Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

Bella Swan

"Fuck," I cursed loudly, making several heads turn in my direction. In my haste to get to work, I had been pushing myself through the endless mass of people and wound up dropping the coffee in my hand. Not good. I shook it off and resumed my half-sprint, pulling out my cellphone.

"Ms. Mallory's office, how may I help you?" Angela's friendly voice chirped from the other end.

"Ang, I need a coffee for the witch—I just dropped the one I got," I told her desperately.

"I'll get on that right away."

"Thanks, Ang. You're a life saver."

"No problemo, amigo," she replied happily and then hung up.

I let out a sigh of relief and threw my phone back into my purse. I quickly made my way to the office building in my insanely high pumps, which I would probably end up throwing at the wall the second I got home. I really didn't understand why I had to get dressed up like a fashionista just to go work for a gossip magazine. Okay, officially it was a woman's magazine, and one of the most popular at that, but still, in reality, it was nothing but a gossip rag with a smidgen of fashion mixed in. It's not like it moved the world much. But my boss, Lauren Mallory, still insisted that all of her employees look their best, especially her personal assistant, which of course, was me. So every morning I had to force myself to wear some kind of fashionable outfit, even if I wanted nothing more than to wear a simple t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

Today I even had to wear one of those professional-looking costumes because it was staff meeting time again and Lauren wanted a "professional atmosphere." She also insisted I have a coffee prepared to hand her the second she walks through the door and I prayed that Angela could get it before she arrived, otherwise I would be forced to sit through one of her bitch fits. Again.

I walked through the entrance and gave a quick nod of acknowledgement to the receptionist before I nearly jumped into the elevator as the doors were about to close.

"Forget the coffee again, Crane?" Laurent, one of my colleagues, asked me when he glanced down at me, obviously having seen my hand with no coffee in it.

"Just shut up," I sighed and blew an annoying strand of blond hair out of my face.

"You know she'll let out her bad mood on all of us at the meeting thanks to you, so you might wanna consider thinking of a good reason why we shouldn't kill you."

"Shut. Up," I repeated and got off the elevator when the bell dinged and the doors opened.

"Hey, I'm just trying to help," Laurent called after me.

I ignored him and quickly strut toward my desk right beside the door to Lauren's office. She wasn't there yet, of course, and I had to get things done for her. Being her assistant didn't have many pros, but since she travelled from time to time, I at least didn't have to work the days she was gone.

I dashed into the little kitchen to retrieve a plate and then rushed to Lauren's office, unlocked the door, and entered. I took out the magazines that she demand be on her coffee table every morning and laid them neatly there along with the plate on which I placed her daily blueberry muffin and croissant, which I'd also bought on the way here.

"Knock, knock," a voice called from the door.

I barely even had time to glance up as I rushed to make the office presentable enough for Lauren's taste. "Angela, I love you. I'm going to start calling you an angel from now on," I sang when I saw her standing in the doorway with the coffee in her hand.

"I'm just doing my job as secretary," she replied nonchalantly.

"Sometimes I think you're more like my assistant."

"No, I'm just a wonderful friend," she affirmed with a smile as she placed the coffee on the table.

I grinned back at her before I opened the curtains and the windows, turned on Lauren's computer, and place the mail that Angela had just handed me on her desk. "Did I forget anything?" I asked when I was done with all of that.

"The flowers," Angela informed me calmly.

"Oh shit, I'll be right back." I sprinted toward the elevator again and continuously pushed the button like a madwoman. When I was finally on the level where I wanted to be, I dashed through the rows of cubicles until I got to the one I needed. "Laurent, I need your flowers," I told the dark-skinned man whom I definitely hadn't been very nice to today.

"Oh, now that you want something from me you're being nice, huh?" he said sarcastically, not looking up from the book he was reading.

"I don't really want anything from you. It's just...all that's saving you from Lauren's wrath today is the vase that's always on your desk with tulips in it. You don't have to give them to me, but then you'll have to come up with a good excuse so the others and I won't kill you," I told him sweetly, throwing his earlier words back in his face. I had a knack for that.

Laurent looked—or rather glared—at me and then motioned his head toward the vase, allowing me to steal his flowers.

I let out a tiny squeal before I quickly pecked him on his cheek and grabbed the vase, running back to the elevator and flying up to Lauren's office.

"You've got one minute to get those flowers in there," Angela said as soon as I stepped out of the elevator. "She's already downstairs."

