Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: A day early again because I'm going to be offline for most of the day tomorrow. This chapter isn't as... exciting... as the last, but hopefully you still find it enjoyable! A little short, but necessary. Thanks for reading!

I smiled at him as the elevator doors closed. When I could no longer see him my smile dropped and I blew out a breath that I didn't know I had been holding. I felt empty immediately. I tried to tell my self that the reaction was absurd given that I didn't even know the man. And yet... There had been something between us. I knew that Angela would help me sort it all out.

"Oh, shit! Angela!" I said out loud to the empty elevator. "God, I'm such a bad friend."

I was now terribly late for our date. I grabbed my cell and punched in her number as fast as I could. I explained to her that the conference ran a little long and about how I got stuck in the hotel elevator. I didn't give her all the details. Those would have to wait until I could speak with her in person. She didn't seem too upset, for which I was grateful. She actually seemed too excited by whatever news she has to tell me.

The Pike Pub and Brewery was only a couple of blocks from the hotel. I decided to walk to give myself the chance to clear my head. I knew that Angela had something important to tell me, and I wanted to give her my undivided attention.

I walked into the pub about ten minutes later. It was packed, even for a Friday night, and it took me a few minutes and a couple of texts to find Angela.

"What's up, girl! Sounds like it was some kind of night for you!" she said as she greeted me with a hug.

"You have no idea! But we'll get to that later. What's going on with you? On the phone it seemed like you were about to burst."

Before we could get any farther into the conversation a server came to take our order. We decided to split a plate of their nachos and order a couple of glasses of their home brew.

After the waitress left, I got back down to business with Angela. "So... What's the scoop?"

"Ben asked me to marry him!" Angela all but squealed.

"Oh my God. Angela? That's so awesome!" I stood out of my seat to give her a hug. "Congratulations! Was it a surprise? How'd he do it? Where's the ring?"

She was absolutely glowing as she laughed at my rapid fire questions. Ben and Angela were the epitome of high school sweethearts. You just knew that they'd grow up together, get married, buy a house with a white picket fence, have 2.5 kids and a dog. They were perfect together.

"Simmer down, Swan," she answered practically pushing me down to my seat. "It was a complete surprise! We were actually stuck in traffic. He had made us reservations at Canlis, but there was an overturned truck on the freeway. All lanes were closed and we were completely stuck. We missed our reservations and poor Ben was getting so angry. I guess he had been planning this for a while, and it completely backfired."

"Oh no. Poor Ben!" Ben was nothing if not fastidious. Even I knew that something like this would be really upsetting to him.

"I know, right? So, he's finally fed up. He just, like, snaps! Out of no where he says, 'Fuck it' and gets out of the car. He climbs up on the roof of the car..."

"Oh my God! Are you serious?"

"Completely. I'm thinking he's lost it and is going to go all Falling Down on everybody. So I get out of the car and ask him what the hell he thinks he's doing. You know? Well then he says some stuff about the night being ruined but he doesn't care, he can't wait any longer. I have absolutely no idea what's going on still. Then, on the roof of the car, in front of everyone who is stuck in this traffic jam with us, he gets down on one knee pulling the ring out of his pocket and asks me to be his wife - 'because he wouldn't want to be stuck on a highway with anyone else.'"

"Oh, Angie! That is so romantic," I gushed.

"God, I know. I was bawling at this point. I was stunned. And it wasn't until other motorist started honking that I accepted. I screamed it actually because the honking was so damn loud. And then I climbed on top of the car with him!"

"Oh my god. That sounds just like a movie. You are so lucky! Both of you!" I stand to give her another hug. "Congratulations, Angie!"

"Thanks!" She said as I took my seat again. "I still can't believe it! Oh, and the ring is at the jewelers being sized. We never went ring shopping or anything together before, so he wasn't sure what size I wear."

"That's so wonderful." I was truly happy for my friend. Angela deserved to find happiness after everything she went through as a child. "Well, I can't wait to see it when you pick it up. And if you need help with planning or anything, you know I'll be there for you!"

"Well, there is one thing..." She looked up at me, grinning like a loon - a beautiful and happy loon. "Will you be my Maid of Honour?"

