bell frightened Bella, bringing her out of her thoughts. She must have been so caught up in her mind that she had failed to hear Jake's car when he arrived. Heading out of the lounge where she had been, she walked out to the hall right as her stepmother was exiting the library. Renee wore a condescending look on her face as she looked over her step daughter, her eyes raking over her from head to toe and frowning as if she was looking at something beneath her.

Ignoring Renee, Bella turned towards the door, where she could see Millie, the maid making her way to answer it, but instead of letting the maid get the door Bella told Millie she would get it and thanked her before telling her to return to whatever she was doing. Bella opened the door and saw Jake standing on the front porch, when he saw her at the door his eyes glanced over her appreciatively as he admired her beauty. When his eyes finally met hers, he greeted her with a warm smile and a gentle kiss on the cheek. Bella stepped aside and allowed Jake to enter the house where he saw Renee standing by the banister watching them.

"Hello, Jacob darling, how are you doing?" Renee drawled in her pretentiously nice voice.

"I am doing well, thank you Mrs. Swan. I must say you are looking quite lovely today Ma'am." Jake offered politely.

"Oh, you are too kind my dear." Renee pretended to be modest.

Grabbing her purse, which she had left on one of the couches in the lounge Bella returned to where Jake stood talking to Renee. "I'm all set Jake; I think we should be leaving now." Bella said as she grabbed Jake's hand and beginning to lead him out.

Walking outside Bella saw Jake's sports car parked in her drive way with the hood down. He led her to the passenger side and locked the door after she got in before running around to the other side, where he got in and they both buckled in before he sped away.

As the car drove away from the house Jake could see in his periphery as Bella's countenance visible relaxed. "Is Renee getting under your skin again?" He asking, guessing at what her problem must be.

"That doesn't even begin to describe it. The woman is a piece of work. I just really wish I could stop her from sending my father to an early grave. Between her constant nagging and the problems with the company I don't know which will kill him first." Bella said as she heaved a sigh.

"Hey I know that this business with the guys from Cullen Enterprise is weighing heavy on everyone's mind, I even heard my dad talking about it. But I'm sure that everything will be fine, things will sort themselves out in the end, they always do. Just give it a little time." He said trying to reassure her.

"I wish I could see it that way, but I fear that things will never work out at least not in my father's favor. The company is his life and if he loses that then I fear it may just kill him." Bella said sadly.

"Come on Bella, don't think like that. That's a really pessimistic view of things, since when have you been the glass is half empty kind of girl? Besides from what I heard with the deal that Cullen purposed, your dad would remain in control. But I am happy that you have chosen to confide your worries and fears in me, it means that you see me as an important part in your life and that means a lot to me."

Bella glanced over at Jake and by the look in his eyes and the sound of his voice she knew where this conversation was headed and she suddenly got scared. She suddenly panicked for a short few seconds, as she realized that her feelings for Jake, whatever they maybe were not profound enough to head in that direction yet. And so she suddenly changed the subject and began talking nonstop about non consequential nonsense and about random events of her week.

She could tell that Jake knew what she was doing and she sensed that he was hurt by it but there was nothing she could do about that, she was just not yet ready to make a serious commitment to him.

Bella and Jake had a wonderful day out together. They had lunch at a nice restaurant, nothing fancy just a small deli nearby, after which they had plans to go see an art show which one of their mutual friends was exhibiting his art for the first time at a museum that he had been interning at. After the art exhibit they heard that there would be a celebratory party held later in the evening at one of Jake's other friend's apartment to celebrate, the success of the show. Though Bella was initially hesitant to accept an invitation, after some convincing on Jake's part Bella reluctantly agreed to make an appearance, on the condition that she would not have to stay very long.

By the time Jake dropped Bella off at her house to return for her in a few hours for the party it was already six. Stepping out of Jake's car Bella could see several cars parked in front of her house, the most notable was a shiny sleek black limousine. This really piqued her interest as she wondered who it could belong to.

"I'll swing by to pick you up in a few hours, so be ready to leave by nine ok?" Jake called from inside the car.

"Huh? Oh, right, yeah no problem, I'll see you in a few." Bella replied sending Jake a smile before he drove off.

As she entered the house Bella could hear raised voices coming from the direction of the library. She could distinctly hear her father's raised voice among them and she briefly wondered if he and Renee were arguing yet again. Then she remember the cars parked outside and realized that they could not be arguing with each other since they obviously had company, because Bella knew how much Renee loved pretending that she was the perfect wife and led a picture perfect life. Therefore she would never be caught arguing with her husband when they were entertaining guests. That made her wonder who these guests could be that would provoke her father to raise his voice to such high decibels. Lately the only thing that could get such a rise out of the usually calm Charlie Swan was the proposed merger, could this mean that Peter Marshall had returned, with a new offer?