I rushed passed her, but glanced up for a brief second to see that she was staring down at her phone. I practically ran into Lauren's office and all but threw the vase on her desk. I only had time to hastily smooth down my black pencil skirt before I heard the ding of the elevator and the nasally voice we all hated.

"Izzie, newspaper," she barked the second she spotted me in her office. "And make it snappy." She snapped her fingers.

"Already got it," I answered, holding myself back from snapping at her and losing my job as I took the newspaper from my bag. I'd picked it up on the way to work, already knowing she'd demand it. I handed it over to her and she snatched it out of my hands and narrowed her fishy pale green eyes at me.

"Thank you, Izzie," she said as she moved herself around to the chair behind her desk. She looked up at me when I stood there. "You may go," she told me, making shooing gestures with her hands.

I nodded once, turned around, and let out the eye roll that had been trying to push it's way out since she arrived.

"Still alive?" Angela asked me with a smirk. She was perched casually on my desk.

"Barely," I replied with a sigh.

"Well, I guess I better get back to my desk before I'm the one who's no longer alive," she said and pointed at her desk on the other side of the room. As if on cue, the phone rang and Angela ran, as fast as she could in her high heels, to answer it. "Ms. Mallory's office," she sang as happily as always. The way she made her voice sound, it was like she thought it was a good thing to be here.

With another sigh, I started arranging Lauren's schedule for the next week before I would have to work through the stack of papers that stared at me.

I was in the middle of working, and had actually forgotten everything about my surroundings, when Lauren's awful voice spoke through the intercom.

"Izzie!" she snapped sharply. She said nothing more than that, but then again, she never did.

I reluctantly stood up and made my way to her office. "Yes, Lauren?" I asked as politely as I possibly could.

"I hope you are aware that we have a staff meeting today," she informed me in a clipped tone.

"Of course, Lauren."

"Well, I just wanted to make sure that you arrange my notes correctly. Mr. Volturi is going to be there."

Mr. Volturi was going to be there, too? Now that was something I hadn't known. Mr. Aro Volturi was an obnoxiously rich man who had nothing better to do than sponsor various things—for instance, this magazine.

"Is that all?" I asked her.

"No, I also want you to cancel all of my appointments after the meeting. I've got a date." She had a smug smile on her face.

"Just a moment, ma'am," I declared and went back to my desk to rearrange this weeks schedule on my computer. I quickly printed it off, tapping my foot impatiently on the ground as I waited for the printer, and then went back to Lauren's office. "Okay," I started when I got back in, "I will have to call Dr. Hudson to reschedule your appointment, and I will have to take over the video conference with Mrs. Jackson. Is that okay?" I inquired, already knowing what her answer would be.

"No. Tell Mrs. Jackson that I got an interview offer from somebody else," Lauren answered lazily.

I nodded in understanding. "Is there anything else you need, Lauren?"

"Actually, Izzie, there is." She looked thoughtfully at me. Her expression was so serious that I wondered what would be coming next. "Do you know what FBI stands for? Everybody knows what the FBI does, but somehow, no one seems to know the meaning," she said as if that was really a serious matter.

Did she not know what FBI meant? Okay, so maybe I shouldn't expect too much out of a naturally blond person that went to the hairdresser once a month to dye her hair blond.

A lock of my hair fell in my face. Huh, maybe I shouldn't be the one talking.

"Federal Bureau of Investigation," I answered her question.

She pursed her lips. "Shouldn't it be FBOI?" she wondered.

"Yeah," I said, trying to hard my sarcasm. "But I guess the world is just full of mysteries."

Lauren merely nodded absentmindedly before gesturing for me to leave again.

Apparently I wasn't going to get an explanation as to why she had just asked that.

"Oh, and Izzie?"

I turned around to see Lauren walked over to her closet. "Yes?"

She pulled out two short dresses that looked like they would hardly cover any skin at all. "Red or black?" she asked, looking at me expectantly.

The only difference I could see in the dresses was the color, and I honestly didn't care what one she wore.

"The black one," I answered as convincingly as I could to make it sound as if I actually did care.

Lauren looked at the two dresses and then nodded. "Good choice. You may go now."

I strode quickly out of her office before she could ask me what shoes she should wear with it.

I continued with my work, taking breaks every now and then.

"Izzie?" I heard Angela call.

"Yes?" I answered absentmindedly, too involved in my work.

"You might want to get Lauren, the meeting is about to start," she reminded me.

