6

The next week, I was watching TV in my living-room, when suddenly my phone rang. I put my drink down and hurried towards the phone.

"Hello?" I asked, still watching TV from the corner of my eye.

"Hello, is this Bella? It's Jacob." I silently gasped as I heard him and turned away from the television.

"Hi, yes, this is Bella. Jacob, how are you?" I stammered, noticing how I was blushing, even though I was alone.

"I'm fine, thanks. How are you?"

"I'm great," I said, immediately wondering if that was the right thing to say. Wouldn't it have been better if I had just said 'fine' too?

"Good to hear. So, I was wondering if perhaps you would like to have dinner with me sometime?" I felt my heart speed up and I involuntarily started grinning.

"Yes, I would love to."

"Great, are you free this Friday?"

"Yes, that would be perfect," I told him. We arranged a time to meet and we hung up. I smiled and immediately rang Alice.

"Alice, you'll never believe what just happened!"

"What?" she asked, immediately excited.

"Jacob called and asked me out!"

"That's amazing! Wait, I have an idea, meet me at Michelangelo's in one hour for some lunch. I'll call Rosalie too," she said and hung up.

I put the phone down and turned off the TV, after which I went to my room to get ready. I quickly took a shower and then put on some nice clothes.

I still had half an hour and decided to kill the time by reading. I grabbed the book that was lying on my night-stand and sat down on a chair in the living-room.

I was so engrossed in the story, that when I finally stopped reading, I looked at the clock and saw I was supposed to be there already. So, I quickly put my book away, grabbed my coat and hurried over to the restaurant.

Once I got there, I noticed Alice and Rosalie sitting at a table, deep in conversation. I carefully made my way through the aisles between the tables. I sat down on the empty seat and noticed how they had stopped their conversation and where silent.

"Hi, guys!" I said, not wanting an uncomfortable silence. They smiled and seemed to relax a bit.

"Hey, Bella. I just heard from Alice that Jacob asked you out! How amazing is that? Are you excited?" Rosalie asked me.

"Yes, I'm really excited. I will see him this Friday and we'll go to a movie. I still can't believe I'm seriously doing this, I've only just met him this one time in the super market," I said, realizing I was rambling.

"Oh, it'll be fine. I'm sure of it," Alice said, winking. I laughed and shook my head.

"Why don't we come over and get you ready for the date?" Rosalie suggested.

"Thanks, but that wouldn't be necessary."

"I think it would. Sorry, Bells, but you do need some help dressing for a date. To be honest, you're not an expert," Alice said, smiling kindly. I gave her a look.

"Thanks, Alice," I mumbled.

"You know I mean it in a good way," she said. I nodded slowly and sighed, realizing she did have a point. I hadn't had that many dates in my life and if I was completely honest, I had no idea what to do or wear. Their advice would be helpful.

"Yes, I know. He's going to pick me up at seven o'clock, so why don't you come by at five o'clock?" I suggested. They both immediately shook their heads.

"No, that's far too little time. We'll be there at three," Rose said. My eyes widened slightly.

"I do realize it will take a while to make me beautiful and all, but seriously, four hours?" I asked, exasperated. Alice sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Your self-esteem is definitely getting better, isn't it?" she asked ironically. I laughed and blushed slightly, only proving their point even more.

"We need four hours to make you even more beautiful and to give you some advice," Rosalie said.

"Fine, be there at three o'clock. I'll have some lunch ready. But let's talk about some other subject. Any progress with the wedding, Rose? As the maid of honour, I should know and help with that, you know," I said, chuckling. Rosalie's eyes started twinkling and a smile spread across her face. I noticed how I and Alice couldn't help but smile along.

"Well, we've got a date, 13th of June. But I still need to find a dress. You didn't forget how you promised to go shopping with me for a dress, did you?" she asked jokingly.

"No, of course not. When would you like to go?"

"Oh, well, I suppose we could go tomorrow afternoon. Then we can search for something for you to wear on Friday too!" she exclaimed, smiling. "Alice, you'll come too, right? I think we might need you."

"What? Did you seriously think I would miss out on shopping for your wedding dress?" she called out. We both laughed as she watched us with a serious expression of shock on her face.

"No, I didn't, not really. Thank you both for coming with me," she said, becoming slightly emotional.

"Of course! You're our best friend and we would do anything for you, especially now you are getting married!" I said, getting emotional too, after seeing Rosalie's eyes getting watery.

"Yes, exactly! And when Bella or I will get married, we will do the same for each other as we do now." We were almost going to do a group-hug, when we realized how horribly dramatic we were being and we all burst out laughing.

We got a few stares from people, but after hanging around Emmett for a long while, I had gotten used to it.

The next morning, I had to get up early for work. This week had been slightly better than the prior ones. I was getting used to Edward's character more and more and I could use it to his disadvantage, by forcing him to a bit of chit-chat. He was still distant and quiet, but the rudeness was getting less, thankfully.

I was sitting behind my desk, when he arrived.

"A very good morning to you, Mr Cullen." It had become my habit to greet him cheerfully in the morning, to see in what kind of mood he was. He nodded and mumbled a 'good morning, Ms Swan', as he did almost every morning. I nodded and smiled at him, after which I only just noticed the slightly dazed look in his eyes, before he turned his head away and walked to his office. I frowned, confused, but forgot about it as I saw the work I had to do that day.

