Disclaimer: As always I do not own Twilight or Secretary… I just like to play with them.

AN: I know this is so beyond late… but I have great reasons for it. Frist and most importantly is the fact that I have been without a computer for a while… My old lappy died and I wasn't able to get a new one until recently. So once I got it I started to work on this for you guys. That is also the reason I was unable to reply to your reviews… But I thought you would enjoy an update more than a reply…

I have to say that I am so extremely honored to have had a few people set up and help me when Prettykitty's computer died. Cecile from a little group on FB that I am in was so wonderful in offering her assistance to beta this chapter for me, and is now going to be a part of my TBCS team… I feel so lucky and honored. Oh and let me tell you she isn't in this part of the world so she stayed up really late to beta and get this back to me in only a couple of hours.

I have a few more announcements but I will leave them for the end because I know that you are all anxious to read this….

***TCBS***

Edward arrived extra early the next morning wanting to prepare some dictations for Bella. He also had a few other things that he wanted her to do. Mostly file cleaning and reorganizing. The exact way she did it didn't matter much to him as long as it was easy for her to find what he needed quickly.

Edward was finishing up on his to do list for Bella when she walked in, promptly at eight am. She was wearing a pair of dark blue slacks and a simple white button-down blouse. The outfit was definitely better than what she'd worn the previous day, but it still looked like it didn't quite fit on her body. The other thing Edward noticed were the black penny loafers on her feet. He made a mental note to tell Alice to see if she could get Isabella to wear heels in the future.

"Good morning, Mr. Cullen," Bella greeted in a very soft voice.

"Good morning, Isabella, but what have I told you about the volume of your voice?" he gently but forcefully reminded her.

Bella could feel the blush that spread across her face. She'd gone home the night before to alleviate the ache his commanding tone had caused her.

"Sorry" was all she said as she walked back to the front desk.

Edward followed behind her, his eyes instinctively watching her ass as her hips swayed back and forth.

"I have a few things for you to do." He said handing her the to do list.

Bella looked over the list Mr. Cullen handed her. She felt it disrespectful to even think of him less than Mr. Cullen. She noticed that a few things on the list, included things that Alice had told her the previous day she'd already done. Mainly the reorganization of the files.

"Mr. Cullen, Sir, Ms. Alice did some of the things on this list already, would you like me to do them once more, Sir?"

Edwards's dick stiffened at hearing the word "Sir" being said not once but twice. It'd been so long since he'd heard that word being uttered in his direction from anyone that the images that were instantly conjured would take him a few hours to dispel. Turned on and irritated Edward decided it best to leave the room than say something that would scare Bella off on her first day.

Unknowing and confused, Bella asked his retreating form, "Mr. Cullen, the list sir?"

"Damn it Isabella! Just do as I say Isabella!"

Hearing the anger and irritation Edward's voice, Bella thought it best to just pull out all the files and do as the list said. She jumped slightly when the door slammed shut, locking Mr. Cullen in his office and away from her.

Bella worked quietly for a few hours. She typed up all the dictated tapes she'd found in the drawer, then she made copies of each one and put them in the files. Before she knew it, lunch hour had arrived.

Edward was quietly working in his own office-the hard-on he'd had earlier having quickly disappeared when he walked into his office to find that, in his haste to give Isabella the to do list, he'd dropped half of the files on his desk along with the papers each contained within-when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in" he yelled.

"Mr. Cullen, Um... it's lunch time, I'm going to warm up my lunch. Is that okay?" Bella was thinking of the container with leftovers that Sue had handed her that morning before work.

"Wow, is it lunch time already?"

Bella just nodded her head then looked back toward the front waiting for Mr. Cullen to dismiss her and let her get back to her lunch. She couldn't understand what compelled her to desire that approval from him.

Edward's mind suddenly was imagining what Isabella would look like kneeling in front of him with her legs spread and hands tied behind her back. Hick cock was once more hard and straining against his trousers. Shaking the images from his head, Edward cleared his throat, and dismissed her.

Bella sat at the little kitchenette to eat her meal, the whole time trying to understand what happened in the office the prior moments. She tried to think about what she did to irritate him. As hard as she tried, she couldn't figure it out. Then again, He always told her that her mere presence in the room was enough to put the happiest person in the world in a bad mood. Bella shook the thought from her mind before the feelings became too much.