"Ah, fuck," I hissed, whirling up from my chair and practically bursting into Lauren's office. Why she was unable to looked at the time was a mystery to me, but I was too smart to tell her that she should keep an eye on the time. "Lauren, the meeting," I told her.

"Oh, is it already time? Well, get my notes and we will be on our way."

"Already got them here," I responded, holding up my notebook.

"Alright, then let's go." She picked up her purse and then waltzed out of her office with me trailing behind.

When the elevator doors opened, I saw a familiar person standing in it.

He quickly straightened up and put a smile on his face, running a hand through his brown hair. "Good morning, Ms. Mallory," he greeted hastily.

"Rick," she acknowledged with a nod.

"Um...my name is Ryan."

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Do I look like I care, Robin?"

"No, Ms. Mallory," he mumbled, his eyes turned downcast.

"Didn't think so, Ralph," she huffed in response.

I just watched the exchange silently and then sent an apologetic smile to Ryan.

The elevator doors opened and Lauren strut right out.

"Don't take it personally," I said to Ryan. "Eventually she'll treat you somewhat like a human being."

Ryan hadn't been with us long, so he was still desperately trying to get on Lauren's good side—which was pretty much impossible—while the rest of us had given up on that. The only reason she was nicer to me than the rest of the employees, was probably because we shared the blond hair.

"Izzie," Lauren called sharply and I hurried to catch up with her.

A few of the people that usually attended the meetings were already sitting in their respective seats at the conference table when Lauren and I walked into the room. They all rose to greet Lauren, as if we were still in elementary school, but she only whizzed passed them to take her seat at the head of the table.

Like always, I had to sit to her right and be ready to take notes of everything that she deemed important.

When everyone seemed to have settled down, a new group of people walked through the door.

"Ah, a wonderful morning to all of you," the tall, black-haired man leading the group greeted. The two men behind him said nothing as they followed like the good little minions they were.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

Aro Volturi, wearing an expensive suit as always, and his two lap dogs were always the last to arrive on the scene. The two men that followed him everywhere he went were one of his assistants—a guy that looked more like a bank man—and one of his countless bodyguards. The two of them were always with him, though they were not the only ones. Aro had so many bodyguards around him that even the President himself would be awed.

As always, Aro took a seat at the head of the table, opposite Lauren. Much like I was flanking her, his two companions were stuck to his sides.

"Well, there is no need to wait. Show me what I am paying so much money for," Aro instructed immediately.

Lauren sent him the smile she reserved specially for him. "Good morning, Aro," she said pleasantly. "I'm sure that you will be very pleased with the progress we've made. Izzie?"

As usual, my name sounded more like a command as it left her mouth. But instead of sighing like I wanted to, I stood up, smiled as brightly as possible, and quickly listed the updated stats concerning the magazine, which I had memorized.

Seeing Lauren's slightly surprised expression when I mentioned that our printing numbers had increased led me—like so often—to the conclusion that I knew more about her business than she did. I really had to wonder what exactly she was doing here.

"Thank you, Izzie," Lauren said politely when I ended my little speech and sat back down.

"Well, while that is all fine and dandy, I want all of my projects to boom. I only invest in interesting and trendy things. I sincerely hope that you have brilliant ideas, otherwise I might have to have a little chat with you, Ms. Mallory," Aro spoke slowly, thoughtfully.

Lauren's eyes widened slightly before her smile returned—only now, it looked icy. "I assure you, Mr. Volturi—" her sudden use of formality did not go unnoticed by me, "—that my employees have all worked extremely hard to come up with fabulous ideas." Her gaze swept through the group. "Am I right?"

The nods that followed her question didn't look very convincing. Lauren noticed this, too, and her gaze began to match her icy smile.

"Alright then. Charlotte, why don't you tell us what your department has been working on?"

Charlotte looked more than just a little startled at the mention of her name; she even jumped slightly in her seat. "Um... Yeah... Uh... I..." Charlotte stuttered as she went through the small stack of papers settled in front of her.

"Charlotte, we are waiting," Lauren sang sweetly.

Poor Charlotte just seemed to become even more nervous, and she somehow manoeuvred her papers on the floor.

"I...I... Just a sec." Charlotte disappeared hurriedly underneath the table.

While she was gathering her papers, Lauren's wicked smile grew and Aro began to whisper quietly to his assistant, who nodded and took notes. The rest of the workers all did their best to look impassive, all of them afraid to become the next victim if they dared to make a sound.