Curiosity got the best of her and Bella found herself heading towards the library where the voices got progressively louder the closer she got. Opening the door she was greeted by a slightly crowded room, which she noted was probably due to the fact that everyone in the room was standing instead of making use of the many comfortable chairs in the room. She ran her eyes around the room making note of everyone present, there was her step mother - Renee, Harry Clearwater – the chief accountant of her father's company, her aunt Julia, her father who was leaning heavily on a table, there was also Peter Marshall from Cullen Enterprise and finally a man she had only ever seen on the cover of Forbes magazine and in the society section of the papers; he was none other than Edward Cullen, CEO of the corporation that wanted a merger with SWA.

Upon Bella's entrance into the room all eyes swerved to her and for some reason her gaze was connected to Edward Cullen's intense green eyes and she found it hard to look away as she was mesmerized by their sheer intensity. He was so very unlike any other man she had ever met; he had this domineering presence that intimidated others without even trying. He was tall and muscular but by no means bulky; he had a certain animalistic attraction about him, and Bella had no doubt that he had women falling for him wherever he went. By the look in his eyes Bella could tell that he was well aware of the impact he had on the people around him. She could also tell that he took great pleasure in that knowledge and used it to his advantage.

"Isabella, my dear you have returned." Charlie called as he straightened from his hunched over position. "I guess you may as well be a part of this discussion since it affects you as much as everyone else here. No use keeping it from you seeing as you will find out soon anyways." Charlie said taking a calming breath before continuing, "My dear it would appear that my time has come to an end."

Bella looked at her father with disbelief and confusion as she quickly rushed over to his side. "What are you talking about Dad?" She asked as she speared a glance at the others in the room before returning her gaze once again to her father.

Renee who was standing off to the side was the one to answer, "Your father is just being dramatic. Mr. Cullen here was simply going over Charlie's position and how we will be moving forward from here on out."

"Daddy, please explain what is going on to me. Like you said I do have a right to know what is going on, so someone please enlighten me." Bella said, ignoring Renee.

"Your father tried to use the name of Cullen Enterprise and our proposed merger to raise money. He used my organization to dig his way out of a difficult situation. He wanted to use our name to raise enough money to save his neck then back out of the deal. I thought someone who had been in business as long as he had would know never to try such despicable tricks on a bigger corporation especially one the size of Cullen Enterprise, we have crushed bigger and stronger men than him, with no hesitation." Edward who had been quiet until then informed Bella.

Bella could not believe that her father would ever do such things and with disbelief clear as day on her face she turned and looked to him, hoping that he did not do what Mr. Cullen was saying and it was all just a huge misunderstanding. "Please father, tell me that this is not true?"

"What was done is already done and cannot be undone, so it is not important now." was Charlie Swan's response.

"Well what happens now?" Bella asked no one in particular.

"Cullen Enterprise will be taking over SWA." It was Harry Clearwater, the company accountant who answered her question.

"Wait, what do you mean take over? Swan's are still the controlling share holders; even if the business would go bankrupt, without help he cannot just simply take over like that."

"It is quite clear that your father can no longer run the company successfully. This is in the best interest of the airline." Renee said.

"Do I take that to mean that you are willing to sell your shares?" Bella asked her.

"That is correct." Renee replied.

"Still there is—"

"Bella – your aunt, she agrees with Renee for the first time ever I must say, I never thought I would see the day. They feel that it is better to make something now than hanging on and losing everything later." Charlie told his daughter.

"I don't know what to say." Bella said having no idea how to help or make things better.

Bella sat in her bed and turned to pick up her purse from where she threw it when she came in. Picking up her purse she reach inside it and pulled out her cell phone, then dialed Jake's cell phone number and waited as it began ringing.

"Oh, hi Jake, it's me Bella. Ok, so I don't think I'll be able to accompany you to the party tonight." She said when Jake answered the phone on the second ring.

"What do you mean? Why not?" Jake asked, the slightest bit of annoyance creeping into his voice.

"It's not something I want to get into over the phone."

"Has something happened? Does this have anything to do with your father and his company?"

"In a way I guess it does. But I do have a headache anyway, and I was never really interested in going to this party to begin with. But please don't let this ruin your night, you should still go."

"I wanted to go with you; it won't be the same if you're not there."

"I am sorry Jake. I have to go, but call me tomorrow, alright?"

"Yea sure, good night, I love you." Jake called into the phone.

"Me too, goodnight Jake," Bella said before quickly hanging up, she always felt weird saying 'I love you' to Jake because she was never sure she meant it the same way he did.

After ending the call with Jake, she laid in bed just staring at the ceiling, when she closed her eyes she could remember the intensity of Edward Cullen's stare and just the memory of it managed to send a shiver down her spine. Shaking her head to dispel the images of Edward Cullen from her mind Bella got up from her bed and headed to her bathroom to shower and get dressed for bed.

