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Chapter 2 One Headache after Another

EPOV

It was almost 12:30 AM when I eased my Vanquish into the parking spot between my Volvo and Ducati in the garage at my downtown office. I leaned back and sighed; truly, I shouldn't have bothered going out tonight. A late night in the office would have been more fruitful, and honestly… sadly, more fun.

It had not been the greatest of evenings. The drama that was my current relationship had been coming to a head for some time. The fact that it blew up tonight right in front of every paparazzo in the city was just the icing on the cake.

Tanya was an amazing woman. Just ask her, she'd tell you. She'd gone to the right finishing school and the right college. She'd gotten the right degree and worked tirelessly on behalf of the right causes. She was an 'It' girl. All the women wanted to be her, the men just wanted her. She'd been on my arm for almost 11 months. That was practically married in the circles we traveled. Both of us got a social boost from being seen with the other. What we didn't get was any kind of satisfaction from the relationship.

I had thought I wanted her. She liked the notoriety of bagging #1 on Chicago's "Most Eligible Bachelors" list. The arrangement had worked well at first, but now it just… didn't. Tonight was just the final example. I attended this benefit at Tanya's request when I should have been working. Things were busy right now. Things were always busy, but the current economic climate meant a hiring freeze. As we lost people through attrition they weren't being replaced and that meant more work for everyone, even the CEO.

I worked later than I should, took a quick shower, dressed and met Tanya downtown. She was angry because I was late. Being seen was part of the allure for Tanya and my tardiness meant she had to make her grand entrance alone. The cold shoulder made the evening even more unpleasant and she made it completely clear that there was no reason for us to leave together. Damned high society women; they all felt like they were owed something.

The bastard from Star Magazine had the balls to call out to me, "Another one bites the dust, eh, Cullen?" when I walked out. I would've punched the little prick, except he was right.

I thought all of this as I waited for the elevator to take me up to my office. I could probably get another few hours of work done before taking a nap on the couch in my office. My senior secretary, Mrs. Cope, would wake me when she got in at 7. Plenty of time to shower, change and eat before my 9 AM meeting.

The elevator binged softly and I stepped in. Inserting the key that would take me to the 40th floor I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes. I'd call Tanya's publicist tomorrow and have her work on spin control. She wouldn't be surprised to hear from me. My mind was made up; with everything going on right now it would be better if we no longer saw each other. Neither of us had ever made any kind of declaration – our pairing was really for prestige and convenience. She'd find someone else to escort her all over town and I'd take a well-deserved break.

Besides, she was a lousy lay.

I was surprised to find the double doors that led to my office unlocked when I walked through Mrs. Cope's office. I know I had locked them when I left earlier in the evening. The cleaning crew must have forgotten to lock up when they finished. I'd leave Mrs. Cope a note on her desk and have her call the cleaning company in the morning. A quick glance around my office told me I was probably right. The freshly fluffed pillows on the couches and scent of furniture polish let me know that the crew had already been through here tonight.

I loosened my tie and headed to the bathroom on my left. I pushed open the door and froze in my tracks. Standing in my shower covered in bubbles and nothing else was a young woman. In the time it took me to inhale I noticed her long brown hair and intriguing curves. Nice, wait… what? Snap out of it, Cullen. The soap she was rinsing from her hair covered her more thoroughly than most bikinis would but that didn't stop the manners my mother had drilled into me from kicking in belatedly.

My head snapped to the side as I raised my hand in front of me to further obscure the view. I couldn't stop the exclamation that had been building from popping from my mouth,

"What in the name of…!"

I counted five of my own shocked heartbeats before I heard her scream. The sound surprised me so much I glanced back at her before turning away once more.

"There's a robe in the closet, make use of it," I said curtly.

With that, I spun on my heel and walked back into my office; so much for getting any more work done tonight. I walked over to the bar and poured myself a small Scotch. Moving to the couch I sat down and took a sip.

This was… unexpected. I hadn't recognized the girl in my shower, but the fact she was with the cleaning company was apparent. I had noticed the supply cart off to one side of the bathroom when I turned to leave her to finish her shower. The water was still running. She was no doubt rinsing the rest of the shampoo from her hair. What the hell was I going to do now? Her behavior was completely unacceptable. She didn't work directly for me, so I couldn't fire her. I'd just tell Mrs. Cope to have maintenance cancel our cleaning contract first thing in the morning. I pinched the bridge of my nose feeling the start of a headache. I heard the door to my bathroom open.