The more I was working here, the more I realized this wasn't the job for me. I did like teasing Edward, and the people that worked here – Emma and Madison, for example – were all very nice and welcoming. But besides that, the work I had to do wasn't really for me and even though I did my best and most of the things I did were fine, I knew I couldn't stay here for long.

"Good morning, Bella," Emma said, smiling as she walked in and dropped her bag on the desk. I smiled at her.

"Good morning, how are you?"

"I'm great! Yesterday afternoon, the man I've had my eye on for a really long time has finally asked me out," she said to me in a hushed tone, while she was leaning over her desk, towards me. The way she said it, gushing all about it with flushed cheeks, made me feel like we were in high school again.

"That's fantastic," I said, smiling. I knew that if she had told me two weeks ago, I would have felt jealous and I would've thought it was unfair, but now – with the thought of my date on Friday in my mind – I didn't feel jealous at all and was genuinely glad for her.

"Yes, I'm really excited. He will pick me up at Saturday and then we will go to eat near the beach. I do hope he will take me on a walk along the shore after dinner," she said, dreamily.

I looked at her and realized she was even younger than I was, thus explaining the high school-attitude she had about this date.

"I'm sure he will," I said reassuringly. She nodded with a spark in her eyes, and she sat down behind her desk, sighing as she, too, noticed the work she had to do.

I was about to get to work, as I heard the door from Edward's office open behind me. I fought the urge to turn around and I started working, hoping he hadn't noticed that I had been chatting with Emma. I peeked up sneakily and watched him through my eye lashes. He closed the door of his office and caught me looking at me. I blushed and looked away. I heard him cough and he walked away.

This time, I did start working and continued so, until it was lunch-time. I left my desk and made my way over to the lunchroom. As I walked in, I quickly looked around, but didn't see Edward yet. I sat down and wondered why the first thought I had when I entered the room, was to see if Edward was there. I mentally scolded myself and started eating my lunch.

After a few minutes, more people walked in. Someone moved the chair next to me. I didn't look up, but my heart started beating faster, so I had a suspicion as to who it was. "Hello, Ms Swan," a voice said and my suspicion was proved to be true. I knew it was rude to keep staring at my food, so I looked up with a calm look on my face. I smiled at Edward and nodded.

Madison walked in and sat down on the other chair next to me. She eyed Edward questioningly when he was looking away. I shrugged.

"So, Bella, did anything happen to you? I haven't spoken to you that much this week," Madison said. I agreed and smiled at her. The moment I opened my mouth to tell about her Jacob, my eyes went to Edward, who was facing the other way, but something in his manner told me he was listening to us. I sighed and decided to not be bothered by him and just tell Madison.

"Actually, something did happen. I went to the shop to do some groceries, but I couldn't reach something on the top shelf. I tried to reach it, but I ended up knee-deep in boxes' she laughed as I said this, but I gave her a look and continued, 'well, thankfully, there was this man who helped me. He was very nice and we exchanged numbers. Yesterday he called me and asked me out on a date." I noticed that Edward was looking a bit tense and he was looking at the wall in front of us very concentrated. "He will pick me up on Friday evening and we will go to the movies," I finished. Madison smiled widely and congratulated me. I saw her looking at Edward with an amused look. There was a twinkle in her eyes and I knew that meant she was up to no good.

"That's really great. I'm happy for you. Aren't you, Edward?" she asked, innocently. I saw him looking at us, looking surprised and… caught?

"Erm… Yes, yes, of course I am," he stuttered, looking very awkward. I felt quite bad for him and gave Madison a look. She still had an amused look in her eyes, but I knew she would stop.

After lunch, Madison left while I packed up my leftovers from lunch. I finished and was about to leave the room, when I saw Edward standing near the door. He was looking at me with a frown upon his face. I walked towards him, slightly confused. Was he about to tell me that he had decided I wasn't good for the job after all? With a shock I realized that, although I liked teasing him, he might not have enjoyed it so much and perhaps it had made him realize that I wasn't the right person to be his assistant.

While scolding myself for being so familiar with him all the time even though he was boss, I looked at him, wondering what he was going to say.

"Look, Ms Swan, about what just happened," he started. I felt how my heart sped up and my palms got clammy. By now, I was convinced he was going to fire me.

"I'm just a bit worried that my reaction may not have been completely appropriate," he said, looking at with a worried look in his eyes. For a short second, my mind went blank with relief. He wasn't going to fire me. He was just worried that telling me that he was happy that I was going on a date, may not have been an appropriate comment for a boss to make.

"Don't worry about it, Mr Cullen," I told him, smiling reassuringly. He sighed, also relieved. He nodded and left the room.

As I was walking back to my desk, I tried to calm myself down. He didn't fire me after all, but this had made me realize that perhaps my behaviour towards him wasn't appropriate. Perhaps I should tone it down a little. I sighed.

I saw the door to his office close. I sat down behind my desk and saw Emma looking at the door of his office with a slightly confused look upon her face.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Nothing's wrong. I just noticed that Mr Cullen looked different than normal. He seemed relieved and in a good mood. Do you know what that is about?" she asked.

I was wondering whether to tell her or not, but decided it was for the best not tell anyone about it. At least, no one who worked here. I didn't want to risk losing my job, especially not after what had just happened.

"No, no idea," I said innocently. She shrugged and got back to work.