"Charlotte," Lauren sang again, "we're waiting."

Charlotte made a few noises and then reappeared, looking flustered. She pulled herself back into her seat, breathing heavily.

"Well, then, I guess we'll just listen to someone else. How about you, Laurent?"

Laurent's face looked almost as cheerful as Charlotte's had.

"Um..." I spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. "I think you really should wait for Charlotte to catch her breath, Ms. Mallory. The fitness department had this really great idea..." I let my voice trail off.

"We do?" Charlotte asked, surprised.

I gave her a meaningful glance.

"Oh, that idea," she said in realization as she caught on. "Um, yeah... The whole team came up with a new concept to motivate our readers to uh... Get fit...for the summer. Beach body and...yeah."

Lauren nodded slowly, still glaring at Charlotte. "And how, exactly, are you planning to do that?" she asked.

Charlotte looked a little baffled. "Err... Yes. We thought of something really motivating. Uh... Interactive workouts?"

"What the fuck is an interactive workout?" Lauren asked, making a face as if she'd smelled something disgusting.

Charlotte looked like she was asking herself that question, her face turning a little helpless.

I quickly scrambled in my mind for a good idea. "It's a pretty brilliant idea, really," I chirped in, having no clue where I was going with my words.

Charlotte looked at me as if she were about to drown, while Lauren gave me a skeptical glance. I realized that everyone else was also watching me with interest in where this improvised session was going.

"The concept is quite simple," I began to babble. "A lot of the woman who want to workout just don't have the right motivation because they have no one to keep them company. So the idea is that the entire fitness team will set up in different location. Like gyms or parks or whatever. We'll set up a Facebook page and a Twitter account, and they'll post their locations, and then the women who want to take part and are nearby can join them and workout together," I spoke quickly, making up the plan as I went.

"I like the idea, but how exactly do you get the women to show up?" Aro suddenly questioned.

Charlotte decided to use the moment to speak in coherent sentences again. "The first ten that arrive will get a full, one-year membership to a fitness centre of their choice. The first twenty get the new iPod Nano, and the first fifty will get a full sport equipment set. We'll do that for two weeks, and the participants will use the time to get to know each other and continue on their own."

Aro nodded his head eagerly, his beady eyes bright. "You should do more things like this. That is what I call trendy and up-to-date. You should really use the social networks more."

Once those words left his mouth, everyone exploded with "brilliant" ideas and I leaned back in my chair, occasionally typing down important things.

Charlotte caught my eye and sent me a grateful smile.

xXxXxXxXxXx

I settled myself back at my desk and stared lazily at the computer screen. Lauren was inside her office, fuming over the fact that Aro Volturi had praised every one of her workers except herself. She was especially pissed at me, since I'd started the whole thing. I wasn't entirely sure if I should remind her that she was supposed to be out on a date. Whoever the poor guy was, he'd probably be grateful if I didn't remind her. But then again, I would get off work early if I did remind her.

While I was trying to decide whether or not I should remind Lauren about her date, I heard the ding of the elevator. Instinctively, Angela—who was across the room—and I looked up. As far as I knew, there were no visitors for today. I quickly looked through the schedule, already halfway out of my chair.

"Excuse me?"

I looked up at the owner of the voice. The beautiful, musical, purely angelic, velvet, masculine sound. And that was only his voice.

The first thing I saw when I looked up was green. Startling emerald green eyes were looked down at me. My first reaction was to reach out, but I refrained from that. Instead, I hurried to get myself into an upright position and hastily tossed my hair over my shoulder so it wouldn't be in the way.

"Yes?" I said politely, now taking in the rest of the person in front of me.

There stood a man with strangely bronze-colored hair that was in a complete disarray. I wondered briefly if his hair was naturally like that, and what it would feel like to run my fingers through it.

As if he'd read my mind, his left hand suddenly shot up and moved through the mess of hair. I noticed that, whoever he was, he had long, elegant fingers. That alone was strangely alluring, but combined with the hair and the eyes, it was just downright erotic. I shook those thoughts from my head and concentrated on his words instead.

"I'm here to see Lauren Mallory?" he spoke again in that melodic voice of his. Why his words sounded more like a question was unknown to me, but I didn't care, either, since I was too busy staring at his full pink lips as they moved. A sort of unsure half-smile appeared on them and I had to tear my eyes away to be able to respond.