Edward could smell the spices emanating from whatever Isabella was eating, making his stomach grumble with its own desire to be filled. So he ventured out to see if there was anything he could eat. He was disappointed to find an empty refrigerator. He could've sworn that he still had something left over from when Esme worked with him. Huffing his frustration and hunger, Edward started to turn back to his office, deciding to see if he could get someone to bring him something to eat.

"Would you like some of my food sir? I have too much."

Edward stopped short at hearing her soft voice speaking to him. It took him a moment to realize what exactly she'd just said. He thought about it a moment before his own stomach's grumbling answered for him.

Bella quickly moved to get her boss a plate and share the food she had with him. Even though he kept protesting that it was her food and she should be the one to enjoy it, Bella insisted that she had enough food for the both of them and that she didn't normally eat that much.

That was the beginning of Edward and Bella growing comfortable around each other. It was enough to break the tension that was present between them. Edward was able to learn a few things about Bella. He found out that she has been an only child all her life, even though she had a step-brother and sister who recently got married. He found out that she moved to live with her dad while she was a teenager but wouldn't explain why she went to live with him. Bella learned that her boss was very close to his parents, his mother especially, and that he wasn't that big of an ogre. Not much else though, much to her displeasure.

****TCBS****

Each night Bella would call Alice to go over things with her. If she was feeling especially anxious, they would talk about what it was that was making her feel that way. Alice would also suggest little things that Bella could do to dress more appropriately for work. Each day, Alice instructed Bella to wear something a little smaller, shorter, tighter or more daring to what Bella was used to. Bella refused to try to wear heels but Alice knew she would get her to do it eventually.

After about a month of Bella working for Edward, she began being a lot more comfortable with wearing shorter skirts, low scoop or V-neck blouses. Edward was particularly happy to see the change in wardrobe that he'd seen in Isabella. On the day that Edward saw Bella's scars, she'd been wearing a black Mui Mui skirt, a white three quarter sleeve with front pocket white button-down blouse and black flats. Edward had asked Isabella to help him by getting a file in one of the lower file drawers that he kept in his office. When Bella had bent over, his eyes instinctively, like it had been happening more and more often, went to her shapely ass and lickable thighs. That was when he noticed long ragged looking lines just above the hemline of her skirt. Edward worked to focus his attention a bit more on the lines, but Isabella stood before he could look closer. Curious, Edward asked Bella to come closer to him.

"Is there something wrong Mr. Cullen?" Worry and trepidation laced her words.

With a gentle command in his words he asked, "Isabella would you please turn around for me?"

Confused Bella did a complete three-sixty turn. When Edward realized that she interpreted his words incorrectly he asked her to please turn and give him her back. She did as he asked and waited to see what it was that Edward wanted. Over the month that they'd worked together, she learned that he was a bit quirky at times and often had strange requests for her, which of course she complied with no matter what

Bella jumped slightly at the feel of his hands on the back of her thighs, slowly lifting her skirt. When she realized what it was he was looking for she moved away from her pulling at her skirt trying to somehow make it longer. Bella ran out of the office, grabbing her trusted cosmetic case and hid in the bathroom. She could hear Edward's shouts for her to return, but she just couldn't do it. It was the first time she'd openly defied him.

Edward could hear the sobs that were coming from the bathroom, but couldn't bring himself to move from his desk. So many questions played in his mind. The first and most important one being if those scars came from something she'd been through or if they were self-induced. He knew that Alice was treating her, but he didn't know what it was for. Did she suffer from some type of addiction? Or had she been in an accident so severe she was left with horrific emotional and physical scars. Knowing that he wasn't going to get any answers sitting in his office, Edward called the only person he knew could answer some of those questions.

"Hey Edward. What's up?" Alice answered on the first ring.

"Don't 'Hey Edward' me Alice. I need answers and I need them now."

Ignoring Edwards comment, Alice quickly asked about Bella. "Where is Isabella, Edward?"

"She's locked herself in the ladies room."

"What did you do? Is she in there alone? Did she take her bag with her?" Alice was already rushing out of her house; she knew she had to get to Bella before she did something to hurt herself.

Edward began to get nervous, if Alice was this frantic then it had to mean something, and not knowing exactly what it could be scared him.

