9
I got into his car and watched him put on his belt and start the engine. He smiled widely and we left the parking spot.
"I've made reservations at this wonderful French restaurant, and afterwards we will go and see a movie," he told me.
"I'm really looking forward to it. If I'm completely honest, this is the first real date I've been on in quite a long time," I said, chuckling and blushing slightly.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine," he said, winking.
We arrived at the restaurant and we got out of the car. The restaurant seemed very nice and as we entered, I noticed there were a lot of people inside, creating a nice atmosphere, with a buzzing sound of everyone talking.
The waitress led us to a table at the window and gave us a menu, after which she walked away. I picked the menu up and quickly looked around the restaurant.
We were alongside a large window, which looked out onto a long street, lit by street lanterns. A few people walked by, talking to each other or on the phone. The interior of the restaurant was very cozy, with a dark wooden floor and wooden beams on the white ceiling. A few paintings of France were hung on the walls.
I took a look at my menu and decided what I wanted to order. Jacob seemed engrossed in his menu and I decided to wait a few moments before starting a conversation, at least until he had made his decision.
It, fortunately, didn't take him very long and soon we had ordered our food and drinks.
"So, Bella, we don't really know each other yet," he said, smiling. I laughed softly, remembering how we had met.
"No, not really. Although you do know that I'm a clumsy person," I chuckled.
"Yes, that's true. I'm glad you are, though. Otherwise we would never have met," he said, grinning. I nodded and fought the urge to roll my eyes; it sounded a bit cheesy, but it was unfair of me to think that.
"Yes, I'm glad we did." I told him, "So, Jacob, what do you do for a living?"
"I'm a sport instructor at the gym," he told me.
"Well, to be honest, I'm not really surprised."
"Yes, it seems quite an obvious job, doesn't it? But what do you do?"
"I work at Cullen Inc, I'm Edward Cullen's assistant," I told him. He seemed to think for a while and then he looked back at me.
"Yes, I believe I've heard of him. My sister thinks he's great," he said.
"Oh, you have a sister? That's great. I'm only child."
"She's very nice, although we used to fight a lot when we were children. I think together we drove our parents mad," he said, chuckling.
"I can imagine," I told him, laughing along.
"I've heard her talk about this Edward, she is always telling us how handsome she thinks he is," he said, clearly wondering if I thought that too. I didn't want to lie, but the date had been going great so far and it would be stupid to tell him I also thought that Edward was very handsome.
"I can see what she means, but once he is your boss, you just don't look at him like that anymore," I told, feeling guilty already for lying, but I knew that if I wanted this date to work, it had been the best choice.
"I understand," he said, clearly relieved. I could understand why he would feel threatened by the fact I was working with one of the most eligible bachelors of London five days a week. And to be honest, perhaps he had good reason to worry. I had felt attracted to Edward… but he was my boss and if, for some strange reason, he would like me, it still could never happen.
"Have you lived in London for all of your life?" he asked me.
"Yes, I have. When my parents got divorced, my father moved to Bristol, but I stayed with my mother. I used to visit my father almost every holiday, so we have as good a relationship as one could wish in this situation."
"That's great. My mother… she died when I was very young and I lived with my father in a small village when I grew up, but moved to London when I went to college."
"I'm so sorry about your mother," I said softly. He shrugged and smiled.
"So, at your apartment, I saw these pictures of your best friends," he said.
"Yes, Alice and Rosalie. I met them both at university and we became friends immediately. Rosalie will get married this summer and I will be made of honour," I said, grinning. Jacob nodded, but I saw he wasn't extremely interested. Not that I had expected him to be; what would he care about my friends? Secretly, I knew I was thinking that just to protect him and to keep up the image I had of him in my head.
"Congratulate her for me," he said politely. I promised I would.
We spent the dinner conversing about our lives and eventually went to the cinema.
"I've already checked, there is a romantic comedy, an action and a drama. What would you prefer?"
"Well, I suppose you would like the action?"
"Normally I would, but not on a date," he said, winking. I grinned and nodded.