I dropped my gaze slightly, hoping that if I didn't look at his, I wouldn't be quite as affected. Clearly, I was wrong.

He must have been an angel or something of the sort. From the tips of his mess bronze hair, passed his emerald green eyes, the incredibly strong and defined jaw, and down his lean, yet trained body, clad in a suit, made him looked like some supernatural being.

I heard him clear his throat and snapped out of it, blushing slightly as I hurried to grab a pen and something to write on.

"I'm sorry," I gushed, blushing deeper when I heard Angela giggle somewhere in the background. "I'm afraid you don't have an appointment, but we can arrange that, Mr..." I'd found a stack of Post-Its and looked up at the beautiful stranger questioningly.

He stared back at me for a moment before he answered. "I do have an appointment, or at least something like that," he informed me quietly, his entrancing eyes gazing intently at me.

I regained my professional posture and offered him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure that you don't. You see, I'm Lauren's personal assistant and I handle all of her appointments, and I know for sure that she hasn't arranged for anyone to come to her office this week. In fact, she let me cancel everything for today because she—Oh." It suddenly dawned on me that the angel-like creature in front of me was Lauren's date.

I felt the tiniest bit of discomfort at the thought of the two of them together and I asked myself how in the world Lauren had managed to land that guy. She definitely didn't deserve him. Then again, maybe I shouldn't think like that because I didn't really know him. For all I knew, he could be a male version of Lauren.

"I'll let Lauren know that you are here. Would you like to take a seat?" I offered, gesturing to the small, arranged seating area close to my desk, while I turned toward Lauren's office.

I hastily let myself in and saw complete chaos in front of me. Every single item of clothing was thrown around in the room, and Lauren was hopping on one foot in her underwear, pulling on a pair of red pumps.

"I don't remember calling you in," she hissed, not looking at me.

"I'm sorry, I just thought that you might want to know that your date is here," I informed her.

She came to a screeching halt. "Edward's already here?"

I nodded in reply.

"Well, tell him to wait and that I'm still changing." She made a motion with her hands to shoo me out of her office.

I gladly obliged and stepped out, sighing at the thought of having to clean up her mess.

"Everything alright?" Mr. Angel's voice asked me as he began to rise from the leather chair he sat in.

I gestured for him to sit back down as I nodded my head. "She's currently changing. She asked me to tell you to wait a little while longer."

I didn't miss the guilty expression that crossed his face, but I couldn't place it. Instead of dwelling on it, I simply shrugged it off and went to sit at my desk. I quickly threw a glance in Angela's direction and mouthed the word 'Help' at her as I jerked my chin in the direction of Lauren's office. Angela understood immediately and smiled at me with a nod. Thank God for Angela.

"So, you're Izzie, right?" the musical voice asked.

I looked up to see him standing in front of my desk again. I frowned in confusion, since I had no idea how he knew my name.

"Lauren mentioned you," he clarified when he saw the look on my face.

I nodded slowly.

"Well, I'm Edward. Edward Cullen." He held out one of those glorious hands to me.

I grasped it quickly and shook his hand. Or at least I wanted to. The second our hands met, I felt some weird electricity jolt me where our hands touched. I pulled my hand back just abruptly as he did.

"It's nice to meet you, Edward," I said absentmindedly as I gave my hand a quick, confused glance.

He hummed. "Nice to meet you, too."

He must have felt the jolt as well, since he inspected his hand briefly, like I did.

"So... Um, Izzie. Any pointers on how I am going to survive this?" he asked me, then pointed toward Lauren's office.

I quirked an eyebrow at him. "Doesn't sound like you're really looking forward to your date."

Edward grimaced, his face still gorgeous. "It's not really a date; she kind of just talked me into it."

I giggled at his admission. "Lauren talked you into a date? How did she swing that? Does she pay you?" I was still laughing quietly when Edward dragged his hand through his hair again.

"I wish. I'm not even sure how it happened. I just remember accidentally bumping into her the other day, spilling coffee all over her clothes, and before I knew it, she'd demanded that I take her out." Once again, he ran his fingers through his dishevelled hair. I started to notice that he looked really stressed out.

"Don't worry so much. Just compliment her outfit, keep a safe distance, and smile. You can do pretty much whatever you want, since you're gorgeous. She's going to complain about all of your mistakes later on to me, but you'll make it safely through the date as long as you don't give off the wrong...vibes."

Edward's earlier expression turned into a flirtatious crooked smile. "So you think I'm gorgeous, huh?"