"Of course! You know I will. Proudly!" I can't say I was surprised. Angela and I had been best friends in high school. She even lived with me for a few months.

We talked a bit more about wedding details over our nachos and beer until Angela asked me about what had happened at the conference. I told her everything about Edward, including all the sordid details of our elevator tryst.

After I was finished, she smacked my arm and said, "Bella! That is so not like you! He must be one hell of a piece of man to make you act that way!"

"You have no idea." I couldn't deny it. There was something about that guy that made me do stupid things.

Angela was practically bouncing in her seat rubbing her hands together. "So when are you going to call him."

"I'm not," I answered her as I shook my head.

"What do you mean?" she questioned. "It sounds like you two really hit it off. And regardless of what transpired, it sounds like he wants more than just sex with you."

"It would never work Angela. He lives in Chicago! How would we even date? Maybe if we already knew each other. But long distance relationships are difficult enough as it is for couples who've been together for a while. I've only known him for a few hours. And even then, we weren't exactly sharing out life stories." I explained my reasons to her because I knew she would understand.

She put her hand over mine."Well, I trust you to make the decision that's best for you, Bella. But hey, at least you got a bit of fun out of it!"

I smiled and rolled my eyes at her. "I don't know about that. I mean, it was fun, but I'm feeling a tad frustrated now."

"You could always take him up on his offer to spend the night with him. I'm sure he wouldn't mind," she said waggling her eyebrows.

"I honestly considered it Ange," I said shaking my head to myself, letting out a sigh. "But I'm strangely drawn to this guy and I know that it would just be that much harder to leave in the morning, to actually have to say goodbye to him. I just need a clean break now before I'm too involved."

She nodded her head. "I totally understand, Bells. And it won't do any good to dwell on it. The decision is made."

"Exactly! You're such a good friend. You always know what to say. But hey, it's getting late and I should head home." We stood, put on our coats and collected our phones and purses, and walked to the front of the restaurant. Once we were outside, I turned to hug her again. "Congrats again and tell Ben that I say hello."

"Will do. Call me this weekend if you need to talk, okay?" She pulled back and looked at me squarely in the eye. So much between us didn't need to be said. We just understood each other.

"You bet!" I answered her.

I waved to her as she pulled out of the parking lot.

I had called for a cab and was heading home within ten minutes. When I reached into my coat pocket for the cash to pay the cabbie, I felt Edward's business card there. I entertained the idea of asking the cabbie to turn around and drive me to the Fairmont, but before I could get the words out he barked at me.

"We're here lady. $5.45."

I pulled the money out of my pocket, leaving the business card, and handed him seven dollars as I exited the cab. I headed into my apartment feeling lonely. It was dark and cold and didn't have the comfortable warmth of the hotel. But it was exactly how it should have been. Running to Edward would have proven to be nothing but heartache in the long run. I was never one to give in to instant gratification, ignoring the consequences, and I wasn't about to start.

I pushed all thoughts of Edward aside and went back to my predictable life. It went on like that for months. It was what I wanted. It was fine. It was normal. It was... boring. I tried not to think about that night, the intensity in his eyes, and most of the time I succeeded. I only allowed myself to drift back when I felt the need for a certain release.

It wasn't until one particular staff meeting three month after that fateful evening that I again let myself consider contacting Edward.

"We've got great news to share," Tyler, the owner of the firm began. "Our second location that we opened in San Francisco last year has been a complete success. So with those numbers, we've been granted a loan that will enable us to open 3 other locations. Crowley Publishing is going to be nation wide." There was a light applause from the employees. "Now, what we need is three Team Leaders to head these new offices. The three locations will be Phoenix, New York, and Chicago."

Before I even had time to process what I was doing, I announced that I'd like to head one of the new offices. A few others followed suite.

"That's fantastic that you are all interested, but we've already selected the employees we feel would be best suited for these positions. Those three are Leah, Sam, and Isabella." I felt a rush of excitement surge though me because I was hand picked by Tyler and the other higher-ups. This meant that all of my hard work was paying off. I gave myself a mental high five and pat on the back while Tyler continued, "If any of you are not interested please let me know now. But just so you are aware, you will receive a bonus for assuming the Team Leader role."