"All right, then I suppose the romantic comedy. It would be awkward if I would start crying while watching the drama." He laughed and agreed. We both walked into the building and he bought two tickets to romantic comedy.
We sat down on the seats in the middle of the room and were silent for a few moments. The movie wouldn't start for a few minutes.
"I really enjoyed dinner," Jacob suddenly said.
"Yes, I did too," I told him honestly. I wasn't sure what to think of him yet, but I had to admit this had been a great date so far. I hadn't felt a connection with him, but that would come eventually. Probably when we would go on another date. The lights dimmed and the movie started, so we stopped our conversation.
Halfway the movie, I felt him grab my hand. My initial urge was to pull my hand back, but I stopped that urge in time. I wasn't sure if I wanted to hold hands for another hour, but it would be rude to pull my hand back.
We finished watching the movie, me feeling a bit awkward. We left the cinema and went to the car.
When we arrived at my home, he walked with me to my door.
"I had a great time," I told him, smiling.
"Yeah, me too, shall we do this again some time?"
"Yes, I would love to. You have my number, right?"
"I do. Good night, Bella," he said, starting to lean forward slightly. I wasn't sure if he was planning on kissing me on my cheek or on my mouth, but just to be sure, I moved my head sideways.
He seemed a bit startled, but quickly kissed me on my cheek and left. I sighed and went inside.
I wasn't ready to be kissed on the mouth yet at all; I had only been on one date. Perhaps I was a bit too conventional.
I went to bed quickly, feeling exhausted after a long day.
The next morning I woke up and my first thought was that I would see Edward in two hours and if I would act any different now that I had had a date. I supposed not, I still couldn't deny the attraction I felt towards him. But now I also felt attracted to Jacob, which only made matters worse. Well, perhaps not entirely. Edward wasn't an option, so I should be fair to Jacob and give him a real chance and try to forget about Edward. It was as simple as that, yet I didn't seem satisfied with that solution.
I sighed and threw my hand over my eyes, feeling desperate.
What was it about Edward that made me like him? He wasn't funny or sweet, quite often in a bad mood and not very open. Yet I still seemed to feel something for him. I knew it was horrible, because he was my boss. But I had tried to get rid of the feeling and it hadn't worked.
At work, I waited patiently for Edward to arrive, somehow worried he might notice that I had realized my attraction towards him. He walked in, looking as he did always. He looked at me and he looked like he regretted or was sorry about something. I was about to ask him, but he quickly walked to his office.
Emma arrived too, a few minutes after Edward, and she sat down with a big smile.
"Tell me everything about last night," she said. Edward came back out of his office and I suddenly realized that it might be a perfect opportunity to see if he would get jealous if I would talk about my date. If he did, then perhaps he might like me too. Not that that would be such a good thing, the fact that he was boss hadn't changed since last night.
I didn't look at Edward as he came out of his office, pretending I hadn't noticed him.
"It was perfect! He took me to a great restaurant where we ate delicious food and afterwards we went to see a romantic movie. Halfway he suddenly grabbed my hand," I said, making it sound as if I thought it was incredibly cute. I fought the urge to look at Edward, but from my peripheral vision I saw him walk away briskly.
During lunch he was looking at me with a frown upon his face, probably assuming I didn't notice. I wasn't completely sure, but suspected that he was jealous. I wasn't sure how to deal with it, because I hadn't expected him to actually become jealous. Perhaps he wasn't, but I thought I was a good enough judge of people to realize he was.
As he walked by my desk later the day, I decided to have a conversation with him, see where it would lead.
"Hello, Mr Cullen," I said, suddenly wanting that I could call him Edward.
"Hello," he said, a bit startled. I always had the feeling that whenever I talked to him, he really didn't want to talk to me. It was bit discouraging, but I tried to ignore that feeling.
"Is everything going all right with the company?" I said, not sure what to talk to him about.
"Yes, although the financial crisis is getting to us too, unfortunately. But we're still coping," he said, not really convincingly. Were they really in financial trouble?