The sudden change in his voice caught me off guard and I could only stare at him, seeing that smile on his face, and blush.

"Err...I just...I mean, it's pretty obvious, isn't it? I was just stating a fact," I blabbered.

"Well, Izzie, I think that you need to set your faces straight. I'm merely good-looking. You, on the other hand, are indeed gorgeous," he said that so calmly that I almost believed him. He winked at me with a playful grin in place.

I smiled back shyly and ducked my head, hiding my very prominent blush.

"One super hot top model coming right up," Lauren's voice suddenly piped from behind me.

I looked at her and saw her wearing her hair in a messy updo, and her body clad in an extremely short red dress, combined with impossibly high heels in black.

She threw a look of disdain in direction. "Izzie, why is your face so red? Do something about that," she nagged, causing me to blush more.

I heard a musical chuckle from behind me and it didn't help matters at all.

Lauren turned her attention to her date. She smiled before she resumed talking in a chirpy voice, "Shall we get going?"

Edward was looking at her with a half-smile plastered on his face. "Of course. And I hope you don't mind me telling you that you look incredible."

Lauren was very obviously pleased with his words, and began to lead the way out. "Of course I don't mind you telling me how wonderful I looked," she giggled in that really unattractive way of hers.

Edward turned back to me and sent a wink along with a smile. An amazingly dazzling smile. The sort of smile that makes the person smiling irresistible, and leaves the person on the receiving end, with blurry thoughts. I hardly even noticed the two of them had left until Angela was suddenly perched on my desk.

"Oh, Izzie," she sang.

I reluctantly looked up at her. She was fanning herself with a small piece of paper.

"How very shameless of you to flirt with Lauren's date," she scolded, and shook her head in mock disappointment.

"I wasn't flirting with him," I defended myself.

"Uh huh. Sure."

"Don't look at me like that. I wasn't flirting, I was just being polite by talking to him.

Angela wiggled her finger in front of my face. "And how do you explain that blush? You know, it kinda surprised me because you're usually so confident and outspoken."

I made a face. "I wasn't blushing," I murmured.

"Well, then I'm sure you won't mind me keeping this." She waved the paper in my face and then hopped off my desk.

I looked at her in confusion.

"He has really beautiful writing, this Edward guy," she mused.

My head snapped up and I darted out of my chair, snatching the paper out of her hand.

Call me. I need to make an appointment.

The number that followed those words was written just as beautifully as was the person who wrote it.

Was it normal for my heart to flutter this fast? I didn't think so.

xXxXxXxXxXx

With a stack of mail in my hand, I waited patiently for the elevator to stop on my floor. As soon as it did, I was greeted with loud metal music. I sighed, knowing that my obnoxious neighbour wouldn't turn this ear-splitting music off for the next couple of hours. It if was at least good metal he listened to, it wouldn't be so bad, but it seemed like he carefully selected songs that would get on my nerves.

I quickly slipped into my apartment and shut the door, before I kicked my shoes off and dropped the mail and my keys on the little glass stand beside the door. I tugged off my jacket and threw it in a corner as I sprinted toward the bathroom. As always, my bladder seemed to be dead set on greeting the toilet after a long day. A few minutes later, I shuffled back into the living room/kitchen.

It didn't take me long to dish some leftover lasagna onto a plate and get it into the microwave. I retrieved my mail and took my plate with me to my comfortable, plush couch. I switched on my TV, opened my laptop that was resting on the coffee table with my feet, shovelled lasagna into my mouth, and began sorting through the mail.

Most if it was bills that I had yet to pay, and then there was a reminder from the owner of this building, telling me that I had one month before I had to move out. I sighed, not really wanting to think about that. The owner had sold the building and it was going to be torn down in about a months time.

This apartment building had to make room for luxury condos. I definitely wasn't looking forward to that. My apartment was small, but I didn't mind. The kitchen was open, and in the middle of the room between the entrance and the TV area. Rose always said it was like a bear when she visited and sat at the counter on one of the stools. Because of that statement from my dear college friend, I'd actually made a semi-bar out of my kitchen. Unfortunately, Rose never got to see it.

The mere thought of looking for a new apartment made me want to cry. It seemed like every apartment that would be suited for a single like me was already taken, and those which were not were far above my financial possibilities. I didn't think that asking Lauren for a raise would be a good idea, either.

My thoughts of finances and apartments were interrupted when I heard my phone ringing.