"M-Mr. Cullen?"

The girl had emerged from my bathroom wearing my robe with a towel draped over her hair and her clothes wadded up in her hands. Her appearance was comical. The robe was too long for her and just touched the floor. The towel over her hair cast a shadow across her face so I couldn't see her eyes. It looked like she was wearing a wimple.

"You seem to have the advantage of me, Miss..."

"Swan, Isabella Swan." She tilted her head up and looked me in the face as she spoke. I couldn't help but notice her deep brown eyes and the way my blue robe set off the pale skin of her neck.

"Well Miss Swan, I suppose you have an explanation for your actions?"

"Not really, sir."

That was surprising. Usually people felt the need to cover their tracks or make excuses. I could give her points for honesty.

"Dry off and get dressed. And finish cleaning my shower, if you don't mind." She had dropped her head back to the floor. At my words she looked up with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. I needed to head that off.

"Miss Swan, I expect a certain level of service from the people around me. Without a doubt, your indiscretion tonight is the worst example of professional behavior to which I've ever been subjected. Your company's contract with Cullen Enterprises will be terminated effective tomorrow. I suggest you finish what you came here to do tonight and start looking for new employment in the morning."

Her eyes had grown wider and wider as I spoke. I was becoming distracted by their depth. As I spoke I watched the hope her eyes had held earlier die. Her already pale skin seemed to lose the trace of color it had originally held. Silently she turned back to the bathroom. When the door closed behind her I leaned back on my couch once more. A quick glance at the clock showed that our exchange had taken less time than I expected. Not even 1:30 AM. Perhaps I could take a quick look over the Stinson file before going to sleep.

I was about to go to my desk when my cell phone buzzed. Emmett. What the hell was he doing up at this hour?

I flipped open my phone, "Emmett."

"Hey bro! Thought I'd be able to catch you. How'd your night go?" I could swear I heard him stifling a chuckle.

"Emmett, what could you have possibly heard about tonight, already?" I asked incredulously.

"Magic of the internet, baby," he answered. "Rosie has your name on alert and when TMZ posted about you I got the email. Says here you broke up with Tanya tonight. I never did like that bitch."

"Emmett, don't you think you should verify your information before you slander my ex-girlfriend."

"So she is your ex-girlfriend. Good. That'll make Rose happy, too. Care to share the gory details?"

"Not particularly."

"Fine," he said, "I'll just Google you tomorrow." Immediately switching gears he said, "So if you're not with Tanya anymore who are you taking to Mom's little shindig next weekend?"

Damn. I had completely forgotten about my mother's annual charity ball and auction. Mom did a great deal of fundraising for the hospital my father ran. The annual charity ball and auction was one of the biggest events of the season.

"I'll go stag. It's no big deal. The plate is already paid for, whether someone eats the food or not is moot."

"You'll throw off Mom's seating chart. You know how she feels about an odd number of people at the table."

"I'm sitting with you, Rose, Mom and Dad and Jasper and Charlotte. It's unlikely that I'll be left out of the conversation."

"Ask Monica. She was pretty cool."

"Emmett, Monica is married now."

"Oh. Kaitlin? Nicolette? C'mon, there's got to be someone who's not so pissed at you that they'll refuse the social event of the season."

"Emmett." My voice held a note of warning. He was aggravating me.

"Edward," he deadpanned, echoing my intonation.

I sighed. "What are you doing up, anyway?" I asked my brother in an effort to get the focus off of me and my love life.

"The baby was fussy and Rose brought him into the bed with us." I could hear the contentment and love in his voice when he talked about his wife and infant son.

"Sounds cozy. Did she kick you out?"

"Nah. I just get nervous when he's in there. I'm a sound sleeper and he's so tiny. I'm afraid I'll crush him. I came into my office to sleep. The computer was on and I noticed the unread email and couldn't resist calling."

"Try to resist next time."

"So you're already planning a next time? Who's the lucky girl?" And there we were, back to me.

"No more girls, Emmett. I'm done."

Emmett snorted. "I always did wonder about you, Eddie. So, who's the lucky guy?"

"Emmett." My voice held a warning that this conversation was over.

"Hey!" he called as I went to hang up, "how about an escort?"

"Excuse me?" Freakin' Emmett. "Are you suggesting that I bring a hooker to Mother's charity ball?"

"What? No!" he answered, bewildered. "I'm just saying that maybe a professional escort is the way to go. No strings, no expectations…"

"No class. Geez, Emmett, how fast do you think she'd turn and sell the story to the Inquirer?"