"Is there anything to worry about?" I asked. He smiled in a way that said 'you don't have to worry anything', which was a bit insulting.
"No, everything will be fine." I nodded curtly.
"Good," I said, disappointed that I didn't have anything more to ask him. He turned to his office, but hesitated and then turned back to me. His hand went through his hair as he was thinking about something. He looked at me and bit on his lip.
"Ms Swan, there is something I need to ask you," he said, still not sounding very sure. I nodded.
"Next week there is a business party and I will have to go to it, but I was wondering if you would like to go too. It would be a nice opportunity to meet people from the business world, to get some connections, you know. I thought that if we went together, I could introduce you to them all," he said. I doubted for a few moments. "Of course, this is in no way a date," he quickly added, sounding slightly nervous. Was that true? I wondered.
"All right," I said, smiling broadly, "it seems a great opportunity. Thank you for inviting me, I really appreciate it." I gave him a sweet smile. He coughed and was about to go this office.
"Oh, Edward," I called, wanting to ask him something. The moment I realized I had said Edward, I gasped and mentally slapped myself.
"I'm so sorry, Mr Cullen, it was completely inappropriate of me to say that," I quickly said, hoping he wouldn't mind. He smiled and said it was no problem. He was grinning – something I hadn't seen him doing very often; actually I hadn't seen it even once – and it seemed he actually liked that I had called him Edward.
"I wanted to ask you if the party is formal or casual."
"I think it's formal, Bella," he said, chuckling. I blushed and watched him walk away. I groaned and put my head in my hands. I looked up as I heard Emma laughing loudly.
"Well done, Bella. 'Oh, Edward!'," she imitated me. I blushed even more and looked down. It had been great to hear him call me Bella, though. Perhaps we should make it a habit to call each other by our first names. No, of course not. I was his assistant and that would be way to familiar.
That afternoon, I called Alice.
"Today, Edward asked me to join him to a business party."
"Really? Wow. You said yes, right?"
"Yes, I did, though I'm not sure if that was a good decision."
"Why not? It would be great to spend a night with him when you're both out of your comfort zone. Who knows what would happen."
"That's exactly what I'm afraid of. I'm still his assistant. If we would get into a relationship, or even just admit our feelings towards each other – though I doubt he has any serious feelings towards me – I might get fired. Or worse, we might both get fired," I said.
"That's true. Well, you could always just have fun at the party without getting into all that trouble. There will be all sorts of handsome, business men there. Is it formal?"
"Yes, but I think I'll just wear the same dress as I wore to the date with Jacob," I said.
"No, you have to buy another dress, but more about that later. First, I want to know why the first thing you told me when I picked up the phone, was that Edward asked you to that party, instead of you telling me about the date with Jacob," she said. I could hear the smile in her voice.
"All right, I'll admit it. Jacob is absolutely great, but somehow I do feel more attracted to Edward, which really makes no sense. In theory Jacob would be much better as a boyfriend," I said miserably. It all made no sense. Why did I have to like the guy whom I wasn't able to get?
"Yes, in theory, but that's not always how it works out in real life. But it'll all be fine. Just see how things go during that party with Edward. And you do have to buy a new dress, I'll help you find one."
"All right, fine. But no longer than three hours at the mall. Oh, and what should I do if Jacob calls and asks me on another date?"
"Say yes! You don't know how things will work out with Edward. He has worked so hard for this job that – sorry for saying this – I think he will pick the job over you. So if you break contact with Jacob now and find out that Edward won't go out with you, you're left with nothing."
"Yes, you're right. Thank you, Alice. I suppose I'll see you this weekend when we'll go shopping," I said, sighing. She laughed and said goodbye.
I put the phone down and fell down on the couch. Why did it have to get so difficult. A few months ago I had no man in my life, and I now I suddenly had two. Although, only if Edward felt something for me, about which I wasn't even sure yet.
I decided to stop thinking about all this for a few moments. Tomorrow would be Saturday, so no Edward and probably no Jacob. I would just get some rest and let my thoughts calm down. I smiled and went to bed.