I set my plate on the coffee table and grabbed the phone, before laying on my stomach to continue looking at my mail.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Bells!" A high-pitched voice squealed from the other end.

I smiled at the sound of the voice. "Hey, Alice."

"Gosh, I am so happy to hear your voice again. I haven't heard from you girls in ages, and I just suddenly felt so lonely that I had to call you," Alice immediately began to gush.

"I know that feeling," I responded. "I'm glad to hear from you, too. It's really strange not having you guys around."

"Oh, yeah. It just makes you wish for the good old days in college, right? I swear it was destiny that brought us together."

I snorted at that, recalling the situation in which we first met.

"So Bella, how was your day? I'm just lounging around and have nothing interesting to tell you."

"The usual. Nothing too special happened at work. Except maybe that I had to save Charlotte's ass in the meeting, and kind of brought the magazine up to the standards Aro was missing in the process. And I got the phone number of some guy who walked in today," I told her nonchalantly, although I could feel my cheeks warming at the mere thought of his eyes.

"You flirted with a guy? You? Isabella Swan?" Alice screeched.

"God, what is it with you people? I wasn't flirting, I was just being nice."

"Whatever, Swan. Tell me everything!"

I took a deep breath before launching into the story of my encounter with Edward Cullen.

"You're taking your boss' man now? Just wow." Alice laughed loudly at that.

I didn't bother to comment, and instead moved on with the conversation. I told Alice everything that she'd missed since we'd last seen each other. We laughed together, and she told me everything that was new in her life. It was good to talk to Alice again after I hadn't seen her for months.

While we talked, I had totally forgotten about my mail and thrown all of the envelopes off my couch. When I did that, though, a certain envelope caught my eyes.

"Oooh, I got a pretty sparkly letter," I heard Alice's chipper voice in my ear.

I picked up the envelope that had fallen down and inspected it. It was a dark royal blue and had a slight sparkle to it.

"Me, too," I told her slowly.

"Really? You got a purple sparkle letter, too?"

"No," I answered. "Mine's blue."

"Do you think Rose sent us something? I don't know why she wouldn't just call or email us if she feels like we should get together again, but maybe it's a present; although, it doesn't really look like there's much in it. Maybe plane tickets? Or maybe she just thought it would be nice to send us letters in our favourite colors," Alice blabbered.

"What makes you think Rose sent the letters?" I asked absentmindedly as I inspected the envelope. As far as I could see, there was no indication anywhere that could tell me who'd sent it.

"There's no one else who knows my full name, favourite color, and address," she explained simply.

I eyed the front of the envelope again. Sure enough, it was addressed to Isabella Marie Swan. There weren't maybe people who knew my middle name, let alone my full name, simply because I never used it. Not even my parents called me Isabella.

"Let's open it together," Alice suggested. "One...two...three."

I ripped the envelope open swiftly, and wasn't really surprised to find a letter inside. I unfolded the crisp white paper and began to read.

Dear Ms. Swan,

After a great deal of research on your persona, I am happy to inform you that your skills have impressed me greatly. You have proved your brilliance over and over again, although it upsets me that you are unable to really shine. A sharp mind and trained physique like yours is truly fascinating and rare to find.

It is also exactly what I need.

Please take this seriously because I need your assistance. Enclosed, you will find a plane ticket. You will fly over on the assigned date, so that we can meet face to face.

I look forward to it.

Yours truly,

CC

"Who in the world is CC?" Alice and I wondered aloud at the same time.

"You got the letter, too?" I inquired.

"Depends," she answered. "Did you get a plane ticket to London?"

I fished the ticket out of the envelope.

"Yep."

"Well, then I guess we both got a mysterious letter from a mysterious person." Alice sounded thoughtful.

"I don't think we should fly over," I told her warily, as I continued to look at the letter suspiciously. There couldn't possibly be anything good behind it.

"I think we should," Alice answered after a moment of silence.

"Why?"

"Because Rose just sent me a text asking who CC is."

"That is strange, but not a good enough reason for us to fly over."

"Maybe not, but at least we'll get to see each other again." The squeal that followed was wore than the metal music that was still blasting in the background.

"Alice, I—"

"It's a first class flight!"

"Yes, but—"

"Alright, pack your bags. We'll see each other this weekend." And with that, I was left to listen to the sound of the dial tone as I stared at the phone in disbelief.

Was I the only one who was concerned about our safety, or more accurately, our freedom?