When she was done showering she dressed in sleeping shorts and a tank top and plopped down on her bed with a book that she had started reading the previous day. As she began reading she heard the house phone ringing but didn't bother moving towards the connection in her room since she wasn't expecting a call and all her friends would call her cell if they wanted to reach her.

She was however very surprised when a minute later Millie was knocking on her door and informing her that Mr. Marshall was on the phone for her.

Thanking Millie, Bella reached over to her night stand where the connected phone was. "Hello?"

"Hi, Ms. Swan, this is Peter Marshall, I hope I am not disturbing you." Peter said into the phone.

"No, not at all, how may I help you?" Bella asked curiously.

"I was wondering if you had plans for this evening."

"May I ask why you would like to know?"

"Well I wanted to know if you would be willing to have a late dinner with me?"

"You want to have dinner with me?" Bella asked completely caught off guard by the request. A million thoughts ran through her mind at once. 'Why was he asking me out? Would it be a good idea to accept? Could this be an opportunity to help my father? Surely Peter Marshall must have some influence on his employer and if I could convince him to help me then maybe he could get Mr. Cullen to back down.' She thought as she contemplated accepting his offer.

Finally making up her mind she accepted the dinner invitation.

"Wonderful! I will be by to pick you up in say thirty minutes? Will that be enough time to get ready?"

"Yes, that will be enough time. I will see you soon." Bella said as she hung up the phone. She could feel a bit of excitement and anticipation as she rushed to get dressed.

When she had finished getting dressed and combed her hair she descended the stairs where she met Millie on the landing and was conversing with her when her father walked by.

"Bella, darling are you going out?" He asked as a smile spread across his face when he saw his daughter.

"Oh, yes Dad. Jake and I were invited to a friend's party this evening." She answered, half lying, they were indeed invited to a party but that was definitely not where she was going.

"Ok, well will he be picking you up then?"

"No Father, I will be meeting him there." She lied.

"Ok, well do tell him I said hello and have fun."

"Thanks Dad, I have to go now." She said as she rushed out the door right in time to see Peter pulling up.

Peter took her to a very fancy exclusive Italian restaurant. Bella had heard about it before but she had never been there. It was said that it was very expensive and extremely hard to get a reservation, the most notable thing about the restaurant was its exquisite wine collection.

When Bella complimented the wine Peter smiled as he twirled his wine glass in his hands and took a slow sip before focusing his eye on her. "Yes, you are right, this wine is exceptional. It comes from a vineyard in Sicily. It belongs to Edward Cullen."

At the mention of that name Bella put down the wine she had been enjoying.

"I take it you are not very fond of Mr. Cullen?" Peter observed.

"I hardly know the man." Bella replied, but she did not deny it.

"However you still find his actions distasteful?"

"Well obviously, my father is the one who is suffering after all."

"Right, your father – Charlie Swan."

"Why did you ask me here tonight, Mr. Marshall?" Bella asked the question that had been on her mine since he called her.

Ignoring her question he asked her instead: "What do you think of this establishment?"

"I like it; it is very calm and inviting."

"Yes I agree, it belongs to Cullen Enterprise." He informed her.

"Mr. Marshall, please answer my question."

"Peter, you can call me Peter."

"Alright then Peter, tell me why you brought me here, why you wanted to meet me at all."

"I think you should first know that I had nothing to do with what happened earlier today. It was beyond my control."

"That is very hard to believe."

"And why is that so? Edward Cullen is a man set in his own ways and no one can make him do anything. I have no influence over his actions." Peter told her honestly.

"No influence at all?" Bella asked disappointed, her only hope of helping her father now gone.

"No not even a little. If you had planned to somehow try to change his mind through me, I will am sorry to inform you that I cannot help you. But if it helps, please know that I have tried, but like I said Edward is not easily swayed. I really do wish I could help. "

"Well thank you anyway; I really appreciate you trying to help my father."

"I was not trying to help your father Isabella. I was doing this for you and only you. I invited you here tonight for purely personal reasons. I have found myself undeniably attracted to you Isabella and I want to make my feelings clear to you and let you know that I have nothing to do with your father losing his company." Peter told her as he reached across the table to take her small hand into his larger one.

Bella was completely caught off guard by his admission; the thought that he may be interested in her in such a manner had not even crossed her mind. She had no such interest in him and the only reason she was even there was to seek help on behalf of her father.

"Peter. I am grateful to you for trying to help my father, well me, but I think there has been some horrible misunderstanding here—"

"That is my very thought as well Ms. Swan." came a very cold harsh response that frightened both Bella and Peter. As Bella extracted her hand from Peter's grasp and Peter suddenly rose to his feet and turned to face a very livid Edward Cullen.