"Hm. Didn't think about that." I could hear Rose calling to Emmett in the background.

"Go back to your wife and son, Emmett. I'll see you here later."

"You're at the office? Fuck, Edward. Go the hell home."

"There's something I need to take care of here." Emmett said something under his breath that I was sure I probably didn't want to hear.

"Goodnight, Emmett. Give Rose and EJ my love."

"Will do. 'Night, bro."

I finished my Scotch as I closed my cell phone. I heard the wheels of the cleaning cart move through the bathroom. I figured Miss Swan was done cleaning. Sure enough the bathroom door opened and she emerged pushing the cart. She was dressed now in jeans and some sort of work smock. Her wet hair hung limply but the look on her face was determined.

"Mr. Cullen," she started, "My actions tonight were inexcusable and I understand your pique, however, my behavior would not be condoned by Nomad Cleaning. Though I'm in no position to make demands, I would prefer that I alone pay the consequences for my actions."

Spirited, was all I thought. Then what she said sunk in a bit – "Pique? Condoned?" Those weren't the words of a minimum wage cleaning woman.

"Miss Swan, you are correct of course, your actions were inexcusable. Can you tell me, perhaps, what possessed you to use my shower?"

She dropped her eyes again. Her skin flushed. "If you must know, it's been some time since I've had the opportunity to enjoy a thorough shower. I'm afraid the temptation was too much."

Again her words belied her humble position. What was a well-educated woman doing working as a nighttime cleaning lady?

Now that she stood in front of me meeting my gaze I took a moment to size her up. She was small – not even five and a half feet. Her wet, brown hair hung to her waist. She was trim and not bad looking, really.

I stood and sighed.

"Miss Swan, I'm not in the habit of just forgetting major transgressions."

"I understand, sir. I'm not asking you to forgive me; I'm just asking that you not hold my team responsible for my actions. I was placed in charge and I abused my authority."

She showed a great deal of mettle for someone in her current predicament. I could respect that.

"Miss Swan, you do not work directly for me so I cannot fire you, however, I do have the power to end the contract Cullen Enterprises has with your employer. Someone needs to pay for this."

"Again, Mr. Cullen, I understand. I'm just worried about my team." That worry was evident in her voice. "If you cancel your contract the people working with me tonight will lose their jobs as well as me. That's not fair. If I promise to quit my job will that be enough to appease you?"

"What guarantee do I have that you'll leave Nomad Cleaning if I let you leave here tonight?"

"Are you questioning my word?" She sounded angry.

"You've hardly proved yourself trustworthy so far." Frankly, this conversation was interesting me far more than it should be. She was spunky and the way she talked about the people who were working with her showed a level of responsibility I wouldn't expect from someone I had just caught acting so irresponsibly. I continued to watch the young woman in front of me as a calculating look entered her eyes.

She walked quickly to the phone on my desk and pressed the button for the speaker before dialing.

The phone rang twice before a woman picked up.

"Nomad Cleaning, Victoria speaking."

"Victoria, it's Bella." Her eyes bored into mine as she listened to her employer's voice on the line.

"Swan?! What the fuck are you doing calling from a customer's phone line? James will have your head for this."

"No need, Victoria. Tell James I quit."

"Quit? You can't quit. How the fuck are you going to pay the rent on that shithole you call an apartment without a job? Last I checked landlords didn't take pretty Ivy League diplomas as the rent."

Curiouser and curiouser. Ivy League educated.

"I'm hanging up now, Victoria. I'll bring the crew back and return your keys when I get there." With that she disconnected the line and stepped away from my desk. Her eyes hadn't left mine the entire time she was talking to Victoria.

"Mr. Cullen, I am no longer employed by Nomad Cleaning. There's no reason for you to terminate your contract with them since your problem was with me."

BPOV

Oh, my god… what have I done? Ultimately, it probably didn't matter that I'd chosen to quit my job. I really didn't care about Nomad Cleaning but the others on the crew were blameless in this and didn't deserve to lose their bread and butter because of me. James would have fired me anyway when Cullen Enterprises terminated their contract for cause.

I continued to look at Edward Cullen as he stared at me after I hung up the phone. His gaze was… disconcerting. He was studying me as if he could see something else besides the person who had wholly overstepped her boundaries.

As I prepared to once more try to convince him not to hold Nomad responsible for my transgression he spoke up.

"Miss Swan, I have a proposal for you."