"All I did was ask her to turn around and tried to see the marks on her legs Alice. Then she ran out of the office and locked herself in the bathroom before I could do anything."

"Damn it, Edward. She's been doing so well about wearing shorter clothes. Now, my weeks of convincing her that her scars aren't visible were for nothing. Now she's going to revert back to those god awful ankle length skirts and baggy pants." Alice sighed at the backsliding that she was sure to have to deal with now.

"Alice what are the scars from?"

"Edward, don't ask me that. You know I can divulge any information about Isabella."

"The fuck you can't! If she is a danger to herself or me, I have the right to know." Edward was once again getting upset. Had Alice placed someone in his place of business that wasn't mentally stable? Someone that he should be fearful of? No she wouldn't do that to him; she knew how picky and finicky he was about who he let into his life, even if they were just a secretary.

"Calm the fuck down Edward. She isn't a danger to anyone but her own goddamn skin. And she hasn't even done that since she's been in my care. At least she still hasn't" Alice added the last part under hear breath.

By that time Alice was pulling up to Edward's office and towards the bathroom she was tied up in nervous knots about what she was going to find when she would be able to get into the bathroom.

***TCBS***

Bella sat in the bathroom floor contemplating whether she should just throw all the progress she'd made and actively defy Alice's command to cut or throw her cutting supplies down the toilet. Because of them, her skin was marred with scars. Due to the fact that she didn't know how to deal with her past, she did things like that. But reverting to this habit would cause her to never again be able to wear the pretty skirts she'd bought for work.

Flashes of all the times she'd taken the blade to her skin appeared behind her eyes. She realized that doing so really did very little to help her. It was a temporary fix to her emotional pain, but was it all really worth it? Was it something that she should have done at all, of course hindsight is twenty-twenty. At the time she didn't see any other options, but she'd recently learned that there were other options. Alice showed her that finding something to do when her head was filled with anxiety would help her get past the moment. One of the things she'd told her to do was to start yoga. Bella found that was one of the best suggestions she'd ever heard of. The fact that she needed to put so much effort into her breathing and positions, helped to take her mind off of the other things that were bogging her down. The added benefit of it -making her clothes fit her body better-, was something she also enjoyed. Especially now that she was wearing tighter, smaller clothing.

The down side to all those changes was exactly what happened in Edward's office earlier. It exposed her skin to the rest of the world. To her, that was displaying her lack of coping skills. When Edward began to lift her skirt all she could think about was how he was going to see her tough, ragged skin instead of the silky skin she'd always been told women should possess. She became afraid of what Edward would think of her when he noticed what she'd done to herself. So the only thing she could think about doing was running and taking the evidence of her past with her into the bathroom.

"Bella?" Alice called from the other side of the door.

"Alice? What are you doing here?"

Alice was relieved to hear that Bella was actually responding to her. She'd been so scared that she would completely shut down like she'd done the first time Alice met her. "Can you open the door and let me in please?"

Bella walked over and unlocked the bathroom door to let Alice in. She was surprised to see her there. "What are you doing here?"

"Edward called me. Have you done anything that might require me to get antibiotics?" Alice knew that Bella would know exactly what she was asking without saying the actual words.

Smiling sadly Bella replied, "No, Alice. I haven't cut myself."

Alice's smile grew and reassured Bella. Then she decided it was time to find out exactly what happened with Edward. She listened as Bella told her how she felt and why she reacted the way she had. When Bella was finished with her story, Alice made sure to explain to her that it was highly probable that some people would react to her scars, but that their reactions would be ones of concern more than of judgment.

That helped to calm Bella greatly. When she was done talking to Alice, she came out of the bathroom only to find the office dark. Edward had left before she could apologize; she figured it would have to wait until the next day.

***TCBS***

AN: Ok so what did you think? I am happy to announce that I already have chapter 6 started… not much… but it is started nonetheless.

Ok now to my announcements. I have an OS that I wrote for Breath-of-Twilights V-Day Countdown… go check out all the stories she's going to be posting and see if you can figure out which is mine?

Secondly for the TFA group Im part of on FB is hosting another contest go check it out and see if you add something to it… Both can be found in my Fav. Stories.

Thank you for your patience and willingness to wait while I got my RL butt in order.