"Would this be indefinite?" Sam asked. "Could we come back to Seattle say after a year, or sooner, if the office is successful?"

"Absolutely." Tyler explained further, "We don't want to force you out of Seattle, but there would be a temporary move involved." He looked to Leah and I. "So if you three don't have any issues...?" The three of us each nodded. "Great! The rest of you are dismissed."

Tyler waited until the rest of the staff had left the conference room and had gone back to work before giving us more details on the new positions. "Leah we were thinking you for New York since you have family there. Isabella in Phoenix. You're originally from Arizona. And Sam in Chicago because you were there for college." He looked up from his paper. "Any thoughts?"

Leah and Sam seemed fine with the arrangement. What could I have said? Hey Sam you wanna trade with me because I know this guy in Chicago. Well I don't really know him, but we almost had a one night stand and I'd really, really like to see him again because I just can't get his bump'n'grind out of my head? Yeah I don't think so.

I wanted to say something, but I couldn't find a logical reason to request Chicago. The pairings that Tyler suggested had made perfect sense.

"Okay then. I'm glad that you three are on board. We are hoping to have these offices up and running within the next couple of months. We have two of the locations already secured, New York and Chicago. So, Isabella, you might be sticking around a little longer than Leah and Sam."

The four of us were in that conference room for another hour discussing all the plans and how-to's for starting a new office. We were all going to have to attend training meetings until our offices opened in the coming months. Even though I was disappointed I wasn't heading to Chicago, I was really excited for the promotion.

But the thought seemed to create a resurgence of the feelings that I had experienced after I first met Edward. And it was harder this time to push the possibilities out of my mind. I had tried to throw that business card away but just couldn't bring myself to do it. But I still didn't want to be tempted, so I had thrown it into my 'to shred' pile of documents. I could tell myself that I was going to get rid of the card. But it always stayed at the bottom of the bin.

By the time my work day had ended that day, I was so frustrated with all the thoughts that I could not get out of my head. As soon as I got home that evening, I went to the bin and turned it upside down, spilling the contents all over the floor. I dug around for a minute, grabbed his card and stuck it to my fridge with the little bass fish magnet Charlie had given me when I first moved into the apartment.

I picked up the phone and dialed the numbers I knew by heart.

I held my breath until I heard the voice I knew could calm me down. "Hello?"

"Are you busy?" I asked.

"For you? Never too busy." I smiled at the reply. "What do you need?"

"I need help, Angela!" I answered with a sigh as I poured myself a glass of wine. "I thought I was in control. I thought that I had moved on, but now it feels as fresh as that night."

"What happened?" I could tell she was genuinely concerned. The only other time I called her like this was after I knew that Edward's flight had left. I was worried that I had made the wrong choice.

I explained to her about how Crowley Publishing was opening new offices. "There was an opportunity to move to Chicago. But they are putting me in Phoenix instead. I should have said something. I should have requested Chicago, but I didn't and now it's too late."

"Bella, just talk to Tyler. Say you have an old friend there that you'd like to visit." She always made it seem so simple.

"You know how bad of a liar I am Angela." But I knew it was more than that. "It wouldn't be right anyway. I'd be doing it for selfish reasons, and not for the company. The pairings Tyler suggested make the most sense."

"Bella, you're over thinking this. Just let what happens happen. Unless," she offered another alternative, "you want to call him?"

"No. No." I shook my head even thought I knew she couldn't see me. "I can't. I mean, that would be weird, right? Hey remember me? Yeah, I'm the floozy from Seattle that you got freaky with in the stuck elevator. Yeah, well, I'm practically obsessed with you. Wanna go out for a drink?"

I could practically hear her rolling her eyes. "You're exaggerating."

"I know, but still." I knew that I was being a little ridiculous, but I couldn't help it. I didn't want him to think of me that way. "Do you know how that would make me look?"

"Then you have to let it be," she said.

"I know." She was right. "You're right. Thanks, Ange."

We talked about her wedding plans for another half hour before she had to get off the line. I walked to the window with my second glass of wine and just stared out into the dreariness that was Washington weather that I had grown to love. I tried to figure out what it was about this man that had so consumed me, but I knew from past experience that that line of thinking would get me no where. I had to just let it go. I had to let him go. He was never mine to begin with.